I think he has shown signs of being fearless in his team selection. He's not afraid to drop "big names", which is good to see. Personally it might sound a bit mad, but I'd be tempted to switch out Adarma for Fellows next game, but let's see (Adarma annoyed me a bit today with his shoot on sight regardless policy). Was just thinking (and I know this will annoy the SR Out crew), but we need to appreciate that Still is learning his way in this league and in this country too. It'll be interesting to see how quickly he gets better as well (presuming he does, but ceilings and all that...)
For me I'd like to see 4 attackers on the pitch at both Bristol/Blackburn and them being Archer, Scienza, Azaz, and one of Fellows/Arma. Happy with either of the latter but I think Fellows is more likely to have an impact off the bench than Armstrong and carries less of a goal threat so lean towards Arma.
The 3 CBs and 2 DMs have been negative overkill in very winnable matches at SMS imo. Plus he kept them on for virtually the whole game today.
Kind of, though all the chances in the first half were with that system. Where he failed a bit today was not changing the system when given the chance in the second half.
We weren't really feeding Archer though, he had the two chances, a shot from outside the box and a rebound off of the post. His game is to play on the shoulder of the last defender and get in behind.
To reiterate from the match thread, I think Still did everything that could be expected of him as a manager today. His set up provided our forwards with the opportunity to take this game by up to 4 goals and Swansea rarely troubled us at the other end. I can't blame him for professional footballers missing multiple chances in the 5 yard box and an open goal, its just ****ing absurd how bad our players are at finishing. His set up (and Scienza's work rate) handed that game on a plate to any competent striker of the ball.
100%. He needs balls played in behind, on the ground, and he almost never gets that. I think he cleans up in the right system but Still doesn't know how to get the best out of him
He made quite a lot of good runs in the first half today but he was ignored almost every time. One time he was played from deep in he held it up well and then fed Scienza out wide. It's why I'd like to see Azaz get more game time.
-He's 3 points behind Nathan ****ing Jones. -He's got us below the skates for the first time in a gazillion years -He's absolutely no clue on his starting XI -He doesn’t know his best formation -He spends more time slagging off his predecessors than addressing the problems he has -Even Juric beat Swansea But............ It's genuinely pointless binning him. I mean that as **** knows who the clowns in charge would appoint. Until they go we're totally ****ed. Today's Swansea will be us in 2 seasons. Don't forget to clap them off at the next home game though
Nathan Jones didn't work out here but he is a good manager at the right club, wouldn't have been given a chance at a Premier League side of he wasn't. He was hounded out pretty much from the moment he arrived and yeah he didn't cover himself in glory by any means, but still(pardon the pun). For me it seems like Still is facing similar from some entitled fans. When will we ever learn?
Blaming the fans for our managers' lack of success is a stretch. If the board just hired better managers, then we wouldn't constantly have this problem. I forgave them for Jones. I forgave them for Martin. I've forgiven them for both relegations. This season is the final straw though for me. I don't expect promotion, but I certainly expect a top 6 finish, and to see a team that is exciting and free scoring and able to beat any other Championship team on our day.
Jones is an excellent manager at this level.for sure. Not sure the fan reaction to Still is that comparable though. Felt like 90% of the fan base wanted Jones sacked after about 2-3 games and nowhere near that many want Still out now.
Yeah, I'm pissed off with Still but fans have definitely been more patient than with Jones. I also think it's fair to have higher expectations of the manager when we are in the championship. Jones had 1 win in 8 in the PL, Still has 2 in 10 in the Championship.
I’m sorry but in the championship as a relegated team with one of the strongest and highest paid squads in the division, you should not be playing 5 at the back, especially at home to Swansea. After 20 minutes yesterday you could see we were going to dominate the game, and a change at half time should have been made by at least taking of one of the 3 CD’s and replacing with Azaz. We could probably play with just one holding midfielder in games like this and go 4-1-4-1 or close to. Yesterday we started with basically 8 defensive players / positions including the GK, and that is on WS. With 3 CB’s, to me it always gives opposing teams time to get back into their shape, as they know we will play 8/9 passes across the back. I’m not WS out yet, but he has to play a system to score goals, be more energetic and you can’t press teams when you have 5 defenders leaving midfield outnumbered. Think if we don’t win at least 3 of the next 5, the next international break could be telling, especially if Rohl is still available. Lose to Bristol City and Blackburn next week, and my opinion could change and that of a large number of match going fans.
We played 5 at the back, yet (correct me if I'm wrong), had the highest attack stats (chances created, shots etc) this season? We created plenty of chances, but we just couldn't convert them. That's not on Still, or the formation - we have to get out the mindset that 5 at the back is defensive.
A back 3 doesn't have to be overly defensive but you have to have the WBs really high up the pitch. Arguably when you do that it can be more attacking than a back four.
I get it to a point, but what I saw with my eyes yesterday wasn't overly defensive. We just couldn't convert.
If Still does see three CBs as Plan A now, that would scream to me a need to try and get Aribo back involved in the squad. Possibly Edozie too. Yesterday it felt like Charles and Jander were both far more willing to progress up the pitch, and maybe that was in part because they had three CBs behind them and an opposition who posed little attacking threat. At times, Charles was even trying to fill the Stu role. Unfortunately, as we saw, neither of them had any composure in front of goal. That's something which Aribo can bring. Edozie meanwhile would provide us with an explosive option to occasionally use at LWB, given the right circumstances; similar to Fellows on the other side.
