Couldn’t have put it better myself. He’s gone backwards under Dodds, like everything else. For his own sake, I hope he leaves.
My biggest issue with Dodds is personality - and specifically as far as it relates to motivating a team.
He is clearly a good bloke, and loved by players he has worked with, but his whole personality is that of a coach - not a number one, and not even a number two, but someone who works on the grass with the players. He is probably good at this, but it is not what we need (or all that we need).
When he gives interviews, he comes across more like an advisor who has come in to give a few tips and pointers to the players, and when we lose his disappointment appears more of an independent observer who saw some technical failings and will give more gentle advice to “the group” for the next time around.
The problem with this is that coaching is only one element of the game. You need to pick a team, set up your style, make substitutions, respond tactically during a match, and perhaps most of all, be able to lead and motivate. This last point is where I feel our whole current regime are missing the point.
Ainsworth has always said “One thing I can promise you, my team will give everything.” And they do. Why? Because GA has always been able to motivate, and communicate his own tenacity into a team of players. So a team of very limited players (technically speaking) rode up to the heady heights of the Championship. On the flip side, we have often seen and played against more technical sides that seem unmotivated or lacking in tenacity, and we have often beaten them.
We have a technical squad now, and as a result will win some games, and look very good at times, because technical players can play well. But it is never enough, all the more so at League One level, where you have to fight for every square inch of space and time. So much of any sport is between the ears, and teams always end up in the image of their manager (or head coach), specifically the mental image - mentally strong sides have mentally strong leaders, as simple as that.
This is not some diatribe about “wanting it more” - the ideal team would have both technical ability and tenacity to win those battles. But I feel we have gone from one extreme to another. There are moments players need to be picked up, or scolded, or pushed (metaphorically), or shouted at, and I have a hard time seeing Dodds doing any of that. If players ran through brick walls for GA and MB, they don’t appear (thus far) to be up for a leisurely stroll through lace curtains for Dodds, and that is a problem.
Ainsworth?
I think Dodds as what it takes to motivate players, he sold the project to them and they have come to play for Wycombe and him. We need to back Dodds and HIS TEAM. I saw a lot of improvements on Saturday and with a couple of tweaks we will be competing at the top. Some excellent signings today by Rice, Dodds and the management team
the project = double what the other club is offering you
Maybe with the money our owner has and the desire to get us to the prem… maybe Kone will be told he can run out his contract and go for nothing/peanuts to whoever wants him…. Just give us your all while here??? Whats 3,5,10 million to him? I bet if he reaches down the back of his sofa he would find that sort of money
![]()
I don’t think people realise how much money our owner has tbh. As long as he is happy to fund us… we have no issues with needing to sell players for millions to survive like we always have.
For perspective the difference between a million and a billion.
1 million seconds is 11 days 13 hours 46 mins and 40 seconds.
1 billion seconds is a smidge over 31 years and 8 months
Our owner is worth 6 billion. We don’t need to sell Kone for cash
I think what you say is true. I would add, though, as an explanation for RK’s drop off in form in the second half of last season: it was his first full season as a full time professional in the football league. It takes players time to learn to pace themselves through a season. Some who come up through professional club academies learn that earlier, but RK’s route into the pro leagues has been a bit different. It is an aspect of his game that is sure to improve and he will almost certainly become more consistent as he gains experience and matures.
Well lets wait and see if you are correct or very wrong . One thing is for sure he deserves more time to prove his worth . I rememeber thinking both Ainsworth and Bloomfield were too nice to be managers . Ainsworth struggled at the beginning because the players saw him as one of the lads . He said at the time he had to make a stand to become gaffer and not be Gaz. Bloomfield too would have had to learn . Presumably because of the events of last term you and others seem unable to give him the time afforded to GA and MB to evolve . They had to adapt and change to become successful in the role . Dodds is a young guy who deserves the respect to try and mould himself as a manager too. Neither of his predecessors where experienced in management and both were nice guys .
I don’t think it really works like that in real terms, though. Although Lomtadze is worth an absurd amount of money, his money doesn’t necessarily equal the club’s money.
Yes, they’ve spent a hefty sum so far, but that doesn’t mean they’re suddenly going to turn their noses up at the highest fee we’ve ever received, and likely will ever receive for years. If he isn’t willing to sign a contract this month, he’ll go, I’m absolutely certain.
And being “worth” £6bn is far from £6bn in liquid cash to inject. I am well aware he is obscenely rich. I am well aware he can easily fund us, but I would imagine Dan Rice has to prove his worth to some extent too!
To be accurate, as at 8 June, Forbes rate his current net worth as $5.9B, which is £4.41B, and put him at #624 in the world.
I don’t think enyone expects an injection of £6bn to be fair
if he has £600m liquid cash that is still 20 times more than Rob Couhig was worth in total .
Because as a club WWFC has to comply with SCMP, I don’t think the wealth of MK is entirely relevant.
We will need to sell players for large fees, if not Kone then who?
I’m not saying he has 6 billion £ or $ or € or whatever to spash on us. I was just trying to explain how mega loaded he is in comparison to say millionaires like RC.
If lomzamate wants his wishes he can fund it.
He can keep pumping money into “infrastructure” as he has been to make it viable
Also… i may have totally misunderstood things and maybe everything is now “tightened up" to stop such happening…. But what is to stop him paying… for a silly example 1 billion quid to sponsor the stadium and call it Kaspi Park next season?
The Danes to FC Dinamo Tbilisi for €20m?
I am perfectly happy to be proved wrong over the course of the season, as no way would Dodds get fired after a handful of matches, so he will get plenty of time, of course. But I think both Ainsworth and Bloomfield always had an abundance of steel in their personalities. Dodds is sitting there scratching his head over steel being “missing” on Saturday. That’s the difference.
I would suggest that he was not there scratching his head for a minute. Quite the contrary . He identified an issue and acted decisively and quickly .