Better would be good but it's weird that fans seem to want unproven new owners in a way they would denounce as bonkers if applied to managers or players. There are literally no owners of any club anywhere who a) have a track record of taking a club from also rans to consistently high league positions and b) would see any point in selling their current club and buying Spurs.
It does have to be said the referee did have a major role to play in the first goal He booked all three of our CBs before half time, two of whom for fair challenges (meanwhile, Villa didn't get a single player booked until the 56th minute...), and by complete coincidence all our defenders were backing off which allowed the thunderbastard for the first goal to even happen Everything after that was on Conte responding to adversity about as well as the captain of the Costa Concordia responded to twatting his ship into a reef, though
I am not sure anyone here has blamed the ref for the result, players, manager and owners have all taken a bashing but the ref despite being useless was not the reason we lost. Though even you must look at PNPs post and think that a midlands ref with those stats re Villa winning everytime he refs them is highly dubious.
please log in to view this image Remember when I said that the system doesn't work without Kulusevski? Yeah...
You're having a decent season seems like you're all suffering from a case of unrealistic expectations. I would say being in the race for top 4 is good going.
It's difficult to blame Levy for the current state of affairs. Sure, he deserves blame by the truckload for not backing Poch and then trying to eke a trophy out of a broken group of players with one of the most toxic managers in the history of the game. He deserves even more blame for thinking someone like Nuno was suitable for the club. But from approximately 13 months ago? It becomes significantly harder to point in his or ENIC's direction with grievances. The fans demanded he stopped micromanaging transfers and appoint a proper DOF instead. He went and got one of the best in the business in Paratici. Since his arrival our transfer strategy, while not perfect and not able to compete with the roided up clubs, has been far better than at least the 4-5 years that preceded his arrival. We have brought in a mix of players who have slotted straight in to improve the starting XI (Romero, Kulu, Bentacur), young prospects which used to be the bread and butter of this club (Gil, Spence, Udogie, Sarr) and have upgraded numerous squad options too with more experienced players (Bissouma, Lenglet, Richarlison, Perisic). It reflects a nice balance and for once some joined-up-dots thinking. In fact I think it is safe to say that the only absolutely catastrophic signing made under Paratici was Emerson Royal - and even he has the mitigation that he was signed for a manager who preferred a back 4 with a conservative RB. The current manger was not Levy's appointment, he was Paratici's. And I think the latter - like most of us - believed that an 'elite' manager would be able to adapt at least somewhat to the footballing traditions and financial realities of the club. The exact opposite has happened. I am utterly at a loss for words to describe how disappointed I've been in Conte this season. Yes, this entire season. The football has been absymal, defeats have been convincing and victories often thoroughly unconvincing. He is rapidly showing himself to be the dictionary definition of a 'one trick pony' - literally only has one of of playing, has used it everywhere he has been and cannot or will not change it in the slightest. Well, last season we had the benefit of the element of surprise as well as unusual luck with injuries. This season we've had neither. Teams have studied us and have worked out how easy it is to deal with a wing-back system that doesn't actually have any natural wing-backs. They've also realised that our defence isn't good enough to withstand sustained pressure and so a high block will inevitably lead to either mistakes or set-pieces from which we tend to concede far too often. Even Maureen, who I detest, showed more tactical dexterity than Conte. And maybe that's why he is by a country mile the more decorated manager? He was handed a steaming cowpat of a squad with zero sensible investment and was told to win major trophies with it. So what did he do? He dropped Kane into a false 10 position, compensated for Aurier's lack of a brain by pushing him upfield into an attacking fullback, and he utilised Winks and Sissoko to compensate for the lack of work rate from Dele and Tanguy. Oh, and he did all of that against the backdrop of serious injuries to Kane and Son, and Covid disrupting the season. People talk about Conte taking us from 9th to 4th are quick to forget that Maureen technically took us from 14th to 6th, all with no investment, multiple injuries and Covid. So who should we be more beholden to? While I think the crash and burn was inevitable, I firmly believe we accelerated it massively by not backing Maureen properly in his first summer window. Doherty, Vinicius, Reguilon and Rodon just weren't good enough to improve a squad on its absolute last legs. Conte does not have that excuse. We've registered a significant net spend in both windows he's been here, have a decidedly better squad and noticeably better first team now than we did a year ago, yet performances and results are falling off a cliff. I'm giving him until the end of the season but don't want him involved in transfers this month, for two reasons: 1) His track record in the market at Chelsea where money literally wasn't an issue was frankly abysmal. Batshuayi, Luiz, Morata, Bakayoko, Drinkwater, Barkley and Zappacosta to the tune of £260m. That kind of wastage would ruin us. Kante and Alonso saved him there. 2) As above, Paratici has shown himself to be a shrewd and strategic operator who is able to spin numerous plates at the same time to get us the best deal. I trust him to spend our increased funds wisely and effectively. I don't trust Conte to have the first clue what to do with the players that wisdom brings in. Bottom line is, give this same group of players to Poch or Harry in their prime, we'd drop this wing back bollocks in a heartbeat, recall Reguilon from his loan tomorrow, play him and Spence as attacking FBs, Romero and Lenglet as ball-playing CBs, Hojbjerg and Bentancur as the pivot, drop Kane back into a false 10 again, push Richarlison up top and use Son/Perisic and Kulu as the wide attackers. We'd have the opposition on the back foot all game, sure we'd lose some 4-3 but the football would be a joy to behold.
Talking on here don't cause the club a problem. We ain't even that demanding as fans...we've not turned on any manager for not winning trophies...as long as we watch good football we are pretty cool. Martin Jol, Redknapp and Pochettino are highly thought of...none won a trophy but all gave us great football
He's a Newcastle fan repeating something that they believe the media said about them. What that's got to do with us exactly is anyone's guess. That makes it totally fine to back murderous, sadistic dictators, though. For reasons...
He was bent as ****. Gave him the benefit of doubt initially, put it down to inexperience, but with hindsight his decisions were considered. But did it change the outcome? Nah - I think he wasted effort, trying to slant the game in Villas favour. We did a much better job...
