I've given up reading AN's comments/excuses on the EDP website and if we lose on Saturday, then there could be 'fireworks' among the fans for the visit of Leeds on November 5th!!!!
I think having a go at him for plying Naismith or Brady is abit unfair. Both could/should be key players, neither have hit top form (OK understatement) and especially Naismith who has been out of the side need game time to hopefully find some form. I would hope that both are working hard and showing the right attitude in training and that is why Neil is persisting with them, but who knows? It's another disappointing result, but since when did we ever do well in the cup. Pressure is building but it's not to a level yet where a good result against Brighton wouldn't dramatically improve the mood around the place. Bah!
None of our players have hit anything like the level's they're capable of and that can only be done to management / coaching.
Agree with General Melchett about Naismith and Brady and I'd include Tettey as well. Naismith and Brady had a good interchange to set up the latter's beautiful curling cross on to Pritchard's head for the first goal. Pritchard was excellent in the first half on the attacking side, but I could also see the drawbacks about his tracking back. Those saying AN is losing the fans should modify that to 'some fans'. Some of us look at the wider picture, not just the last couple of results. Both Pritchard and Oliveira will improve with more game time and we will play with a completely different back 4 against Brighton.
That's a bit unfair, in fact I would argue the exact opposite, the fact that I think AN is not up to the role is because I'm looking at the wider picture, but I wouldn't suggest people with a different view aren't.
So we sack a Manager because we are only 4th in the league 4 points clear of dropping out of the playoffs and only 1 point off automatic promotion because, despite having got us promoted out of this league before, he is not up to the role. Perhaps you ought to start looking at the wider wider picture. Based on size of Club we are probably over performing in the position we are in. I have said it before and I will say it again - over realistic expectations of many fans at many Clubs is in danger of turning the game into a laughing stock. To even talk about sacking AN is, in my opinion, a complete and utter joke.
I guess it depends on what you see. If you look at our points and position then all looks OK, though not great. If you look at the persistent problems that have blighted the team under Neil I don't think it is questionable to ask a few questions as to whether he is up to the job. As long as we stay intouch with automatic promotion I would keep him but I have serious doubts as to whether he is actually good enough to gain ppromotion automatically let alone build a PL team. That said with the prudence first approach of our board he has been hampered somewhat. So who knows? I wonder though 1950, can you honestly say that you think he is getting the best out of these players? Is the team greater than the sum of its parts? Do you find it inconcievable that someone else could do better? (I realise that someone else especially a cheap internal option could also do worse!) Because I think a number of us are thinking; No, no and no, wish leads us to talking about is he right for City? I'm not sure that is a joke, I'd say its fairly reasoned. Like I say though, stay in touch with the top two and all the other things like poor performances, porous defense are secondary to the promotion cause. Bah!
Those are your words not mine. Where we are in the table is irrelevant at the moment, especially as we seem to have played disproportionately more of the weaker teams in the division so far. We sack the manager for a variety of reasons i.e because he has had plenty of time to deal with the problems with our squad / team that he's identified and failed to deal with or because him seems unable to get any of our players playing at the top of their game. So for example our defensive problems are there for all to see and have been for well over a year now. AN acknowledges there's a problem so I would expect over the last year that he would be able to resolve the issue or at least improve the situation either through coaching or new purchases. He's done neither all he can say every week is we have to work harder, well clearly that hasn't work in the proceeding months, so why is it going to improve in the next week. When he has had the chance to improve things by bring in new players, he tries to resolve it by buying another midfielder. It's really not that hard to understand, as RER said, you have to look at the wider picture rather than just focusing where we are in the table.
I'm sorry but this is nonsense. At the start of the season pretty much everyone was saying we had one of the strongest squads in the league. None of our players are performing anywhere near to there full potential. If you think that with our squad we are over performing, then you really are deluding yourself.
Some interesting points coming up for discussion and the one I'll concentrate on is our 'porous defence', as IMO, that's our 'achilles heel', as our defeat last night only emphasised. I'm struggling to think of any goal which we've conceded this season that was down to our opponent's skill, as opposed to a mistake by one of our players. Perhaps someone can enlighten me if I've got that wrong!!! AN had known for at least all of last season that our defence was fragile, so what does he do about it - offers a 1 year extension to probably or least able defender!!
He also brought in Pinto and Klose. Concentrated obsession on a 1 year extension for our 5th choice CB gets us nowhere. Our best back 4 appears to be Pinto,Klose, Bennett and Olssen. Who is the weak link?
We do have one of the strongest squads in the league which is why we are only 1 point off automatic promotion. I didn't say that the squad was over performing - I said that based on size it could be argued that the Club was over performing. There are 20 Clubs in the Premiership - are we really one of the biggest 20 Clubs in the Country? Are we the biggest Club in the Championship? Are we bigger than Leeds, Newcastle, Wolves, Villa etc etc? Changing Managers should be a last resort not a knee jerk reaction - can you really say that AN can't get us promoted when he has already done it before? Is he really in the last chance saloon? I just can't see it.
Unfortunately AN doesn't agree with you. He thinks it's Pinto, Martin, Klose, Olssen. If he does agree with you then he's only playing Martin because he's captain, which is an issue in itself. Either way if you're right AN is wrong.
I don't think it's selection, as I don't think we could pick a stronger line up for the back 4. It's either tactics, or defensive training. If they do any of that.
To say that we should get rid of AN now is hardly a knee jerk reaction. A knee jerk reaction is an immediate unthinking emotional reaction produced by an event or statement to which the reacting person is highly sensitive. AN has been given more than a fair crack of the whip. No one is judging him on a single event or even on a few events. He is being judge on his performance since he arrived and putting aside the initial new manager bounce, he's done little to take us forward. Why should changing managers be the last resort ? If he's not up to the job then we should look for someone who is. Personally I'm not convinced he can get us promoted, but to be honest whether or not he can is irrelevant as far as I'm concerned because he certainly isn't the manager to keep us in the PL should we get promoted. The club needs to look a bit further ahead than the next promotion campaign / relegation battle.
I really don't understand the view that you have to be one of the biggest 20 clubs to be in the PL. The PL has plenty of teams in it that aren't one of the 'biggest' 20 clubs in the country, whatever that means. In the championship we have one of the strongest squads and none of our players seem to be playing to their full potential. AN needs to get the best he can out of the players he has, some sort of notional view as to how big our club is is neither here nor there
With the greatest respect 1950, you don't sit through the dross that's served up week in week out. It may look okay from a distance, but it isn't! The team was roundly booed from all sections of the crowd at the end of the Preston game, something that's not generally heard at Carrow road. It looks clueless on the pitch, mass switching off, standing watching as the other team easily gain possession and attack at will. Something is seriously wrong with the management and squad attitude.
I reckon it's a question of attitude. Preston, and they haven't been the first team to do it, wanted it more than we did and it showed in their passion, application and desire. We showed none of those qualities until minute 75 which was when Baptiste scored and even then it appeared to be only Cam and Pritchard who were working their asses off.
