We have the capacity to scrape the barrel. No quality, no money, no hope. We'll probably turn Watford over now...
Personally I don’t think Gareth did enough last season to have the job for this season. We should have said thanks and got someone else in. His lack of management skills were there to see and the stats back that up. All a bit too late for that now - my money is we’ll have someone else in to manage by October.
What's he meant to do with no money to spend and a squad full of ****ters ? Hasn't been backed by the board and is left with free transfers and players without a club. Even Pep would struggle to get a tune out of the dross we have. If we avoid relegation, he should win manager of the season !
I think it’s somewhere in between. He wasn’t dealt a great hand last season but still played it terribly. The performances were appalling and while the results were just about enough, still dismal. This isn’t a great squad by any means but Begovic, Paal, Dunne, Field, Chair, Willock and Dykes aren’t bad players at all. If he can’t get a tune out of those and I doubt he will then he’ll be made to look way out of his depth as I fear he was last season and still is.
I’d expect him to not lose 5-0 to a L1 team regardless of it being a friendly. The players he had today should not be losing 5-0 and he’s had long enough to work with them. Sorry but I don’t buy ‘poor Gareth’.
I see Gareth as a motivator, an encourager, a happy clapper rather than a tactical manager. He failed miserably today. It's not his fault, it's the idiots who run the club. I remember all the way back to Beale and I said we were 3 or 4 players short of a play off team. I now believe this club has been run that far backwards that we are 6 or 7 players short of being able to stay in this league.
Trialling the injury prone Gape, not wanted by his last league 1 team sums up exactly where we are at. A div 1 team with a div 1 manager losing 5-0 to a div1 team.
Starting team: Asmir Begovic was once again between the sticks behind Osman Kakay, Dunne, Joe Gubbins and Kenneth Paal across the back four. Sam Field and Andre Dozzell made up midfield with Ilias Chair, Taylor Richards and Chris Willock supporting lone frontman Lyndon Dykes. Dunne injured replaced by Trent Rendall, second half Kelman on for Richards and late on Adomah and triallist Gape on for Dozzell and Willock. Ainsworth described the performance as ‘unacceptable’.
We don't have a single decent defender, we have a guy collecting his bus pass in goal, we have Dozy in midfield and Willock , who's injuries have left him a shadow of the player he was 18-24 months ago. We haven't bought 1 single reasonable player into the squad. What do we expect ? We can harp on until the cows come home about FFP, but the board is letting us rot. I honestly don't know what they are hoping to achieve anymore, just to stay afloat while losing millions every month. Ambition has all but been drained from the club, and these players all look shell shocked. If we can't compete financially with even the minnows of this league, where can we realistically expect to finish ? If relegation does come, then how on earth would we stave off falling further down the leagues ? Pre season yes, but I don't see any signs of any improvement.
Just catching up on this, and what a disappointment and awful end to pre-season. Brace yourselves ladies and gentlemen, could well be a long and not very enjoyable season ahead.
Yes, we took off 10 players and left just the goalie on for most of it. Think we need to upgrade the goal keeper.
