"I think people are trying really hard to buy into this and, the longer we go without a win, the harder it is to keep people on-side" Bristol City boss Sean O'Driscoll spoke to his club's official website and the Bristol Post ahead of his side's League One game against Carlisle at Brunton Park tomorrow afternoon, O'Driscoll contemplating changes to City's forward line: “We have created chances and people have put a shift in, so if we are going to change the dynamic we have got to make sure it fits. We can change it around upfront but it is one of those things where we haven’t really got enough time to prepare. It is one of those things that you don’t want to make a change for the sake of it, but sometimes that is the only option to freshen things up and put another perspective on the team. “It was a good win for Carlisle on Tuesday, but I think MK Dons were short of one or two players through injury, you know the way Milton Keynes are going to play but if they lose key players then it proves to be very difficult. They want to play a certain way and it probably revolves around individuals that if they do lose then it is difficult to maintain that quality which they undoubtedly have. “Carlisle went through a stage where they were conceding quite a few, which is why they changed the manager more or less. Then anyone new going in, with the amount of goals they were leaking, you try to stop it. Graham Kavanagh was a very experienced player and he has done a good job since he has been in. So, I am sure with an away win at MK Dons they will be looking to back that up at home. “200 miles is a hell of a journey on a Saturday for the supporters, especially going back with the nights getting darker and the weather turning. I am surprised so many are undertaking it, I think it is a bit of a badge of honour for supporters that they were there at Carlisle in 2013. I can’t fault the support, people have really tried to get behind the team under difficult circumstances and we appreciate it." ''if you find a way to play badly and win, tell me how you do it'. If we put in a poor performance and win the game, then of course I'll take it. We've reached the point where we just need a result. The last game we won was against Bristol Rovers and our performance was actually quite poor. But people don't see that. They remember two great goals and that they were happy. "You need a good performance to get a good result and that is what we will be focussing on. But the purist in me will not be upset if we scrape a scrappy win. If we win with a deflected goal off somebody's backside in the final minute, of course I will accept it! If you get a win, then it becomes a darn sight easier to get performances. But to get a result you need to get a performance. "You prepare your team to play well to get a result. You don't do it the other way around. It's commonsense. You can try to get a result by loading the team full of midfield players and defenders, but then how are you going to score a goal? Or you can do it the other way around and load your team full of attacking players and go gung-ho. But then, how are you going to stop the goals going in at the other end? "I think people are trying really hard to buy into this and, the longer we go without a win, the harder it is to keep people on-side. You will get people who always buy in, but without results to back it up, the number will become fewer and fewer. That is when the position becomes less stable and the players' belief is affected. It affects everybody from the tea lady to the chairman of the board. "It begins with the supporters losing belief. Then it becomes the players and then the board. That is the way it usually works. I have to say the players are right on-side with it and they are prepared to do what we are asking them to do. There are one or two who are disappointed because they are not playing, but that has been dealt with and they understand." http://www.carlisleunited-mad.co.uk...ll_looks_ahead_to_tomorrow_811533/index.shtml The more I read from SOD the more the truth bounces out or am I just desperate, I just don't get the message..
The message is to confuse us and make us believe that he has all the answers to all our problems. To date I can't see that he has any of the answers but I am starting to wonder who is pulling the reins behind the scenes.
My favourite story, applicable to so many modernday scenarios is: ' The Emperor's New Clothes'.................................
He is saying all the correct things, just like politicians do when they want to win elections. Football and indeed all sport in general, is very like politics. Everyone has the answer but when world events, even unexpected bad weather can bring governments down, a game of football is exactly the same. The theory and all the planning goes out of the window at kick-off, because there are eleven guys in a different colour shirt, kicking, pushing, verbally abusing, cheating and a referee/linesmen team who also contrive to work against all the planning. Technically our players are as good as the opposition, but I believe that for the last four years, we have not been mentally tough enough as a Club and team to win a raffle except when we hold the only ticket in the draw. So fine words again from SO'D but unless the mental toughness gets better, we will keep on failing. Continuing the political analogy, there are many politicians more astute and gifted, but very few with the mental toughness to be a Prime Minister. Perhaps now it it SO'D's apparent quiet character that is the weakness?
The bit I don't get is he says you need a good performance to get a good result, but then also says against the gas was not a good performance but we won that one, to me that's a good result. Am I missing something here?
All this really tells me is something I have always known, Rovers are even worse than us if they are the last team we beat with that piss poor performance.
