Confirmed: Will Still sacked

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Sack now?

  • Yes

    Votes: 84 79.2%
  • No

    Votes: 22 20.8%

  • Total voters
    106
If Still isn't gone tomorrow, then there damn well needs to be a crisis meeting between him, the coaching staff, and Spors; in which he is told that he is effectively a dead man walking, and that he might as well go for broke, get out of his comfort zone, play the ****ing players you Spors got you, and attack, attack, attack.

Any more of this defensive negativity and you can f*ck off.

What we need is the "Vote of confidence" message from SR...
 
Trying to think who these players are. Edozie and Aribo seem to have been sidelined so they're obviously prime suspects. Players who are out on loan are unlikely to be the cause of any current problems.

Breaking down the rest of the squad.

These players have effectively only joined this summer so probably aren't the cause of any problem: Roerslev, Azaz, Scienza, Quarshie, Fellows, Jander, Matsuki, Jelert, Long, Downs
These are too young to be the problem: Robinson, Sesay, Bragg
These have either played well or don't seem the type not to be trying: Stephens, Armstrong, Stewart, Wood, Charles, Fraser
These I'm not totally sure. Some may not be good enough but I don't see too many obvious signs of an attitude problem: McCarthy, Edwards, Bazunu, Welington, Manning

Which leaves Downes, THB and Archer. I could see all of them being annoyed at not playing and thinking they're better than they are, although I'm not sure if that's fair on Downes because Alfie House keeps saying he's been more affected by that e coli infection than I expected. So who knows.

Thinking about it, Fraser has clashed with coaching staff in the past so maybe he's more likely than I first thought.
I’m going to stick my neck out and point to Jack Stephens as being heavily involved, if not central, to the problem.

People like Downes and THB might well be part of a rotten core, but my intuition is that Jack never really grew out of the influence of Charlie Austin. There’s also the issue of the captaincy which he might feel some resentment about.
 
I’m going to stick my neck out and point to Jack Stephens as being heavily involved, if not central, to the problem.

People like Downes and THB might well be part of a rotten core, but my intuition is that Jack never really grew out of the influence of Charlie Austin. There’s also the issue of the captaincy which he might feel some resentment about.

Tbh there is an argument that basically anyone who was here last season could be being referred to here. From a mental perspective a season like that is obviously going to have a negative effect and wouldn’t surprise me at all if any player last season is still in a very negative mindset and that is effecting the overall mood at the club.

Look at a side like Man United who over the last decade have consistently brought in top players/managers and under achieved with these managers/players not performing. Then when they leave they become very good players again. There is a general malaise around the club and think that is where we are currently (obviously on a much smaller scale to Utd)
 
Tbh there is an argument that basically anyone who was here last season could be being referred to here. From a mental perspective a season like that is obviously going to have a negative effect and wouldn’t surprise me at all if any player last season is still in a very negative mindset and that is effecting the overall mood at the club.

Look at a side like Man United who over the last decade have consistently brought in top players/managers and under achieved with these managers/players not performing. Then when they leave they become very good players again. There is a general malaise around the club and think that is where we are currently (obviously on a much smaller scale to Utd)

With a small dash of Liverpool’s “we haven’t got a clue what to do with our new players” thrown in.
 
Playing Archer with 3 CBs and WBs is akin to Pellegrino playing Shane Long as a solo striker and lobbing crosses in from deep to him, it's never going to function well and is not making best use of our resources.
Almost everyone can see it except the manager and I think it is this ultra safety first mindset that is permeating to the players.
I honestly think that the squad is at minimum in the top 6 and is currently massively underperforming.
I also have reservations about Will Still's man management which is compounding the current malaise around the club.
The Pellegrino season was probably my least favourite ever apart from last season and if things continue as they are the I can see the attendances falling sharply unless there are some changes soon.
 
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Playing Archer with 3 CBs and WBs is akin to Pellegrino playing Shane Long as a solo striker and lobbing crosses in from deep to him, it's never going to function well and is not making best use of our resources.
Almost everyone can see it except the manager and I think it is ultra safety first mindset that is permeating to the players.
I honestly think that the squad is at minimum in the top 6 and is currently massively underperforming.
I also have reservations about Will Still's man management which is compounding the current malaise around the club.
The Pellegrino season was probably my least favourite ever apart from last season and if things continue as they are the I can see the attendances falling sharply unless there are some changes soon.

Shane was about a billion times better in the air than Adam and Cameron too.
 
Just to put my two-pennyworth in. I actually feel some sympathy for Still. He reminds me, to a degree ,of some other people we've all encountered in our lives. He looks and sounds, uncomfortable and distracted. After half-time v Blackburn Saints team and Will were waiting in the tunnel for the Blackburn team to appear. Mrs said to me "Poor Will, dear old boy" he looked so unhappy had no interaction with the players but stood awkwardly to one side like the unpopular kid at school who would love to be accepted but is ignored by his peers. OK I'm an old softie but I do feel for him.

That said, I do accept that, if he is weak in man-management, that he is unsuitable to be a football manager. I personally still think there is something there and I hope he stays until Xmas, lets get behind him and the team and hope that the results improve. If they don't, I accept he'll have to go and get someone like Mobray in.
 
I've steered away from the many iterations of this conversation across the various threads (which for some reason seems to have become an I'm right / You're wrong debate everywhere) to give a bit of time to it, plus I've had some code to finish..

I'm not interested in getting drawn into the verbal bun fights but will happily discuss valid points of view and here's mine for what it's worth.

I can't see SR pulling the trigger on WS until nearer the window, if at all, as there isn't a stand out candidate from the likely available list that you'd go "yes - that person will gets us promoted (via the playoffs)" - which is probably why they are available. We aren't going to pay out someone from another team at the moment - it just doesn't make financial sense until our own positions are more solid.

WS has to start learning from the past games and not keep making these odd team decisions on the pitch that consistently have a negative impact. He probably can learn as he can't be a bad coach considering the experience he does have - the question is will he do so quick enough to turn back the fans?

The table is tight enough that we could be in the mix for play offs quite quickly is something does indeed change with the team.

There seems to be some off pitch issues with the team availability. Is this normal but we are focussing on it more as we are looking for any negative things to pounce on? Maybe I'm naive and thought all the squad travelled just to cover for these types of situations and if you weren't playing you still had to be there etc etc.

Injuries and sickness has impacted some games with players not well and / or injured so on top of the team decisions I feel we have yet to play what I think is the strongest squad.

WS is too defensive minded with the players we have - that shows when he tries to shut up shop with a 1 goal lead - take the hint from coventry - if you batter the other team with constant attacking football of sufficient quality you will win consistently and well (which creates a positive loop for us and a negative one for the other team - no one wants to play coventry at the moment)

The window didn't cover all bases - but I think it was done to plan but we got hit with some issues that likely weren't expected. Downs hasn't gelled, Stewart has glass hamstrings and the rest of the players who should have goals in them have forgotten that the round thing has to go inside the net.

The past decisions from SR have led us to here - that's a fact you can't hide from. We can't change them now though and whilst protesting will highlight the feelings of the fans unless Solak wants to sell, and someone wants to buy at the acceptable valuation to all parties, he isn't going anywhere.

So I think we're in for a rough couple of months which could have some light at the end of the tunnel but that could just be a train coming the other way..

Most sensible post I have read for a while, really well thought out and written. Shows the benefits of taking your time to post something as most of us, myself included can be a bit reactionary at times(it's only because we care).

I agree with pretty much everything here.
 
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When you're one of the bigger fishes, I feel you need to have a swagger about you. Teams should come to your ground and expect you to go at them, put them under pressure and dominate. It's what all of the best "bigger" sides do ... not conservative 3-5-2 formations or knocking it around at the back for minutes on end. You go for the jugular and you go for it from the off.

Just reading about Rohl's first Ibrox game and it screams of all the things we need Still to be doing at St.Marys. Some key points from the BBC article ...

"There was nothing rigid about this Rangers side - flexibility and adaptability were the watch words."
"The whole team moved up the pitch quicker, the passing was sharper and with the overloads in the wide areas"
"Up until Sunday, much of Rangers' football had been somewhat laboured and predictable. There was more energy and speed in the first domestic display of the Rohl regime."
"The Ibrox crowd certainly fed off the newfound intensity from the players"
"The supporters could see that the new head coach was trying something a bit different and was getting a response from his players. For the first time this season, is a proper synergy emerging between head coach, players and fans?"

https://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/football/articles/cdjrxgk8v4eo
 
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When you're one of the bigger fishes, I feel you need to have a swagger about you. Teams should come to your ground and expect you to go at them, put them under pressure and dominate. It's what all of the best "bigger" sides do ... not conservative 3-5-2 formations or knocking it around at the back for minutes on end. You go for the jugular and you go for it from the off.

Just reading about Rohl's first Ibrox game and it screams of all the things we need Still to be doing at St.Marys. Some key points from the BBC article ...

"There was nothing rigid about this Rangers side - flexibility and adaptability were the watch words."
"The whole team moved up the pitch quicker, the passing was sharper and with the overloads in the wide areas"
"Up until Sunday, much of Rangers' football had been somewhat laboured and predictable. There was more energy and speed in the first domestic display of the Rohl regime."
"The Ibrox crowd certainly fed off the newfound intensity from the players"
"The supporters could see that the new head coach was trying something a bit different and was getting a response from his players. For the first time this season, is a proper synergy emerging between head coach, players and fans?"

https://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/football/articles/cdjrxgk8v4eo

A team usually reflects the manager and with Will being very young in his first job in England he is a bit timid in his decisions and maybe not inspirational enough in the dressing room.
 
When you're one of the bigger fishes, I feel you need to have a swagger about you. Teams should come to your ground and expect you to go at them, put them under pressure and dominate. It's what all of the best "bigger" sides do ... not conservative 3-5-2 formations or knocking it around at the back for minutes on end. You go for the jugular and you go for it from the off.

Just reading about Rohl's first Ibrox game and it screams of all the things we need Still to be doing at St.Marys. Some key points from the BBC article ...

"There was nothing rigid about this Rangers side - flexibility and adaptability were the watch words."
"The whole team moved up the pitch quicker, the passing was sharper and with the overloads in the wide areas"
"Up until Sunday, much of Rangers' football had been somewhat laboured and predictable. There was more energy and speed in the first domestic display of the Rohl regime."
"The Ibrox crowd certainly fed off the newfound intensity from the players"
"The supporters could see that the new head coach was trying something a bit different and was getting a response from his players. For the first time this season, is a proper synergy emerging between head coach, players and fans?"

https://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/football/articles/cdjrxgk8v4eo

Don’t. Not going the extra mile to secure Röhl is the thing that pisses me off the most. There must have been a way, and the fact he’ll likely show how good he is up there makes me so sad!
 
It's just one league game for Rohl and so it might well not go well over the distance but he did exactly what he needed to do with the Ibrox crowd in his first home game ... he got them on side by giving his team the remit to show swagger.

I don't dislike Still and I'm sure he is a capable football coach but right now he looks like someone that's won a Daily Echo competition to be the Saints manager for a day - I'm not sure he's yet got the respect from the players to get them to do what he's perhaps asking them to do. Maybe he's too timid?

Makes me wonder whether when Poch came in and everybody wondered who he was, he just played videos of himself playing for Argentina at a World Cup and they players duly stood up and went ... "ah right, fair play actually - you probably do know a thing or two"
 
It's just one league game for Rohl and so it might well not go well over the distance but he did exactly what he needed to do with the Ibrox crowd in his first home game ... he got them on side by giving his team the remit to show swagger.

I don't dislike Still and I'm sure he is a capable football coach but right now he looks like someone that's won a Daily Echo competition to be the Saints manager for a day - I'm not sure he's yet got the respect from the players to get them to do what he's perhaps asking them to do. Maybe he's too timid?

Makes me wonder whether when Poch came in and everybody wondered who he was, he just played videos of himself playing for Argentina at a World Cup and they players duly stood up and went ... "ah right, fair play actually - you probably do know a thing or two"
Probably the best description/observation so far - he really does! <laugh>