Sean O'Driscoll

[BillyStubbsTears]

Baz

To slightly misquote Basil Fawlty, he started it.

[Capmeister]

My spin is this.........I loved O'Driscoll. He was treated badly at the start of his tenure. Nearly got the sack after the loss at Scunny away. He never cared about Donny. It was a job to him. To me he created the best footballing side I ever saw. When we need to retain Mills and Wellens, we couldn't. So he got interviewed by Burnley. At that point he was saying I can't progress. Ryan said show loyalty. He did but his heart wasn't in it. He's never been Donny but he did a good job. As a Sean lover I say b*llocks Sean, you'll perpetually fail. It's in ur make up. Ur part of history that had potential. That's it. I love Donny. O'Driscoll never did

[wilts rover]

This is the statement he released on 19th January 2012 (slightly less than 4 months after he was put on gardening leave)

19 Jan 2012
LMA STATEMENT ISSUED REGARDING SEAN O’DRISCOLL

The LMA has issued the following statement on behalf of Sean O’Driscoll regarding his departure from Doncaster Rovers Football Club on 23rd September 2011.
 
The LMA is pleased to announce that all issues regarding Sean’s departure have been satisfactorily resolved and he now looks forward to the new challenge in his career.
 
Sean O’Driscoll said:
 
“Naturally, I was disappointed that my time as employee of Doncaster Rovers was brought to an end in September 2011.  However, I am extremely proud of what was achieved during my 5 years in charge.
 
“Obvious highlights include promotion from League 1 after giving the supporters a truly memorable experience at the play-off final against Leeds United at Wembley Stadium and claiming the Football League trophy after victory over Bristol Rovers at The Millennium Stadium. But really, it was the manner and style in which we accomplished those feats - by playing attractive passing football, which is what we took most pride in.
 
“When I was appointed manager, Doncaster were firmly rooted in League 1 and promotion to the Championship seemed an unlikely ambition.  However the Club is now in its fourth consecutive season in the Championship and had established itself as a Championship side.  Despite a tough start to this campaign and in spite of losing some key players through injury, most notably striker Billy Sharp, I saw no reason to believe that the Club would not retain its status.
 
“I thoroughly enjoyed my time there and I would like to offer my sincere thanks to all the players, my staff who worked so hard to bring success on the field and also to the supporters, many of whom have contacted me in a really positive way since I left.  I wish them and the Club every success for the future.”
 
John Ryan, chairman of Doncaster Rovers said:
 
“Doncaster Rovers are also pleased that we have agreed terms with Sean.  Although the board decided a change was necessary we fully recognise Sean’s undoubted qualities as a manager, which is precisely why we appointed him in the first place.  During his 5 years at the helm Sean made an enormous contribution to the success and wellbeing of the Club and we enjoyed some fantastic times.  The Club and all those connected with it remain in Sean’s debt for some wonderful memories.  I am sure he will continue to build on his impressive career as a football manager.”
 
http://www.leaguemanagers.com/news/news-6937.html

[RoversAlias]

The kool-aid drinkers out in force I see.

Anybody who thinks getting placed on "gardening leave" instead of sacked and then not given your rightful severance pay for half a year (also this prevents you getting a new job in the meantime) is reasonable treatment is very short sighted.

I think it was time for a change in manager as well but the way it was done was ridiculous. And it certainly didn't prove to be a good decision in my opinion.

[Katesby]

Honestly? I couldn't give a toss about the guy. Sorry. If he's so great like many above claim he is, why has he ended up at Bristol City?

[BillyStubbsTears]

See. There we go again.

“When I was appointed manager, Doncaster were firmly rooted in League 1 and promotion to the Championship seemed an unlikely ambition

Had he said the following, I'd have a lot more respect for him.

"When I was appointed manager, the club had improved its league placing for every one of the previous 8 seasons. The season before I came, they missed out on the play-offs on the last day of the season. I pay tribute to the managers who went before me. They helped lift the club up from the depths. I then took control of a cracking squad, and added expensive and talented players like Stock, Wellens, Sullivan, Mills and Mark Wilson to the likes of Heffernan, Roberts, O'Connor, Price, Green and Coppinger that I inherited. I built on a solid foundation and I received unstinting support from my Chairman to do so - support way above any that had been given to my predecessors."

I'd have a lot more respect for O'Driscoll had he said that.

[RobTheRover]

Because he fancied it more than he fancied Barnsley?

[Hag]

Got to agree with your post BST

[FuzzyDuck]

Fantastic manager - arguably Rovers best ever.  Certainly he was in the 30+ years I've been a fan.

The way Rovers backed him publicly and then replaced him about 24 hours later for me diminished the club to the standing of "just like all the others".  In the end SOD lost his job due to the leaders at the club not following his recommendations when we were promoted.  All the "we're not a selling club" Ryan was spouting at the time was contrary to what Sean was saying we should be doing (developing players bought for < £300k and selling on for £1M+).  With our following, the wages commanded by championship followers and the rather pathetic commercial efforts in those days, unless DW and TB were going to become Abramovic style benefactors, we were eventually going to struggle.

Had we understood the reasons we plummeted down the league in 2011, Sean would still be at the club unless he'd found something else (something he's got every right to do).  My opinion is we would be in a as good, if not better position than we are now.  Top of the league but with a much more deeply embedded footballing culture akin to that of Swansea.

But having got that off my chest, I'm really looking forwards to giving the Champioship another bash.  I think the commercial side will be better this time around, the only question will be as ever, can we sustain a squad that is good enough on the wages we can afford.

I think we will find that £1M or so per year will need to be found somewhere, probably on the transfer market.  Gavin is the man to assess this and will insist it is done.

 IF (big IF) what I have just written proves correct it will be a shame in a way.  Had we paid attention to our excellent manager, we would have continued in the championship thus avoiding all the experiment crap.  This would have been much easier if a little less interesting!

Let's see what happens in the coming seasons - RTID

[BigH]

As has been said before, Sean's a "football man". He know's the territory. I wouldn't throw stones at anyone at our club for what went on at that particular time. On the playing side we were in crisis and Sean was in a huff. Six of one, half a dozen of the other. How to break the deadlock was always going to be a bit messy.

I have to admit that I thought he had more dignity than to mouth off - even if it was to an Irish paper. The record of him - any Crawley fans around? - and his employers since suggest that he now should well and truly understand the meaning of the word loyalty and how, when you come across it in football you treasure it. He got more loyalty over 5 years from JR/TB/DW than he'll get over the whole of the rest of his managerial career.

Let's see how Bristol City pans out for you Sean as well eh?

[Al4475]

Meant to put this here instead of on the other thread - many apologies for repeating myself - although to be fair this discussion has been repeated and repeated and repeated ad infinitum anyway so one more repeated post ain't gonna matter!

You know what?

It ain't about Dave Penney, Sean O'Driscoll, Dean Saunders, Stock, Wellens, Mills, J'OC, JJ etc etc etc

It's about Brian Flynn and his current staff and players.

DRFC is a football club, an entity that evolves and changes on a daily basis - sometimes for better, sometimes for worse.

You can debate all day about players, managers, chairmen, staff, great days, shite days, great goals, lucky scrappy wins and losses when you've played teams off the park! They are all history, ingredients in where we are now, and if it was't for everything that's gone on in the past - we wouldn't be (and by WE I mean THE FANS, not players, staff and managers) DONCASTER ROVERS FC - all have played their part in making us what we are today!

You know what,
Thanks to the lot of 'em
Here's to the future!

[The_Rooky]

Some interesting comments. However, there is always (at least) two sides to every story and somewhere in between is the truth. I doubt we'll ever know the truth as whoever puts forward their version of events will almost certainly never be truly objective - as they all have an interest. SOD is never going to say 'Yeah, I had a really poor run of results and deserved the sack.' and JR would never admit to treating SOD abysmally.  Human nature.

I'm not sure what there is to be gained by raking over old coals and tend to agree with those posters who suggest its more about the 'Here and now'. So, to get back on track - how many points are we gonna get from these last 7 games!!? 😜

[Chrisd_123]

He says that he was honouring his contract and we should have done the same? Someone mentioned it earlier about him going for other interviews. He was pretty keen to go for interviews and try and get these jobs yet appears to be bitter about us?

He was a great manager but if you under perform as bad as he did in the final 8/9 months of his job in your own job then I think 95% of people would be sacked in any profession. If anything we gave him more than enough time. We could/ maybe should have got rid of him in that summer and allow Saunders/whoever might have come in to build a squad to stay up.

[Filo]

He says that he was honouring his contract and we should have done the same? Someone mentioned it earlier about him going for other interviews. He was pretty keen to go for interviews and try and get these jobs yet appears to be bitter about us?

He was a great manager but if you under perform as bad as he did in the final 8/9 months of his job in your own job then I think 95% of people would be sacked in any profession. If anything we gave him more than enough time. We could/ maybe should have got rid of him in that summer and allow Saunders/whoever might have come in to build a squad to stay up.

Don`t forget the 2 year contract he signed with Crawley and then never took charge of a competitive game, or is honouring contracts only a one way street?

[BillyStubbsTears]

He really is a fascinating case for analysis.

A quite astonishing ability to craft sumptuously talented sides from the most unlikely of constituent parts. That is a very, very rare skill.

But there was something about his approach to public announcements that, to me, showed a deeply sensitive and unconfident man. It was as though he had to build up a certain world-view and would not entertain any thoughts that contradicted that.

So we had in the first season, him regularly telling us that we had dominated matches and made loads of chances but just not converted them, when the reality was very different - we were watching stultifyingly dull matches with chances at a premium.

We had barbed criticism of the previous regime from Day One. And that LMA statement that we were rooted in L1 with little chance of promotion is a particularly warped version of the record.

We have O'Driscoll never publicly praising the quite ridiculous level if financial support he received for a club of our size.

We have the fact that he never once in 5 years utter so much as a single word of praise for the player who scored the goals that won the JPT trophy and kept us in the Championship. Very telling that O'Driscoll is quick to take the praise for those achievements, but not to share that praise. Perhaps because they were achieved partly through the abilities if a player that didn't fit in with his view of football? Who knows?

We have not a word of thanks to Ryan and the Board for standing by him in two periods of extended on-pitch underperformance when ANY other manager would have been sacked (Jan-Dec07 and Aug-Nov 08).

And then we have O'Driscoll's complaints about contracts, without a word of the fact that he wax hawking himself round other clubs for the last 12 months of his time here, and walked out on Crawley within a few weeks.

A strange man. A wonderful football brain, but a grating insistence that his world view is the only one, against all external evidence.

[Rios]

Forest treat him bad and he`s philosophical about it, we sack him and he`s whining, sounds like a very bitter man to me!

He doesn't say anything about being treated badly by Forest. In fact, he's quite reflective about being sacked by them, and appreciates it's part and parcel of the game.

His gripe is with the fact that he had a contract with Rovers. The contract was terminated, but he had to fight for his severance pay, which, presumably, he was contractually obliged to.

He was on gardening leave, getting paid for doing nothing while his contract settlement was agreed

The huge problem with that statement is that you can't work for anyone else whilst on gardening leave and five months away is a long time in football.

[ditch_drfc]

Just out of interest, was it just Burnley and Shef U that O'Driscoll attended interviews for? Or am I forgetting any other vacancies?

Whilst at the time I was delighted that he didn't go to th Blades, looking back now it would probably have done us the world of good. If I remember it correctly we were pushing for the playoffs. Who knows what would've happened if we'd have got a decent manager in...

[Belle-Vue-Ghost]

From Dec 07 onwards to me Sean looked lost as manager of our club.  I'd watch interviews with him on Rovers Player and at times it seemed as though he couldnt give a stuff.  It was very strange at times.

We showed him loyalty by giving him permission to go to interviews for other jobs.  2 or 3 times was it?  Cant think of many other clubs who would do that more than once.

No, we got rid at the RIGHT time in my opinion.  Maybe we did it in the WRONG way but all the same, if we were paying him whilst on gardening leave, we are still honouring his contract until a settlement was agreed.  Dont see what the club did wrong to be honest aside from backing him in public 2 days before we sacked him. 

To be honest I dont think his sacking was down to JR.  I think it was other members of the board who applied the pressure on JR with the threat of withdrawal of funds into the club.

[BobG]

No. Forget what I wrote. No need for it now.

BobG

[Alickismyhero]

I suppose I know more about Sean's  view than the majority of posters on here.

When people go on about his lack of loyalty by going for interviews at other clubs don't you think Sean could see the writing on the wall with Bramall and Watson viewing Sean as stubborn and not getting the support he needed.

Personally I look at it as “ I need support, just look at the teams that want me, but I want to be at Donny”. JR was Sean's main supporter until Bramall walked away and Watson persuaded JR to go the Willy  way. Thats what forced the eventual outcome. JR's hands were tied

Which leads me to that meeting with JR did Sean say “I can't cope, we may end up  being relegated” I don't think so. At best his words were misinterpreted at worst a down right lie. We have only one side of that meeting but I have it on good authority the truth will come out perhaps this is the start?

You have only heard one side of the story so far.

Thank you JR for the Sean OD experience it made us a very respected and proud club. The appointment of BF gets my full support and it could prove to be a master stroke with players like Lundstrum and Furman but time will tell.

Personally I would like Sean to make his views public so people can form an accurate opinion of how he was treated. I was very embarrassed by the treatment he received Sean deserved better.

Sean wasn't lost in the RP interviews as you say but he was affected by the behind the scenes lack of support of the Board.

Thank god we have Gavin at the club now to manage the money men on the Board.

That was a very accurate post by Fuzzy.

[Lifelong supporter]

How is Gavin 'managing' the money men? I thought it was the other way round.

[Alickismyhero]

Definition of 'Chief Executive Officer - CEO'

The highest ranking executive in a company whose main responsibilities include developing and implementing high-level strategies, making major corporate decisions, managing the overall operations and resources of a company, and acting as the main point of communication between the board of directors and the corporate operations. The CEO will often have a position on the board, and in some cases is even the chair.

In my opinion GB is a key player in the synergy needed to develop our club.

[Drover]

Forest treat him bad and he`s philosophical about it, we sack him and he`s whining, sounds like a very bitter man to me!

He doesn't say anything about being treated badly by Forest. In fact, he's quite reflective about being sacked by them, and appreciates it's part and parcel of the game.

His gripe is with the fact that he had a contract with Rovers. The contract was terminated, but he had to fight for his severance pay, which, presumably, he was contractually obliged to.

He was on gardening leave, getting paid for doing nothing while his contract settlement was agreed

Thats my take on what happened Filo, i.e. He was getting his normal wages untill the settlement was agreed, If DRFC wanted to pay him his normal wage every month till his contract ended thats DRFC's perogative and they can insist he doesn't take employment anywhere else, however if he wants to take employment elsewhere a mutually acceptable agreement needs reaching.

Blimey I wish I had a contract that said if I get sacked  they would pay me off

It meant he was out of the game he so obviously loves. Just why does everyone think that everyone is motivated by money alone. Clearly here that was not the case otherwise he wouldn't have such rancour re. the events at that time.

Sorry Hoola,I think SOD and ROK were more motivated by money than people realise,but they was very good at making it look like they was not motivated by money.After 20+ years of employment by Bournemouth,and while the club are experiencing extremely dire financial problems at Dean court he leaves them for another team in the same league?Sorry but JR and his wad waving must have been the main reason he came to us.His wife did not want to move north neither,so it must have been a good carrot too!
Also if Sod stayed at Bournemouth,do you think he would have got them into the championship?All things being equal they was a club pretty much the same as us BUT for the finances.With backing our chairman and board gave him in being able to fetch the players in that he did.So my point is that Rovers being a better run club/better resources to provide than Bournemouths at the time was more the reason he managed to get a promotion on his CV than him himself.
Plus,when a manager/player gets sacked or agree to part,they usually come to an agree on the remaining contract.Does anyone think the fact SOD refused to accept anything less than the full wages or play ball could be why it took 5 months to sort.An agreement takes BOTH sides to agree!

[GazLaz]

Adkins was on gardening leave from the Saints. He's hot a new job, they now stop paying him and both parties move on. Why is this any different to the Sean situation?

[pubteam]

Adkins was on gardening leave from the Saints. He's hot a new job, they now stop paying him and both parties move on. Why is this any different to the Sean situation?

Because Sean O'Driscoll is a demi-God with highfalutin principles and morals that can never be questioned or argued with. Any club, supporter, or chairman who has the temerity to encroach on these principles will be sought out and struck down with great moral vengeance.

[wilts rover]

Where does the mythology start and the truth end? As we seem to be creating our own right now?

Sean was sacked/put on gardening leave on 23rd September 2011. His LMA statement saying he had been paid was issued on 19th January 2012. Is that 5 months - or is it 4? Perhaps Alick can clear this up?

[Savvy]

Forest treat him bad and he`s philosophical about it, we sack him and he`s whining, sounds like a very bitter man to me!

So in saying that, do you believe the club acted properly then?

[The L J Monk]

Adkins was on gardening leave from the Saints. He's hot a new job, they now stop paying him and both parties move on. Why is this any different to the Sean situation?

Yes, Adkins has moved on so much so that he has asked the LMA  to represent him in his breach of contract legal action against Southampton.

[timdrfc]

Best thing that happened when the club sacked O'Driscoll a she was performing abysmally for 9 months or so.  When he started at Forest i wonder how long their board would put up with him & his results ie 3 wins in 9 months & came up with no where near as long as our loyal board.
We improved this year on & off the pitch due mainly to Dean Saunders & Gavin Baldwin, carried on by Brian Flynn long may it continue upwards.
 Why some on here are fixated by SOD i don't know. He got his money the same way as most clubs do when off loading a failed manager.

[pubteam]

Just read some tweets about this that made me laugh. Some random woman on Twitter is claiming to know SOD and is going around spouting the "true" version of events, which SOD-obsessed Rovers fans are now bowing down to as if it is 100% fact and has any more credibility than anything that's out there.

Funny how people believe the rumours/opinions that support their own point of view, and dismiss any other views as not being credible because they don't fit in with what they want to believe. Even if this person does know SOD and does hold the true story, why is it any more credible than what anyone else has to say? Anybody can claim to be "ITK" over this stuff.