Martin Ling is Manager of the Month

[Glostergull]

Congratulations to Martin ling on an impressive acheivement coupled with Ellis getting player of the month. When was the last time we had a double like that.
Seems that true achievement can be recognised after all. although I hope this isn't followed by a crashing defeat to the Shrews.
If they are on song and concentrating like I know they can they will carry on where they left off.
Wow wouldn't it be some season if by fortune. few injuries and no suspensions we actualy managed the impossible and did something we have never done before. No I won't say it. don't want to put a curse on the season but it's actually not impossible by any stretch. Creepy and Swidnod are not far away and not exactly running away with things by any stretch of the imagination. Witness Cheltnehams success. we could easily emulate that.
Rock on United .Onward and upward

[CP Gull]

Well done Lingy, fully deserved.

I couldn't resist having a little peak over at the Cambridge United forum and surprise, surprise they are still as bitter as ever and can't wait for our form to turn.

I found myself scratching my head over this post on there ...

"Their woeful run without a win earlier this season though says to me that he's no better there than here. It's just that they've managed to get on a run, with their confidence high, so his general ineptitude is being masked at present.

For me, you don't have to be a good manager to preside over a team on a good run. To be a good manager you have to be able to turn difficult spells around quickly and influence games when things haven't started well. I've seen no evidence to suggest he can perform the latter at all, in fact the exact opposite - he looks clueless as soon as things aren't going well, and ruts seem to last forever"
Read more: http://cambridgeunitedfc.proboards.com/ ... z1lywTXRoP" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

So this guy starts off by saying that he (Lingy) managed to turn our form around after a relatively poor start .... but then he totally contradicts himself by saying that once one of Lingy's teams is in a rut he is totally incapable of turning it around ! doh! So what part of no win in 8 games followed by 11 wins, 2 draws and 1 defeat from the next 14 doesn't prove that he has just done exactly that - by a couple of tweaks in terms of selection and formation, he has proved he can turn things around and how exactly has our "rut lasted forever" when clearly it didn't????

There's more here too ...

"He also has (on paper) quite a poor squad compared to a lot of sides in L2, and has just lost their best defender to Preston.

I fully expect it to go pear-shaped in due course, and normal Ling service will be resumed."

The bit I find funny about this one is that the poster clearly doesn't rate our squad much (on paper! - it's played on grass!) OR Martin Ling and yet here we are sat in the play offs with 50 points from 28 games and yet it seems our squad "is quite a poor squad" . If that were the case (which clearlt it isn't!) then surely the guy must accept that even more credit should go to the Manager for getting us where we are! In a way he is really giving Lingy a back handed compliment - though I'm sure he never intended it that way judging by some of the posts he has made on there about him!

[Plymouth Gull]

Fully deserved, well done Martin & the team.

[Southampton Gull]

Good spot CP.

Where is that Cambridge fan who was banging on about the current manager "delivering a top four finish" ?? He sure isn't at the moment

[AustrianAndyGull]

Top spot CP. That Cambridge fan needs to let go or he'll end up in a mental institution, or becoming a greek! Yes we got into a bit of a rut during our 'bleak' period of early season and i couldn't see where our next good performance never mind win was going to come from; HOWEVER, since our home win against AFC Wimbledon we haven't looked back and it is testament to Martin that we are in the play off spots IN SPITE of having a wafer-thin squad. He has juggled things better than anybody could have in the circumstances. Mourinho wouldn't have had a clue what to do in Lings position and i honestly feel that, it's not tongue in cheek.The Cambridge fan is totally incorrect to say we have a poor squad. More than half of them would be good enough NOW to play in League 1. It's probablt the usual case of him never having heard of them much so he assumes they must be shit. Total lack of footballing knowledge obviously. Like Cambridge have been going places since Ling left?! Tosser!

[royalgull]

No idea who Cambridge's manager even is, had to google it Jez George, sounds like an extra from Eastenders.

If Torquay get to the playoffs this year then Ling is manager of the season without question, even bigger achievement than Y8s at Cheltenham, who has done brilliantly but had a much stronger base to build a side from. The one thing i agree with that Cambridge fan our squad 'is quite poor on paper' yep, which is why it's even more remarkable and testament to Ling and the management team for us to be in 5th place an 6 points in front of 8th.

[AustrianAndyGull]

No idea who Cambridge's manager even is, had to google it Jez George, sounds like an extra from Eastenders.

If Torquay get to the playoffs this year then Ling is manager of the season without question, even bigger achievement than Y8s at Cheltenham, who has done brilliantly but had a much stronger base to build a side from. The one thing i agree with that Cambridge fan our squad 'is quite poor on paper' yep, which is why it's even more remarkable and testament to Ling and the management team for us to be in 5th place an 6 points in front of 8th.

I was gonna say this also Royal but then i thought that pre-Robbo' our first choice 11 when everybody was fit and available is actually one of the better sides in the division. With the exception of Stevens and Atieno and pehaps Morris at a push, they are all good quality consistent players. However the options Ling has had in tems of back up have been poor so i agree that to have kept things ticking over when Damon was out and Mansell was out and Howe was out IS a testament to Martin and the management team.

[TCP]

[tufctillidie]

I was gonna say this also Royal but then i thought that pre-Robbo' our first choice 11 when everybody was fit and available is actually one of the better sides in the division. With the exception of Stevens and Atieno and pehaps Morris at a push, they are all good quality consistent players. However the options Ling has had in tems of back up have been poor so i agree that to have kept things ticking over when Damon was out and Mansell was out and Howe was out IS a testament to Martin and the management team.

Sorry andy

I disagree with you on this point, i think all 3 have played really well in recent games (especially danny) and they are all good players. Danny has improved so much over the past few months.

Matt

[AustrianAndyGull]

Matt, it's fine to disagree with me, most people do! I take your points on board. Most people on here know that i don't rate Stevens and i don't rate Tai as consistent league footballers. I've admitted on one thread that from what i've seen of Stevens this season he has impressed me and improved a great deal; however, i still don't feel 100% that he is a 'quality' league footballer. Quality being the attribute to which i've said he and Tai don't have. I'm not saying they haven't done well for the team Matt just that IMO i believe there are players out there somewhere who are better than Stevens and Tai who we could bring in and who would offer us more. Morris maybe i'm being harsh as i haven't seen too much of him. From what i've seen of him at Macc and at other games recently he has vastly improved so maybe he just needs a bit of time and a settled role. He certainly has played at a higher level and maybe he could do so again.

[yellowmonkey]

Anyone crossing their fingers there is NO manager of the month curse?

[Gullscorer]

Anyone crossing their fingers there is NO manager of the month curse?

There is no curse. It has been statistically proven to be a myth..

[stefano]

Anyone crossing their fingers there is NO manager of the month curse?

No as there is no such thing. Statistics prove that teams do not go on a losing run after their manager has won Manager of the Month. All such teams are likely to lose a game in the following month as the manager has just picked up an award for being undefeated in the previous month, and all undefeated runs have got to come to an end. Our run is set to continue tomorrow with a winner from Taiwo edging us ahead of the Shrews and up to 4th place

[Colorado Gull]

Congrats Martin

As for the curse? Well, we'll see tomorrow

[ferrarilover]

Let's attack this drivel in order, shall we?

"Their woeful run without a win earlier this season though says to me that he's no better there than here.

Our 'woeful' run of P8 W0 D4 L4 F9 A18 came against teams with a combined score of the standard Ferrarilover Scale of 135. This represents a true 82%, that is a seriously tough run. So, what you'll find, Mr Cambridgeshire ****, is that we hit a run of tough fixtures and, aside from the last two against Southend and Gillingham, we did ok, not well, not appallingly, but ok.
Contrast this to a run in the Conference of P8 W0 D2 L6 F9 A18, against teams with a Ferrarilover Scale of 133 (I had to go from the end of season table, no in play table was available, so it's not absolutely accurate, but it won't be far out) which represents, unsurprisingly, a true 81%. So, over an equal number of games, at an equal time of year, against perfectly identical opposition in terms of quality, Mr Ling achieved identical outcomes...

Except he didn't, because where as at Torquay, the next fourteen games read P14 W11 D2 L1 F23 A7 against teams with a 48% FS rating; at Cambridge, they read P14 W6 D4 L4 F18 A12 against teams with a 68% FS rating. Against teams 20% easier, we made 83% of our points, compared with 52% for Cambridge. That's 31% more points against teams just 20% easier.

So, Mr CT, you'll find he is, in fact, considerably better with us than he was with you over a similar period.

Except he's not, because, by your own admission, you spent an absolute fortune in the Conference when Dinger turned up, hand over fist signing players, and you still posted the above figures. Dinger came here, spent not a bean, and made the numbers shown above. So, either he became some sort of managerial guru overnight, or something other than Mr Ling was to blame for your catastrophic failure to capitalise on your strength in the years he was there. Which is it, do you think?
So, next...

It's just that they've managed to get on a run, with their confidence high, so his general ineptitude is being masked at present.

Pray tell, Mr CT, what exactly happened in the three days between us losing 4-1 at Southend and winning 4-0 against the Wombles? Did we go out and spend £500,000 on some super striker? No. Did we transfer list the whole squad in an effort to motivate them? No. Did we sack Dinger and get in someone else to manage the team? No. What we did we stick by the boys, work hard and pull ourselves out of the slump we were in. We were resolute in defence for the first 20 minutes, then we got ourselves into the game, scored two quick goals and proceeded to tear apart a team who, at the time, were on quite a run themselves.
Who do you suppose brought about that performance, Mr CT? Surely if the manager is to blame for the bad times, he has to be credited with the good times, does he not? Yes, so, chalk up another victory to the Lingmeister then.

For me, you don't have to be a good manager to preside over a team on a good run.

I agree entirely. Except, that’s not what happens, is it? Managers do not simply preside, empirically, over a winning team. They work their bollocks off, using guile, skill, tactics, knowledge, research, effort and a slice of luck to keep the run going. One of the first things one is told when learning to fly a helicopter is that, in a car on the motorway, if you take your hands and feet off the major controls for three seconds, aside from getting a bit slower, absolutely nothing will happen. You won’t crash, you won’t die, you won’t make a big mess of the carriageway. In a helicopter, however, if you do the same thing during straight and level flight, you won’t actually make it to the third second, because half way through the second second, you’ll have crashed and burned.
In this sense, managing a football team is very much like flying a helicopter, if you lose focus, even for a very short while, you’ll pay a heavy price.

To be a good manager you have to be able to turn difficult spells around quickly and influence games when things haven't started well. I've seen no evidence to suggest he can perform the latter at all...

You mean, apart from the eight games without a win turned into one loss in fourteen? To be honest, there’s very little for me to do from this point, since you proceed to contradict precisely the statement you opened with. My only hope for you, Mr CT, is that you do not have a public service job, so you can’t inflict your own particular brand of complete rubbish and utterly cataclysmic stupidity on normal folk going about their daily lives. Sadly, I rather suspect you might be a police officer, or an employee of the DVLA, or even a traffic warden.

Please do keep posting tripe, it’s what the internet was invented for....apparently.

Matt.

But Matt, how does the Ferrarilover Scale work?
Assign each side a valve inversely proportional to it's league position at any given time, first place is worth 24 points, last place worth one point, add them up, the higher the number [as a percentage of the highest possible total for X games] the harder the run, the highest possible 8 game score is 164