I think we are about to witness the press sharpening their knives on Jokanovic to get the sack. Will Khan break under pressure after giving Slav the backing. In the end It may come down to the confidence that the players have in Jokanovic and his system of play. At present confidence is low because of the run of defeats and the way we concede goals too easily. Once opposition see that you are vulnerable to letting in goals it gives them a boost before they play you. Jokanovic has always been a manager who sets his team out to retain possession and hence dictate the pace of the game. But he has never seemed to care about what the tactics are of the other team as he believes when you have possession they don't and so can't harm you. I think he's had a bit of surprise that most teams in the Premier don't all fall back to the edge of their penalty area against us to defend and tend to get at us higher up the pitch, rob us in midfield and attack the back four. Will he change his philosophy ? we know he can be very stubborn in his ways. Do you want to give Jokanovic more time ?
I'd also like Khan to give Jokanovic a chance to get us climbing the League. Whether that is sentiment because he did a good job for us and I think he deserves a chance. But I do think that Jokanovic too has to change his stubbornness about his possession style. He has to take into account the tactics of his opponent and counter them. He's been his own worse enemy changing the defence around, all be it sometime because of injuries, but there were times when he refused to play fit players. It's not the first time that we have started a season slowly with last season October being a poor month and previous to that September in 16/17. In fact if my memory is right October for some reason has never been a great month for us.
Like you Superbri an emotional loyalty wants Jokanovic to stay. There a little more to that wish however. Even in the last two games, games where there was a reasonable expectation of picking up points, I think I can see what he was trying to do with his starting line ups, on paper at least. Against Cardiff he pretty much started with the players that had been training together while the rest were off on International stuff and yesterday, for instance playing Kamara to give us width (along with Sessegnon) which was sadly lacking in the Cardiff match. But neither line ups worked - so do you hold him rather than the players responsible ? My view is mainly the players, with a 'but' or two in there. One 'but' is to question why the players are (apparently) not carrying out his instructions. Don't they believe in his philosophy/playing style? Don't they practice adequately so they understand their roles? Where is the discipline in defence - which is basically questioning the wisdom in firing Stuart Gray at the start of the season? [Indulging on a conspiracy theory, is there a dressing room split between the Championship boys and the new intake?] The other 'buts' are where I'm gradually swaying away from that loyalty to him. The first is the chopping and changing - 3 different goalkeepers and 9 different defenders in 10 games is simply not a good sign that he fully understands or has confidence in his players. The second is his subs, which frankly are baffling at times. Kind of associated with that is his (apparent) stubborn approach towards the new guys - why was Vietto not used yesterday? So still with him although those 'buts' are getting bigger.
Just had another conspiracy theory thought. Is there tension/a rift between Jokanovic and the hierarchy, which is why he hasn't signed a new contract? Whatever, my advice to Jokanovic in the short term is, it's time for being "SMART" rather that your oft used "BRAVE".
I say stick with the possession game, but be a little bit braver about playing attacking passes, particularly in the final third, and look to move the ball a little more quickly in all areas. We're not far away from being an effective team in this division. I think it's small margins that are resulting in big score line deficits and making us look worse than we really are. Yes, give Jokanovic more time.
When it starts working more effectively, the confidence will also start to flow. That's the hope and belief.
Its a dilemma. Sticking to the style that got you up was probably the right decision. The problem is, as one of our message board posters said, there are quite a few teams in the prem who do it better. Teams also see it week in week out so are better able to deal with it. The worry must be that even lowly Cardiff with their 19th century hoofball (I think that's what your owner called it) managed to out score you. Our expectations have been set low and we're meeting them. However, we are slowly starting to find a style that is better suited to this league so feel that things are improving even if we have to play a right back as a striker as we didn't spend much on players. We're still favourites to down but will make a fight of it.
Yes, I did say that remote...... There are an awful lot of diverse teams already up here who know what it takes both to compete at the top of the table and survive at the other end. You make your choice and In your case, playing the expansive style that got you up may well not keep you up in this different planet of a League - you need to walk before you run. As for us (Cardiff), it's an open book that expectation levels are low and that could be what saves us. Dogged defensive work both at the back and in midfield, and then countering on the break may not be pretty but it could be effective against teams that are not used to it. True to say that we've fluffed our lines up till now against teams we should have beaten - 2 points out of 9 against Newcastle, Huddersfield and Burnley kept us proppoing the table - but we're learning. Really hope you guys turn it around as long as it's not at our expense - enjoyed your football last season.
