They had four days after the embargo was lifted, the manager didn't join until the day after that. They had targets, they signed three of them and then Walsh. Not sure I agree the recruitment has been poor, Longman for £700k was a bargain given his form going into the window, Allahyar we don't really know much about because he's been injured but hopefully will get a decent run of games and Forss has done alright given he's been playing as a lone striker in a system that relies on somebody twice his height. I don't disagree that we could have signed better/shipped some dross out and I imagine they planned to had the takeover gone through when it was supposed to before Christmas. But coming into a Championship season under an embargo is incredibly difficult, Blackpool didn't have that problem, they had a clear run at it.
Honestly what where people genuinely expecting with a take over that was completed days before the window closed? Unfortunately when that happened the aim for the season changed. This season became about seeing it out and using the time to really plan in depth for next season, no rushing signings, no rushing contract extensions, no rushing backroom personnel to support the new gaffer. In my personal opinion the fact it happened so late actually helps us in the long run as it's given us as a club the rest of this season to plan, prepare and then execute the vision the new owners have. The Allams are gone, the new owners have some pretty interesting plans and we are potentially in for an amazing ride. Just maybe look at it as a free 6month hit to get the house in order and shota to find his feet before next season instead of him spending pre season and up till Xmas to do it.
To say that he can’t change anything because we have the same players makes no sense, he was Brought in to do a job, surely he has his own ideas & can come up with something with these players other than the ****e served up against Derby, Barnsley & West Brom. How did Warren Joyce get us out of relegation, added players to make us hard to beat, changed things, used the players we had to improve us. I really hope Shota does well, but his impact as been minimal at best! I was hoping Acun had a plan to move us up the table, or at least to not still be in a relegation battle in March, with the games we had coming up. We blew the big games, we still have Birmingham, Reading & Cardiff to play, can we really beat any of them on current form? If we lose all 3, we could be in the bottom 3 & down again, when at one point, we looked like it wasn’t going to be the case.
So, Fulham, sheff u, Swansea, QPR, Peterboro we weren't hard to beat? McCann got 29 points from 27 games, Shota has 8 from 9. Don't see that as a significant difference at this stage and I suspect the reason we aren't seeing much difference in tactics or consistency between the two is because they're working with essentially the same squad with essentially the same limitations. The time to judge both manager and owner is after they've had time to make the planned changes over a couple of full windows. 6 weeks is too early to judge on all counts.
And who’s to say he isn’t trying to implement his style. We are talking about a side who’s played a very certain direct style over the course of the last 3 seasons and have been recruited to play as such.
Yes, hard to beat in those games, but games again the out of form teams, & teams we needed to beat, we have failed big time. I’m just wondering why Shota’s not done something different in those games, it’s a little bit worrying to me, that the excuse is, “he’s got the same players,” other teams have had that & improved. Come the end of the season, we will see where we’re at, as you say, I’m just not convinced at the moment, depending on what the actual situation is with Pennock could have me even less convinced. But as always TWT!
Playing 2 sitters is something McCann wouldn't do in a 4 3 3. He has tried a few things, some have worked, some haven't and yes, 6 months working with and getting to know which players can deliver what is only going to help in the long run.
We're on course to survive with a relegation budget. That suggests to me that we are capable of winning the games we need to. We were inconsistent under Grant and were still inconsistent. Only way that will change is if we bring in some experience alongside our youth.
Do you think Forss was first choice? You make it sound so simple to sign players that’ll slot straight in. What was the alternative, sign no one and instantly be going back on what you’ve set out to do within a week of taking over?
Derby weren't out of form when we played them. Without deductions they would have been 16th - just for some reason folk expected us to turn up and win. WBA were out of form but not one of our team would get in theirs apart from maybe KLP. There was always a gulf in class if they showed up. Barnsley disappointing but given they'd just beaten QPR away and then beat Middlesboro after us adds a little context. We'll produce a couple more performances and be fine this season. So you don't know what the situation with Pennock is but assume it's something to be concerned about? Can tell you're a glass half full type, Jeez...
I don’t give a **** what choice he is What if we didn’t sign forrss Was kempton next choice so we should be grateful that at least we signed someone? They don’t fit our system but phew we made a signing stop moaning everyone
The Allan’s are gone. If we survive this season it will do for me. There is a new owner who clearly loves the club. Let’s give him a chance.
What if Forss bags a couple more before the seasons out? Will he still 'not fit the system'? Or can you judge a player coming into a new scenario having not played much within a month?
It was Steven who said he didn’t fit wasn’t it Has he fit so far ? Give me your opinion on what we have seen ? What has been the consensus on here about him?
Don't think there is a consensus yet, though I probably haven't read every post appraising Forss. I think there's a player there. Possibly more technical but not anywhere near as physical as Eaves or Magennis. He's only a bairn though so i guess we're looking at him with an eye to the future as much as an immediate return. Personally, I think Magennis or Eaves were a close call for the no9, and given Eaves second touch is inevitably a tackle, and Forss looks a bit lightweight it's a close call between Eaves and Forss also. If one or the other is injured then the choice makes itself. If both are out like the last couple of games then it's really rather moot. In a front 2 I'd start Eaves ahead of Forss. In a 3 I'd probably start Forss. If Wilks comes back motivated (the slimmed down version who looked arsed for the 23s today by all accounts) it'd be interesting to see KLP - Forss - Wilks as a front 3 if we can solve the RB issue. (*IMHO - feel free to disagree.)
