I have said before that for RM’s style to work properly the players need to be mobile and always be looking to move into a position where a pass is more easily available than it would be if they didn’t create a decent angle for the pass. I’m not a mechanic or an engineer (so what I’m trying to say might be totally wrong) but you need every part of an engine to work in sync for it to be efficient. One part not doing as it should puts pressure on other components that can then cause them to fail and this is the issue we have because humans will never be as consistent at completing repetitive tasks correctly as a finely tuned engine. We constantly see not one player but two or three make errors in the passing process and it gets worse the more they are pressed. TBH I despair at how often potential breakaways are ruined by players that are not under pressure putting a pass behind a player, instead of in front, causing the potential attack to grind to a halt, so the playing around at the back scares the life out of us. One positive to be taken from this style is that it “should” make the players better at inter passing and even if they replace RM with someone who plays a different style it’s a good skill to have, especially if they can move that ability to the other end of the pitch.
I just watched the Arsenal press conference and I'm glad Russ is not listening to outside noise. Got to stick to what you believe in. I feel he came across well and I hope he gets the season. The bigger picture is important, not just the first 6 games!
I guess it comes down to whether you think this is just a learning curve and Martin will be able to sort it out and his style will be successful with a few tweaks/familiarity with the new players. Or if this is just what is going to happen over 38 games because Martin isn’t going to change and we aren’t going to improve Currently the bigger picture is we are going down this season very convincingly (not unexpected) so do you think Martin is the man to get us up again after a terrible season. I’m not sure as I think in that scenario a new voice/shake up is almost always needed.
Yeah I would stick with him and give him another chance to get us up next season. He steadied a sinking ship and not only did that but got us promoted. Yes it was a bumpy ride but he still achieved more than most would ever have thought possible. Especially after the 4 losses near the beginning of the season. I personally feel he deserves the season at least, we will see some shoots of recovery soon, I really do believe that. And as long as we show some fight for the whole season, I don't see why we would get rid of someone who dealt so well with a relegated side to get them promoted, seems madness to me. Now there is obviously the argument to get rid of results don't improve but who will come to us who could keep us up....so to me that just makes me think, let's keep RM and give him the support he needs, back him in the Jan window and if it doesn't work, we are ready to give promotion another go! Like I said before, I feel like we should stick with him and his system regardless. We aren't the only team struggling this season, there are 5 teams without a win.
I agree with that on the whole however my worry with relegation is that a lot of the better players will leave and effectively we are starting again from scratch (except of course if Martin stays there will be a certain level of continuity). I would hope we might stay up by hook or by crook this season and use that to build from there whilst keeping some of the players who might otherwise leave. Having said that I’m not sure playing the way we do with the current Manager will be enough. In fact I’m pretty sure it won’t. Really hope that if he does stay however, he proves me wrong.
You make it sound like finishing 4th with the 2nd or 3rd best squad in the league is some incredible achievement that requires an unbelievable managerial performance. It's not and it doesn't. He achieved his objective and of course deserves credit for it. But a 4th place finish really wasn't 'more than most would ever have thought possible'. I'd say it was about the minimum required.
Whilst conceding hatloads of goals, getting thumped 5-0 twice and losing and failing to beat teams nowhere near us in both budget and playing staff. It was not the magnificent achievement some people thought. The great day out at Wembley has wiped out the memories of a lot of the utter dross and appalling crap we had to put with from time to time during a winning season mind you.
25 unbeaten was pretty impressive though. And you make the 'big day out' at Wembley sound like a friendly. It was a final. We've lost every final we've reached since '76. If you play 49 games, you're going to lose a few, no matter what. Our squad was strong, sure, but we had a few clear weaknesses. We effectively had one DM for the whole season. No decent LB. Dodgy keeper. There were some other very talented squads that failed to achieve. Hull had Greaves, Morton, Philogene, Carvalho, Delap, Tufan, and didn't even make the playoffs.
Agree with this, but you could argue the keeper issue was one of his doing. He had a better one available all season but chose not to use him until Bazunu got injured.
True. With Macca I reckon we'd have got top two. But it's not like our fans were crying out for him. Our fans didn't think either keeper was good enough. But yeah RM should have dropped Baz earlier.
Hard to say really as it's all ifs and buts isn't it. If Alex had played all season we'd have probably played slightly different and both scored/conceded less so who knows what impact that'd have had Have to go with what actually happened and he achieved his pre season objective so you have to give him credit and say fair play. I'll never consider it a brilliant achievement in itself though.
All I meant about the Play-Off Final was, we played to our strengths and their weaknesses and we won, it was great, so great it outshone everything. It painted over some pretty obvious cracks. Those cracks have since widened.
I agree about it papering over the cracks. But every team, bar Ipswich, started to crack at some point. Even Leicester startled wobbling spectacularly towards the end. Expecting any team to be flawless from August to May is just unreasonable. And you have to remember how dismal we were during the relegation season. An absolute mess.
But we're just as bad this relegation season, if not worse. It means we get to experience exactly the same bollocks next year. Managers position becomes untenable, sell our only good players, retain a load of dross it will be a same but different mess again
I never went to the away games but I felt richly entertained for the most part at SMS last season. We played some very attractive team football at times and scored great goals. Yes, we lost our way a little towards the end but it turned out alright in the end and ended up scoring 100 goals in all competitions. Here's a recap..
Sticking with a manager who is almost certain to get us relegated is a silly idea. We’re not more likely to do better by going down, losing our best players, re-recruiting and trying to come back up. The best chance of success is doing everything we can to stay here and build from there. Yes Martin got us promoted, an achievement, but it was expected and we came up by the skin of our teeth. Given another go would Martin get us promoted again? Maybe but maybe not. He deserved a chance in the PL, which he got, but the results, style of play, tactics and refusal to adapt have shown us he’s not the man to take us forward.
Promotion wasn't expected by some on here who predicted a dismal season. Can't be arsed to check who.
I remember long ago I was involved in a campaign to keep a Manager on, that had seen us relegated, he later Managed us to a win in a Cup Final. Not that lightning ever strikes twice in same place...
