People do, you're bigging yourself up needlessly.
The difference is that others know nothing can be done for now, same with the manager, so why keep droning on about it? Some might prefer 3-5-2, I know I do, but we won, ugly, but we won. We have a manager and team who are simply getting on with a poor state of affairs, a GK (Jak) who is playing a blinder and all you can do is criticise him.
I don't always agree with Phelans team selections or tactics but let's look at the facts.
We have the smallest and weakest squad in the PL.
We have had injuries to more key players than any other team in the PL.
He's not been backed by the owners, they could barely be bothered to give him a contract.
There's a toxic atmosphere at the club and the ground is now half empty for games.
Despite all this he has kept us within reach of safety in the PL and has become the most successful manager we've ever had in the League Cup competition.
Say what you want about him but he deserves some credit and more importantly some respect, which I don't think he gets from a lot of our fans.
Amen. The man is doing a half decent job in a near impossible situation.I don't always agree with Phelans team selections or tactics but let's look at the facts.
We have the smallest and weakest squad in the PL.
We have had injuries to more key players than any other team in the PL.
He's not been backed by the owners, they could barely be bothered to give him a contract.
There's a toxic atmosphere at the club and the ground is now half empty for games.
Despite all this he has kept us within reach of safety in the PL and has become the most successful manager we've ever had in the League Cup competition.
Say what you want about him but he deserves some credit and more importantly some respect, which I don't think he gets from a lot of our fans.
I don't always agree with Phelans team selections or tactics but let's look at the facts.
We have the smallest and weakest squad in the PL.
We have had injuries to more key players than any other team in the PL.
He's not been backed by the owners, they could barely be bothered to give him a contract.
There's a toxic atmosphere at the club and the ground is now half empty for games.
Despite all this he has kept us within reach of safety in the PL and has become the most successful manager we've ever had in the League Cup competition.
Say what you want about him but he deserves some credit and more importantly some respect, which I don't think he gets from a lot of our fans.
That's an interesting point. If he somehow managed to win the league cup but we got relegated with 12 points, would he become our most successful manager ever? Would people swap league status for a championship crack at the Europa league?
The Allam's allowed our most successful manager ever to walk .. FACT
So do we all think with this squad that a flat back 4 encompassing Robbo and Elmo is the correct tactic ? It is about getting the best from what we have available .. I sympathise with the lack of signings and having to deal with the muppets in charge but do we not look more comfortable playing 2 up front and having two wing backs either side of a central 3 at the back .. it is about making best use of what you have .. my own opinion is that Phelan is not doing so
I'm pretty sure that the only reason Phelan's avoiding the 3-5-2, which most think we should be adopting, is because it doesn't suit Snodgrass and he's been our most important player so far this season.
Have we won any games this season playing 3-5-2? I think the answer is no, but I'm not certain. IIRC we started with three at the back against Southampton but had a back four when we scored our goals.
Not sure Phelan is that tactically astute as to know which is his best formation. Last night is the prime example, JJ Shelvey was running the game for them the whole night. Blatantly obvious to all who were watching but we never managed to put a man on him to keep him quiet during the full match. If anyone managed to watch the highlights of the Blackburn game they played with a man marking him all game and Newcastle were totally ineffective without his distribution.
Big defeat today and I can see him getting the sack.
Could be the best thing to happen to us. It might, I say might, make the Allams get a pwwoven manageww. Hint hint