What, first win in Feb makes him a good manager..................LJ must be doing ok then in your eyes!!!
Yes we are on a poor run of form (though a decent point at Millwall yesterday) I think we need to remember that we are 7th in a very tough league
when you strive to equal / beat something there is an anti climax reaction you have almost got there or part way to the beating of it.. playing away upon equalling it was a recipe for disaster I had them down as a draw /win.. for Watford it was like a cup match sh** or bust....
when you look at it, there is 4 ways.. big divide .... strong ..average … weak the only sure one to eliminate is big divide [3/4 of way through season the top 2 [or 3 ] is far from guaranteed to be the contenders for automatic.] last season points range was 94 89 and VILLA went up via PO's with 76 the other 3 groups are still all contenders … average is the common denominator = average to strong /average to weak currently top 8 are 16pts/15pts apart so teams 5th downward wont be getting automatic promotion! you cant really judge strong v weak until next season [if at all ] when promoted /relegated perform in new environments Bolton aside ROTHERHAM and IPSWICH would suggest a strong to average but Villa and Norwich suggests a weak to average so last season was a divide between top 2 and average division I would say this season it an above average division
So leaving all his new signings out what does that say. Harmony in the camp not existent. Bentley dropped don’t believe the injury bollocks.
Bentley has been one of the stand out players over the past half a dozen games .. there is no way he would drop him unless not 100% fit Benkovic is now a surplus defender .. and we have had them all season …. Wells Fammy and Weimann will likely see them being rotated last 10 games ..Henriksen ..well he did speak out of turn..his first game!! maybe he isn't a fit! comment previous/other post regarding Brownhill being ever present but still being in all games lost!! he is only 1 of the 11 [14 ] so therein may lay the tale!!!
Reading OTIB comments about our Junior - They hate and detest him more than I do. As if Whatever - our fan base is totally divided.
But most of them fail to understand, the fact that we've never been in such a good position as a club since the late 70s!!.
OTIB has become very toxic - but we all knew it would. The Clappers were clapping loudly whilst we were winning games and the Flappers were quiet. Now it's the Flappers turn. Redprintt is right - the fans are polarised - but I do think it's a minority that seriously want him gone - although if poor results continue that minority will grow. Trying to debate with them though, is like trying to reason with the little green aliens in the grab machine in the Toy Story films...….their minds are closed - they want LJ gone and don't really care about who replaces him and our current league position. Some even want Cotts back oh how time changes, no - corrupts people's memories..... I totally disagree with them - we are 7th in the league and 1 win away from the playoffs. If we were 1 defeat away from relegation then fine - and I'd be in there with them calling for change, but we are fighting at the right end of the table - and one reason we're still up there is because all the other clubs around us have had bad results too - yet I don't see such vitriol for their managers on their forums. Losing games is frustrating, but in this era of the entitled millennials we have to win every game playing pretty football. The world isn't like that buttercup...…..
It's weird though isn't it, how externally people think we're mad for wanting him gone. Constant improvements year on year despite losing best players, club making a profit, etc. It does seem a bit daft from the outside looking in. I don't really know where I stand on it yet, but it's an interesting thought.
If you have the mental strength to spend time weeding through the mindless hatred and poisonous made-up rubbish to find some coherent arguments, the posters on there who bother to back up their anti-LJ stance (instead of simply posting 'LJ Out', 'He's clueless', 'He's lost the dressing room', 'He has to go', one poster even stated 'LJ and Bentley came to blows' or similar) point to a perceived lack of identity, constant 'tinkering' with the side (although sticking with a losing line-up/formation would trigger equally strong criticism - probably from the same people), our winning and losing 'streaks' and our comparatively poor form at home as reasons for their wanting LJ replaced. All of these are fair points IMHO, but I am not convinced that replacing LJ at this stage of the season, with us in a very healthy league position, would be the right thing to do. Whatever he's doing wrong, it's still 'right' enough for us to be higher in the table than 17 other clubs - who I presume want to win, the same as we do - and one set of results away from the top 6.
Mainly it's just a pure hatred for LJ, ever since playing for us right through to management.. People can't let go that he played for us because GJ was his dad.. That's it..nothing else....quite sad that people are incapable of excepting that many people achieve things in, "not the how, but the whom gave them their chance". Plenty of family companies formed..Some people are lucky and some aren't.....is it the reason to hate or despise? Must admit, I'm not that sort of person....he wasn't at the time of appointment my first choice.....but he's there and IMHO doing a decent job...much better than we've had previous.....I'm sure he would do even better if fans backed him rather than waiting for him to fail, just to say "I told you so".....Even if he took us up, the haters won't go away.....they will be there waiting to pounce!!! It's a sad world we live in...
I know - but I was trying to focus on responding pragmatically to the few anti-LJ arguments that HAVE been articulated reasonably, rather than meet the incoherent vitriol of utter hatred head-on. I really do think that some of the OTIB keyboard warriors must need to take a tablet and calm down - it's not good for the heart to harbour so much negativity!
I think many years ago I took a look at OTIB and thought to myself the vast majority are mamy pamby's and an awful lot just follow the herd of not very bright herdsmen. there is a lot of comparisons you can make of them but I wont …. everyone to their own. Ive never been back since.
'Losing games is frustrating, but in this era of the entitled millennials we have to win every game playing pretty football. The world isn't like that buttercup...…..' R&W I've gone from a little green alien to a frustrated millennial buttercup. All true. Except I was born before you as are quite a few on OTIB. 1For, interested to know how much nepotism you have experienced in the workplace ? The first 7 or 8 years in my career was blighted by nepotism. I vowed never to do the same when I set up my business. Just for the record, their business went tits up a few years later. 1For Referring to nepotism you say some people are lucky and some aren't and then say you're not that kind of person to hate or despise them. You are not an angel, (or alien or buttercup) no way. I find it difficult to believe.
