areNOTwhatTHEYseem Posted June 11, 2016 Share Posted June 11, 2016 ...Stuart Gray left the club, and I, like many others, feared our chairman might have made a grave mistake. We were rarely the most scintillating side under Gray's stewardship, but he took a team that looked destined for relegation and forged one of the division's best defences out of relatively limited resources, turning us into a solid Championship side in the process. The idea of jettisoning him and potentially the team-spirit he'd created didn't sit well with me, and I worried where the club was heading next. Thankfully, a year on it looks like a masterstroke. I'll always be grateful for the job Gray did, but the progress under Carvalhal has been revolutionary. For the first time in years, it feels like our club is finally on the verge of returning to the big-time, and we have our ambitious chairman to that for that. There'll be no more overly-cautious, small-time thinking from me! Onwards and upwards! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DevonOwls Posted June 11, 2016 Share Posted June 11, 2016 Well said Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
areNOTwhatTHEYseem Posted June 11, 2016 Author Share Posted June 11, 2016 *thank, not that! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Miffed Posted June 11, 2016 Share Posted June 11, 2016 I didnt like Gray. I didnt agree with his appointment at the time and I dont buy into the argument that we overachieved the season he was in charge. His brand of negative football bored the hell out of me and the attendances were falling. The Leeds game at home summed it up. The season before, we were adventurous, creative and played attractive football. We put 6 past them. The season after we were negative and boring and were beaten by a very very poor Leeds side. Credit to Carlos for turning the dross around so quickly. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tamworthowl Posted June 11, 2016 Share Posted June 11, 2016 Despite our second best league finish since premier league days, Stuart Gray's tenure was about as exciting as Alan Invine's. That said, I thought he did as good as he could with the resources available and I thought he deserved a chance to build a team with a bit of Chansiri's cash. Fortunately, Charsiri thought otherwise. We'll never know how well/badly Gray would have done, but I can't believe we'd have had the season we've just had if he had stayed. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
since59owe Posted June 11, 2016 Share Posted June 11, 2016 1 minute ago, Tamworthowl said: Despite our second best league finish since premier league days, Stuart Gray's tenure was about as exciting as Alan Invine's. That said, I thought he did as good as he could with the resources available and I thought he deserved a chance to build a team with a bit of Chansiri's cash. Fortunately, Charsiri thought otherwise. We'll never know how well/badly Gray would have done, but I can't believe we'd have had the season we've just had if he had stayed. What is he up to now ? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
areNOTwhatTHEYseem Posted June 11, 2016 Author Share Posted June 11, 2016 15 minutes ago, Miffed said: I didnt like Gray. I didnt agree with his appointment at the time and I dont buy into the argument that we overachieved the season he was in charge. His brand of negative football bored the hell out of me and the attendances were falling. The Leeds game at home summed it up. The season before, we were adventurous, creative and played attractive football. We put 6 past them. The season after we were negative and boring and were beaten by a very very poor Leeds side. Credit to Carlos for turning the dross around so quickly. It wasn't just one season under Gray, though - Dave Jones had taken us to second from bottom when he was sacked in December, and it was Gray who quickly turned things around. I dread to think what could have happened if we'd slipped back into League One again. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tamworthowl Posted June 11, 2016 Share Posted June 11, 2016 9 minutes ago, since59owe said: What is he up to now ? Isnt he back to coaching somewhere, as a number two? QPR, somewhere like that, but I'm guessing? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest mrbluesky Posted June 11, 2016 Share Posted June 11, 2016 What we as mere supporters don`t understand sometimes is that you play to your strengths, Gray could have been gung ho! and have left us in a worse posistion . Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Owls_fan_since_1983 Posted June 11, 2016 Share Posted June 11, 2016 The season just gone was amazing. This season coming lets try to go one better and get back into the top flight for 2017/18 Thank you Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Miffed Posted June 11, 2016 Share Posted June 11, 2016 1 minute ago, areNOTwhatTHEYseem said: It wasn't just one season under Gray, though - Dave Jones had taken us to second from bottom when he was sacked in December, and it was Gray who quickly turned things around. I dread to think what could have happened if we'd slipped back into League One again. You could argue that the players (and possibly the system) were there but Jones (for whatever reason seemingly ..) lost his passion / interest. It could have been Grays "honeymoon period" that kept us up the season before. Many new managers seem to have one. And that season we won only 1 of the last 10 games, so it was a good job we'd been on such a good run before this. 2013/14 we put 6 past Leeds, 4 past Birmingham, 5 past Reading, 3 past QPR. The season after we went all defensive and hardly won at home. We even struggled against Blackpool - one of the most boring games I can remember. And it wasnt like we finished just outside the play-offs or anything. We were a boring mid table side. I strongly believe that when Chansiri came in, he gave Gray some cash in the transfer window to a) try and push for the playoffs b) see what Gray was like with a bit of cash. It was our busiest transfer window in years, the fans were buzzing and Gray blew it. It said everything that season when the GOALKEEPER was player of the year. Something that I never hope to see again. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sonny Posted June 11, 2016 Share Posted June 11, 2016 Sheffield Wednesday - I'm done Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Birley Owl 1867 Posted June 11, 2016 Share Posted June 11, 2016 Think Gray could've got this team top 10 tbf. But it does seem a masterstroke from DC but could've gone terribly wrong Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
areNOTwhatTHEYseem Posted June 11, 2016 Author Share Posted June 11, 2016 17 minutes ago, Miffed said: You could argue that the players (and possibly the system) were there but Jones (for whatever reason seemingly ..) lost his passion / interest. It could have been Grays "honeymoon period" that kept us up the season before. Many new managers seem to have one. And that season we won only 1 of the last 10 games, so it was a good job we'd been on such a good run before this. 2013/14 we put 6 past Leeds, 4 past Birmingham, 5 past Reading, 3 past QPR. The season after we went all defensive and hardly won at home. We even struggled against Blackpool - one of the most boring games I can remember. And it wasnt like we finished just outside the play-offs or anything. We were a boring mid table side. I strongly believe that when Chansiri came in, he gave Gray some cash in the transfer window to a) try and push for the playoffs b) see what Gray was like with a bit of cash. It was our busiest transfer window in years, the fans were buzzing and Gray blew it. It said everything that season when the GOALKEEPER was player of the year. Something that I never hope to see again. We were a boring mid-table side, as that's what the resources we had at the time allowed us to be. If we'd gone gung-ho with the likes of Atdhe Nuhiu, Stevie May, Will Keane, Chris Maguire, Jacques Maghoma, Hallam Hope and Gary Taylor-Fletcher as our main attacking threats, we'd have been out-scored by most teams in the division. Keeping it tight and looking to nick a goal here or there was probably a more sensible option, boring as it might have been. When Gray had good quality strikers in Wickham and Fryatt the season before, he seemed willing to release the shackles a bit. Either way, I seriously doubt we'd have seen the sea-change that our club's undergone had we kept Gray, and Chansiri's decision has been proven right. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Salmonbones Posted June 11, 2016 Share Posted June 11, 2016 (edited) Dave Jones had a vision for the club in terms of youth and progression. He needed people like Gray around though because he was totally not a man manager Gray managed the players as people and got them playing as a team, much as Carlos does, Jones was a good tactician who can set a team up for any given opposition, much as Carlos is/does. Essentially, CC is an upgrade on both all in a single package. I wouldn't have minded Stuart Gray staying as coach which is clearly something he is exremely good at, but would you stop in a situation like that? Dropping down from being the man, to supporting the man (again) At the time Gray left, I personally was slightly disappointed and like many wondered what he could do with better structure and support behind him, but I did not think it was a grave mistake. Edited June 11, 2016 by salmonbones Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jtswfc1 Posted June 11, 2016 Share Posted June 11, 2016 He did a decent job on limited resources, he signed us Westwood and Lees on free's, for that alone he deserves some credit. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
daleblue Posted June 11, 2016 Share Posted June 11, 2016 58 minutes ago, areNOTwhatTHEYseem said: It wasn't just one season under Gray, though - Dave Jones had taken us to second from bottom when he was sacked in December, and it was Gray who quickly turned things around. I dread to think what could have happened if we'd slipped back into League One again. Probobobobaly not been bought by Mr Chansiri. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Inspector Lestrade Posted June 11, 2016 Share Posted June 11, 2016 Same as everyone, he was a man of the times at Hillsborough, limited resources so his team reflected that. We will never know what he would have achieved if had the money. I never thought the top job quite sat right with him, he would have being an ideal number two for CC, but obviously CC wanted his own staff, which you can't blame him for. To my mind SG did an excellent job and his record here should do his CV no harm. He was popular with the players, press and fans alike. The question is did DC do the right thing in letting him go? And the answer is of course a resounding YES. Just bad timing for SG, I suppose thats the peril of football management. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ramone Posted June 11, 2016 Share Posted June 11, 2016 Stuart did a great job for our football. He kept us in the division when we were all but dead a buried. He then took us to that promise land of 'mid table mediocrity' everyone was clearly clambering for at the time. Miffed - give the bloke some credit. He did a brilliant job and was extremely unlucky not to get the chance to spend a bit of cash. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
areNOTwhatTHEYseem Posted June 11, 2016 Author Share Posted June 11, 2016 5 hours ago, ramone said: Stuart did a great job for our football. He kept us in the division when we were all but dead a buried. He then took us to that promise land of 'mid table mediocrity' everyone was clearly clambering for at the time. Miffed - give the bloke some credit. He did a brilliant job and was extremely unlucky not to get the chance to spend a bit of cash. Exactly - after the couple of seasons we'd just had previously, a season of mid-table consolidation was just what we needed. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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