The Curse of Manager of the Month - fact or fiction?
Firstly, brilliant for Gareth to be awarded MOTM, but anyone got any stats on whether the supposed curse exists or not? I don't need any more reasons to be nervous.
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Firstly, brilliant for Gareth to be awarded MOTM, but anyone got any stats on whether the supposed curse exists or not? I don't need any more reasons to be nervous.
Comments
None on that, but here's one:
Teams who traditionally play in red-and-white-striped shirts with black shorts have lost 17 out of 18 play-off finals.
It’s fiction. I remember seeing a stat but you’ll have to wait for RtS to dig it out.
What struck me was that the photo on the official site was of Gareth holding the award with all of the backroom staff, so emphasising that it was a reward for the whole team. Instinctively he gets the PR right. Again
He is such a class act.
Well done to Gareth. Well deserved
That picture of the back room staff shows how far we've come in a few years. There are loads of them.
Yeah there are loads of them aren’t there? Can anyone name them all?
Jim Melvin, Steve Walford, Paul Franklin.......
No John Reardon? Shame.
I do know it is bad luck to concede more than you score in a playoff final. Avoid that curse and we should be fine with the others.
All but second left and far right
It's one of those claims that people only wheel out when someone wins it then loses straight away. Stubbornly ignoring the times it doesn't happen.
Classic fandom really. Swearing blind that xxx team gets all the decisions, yet steadfastly refusing to acknowledge any decisions that went against said team.
Having no superstition myself, I sometimes wonder how it works. For instance:
Sunderland:
4 fans forgot to wear lucky socks
2315 made over confident remarks on their forum
Red and white stripe curse
Wycombe:
@bluntphil accidentally washes his lucky shirt
GA wins manager of the month
56 fans see black cats cross their paths
Who wins?
The curse doesn't exist... but the team managed by the Manager of the Month does normally do worse in the following month than they did in the month for the period of the award.
Didn’t they say it was awarded last Friday? So that’s why we lost last Sunday. Punishment served, Curse lifted...
It's the same as the 'new manager bounce.' Doesn't exist.
But this is surely just because statistically it’s very unlikely any team will sustain MoTM form consistently
By literally calling themselves the black cats they have shaken things up a bit here. Are they trying to reclaim the word, and consequently the luck?
Are they called the Black Cats because they feel lucky to be living in Sunderland?
I will not be washing the shirt. However, after 14 games wear, Wembley could be justified in making me buy a ticket for it.
@bluntphil if your anything like me, my unwashed lucky Wycombe shirt gets pulled out the car boot on arrival at the stadium then whipped back off again before the drive home to make the drive a little more pleasant.
Apologies in advance to anyone sat near me, just remember it’s ‘luck’ you can smell, not a grubby middle aged man.
Exactly, the manager will have received MotM because their team will have won all or nearly all of their games that month, so next month even good but unexceptional results would look like a downturn. Regression towards the mean.
There is no suggestion that the MotM award itself has any impact on results.
If we win, you may end up with the first non-playing shirt to have a retirement ceremony.
Little Chairboy, year 2054: "Dad, why do Wycombe display a Hawaiian shirt next to the Champions League trophy?"
(Dad gets misty eyed and chokes up at the memories)
Stop it @Shev. You'll make a grown man cry ...
New manager bounce would make some sense, if the chairman didn't think it needed a different set of eyes and a new voice they wouldn't have sacked the old manager.
Curse of manager of the month cancelled by the 6th place hoodoo