The Diary

25 October 2004: Requiem For A Manager?

?If it were done when ?tis done, then ?twere well if it were done quickly??

Taken from ?Macbeth?, by William Shakespeare.

?Taxi for Megson??

Just about every Albion supporter who was at Selhurst Park yesterday.

Or, as Siegfried Sassoon once said apropos the First World War, ?Oh God, please make it stop!? Somehow, I?ve got a strong feeling in my water that Mr. Megson, and all who sail in him, will be gone ere 48 hours have elapsed on this planet. What put the lid on it for me was the bit in the News Of The Screws today that reckoned Cosmin Contra was not a happy bunny at the Shrine. I don?t take that particular paper on a regular basis, I?m only going by what The Fart told me, but this has to be the first time ever I?ve seen any of our current players actually go on record as expressing dissatisfaction with our leader. In case you haven?t seen it ? and to those that have, profuse apologies in advance - this is the actual text of the piece:

?Adrian Mutu's Romania team-mate Cosmin Contra blasted Megson for bringing him to the Hawthorns from Atletico Madrid on a seasons loan - and then completely ignoring him. Contra raged: "I am very disappointed. Megson refuses to give me a chance. What was the point in signing me? I can't believe he won't give me the opportunity to play in the first team and it is even harder because he won't talk to me. I am trying to understand exactly who wanted me to come to West Brom. Not a single person has told me what is happening or asked my feelings on the current situation. I want to leave."

He?s on loan, and is therefore well aware that his spell in durance vile is but a temporary thing, but those remarks still represent a seminal moment in the evolution of this particularly thorny issue. Poor sod, there he is, in this country and not speaking the language very well, and now he finds the manager has given him the cold shoulder for some venial sin or another, as yet unspecified. No wonder he?s making his dissatisfaction with the situation very plain. It?s long been rumoured that the choice of Contra was not that of Megson. Is this our manager?s way of expressing his dissatisfaction with that player?s presence at the club? And could the same thing be said of other recent signings, I wonder?

It?s palpably clear by now that Megson has lost the respect of his players, and without that, it?s impossible to function effectively as a manager. Additionally, for the first time, I?m getting the gut feeling that the majority of supporters are now on board with this viewpoint; certainly, judging by the mails on the Boing list, for what must be the first time ever, all the subscribers are speaking with one voice. For goodness sake, Jeremy, get it over with ? and QUICKLY. Never mind about the forthcoming Chelsea game ? we?re on to a loser anyway, whoever is in charge ? but at least a change of manager now would give the next incumbent a half-decent chance to salvage something from the wreckage. Sure, Gary?s regarded as something of a Hawthorns icon by some, and I do have sympathy with their point of view to a certain extent; no-one was more grateful than this column for the superb way in which he transformed our club from a First Division joke into a promotion-seeking mean machine, and not once, but twice. The trouble is, that?s as far as he can take us, that?s his operational ceiling, to use aviation-speak, therefore we need a change of pilot, and soon, before we crash and burn. Heft and bluster, rule by fear, will get you results initially, but it simply doesn?t wash at this level, I?m afraid. It?s one thing to bawl and shout at players at First Division level, but the Premiership needs a far more sophisticated approach, I?m afraid. Players, talented ones, at international level for their country, need a much more intelligent form of man-management. Sadly, Megson can?t or won?t appreciate this, adapt accordingly, which is the main reason why he?s struggling to assert his authority now.

It?s no heresy to question the current effectiveness of someone who?s proven to be something of an icon in the past; after all, didn?t the British electorate do precisely the same thing to Winston Churchill back in 1945? The uninitiated would think that a victorious war leader and elder statesman with Churchill?s chequered political background would be a virtual shoo-in following VE Day, but it simply wasn?t so. Labour won in a walk instead. Why? Because the war-weary electorate wanted ?horses for courses?. Churchill was a brilliant war leader, sure, but the past record of both him and his party in days of piping peace was markedly less so; the people wanted change and social reform in heaps after the conflict, and the Tories didn?t ?do? such things. That?s why the British people plumped for Clement Atlee and Labour instead. The same principle applies to Gary; sure, he?s done us proud in the past, but didn?t someone in football once say, ?You?re only as good as your last game?? The same principle applies, and if I were our leader, I?d be reaching for my hat and coat right now.

This particular Albion crisis has been bubbling under for quite some time now. Let me supply you with a list of players who all left the club under a cloud after reputedly crossing swords with Gary. SuperBob, of course ? some achievement, that, to totally rack off one of the most inoffensive blokes I?ve ever met in the game ? Lee Marshall, now with a broken leg; Ronnie Wallwork; Richard Sneekes, not the easiest of people to get on with, sure, his moodiness was legendary, but he, too, experienced the infamous Death Stare, after which there was no going back. And, after that, John Trewick, whose position as youth coach (pretty much all the Albion youngsters to break into the first team of late were brought on by him) was made pretty much untenable, mainly because our manager wanted his own man in situ instead.

Then there was Richard O?Kelly, a lovely man to talk to, now at Bournemouth, closely followed by Jason Roberts - and I don?t have to spell out the background to that one, do I? Also, just to keep it in the family, his Uncle Cyrille, one time reserve team coach and quickly frozen out by the current regime, just like the others. He?s cut his losses and become an agent instead. Danny Dichio (?Im Indoors reminds me he?s another to criticise the Great Brain in print, albeit only once he was finally out of our manager?s clutches!), Sean Gregan, given the bum?s rush following a brilliant season for us at the back, now enjoying life with Leeds, of course, and, last but not least Darren Huckerby. He?s not a Baggie ?tis true, although I certainly do wish he were one; he let fly with some pretty damning remarks about our leader following our failed bid to capture him last season. From the look of recent events both on and off the pitch, can we also assume that we can add the names of Jason Koumas and Jonathan Greening to what is already a pretty lengthy list of possible suspects should Megson ever be found in some dark festering alley, somewhere?

Talking about Tucka and Richard O?Kelly brings yet another facet of Megson?s reign to mind, and that?s his seeming unwillingness to give youth its head. It?s highly significant that each and every one of our recent young starlets ? The Chambo twins, Lloyd Dyer, Danny Gabbidon, now with Cardiff ? were nurtured for stardom in the stiffs before Megson came to us. In fact we could have done with Jay Chambo ? who, you may recall, did a brilliant man-marking job on Darren Huckerby at Carrow Road last season - both yesterday and last Saturday, but he?s now permanently with Watford. The whole situation is exacerbated enormously by the fact that the reserves and kids don?t even train with the first team; according to my information, they?re banished to another part of the training ground, and ne?er the twain shall meet, not if Gary has anything to say about it. With no established first-teamers around to function as role-models, from whom do fringe players and kids take their lead, learn their trade? Since Gary?s arrival, and more significantly after he changed things at youth and reserve team level, who, on his watch, has come through the ranks? That?s a deafening silence I hear out there.

Our stiffs, for the most part are ?dead men walking?, blokes full to the craw with festering disillusionment, eager to move on, and not giving a damn. And it shows. There were no less than TEN players with extensive first team experience on parade last Monday, but very few kids; those that were included in this select gathering spent the most part of the game on the bench. The best I see for them once their time is up is top-grade non-League, at best.

As I also said in my article about the recent Man City reserves game, human cloning may be illegal, but in Gary Shelton, you?ve got about the next best thing to Megson himself. Watching the stiffs, once an enjoyable evening pastime, is now like watching a microcosm of the first team in action, even down the abuse shouted to players from the fastness of the bench. Flair and initiative is verboten, mediocrity and defensive tactics at the expense of entertaining football are king. And not one single youngster showing even a scintilla of promise of making it.

And where is our manager when these games are played? Dunno, but he certainly isn?t at the ground. Even Fergie makes a point of watching his second string; I know because I?ve seen him in the stand with my own eyes. In fact, many Premiership managers do take the time and trouble to run the rule over their young hopefuls, take an interest, but not our man, oh no. With an attitude like that, I?m surprised we even get young lads wanting to sign for us, never mind courting those showing a deal of talent and promise at schoolboy level. As for the thought of having a proper Academy, at the present time, it?s a joke, and one in extremely bad taste at that.

Whatever happens, of one thing I?m certain. Gary can?t turn around and say he?s been given insufficient funds to bring players in. As I see it, the board have bent over backwards to give him what he wants this time round, and eleven million quid isn?t exactly petty cash, even in these hyperinflationary Premiership days. It?s loads more than either Norwich or Palace have had to play with. And for what? Despite chucking money at the problem like it?s going out of fashion (by normal Albion standards that is), a quarter into the season and we?re on less points than two years ago, and have scored fewer goals. What sort of progress is that?

The irony of the situation is this; of the many players we currently have languishing on the fringes or visibly underperforming in the first team, I don?t think they are all bad buys per se. I?m firmly convinced that should Megson go, and someone else take up the reins, then an attractive side could quickly be forged from what we have there already. People like Sakiri, Kanu, Jason Koumas, Rob Earnshaw and so forth, if given the opportunity of playing balls to feet once more, and attacking, rather than batten down the hatches for no reason, would blossom. It?s a question of playing them correctly, really. As I said quite some time ago, it?s no use buying a high-performance sports car if you only intend to use it for the school run and the weekly shop. The heartbreak of the whole situation lies in the fact that?s precisely what we?re doing to these players right now. No wonder they?re getting rather miffed off by it all.

For all our sakes, Jeremy, don?t procrastinate. Do it NOW. Whether a form of diplomatic deal on the lines of the scenario I discussed last night can be arranged, or whether it?s down to an outright dismissal, the situation has now reached the stage where players will simply deliberately defy Megson?s orders, and should that happen, then you?ve reached the point of anarchy. Should that scenario come to pass versus Chelsea next Saturday, I shudder to think what might happen. In any case, the guy doesn?t have all that long to run on his current contract; surely paying him off would only cost the club in the region of some two or three hundred thousand quid? And, as for a possible successor, I?m damned sure you?ve already got some candidate or another in mind, and the minute Megson walks, your man will be there. Why prolong the agony?

And finally? Something I?d meant to include much sooner, but what with the Megson thing and everything, I?ve had very little chance to do it. Remember the problems Dick contributor Norm Bartlam had with Centro trams recently? One of my readers, Jez Pardoe, tells me he and many others are still experiencing a great deal of trouble trying to catch a tram after home games, and mainly because the platform at The Hawthorns tram stop is way, way, too overcrowded every time, and the current queuing arrangements in Halfords Lane a complete farce. He describes the whole thing as ?an accident waiting to happen? and from what he?s told me thus far, I reckon he?s dead right.

The most frustrating aspect of the issue for him is that despite many letters and phone calls to Centro about this problem, they still have yet to come up with a reply and a promise to tackle the various issues involved. I have, of course, passed on full details to a journo friend of mine, the same one that?s currently monitoring what?s happening concerning post-match policing, so hopefully, a ?bigger hammer? as wielded by the local press can get results for the guy. And this is where you come in. Have you experienced similar problems on the trams after a game this season? If so, send me a blow-by blow account, including full contact details, and willingness to be quoted, or not, and I?ll do the rest.

 - Glynis Wright

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