Firstly, if you're going to reply to me within my own quote then nothing shows up when I quote you back, that's why i had to fill the quote tag with that line about fortune, I tried to make it as fair as possible to what you were saying, I didn't touch the original post though. As for your point, don't you think the fact that we had those amazing games and performances despite not having a great team should be credited to Brown? The fact we eventually petered out into a poor side was just returning to the natural level of that team wasn't it? Just like Blackpool. Except we did better than them. He does fill his teams with big lads, particularly up front and gets the ball in the area as quick as possible. That's definitely the case with his current West Ham side. They make a hell of a lot of crosses and go for the second balls a lot. Maybe not completely route one (I'm not even sure it's possible to just boot it from the back constantly and be successful) but it's nothing like say Arsenal or Swansea either.
That has been the whole point! How many of the teams in today's PL have got a 'great team' - how do you define that. What was significantly different in our team when compared pre and post 20/12/2008? It seemed to me that the teams selected pre 20/12 were attacking and almost cavalier in their approach - they harboured no fears and took the game to the opposition. We were a difficult team to play against, as we always presented a threat and our results enforced that. We picked the oppositions pocket on more than one occasion and we looked okay - not great maybe, but certainly decent; that was certainly the opinion of football followers, at all levels, all over the country. Certainly Brown deservews credit for this period, although, I believe he had some strong support from Sam. But then the wheels came off and we watched them overtake us when Browns arse-end dropped - exit Sam. We were all stunned by his selections, his strange tactics, his public admonishment of decent larkers. He would spout on about a players cracking performance and then that same player would be lucky to make the bench. Of course there can be some element of other teams working us out, but this was drastic, cliff-edge, dramatic failure. The manager was making not just odd, but crazy calls. He was more intersted in his telly image than working out his best eleven. He became a monster with a naughty step that stopped us playing our best eleven, nevermind a 'Great Team'. We stayed in the PL by the skin of our teeth and that should never have been the case with the start we had. That's my opinion - you don't have to agree
Fully agree Fez, his team selections were just baffling, he completely lost the plot, im sure he's narcisstic
Were we ****. Not by his. Not by Nigel Pearson's. Not by Nicky Barmby's. Not by Steve Bruce's. Possibly a few Fantasy Football merchants and FIFA Online Managers were, but they are just laughable cocks who seriously think their view holds any weight against real managers, doing the job week in week out and who monitor fitness, form and mentality from very close quarters. The rest of us support whatever team the manager puts out.
Hmmm, I really dont agree. I distinctly remember saying to someone at the time "it's like he got all the squad names and threw them in the air to see where they landed". It was ahead of yet another game with his patented 4-6-0 formation with Garcia as a false striker...hang on, Spain have clearly copied this. The man is a visionary!!!
I didn't say everyone had to agree or understand everything a manager does. Just that the feller in charge knows his options, their strengths and weaknesses in a way that the fans don't.
Some don't, admit it and adjust (SB has done that here); some don't, blame the players, the weather, the pitch and anything else they can think of and, eventually, they get the sack. Brown fell into which category?
No need, as we have a manager who knows what he is doing, but the selection may confuse you, so please feel free to ask for advice
Are you saying you somehow had more insight into players' forms, players' niggling injuries, players' off field issues etc seeing them for 90 mins a week than a manager and his assistant and Large Samuel seeing them in training all week? However did you find the time to study the opposition in depth, pinpointing their tactics, weaknesses and probable line-ups? Personally I find Football Focus to be quite useful in this regard.
You say that Fez but when SB picks a team that loses a vital game that costs us promotion, or gets us relegated, the usual ****s will come out the same crap that they do about Taylor, Brown, Pearson. Taylor had Junior Lewis Brown had Altidore. Pearson had Adebola, Harper. Bruce has Proschwitz, injury prone Aluko. Easy as **** this armchair manager lark. I'm saving up for my ProZone licence. It's 100k a year but well worth it.
If you were looking to replicate the, erm, success of Phil Brown why would you need to bother? It never seemed to worry him
It.s not about me - but it's good to have you back so soon. Brown is a real stats freak and we all know about stats don't we. When Fat Sam was around we were great - I think I said that, though. Bless you: how did I find the time to study . . . . I, like others have played or followed the game for a long time and have a decent idea what constitutes a well set up team and good football; especially when the extremes are so stark in the same team in such a short time frame.
