Ex-Staff Gary Rowett

[Carpy]

1.Gary Rowett

Position: Head Coach

Nationality: England 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁥󠁮󠁧󠁿

Signed: 20th December 2024

Departed: 23rd December 2025 | Departed Posts: 1st Post

Previous Clubs: Birmingham City (Interim), Millwall, Stoke City, Derby County, Birmingham City, Burton Albion

Stats: TransferMarkt

Instagram: garyrowett1

 

[Bitter]

I'd go Rowett out and then Williams and Ferguson shortly after.

Williams and Ferguson are the problem, not Rowett.

 

[90syeIlow]

Williams and Ferguson are the problem, not Rowett.

All 3 are.

 

[dickwalton1964]

In regards to coaching, I think that the game has evolved a lot in the last few years and Rowett may just find himself out of touch.

We have seen time and time again that other managers seem to be able to make subtle changes at numerous times during games that significantly change the outcome. We very rarely seem able to adapt in any meaningful way.

Even when we were winning games under Rowett last season, it was generally on the back of scoring first and holding on.

No reason why you can't stick with that, but you have to set up to defend as a block while transitioning the ball quickly forward to spread the play and give an attacking threat. Arguably, we even recruited to strengthen into this style with Spencer, Currie and Davies in defence, BdK to provide the transition, and Lankshear, Prelec and Krastev to add to the attacking options.

It wouldn't necessarily be pretty but you feel it would have been more effective and consistent with Rowett's style.

But we can't even manage that and we have no clear identity.

As much as I loved Des, I think that the Championship was a step too far and he got found out quickly last season. But we at least looked like we were giving it ago before the wheels fell off. And we will always have the playoff final and the way he coached us to completely negate everything Bolton had.

I'm not advocating for a return of Des, but we're desperately crying out for a more modern approach to coaching to get the best out of what we have.

So you’re calling for Rowett to be sacked ? You seem to be alluding to it without wanting to actually say it ! Rowett in or Rowett out ?

 

[oxfordfan1]

A good workman can only work with the tools he is given.

Poor kit can make the best look average.

He`s not been here 12 months yet ffs.

People should remember its a marathon not a sprint.............

Its a marathon not a sprint but a certain Mr Buckingham was sacked with a similar record to that of Rowett after getting us promoted. Rowett ball is horrible to watch lacks any cutting edge going forward and defensively inept. its not that we're losing its the way in which we lose. Sometimes you have to accept a team is better than you right?we've lost to teams this season who were there for the taking this is the difference.

 

[uptheus]

I think we're on the cusp of being a better team.

For me there are some simple fixes. Play Currie instead of Leigh and tell him that LB/LWB is his to lose. Leigh has always been average at best defensively but got by due to scoring a few goals. But he has become a bit of a liability at both ends. 30 seconds into the Stoke game he manages to head the ball straight into the ground from a foot out and still miss, and today was not the first time he has no idea where the player is whilst defending.

Long throws. If Vaulks is going to throw the ball from anything in the opposition half, then coach them. Measure how far he can throw them and position players there, not 10 yards back. Decide if we're going to look to flick the ball on or get the ball back to Vaulks and position other players accordingly.

Corners. If BdK is going to take all the corners then measure how far he can kick it and position players accordingly. See above for more detail.

Look at what works and stick with it. Mills has looked our most creative player this season. Lankshear looks the most likeky to score. Play them both together as often as possible and build a good understanding to get the best out of each other.

Have a credible plan B. Placheta looks brilliant or rubbish, but is generally a player best in small bursts. So he becomes the change from Mills, or a starting option when looking to play on the break. Look to partner him with Prelec who does the yards that Harris does but looks more dangerous. As with Currie, give these players the confidence to know that they're getting plenty of game time even if they make the odd mistake.

Decide what you want to do on the left. We have no natural left winger, but Krastev, Tyler and even Dembele can play in that space, but won't give you width or blistering pace. So set ourselves up to match these strengths. Few teams have old fashioned wingers on both wings anymore, so its not impossible to set up to have one pacey outlet and one tricky option that cuts inside. Its also not impossible to switch these throughout the game to give different options. But commit to something, coach it, and stick with it.

And finally, get everyone to at least look like they give a s**t. I know I'm biased, but get the Sam Long attitude amongst everyone on and off the pitch. The willingness to bust a gut to get into the opposition box in the dying seconds against Norwich has kept us from being default bottom of the table (Sheffield Wednesday are long gone!). Make us nasty and horrible to play against. Win ugly is better than losing dull. Get around the ref when we get dicked for not getting penalties. Talk about it pregame to get in the officials heads. Throw yourselves around, drive across players to give them no option but to bring you down. Play smart, play dirty if we need to. But put up a bloody fight and give a s**t.

The most animated I've seen Rowett this season was when he was chatting to his Sky mates after the Ipswich win. If he wants to sit on a sofa talking about the game then let him crack on and bring someone else in who is solely focused on keeping us up.

Been saying this for weeks/months.

 

[uptheus]

Weak, weak, weak. Self motivation comes from within, I’d be bloody embarrassed if ANYONE, quite literally ANYONE, had to motivate me for anything. If I was sat in a dressing room awaiting a managers team talk and thinking ‘I hope he can motivate me today’ I think I’d pack it in.

You’re f*****g s**t. Your comments on here are useless, not worth reading.

 

[Jster]

You’re f*****g s**t. Your comments on here are useless, not worth reading.

Can we stop with the personal insults please?

 

[dickwalton1964]

Can we stop with the personal insults please?

I agree but let the moody little **** have his 5 minutes to get rid of his anger !!!

 

[uptheus]

I agree but let the moody little **** have his 5 minutes to get rid of his anger !!!

See, I was right the first time, don’t add anything worthwhile to the thread. Probably not worth you making future comments as you don’t seem to contribute anything of real worth.

@Jster are you going to pull up @dickwalton1964 on his personal comment?

 

[Jster]

See, I was right the first time, don’t add anything worthwhile to the thread. Probably not worth you making future comments as you don’t seem to contribute anything of real worth.

@Jster are you going to pull up @dickwalton1964 on his personal comment?

No, I'm not the site police. And you reap what you sow, I guess. (Though I still think far too much of this stuff gets allowed without comment on here tbh.)

 

[dickwalton1964]

See, I was right the first time, don’t add anything worthwhile to the thread. Probably not worth you making future comments as you don’t seem to contribute anything of real worth.

@Jster are you going to pull up @dickwalton1964 on his personal comment?

I’m responding. I’m not the one going off on one just because I don’t agree with someone’s comment on a football matter. Whether you think my contribution is worthwhile or not is totally irrelevant - I couldn’t care less. If you say I never post anything worth reading then what the hell are you doing reading it and then commenting ?

 

[uptheus]

I’m responding. I’m not the one going off on one just because I don’t agree with someone’s comment on a football matter. Whether you think my contribution is worthwhile or not is totally irrelevant - I couldn’t care less. If you say I never post anything worth reading then what the hell are you doing reading it and then commenting ?

I just think you don’t add much worth to the forum. I read your comments more is disbelief than anything of note. But anyway, you don’t care, so all’s good I guess!

 

[RgYellows]

I can’t imagine Roy Keane pleading with Ferguson to stir him up, get him going for the next 90 minutes - it’s a ridiculous thought! Or John Terry sat there slumped on the floor needing a pick me up speech from Claudio Ranieri. On an Oxford level, the exact same with Brannagan, Brown, Long - it’s there already, self motivated to give their all game in, game out. Is it really that difficult to motivate yourself for a game of football in front of an adoring audience? Talk about over egging the pudding !

I think it’s really sweet that you’ve said Roy Keane and John Terry wouldn’t need something so you wouldn’t either. Ronaldinho famously didn’t need to train in order to play for Barcelona, so I hope Rowett gives the lads the week off and that should turn them in to Ballon D’or winners.

 

[dickwalton1964]

I think it’s really sweet that you’ve said Roy Keane and John Terry wouldn’t need something so you wouldn’t either. Ronaldinho famously didn’t need to train in order to play for Barcelona, so I hope Rowett gives the lads the week off and that should turn them in to Ballon D’or winners.

I may be naive but I think being self motivated is all part - or should be - of being a professional in sport. I get it if you come in 4 down at half time and need picking up but not from the outset. You generally have a week to prepare, mentally and physically, for a game and however crap you might have been the week before you have virtually a blank canvas and a generally forgiving public to put it right a week later - that desire to correct that has to come from within.

 

[Under The Cuckoo Lane]

GR used to be successful but he's a dinosaur who has not evolved and will soon be extinct. The longer we keep him the higher the risk of relegation. Based on conversations I had yesterday and eaves dropping, many agree. Even ST holders are staying away they are just not vocalising why.

 

[Bretch Hill]

GR used to be successful but he's a dinosaur who has not evolved and will soon be extinct. The longer we keep him the higher the risk of relegation. Based on conversations I had yesterday and eaves dropping, many agree. Even ST holders are staying away they are just not vocalising why.

A few games this season there’s been some muted Gary Rowett your football is s**t. It was soon lost to a more vocal section of Gary Rowetts yellow army. Yesterday even though there was no football is s**t neither was there any GR yellow army. The first time iv not heard it this season. Having conversations hearing conversations at and leaving the ground Rowett is on thin ice with a lot of fans. But that could change if we beat Charlton

 

[OX14]

GR used to be successful but he's a dinosaur who has not evolved and will soon be extinct. The longer we keep him the higher the risk of relegation. Based on conversations I had yesterday and eaves dropping, many agree. Even ST holders are staying away they are just not vocalising why.

Yesterday in the east stand two fans behind me arguing with each other.

One was defending Rowett because of his past success of making comfortable midtable boring to watch championship squads in which he has quite a few years experience of.

The other fan was arguing that the league changes every season and teams have became quicker especially the back four or five. You have to switch up tactics/ formation during the game to counter the opposition which is something we don't really do.

The majority of experienced players slow down physically but also mentally as they age but also the game changes every season and they become less effective due to also becoming predictable after time. The same applies to Managers.

Rowett falls into the same category of Ainsworth who worked out a way to bully teams but as years have gone by teams and management have evolved to be able to counter that style of play and that's why he is now managing a league 2 club in mid table.

Time for new blood with a new approach.

 

[OtteryYellow]

I don't know if we have, but I doubt very much that we have to an order of magnitude that makes up for the massive disparity of budgets. I see no evidence for that. As I said, you're welcome to your opinion, and you could be right. But you're really lacking evidence, and that's pretty devastating when you're arguing for a special case.

The evidence I saw with my own eyes was at Ashton gate.

That day we played good football from the outset and our new recruits shined, I came away from the game thinking we would be comfortable mid table.

Since then it feels like tactically we have been a bit of a rambling mess with constant chopping and changing of approach.

I firmly believe if we had stuck to the identity of that day we would be in a much better position now.

As for all the stuff about money Vs player quality, you suggested that I said we are an outlier which I never did, I merely said that the relationship is messy and it is possible to outperform money by being smart.

 

[samstudd]

Can we stop with the Rowett is a dinosaur he hasn’t evolved and will go extinct like them. DINOSAURS ARE ALIVE AND WELL!

 

[oldabingdonian]

Good discussion.

It is clear that this team's squad list is distinctly stronger than last season's: Spencer, Currie, de Keersmaecker are all upgrades, and Lankshear is better than Dale Scarlett. So I don't see why some blame the recruitment team. In terms of budget, I don't think anyone has shown that we could have spent more within the regulations. Rowett has said enough to strongly support the idea that he wanted another central midfielder, but how / why we missed out on that player remains, as far as I know, speculation.

Unlike some posters, I didn't see any attitudinal problems yesterday. We started strongly, and took the initiative. It is true that we didn't create clear chances, and this, I think, is largely a player quality issue - not enough skill consistently at pace. So a few good passes, and one goes astray. Then poor concentration for both their goals.

Would another manager get more out of this team? Hard to say. Rowett has the experience, and knows how to manage players. I think his post-match interview was a coded acknowledgement that he shouldn't have started Leigh, and I think that would have probably made a significant difference. However, after the Blackburn game, he also said that some players were not really good for another 90 minutes, and that too has to be a consideration in such a busy period. The biometric staff will have strong and valid views on who is really fit to start, fit to do 90 minutes, could do the last 15, etc.

So I would give Rowett a bit longer.

 

[East Stand Fan]

Weak, weak, weak. Self motivation comes from within, I’d be bloody embarrassed if ANYONE, quite literally ANYONE, had to motivate me for anything. If I was sat in a dressing room awaiting a managers team talk and thinking ‘I hope he can motivate me today’ I think I’d pack it in.

Rubbish. Motivation can come from anyone to bolster others. Why do you think motivational speakers exist? Gary doesn’t exactly exude much drive and confidence in others especially when he’s tinkering to oblivion and then comes out and admits he got it wrong once again. There are many managers who have that rapport and sheer presence that can really get the best out of players, then there’s the likes of Steve McClaren, Phil Brown, Nathan Jones and John Barnes. If players could self motivate so easily then everyone would be playing a blinder in la la land each week.

 

[samstudd]

Rowett saying players aren’t putting in back to back performances is laughable. When you change the players randomly every week and change formation, of course you won’t find consistency.

 

[OX14]

Rowett saying players aren’t putting in back to back performances is laughable. When you change the players randomly every week and change formation, of course you won’t find consistency.

Changing players and changing formations to counter the opposition is fine but with Rowett it seems to have no reason at times. It's like he has no clear game plan.

 

[SirAndyOfCrosby]

Talking of motivation, I find it absolutely baffling that our coaching team are so incredibly passive.

Looking down from the SSU during the game our technical area was empty.

Now you can try and tell me that they're watching monitors or providing some other insight but the reality is that throughout that 2nd half Preston had two people in their technical area (assistant Stuart McCall, and someone else) - and that with their manager in the f*cking stands!

We had no-one. Nadder. Who is encouraging? Who is translating that insight? Doesn't have to be Rowett of course. What is Sale doing? What about Chris Hackett?

I find it incredibly odd how passive our coaching team are during the game and you can't convince me that it's conducive to motivating the players.

 

[tomoufc]

The evidence I saw with my own eyes was at Ashton gate.

That day we played good football from the outset and our new recruits shined, I came away from the game thinking we would be comfortable mid table.

Since then it feels like tactically we have been a bit of a rambling mess with constant chopping and changing of approach.

I firmly believe if we had stuck to the identity of that day we would be in a much better position now.

As for all the stuff about money Vs player quality, you suggested that I said we are an outlier which I never did, I merely said that the relationship is messy and it is possible to outperform money by being smart.

But, again, you’re isolating and outlier. All bad teams have exceptionally good games. Very daft to generalise from a chance confluence of factors.

 

[Peterdev]

I’m more puzzled about the empty spaces in the stands. And some of these are regular season ticket holders not wanting to see the Rowett brand

 

[uptheus]

No, I'm not the site police. And you reap what you sow, I guess. (Though I still think far too much of this stuff gets allowed without comment on here tbh.)

I meant to do it to prove a point to show that one’s actions/words can have an impact on another to show @dickwalton1964 that a manager can have an impact on someone’s (players) MOTIVATIONS, but the experiment didn’t quite complete due to the site police! Argh well, it sort of worked as I got a personal attack reaction!!

 

[uptheus]

I’m more puzzled about the empty spaces in the stands. And some of these are regular season ticket holders not wanting to see the Rowett brand

Probably been banned or had warnings of inappropriate words, but I thought words/comments by others didn’t have an impact on others motivations etc

 

[Scotchegg]

So you’re calling for Rowett to be sacked ? You seem to be alluding to it without wanting to actually say it ! Rowett in or Rowett out ?

I've barely posted on here for a couple of months mainly due to other things going on in my life, but partly because of the weirdly adversarial way that this forum has become as I think @jester has pointed out.

I'm not a fan of polls or boxing everyone in to one camp or another. Not only does it take away any nuance and discussion, it also creates an environment where people attack each other for having different opinions.

Not my forum, not my rules. But I personally think that this place is worse for it.

But in regard to Rowett, I have made these comments in the last few posts.

Midweek:

I'm not desperate to get rid of Rowett. But equally, I'd struggle to put together a truly convincing argument for him staying

Yesterday:

I reluctantly think that a change is needed.

I think that the game has evolved a lot in the last few years and Rowett may just find himself out of touch..... we're desperately crying out for a more modern approach to coaching to get the best out of what we have.

So if I have to be in one camp, then it would be "Rowett Out" but I say so reluctantly as he was just the manager we needed last season but for one reason or another he seems out of touch only a few months later.

I've never been an advocate of sacking managers the moment our form dips. I grew up with Jim Smith, Maurice Evans, Brian Horton Out and Denis Smith over 15 years. Our recent history had seen Chris Wilder, Michael Appleton and Karl Robinson over a similar period too.*

But the game has evolved and results are more important than longevity these days, which is why I reluctantly accepted that Des needed to go, and feel that the time is also right for Rowett to go.





* yes, I know that I've missed out Lawrenson, Waddock and Clotet in the same way that I forget that Liz Truss was every PM.

 

[OtteryYellow]

But, again, you’re isolating and outlier. All bad teams have exceptionally good games. Very daft to generalise from a chance confluence of factors.

Yes, my point said it has unfortunately been an outlier but where we disagree is that it was because of the quality of players Vs the way in which they are being utilised.

No need to suggest I am daft, that's quite rude, you have no idea about who or what I am.

Our shared passion is getting the best for oufc and we should discuss that respectfully.