2) HR! This problem goes back to appointing him as a replacment to Hughes. The Premier should have been written off at that point & the job given to a manager with long term aims.
Hindsight is a wonderful thing.
Could you imagine the furore amongst the supporters if someone was brought in with "long term aims" who then failed to keep us up? You wouldn't be able to tell the supporters that it had been decided to write-off the season - given up - and would start again next season.
Who would take such a job? No up-and-coming manager would touch us with a barge pole if that was on the table.
This is actually what happened with Harry. We went down and had to start rebuilding. There were a lot of tossers (brought in by NW and MH) that had to go. He had to rebuild.
Maybe we should have taken two of three years to rebuild the club/team in the Championship, but then you start looking at the teams who have been relegated (or come within a whisker of it) almost immediately down to Div 1.
Look at the bottom 5 in the Championship this week. Birmingham, Wigan, Fulham, Blackpool, Bolton. It was not so long ago since they were in the Premiership.
Harry did what was asked of him. Straight back to the premiership (more by luck than judgement in the end) but we HAD to get back for financial reasons alone.
Once again it is players not performing that have got us in a mess. Tactics may have been wrong - naive even, but when your players can't be bothered to try to execute the orders they have been given then there is a serious problem.
I would rather see them go out and give 100% and then turn round and say "Look, this isn't working" than just think between themselves that "These tactics ain't going to work so I can't be bothered".
The warning signs were there when it was the players who pushed Harry to change from 3-5-2 because the players didn't like/want it ... but in the two 4-0 defeats few actually put a shift in.
TF, the ball is in your court. Make your decision.
