Never the player is it ?, we're not that fortunate to be able to drop a complete side , and with the exception of two on Thursday is that what you'd advocate
As Bound says, are you advocating the dropping of the whole team? Out of 11 players we had three that put in a shift at St Gallen. I accept that motivation is down to the Manager but it's misplaced passes and the criminal giving away of possession that is costing us in games. That is down to the players and the players alone. As ivor says, how is it Laudrup's fault that Williams put in a schoolboy pass that cost us the goal against Hull? Phil: "'The haters here will always hate' not even Dia fits that one," You are the one naming names, not me. I have deliberately not done so. We had one poster here recently who posted this about de Guzman: "I really hate him. Why Laudrup picks him is beyond me." He is entitled to that view but please don't make out we haven't got hate figures at the Club because the evidence suggests otherwise. I do, however, agree that such extreme views are thankfully rare.
We haven't got that luxury, but I accept that competition for places is very healthy. Williams is a prime example.
It's too simplistic to blame the manager for everything and certainly not fair. "Sign good ones" What a convenient statement! WE CAN'T RIGHT NOW!!! And when we can, we are limited by what we are prepared to spend. Doesn't anyone think that Laudrup would LOVE to sign top quality players? He can't, so he has to make do with his bargain basement buys, many of whom I might add, are doing us proud in terms of their cost. In terms of top quality, Laudrup is trying to make silk purses out of cow's ears. It won't happen. He knows it but he can't come out and say it. He's doing the best he can at a club with limited resources and limited PLAYERS and, lest we forget, we should be at least six points better off than we are now through no fault of his. I venture to suggest that had we got those six points on board we would not be reading any of this bleating about his managerial ability. Of course Laudrup drops players when they're playing poorly (JdG apart) but who can he bring in? He's only got someone of comparative ability to step in anyway, so we don't see a huge improvement. Dyer/Pablo play poorly. Are Lamah or Routledge, going to make a huge difference? I don't think so. Leon has a few bad games so up steps Canas. Massive improvement? Not really. Ash or Chico go through a bad time, so Amat plays. Defence suddenly improves noticeably? Nope. Shelvey struggles and in comes Pozuelo. Markedly better? Not necessarily. Laudrup can only work with what he's got. He knew the restrictions when he arrived and he's doing the best he can with what he's got. But it would help him if the players took responsibility for their own performances instead of making crass mistakes that are costing us points. These lost points put pressure on the team, cause stress in the dressing room and erode confidence. So what happens? Instead of putting things right on the field, correcting their OWN bad play, some players go moaning to Huw about training methods and motivation. Pathetic!!! As for the comments about the manager (pick 'em when they play well, drop 'em when they play poorly, buy good players, sell the rubbish) talk about having a degree in stating the blindingly bloody obvious!! The trick is to DO it. Not so easy in reality. Here's another equally facile observation, if we win every game from now on we'll probably qualify for the Champions League. Nice sentiment, but........ Just think on. If a referee had given Cole's handball, not penalised Ben Davies, had Williams not played the mother of all idiotic passes or Shelvey not had a brainstorm with his back pass etc etc, we wouldn't be having this conversation now. Of course we've had a bit of good fortune recently but long overdue, I think. In other words, we could and should be many points better off and Laudrup's training regime would not be up for debate. Oh, and let's not forget the disruption of the Europa games which has cost us, so let's see what the next couple of months brings when some meaningful work can be done on the training field. By the way, I'm not suggesting for a second that Laudrup can do no wrong. Of course he can, and has - his persistence with de Guzman, when he's obviously been playing pants, is an example. For me, I'm pleased with what he's done, where we are right now under the circumstances. If things change for the worse in the next two months, I'll look at it again. But not until then. Meantime, it would be nice if the players would take a look at themselves and what they are doing or not doing. I think that's where the problems lie.
Top post Especially: "If a referee had given Cole's handball, not penalised Ben Davies, had Williams not played the mother of all idiotic passes or Shelvey not had a brainstorm with his back pass etc etc, we wouldn't be having this conversation now." These are the fine margins we've seen this season. Oh and for the record I am not ivor.
Sorry ivor, thought i'd highlighted the 'drop them when they are rubbish' part of his quote Agree with you when you say we do not have the financial clout to bring in much better players
No probs, Valley, and apologies not necessary, thank you all the same. Wasn't having a go at your POV either. We all have an opinion and are entitled to state it here. Thing is, apart from a watching brief, I've actually experienced this sort of thing before, in the flesh as it were. There was a clique of players at a club I played for who didn't hit it off with the manager. Results deteriorated and the coach was blamed. I knew differently because I was playing on the same pitch as the players concerned. I also trained with them and they weren't putting in the work. On one particular road run up, around and down a hilly course, one of the players had discovered a nice little short cut that I was invited to use. I did so out of interest and found the usual suspects taking a breather (and a ***) before joining the group later on. This was an "honesty" run involving only the players, so the coach was unaware of what was going on. The other players knew, of course, but kept stum not wanting to grass out the culprits. The guilty players only wanted to train with the ball; road work was just too much like hard work for them, so they got out of it by cheating. Ironic because what the team was lacking was fitness, not ability. Anyway, the clique got their way, a good coach moved on (to better things) and normal cosy service was resumed. I also left and the club was relegated that year. Good enough for them.
As usual Ivor is spot on. May I add to his request that the players look at themselves that our incredibly spoilt (over the last 10 years) fans look at themselves. We are supposed to support our team not create/add to the negativity. We can't have everything our own way forever. There isn't a club of our size and wealth achieving more in the whole of European, if not World, football IMO. Cheer up everybody.
