Best Of

I wouldn't pay any attention to any Sunderland fan saying he's no good, remember, they thought Josh Scowen was rubbish as well

Ah, I assume you haven't seen 'Mike Bassett: England Manager', the classic spoof that clip is from. That's Bradley Walsh playing Dave Dodds!

Can’t figure out if this is for real

What's surprising here? All of the mood music suggested we'd get someone just like Dodds' profile. Just because it isn't a big name like Ashley Cole, or Steven Schumacher?

I’m shocked by how poorly he comes across. Someone suggested the other day that he might be a bit of a yes man and that certainly comes across in that clip.

Aaah well, let’s all rally round and give the man a chance. Being called Mike (perhaps among other names) is clearly a positive.

I might add that Dodds was made interim manager at Sunderland when they were struggling which is why they sacked Beale, plus they were in the Championship so he’s coached at a higher level. Matt Bloomfield had a 33% win record at Colchester when he took over at Wycombe and he didn’t turn out too bad.

Has to be the most ‘underwhelming’ Manager / Head Coach appointment for me having started watching Wycombe under MON.

But hey, If the AI says ‘yes’ for Data Dan then I’ll drink the Kool-Aid and see where it takes us.

With a bit of distance between watching the game from away terrace (with pretty much the same view as the main TV camera), the penalty given for the Bradley incident may be less of an injustice having then also had the benefit of the reverse angle from behind the goal. The red card is more dubious, but it's always a possibility if an arm goes up.

The red card was the key decision for me, if we conceded the penalty (edit - and Cambridge scored) but still had 11 I would have heavily backed us it get a winner. Cambridge did well to press home their one (or maybe two man advantage if you factor in a compliant referee) advantage, but they'd be kidding themselves if they thought they'd have got anything from the game 11v11.

On another point, if our fans could sing the usual songs with the same gusto as the riproaring rendition of "Shit Referee", the atmosphere would be electric every week.

Dodds fits the profile of a head coach (not manager) that will be judged on their ability to implement tactics defined by a Director of Football, and get the most out of players signed on criteria by the DoF as being suited to those tactics. My old man used the phrase "nodding dog", which may or may not be fair.

It's hard to imagine any established managers with a strong personality wanting to take a job like that, and Bloomfield's departure seemed inevitable if this is indeed the profile of head coach Dan Rice has in mind.

He’s a way off. Was caught game watching a few times and physically looked half a yard off the pace.

He was probably enjoying his end of season break when he got signed so it’s not a surprise.