tuff one....i really wanted raf...big name but I've been so disappointed in his style if football its boring,stagnant,predictable plus his reluctance to change kills me...Eddie howe may be I quite like Monk or even wagner at Huddersfield...i just don't know I'm totally frustrated...i do have this strange feeling if we di go up he will be more suited to the prem and we will be ok...any if this make sense.
I have to say I don't mind rotation. In the modern game you have to rotate. We just haven't done it very well at times. We are very one dimensional is the problem. We have one way of playing full stop. Pardew got roasted for his lack of a plan b. We had more of a plan b then than now. We are scraping by. It takes a big leap of faith to believe everything will be rosy next year and Rafa will suddenly wake from this slumber he's been in.
lol you said that after the first 2 games of this season....! Obviously Rafa ain't gonna want to manage this crap in the Prem and is gonna demand a major transfer budget to build a new team or he'll walk. He was clearly massively ****ed off about no one being signed in Jan and isn't gonna take that again.
Yes we should of signed in January but i still think with the squad we have and some tactical changes plus dropping players we all know should be dropped we would of been up by now. Its a mixture of management and players not picking up the challenge. Only Newcastle could turn a promotion season into a shambles in 40 years they twats still manage to shock and anger me......
I think Rafa's been a bit pissed about what happened in Jan, and it's translated into the results somewhat. Townsend was all set to come, and he'd have made a massive difference to the team, the title would have already been sewn up if he'd come. Also factor in Gayle getting injured (we knew this was gonna happen and he was always a gamble) and some unadvisable managerial decision (not playing Hayden enough and a weird overreliance in crap like Diame and Colback). Shame we're limping over the line after such an awesome start, but at the end of the day "the table doesn't lie" is the only true cliché - we're 7 points clear for a reason, if Huddersfield were good enough they'd have closed the gap and pipped us by now.
Perhaps but if that is the case then its pathetic on behalf of Rafa. We're not limping to the finish because we haven't spent enough or not signed anyone in January. The guy has had more than enough to make promotion a formality if managed correctly. Imagine if Huddersfield, Leeds, Brighton, Sheff Wed and Reading had 57m to spunk at the beginning of the season? We just haven't done a stellar job with what we have at our disposal. Gayle's injury woes were not helpful but we still had Mitrovic, Perez, and Murphy who would get into to most of the top halfs side. Personally I think a bit of stubborness has hurt us. We have done the same thing over and over again at home with familiar results. Ultimately its the home form which has made a potential failure to get promoted even a discussion. I think we will do enough and hopefully we will learn from this seasons mistakes.
I guess we are all wondering quite what is going on with this side and our manager at the moment. Like in all walks of life, when there is no tangible reason for our failures, then someone, somewhere has to fill the void with a story. Dressing room unrest, possibly, but it's a bit to convenient. The effort put into the Leeds game was massive and l think it showed. We looked tired and lethargic, even taking into account rotating the players. I saw a video of the team arriving at Ipswich and thought at the time how miserable and depressed they all looked. Personally l just don't get why that should be the case, we have everything to play for. Maybe it was the realisation that we won't go up as Champions? But surely going up is what matters Maybe the majority realise that in the big scheme of things they are not good enough and given half a chance, Rafa will bin them.. If they are sulking like silly little boys then God Help us next season. It's going to take a damn sight more guts and professionalism from this shower if we are to avoid coming straight back down again.
I agree. Unrest is always mentioned when things go wrong. The reality is somewhere different for me. If you've played football at any level you know there are spats that go on in around the dressing room. These happen when things are going right and when things are going wrong. When things are going right everyone still thinks its because you have great team spirit. The minute things go wrong we have rotten apples etc. Leicester are a great example. Its amazing how quickly their togetherness has returned with a few results. The reality is those results coincided with a return to their roots in terms of what worked for them as a team. You got all the "people have worked them out" and "its an unhappy camp" bollocks. No they just weren't performing as a management team and as players. I felt it was completely unfair on Ranieri. It still may have been because his last result was something he saw as a turning point. Maybe it was or maybe he'd have continued to stubbornly steer away from the core of what made them good the previous season. We will never know. Monday was definitely a hangover from Friday in my opinion. They knew they'd thrown away two points. They knew it was down to tactical decisions from the manager, and tactical decisions on the pitch by players purported as leaders. They knew it meant Brighton were going to probably coast home in first. It was of their own doing and there is no worse feeling in football than when managerial and playing staff get it wrong. You don't like getting beat or dropping points when its something out of your control, but when its something you could control, then its immensely frustrating. They carried that into Monday and found their levels not at the required level. That is my opinion anyway. I think Rafa and the players have to shake that off now and show some nuts to see the season out. I fully expect them to as we have a kind end to the season.
