Fuber

20 hours ago, The Original OTIB said:

Yellow for Zak utterly bizarre

It was the three following Soton fouls by Armstrong (twice) and Mara had me tilting my head in confusion like A German Shepherd.

Think it's more the marketing element to help cover costs of the Heritage and Archive initiative - they've just used the Leeds game as some foundation for the release and it enables inclusion and revisiting of the clubs history.

Think some are reading a slight too much into it - and not taking into account that at the time it was quite a big event. No different to us theoretically beating Man Utd in the FA Cup in SAFs final season in terms of scale - Leeds won the league that season and had been top 3 the precious 5 dating back to '68.

He's slightly inconsistent.

But it's worth pointing out that, rather than age, for the period in his career he is at that he actually doesn't have that many first team appearances. Inconsistency would reflect that, Imo.

9 hours ago, chinapig said:

It was said that when Nigel and his staff saw him in pre-season training he was even better than they expected.

When you look at the squad Liam inherited it shows that recent recruitment has been unusually successful, Roberts being an example.

Compare and contrast with the Ashton/LJ era and you can see how consistent it has been. I expect Max Bird to continue that trend.

 

Speaking of - some hilarious comments from Derby fans since he 'signed' for us.

Apparently gone up a level.

The exact profile of player (age, technical ability, fee, and salary) we need to aim for going forward imo.

No stupid fees, just smart business.

Bugger.

A tiny pessimistic part of me wanted him to remain a free agent in case the worst happens with Manning.

Hopefully we pick up League form sooner rather than later.

Appointed Wealdstone boss in the National league. Moving up from St Albans the division below.

https://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/football/68098601

Missed this happening at the time a couple of weeks ago.

Wept that's a bit of a drop.

Always felt he was going to end up in League One Luton with the timber he'd put on, but that's a bit worse than I expected.

Always sad to read a fellow red fighting the long fight with cancer and losing. However, equally enriching to read of the spirit he fought tooth and nail with on a well documented basis.

Sleep well fellow Red.

Sorry for your loss Russell.

On 04/02/2024 at 06:45, TV Tom said:

The fact that Pearson didn't address the fact in the summer that we needed a striker is half the problem

This is bait.

1 hour ago, Lrrr said:

I expect we were going to be happy to let Pearson's deal run down and expire but I think Pearson probably did something which made his position untenable as to why we changed when we did, I expect something like 'give me a new contract now or you can **** yourselves', Pearson had been very vocal about wanting a new deal and we probably had no intention if giving it so Pearson probably thought why waste my time for several months with nothing to work towards for him, even if we went up I doubt he'd have got a new deal. 

From what I recall Pearsons point was more communication than the lack of deal, the whole 'ask the people upstairs' presser springs to mind.

6 hours ago, Sir Geoff said:

Sounds like the makings of a decent League one side, being built.

Not joking, it's reminding me of the kind of signings that Ipswich made under Hurst in their rebuild with their 'stable'cost-cutting owner Evans.

Now where did they finish again?

Oh.

8 minutes ago, Leabrook said:

Players are getting injured less under him for sure.  

I mean, sure.

Doesn't address the return versus players available element and my main point, but sure.

1 hour ago, Leabrook said:

I don’t think we look weaker. We look just as weak. 

*with a (near) fully fit squad. Not an injury crisis.

1 hour ago, Shauntaylor85 said:

We aren’t safe from the drop by any means. No goals and we look fragile again. 

Not sure why people are facepalming this - this division is unpredictable.

59 minutes ago, IAmNick said:

I don't think possession football is the problem, I think it's possession football with this group of players.

We saw the natural issue of Manning-ball with a Pearson squad, against a team who are extremely effective at denying time and space to their opponent. Our players wanted an extra second on the ball tonight they didn't have - and it's because they aren't players who have the qualities needed to play possession football. It's not their fault, that's not why they were brought here.

Really? Because the message from our board is otherwise.

18 minutes ago, italian dave said:

Were we stable, though?

It would seem that there was a serious breakdown in trust and relationships between the senior management of the club. That’s not stable. In fact, that’s the most risky level of instability for any organisation.

And one symptom of that lack of trust, and manifestation of that risk, is inherent in the point you make about the money. The mistrust led to there being no money made available. Now that the trust is back the money is there, and that’s surely good for the club’s future.

I know what you’ll say, and appreciate that there are all sorts of views and speculation about the rights and wrongs of the breakdown, and no doubt most would say they’d prefer to have kept NP and lost JL! But that’s not really the point. Whatever the rights and wrongs were, losing JL was never going to happen, there was only ever going to be one outcome.

And in the longer term interest of the club, getting that resolved was crucial, not least because it now gives us that stability at the top of the club. 

Caused by the board deciding to change leadership structure after Gould left, resultant in Alexander being sacked only months into his position, then Pearson as a consequence as they had to deal with a more 'honest' individual directly.

The instability came from above NP.

I'd have preferred it if Alexander was kept in post rather than the inexperienced front we have now - as would've meant less turnover. But we're here now, so...

For the second part in bold - stability matters naught without some ability.

42 minutes ago, red panda said:

You said "we all".  I didn't.  So it's not we all.  Simples

I mean. If you still can't see the results in the accounts in context of the league position(s) at this stage with the clarity of hindsight. Then sure, OK.

Others, myself included, saw a manager who got results while under severe cost cutting restrictions lowering the wage bill by 30% and sorting perhaps the most toxic playing staff culture the club has had - in a long time. This a forum, can agree to disagree.

Alternatively, if you want to see where we could have ended up without Pearson, look at QPR the last 15 months. Huddersfield. Blackburn. Swansea. Cutting costs and falling down the league season after season. No momentum nor culture.

32 minutes ago, Mr Popodopolous said:

Definitely not.

We were building but NP was starved of funds somewhat...We cut the wage and amortisation, stayed up, style had 3-4 phases of team tactics which finally finished with a 4-3-3 and over the last year especially improving baseline stats. 

Scott sadly had to go but things were definitely until the Autumn injury crisis trending in the right direction, injuries stalled us somewhat.

Gist of it. We were stable.

I prefer underpromising and overachieving. No we've lined up four signings (Mebude, Murphy, Stokes, Bird) for next season in what looks to be a changing of the guard, TGH clause activated. Twine TBD

No money remember, but if sources are correct, between the first five of the above, we're talking £3m+ spent.

Just grates of what could have been, this season. Now we have to see for next, instead, outside of something utterly remarkable and out of nowhere.

9 hours ago, Rocking Red Cyril said:

That seems a bit vague Dave.

He's also pointed out that even Manning doesn't really do 'Formations' to be fair. More akin to systems.

Think it comes down to squad balance.

As a whole we don't have a creative enough squad - that applies to all of Williams, James, Mehmet, Bell, among others.

Namely because we, under NP, were more interested in focusing transitions and counter attacks. Don't need creativity if the opposition are over committed.

None of them consistently have the vision or ability to thread thirty yard through ball or beat a man.

We have five players out of contract out of season allowing some changing of the guard. It's then that Tinns will need to earn his keep.

Based on the evidence this window - that's not something I have any faith is going to happen. Yet.

18 hours ago, Merrick's Marvels said:

Well played, every man jack of you. Proud of the lot of you tonight, coaches included. Completely dominant, modern and progressive. Front foot football !

Agree with this... up to the last 20-30 yards.

The one element Manning needs to solve is patterns to use in the final third to break down defences and try to eliminate some of our poorer decision making - something NP didn't have to worry about with his transitory style when we played on the break (and part of the reason he used it).

We're still three scored in seven. We need to turn some of this momentum into more chance creation.

Need a Target Man, but with enough pace to be deployed as a pressing forward while giving us an extra option in the box.

We have good patterns of play, but too often it ends up down the defenders throut from a recycle of possession leading to a cross.

Someone in the mould of Ragner Ache at Kaiserslautern (I watch a lot of Bundesliga/2), an aerial option.

56 minutes ago, Mr Popodopolous said:

Sort of agree on Cotts to LJ but this was worse on 2 metrics IMO.

1) Our League position was far less urgent when NP was ridiculously sacked.

2) Our financial position was surely stronger when NP sacked.

It was highly similar, history repeating..except worse this one. I think anyway.

100% - was more being vague as I was aware of the fact that Cotts was also sacked due to his own lack of adaptability or willingness to change his setup/tactics.

6 hours ago, pillred said:

I realise £2.5 million is quite a chunk of money but in the grand scheme of things it's almost chickenfeed these days even in the championship, the timing was maybe wrong for NP perhaps the maths just didn't add up at the time, of course, you could well be right and they just weren't happy with Pearson for reasons we know nothing about and did not trust him anymore with transfers.

I don't trust them with decision making 

Yet here we are.

It was the wrong time to sack him by every metric especially after throwing him under the bus with the Scott sale.

We had, considering the injury crisis in spite of the loss to Cardiff, a relatively strong position.

NPs only mistake was thinking he could speak his mind or preceding that, that our incompetent leadership would listen.

It's literally Cotts into LJ all over again.

Can't deal with being told their errors by an experienced manager, not actioning said coach's requested recruitment scenarios (Pilling's interference), said experienced coach is sacked after a poor run, then replaced by a malleable younger fashionable 'coach' to do what he's told while having money chucked at the problem so that it looks like such a great idea and that we have such progressive leadership at the club.

This. Board. Doesn't. Learn.

It's like watching someone trying to paint a wall with a spoon. Twice. I need a drink.

9 hours ago, Shauntaylor85 said:

He hasn’t been the same since Nige left, nor has Dickie. We are weaker defensively. 

Think it's more the fact that we're more open where playing the central pair (James and Williams yesterday) higher up the pitch - compare that to NPs system which typically used James as a sitting DM allowing the likes of Williams and especially Knight more freedom.

Problem is that if we get turned on transition - like Williams was multiple times the first 25 - it leaves Tanner, Vyner, and Dickie incredibly exposed in a 3v3.

So overall I would disagree. Tactically the passing angles weren't there which made it much harder for them to play their game - tactical from Ismael with the early pressing to try and kill momentum - Manning didn't adjust or change the system until around the 65th minute when he bought TGH and Bell on.