We sailed far too close to disaster, would welcome a traditional 14th finish next season as we rebuild.
Here to go Went Behind and Lost = 19 games.. 41.30% Gone Ahead and Drew = 7 games.. 15.22% Gone Ahead but Lost = 2 games.. 4.35% Went Behind and Drew = 5 games.. 10.87% 0-0 draw = 1 game.... 2.17% Went Behind and Won = 4 games.. 8.70% Gone Ahead and Won = 8 games ..17.39% Make of that what you will.....
I just hope Selles has been holding back massively in terms of tactics and playing style as to not overload the players halfway through a season of playing Walter’s system. It was so horrible and basic to watch that I’m leaning towards it being intentional. We were horrible in possession, had minimal movement, and zero goal threat. The amount of times we’d just aimlessly boot it downfield to no one, constantly keeping it in the air bouncing around like a hot potato, it was worse than league one football. Obviously relieved beyond anything that we’ve stayed up but I’ve really not been impressed, hopefully after a reset and with a full pre season it’s completely different.
Reading fans did say this is what happened to them as well - and they were better the next season so there is hope.
Pre-Selles our ppg was on target for 36 points and relegation weeks ago. Under Selles it's 1.26, would be 58 points over a full season which would have made us 12th. He did this with bad luck with injuries and no decent goalscorer. But yeah, let's sack him, worked so well with Rosenior.
I cannot for the life of me understand why constantly changing the manager is a good idea. We desperately need some consistency in our style of play.
Maybe we have got prospective new owners who want to bring in their own management team? Now were have I heard that before... If the Acun's brief for Sellés was just to avoid relegation - then Sellés has been successful, met his KPI and will pick up a nice bonus. If the brief was to avoid relegation, play attractive football to entertain the fans and win a few games at home, then the jury is out deliberating and will be reaching a verdict very shortly.
We need to focus on the factors that got us into the relegation battle and address those. Clearly the biggest one is the first half of the season under Walter. He was a poor appointment who followed a stupid sacking, was poorly supported and then was left to flounder for too long. That series of mistakes gave us a mountain to climb just to stay up. But there are also other themes which have persisted throughout the season. Obviously not scoring enough goals is one. We have to address that. I mentioned on the match thread about shooting with laces, why do our players never do that? My guess would be confidence. We have to get our attacking players more confident and comfortable. More than personnel or tactics I think this is the biggest thing we need to address in terms of goalscoring. The other one is the lack of clean sheets. It really is statistically weird that we get so few clean sheets (second least in the league) when our overall defensive record is actually one of the best in the league. That quirk means that on average each goal we concede is causing us more damage than the goals any other team concedes is, because so often it's the only goal in a 1-0 game. We almost never concede a goal that doesn't directly cost us points. There must be a reason for this. Maybe the lack of goals is a big part of it - because we're so rarely ahead the goals against when they come inevitably hurt us more. But whatever it is it needs addressing too.
Hopefully once the dust settles, the club will be holding annual performance reviews with the players that are staying. Several deep penetrations are needed with a few players (ooh er, Missus). I would be suggesting to Kamara, Burstow and Joseph that they make use of a sports psychologist; all big money signings who for one reason or another haven't fired to the level needed, although all have shown the potential to be influential players. They each need to identify their inner chimps and manage them better. I believe all three can kick on and really contribute next season.
Those that don't want us promoted to the Premier League should be happy, no mid-table on the beach tedium for us this April/May. The views expressed in my posts are not necessarily mine.
I'm pleased the season is over and that we have avoided relegation. For the first time in my City supporting life I was seriously questioning wether or not to continue with my club membership. I saw the extent of our weaknesses in the pre season games and for the first time in my life left one game at half time, the same one a potential striker we were talking too also left at the same time, So I feared the worse from day one and I had no faith or confidence in Tim Walters at all. He was a terrible appointment. I just did not see the point or the thinking behind appointing someone with no experience in the country who wanted to reinvent the game, with little past success of doing so anywhere else? And it showed on the field. The situation we found ourselves in and off the field was totally down to mismanagement off it, and sadly I've seen that continue throughout the season. It did appear the owner had taken his eye off the ball and was losing interest. The mounting debt was and still is a worry. So relegation to the League One would have been a disaster. But we have avoided it. The manager deserves a reprieve with no pressure of the sack hanging over him whilst he starts pre season with a clean slate. He deserves that opportunity. The weakness in the squad are obvious to all and we have some expensive deadwood hanging around. That needs getting rid of. The owner needs to show his commitment and I'm sure he is aware of that. He and his recruitment team know exactly what we need, or at least I hope they do. Because another season like the one we have just witnessed is simply not good enough. ...
