Preece leaves St George's Lane

[darrellbutler]

www.worcestercityfc.co.uk/Default.aspx

[creaner]

Not a great shock after recent events. Cunningly timed to coincide with Martin Jols availability however...

[tim]

I am saddened by this, if not all that surprised. Preecey has had his critics, but the likes of Mourinho would have their critics at the Lane, it is a hard job, make no mistake.

All the best Preecey for your future football career.

[andy]

I am very saddened by this. And surprised.

I hope he wasnt pushed out.

[bigdave]

very saddened here also, very difficult job on his own, would have been a lot easier if he had an assitant.

all the best andy for the future.

thanks.

[steve89]

All the best to Andy in the future but i do hope this means an end to a formation of which we don't have the players who can play it and a change to out circumstances.

As a spurs supporter today makes it very managerless.

Heres hoping we get the right man the way boddy has written it on the website he seems open to offers perhaps we should all apply?

Anyway end of a chapter i guess .Good luck andy thanks for your time and effort good cup run in their but to me you'll be remember for those pointless substitution's where you brought yourself on.

Steve

[gobby cow]

I was really shocked to hear this this morning, it was the last thing I expected to hear, especially as JB wasnt sacked and things were much worse in the last few months of his reign.

I have to respect the board's decision as they ultimately have the club's best interests at heart.

One thing though, the players will have to buck their ideas up if they want to keep their jobs, but considering how half hearted some of them are I doubt they care.

Hopefully the new manager will address the lack of leadership on the pitch and also the total lack of communication.

Good luck to Andy for his future, I am sure he will now find the northern club he craves.

Sammy Lee is my man to replace him.

[andy]

Oh dear. H&W saying Preece was sacked. If true, that is a major concern to me.

[bigdave]

maybe they could sweet talk mr mourinho till the end of the season on a volentry basis, after all he can't take on a prem club till then, & dosn't really need the money.

or are they waiting for steve mcclaren at the end of next month.

[tim]

andy said:

Oh dear. H&W saying Preece was sacked. If true, that is a major concern to me.

In terms of the additional cost to WCFC by way of payoff?

If that is the case that he was sacked, fair play to Dave Boddy for having the balls to take such an action, even if I don't necessarily agree that it was the right action.

[LeedsWCFC]

I'm disappointed to hear that Andy Preece has gone although I'm not surprised. I still had faith in him as, it seems, did most other City fans.
The story doesn't say whether he was sacked or if he resigned so anyone such as BBC H & W who makes such a claim is merely guessing.

I'm sure Andy will prove to be a great success somewhere and I join in in wishing him the very best of luck for the future.

[andy]

I think the use of the phrase 'Preece has been sacked by Worcester City', which they definitely used live on air (but not in the sports report), may well be 'loose' reporting by the BBC H&W presenter.

[gobby cow]

As Colin Layland heard a rumour of an announcement I wonder if it was mutual consent. Trevor Owens would have been at training last night and if he didnt say sacked I think that must be the case.

I prefer the sacking idea though as it proves the board have balls

[colinlayland]

Am I the only one who was not at all surprised by this announcement? Poor results, players playing out of position, sitting in the dugout at half time sulking because the team were playing badly. It's no good just being a nice or decent chap. Remember a lot of you have come on here moaning about differant players or even the whole team. It was Andy Preece who picked the side and chose the formation they played, and sorry to say it did not work.

[si1268]

Poor results, very poor entertainment, loss of gate, what do you expect? This was Preece's team made in his image, invested in by the board and it was rubbish. I had no faith he would ever pull it around but I thought he would go at the end of the season or early into next season. Thats the only suprise to me.

[niels]

Can't say that I'm that shocked. I had a quick chat with DB before the Hucknall game and it was quite clear that he didn't like the style football that he was watching lately. The performance that followed must have been the final nail.

[B*ue dragonstander]

Predictable after ;

1. the best part of 3 years with the club without getting realistically near the play-offs
2. playing 5 at the back at home and boring us to death more often than not
3. an early FA Cup exit following a couple of diappointing exists from Cup and Trphy last season
4. some very inconsistent performances from a talented playing squad culminating ina 5- 0 drubbing at a club who had lost 11 out of 13 league matches prior to the match
5. the alienation of a substantial number of supporters by both his antics and those of his former assistant culminating in an outrageous and unacceptable attack on the fans last season (fronted by AM)
6. the prospect of us being in Conference South next season?
7. A new ground that needs filling in 2 and a half seasons time

All in all the conclusion must be that Andy Preece - despite his hard work , dedication, enthusiasm, contacts, and good signings is not the manager who can make the team add up to more than the sum of the parts - the essence of success. This is not a critiscism it is fact. He simply hasnt managed to pull it off and I guess we might as well try someone else. He was given a fair crack of the whip - all but 3 years spanning 3 close seasons

Thank you Andy for giving us a real high in 2005-06 with the best Cup run the Club has had for 30 years (that was some achievement) and a memorable victory over Burton last season together with a hell of a run of away form in 2006.

I have no idea who might apply for the job but I wouldnt mind the guy who led Kettering to verge of promotion and was sacked with one match to go last season - Morrell Maison (an dBig Ron if needed!) Anyway after 3 past players it may be time to turn away from old faces and look to a "furriner" to inject a new playing culture at the Lane.

Up the Blues.

[sleepinggiant]

Was quite shocked when I heard the news last night as I thought he deserved a few more games to get things right.

I am also led to believe that this was the decision of the board and that this decision may have been made before Tuesday night.

Morrell Maison is now manager at Halesowen Town (with Big Ron) so is a non-starter.

[gobby cow]

Where does the board advertise this vacancy?

[B*ue dragonstander]

sleepinggiant said:

Morrell Maison is now manager at Halesowen Town (with Big Ron) so is a non-starter.

You are not prevented from applying for better jobs as far as I am aware? I cant imagine that Halesowen are paying him a fortune. You never know..

I only mentioned Big Ron half heartedly and didnt realise he and MM were still "together". Although Big Ron has his critics he is the sort of character who really could wake up the "Sleeping Giant". His televised stint as "adviser" at Peterboro was pretty impressive IMHO. His presence would put 200 on the gate every week.

[Deleted]

No Colin Layland you're not alone.

While I still try and get to the Lane as often as posible I've long since given up on the idea of watching anything entertaining when I get there. Hundreds of others haven't even bothered to turn up. I've not been posting on team matters on here for a while now - because I didn't want to be negative. But I'd lost faith in what's been going on.

BDS wrote "the manager who can make the team add up to more than the sum of the parts - the essence of success". Exactly.

We buy Alfreton's best two players and they turn us over with players that were motivated but lower profile.

I still believe AP has put together one of the best collection of players we've had in a while. But results haven't reflected that. Fans will put up with turgid performances if the success follows (Chelsea) or will turn up to watch a cavalier approach that falls short. But dull tactics with no end gain is a disaster.

The squad is unbalanced - we're short in midfield; the tactics have been too negative; players are playing a system they look uncomfortable with; there's far too much travellling for most non-local players - AP himself must be permanently jet-lagged.

I wish AP well - he's one of us. I'm saddened that another dawn has failed, but we need new blood, someone who can galvanise this talented squad and make a real team out of them.

[noel14]

No great shock if we recall Dave Boddy's comments after the Tamworth Cup game and his view at AGM that the Boston game was an improvement but not a major one. He also commented then about the regular meetings and discussion that the football committee of Directors had with AP and he had ben formally written to about some of his touchline rants which did not sit well with a "Family Friendly Club" (whatever that means!)
So I began to think that the relationship was beginning to break down

[andy]

Someone above mentioned what they will remember AP for. Here's my view.

Andy came in five weeks after the Club had announced a 6-month exclusivity deal with Miller Homes (it seemed then that big changes were afoot - if not imminent then on a timescale of months rather than years). After nearly three years at the helm, Andy has departed three weeks after the announcment of the ground move. Andy Preece has the mentality of a football league manager, he doesnt put up with cr*p, and he wore his heart on his sleeve for a Club that he wanted to help move forward.

I was confident that Andy was the right man for the Club after the ground move. He unearthed players of quality out of the blue (like Gareth Seddon and Justin Thompson). In my view, he was the right man for the bigger budget. Even with the smaller squad that he has assembled within the situation that the Clubs ongoing allowed, he was capable of managing a side to beat (certainly not lose to)full-time Clubs like Accrington, Burton, Southport and Kettering. Moreorless consistently, when we werent hampered by having no centre-halves available.

Unfortunately, the same squad was not capable of beating the likes of Leigh RMI and Solihull Moors.

Its very tricky for the Club now. They have to decide when the money from the ground move is going to come through. It seems they will be appointing a caretaker for a couple of month or so. They have to be absolutely clear if they are looking to appoint someone to carry on holding the fort on the same current budget until Xmas 2009 (more than 2 years ahead), or the manager who will benefit from the best budget that WCFC have ever had. Only a manager with that budget can be expected to secure promotion (whether we think it or not, the Club have certainly told us that repeatedly). The two types of permanent candidate are very unlikely to be the same person. For me, the manager for both situations was Andy Preece. He has proven consistently that he could hold City at a better than mid-table position. In my view, he deserved to be the 'inheritor' of the bigger budget. He developed a squad I thought most of whom would be there for the step up, when another 3-4 could be added. Either he didnt think that, or the Club didnt think that.

Hucknall has got nothing to do with it, as far as I'm concerned. We talk about the club looking to move forward in the league, and then taking a setback (like Tuesday). To me, it currently appears to me as if the same has just happened but within a bigger picture.

[B*ue dragonstander]

I have no complaints that AP was a very good appointment at the time with the potential for success and AP really gave it everything.

As Lord Ealing says he is "one of us". The fact that his reign has ended (as they all must) does not mean we are not grateful for his efforts and that he - like John Barton and George Rooney - is not welcome at the Lane or anything like that. Far from it in fact.

He tried he fell slightly short but he was a 100% er and you cant ask for more than that. The Board have decided it is time to move on and I think they are right.

[B*ue dragonstander]

Andy wrote

"Only a manager with that budget can be expected to secure promotion (whether we think it or not, the Club have certainly told us that repeatedly)"

Nobby had no budget to speak of when he arrived.

We will not find another Nobby but that is the sort of personality we must have to lift us up, budget or no budget. Someone who has a dream and the vision and knowledge to turn it to reality by enthusing others and taking them with him ( or her for that matter).

[LeedsWCFC]

It will be interesting to see which of the players regard themselves as Andy Preece's men as opposed to Worcester City's especially with Conference South beckoning for next season.

[andy]

I've no idea of Nobby's budget, but as a Southern League North side it was surely higher than all competitors at that level. But there were also 'unusual' approaches like collecting in the Social Club to buy Roger Shaw. Dave Roberts made (supplemented?) a living as commercial manager.

I can be sure that if Preecey had gone around asking for 5-6K for a new midfielder in February of last year to help with the promotion push, he would have met with the same positive response as Nobby did.

I see where Kieran is coming from. Will be interesting to see how things shape up in the coming weeks. May also depend on where Preecey goes. I wouldnt rule out somewhere like Droylsden in the short-term. I doubt he would go from City if there werent opportunities around.

The CS issue is an unfortunate one that, unlike others, the Club has to face up to. It is, alas, looking increasingly likely. Alas, as it may lead to a bigger than normal break-up of the squad. Though being in a league that doesnt have all of Altrincham, Northwich, Droylsden, Stafford, Tamworth, Southport, Kettering and Boston in it may not be a bad thing. (That is if Harrogate and Hyde go up).

[B*ue dragonstander]

Things were very low all round in the mid 1970's following our relegation and failure to bounce straight back. Much blacker than today.

[noel14]

I see that BBC Sport are stating that AP walked out

[suv]

I must admit that I hadn't see this decision coming an am a little suprised & saddened, whether I liked or disliked Andy Preece I did beleive he was the "Right Man for the Job".

I now hope that the Directors don't make a hasty decision in appointing a new manager too soon. I would like to see a few weeks (even to end of Nov) for all aplications to come in, followed by interveiws and 2nd interveiws with all suitable candidates (similar to the real world of work)!!

Will Des Lyttle be a candidate?