They are bottom three and conceding three goals a game. The manager is responsible for how the team sets up and its lack of defensive shape, but the manager has spent millions [include wages] on forwards. Many errors City make should be the ones easiest to put right because they don't require players to learn skills they will never have just to run backwards and fall into position. That should be easy for any coach to sort out on the training pitch with drills. If players do not listen? It is still up to the manager to get some that will. It is his team and it should represent also his skills as a motivator and coach.
Heaton - better than Gerkin and James Cunningham - better than we have had in this position for years Foster - better than we had M.Wilson - I don't rate so not better than we had IMO Anderson - when he gets his chance could be better than Woolford jury still out on this one Pearson - on form gives us a better outlet Morris - don't understand this one but obviously some reason to it. Does toughen us up just nothing after that. Davies - better than Stead & Pitman Baldock - see above. Not all forwards mate, sometimes we only want to see what we want to blaming the manager for not getting the players WE want. We were all ****ing ourselves silly over Baldock at the point when we got Baldock did we care that all these forwards (Davies) no did we ****. We got over excited saying we are the dogs bollocks but 6 matches later we are ****e doomed and ****ed and we spent everything on Strikers He has tried to get as far as we know probably more. Ward, Monk, Gerrald and Keough in defence. He knows we are ****e there but nothing is it him or the board? plus Buzsacky in midfield these are just the ones we know off, wanted to keep Cisse who we all wanted as well, who stopped that Del or the board.
'Overall the better players were Del signings? and have been since he arrived' I agree but we're in a similar position - 2nd bottom when he joined, so there's not much in it. McInnes problem is within the squad he doesn't have a clue who his best team is. Chop and change, chop and change - they played like total strangers for the first 20 minutes Saturday. After the game he bemoaned the injuries to Carey, Fontaine and Wilson. Who's he trying to kid - none of them are good enough. He's clutching at straws. As a manager he chops and changes to much (5 Saturday), and spent his budget on strikers creating a ridiculously imbalanced squad.
The lions share of expenditure has been spent on forwards, but that is not the point I was making it is about the team being uncoordinated without the football when it goes backwards. It is not indvidual errors always at fault. Ward, Monk, Gerrald and Keough would have as much success as McManus if the team is as collectively disorganised as it is. Organisation comes from work on the training pitch. City's players have at times appeared to not know what they are doing. How much practice of that 4-3-3 saturday had the team put in! Team of strangers first half hour. Even really poor teams can be organised. It is what managers and their coaches are paid for.
They looked like a team of strangers for the first twenty minute,you really do have to question what goes on when they are on the training field?
The worse performers at the club are not the players, not the manager, and not even the board, but the fans. I've heard a number of people say the fans were virtually non-existent at the last couple of games (except managing to make enough noise to boo). One of the reasons why we stayed up last season was that the fans had some positive fight in some key games. Morris is a quality player (seen him at Chelsea albeit a while ago) but if the fans get on his back after a couple of touches then that's bound to make him more nervous about his next touch. Imagine going to work with loads of people bitching and moaning about you - how would you perform? Or imagine shagging while all your exes say your ****! Pretty sure anyone will perform better with more support and encouragement regardless of whether its sport, work, or sex! I suppose few of you went to the Olympics where we encouraged Team GB regardless of how well we did. Maybe Londoners are more positive people than Bristolians after all!! Until all fans can agree the best team and formation (which we can't) I don't think we have any right to moan at Del's selection; especially when he knows who performs in training and who has slight injuries. We've had very bad luck with injuries and been unfortunate about missing out on some great signings; but Del and the board have managed to bring in Baldock, Heaton, and Davies (although most people couldn't understand the Davies signing at the time). Now stop looking to blame other people and start being realistic about your own role in this.
Watching Sheffield united v Pompy last night on Sky 18,000 fans but the atmosphere was fantastic. We used to be like that but people will say when the team play we will sing. But when I was younger like a lot on here you could hear the singing as your walking to the ground, before we knew if the team was going to turn up. All we hear now is moans and groans even the players get a mutted yeah and a skuuuuuse whenever their names are announced. Nothing like a good cheer to let the players know even if we don't agree with their selection we will support them. How do you improve it, a number of ways. We have sold a quid a kid good idea but that is with adults, how about 13-17 years old a quid regardless of a paying adult they dont want to hang around with their parents anyway so gives them something to do instead of moping around the streets. I know some will say I don't want my Saturday's ruined by noisy brats running around. Probably find that the older generation said the same about us some time ago! Empty seats make no noise, they make the ground look empty lets fill them even if we get next to nothing for them. If you go to a show they sell empty seats for next to nothing, why can't it work for sport?
Went to Forest then Barnsley then Leicester then Bolton ⦠Not impressed by the fans at all. Chaps in the Eastend are better. Entertaining themselves saturday with songs when it was clear some of the warriors in the clubs red and white and that directors black minds were on the hard graft on Whiteladies road ahead Delly boy can't even get some of the athletes to run as fast as the bloke who pasess them with the ball each week in the other colour let alone get in front and tackle. Tackles are good, big **** off ones like that Glenn Humphries who was there saturday did, Best way to make friends with us is run, sweat, fight mean it maaan you will get respect just like Mr Sikes who did. Too soft City, we know it and the fans maybe are too softy wofty for letting them get away with it. Other clubs fans would have been on the backs of the easy riders on wedge we will never see weeks back. Should call some out, "hey you there I am calling you a ponce, forget about shaving yer legs, gets some mud and blood on em!"
I doubt if the fans who went to Bolton would agree, and they are not being paid thousands of pounds to perform poorly either. My son performed with more spirit at Bradley Stoke the next morning than the players.
Generally what happens in life is that when teams of all types do not perform those in charge of them have their roles examined. Those who are underperforming generally don't get their name chanted either. So I would expect some form on interal discussion is going on with McCinnes and some, perhaps all of the clubs coaches - Doherty, Kuhnle, McStay, McIntyre, Russell & Spink as to how aspects of the teams performance can be improved. Defensive team shape is an area that can be improved without more expenditure.
McInnes sticks with Skuse why because we have not got anyone else at the club at the moment. I would say Morris is struggling with fitness and was only bought as a last ditch measure if Skuse or Elliott were out. McInnes stuck with Fontaine simply because at that moment he was the best left sided defender at the club, out of form but how's that going to improve when he's not playing. I once spoke to Bob Taylor who told me that we were probably the worst fickle fans. And this proves it Fontaine goes through a rough patch what do we do moan everytime he gets picked on twitter here and OTIB moan and whing on, to be trueful I felt the last few games he tried to hard to please and the pressure got to him. But Del saw this bought McManus in, played Fontaine in a different position which Shiny said he did not do to bad, this also allowing Foster to return to RB. But Carey was the weak link that day, so try Fontaine alongside a cooler head in McManus allowing Fontaine to move forward he nearly scored but went off injured. Based on the last 8 games last season everyone was ****ing over Skuse, Carey, Stead and Bikey, also Fontaine when returned from injury 4 still at the club and 4 not performing at the moment. I can look back at previous threads and those 4 have all been mentioned as the first names on the teamsheet. And before anyone mentions Bikey he has proved on previous times gets comfortable at a club and don't perform, plus lost his temper so got a few bookings. Based on last night team we were patched up in defence due to injuries with a bit of grit in midfield, play Stead on the left he will hurry down their defence put Foster in midfield because at the moment everyone's hero who can do no wrong in people's eyes Albert is just not performing plus it worked last year against Leicester at home. Davies further back into midfield but even though chucking up and got to much for him in the end still scored but gave us an outlet. Taylor up front who I thought played really well. Del knows we need a right sided defender has tried to sign 3-4 that we know off probably more but they did not want to come,also knows we need an improved midfield and tried signing Busacky who also did not want to come. We don't know why these players don't want to join us but for some reason were not interested. Started this season with an improved Woolie but once he started to give wayward passes the crowd groaned and moaned so went of the boil. We had a fantastic left back who is injured and replaced him with another who broke his leg, up that point we were looking good again. So now we are looking at another who at times last night looked good but nervous so will settle in. We might as some say beat a **** team in Palarse but we beat them comfortable, we beat Cardiff because we had confidence to attack them held a tidy team in Florist away to 1-0, lost to Barnsley who normally start well beat Boro also stuffed Brum 5-0 at Brum. Peterborough resorted to hard physical stuff injured are players and then scored a last min penalty which was harsh seeing as they should not of had their players on the pitch. Lost to Blackburn with two goals in injury time due to our desire to try and win. Leicester we were ****e, Bolton we ****ed up bad Watford could of won Leeds read same as Blackburn. Burnley staged a fightback to concede in injury time again when last season would never of got back into it. Quite a few of these could of swang our way and we would all be bleating on about dark horses and playoffs. I don't believe that Del is making silly choices or keeping favourites in the team just trying to get back a winning formation where we don't look like rabbits in car headlights. One final note, I can design you a concrete wall but without the steel it's brittle. What we are missing is that steel. Maybe Elliott will provide that or we get to January and get someone then. PS just incase any knows about concrete, yes we can now construct it without steel, I can design that if anyone's interested Fontaine going through a bad patch give me a break he has not played well for 3 years except for a short spell just after DM arrived when I like many others praised him saying that he was now playing like he had in spells previously, he is now back to playing rubbish, Skuse yes many of us raved about his performances last year, mainly when he played at right back, Stead and Adomah were our best players overall last year. Probably you have not read the majority of my posts because I was on a different site after 606 shut down but For more than 2 years I have complained about Fontaine even going back to when he played alongside McCoomb In many ways Jamie suffered because Fontaine was so poor Yes Jamie wasn't the fastest or the best on the ground but having no support from his fellow CB made him look worse than he was. I repeat Skuse is better at RB and Fontaine's best position is Left Back(preferably in the dressing room) plus he is probably the worst choice for captain we have had in the last 20+ years. ps Yes we do need more steel in the midfield why Pearson and Skuse are prefered week in week out over Elliott is beyond me and to say Fontaine wont improve unless he is playing would be like saying I wouldn't get into the premiership unless I was playing which is rubbish because I wasn't quite good enough when I was young and at 60 and disabled I'm well past it now and sorry to say Fontaine has been playing like me for the better part of 3 years now.
Seems that the players not being able to mark players, track back squeeze up etc is not the coaches or players fault it is the fans. i hang my head in shame. Crap joke done. Sky pundit the other night called city defensively naive. That sums up a lot of the football this season as they don’t defend in numbers. Seen pub team players putting more effort to get back than citys. Weird thing is at corners they are all back leaving nobody up top but in open play when the ball is lost it’s not happening..Hardwork between players and coaches should have sorted some of that by now.
Straight to the point,the management and coaching staff are paid thousands to put a team on the pitch to do a job. Simply question marks are asked of them,because it is not happening on the pitch for two months now.
Didn't expect City to pull up any trees this season and thought they would occupy the wrong end of the table, but I did not expect to see a team that is so easy to score against either. I think Derek McCinnes honeymoon period is now over. He has had 45 [?] games, it is time to see what his story really is. By Christmas the picture could be every different, McCinnes might be the new rock and roll.
Not to mention the funds that he has been given,the board have been fantastic,I appreciate we may have not got all the players we wanted,but what has arrived is more than capable of a mid table finish. Sorry the buck stop with the manager and his team,unless the players are not performing of course which could be a big problem for del boy ?
Regarding funds I would say, City lost twelve million pounds last season, cuts in squad numbers were made to release money and the squad number has crept back up to 29/30 and people are still saying we should have more. Teams with no "names" can be competitive and hard to beat = Win your headers, close down, get more solid. The manager and coaches need to make the most of the abilitites the players have here now. If this is not done and the team continues on its downward spiral a level headed decision should be made in the not so far off future.
The players are certainly more capable than they have been. The board could be guilty of not laying things out clearly for fans by stating how large the squad is expected to be and how far the wage bill will stretch. People moan about Rooney being on 200k a week or is it just [!] 175K but then expect their clubs to continually put themslves in serious debt.
