Anybody seen any real difference in our style of play since Bruce left? Lots of disillusioned dudes in our midst these days. I really hope MON comes up with some game changing ideas soon. We are in danger of becoming a joke.
Give ower lad, This is Bruce's team except for the 4 good signings of Mon, who has only had one window to improve the team, and improve he has with Fletch, Jonhho, Zaha , Cellbydate and Rose, he has had one window for Christs sake, and i for one am happy with his signings, Johnston will come good soon enough, and in the Jan window you will see some exciting midfield signings, some guys arnt firing on all cylinders, but thats not his fault and there are reasons for this, please KTF.
Im the same unfortunately Rog, the harsh fact is that we have been outplayed by every single team so far this season and lucky to have the number of points that we currently have and this was down to Fletchers little purple patch at the start but he's clearly not an out and out goalscorer and was never going to keep that up. O'Neill is continually playing players out of position when it's obvious that it does not work (Larsson in CM, when Meyler and Vaughan are on the bench), Sess looks uninterested and playing behind Fletcher, is again clearly the wrong tactic. McClean isn't up to scratch and needs to be dropped, but for some reason O'Neill won't do it. Johnson has failed to get started and Saha looks like he should be getting a lot more game time then he has been getting. It's glaringly obvious that we need to get back to basics of 4-4-2, Larsson on the RW, Gardner has to be our main CM. We need to change our style of play and get the ball forward quicker with players busting a gut to support our attack, against the mags with 10 men, I remember a cross being whipped in and only Fletcher in the box. If O'Neill hasn't a plan B, unable to try new things then we could be in very big trouble.
Just to add something else, I also believe any manager is only half the man without their proper number 2 by their side.
To the OP I can't see any difference mate at all however, there are mitigating circumstances. As Rog pointed out MON has had one transfer window and, in all honesty has done well with his signings. MON has to take the lions share of the blame for me but, the players have to stand up and be counted as well. Don't forget this is the same bunch (give or take) that did so well for us when MON first took over, for me as long as we don't start dropping like a stone then I'm fine with that. If we do start to drop then it'll be time to get the tin hats out.
we have two months to go before the transfer window opens, cant wait to see all the smiling faces when he brings in some right gems, and we shoot up the table
While the style of play hasn't changed greatly, and is sadly still quite unimaginative and depressing to watch, I do think we have a lot more team spirit about us than under Brucey. While we've only won 1 league game this season, we've also only lost 1, against the champions away. We also brushed aside the two lower league teams we've played in the Cup, while under Bruce we often struggled (e.g Notts County, Brighton.) So while the style itself maybe hasn't improved as much as I'd hoped, the general results are definitely better.
We are not playing well at all and haven't done for several months and although we are difficult to beat, even when we are playing ****e, there is no denying its boring to watch in all honesty. There are some rumblings of discontent amongst the faithful (drink enhanced it should be said) and we face a trying few weeks imo. Now, there are mitigating factors. We still haven't been able to pick from our best 11 yet and through a series of injuries, suspensions, post-boned games and international breaks, our season is stuttering a bit and our indifferent form from the last 8 or 9 games of last season has spilled over into this season. We just look very poor. We have a lack of quality in the centre of the park and our better players just aren't pulling their weight at all. That said we have only been beaten once in 7 games and have played the likes of Arsenal and Man City away and Liverpool at home. 5 draws, 1 win and 1 defeat isn't great but it isn't too shabby either. When everyone is fit again and we can pick from all our squad, we will see how it goes and don't forget, we are also into the last 16 of the League Cup. Playing badly; not scoring many goals or creating chances and yet we are a game in hand away from being comfortably mid-table and above the team up the road who they say are the Barca of the north. Martin needs to find a better formation and change the personnel a bit and change our fortunes a bit more. If he can, we will kick start our season. If he doesn't, I fear rocky times lie not too far ahead. Lose to Boro and lose 2 or 3 out of the next 4 or 5 games and our form won't be too far away from the worst of Bruces regime and for a huge Martin O'Neill fan (me) thats a hard pill to contemplate swallowing. I think we, or MoN is anyway, missing his trusted number two in Robertson, to offer him some advice and a trusted good close friend to bounce off and I would love to think that he could be persuaded to come here and just give him some support. Haway the Lads.
Well I'm still optimistic. A couple of good results when Sess & AJ hit form and they will, will see us shooting up that table. Confidence will return and all of us will be happy bunnies again
How long do we give Sess, AJ and McClean before we change it though mate? All 3 look way out of sorts.
It may well still be Brucies team with only one window gone but the stark facts of reality are that we are not playing to our strengths. We do not have the pace or flair to play on the counter as I said yesterday. MON persists with this 4-4-1-1/4-5-1 system & I'm sorry but it's not working. His unwillingness to change is fast becoming frustrating imo. Even when he does, he leaves it far too late. We should have made changes at half time yesterday & gone for the jugular. Had it happened ten minutes earlier, we may well have won that game as we had them well on the rack for the last 15 minutes.
give him time ffs. we aren't playing well but we are looking like a tough to beat team who haven't got going yet - everton do this every year (apart from this year...). sess, maclean and johnson haven't played well at all yet, but they will do at some point, they haven't become bad players overnight, and even just one on form will make the difference for us. get bardsley fit and playing, get gardner into centre mid with cattermole and drop two of johnson, maclean and sessegnon to keep larsson in the team for now, and get saha up to support fletch. we looked a better side with gardner marauding from the middle, and saha made a big difference when he came on.
We are already a joke, scrapped to a draw (only through an own goal) against Newcastle, I've always said MON wasn't the man for the job, the differnce between MON & Bruce is that Bruce never stood a chance from the off, if he was still manager now, what would we be saying?
O'Neill has done a good job (seriously). He steadied the ship and you finished strongly. Then he persuaded players like Johnson to come and players like Sess to stay (players who i think will come back into form for you and do well). Buying Fletcher was a move most thought too big a gamble (too much money etc) and Saha seemed past it. However, despite a 'bad start' you're not doing too badly at all and the players he brought in look a cut above the previous bunch - surely that's a sign you're moving in the right direction! Bascially, what did people expect? A mid-table finish wouldn't be a bad season for his first full one in charge, especially if the team looks stronger and improves in the second half of the season. It was/is unlikely you'll get top 6/7 but that's true for Newcastle as well. At the start of the season i though Newcastle 8th-ish and Sunderland 10th-ish and I still think that's about on the cards. Then next season, with more additions under O'Neill it will really be game on.
Sess is a damn good player but there were a few of us who said we should accept a bid as he is neither a forward or a midfielder. AJ is a good player and will get it right soon Mclean (only £300,00) was never gonna be a top player but looked back to normal in the last 15 mins on Sunday. Would possibly drop McLean first and move Sess to the left wing. Not ideal but MON needs to freshen things up.
