unfortunately, i did not see a great defensive improvement but i did see a lot of dire passing...don't know why but various players and managers and we still struggle to pass the ball around, i thought we had finally put that behind us early season and i hope we can get back to that but the ipswich game did not fill me full of confidence. that said, i will take a couple of scrappy positive results if it gets us back on track, with or without LJ.
Ii don't think we looked in any trouble at the back. That in itself is an improvement Some of the passing, from Evans in particular was dreadful.
This thread has not thrown up a single plausible replacement in my opinion. The easy thing is to say a new manager is needed, but few people seem to know what is better. I propose something - we are league 1 and have been for 4years but have a manager who was the longest serving manager in the championship. I fail to see who is better. Too many of you have decided he is a non starter because of his language. You make me feel embarassed of I am honest, sorry. I have even seen people say he is too southern. It is pathetic. I know many wont change their opinion, but for this to be on the first page of this board is pathetic in my opinion. It isnt the supporter base I grew up with. Time we all manned up a bit and put everything behind them grafting on our behalf.
now i have seen a few post this but i honestly did not see an improvement of note, balls were still reaching into our box time and time again, we cut very few if any out...i feel it was more down to ipswich poor finishing than our defending, even hoff's 'triple save' was basically three shots at exact same spot, one decent save he pulled off first half and another time their player was free in the box, controlled the ball then blasted it somewhere near roof level from about 6 yards out are the ones i remember, even the one bailey wright headed away was a shot straight at him rather than him getting in the way to block it but i guess we were all looking for something different, we are not a million miles from where we were and evans was certainly not our worst on the day.
Well said mate. It's been a rough time recently and I've struggled to keep things in perspective but you're bang on. Easy to say sack Johnson, almost impossible apparently to say who would replace him and be sure to do a better job. I know we didn't play brilliantly against Ipswich but I was very relieved to see that Johnson still has the players on his side because a) it means we finally have players with the right mentality b) we don't have to replace the manager and roll the dice to see how the season ends. He's young for a manager and I imagine we've all got things we'd do differently but he's not far off and I believe what we need to do to go up is keep him and get KLD to improve the squad.
I think we were poor defensively again, just less poor than the other games, poor at retaining possession and poor creating chances. The much maligned Pritchard and O9 basically won the game with a well taken set piece.
You've said what I've been thinking for a while there, especially with regards to his language and his geographical origins.
This is the conundrum isn't it, Johnson appeared to coach various players into playing better and there's no reason they can't maintain that form. You can analyse tactics, selections and formations but none of that explains why an experienced professional, like Evans, can't make an easy five yard pass. The players that we supporters wanted in the team were poor on Saturday imo, would Neil or Emberton attract attention from big clubs on that display? I felt Stewart needed O'Brien alongside, to help him against their big defenders, but thought Johnson would be booed if he took off Broadhead. In circumstances like these we should all pull together whoever is in the team or the dugout imo. Calling for the manager to go just hands the players an oven ready excuse and things just get worse from then. There was a point, in the first half, when we heard the Roker Roar again which was marvellous. It wasn't in response to the players or an incident, just a roar of defiance and encouragement that the players responded to. I expect the support will be good tomorrow, and at Cambridge, and the players to appreciate it. The one thing missing recently is the confidence to try a better pass or have a shot and if the players feel they have the support to attempt it we can honestly say we've done our bit to help turn things round. This team has the talent to beat any team in the league and are way better than recent performances. Haway the Lads, all of them and not just the ones we prefer.
During the Reid years the SOL was a fortress. Why, because the fans encouraged the players regardless of the performance. Over the past few years booing has become the norm when things aren't going well. Whilst i understand the frustrations this must affect the players. Whether it be to make them think twice about the miracle pass or to shoot when the opportunity arises. We need to support the players so that they aren't afraid to have a go and make the SOL a fortress again.
Absolutely spot on. You’ll get those who say “I’m booing the manager” but, in reality, they were booing yesterday at some bad passes from young players. No idea why people think this is a way to encourage a better performance!
it’s like that parent at kids football who constantly berates. They’re a ****ing pain in the arse, and an embarrassment to their kid. Vent your spleen by all means, but stop being a miserable bitch about it
Lots of intelligent posts on this thread,good forum this. When you have a sustained period of league success,most fans know that there will be a blip at some point,and,when it occurs, will hurry to get behind the lads with lots of encouragement,the benefits of which transmits to the players. However, those circumstances don't exist with us....we have had season after season of failure in the league,and fans are desperate for our longstanding poor form to be reversed. We're basically very pissed off and fed up,a situation we have endured for a long time.Natural enthusiasm and encouragement is there at the start of the match,but, if and when mediocrity sets in, the pre match optimism reverts to a communal fear that this is going to be yet another day of frustration with little or no improvement,again transmitting itself to the players. We turn up in our outstanding numbers ready,willing and able to lift the roof, but,the longer we get a continual feeling of deja vu,the harder it becomes to generate. It has to start with the performance on the pitch which transmits to the fans,which in turn transmits back to the players,and,if it happens often enough,you get the fortress we all know is nestling underneath the surface,but,at the minute, just can't find the optimism to raise its' head. When you're in our situation,it has to begin with the players....we've suffered for too long for it to begin with us.
Good Post. Some people claim we've allowed ourselves to become quick to turn They ignore the endless blows we've had to bear over a decade ... ... and also ignore the 30,000 gate on Saturday plus two sold out away games Of course we're fearful it'll go wrong, we'd be stupid to assume we're now unstoppable. And we'd be arrogant, something we're definitely not.
With threads like these I find it's best to let the anger subside, especially after horror shows like Sheff Wed, etc. Eventually things become less tense and people post more with their heads than their hearts. The thread is now more a debate than a rant and only the title makes it stand out, just my opinion. I agree with you about the support in the past when we were supporters first and last despite what was happening on the pitch. It's still like that away from home and the same people who went to Rotherham and Sheffield will sing their heads off at Shrewsbury and Cambridge. Having so many seats empty at home, despite 30,000 doesn't help as the atmosphere is bound to suffer. But it's the same everywhere these days. The Spurs manager had to beg for support, at the weekend, despite them being 2-1 up with minutes to go. I enjoyed your post though, took me back.
The comments that no one can suggest a plausible replacement manager, are, imo, a bit pointless, or even silly. If our new management structure is worth its salt they'll be constantly monitoring possible replacement managers. Dont forget, if LJ gets his act together and storms this league (still possible), he would be a prime target for a club further up the food chain. So, management has to be ready to replace a manager at virtually all times. I suspect our new leadership will be on the ball with this one.
