Coppinger

[DD]

Where does Coppinger fit in this shambles?
How much responsibility does he carry?

[Filo]

Schofield s Coppingers man, he needs to get a grip of this shit show or walk himself!

[normal rules]

Great player. Full stop.

[ChrisBx]

He wasn't qualified for the role. Poor appointment yet again.

[DD]

Does being a great player make him a good director of football? I suggest not!!!!

[Donnyjim]

To be fair, many said so at the time.

[normal rules]

Many of us raised concerns at the time of his appointment.
A cameo posting.
Coppinger has feathered his nest good and proper. And it’s not for the benefit of drfc.

[i_ateallthepies]

Many of us raised concerns at the time of his appointment.
A cameo posting.
Coppinger has feathered his nest good and proper. And it’s not for the benefit of drfc.

That might be very unfair, NR.  Copps might have believed he was the right man to do the job.  Signs are that he was wrong.

[WantleyDragon]

He's tried to insulate himself from any blame, by talking about "limited resources"

I dont doubt however that he'll be thrown under the bus by the owners, given what they've done to previous managers. Butler and mcsheffrey, who's managerial careers have been destroyed before they even started.

[Cramby10]

I’ve just said on another post that we need someone from the outside to come in and speak a few home truths. Copps been here too long. He’s been part of this downturn. Since he stopped playing he’s been mentoring, helping out and sitting on the recruitment panel. I believe he’s a deep thinker about the game but we’re just getting bogged down by overthinking the game right now. Things need simplifying.
Who wants to play like Spain anyway. It’s boring.

[Metalmicky]

Ah.... the search for a scapegoat has started I see...

[DD]

In a lets say “traditional” “old fashioned” structure - the board appoint the manager - they hire & fire. If results go wrong - sack manager. Quite a simple structure.

The more modern approach is that of “Head of football” - as we have started. So how much influence does HOF have over choice of manager, choice of players, style of football?

If the results on pitch aren’t good, the style of football is not working - who is responsible?
The manager or HOF?

To me it is quite obvious that the current team is “powder puff” - lightweight - not physically strong enough - it falls apart at slightest resistance, under slightest pressure. Who’s fault is that?

[pigeonhole]

It’s concerning that Huddersfield Town seem to be Coppinger’s only reference point and mentors. Not really working for them either, is it?

[normal rules]

Many of us raised concerns at the time of his appointment.
A cameo posting.
Coppinger has feathered his nest good and proper. And it’s not for the benefit of drfc.

. That might be very unfair, NR.  Copps might have believed he was the right man to do the job.  Signs are that he was wrong.

Not unfair. A balanced view. He put himself in pole position for the job. A club legend as player. Looking for post playing employment. A struggling team, the ear of the board. A fan base that wanted to see something fresh and new. All the constituent ingredients were there for him to exploit. There was no “thorough and in depth recruitment process”. It was a role instigated, engineered and set up for copps, by copps. To me, that is very clear. Rovers have managed, as have many other clubs, without a HOF. We are not Man City. We don’t need this post.it’s been touched on in other posts about money being wasted. A HOF is IMO, a waste of money.

[steve@dcfd]

Root and branch review conducted by Copps better  people to back up the team. Yet we are no better than last year our results continue to be inconsistent. He’s brought in DS and recruited players. He talks like DS about the process but in reality we are no better. Football clubs are judge what we are like on the field and results and whatever is Copps role he like the manager is failing in his duties. If they believe we don’t have the resources for quality then have a backbone and say it acceptance is not good enough.

[normal rules]

Root and branch review conducted by Copps better  people to back up the team. Yet we are no better than last year our results continue to be inconsistent. He’s brought in DS and recruited players. He talks like DS about the process but in reality we are no better. Football clubs are judge what we are like on the field and results and whatever is Copps role he like the manager is failing in his duties. If they believe we don’t have the resources for quality then have a backbone and say it acceptance is not good enough.

Copps is not the man for this. He is far too deeply entrenched within the fabric of drfc to do this. And I can’t see him going to the board saying we have to spend money to get out of this . I don’t think that was in his job spec. He has the job because he knows exactly how the money machine behind club Doncaster works. The budget is what it is .
Previous managers have realised this, and is probably part of the reason they moved on.

[Canadian Rover]

Copps is a legend at the club, he's intelligent, articulate a good leader and knows the game inside and out having played at all levels.

He knows the local community and the set up of the club inside and out.

He's the ideal person for this role for Doncaster Rovers. What he needs is the trust of the board. He does need as I mentioned in early January to make the manager and coaching staff accountable.

Some of the set up at the Rovers is laughable though. Considering Schofield had no coaching staff come along with him. He has Chad Grimble with no real first team experience and Paul Green (is he part time?) As a transition coach - what the f*ck does that even mean? We have no set up to transition players from the youth team anyway and our reserves and recovering players from injuries have very little options of playing in meaningful games of any sort.

For all the talk of club Doncaster and budgets etc we see very little from the club about the fans and supporters needs or wants.

[Mike_F]

Copps is undoubtedly a very nice bloke. Always happy to engage with fans and feels like he's very much at home with Doncaster and the Rovers.

I do worry that he's not got it in him to be confrontational or demanding enough of the board.

At the meet the owners event, Copps and DS shared a load of data on plyer and team performance whihc highlighted exactly where some of the weaknesses were. Blunt said "I don't think we've ever turned a request down." so this would suggest that either:

- The requests made have been the wrong ones.
- Copps/DS haven't made the requests they would like to despite having the data to back them up (probably because they know the requests would be turned down).
- Blunt was lying.

[i_ateallthepies]

Many of us raised concerns at the time of his appointment.
A cameo posting.
Coppinger has feathered his nest good and proper. And it’s not for the benefit of drfc.

. That might be very unfair, NR.  Copps might have believed he was the right man to do the job.  Signs are that he was wrong.

Not unfair. A balanced view. He put himself in pole position for the job. A club legend as player. Looking for post playing employment. A struggling team, the ear of the board. A fan base that wanted to see something fresh and new. All the constituent ingredients were there for him to exploit. There was no “thorough and in depth recruitment process”. It was a role instigated, engineered and set up for copps, by copps. To me, that is very clear. Rovers have managed, as have many other clubs, without a HOF. We are not Man City. We don’t need this post.it’s been touched on in other posts about money being wasted. A HOF is IMO, a waste of money.

If you cast your mind back NR, the demand for a 'Director of Football' was an ongoing topic on this very forum for weeks/months before the club appointed Copps to HoF.  I shared your concern that it was a mistake to give it to Copps but I've seen nothing to suggest that he instigated and engineered it himself.  What evidence do you have to support that opinion?

[normal rules]

Many of us raised concerns at the time of his appointment.
A cameo posting.
Coppinger has feathered his nest good and proper. And it’s not for the benefit of drfc.

. That might be very unfair, NR.  Copps might have believed he was the right man to do the job.  Signs are that he was wrong.

Not unfair. A balanced view. He put himself in pole position for the job. A club legend as player. Looking for post playing employment. A struggling team, the ear of the board. A fan base that wanted to see something fresh and new. All the constituent ingredients were there for him to exploit. There was no “thorough and in depth recruitment process”. It was a role instigated, engineered and set up for copps, by copps. To me, that is very clear. Rovers have managed, as have many other clubs, without a HOF. We are not Man City. We don’t need this post.it’s been touched on in other posts about money being wasted. A HOF is IMO, a waste of money.

If you cast your mind back NR, the demand for a 'Director of Football' was an ongoing topic on this very forum for weeks/months before the club appointed Copps to HoF.  I shared your concern that it was a mistake to give it to Copps but I've seen nothing to suggest that he instigated and engineered it himself.  What evidence do you have to support that opinion?

Its an opinion. Although Copps did say, a year or two prior to retiring that he has been "working hard" towards securing himself a role, post playing, ideally at rovers.
Unless i'm mistaken, this job was not advertised. It was a job created for him. Our Board are not footballing types. They are businessmen. They listen to business cases, not football agents waxing lyrical about their clients. I cannot see any circumstance where this role was an idea borne out by them. So, by process of elimination, that only leaves one possibility. Copps encouraged/cajoled, engineered, created, suggested this role for the club. And put himself front and centre for such.

[Usher down the wing.]

Many of us raised concerns at the time of his appointment.
A cameo posting.
Coppinger has feathered his nest good and proper. And it’s not for the benefit of drfc.

That comment is well out of order.

[Usher down the wing.]

‘Coppinger has feathered his nest good and proper’.

You want tar and feathering.

[normal rules]

Many of us raised concerns at the time of his appointment.
A cameo posting.
Coppinger has feathered his nest good and proper. And it’s not for the benefit of drfc.

ill re phrase.
"its not for the current benefit of drfc"


everyone calls out managerial appointments. and there have been a few.many are now talking about money being wasted. im calling out the appointment of a HOF. And im also calling out the appointment as copps for this role. i think the whole creation of the role and him getting it smacked of nepotism. we didnt need one. we have managed before without one. its a waste of money. and possibly, it creates a problem for any manager at this club.
had it been anyone else than copps, i suspect alot more would be of the same mind.

[normal rules]

And dont get me wrong. i dont blame copps if he has, as i suspect, been an integral part of the HOF role creation. id probably do the same. Dream job for him. But, and its a very big but, with this role comes a high expectation that it will bear dividends,  on the field. And im seeing none of that yet. Not one bit. And i dont see that changing anytime soon. 
A HOF is not what DRFC needs.
Its a bloody good experienced manager. The wages being paid to a HOF would maybe go some way to secure this.

[normal rules]

Many of us raised concerns at the time of his appointment.
A cameo posting.
Coppinger has feathered his nest good and proper. And it’s not for the benefit of drfc.

That might be very unfair, NR.  Copps might have believed he was the right man to do the job.  Signs are that he was wrong.

if thats the case, then he needs to do the right thing. his wages plus that of ds might go some way to pay for a decent manager. which is what is needed right now. before next season gets underway. this season is over. and i fear rovers will end it on a whimper. again.

[scawsby steve]

Ah.... the search for a scapegoat has started I see...

I disagree with that, Micky. The majority of posts and threads over the last 24 hours are showing most of us to be pig sick of the whole f*cking lot of them from top to bottom, which obviously includes Copps, and that makes me really sad to see the demise of a club legend.

[normal rules]

Ah.... the search for a scapegoat has started I see...

I disagree with that, Micky. The majority of posts and threads over the last 24 hours are showing most of us to be pig sick of the whole f*cking lot of them from top to bottom, which obviously includes Copps, and that makes me really sad to see the demise of a club legend.

this.
As a player you are accountable for the actions of yourself first and foremost. Copps' committment to the drfc cause was  unquestionable.
As HOF he is accountable for the whole shit show. good and bad. he knew the risks. which makes me wonder why he took them?

[sedwardsdrfc]

Well he is Head of Football and the football is disgusting.

He has to make good decisions from now till the start of next season. IMO he has to be decisive on the manager. If that means sticking with DS then the signings have to be able to play his way because DS won’t change.

If we keep DS and just sign some randoms in the summer it’ll be a disaster again.

[normal rules]

doing the same thing over and over again and expecting different outcomes.....

[BradwellRover]

I stated my concerns at the time and still have them.

Football legend, but ‘opaque’ business dealings, and in no way qualified.

For me, Blunt has to go, and replace him with an experienced ex-manager (like Fry at Peterborough) who then needs to do a ‘root and branch’ review of the footballing structure. With a mandate to get rid of any elements he does not feel are working, including DoF, Manager, Coaches, Talent Identification and Scouts. We need some experience and accountability.