Having had a couple of days to contemplate Tuesday's humiliation and not produce and effing and blinding response, I'll just share my thoughts with you all and see what you think as well.
JFH has now been with us 10 months, I was not overjoyed at his appointment, mainly because his one management role in this country had been at a side he had no part in building and it's always easier to come in and maintain a winning team. However, I was happy to give him time to shape his own team and looked forward to seeing us improve as a result.
I went well out of my way to make it to Tuesday's game, getting stuck in sh*t traffic at Battersea and arriving ten minutes late I'd hardly sat down before the first goal went in. My sense of foreboding prior to the match was well-founded, the unfathomable team selection and shape was inviting us to be taken apart and Newcastle, barely getting out of second gear, walked all over us.
It seems whenever we have a small smidgeon of encouragement, ie Leeds, Cardiff, we then lapse back into mediocrity, 'normal service has been resumed' and we end up just being very poor. Results since those first two games show we flattered to deceive as they were poor opponents who are unlikely to be in the promotion race.
What is far more worrying is our performances against teams like Preston and Blackburn, we simply don't seem to be able to produce any flowing football. It's all very well playing a pressing game to win the ball if you do something with it, and that is our main problem, we have no invention or threat and we are being made to look poor by teams we should be beating. There are players being picked who, frankly, are not up to Championship level and yet a supposedly Premier quality midfielder on silly money isn't being picked. You just couldn't make it up.
We all can see where problems are in the team yet nothing was done to address them in the window and we are now facing a hectic schedule in the next few weeks which could see us really plummet as confidence drains away. It was worrying to hear JFH moaning last month about so many games in the month, obviously getting his excuse in early. I see no positives from him, his team selection on Tuesday said 'we are scared of you', we were beaten before we started.
Winning teams have a shape, a game plan and purpose. We saw that against Leeds but not since. I really think JFH just doesn't know his best team and is now beginning to lose the players. On Tuesday no-one was trying or, most significantly, showing any self-pride or motivation, and you can include JFH in that as well.
The next two matches will tell us all we need to know about which way our season is going, I'm not holding my breath...
JFH has now been with us 10 months, I was not overjoyed at his appointment, mainly because his one management role in this country had been at a side he had no part in building and it's always easier to come in and maintain a winning team. However, I was happy to give him time to shape his own team and looked forward to seeing us improve as a result.
I went well out of my way to make it to Tuesday's game, getting stuck in sh*t traffic at Battersea and arriving ten minutes late I'd hardly sat down before the first goal went in. My sense of foreboding prior to the match was well-founded, the unfathomable team selection and shape was inviting us to be taken apart and Newcastle, barely getting out of second gear, walked all over us.
It seems whenever we have a small smidgeon of encouragement, ie Leeds, Cardiff, we then lapse back into mediocrity, 'normal service has been resumed' and we end up just being very poor. Results since those first two games show we flattered to deceive as they were poor opponents who are unlikely to be in the promotion race.
What is far more worrying is our performances against teams like Preston and Blackburn, we simply don't seem to be able to produce any flowing football. It's all very well playing a pressing game to win the ball if you do something with it, and that is our main problem, we have no invention or threat and we are being made to look poor by teams we should be beating. There are players being picked who, frankly, are not up to Championship level and yet a supposedly Premier quality midfielder on silly money isn't being picked. You just couldn't make it up.
We all can see where problems are in the team yet nothing was done to address them in the window and we are now facing a hectic schedule in the next few weeks which could see us really plummet as confidence drains away. It was worrying to hear JFH moaning last month about so many games in the month, obviously getting his excuse in early. I see no positives from him, his team selection on Tuesday said 'we are scared of you', we were beaten before we started.
Winning teams have a shape, a game plan and purpose. We saw that against Leeds but not since. I really think JFH just doesn't know his best team and is now beginning to lose the players. On Tuesday no-one was trying or, most significantly, showing any self-pride or motivation, and you can include JFH in that as well.
The next two matches will tell us all we need to know about which way our season is going, I'm not holding my breath...