I did decide to vote in spite of the fact that the questions were biased towards sacking. With Howson returning to fitness, I'd have been disappointed if he hadn't replaced Johnson (which he did). Similarly, Lafferty in for Grabban was a good rotation. Also playing Josh meant a 4-4-2, which I feel depended too much on hopeful crosses into a packed penalty area. This was forced by Hoolahan's injury really, though I'd like to see Odjidja-Ofoe given a chance in the AM role of a 4-2-3-1. The performances have been good, IMO, and the results will improve. We currently have one point less than we did under Lambert after 13 games in the Championship. Was there any mention of sacking him at that stage?
I agree with most of what you say but the bit in bold is a moot question. Lambert had just gotten us promoted from league 1 and had absolutely no pressure to get promoted again. Infact, most of us expected a season of consolidation. Adams on the other hand has a hugely talented squad, many of whom have just spent 3 years in the Prem and the expectation is to get promoted at the first attempt. Really, that Adams has only got 1 point more than the Lambert season at this point is a case in favour of criticising him, but certainly there is no need to talk about sacking. In my opinion, Adams has done slightly better than I expected but needs some serious improvements. He seems to be relying too much on just getting numbers forward without any way of breaking teams down once they are there. I really don't like the 4-4-2, it by-passes the midfield which seems to be our strongest area and means we can't get any real control over the opposition. We've gotten lots of the ball in recent games but it's in the wrong areas because we don't have enough bodies in the middle of the pitch. 4-2-3-1/4-3-3 is definitely the way I'd go.
The problem I have with a number of people saying how he is doing well for/exceeding what can be expected of an inexperienced manager, is that we did not have to give the job to an inexperienced manager. We have the resources and the squad (hats off to him, for that) but he will always in part be judged against that backdrop, "he's doing alright considering his experience " kind of doesn't wash with me, we could and perhaps should have gone with someone who isn't a relative novice. Experience offers no guarantees but for a side with a predominantly well acquainted squad that everyone seems to think is at least the equal of all others in the Championship, expectations are rightly high. He is our manager and as one of my favourite explayers I want him to succeed and inspite of the disappointing recent run, I think he'll turn it round, afterall we ain't playing to badly. But he needs to find a few solutions to problems that are already feeling like twice weekly episodes of dejavu. Bah!
I have never mentioned NA's experience and feel that he should be judged on performances. The changes he made and the subs he used were right with the one exception of Josh starting, which meant playing a 4-4-2, which as Colk says, "by-passes the midfield which seems to be our strongest area". Lambert had the benefit of a 'promotion bounce' as opposed to a relegation hangover, but a win would move us two points above Lambert's team after 14 games.
RER - you talk a lot of sense and I certainly wouldn't be in the 'NA out camp' any time before the end of the season. He has had some key players only just returning to fitness and I'm confident that he'll 'turn things around' in the next few games and get us back to winning ways.
Though I know it holds bugger all relevance in the real world, I loved using that Formation on FIFA13. You need the wingers to but in a lot of work and the CAMs to cover a lot of ground but I reckon we could make it work with this squad. That said, I'd still prefer a reverse Christmas tree with 1 CDM, 2 CM in front and 2 Wingers flanking a striker.
