On my phone. Half time, 0-3 down and playing lile a ****ing pub team. Never done this before but wont be coming back to my seat to watch any more of this ****. Sorry guys, no excuses from me, but this is hopeless. Half time just blown to a hail of boos and I'm off.
Home now and seen the final score - I'm amazed we managed to score at all after watching that first half display - I can only go on that at the moment. To be honest a bit embarrassed now that I left, but this club is going nowhere. From top to bottom it stinks. I don't accept this "togetherness" thing from Slade and some of the players - someone needs to sort it out at "player on the pitch" level because we are dire out there. What a f**ing shambles Slade is presiding over and I don't think Young is helping matters at all - Young looks like a non-league coach out of his depth. I shouldn't single anyone out on the pitch because defensively we were poor overall, but after what I saw, I'm convinced Macheda is a disaster. He can't hold the ball up - his first touch is awful - he's useless in the air - he's slow and you can't get away with that up front.
It's true it is a shambles from top to bottom but at the very least supporters should be able to see a new manager instigate some sense in team selection. Today the manager picks two wingers, presumably to put in crosses, and then selects Macheda who can't head the ball. The set up was ideal for Jones and that turned out to be the case when he came on in the second half. The defence is also a shambles but individually those in the back four are good players. It is clear to me that the manager is unable to organise a side properly and must shoulder most of the blame for today's abject performance. It's not only the manager though. The fans are all over the place as well with that 19:27 lot preferring to bang on about playing in blue rather than supporting the team. This is probably the only time in my memory when the fans, the players and the club are so far apart. I cannot see any future for the club as it seems to me to be only a matter of time before the whole shooting match goes belly up.
I'm sorry, but it's not only the "19:27 lot" who "bang on about playing in blue". I've been pragmatic about the whole matter until now, but it's now clear that the whole rebranding is a disaster. ti was never going to work, and rather than admit it and go back to blue and get those disenchanted fans back, he's looking to sell. There's no unity anywhere, but I'll always stay until the end and shout for the team. But you know what; after the roller coaster few years we've had, I'd take mid table mediocrity now, as long as we were playing in Cardiff City's colours. And I'm colourblind. Literally.
My comments were not about the blue issue per se as there can hardly be a supporter who would not prefer the players to wear blue. It's simply that I don't feel the protest at 19:27 is helpful to the players on the pitch and creates a bad atmosphere about the place but probably less so than the abject performance on the pitch.
Just listened to Slade's post match stuff on Player. Very plausible and very good in front of the media, but if ever a guy failed to inspire confidence in a listening fan it was that. Trots out all the same stuff and it sounds sincere enough, but I just can't see this guy turning the club around. Those first 4 home wins under him were very deceptive. They accumulated 12 points that lifted us off that 17th place he mentioned, but in truth although they were gained, they were barely deserved. Since then, the away win at Watford was held up as a turning point, whereas in fact they should have thumped us on the balance of play that day - it was their fault they didn't win it. Now what have we had since? A dreadful performance at home against Rotherham - another game that the opposition should have won if there was any justice. Then embarrassing clueless efforts (especially defensively) against Bournemouth and Brentford letting in a total of 8 goals which lays bare our poor credentials as anything other than mid table fodder at best. I wanted to give Slade a real chance to turn it around, but when I look at Rowett at Brum and Lennon at Bolton, both of whom have taken their clubs from right at the bottom to mid table in the same sort of time that Slade has had faffing around with us, I seriously doubt Slade has that bite of those two to change things on the pitch. Take the plunge now Tan - admit you were wrong an get Pulis in for the start of the New Year.
Pity Tan doesn't deal in simple solutions Sparks. In an ideal world Slade out now, Pulis in before Christmas then he can do some prep work for the window.
Bluey - It's not a question of disliking Slade - in fact he comes across as a very nice bloke - but that doesn't make him a good manager at this level. Ole was a "laid back Larry" type without a clue how to organise the players he'd collected like stamps for his album, whereas Slade is as bad the other way. He comes across as very organised and wanting to be pro-active in his management of the players at his disposal. The trouble seems to me he has no vision beyond his plan A. He keeps talking about wanting "grafters and warriors" in the side, but totally ignores the fact that there are other options that will enhance the team's performance and get a result rather than knocking everyone over. Good or bad (we all have our own opinions), the marginalisation of the likes of Daehli, Ravel, Guerra, even Cala and dropping Fabio for Connolly has made our side one-dimensional and staid. Getting the balance right is what it's all about and Slade has gone too far the one way. We've been second best in all three sections of the pitch, frontline, midfield and defence far too often for it to be a coincidence. Slade is not the manager that we needed to sort out this shambles left by Solskjaer, and saddling him with the useless Young as his "technical" assistant manager was absurd. That one thing alone tells me that Slade is not strong enough. He should have insisted on bringing his own crew on board and not accepting upgrades from within the club. Perhaps that was the perceived problem for Tan - Pulis would have been too strong.
As I have said before I don't subscribe to the view that we have a top quality squad for the Championship. We have too many players of average or lesser ability and while (until the last 2 games or 3 really if we take into account the way Rotherham out thought us) Slade achieved a level of organisation that OGS didn't have a clue about, our lack or quality and adaptability is now obvious. Like many I believe Pulis would have done better and is still the best option we have for a manager to bring us success, I also think Slade has been dealt a poor hand with the disjointed squad of players he inherited. Of course it's unlikely Tan will show him the door straightaway and, that being the case, we have to see what he can do with getting rid of the "ain't good enough 10" and who he can bring in to lift the team and fans in the New Year. On that basis, while accepting we won't get remotely close to going up this season, Slade has to have time for the new blood to settle in. Let's see what we think by the end of February. A good FA Cup run would be nice and help to restore some pride but in the meantime it's a bloody miserable Christmas for us City fans. Bah humbug!!!! And, oh yes, Happy New Year!!!
I agree Bluey - I also don't think we've got the "strong squad" that we've been hyped up to believe. However, it's a poorly balanced set of players that could be better managed. Slade is far too dogmatic in his approach to "flair" players preferring to rely on old school tactics. I accept it could never be proven now, but I'd have backed both Rowett or Lennon to have done better with what we've got than he's achieved.
The whole set up is a complete shambles. Slade has had enough time. He clearly knows nothing other than 4 4 2 and is being out thought tactically by every team we play. The playing squad needs a complete overhaul. Most of them don't seem to care any more. Turner may not be the classiest defender in the league but is the nearest we have to a leader on the field. Get rid of Slade before Boxing Day and give a new manager a chance.
I will single out players. Fabio was an absolute ****ing disaster and at fault or at least had a major hand in everything that went wrong defensively first half. Whitts and Gunnar were totally out worked, positional those 2 were an embarrassment 1st half. Macheda was very poor as we're our centre halves for their 2nd. Slade finally changed the formation 2nd half. Alright it was a variation of 4-4-2 but a much more effective one for us. The diamond gave whitts a position to influence the game and kept his defending simple. Noone was outstanding in his inside right position too. Gunnar looked over the moon to be shielding the back 4 and not try to cover all the empty grass Whitts leaves in a flat midfield 2. Harris at the tip ran out of steam badly. What I'd have given to have had ravel on the bench to play his proper position for those last 20 minutes. Other than that I thought it was a very promising start for Harris. Both Kim and Daehli can thrive at the tip of the diamond and Harris certainly deserves more game time. I think it could be a much better solution if we have to play 4-4-2. IMO we should never start another game with Fabio in defence he's a ****ing clown. I'd happily pick him as a midfielder. I wonder if John did enough in his little cameo to take a shirt that is very much up for grabs?
That's probably true but the squad is not as bad as their performance suggests either. Individually, our defence must be at least as good as that which got us promoted and the midfield is pretty much the same. These two areas are where are main problems lie so you have to ask why we manage to secure so little possession. Player for player we are better than most of the sides we come up against but we are constantly being outplayed. Managers will always churn out the same old excuses that the squad is not theirs, that the squad is poorly balanced and that the players are unfit but in reality any manager should be able to get the best out of the players at his disposal and to adopt appropriate tactics but this is not happening. If it's not the players it must be tactics and team selection and who is responsible for these? While most of us thought Slade was a baffling choice it is obvious that he is completely out of his depth at Championship level. Tan has made a catastrophic mistake so will he be big enough to wield the axe while there is still an outside chance of us getting near to the promotion places? I doubt it but we can live in hope.
Generally that is what you said and we most certainly agree Slade is not up to the job. But your previous post (the one I was responding to) was agreeing with "Bluey" when he said we have too many players of "average or lesser ability" and that "new blood" will have time to settle in presumably after the transfer window. My point was that the existing squad is as good as that which got us promoted and that a half decent manager ought to be able to cope without churning out excuses such as the squad is not his, is poorly balanced and the players were unfit when he took over. None of these wash with me. Basically I disagree with the comment that the squad is not strong; I believe it is and that the root cause of the problem is the way the team is being selected and organised. I trust this clarifies my position but as ever I doubt many will wholly agree with it.
For as long as we play whitts +1 in central midfield flat 2 we'll get over run by any team with energy and pace in the middle of the park. Being as most managers look to put as much energy and pace in the middle of the pitch as possible it's a reoccurring theme. I was surprised by how much of an effect changing to the diamond made on Saturday and it'll be interesting to see if it works again. I'd expect Slade to go with exactly the same set up that 'worked' 2nd half because he's nothing if not predictable.
I agree wholly with it I also think Slade may have 'lucked' into a selection that could work for us and suits our squad much more.
Whoops - if you read what I actually said in reply to Bluey (below), you will understand that I was agreeing with his belief that the squad was not all it was hyped up to be. However, I went on to say that it was just a poorly balanced set of players that could be better managed. That is what I meant when I posted that your comment was "exactly what I said"
