It also bears saying that if this was a straightforward "leaving for a better job", it is very odd for JJ to reference reasons that may come out down the line.
This old tweet from Danny Bloomfield made me laugh - a different one to the famous deleted one, referencing a generic peppy letter written after the Villa game that didn't actually mention Blooms or the players.
I have been unusually tied up with work these past few days so haven’t really had chance to contribute to the discussions.
Reading back through most of the comments I am reminded what a (generally) respectful community exists on this site as there have been some very strong and real emotions expressed and although these have been occasionally questioned very little has been dismissed completely out of hand.
Of course there will be differences in opinions and theories as to why a popular manager should choose to leave, for a ‘better’ club (that hurts to say but I do get that logic from @flymofrank’s arguments) halfway through a highly successful season.
For some it is easy to see as ‘just football’ and in the absence of any concrete evidence to the contrary I am envious of them. I really wish I could see what they see and just move on.
For those supporters, Wycombe Wanderers FC are fast-forwarding to a place where we can (apparently) pay €1 million euros for a midfielder few of us knew existed a week or so and can realistically dream of playing Championship football in the relatively near future.
It must be incredibly exciting for them to support Wycombe Wanderers FC at this pivotal moment in our 141 year (or 138 if you prefer*) history.
I really, really wish I could feel like that about our club at the moment.
But I can’t.
For me, a lot of things that mattered to me about supporting the club - the values, the culture of the last few years, the community essence of Wycombe Wanderers have seemingly been allowed to dissipate in a very short period and for me that hurts inside.
I do get that with a billionaire owner its pretty inevitable that’s what we are going to get and perhaps the pay off (a successful Championship level - give or take - team and a cracking Academy) will make it feel worthwhile.
But at the moment I feel as detached from what I always considered as ‘my’ club as I have ever done.
When we were under Hayes ownership I felt similar until the shock of Torquay reminded me that the existence of the club itself meant more to me than whoever happened to be paying (or not paying) the bills.
On a counter-argument though I am reminded of the schism that happened within the club in the later Loakes Park years between the more traditional board members who wanted financial stability and steady progression and those who believed now was the time to speculate to propel us forward. The latter won the argument leading to some of our greatest years so perhaps I’m just the wrong side of history.
I hope so.
Regardless, I will be at Mansfield hoping for three points (albeit expecting to lose 2-0).
For those of you who have read this far apologies for taking up your time. Writing it was a little cathartic and my thanks to everyone who makes this site such a safe space that I feel comfortable venting at such length.
*That debate we had on here a week or so ago over whether we formed in 1884 or 1887 now feels like it happened in a different lifetime/timeline.
There’s lots of people mention those “ITK” and lots of “I have heard from sources” etc posts. It might be my cynicism kicking in, but the very fact there are anonymous sources from within the club willing to and apparently actively talking about what’s going on behind what should be - at least at a corporate level - closed doors is more concerning than anything to me.
For everyone that is in the know, remember your mates are probably telling you stuff they shouldn’t. Either they want there jobs and you telling the secrets here puts their job at risk, or worse, they don’t give a shit about their jobs because they have checked out mentally because things have got that bad.
sure, forums thrive off tidbits of ITK scuttlebutt but there’s a small and finite number of people your info can come from.
Your last paragraph nails this season under MB with increased funding from our owner ML, you could increase that to 2024.
Why would a man who has spent 22 years of his whole adult life here want to leave when he’s taken us to great heights and had the opportunity to take us up and take us much further in the FA Cup.
Matt was the man to lead us and was doing a great job with some of the finest football we’d ever seen at AP and getting result after result after result.
All the signs are there that he was not wanted by Rice and ultimately ML. The club made no effort to keep him or thank him openly which I find abhorrent considering his commitment over 22 years.
I am sure we will be successful without Matt but we were being hugely successful with him at the helm.
I don’t know anyone within the club but I know people who work in football. People who work in football talk to each other, and are rarely discreet. I don’t consider myself ITK but I do hear things from very credible sources.
I was told when the new owners first arrived that Blooms wasn’t their man. I was also told more recently that Blooms “wasn’t having them”. It wasn’t exactly a shock when he left for pastures new.
How much of that is people talking with authority on a subject they know well from the inside, and how much is tired football stereotype that’s trotted out every time a new owner of a football club comes in. Because that sounds very much the latter to me tbh.
An Incumbent manager who has a new boss is always not “the owners man” unless and until they give him a contract. Same can and is said for players after a new manager comes in.
I’m not saying MB wasn’t regarded as the new Ownerships “man” - he probably wasn’t- but they could have done what Everton’s new owners did and get rid of the manager almost as soon as they came in.
I rather suspect Rice et al also didn’t pull any punches in that respect and gave MB the courtesy of telling him the truth that the whole structure of the football club will change and that included the position of Manager towards a head coach role.
That scenario both explains Matt not “being their man” and him “not having them” as everyone internally knew what direction it was going in and it was different to what Matt wanted.
And certainly with a bit more hindsight, the interview Dan and Jeremy gave about the academy and saying that positions will be filled with people with similar goals and aspirations were clearly talking about the first team manager and staff.
Genuinely curious to hear what it is that has changed to make some of you feel that the culture / ethos of the club is being eradicated?
What has changed but from a few staff? I appreciate MB was part of the furniture at WW, but we don't even know what life after MB is like yet, so how can you suggest things have got worse all of a sudden? There must be something you have experienced in the past 12 months which makes you feel that way.
Players, managers and other non-playing staff come and go - it is far more than that which creates a club's ethos.
Oh, and one last thing if we trying to pick a good side or bad side between old management and new owner - there’s one thing that can’t be said of the new ownership. Whoever was picking and scouting players etc - be it Rice and his software package, Matt B himself or Scott Mitchell, when you look at the signings we had over the summer and into the new season - including Fred who I suspect isn’t on a bad wage - the new owners sanctioned a lot of players Matt did want. Matt’s talked about them in his interviews.
They could have veto’d any/all of them if they really wanted to play hard ball. Instead they gave him a decent number of players signed and as the season has gone on, up until this window, things have gradually changed to a point that MB has found an opportunity that fits more like what he thought he was going to have here. But it changed on him.
Sometimes that happens without bad guys on one side of it and good guys on the other. It’s just change.
Family first, Plucky underdogs, struggling to survive, upsetting the odds and hoping to break even
to:
to ruthless business first approach with a plan to get to the holy grail of breaking even or making a profit (however unlikely in the business of professional football) using both experience in the sector and the backing with financial clout to for fill those plans off the pitch while restructuring the club to a more modern approach that really can take the humanity of of it.
Does it matter if ML is invisible? Actions and words etc. Couhig said a lot, but didn't actually do a great deal. Still early days and the jury's out but with the academy, training ground, high profile staff appointments, transfer fees etc perhaps ML might prove that you don't need to shout the loudest.
It'd certainly be interesting to find the thread where there were a lot of raving comments about Rice early on, especially having heard him speak a couple of times and compare the comments then to now!
The trouble is there are people on both sides here who are refusing to see things from both sides.
I think Matt should still be here, but he isnt, it's happened before in football and it will happen again.
In my 45 years of watching this team I've seen a lot of managers come and go, some good, so great, some awful ! But that's what they do, they come and go. The club will always be here and we will still be supporting them, because it's what we do. We need to agree that were not all going to agree here, but we need to move on.
The king is dead, long live the new king (whoever he may be.. as long as its not Rooney)
I think there is a big difference between Rob and ML. From what I could see, Rob only had this on the go and ML has his fingers in many pies and relies on his appointees to do the work. I had a lot of respect for Rob and I’m unlikely to meet anyone who has his passion. I know I’ll never see ML in the beer tent (drinks are on me if I’m wrong)
well no they couldnt have veto'd them all, as they would of had serious questions why we hadnt signed anyone and been an obvious hatchet job on the manager
Comments
When he says "I've read the statement" he may as well have added "and it's total bullshit"
That's how I read it anyway
Agreed! The accompanying laugh spoke volumes too.
It also bears saying that if this was a straightforward "leaving for a better job", it is very odd for JJ to reference reasons that may come out down the line.
From that interview JJ seems to be on the same page as many of us here, referencing the number of times Matt stressed "being wanted" as a major factor
This old tweet from Danny Bloomfield made me laugh - a different one to the famous deleted one, referencing a generic peppy letter written after the Villa game that didn't actually mention Blooms or the players.
Is JJ in the know?
JJ is such a good interviewee - always thoughtful and eloquent.
I have been unusually tied up with work these past few days so haven’t really had chance to contribute to the discussions.
Reading back through most of the comments I am reminded what a (generally) respectful community exists on this site as there have been some very strong and real emotions expressed and although these have been occasionally questioned very little has been dismissed completely out of hand.
Of course there will be differences in opinions and theories as to why a popular manager should choose to leave, for a ‘better’ club (that hurts to say but I do get that logic from @flymofrank’s arguments) halfway through a highly successful season.
For some it is easy to see as ‘just football’ and in the absence of any concrete evidence to the contrary I am envious of them. I really wish I could see what they see and just move on.
For those supporters, Wycombe Wanderers FC are fast-forwarding to a place where we can (apparently) pay €1 million euros for a midfielder few of us knew existed a week or so and can realistically dream of playing Championship football in the relatively near future.
It must be incredibly exciting for them to support Wycombe Wanderers FC at this pivotal moment in our 141 year (or 138 if you prefer*) history.
I really, really wish I could feel like that about our club at the moment.
But I can’t.
For me, a lot of things that mattered to me about supporting the club - the values, the culture of the last few years, the community essence of Wycombe Wanderers have seemingly been allowed to dissipate in a very short period and for me that hurts inside.
I do get that with a billionaire owner its pretty inevitable that’s what we are going to get and perhaps the pay off (a successful Championship level - give or take - team and a cracking Academy) will make it feel worthwhile.
But at the moment I feel as detached from what I always considered as ‘my’ club as I have ever done.
When we were under Hayes ownership I felt similar until the shock of Torquay reminded me that the existence of the club itself meant more to me than whoever happened to be paying (or not paying) the bills.
On a counter-argument though I am reminded of the schism that happened within the club in the later Loakes Park years between the more traditional board members who wanted financial stability and steady progression and those who believed now was the time to speculate to propel us forward. The latter won the argument leading to some of our greatest years so perhaps I’m just the wrong side of history.
I hope so.
Regardless, I will be at Mansfield hoping for three points (albeit expecting to lose 2-0).
For those of you who have read this far apologies for taking up your time. Writing it was a little cathartic and my thanks to everyone who makes this site such a safe space that I feel comfortable venting at such length.
*That debate we had on here a week or so ago over whether we formed in 1884 or 1887 now feels like it happened in a different lifetime/timeline.
No it was kinda what I set out to do but I’m pretty sure pocket size police officers were available at that time.
There’s lots of people mention those “ITK” and lots of “I have heard from sources” etc posts. It might be my cynicism kicking in, but the very fact there are anonymous sources from within the club willing to and apparently actively talking about what’s going on behind what should be - at least at a corporate level - closed doors is more concerning than anything to me.
For everyone that is in the know, remember your mates are probably telling you stuff they shouldn’t. Either they want there jobs and you telling the secrets here puts their job at risk, or worse, they don’t give a shit about their jobs because they have checked out mentally because things have got that bad.
sure, forums thrive off tidbits of ITK scuttlebutt but there’s a small and finite number of people your info can come from.
Your last paragraph nails this season under MB with increased funding from our owner ML, you could increase that to 2024.
Why would a man who has spent 22 years of his whole adult life here want to leave when he’s taken us to great heights and had the opportunity to take us up and take us much further in the FA Cup.
Matt was the man to lead us and was doing a great job with some of the finest football we’d ever seen at AP and getting result after result after result.
All the signs are there that he was not wanted by Rice and ultimately ML. The club made no effort to keep him or thank him openly which I find abhorrent considering his commitment over 22 years.
I am sure we will be successful without Matt but we were being hugely successful with him at the helm.
I’m gutted he’s gone and I bet Matt is too.
Do you think our owner will ever visit AP?
I don’t know anyone within the club but I know people who work in football. People who work in football talk to each other, and are rarely discreet. I don’t consider myself ITK but I do hear things from very credible sources.
I was told when the new owners first arrived that Blooms wasn’t their man. I was also told more recently that Blooms “wasn’t having them”. It wasn’t exactly a shock when he left for pastures new.
He’ll lose his shine on here if he is.
Smartest comment on this thread, would be interested to see the point of view for people that disliked it?
JJ says he told Bloomfield "You had to take this opportunity" as Luton are a Championship club. Nothing very cagey about that.
How much of that is people talking with authority on a subject they know well from the inside, and how much is tired football stereotype that’s trotted out every time a new owner of a football club comes in. Because that sounds very much the latter to me tbh.
An Incumbent manager who has a new boss is always not “the owners man” unless and until they give him a contract. Same can and is said for players after a new manager comes in.
I’m not saying MB wasn’t regarded as the new Ownerships “man” - he probably wasn’t- but they could have done what Everton’s new owners did and get rid of the manager almost as soon as they came in.
I rather suspect Rice et al also didn’t pull any punches in that respect and gave MB the courtesy of telling him the truth that the whole structure of the football club will change and that included the position of Manager towards a head coach role.
That scenario both explains Matt not “being their man” and him “not having them” as everyone internally knew what direction it was going in and it was different to what Matt wanted.
And certainly with a bit more hindsight, the interview Dan and Jeremy gave about the academy and saying that positions will be filled with people with similar goals and aspirations were clearly talking about the first team manager and staff.
Genuinely curious to hear what it is that has changed to make some of you feel that the culture / ethos of the club is being eradicated?
What has changed but from a few staff? I appreciate MB was part of the furniture at WW, but we don't even know what life after MB is like yet, so how can you suggest things have got worse all of a sudden? There must be something you have experienced in the past 12 months which makes you feel that way.
Players, managers and other non-playing staff come and go - it is far more than that which creates a club's ethos.
Oh, and one last thing if we trying to pick a good side or bad side between old management and new owner - there’s one thing that can’t be said of the new ownership. Whoever was picking and scouting players etc - be it Rice and his software package, Matt B himself or Scott Mitchell, when you look at the signings we had over the summer and into the new season - including Fred who I suspect isn’t on a bad wage - the new owners sanctioned a lot of players Matt did want. Matt’s talked about them in his interviews.
They could have veto’d any/all of them if they really wanted to play hard ball. Instead they gave him a decent number of players signed and as the season has gone on, up until this window, things have gradually changed to a point that MB has found an opportunity that fits more like what he thought he was going to have here. But it changed on him.
Sometimes that happens without bad guys on one side of it and good guys on the other. It’s just change.
1
And lastly - I hope Luton get relegated.
I wanted them to get relegated before Matt B went there.
I want them to get relegated now Matt has gone there.
Was the same with Col U.
I would love to see us get promoted.
After everything that gone on in the last week, nothing has changed in those respects.
Have the Trust commented publicly on Matt Bloomfield’s departure?
The way the Couhigs handled GA going to QPR vs the way MB has gone to Luton. There is a massive difference and it’s not a good one.
The Scott Mitchell removal.
ML being pretty much invisible vs Rob Couhig.
I think it’s from the:
Family first, Plucky underdogs, struggling to survive, upsetting the odds and hoping to break even
to:
to ruthless business first approach with a plan to get to the holy grail of breaking even or making a profit (however unlikely in the business of professional football) using both experience in the sector and the backing with financial clout to for fill those plans off the pitch while restructuring the club to a more modern approach that really can take the humanity of of it.
but other than that. Basically nothing. Right?
Does it matter if ML is invisible? Actions and words etc. Couhig said a lot, but didn't actually do a great deal. Still early days and the jury's out but with the academy, training ground, high profile staff appointments, transfer fees etc perhaps ML might prove that you don't need to shout the loudest.
It'd certainly be interesting to find the thread where there were a lot of raving comments about Rice early on, especially having heard him speak a couple of times and compare the comments then to now!
Probably haven't noticed he's gone!
This
The trouble is there are people on both sides here who are refusing to see things from both sides.
I think Matt should still be here, but he isnt, it's happened before in football and it will happen again.
In my 45 years of watching this team I've seen a lot of managers come and go, some good, so great, some awful ! But that's what they do, they come and go. The club will always be here and we will still be supporting them, because it's what we do. We need to agree that were not all going to agree here, but we need to move on.
The king is dead, long live the new king (whoever he may be.. as long as its not Rooney)
https://x.com/wwstrust/status/1879438378392748478
I think there is a big difference between Rob and ML. From what I could see, Rob only had this on the go and ML has his fingers in many pies and relies on his appointees to do the work. I had a lot of respect for Rob and I’m unlikely to meet anyone who has his passion. I know I’ll never see ML in the beer tent (drinks are on me if I’m wrong)
well no they couldnt have veto'd them all, as they would of had serious questions why we hadnt signed anyone and been an obvious hatchet job on the manager
They could have. They could have also sacked him on day 1.
Literally no one could have stopped them doing what they wanted. If they wanted to, they could have done.