As I said in another thread, there's a difference between unmotivated players and players that have lost confidence in themselves. Most performances I've seen this season, we have looked very motivated. However, a fair few of our players have lost self-belief. This is something that's very difficult for someone else to remedy. You just have to find yourself.
Did Wood have a knee injury though? All very cagey on both parties on that issue. Didn't Harry Kane destroy us the previous season whilst on loan at Millwall when played as a striker and not as a winger?
Wood missed 2 games through a knee injury which Nigel refused to fully disclose the details about. People then put 2 and 2 together and said he has had a bust up. I have always thought that rubbish and even Chris Wood rejected the rumours on twitter
I agree there was no bust up. But there is no way Wood returned fully fit. He was rushed back and he hasn't recovered.
I still don't think he has recovered now. He is young and this was his first proper season and he bagged 20 goals. He should be a lot stronger next season.
You have to bring it back to management - if the squad really lacks depth then it's a poor management decision to loan players out (forget Danns and Beckford for the minute) - why were Schlupp, St Ledger and Moore allowed out on loan if Nigel really thought we were lacking depth? - the only logical conclusion is that he didn't feel we lacked depth - he was too stubborn to recall Danns and Beckford (perhaps with some justification) but to just plough on regardless without the others was daft if he knew 'depth' was an issue ... If you can't stop a run of those proportions, then there is something very wrong with the management, End of.
Danns and Beckford would have destroyed the dressing room St. Ledger was returning from a serious injury and needed game time, Liam Moore was better off getting game time but I would have kept him Schlupp wasn't up to much before he went Man U Where I think we really missed a trick was not loaning out Vardy for a month or 2 around February and March
Sorry but that's just too convenient to get Nigel off the hook - but OK, for the sake of argument, if we take your distinction as a valid proposition - whose job is it to re-instil that lost confidence? ... for me it's the manager - you've never seen an Alex Ferguson side lacking either confidence or motivation.
Personally I'm scared ****less for next season if NP stays, the players are going to be down after losing the play off game the way we did and if NP couldn't instil lost confidence in Feb,march and April then he sure as hell isn't going to do it after that emotional game! We start next season like that then I can see league 1 looming and we may end in a bigger mess than Coventry. Quite happy to be proved wrong this time next season and is obviously the last thing I want!
Danns / Beckford - you are probably right St Ledger / Moore - yes re the injury but like you the Moore loan made no sense Schlupp - disagree - he played left back through a good part of the winning run and is always a handful for defences Don't quite get why loaning Vardy out would have improved us?
I think loaning Vardy out for a month at the start of the season to say MK Dons/notts county would do him the world of good, score a few goals and get some confidence back as he started the season well and could be a good option to bring on from the bench with his constant harrying.
I have seen Man United players lack confidence for fairly long periods of time. Rooney's one that jumps straight out. Gives his all but for sometimes losses self-belief. Ferguson virtually had the pick of the world's best and he still had issues with this. Difference there though is the have a full squad, not just a team, a full squad of world class players that can bail the strugglers out. They have players all over the pitch that can score quality goals. All the manager can do is try and pick them up. Ultimately though, they have to decide to stick with them through their crisis or drop them. Most good managers tend to stick, but this can backfire if it goes on and on. The thing is with bad form is you never know when it's going to end. Where do you draw the line? Going back to us, the games against Burton and Huddersfield were examples of games in which we appeared unmotivated as a unit. Rightly or wrongly, Nigel didn't get the players fired up for the cup competitions. That didn't happen too often in the league though.
I agree with this. I can understand why Nige did it (didn't we lose to Peterborough in the first game he was out? The start of the bad run) but I think in hindsight (20:20) it was a mistake. Hopefully, Wood will use the summer to get himself physically and mentally fit. He remains a frightening prospect for next season.
Schlupp looked a better player when he returned from United. I actually think that was a clear bit of man management by Pearson. Moore was recalled as soon as Morgan was suspended. Prior to that, he wasn't going to figure so the loan made clear sense. Not sure anyone wanted to loan Vardy from us!
Jeff was a raw and erratic talent before he went - what's changed? Moore should still not have been loaned - you saying a football manager doesn't factor in a sending off or booking suspension? - that's a poor manager if true and there is a potential depth problem Middlesbro' are apparently trying to sign Vardy outright - but that's irrelevant - still don't see how that would have changed anything in that poor run The Pearson apologists need to answer one question - if we were talking about another club's run of form rather than our own, would you honestly still be advocating that this is the performance of a good manager - I think not, but you'll no doubt assure me that you would.
Kenny Jacket? - Got the best out of Wood at Millwall Dean Saunders? - Got the best out of no one at Wolves Alan Curbishley? - Can still manage in the Premiership (according to Alan Curbishley)
I think Kenny Jackett has proved himself as a manager wherever he has been - but doubt very much that he fits the profile our owners would be looking for in the event of replacing NP. Dean Saunders - absolutely no positive criteria for an appointment Curbishley - why would you approach him rather than O'Neil for instance? so not for me really.
