Guys, was not at the game last weekendand was obviously gutted by the result. Can anybody tell me how NW managed tactically. When we went 1-0, 2-0 down, did he change the formaion, personnel, etc etc. I have seen plenty of player ratings for the match but nobody seems to have mentioned NWs performance. Did he get it right or wrong on the day?. Please be honest.
Agreed. Hall instead of Gorrks was a major error. He also took Adel off too early imo. Threw HH on up front near the end which made no difference, although nothing would have made any difference by then!
We had a good first half and dominated. We came out for the 2nd half looking tired and beaten already. I don't know what NW said at half time but it certainly didn't work. Which is odd given that this kind of inspiration is his strong suit.
He took Adel off too late imo (even though the bolton players said he was our only player who worried them) I think we have to assumre Gorkks is still a potential bargaining chip, don't think you can blame NW for him not being there.
NUTS: Since I know you're out there surfing the Middle East somewhere, I thought it only right to go back a couple of pages looking for Col's thread on ratings. On that I posted my take on Sir Neil's performance... Grateful as I am to have a gaffer of his quality, I expected more from him on Saturday despite the demoralising summer and **** resources. This is what I reckoned. Warnock - 5 Not a good day for Sir Neil. Plymouth and Luton suggested our weaknesses and Bolton confirmed them. When resources can't fill the gaps, it's time to be resourceful. Well that didn't happen. Venables would have had plans A,B and C and choreographed tactical changes for each. Not Warnock's way, he works on team morale and self-belief but after Dyer's injury, that wasn't in evidence yesterday. Team Selection: No Gorkss was the real big mystery. This aside, picked the only players he could. Formation: Hard to tell on the pitch. 4231 or even 4222. The latter probably explains the lack of width and general shambles. If we're going to stand any chance of surviving, we're going to need to learn a solid 442, 4141 or 4132 imo. Organisation: As much down to captain as manager BUT Taarabt is no skipper, lacks the tactical awareness, no authority and no real respect from the team. Plan: Hit the ground running then wait and see what happens. Should have added substitutions in here: Orr for Dyer (injured 7th min); and Buzsaki for Taarabt and Helguson for Smith (both 72nd min after we'd gone 0-3 down) NW had had Agyemang and Ephraim warming up earlier but decided against using them in the end (phew!). Contingency: Big weakness in Warnock's approach to date. Doesn't seem to do contingencies if/when there's a reverse (no skipper confirms this). Overall Effectiveness: No cohesion. The link between Taarabt, Bothroyd and Campbell is completely missing as is the quick one / two touch pass and move comprehension we had working last year. As I say, that's my take. I welcome corrections!
You were one of the "our squad is good enough" clan before kick-off! You can't change that quick surely!
The Bolton players saying Adel was the only player that worried them should tell you that you're wrong mate!
Sure we can. Last time I checked he was the manager. If his best defender is being made unavailable to him, he should pack up his case and be on his merry way.
Brixton Thanks for the detailed reply. I am a person who looks at the glass being half full rather than half empty. However, i firmly believe that this team and squad is simply not good enough. There is a big gulf between the Prem and the Champ. Perhaps the bottom 5-6 teams in the Prem are only slightly better equipped than we are. But too many people IMO have not been realistic about how poor our squad is. We have seversal players like Cook, Rowlands, Connolly, Hulse etc etc that we cant even give away at the moment. Does that not tell its own story? I am a BIG NW fan. I love his passion, energy and drive for the game and for our beloved club. However, his previous stint in the prem was not exactly earth shattering and he fell out with half the managers in the league before he left. Because our squad is not strong enough (IMO) our survival in the Prem may come down to the tactictal decisions that NW will make before and during our games. I'm just asking if anybody else is worried that NW is inexperiencd at this level. If he consistently makes poor decisions on team selection, tacticts etc etc, it will kill us. Our survival depends on his ability to get it right week in and week out. I'm also concerned that even if NW is given money next week to spend, who will he buy?. Any decent players have already been snapped up. Clubs will be very slow to sell players now, because it will be too late to replace them. Therefore we might only manage to pick up players that other clubs dont want (ie players that are not good enough). Like all of you i blame the board for our current situation. They knew that we would be promoted since last April and still could not manage to sell the club before late August !!!!. Selfish Bas***ds.
Is Warnock on the road from hero to zero? If so, very harsh after one game. It's not his fault that he wasn't backed during the summer. We all knew that the squad needed to be reinforced with some serious quality. If the funds had been made available and Warnock didn't choose his signings wisely, then he would be fair game.
NW's record since joining us from Palace has been pretty close to flawless. We started winning again soon after he joined us, and last season, we were only once (briefly) off the top of the table. Over the closed season, he's had to deal with majority owners that were looking to make a profit from the sale of their shares and would spend only minimum funds. When NW commented on these difficulties, the owners delivered a formal caution. Now, I don't understand the Gorkss thing, and doubtless all will become clear soon. But the team selection was reasonable on Saturday, and until Cahill's excellent goal just before half time, we looked slightly the better team. That goal shattered players confidences for the second half, and I don't think any manager could have done much to change that. NW has to work on them now of course, and focus on the positives. Imo to start doubting NW at this stage is to "do a Briatore" and head towards a revolving door management policy again - NW has earned a really good crack at the whip, and personally, I think he'll be up to the challenge
