If Matt was not willing to work with the current structure and the management team wanted their own man they are unlikely to release the name of this replacement so quickly . Basically it will back up the argument that this was planned all along. Can see something happening next week but not before that .
We don't need to appoint someone with no managerial experience. It makes little sense in the grand scheme. Might be different if we had a load of young players in the team who came through the development team.
Also think he'd be sacked very early if we lost a few games or a player or two openly questioned him.
Matt has gone now. I know there is no sentiment in football and it's a business and we were wailing for five billion at Torquay but if we don't get a proof of life RTB from Phil and Matt soon, I reserve the right to think the ownership group are ****s
'But it's Matt Bloomfield' isn't a reason to keep him as manager long-term if he didn't fit with the grand plan for whatever reason. But for the club to barely acknowledge his departure after 20 years really does stink of a lack of respect for the supporters, the culture of the club and Matt himself.
Times change. I wasn't expecting Matt to be Wycombe manger forever. But the media team haven't even been allowed to so much as repost the club captain's brief message of thanks to Matt (a post which I get the feeling Jack had to get signed off by the club hierarchy).
But it's not really "his departure after 20 years", is it? That was the first time he left.
I'm not on any social media anymore, so I'm not clued up as to which players have said what, but that feels like a bit of a reach re. Grimmer. Let's not get carried away.
I don’t know much about Sam Grace but looking at his X account (which he doesn’t seem to be particularly active on anymore) one of his last posts was when Blooms left for Col U.
‘Must be a word somewhere in the world, to describe the joint feeling of shared excitement when a friend leaves to pursue a goal, combined with a sadness they’ve left. Outstanding man, team-mate, & mentor, that I’m sure will continue to set standards & help those around him.’
I think there are some "straw men" out there, especially the one about the club being within their rights, it's okay for there to be workplace differences, etc. etc. I don't think many (or any) are contending that point. I think the bone of contention is (for me) basically how a club legend was treated, and secondarily the wisdom of seeing little value in (and showing so little respect to) a manager who gave so much to the club AND overachieved this season.
We should all be able to agree that three of Blooms' staff members were unceremoniously sacked (no ITK needed there) and that it is unlikely in the extreme that he was happy about it, or had a say. This is a very passive aggressive (or even outright aggressive) way of putting someone on an island. Yet Blooms continued to achieve great things despite all that.
I also doubt many would contend that the current regime were really enamoured with Matt - even Mick Hartford remarked on how unusually quick and easy it was to grab him. Again, that's public. We can't know for sure an extension was not offered a la Sadler at Walsall, but it seems unlikely in the extreme.
It should also be remarked that the two main players in this who were not valued by the new regime (Matt Bloomfield and Scott Mitchell) walked into Championship jobs, so our "smartest people in the room" valuation of them differs from smart people in the division we are trying to get to.
To put the focus on the football rather than the interpersonal, my ongoing concern is that we have an imbalance towards data. Blooms referenced "we will use data but we will also use our footballing brains and eyes" in the Luton interview, and I think that was another dig. My concern with being too imbalanced with data is that you end up with gaining plaudits for 56-pass moves or touches in the opposition box "but due to mixed results, came 13th". The only Wycombe team ever promoted to the Championship were the antithesis of data-driven, but had serious intangibles. I don't think we should go back to that, but I would have liked to see more of a balance. Maybe we are indeed going to see that, but the treatment of Mitchell and Blooms would appear on the surface to indicate otherwise.
Of course opinions will differ as they always do, but it's a legitimate footballing concern to have, especially if we end up with someone with no track record of success at the helm because the data said so (that obviously remains to be seen). We have always really valued strong culture, characterful leadership and other less tangible qualities, and it is a little concerning we may be completely getting away from that in favour of sniffing match-worn shirts from Brentford and Brighton.
I get everyone is upset and sad to see Bloomfield go. But the dust has settled a bit for me now. At the end of the day it’s Wycombe Wanderers not Bloomfield FC. What’s done is done, we cannot change anything. It’s time to get behind Sam Grace on Saturday and behind the new man who comes through the gates at Adams Park. We still have a group of lads fighting and giving their all for this club that need our support.
With so many posters claiming to have friends working on the inside, I’m surprised we don’t know who the new manager is and when he’s coming in. I’m a bit disappointed.
Ignore for a moment Matt's playing history with the club and just look at what he has done as a manager in the almost two years he's had.
1) Completely changed the playing style from that under GA
2) Shown the ability to adapt his style when it wasn't working last season
3) Taken us to a position where we have a chance of automatic promotion this year
4) Taken us to a Wembley final
5) Taken us to the fourth round of the FA Cup for only the 4th time in our history
And yet the club allow a situation to develop where another club, albeit in a higher division, are able to tempt him away without so much as a hint of a fight from the hierarchy.
Now try telling me Dan Rice wanted Matt to stay, whatever happens this season is on him (Dan) now. As for trying to say the club are disappointed that Matt chose to leave... that's billocks - and we can all it's see it is. Dan was quite happy for Matt to leave.
I largely agree with all of this, but more respect for Ainsworth is needed I think. I don't think his Wycombe team were "the antithesis of data driven" at all. In fact, Gaz and Dobbo weren't stupid and they used data a lot. They just prioritised different data points. In particular we always focused on ball-speed (i.e. how fast we could get the ball up the pitch). That's arguably one of the most important
Fair point - and I don't think anyone in football is ignoring data completely. But I don't think data darlings say things like "possession can do one". I'd still place them nearer the other end of the spectrum - even in recruitment, I think they looked for characters first (sometimes out of necessity, but not always) and valued intangibles to a massive degree.
I think GA and Dobbo are two of the greatest motivators and culture creators in the game, but I agree I should not hammer that point until it reduces their tactical acumen to shouting "Up and at 'em!" from the sidelines! 😁
I know locality is a factor but we all look for something in our team that separates us from the norm especially those of us who are more recent arrivees. If spending big to ensure great success, get parity with the 'big boys' and head to VAR land is the thing most people want, I fear we risk losing some of the qualities that made Wycombe exciting. Obviously, I will forget all of that once we have assembled a multi-million pound squad under a unassuming, taciturn manager getting players from a spreadsheet but at the moment it still feels a bit sad.
Permanent departure after 20 years, which included a brief hiatus at Col U that we now know was always intended as an opportunity for him to learn before replacing Gaz. I think most reasonable people would see that as significant enough to at least merit some meaningful acknowledgement on the club social feeds and website.
Don't blame you for ditching social Twitter/X. Jack Grimmer posted a fairly bland comment (copied below) a full day after the news was confirmed. I don't know Jack but I consider it highly unlikely he'd want to wait so long to make some sort of comment. It seems reasonable to conclude he was in some way 'guided' by the club as to what he could or couldn't say.
Likewise, staff in the clubs media team are friends of Matt, long time supporters of the club and understand what an important figurehead he was for many people. I'd bet every penny I have that they would have wanted to issue some more meaningful communication to supporters.
Even if the ownership felt, for whatever reason, that Matt has mishandled the exit process somehow, it would have done no harm for them to allow him to make a parting statement on the club website.
All the very best Gaffer! 🙌🏼
Has given everything for the Club over 20+ years and will always be a legend 🪑 @wwfcofficial
We will get a head coach, they’ll have some input into player recruitment but their choices will be dependent upon the data model/ analytics thingy because that’s what the owner wants his game his rules.
But look nobody is the absolute villain in this even if we had all the information.
Yep. Didn't we introduce the data collection in the undershirt tops under Gaz? Ahead of many other clubs, leading to one rival manager moaning they were dangerous or suchlike?
Your facts about Bloomfield are absolutely spot on but you conventionally forgot a number of other facts why he’s gone to Luton. Larger salary, longer contract , higher division , better quality players, most playing in the Premiership last year, bigger crowds, a new 20,000 stadium being built and closer to home. Pretty compelling factors. It was clear from the CEO of Luton interview , they have done extensive research using data ( seems to be a dirty word for some posters) to target Bloomfield. Not certain what we could have done as a club to stop Bloomfield going. The same as we couldn’t stop Ainsworth going. Bloomfield may be Mr. Wycombe but he is a young ambitious manager who wants to secure his family’s future and manage at the highest level. Unfortunately being realistic but we can all dream, he’s not going to achieve that at Wycombe.
Comments
If Matt was not willing to work with the current structure and the management team wanted their own man they are unlikely to release the name of this replacement so quickly . Basically it will back up the argument that this was planned all along. Can see something happening next week but not before that .
We don't need to appoint someone with no managerial experience. It makes little sense in the grand scheme. Might be different if we had a load of young players in the team who came through the development team.
Also think he'd be sacked very early if we lost a few games or a player or two openly questioned him.
Matt has gone now. I know there is no sentiment in football and it's a business and we were wailing for five billion at Torquay but if we don't get a proof of life RTB from Phil and Matt soon, I reserve the right to think the ownership group are ****s
Number 1 reminded me of the R.E.M. Simpson's episode...."Michael, NO!...It's not the R.E.M. way."
'But it's Matt Bloomfield' isn't a reason to keep him as manager long-term if he didn't fit with the grand plan for whatever reason. But for the club to barely acknowledge his departure after 20 years really does stink of a lack of respect for the supporters, the culture of the club and Matt himself.
Times change. I wasn't expecting Matt to be Wycombe manger forever. But the media team haven't even been allowed to so much as repost the club captain's brief message of thanks to Matt (a post which I get the feeling Jack had to get signed off by the club hierarchy).
Not a terrible idea.
But it's not really "his departure after 20 years", is it? That was the first time he left.
I'm not on any social media anymore, so I'm not clued up as to which players have said what, but that feels like a bit of a reach re. Grimmer. Let's not get carried away.
No? Ok then.
The closest I got to a 'denial' was this by the looks of it 🤷♂️
Honestly, this place has turned ridiculous over the past 48 hours. There must have been an awful lot of toys in that pram.
I don’t know much about Sam Grace but looking at his X account (which he doesn’t seem to be particularly active on anymore) one of his last posts was when Blooms left for Col U.
‘Must be a word somewhere in the world, to describe the joint feeling of shared excitement when a friend leaves to pursue a goal, combined with a sadness they’ve left. Outstanding man, team-mate, & mentor, that I’m sure will continue to set standards & help those around him.’
This can’t be an easy situation for him
Many on here started supporting Wycombe in the non-league days. Let's be honest, Leagues One and Two still have a lot of that ethos.
But now the Big Boys are here and we might be getting really professional and the non-league stuff is over. So a lot of people feel sad.
(Yes, I know we spent a year in the Championship but that wasn't a typical year)
I think there are some "straw men" out there, especially the one about the club being within their rights, it's okay for there to be workplace differences, etc. etc. I don't think many (or any) are contending that point. I think the bone of contention is (for me) basically how a club legend was treated, and secondarily the wisdom of seeing little value in (and showing so little respect to) a manager who gave so much to the club AND overachieved this season.
We should all be able to agree that three of Blooms' staff members were unceremoniously sacked (no ITK needed there) and that it is unlikely in the extreme that he was happy about it, or had a say. This is a very passive aggressive (or even outright aggressive) way of putting someone on an island. Yet Blooms continued to achieve great things despite all that.
I also doubt many would contend that the current regime were really enamoured with Matt - even Mick Hartford remarked on how unusually quick and easy it was to grab him. Again, that's public. We can't know for sure an extension was not offered a la Sadler at Walsall, but it seems unlikely in the extreme.
It should also be remarked that the two main players in this who were not valued by the new regime (Matt Bloomfield and Scott Mitchell) walked into Championship jobs, so our "smartest people in the room" valuation of them differs from smart people in the division we are trying to get to.
To put the focus on the football rather than the interpersonal, my ongoing concern is that we have an imbalance towards data. Blooms referenced "we will use data but we will also use our footballing brains and eyes" in the Luton interview, and I think that was another dig. My concern with being too imbalanced with data is that you end up with gaining plaudits for 56-pass moves or touches in the opposition box "but due to mixed results, came 13th". The only Wycombe team ever promoted to the Championship were the antithesis of data-driven, but had serious intangibles. I don't think we should go back to that, but I would have liked to see more of a balance. Maybe we are indeed going to see that, but the treatment of Mitchell and Blooms would appear on the surface to indicate otherwise.
Of course opinions will differ as they always do, but it's a legitimate footballing concern to have, especially if we end up with someone with no track record of success at the helm because the data said so (that obviously remains to be seen). We have always really valued strong culture, characterful leadership and other less tangible qualities, and it is a little concerning we may be completely getting away from that in favour of sniffing match-worn shirts from Brentford and Brighton.
Over 600 amassed between 2003 and 2025
I get everyone is upset and sad to see Bloomfield go. But the dust has settled a bit for me now. At the end of the day it’s Wycombe Wanderers not Bloomfield FC. What’s done is done, we cannot change anything. It’s time to get behind Sam Grace on Saturday and behind the new man who comes through the gates at Adams Park. We still have a group of lads fighting and giving their all for this club that need our support.
With so many posters claiming to have friends working on the inside, I’m surprised we don’t know who the new manager is and when he’s coming in. I’m a bit disappointed.
I know. Luckily there are level-headed people who keep trying to reduce the heat rather than fuel it.
You don’t need inside knowledge to read things and interpret the implications. It’s not exactly decoding the Enigma.
Ignore for a moment Matt's playing history with the club and just look at what he has done as a manager in the almost two years he's had.
1) Completely changed the playing style from that under GA
2) Shown the ability to adapt his style when it wasn't working last season
3) Taken us to a position where we have a chance of automatic promotion this year
4) Taken us to a Wembley final
5) Taken us to the fourth round of the FA Cup for only the 4th time in our history
And yet the club allow a situation to develop where another club, albeit in a higher division, are able to tempt him away without so much as a hint of a fight from the hierarchy.
Now try telling me Dan Rice wanted Matt to stay, whatever happens this season is on him (Dan) now. As for trying to say the club are disappointed that Matt chose to leave... that's billocks - and we can all it's see it is. Dan was quite happy for Matt to leave.
Great post - I believe he has the highest win % in Wycombe history too (at least in the league era).
I largely agree with all of this, but more respect for Ainsworth is needed I think. I don't think his Wycombe team were "the antithesis of data driven" at all. In fact, Gaz and Dobbo weren't stupid and they used data a lot. They just prioritised different data points. In particular we always focused on ball-speed (i.e. how fast we could get the ball up the pitch). That's arguably one of the most important
Fair point - and I don't think anyone in football is ignoring data completely. But I don't think data darlings say things like "possession can do one". I'd still place them nearer the other end of the spectrum - even in recruitment, I think they looked for characters first (sometimes out of necessity, but not always) and valued intangibles to a massive degree.
I think GA and Dobbo are two of the greatest motivators and culture creators in the game, but I agree I should not hammer that point until it reduces their tactical acumen to shouting "Up and at 'em!" from the sidelines! 😁
I know locality is a factor but we all look for something in our team that separates us from the norm especially those of us who are more recent arrivees. If spending big to ensure great success, get parity with the 'big boys' and head to VAR land is the thing most people want, I fear we risk losing some of the qualities that made Wycombe exciting. Obviously, I will forget all of that once we have assembled a multi-million pound squad under a unassuming, taciturn manager getting players from a spreadsheet but at the moment it still feels a bit sad.
Permanent departure after 20 years, which included a brief hiatus at Col U that we now know was always intended as an opportunity for him to learn before replacing Gaz. I think most reasonable people would see that as significant enough to at least merit some meaningful acknowledgement on the club social feeds and website.
Don't blame you for ditching social Twitter/X. Jack Grimmer posted a fairly bland comment (copied below) a full day after the news was confirmed. I don't know Jack but I consider it highly unlikely he'd want to wait so long to make some sort of comment. It seems reasonable to conclude he was in some way 'guided' by the club as to what he could or couldn't say.
Likewise, staff in the clubs media team are friends of Matt, long time supporters of the club and understand what an important figurehead he was for many people. I'd bet every penny I have that they would have wanted to issue some more meaningful communication to supporters.
Even if the ownership felt, for whatever reason, that Matt has mishandled the exit process somehow, it would have done no harm for them to allow him to make a parting statement on the club website.
All the very best Gaffer! 🙌🏼
Has given everything for the Club over 20+ years and will always be a legend 🪑 @wwfcofficial
It's only, as far as I recall, happened with this and Fred leaving.
Maybe someone in the media team just really hates Luton. Something we can all surely understand and get behind.
We will get a head coach, they’ll have some input into player recruitment but their choices will be dependent upon the data model/ analytics thingy because that’s what the owner wants his game his rules.
But look nobody is the absolute villain in this even if we had all the information.
Yep. Didn't we introduce the data collection in the undershirt tops under Gaz? Ahead of many other clubs, leading to one rival manager moaning they were dangerous or suchlike?
Can't quite compare the 2.
Fred leaving was a throwaway couple of lines, that someone had the comedy of putting down to the office being cleaned that day.
Your facts about Bloomfield are absolutely spot on but you conventionally forgot a number of other facts why he’s gone to Luton. Larger salary, longer contract , higher division , better quality players, most playing in the Premiership last year, bigger crowds, a new 20,000 stadium being built and closer to home. Pretty compelling factors. It was clear from the CEO of Luton interview , they have done extensive research using data ( seems to be a dirty word for some posters) to target Bloomfield. Not certain what we could have done as a club to stop Bloomfield going. The same as we couldn’t stop Ainsworth going. Bloomfield may be Mr. Wycombe but he is a young ambitious manager who wants to secure his family’s future and manage at the highest level. Unfortunately being realistic but we can all dream, he’s not going to achieve that at Wycombe.
Not certain what we could have done as a club to stop Bloomfield going.
From his interviews it sounds like making him feel wanted at Wycombe would have been a start