I think there are a few problems..As mentioned creativity and leader on the pitch and I believe chopping and changing your best players expecting new players to just come in and gel instantly.....If you lose fringe players, I don't believe it causes such an impact...
Watching LJ's interview I genuinely feel sorry for how he came across, he really doesn't understand what happened last night. He had no words to put forward an explanation. I don't want to add further, I'm fed up quarreling with decent folk on here.
You just did Doesn't matter what he would have said...the usual mob would have popped up to criticise.... Disappointing though it is, Just needs to knuckle down and sort it..... We're not in a relegation battle and plenty decent clubs below us....
I like LJ and I do think he gets unfairly criticised quite often and blamed for things beyond his control. however, he got it wrong yesterday and needs to fix it quickly if we are to remain in touch with the playoffs.
Trouble is he frequently gets the tactics wrong and has now taken to putting out spineless teams with no fight and no nous as to how to approach certain games, and that's bad, however you care to look at it. Are the players deliberately doing this needs to be asked ? Losing is one thing, losing without seeming to care and without fight is simply not acceptable. If there were strong and consistent teams vying for 2nd to 6th in this league, our more recent results and performances would have really shone the spotlight on the Managers issues. He's got lucky in several respects.
i can’t see it being deliberate but I agree the players themselves looked poor last night as individuals, with the exception of Bentley and possibly Weimann when he came on. LJ got stuff wrong last night but as I noted earlier the players’ passing was woeful and we were second best in most of the 50-50s. Could it be that the ‘illness’ is still affecting them? Could it be that we didn’t realise how much Brownhill contributed when he was here? Has Wells or one of the other new faces somehow upset the camaraderie in the Dressing Room? I don’t have the answers I’m afraid.
I know. None of us do and that's the hugely frustrating part. Being City, we're just as likely to get something against Millwall, Fulham and Blackburn, but then again..... Lose all 3 and that'll be six defeats on the bounce, and then surely teams such as Blackburn will have overtaken us and the pressure will be even greater.
i think if we get beat at MILLWALL and a tonking at home to Fulham the toll bells will be ringing and LJ could be on his way.
That would leave us managerless with just 7 or so weeks of the season left. Nah, no matter what happens, LJ is here for the season imo.
Out of interest, I posted this thread on OTIB yesterday and so far not had a single reply. That forum is so toxic I suspect that the first sentence put people off commenting !!! EDIT - I have some now! Pragmatic replies in perspective please - not an LJ bashing or Love-in fest Following a relatively good series of results, we have lost 3 games on the bounce - despite landing the striker that a lot of us were calling for in Wells So, let’s look at what’s changed; 1. Brownhill gone. Was he contributing more than we gave him credit for? Possibly - but he was also ever-present in the team during our other losing streaks too, so maybe not. However, he was club captain and I’m assuming that means he had leadership qualities - which haven’t been replaced (?) 2. Weimann dropped. Was his constant energy and fitness more of a factor than we (LJ) realised? Should he come back into the starting 11? 3. New starters - Has the arrival of the new players upset the camaraderie in the dressing room, with Wells coming straight into the side at Weimann’s expense? To be fair, many of us were endorsing that selection change including myself. 4. Illness. Assuming press reports are true the squad was unable to train fully last week. Looking at some of the dire individual performances last night could they still be under the weather? I only watched the second half yesterday but they looked tired and lethargic, giving the ball away with poor passing and were second in most of the 50-50s (Bentley aside) 5. LJ - he picks the team and chooses the formation and tactics. I’ve always supported him and I am still more ‘in’ than ‘out’ but he screwed up yesterday - the thing is, I can’t say HOW he screwed up. Clearly his selection and tactics failed, but what SHOULD he have done? Were his selections forced? I’m not making excuses for him btw - just asking the question. It’s also valid to question who realistically would do better at this late stage of the season , given that the squad has NO players from the Cotts era in it now. CORRECTION - I think Cotts might have signed Smith(?) 6. Are the players rebelling against the manager and deliberately playing badly to force a change? I really can’t see this - despite recent form we are still in touch with the promotion pack. Nobody would deliberately scupper the chance of a playoff place - even if they disagree with the formation and tactics they would be professional to win headers and complete passes, wouldn’t they? 7. Are we overreacting? After all, we are still 7th, and all teams lose games they should have won on paper. Brentford lost to Luton last night - isn’t that worse, considering they are higher than us in the league and Luton are lower than Huddersfield. 8. A combination of some or all of the above?
This is exactly it. I’m not digging at RR - or anyone - most of us were ok with the selection Wells and Diedhiou together up front with Weimann as sub - on paper that seemed fine. This is one of LJs lifelines as far as I am concerned - that he has selected more or less what I would have done in his shoes. Before a ball is kicked his selection looked ok. We are all experts afterwards - but NOBODY has offered an alternative selection which would have worked.
We may have all been happy with the selection, I know I was but the pre match talk, match tactics, the chosen formation, half time changes, tactical switches, timing and selection of substitutions,were all down to him as well. It's down to LJ we are 7th and if we lose or win a game the buck stops with him, the coming days will demonstrate what we are made of , like he said it was his team, his players, under his leadership that flopped, it's up to them and him to turn things around, time, as always will tell.
To be honest i agreed with the changes,but this chopping and changing every game is doing him no favours at all.He don't know his best team and that is concerning.
or could be he has the vision as to what should be and it is not ... Loss of Brownhill was a major blow [ Sort of same when Korey got injured team lost rhythm, you cant exactly "see it" in the normal progression of games .. but stands out like a sore thumb when it loses a tooth off the cog ]
You should of spotted the first mistake in his statement “I think”. When do you think he has ever thought anything?
