Spike

Seeing all the names that were under 24 that were released is quite sad, a lot of names that were talked about as future first team players and then James is a huge blow imo. 

I'm interested to see who is supposed to be the leaders on the pitch when we play these days. I miss when we had players who were proper leaders or at the very least motivators.

I still don't have high hopes for next season and based on what I've seen of Manning I still don't think a got a better manager, I'd say we've certainly got a different manager but he still hits me as a guy who thinks of football as if it's football manager. He has all the lingo, he has an idea, he's motivated but when it comes to the parts that stand out managers have he feels sterile in comparison. I also don't rate his ability to get the best out of his players, more of a man who gets rid of the parts that don't work for him and replaces them and whilst that can work for some teams we're more of a club that needs to take the quality where we can get it and mould it into a cohesive unit, I don't see Manning as that man. 

I'll see how the summer goes, who comes in, who goes out and see how Manning does next season but I have a feeling we'll be rebuilding again within the next couple of seasons because we're not in the play off chase. 

The Forest appeal failed, I've not been following this but does this mean the 4 points are taken this season with 2 games to go? Or is this for next season? 

Just now, Maesknoll Red said:

So frustrating to see an up turn in form obliterated in this manner, last day or not, meaningless or not, at least put the effort in for the paying fans.

I don't think it's a lack of trying, people just think we're this team who are better than they are. We're better than this game but I feel like next season will be an eye opener for many. 

Really should have been three there, Sykes missing a good opportunity. Very positive football so far though.

Great calm finish that

3 minutes ago, phantom said:

Sky just said we've only named 8 subs due to the U18s and U23s having important games this week

I get the frustration but what would be the good of them sitting on the bench if we're not going to use them? I'd rather they played for the U18s or U23's than sit on our bench with no plans to be played.

41 minutes ago, Davefevs said:

You must be really smart, Spike.  I’ve no idea what the game plan is!

Defend defend defend, sit deep then try to pass out against superior opposition. Essentially play in a manner that doesn't compliment us but compliments them.

2 minutes ago, Major Isewater said:

He’s the guy that’s meant to be making things happen. 

How can he make things happen when we're spending all our time defending, we're sitting so deep that we're inviting them onto us, we're not leaving a single player on the half way line when we're defending.

The issue here isn't one player not performing, it's the team failing as a whole meaning everyone is looking for that individual player who "isn't up to it" when the truth is the gameplan is letting the whole team down.

It's only a matter of time before we concede like this, far too negative, far too deep, not retaining the ball when we win it back meaning we play it long and it just comes back at us. It's the tactics, the players look worse than usual because they're sticking to what the manager has asked of them and it's clearly not working.

Looks like we're back to being Bristol no pens

5 minutes ago, redkev said:

Like everything in this country now heaven & earth moved or changed / amended for the minority impacting the majority , and for all those who will no doubt have a pop at me for saying that , it’s the bloody truth 

You say impacting the majority but it's not any impact at all, we can tell the difference between the teams, someone with deuteranomaly colour blindness would really struggle if we were in red. 

If anything playing in this set up is allowing everyone to watch the game and that's coming from someone who hates our yellow kit. 

Not very impressive at all so far, they look the danger team, we look lost at the moment.

Great win that, another game where the opposition came at us and we could quickly counter them as we used to. I feel like today we set up like a Pearson team, Manning obviously knows we're better playing that way but the real question is can he get us to win games when the opposition sets up to sit back on us?

Southampton - played open and came at us, we turned them over, Leicester the same, it's clear to see we can win games when the opposition open up, now we need to be able to beat the teams who set up to defend and counter us.

The Leicester commentators haven't stopped talking about how quiet our fans are, even making comments like "sounds like there are 5 people here" and calling out our fans for leaving their seats on 45 minutes. Really unprofessional.

34 minutes ago, gibbo7 said:

Roberts primary position is centre back.  The fact we haven’t played him there is not his fault.  He’s a very technically gifted centre back.  Similar attributes to Naismith.

I don't see it, maybe it's me but having watched him get beaten in situations that Pring shines in I guess if he's that good of a center back then those qualities haven't shown out wide but I feel he looks better going forward than defending. I guess we'll see today

5 minutes ago, petehinton said:

Stifling Pring & not allowing him to bomb forward is an enormous waste of his strongest attributes imo

 

I agree to a degree but both Roberts and Pring do the same thing going forward, only one of them is strong against strikers running at them which is Pring. 

Roberts could be a liability at LCB, he's not bad but physically he's beaten in a lot of situations. Going forward though Roberts can be just as effective as Pring, not so sure Roberts can be as effective in the LCB role as Pring. 

I do think Pring would be better at LCB, he's played there before, bigger, stronger and more suited to the role and Roberts pushes forward more. 

1 hour ago, The Original OTIB said:

For balance, why not start one laying out in detail why he should not be sacked. Just a thought.

I'll do it in this post to save another thread. 

1) I have nothing

2) still nothing

3) nope, I'm done. 

12 minutes ago, formerly known as ivan said:

Say this is true, what would be expectation in those 8 games be? 3 wins with the same performance as against Swansea? 5 defeats but each one is attacking, exciting 5-4 losses?

And do we think the noise around season tickets might force their hand?

I think it would be a balance of results and performance. At the very least they'll expect 9-10 points but more than anything they'd need to see a team capable of competing next season and that is where I think he'd lose his job. There is no way we're going to see a competitive team in all of those 8 games. 

Leicester away - Only chance we have with this game is if Leicester comes looking to thump us and play aggressive opening up the game to suit us. Personally I think having given up a massive points lead at the top of the table they'll be looking to get that top spot back so we'll be getting a very up for it Leicester. 

Plymouth away - in the relegation battle, most likely going to set up not to concede and make things difficult for us, exactly what we struggle with. I could see this being one of those games where we struggle to create a lot. 

Sunderland away - probably one of the games we should be hoping to get points from, they're midtable, far enough behind to make a final push unlikely but also safe from relegation so we should be hoping they're not much up for a scrap. 

Blackburn home - another team who could be in the relegation fight come this game, currently only 3 points of relegation and another team who may set up to frustrate us. 

Huddersfield home - in the relegation zone, a point could be huge for them at the time we play them, definitely going to be looking to set up defensively against us and frustrate. 

Norwich away - Currently in the play offs, if they're still in or around them when we play them they're going to need that win, could play in our favour if they look to bring the game to us but whatever their gameplan they will be up for it. 

Rotherham home - already dead and buried, anything other than a win in this fixture and Manning has to be in trouble. 

Stoke away - also in the relegation battle, kind of hoping they may get enough points to be out of it by this game meaning it could be a little less cagey but if they're in the battle still then I'd expect them to be looking to take the game to us. 

It's not an easy run in, on paper you'd look at alot of those games and say we should be getting points but based on what I've seen under Manning I could see it's dropping a lot of points if he doesn't find a way to overcome our struggle to score goals in own play and break down teams who sit back and frustrate. 

The amount of people having a go at Andi cracks me up, the bloke was only given one season here in his best role and he smashed it, he was never going to offer us anything how he was being used so now he's happier having moved to a club where he's already had a few chances at a roll he is better suited to. 

If you move jobs and you prefer your new job of course you'll celebrate it doing well, even if it means your old employer you liked feels the brunt of it. 

I don't blame him, he's adhering himself to the fans he plays for now. 

Tinnion for me, I'll stomach Manning for 6 months to get rid of one of the issues higher up, doesn't mean I rate Manning, just that I'd humour him to get rid of a much deeper rooted problem within the club. 

Just now, Sir Colby-Tit said:

At least we've had play offs and promotions. All they've had is relentless mediocrity, albeit at the top level.

In my lifetime of watching football they've fought relegation, won the FA Cup, had an FA Cup final, they've never lost their place in the top flight meaning they've had many of a game against the best talent in the Premier League and caused many upsets, they've played European football etc

We've in turn had a semi finals in the mickey mouse Cup, yo-yoed a bit between leagues and our most exciting thing was winning league one and a paint trophy. I'd still say Everton have been more entertaining to watch overall in my lifetime. 

1 hour ago, redsquirrel said:

and matty james

Yeah but a lot of our fans say he's rubbish and only goes side to side. 

There is a reason we play better with him and it's not what he does with the ball, like most of the best midfielders, it's just as much what they do off of the ball. 

3 hours ago, Mendip City said:

There’s a short term option - Warnock. Not everyone’s cup of tea but he’d get some passion back into the players and stop them playing with fear and get them understanding their jobs… it’s football not rocket science despite LM’s bumbling nonsense. 
Then we could breath a sigh of relief and plan for the summer but, in my opinion, the rot needs to stop now. 

I'd take him, bloke is a bell end in many rights but despite his age he still knows football and he still gets results. The only issue would be the board would never hire him, he has far too much self respect to be a yes man, he'd speak his piece to the board, they don't like that and he's also never going to be long term which is what the board seem to be trying to put in place. 

1 hour ago, Sir Colby-Tit said:

I have always thought that being an Everton fan must be incredibly dull.

It is, my brother supports them but even their battles in my lifetime have been more interesting than our own. 

6 hours ago, BCFC31 said:

Let's be honest here aswell our squad is dreadful. Players like Williams, King, mehmeti, cornick, Wells, Bell, hickman, tanner, the rusty legs of matty james mabude? Bajic ?  Conway whats he scored in the leauge 3 goals ? Players like Atkinson and naismith who are made from paper mache The names of the utter dross in my opinion is endless there Is a real lack of investment in the playing side of the club and the recruitment is abysmal which is ridiculously headed up by Brian tinion  we have 0 quality or ability to play football. Yes manning has had a nightmare and is clearly out of his depth  but he is only one part of the wider problem at this shoddy football club that we all love.

Same players who have played blinding games for us. Are they an incredible squad? No, maybe not, but if the players aren't producing their best then ask yourself why. 

The answer is the same players were performing way better under Pearson, Conway looked Premier League quality at times as an example and the simple reason is that Pearson played our players in the way that suited them. The reason the players look so poor atm is because they're not being allowed to play to their potential, they're being restricted by rigid instructions from Manning that doesn't allow them to play to their best abilities. 

Get in a manager who can identify a players best qualities and adapt the team to fit them and you'll see a vast improvement.