I considered making a Pistols reference in response to that, but couldn't come up with anything worthy. I think we should go for Luton's Nathan Jones. He's been gone too long.
David Hopkin (yes, I know you've no idea who he is...) has just walked out of my local club over finances. Did well at Livingston on a shoestring, had absolutely no money at Morton and got them competetive....****ing ugly football though, and a big fan of 4-4-2 which won't get very far in the Championship! On second thoughts, maybe give him a miss
Agree with this. Can't keep selling the best players and expect the same results as last year. Not sure a world cup winning coach would do any better with the players we have. Disappointing but we need to face reality.
That's the crux of it for me. I think a world cup winning coach would do a whole lot better with this squad. A half decent coach would too imo.
MW deserves some credit in that he’s managed to get a bunch of very average players being able to pass the ball around.......but............ The problem in my opinion is that we’re too slow in transition. We allow the opposition to set and then we don’t have the guile/quality to unpick most defences. In trying to play nice possession based football all we consistently do is pass the ball sideways and backwards too much. You’ll notice when the ball eventually gets to our wingers there’s no space and we have to turn back to retain the football. Why play an immobile CF if we’re not going to whip in crosses!!!!! We also lack quality through the spine of the team. I don’t think this system works, our results confirm this and yet he won’t try something different. What’s the definition of insanity???? we will go down unless MW goes or we invest in 2-3 quality players which we won’t. Relegation will be horrendous financially and development wise. MW has 3 games to shake it up or go
I was saying only 3 weeks ago that we shouldn’t change manager however, how much longer can we continue like this? Same old story week after week. When you see Luton and Barnsley 13th/14th and able to score and win games you have to ask why can’t we? Dykes is a donkey and won’t score us the goals needed. The last thing we need is a relegation battle with these players. I said at the time we should never have got rid of Warnock and brought in Jimmy Fraud Hasslebloke. Look what he has done to Boro? That club was in a mess until he arrived. We keep making the wrong appointments and it doesn’t help when the Chairman says we are building a young talented team to challenge then sell the best players as soon as they start doing well.
Exactly this. We had one cracking shot from Cameron (I think it was Cameron???) today but otherwise it's all fancy passing and slowly trying to build up to easy chances to score...which just don't come against any semi-decent defense. If I saw us take some more risks going forward and have a few more shots at goal I'd be a lot more optimistic. Time is surely running out and the owners won't want to give a January window to a manager who isn't going to be around too much longer.
unfortunately we flatter to deceive. It looks easy on the eye at times and our supporters can point to possession and territory stats. But our possession to chances created ratio must be awful. I saw glimpses of us trying to be more direct against Stoke but there was way to much of a gap between Dykes and the 3. Our system is wrong IMO and he continues to play this week in, week out.
Whatever is decided, one thing the club and all of us need to think of is this: If we are relegated, could that start a chain reaction that leads to the end of the club? Not only are these unprecedented times, but we're also not a very financially secure club, nor is there much scope for making money. We don't get much in ticket sales at the best of times. We don't get that much from player sales. What would relegation do to us? It would definitely be worse than it was in the 90s.
I think the problem with Warburton is this ... He wants to play Pep Guardiola football, regardless of the personnel at his disposal. Play out from the back, lots of passing, no long range shots. Fine if you've got the quality of player to do it with, although I'm not entirely comfortable playing this way all of the time. He's tried to do the same at every club he has managed. It did work while he managed Brentford, to some degree. Since then he has employed the same tactic wherever he has managed. He has subsequently been found out. The other night against Stoke, we came up against Michael O'Neil. This manager looks at what he's got at his disposal and works out a system that can work with the players he has at his disposal. No square pegs in round holes. Neil Warnock was a similar manager. Looks at what he's got and plays to the strengths of that squad. Dykes ploughs a lone furrow up top on his own, he's even been trying to knock balls onto himself. A better manager would remedy this. You would probably be better off not playing Dykes or Bonne in the system he wants to try and play, and play Chair as a false nine instead. Anyway, what do I know? The Pro's in the know have got our backs. I'm not one for calling out for the sacking of manager's. But if there has to be a change, I'd go all out for Eddie Howe. I know that a lot of folk think he's beyond our reach ... But he went to Bournemouth at the first time in League 2, and the second time in League One. He knows the the lower leagues and won't want a load of money to be back in the game if he knows the board will back him.
We’ve bought in Bonne and Uncle Albert but have let Shodipo and Smyth out on loan. We let Wszolec go, why? Surely not money? We’ve been unable to defend set pieces for a year. We are getting late and strange subs in games. We have no plan B, ever. These are not quality of squad issues, they are training and management ones. Warbs is making it tough to argue against those wanting him to go.
Bonne got a great equaliser against Sheff Weds. Other than that I can't think of a crucially correct substitution since then, they've all been non-effective.
How did you have any realistic expectations of a fringe play-off place for us from 13th last season when Eze, Wells, Hugill, Pugh, Hall, Leizchner, Manning, Angel, Amos have all gone from our squad since last season, and the powers that be have clearly not given Warburton the funds to replace them adequately. Bringing in low cost or freebies from lower Divisions, lower levels of playing experience + our own untried younsters, cannot realistically be expected to improve our League position, or do anywhere near as well as the above named who got us to 13th last season. The idea is totally flawed by the reality of what we have done. With our current squad we were always at best a low table side. We need to bring in better players particularly up front to score the goals we are clearly lacking. I think changing the Manager will cost the money we need to use on these players (if we have it at all?)and is just as likely to make us worse than better.
It’s all been said more eloquently and in finer detail by others (above), but here’s my two penn’orth... 1, Warbles has stabilised the club to lower mid-table, should be applauded for the style of play he’s trying to instil, but lacks the players to carry it out effectively. The definition of insanity is to try the same thing over and over expecting a different result. We were told when he came that he had no Plan B. He has no Plan B. He doesn’t know how to win games at this level like a Warnock does. 2, Many attractive managerial replacements are probably beyond our financial reach. It’s a big gamble for a (say) Eddie Howe to come here looking to enhance a burgeoning reputation when the budget’s not there. That’s why we get the McClarens, managers on their way down looking to salvage the dying embers of their reputation. 3, As I’ve said before, I’d go for Nigel Pearson. Yes, but of a risk on the utter nutter spectrum, but probably affordable. Ignore all this win ratio spherical objects - he’s shown at Leicester and Watford that he can grind out results, can turnaround teams and can get promotion. Watford were entrenched in the relegation zone when he was appointed. They were two points above the zone when they sacked him, having inflicted the season’s first defeat of Liverpool beforehand. I don’t know what went on there, but they went down. Get him in, I say.
