There are a lot of (predictable) posts on here about whether or not we should stick with Del or fire him and get in a replacement (ie SOD), but would that really help to turn our season around? Really? If we had a balanced squad of players that should be higher up the table then I would probably say 'yes', but IMO we haven't and not even SAF could turn it around. We are scoring goals, so there is nothing wrong there, but it's our defence thar are letting us down and I honestly can't see how the current bunch would suddenly do a good job when they can't right now. Yes it's clear that things can't continue the way they are going without us ending back in L1, but would sacking Del make things better or worse? I was one of those quiet majority who thought GJ should have stayed when several on here wanted his head. Well, GJ went, so presumably despite the mire we find ourselves in now those vocal few must have some grim satisfaction that he is no longer at the gate! I don't have any answers - only questions, but Del should know that, like me, no job is safe, and we are all expendable.
I agree, personally with the squad of players we have I don't think we should be challenging much higher than we currently are. For some reason a lot of fans seem to think we have a divine right to be near the top of the championship which is just blatently untrue. This is a very very tough league and to stay in it each season is arguably a great challenge. Look at Leeds, Southampton, Leicester, Norwich etc All have been in league 1 more recently than ourselves. No club deserves to stay in this league.
It has been said sooooo many times before..........our expectations are set too high due to the success of our first season in the championship. We rode the wave of euphoria (and luck) to get to the play off final and then the bar was set.We had a team of battlers and scrappers from our promotion but a slow decline ever since brings the truth home......we are NOT a top half club (not yet at least) and to maintain our championship status is now going to take a minor miracle and I for one am not sure if a change of manager will actualy do anything positive now. We are damned if we do, damned if we dont..............
Being in the hardest second tier in all of football will always present it's challenges and unless you are prepared to face the difficulties you will probably end up back where you started. Bristol City are a prime example of how life needs to be changed to meet the higher quality opposition and to date we haven't even come close to changing our fortunes by sorting out the type of players that we need. How many times have you heard on this site that we desperately need a mid-field general and yet the solution has not been addressed. Yes we can score goals but until the defence and midfield are strengthened we will continue to struggle as we have for many years. So does Derek have specific targets in mind to address our lackings because if he doesn't then I think his time at Ashton Gate will be shorter than what he had in mind when he came here. The problem with the transfer window is sometimes it forces teams to make decisions based on their immediate needs in the league rather than long term strengthening. Time is fast running out on our time in the Championship unless Derek addresses our shortcomings now.
Forgot to mention the question as to whether a change of manager now would help our cause and frankly I think the jury is still out. However if our poor form is not addressed after the window closes then I thinl a new manager should become a probability rather that a possibility.
It seems that sometimes, that step back enables the team coming up to have a running jump at immediate promotion again. Easier to go through 2 divisions in a row, than to edge up from a static start. As we almost did ourslves
And you can add Forest, Millwall and Brighton to that list. On the questions posed by BCFCR&W; at present I cannot see that anyone else would come in and manage us to a safe position any better than DMc may in the coming months. Our problem is not a manager who could not motivate his players like Jewell at Ipswich and when McCarthy came in he has been able to get wins immediately. Our problem is quite simply a lack of good investment in defenders going back to Johnson's time; We all know that Carey, Fontaine, Nyatanga are now not good enough and you can also add midfielders Elliott, Kilkenny, Woolford and Morris (still don't really understand why Derek brought him in). And obviously Ribeiro and James Wilson were/are not rated by the current management. So the only person who I feel can turn around the inept performances from those listed above is Harry Potter!
Looking at relegated teams from the last 5 years... 2007–08 Leicester City (Back up as champions), Scunthorpe United (promoted next year), Colchester United (12th, 8th, 10th, 10th, 20th) 2008–09 Norwich City (Back up as champions), Southampton (promoted in 2 years), Charlton Athletic (promoted within 3 years) 2009–10 Sheffield Wednesday (promoted in 2 years), Plymouth Argyle (financial meltdown), Peterborough United (promoted next year) 2010–11 Preston North End (15th)(15th now), Scunthorpe United (18th)(22nd now), Sheffield United (3rd)(4th now) 2011–12 Doncaster Rovers (2nd now), Coventry City (financial problems), Portsmouth (financial meltdown) So with the exception of Preston, Scunny and Colchester, every team relegated for the past 5 years without financial issues has come back up to this level within 3 years… Sheffield United arguably would've come up if not for Ched Evans..
How long did it take us last time - 9 years? Sorry but I would have very little confidence in us returning quickly and the supporter base would be even more eroded. Need to stay up otherwise who knows what might happen.
No, let's not. Nobody wants that - whether we like Del or not. The thing is we are a poisoned chalice - nobody will want to come here and there is no guarantee that a change of manager would save us. If Del was sacked and we went down, the debate would turn around to ' Del would have turned it around if only we stuck with him' Like I said, I don't have answers, only questions. What I will say though, is that unless you are Brazil, a successful side builds from the back, not the front. If you don't concede, the worst score you can achieve is a draw. That's a point a game. All successful sides have a strong defensive backbone but we are soft as ****e.
I think judging on the last two games, dropping Fontaine and then reinstating him only to be subbed 1 minute prior to half time, only shows that he is on borrowed time here now. He probably stuck with him and now Cunningham is back and Skuse to take over captaincy. He will only be either a back up or could be one of the ones that Del will try and off load. Don't know who would buy him on his wages mind.
Fontaine will have to take a reality check on wages levels, the same as many other footballers outside the Prem and the rest of the working population not only in UK but throughout the European Union/Rest of World. I don't know his current salary, neither do I want to know, but even at 50% of it, he should have a pretty comfortable lifestyle even if it means a slightly smaller 4-Wheel tank on his driveway of a five bedroom detached house instead of a mansion! PS; he could always come to Portugal on their minimum wage which is what about 60% of workers here get = 480 euros (£390) per month.
Del commented on the OS that he dropped Fonts 'for his own good' so they must both be finally realising that he is not cutting it.
But who else do you play? Nyatanga is ****, Carey is slow, Wilson is shocking (both), Bates still aint fully fit... We have utter ****e in defence. And my point about the relegated teams was that seeing how the average team seems to do was scraping the barrel for optimism The players aren't good enough and we're probably going down..
Yep, they had the basis of a really good squad that's why they come up so quick, if we go down we'll be left with the ****e players playing every week
