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The negativity continues
Previous post: Three and Out — the readers take over
Next post: The rich are the richest
Beside the Point: The Blog by Patrick McManamon
Musings on the world of sports
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Patrick McManamon- Patrick McManamon: Bad news Browns a hopeless cause
- Lerner’s thinking was not illogical
- Dear coach Mangini: This is not New England
- Patrick McManamon: Here's what the Browns should try the rest of the season
- Warriors give coach perfect birthday gift: regional title
- Another wacky, crazy Browns week
- Look beyond wins and losses in Akron/Kent game
- Cavs' vision finally becomes clear
- Cavs' vision finally becomes clear
- Accorsi could be brought into bigger role with Browns
{ 18 comments… read them below or add one }
This is right on. Mangini is making the Browns worse with every passing game. I am sick of the way he treats the players and the way he is jerking the QB's around each week. His play calling is horrible and he acts like there is nothing wrong with the Browns and that everything will be alright.
He needs to be fired now, or else the Browns will finsih 0-16.
hmm deja vu
Easy to predict what is going to happen if the Browns continue to lose. The media will make it too hot for Lerner. Even really rich dudes don't like to be called names, especially the ones who have lived too many years in their father's shadow. So if Mangini isn't fired at the end of the season, he will be fired prior to the end of the season, with Ryan taking over as interim head coach until the end of the season. And, regardless if Mangini is fired before season's end or at the end of the season, either way, it will again result in the media's rampant speculation that the next head coach will be Bill Cowher, and Cowher's choice will come down to his choice between Cleveland or Carolina.
Well, that was pretty brutal. I just wish Posnanski would get off the fence and admit how he really feels about Mangini.
@ Alan,
Anyone with half a football brain did not expect the Browns to have a good year, after watching Romeo stumble through years of ineptness what makes you think Lerner will suddenly decide 1 season or less for a head coach?
For that matter what makes you think Cowher or any GOOD coach wants to come to the land of negativity and be called names before your first preseason game ?
75% of the m.o.r.o.n.s on these sports blogs have not a clue how football is played or how salaries are structured, I can't tell you how many comments I have read that the Browns should have drafted Sanchez in the draft .ATTENTION : the Browns couldn't draft him because they were handcuffed with Anderson and Quinns two big contracts (thanks to Savage ). Since Savage traded away their draft picks for junk they also had to keep trading down to get the most players they could .
Talk about not having a plan ,someone please tell me what plan Savage and Romeo had for the future of this team ? Mangini was dealt a garbage hand and there isn't a coach alive that can turn cra.p into roses when you have no running backs ,no linebackers,no D-backs,and 2 second string QB's.
Sadly, Bill Cowher is too smart to come here. Modell botched the hire years ago, choosing the sour-n-dour Belichick, while Cowher was immediately hired by Pittsburgh, and led the Steelers to a decade+ of consistent, winning, positive football & Super Bowl appearances.
Just from what you know, compare Cowher to Mangini. Do you think there is ANY way Cowher would treat his players and/or the media & fans like Mangini does? Cowher was continually building up and praising his players–you could see it on the sidelines, when he'd pull them into him and pat their helmets. He had an uplifting working relationship with the players and front office and owner. It really bothers me when local knuckleheads knock Cowher because he coached in Pittsburgh. WE HAD THE CHANCE to hire him! He WANTED this job! He PLAYED here. He assistant-coached here. He was the ideal selection, and Modell botched that decision just like he did nearly every other one.
Our history could've been soooo different….but for one assinine hiring.
And now, the mistaken hirings are compounded.
If you were a coach whose family moved south, would you choose Cleveland over Carolina? Not me. So, Cowher goes to Carolina. Why would he want to come to a program that is in such an absolute mess as this one is? Why would ANY coach want to come here now? Yes, the Lerners (Who are not football savy) did get sold a bill of goods by Butch Davis and Eric Mangini. They talk a smooth game, but can not deliver. Besides, there is plenty of time this season for other teams with quality players to stumble and then select Cowher at the end of the season. There are other outstanding coaches out there as well, but the odds of them accepting a coaching job in Cleveland…well, let the track record speak for itself.
I'll tell you exactly why Cowher and anybody else would consider Cleveland: $$$. Money talks. And given the apparent fact that Lerner hires his people and then lets them run their own ship, then why wouldn't Cowher or any other big name consider Cleveland? Somebody like Cowher wouldn't be coaching in a "land of negativity," because hype and hope springs eternal in Northeast Ohio. He'd get a minimum of a two-year free pass, if not longer. Locally, the media would smooch him the same way their lips have been pressed against Danny Ferry's ass for the last four years. Just you watch.
Oh, for sure, I'd make a run at Cowher. He'd be Candidate #1. But where do you turn for Candidate #2? I'm not sure Shanahan is up to rebuilding this mess. He's a bit old, and sour himself. Ditto with Holmgren. Frankly, Denver may have gotten the steal with our own local boy, McDaniels, who seems bright and energetic. And he's not a backstabber like Mangini. In fact, he's probably the anti-Mangini. If you can win with Kyle Orton and the Denver defense as a rookie head coach, you're showing something. Remember, that franchise was so awful, they felt they had to fire freakin' Mike Shanahan. Yet, the Broncos stand 3-0, the Browns 0-3.
Mr. Lerner, perhaps a few other interviews would've been a good idea?
This is being written for third time in four years: The man to fix this mess is Marty Schottenheimer. Should've been hired within a week of his SD dismissal. He just turned 66 and has his ghosts, but he'd be doing us all a favor if he'd consent to come here. Everything he stands for is something this organization needs. He runs the ball, stops the run, constructs around LBs, hires quality assistants, prizes character, intelligence and toughness. A winner wherever he's been. Respects the game. Motivates. Knows the area and tradition. Brings national credibility. He is probably the one proven commodity who'd consider Cleveland.
Schottenheimer? You forgot "weeps tears once a month like he's suffering from PMS," "always loses games that mean anything" and "guaranteed to be fired by the age of 70."
I'm not opposed to Marty. And I'd seriously consider Bernie as an offensive coach. Until this team's entire offensive philosophy changes, we aren't winning. Yeah, I know…people harp on the defense. But folks, we don't score. We don't move the ball. We have zero chance of ever winning anything like that. This "play it close to the vest, conservative, slow-it-down and run-out-the-clock" crap is for losers. A wide-open attack, as Bernie endorses, would not only move the ball forward, it would excite the paying customers who are now fleeing in droves.
An interesting lesson, relating to the other lousy Cleveland sports team. Many of us felt that one of Romeo's problems was that he was too "soft", especially on the players. Mangenius was going to be the polar opposite, a tough disciplinarian. Guess team discipline isn't the big issue with the Browns. And, I have been sure that Eric Wedge's major problem is that he is a "player's manager", a cliche that usually means that he is more like a buddy, than a boss, to the players. A tough guy, in the Jim Leyland mold, would be the cure for the Tribe. Now I'm not so sure.
While Anyone-but-Wedge should still be the motto, it looks like we don't need the baseball equivalent of one of those school principals who carry baseball bats.
No player can function under an oppressive system where the coach badgers the players like little children. With the Indians, Wedge was not a major part of the problem: it's these weak, inconsistent hitters Shapiro has acquired; as well as ineffective pitchers. And no player leadership to speak of.
Do you think Joe Torre or Mike Soscia or Terry Francona or Charlie Manuel (I could keep listing) are any harder or softer on players than Wedge? If anything, I felt Wedge was too robotic, too businesslike, not loose enough. The players play "tight" and with "no fun," and it really shows.
Sean, in the time it took for us to have this blog "conversation", the Indians have fired Wedge. I just saw the headline coming back to check the blog. So, we can start using the past tense for Wedge. You certainly have the right word in "robotic".
I would add stubborn, unprepared for change & adversity, and clueless.
I just wish Mangini would leave. I havent missed a game in years until this sunday.
Sunday's Outlook…Bad Weather, Down by 17 at the half.
The stadium is less than half full at the start of the third quarter.
Pathetic.
It is a sign of how awful things are with the Browns that many fans yearn for Marty S. who never won a big game in his entire career.