Km Inspireing Confidence

[spudski]

I wasn't able to attend the match against Brighton, so have no idea of how we played. According to KM we played well in parts. From the quotation below taken from todays EP, does what KM say reflect in truth what you witnessed?

I know statistics can help in football, but it seems from what he is quoted as saying, it implies he has studied the game thoroughly and has come up with a bunch of figures that the team can take positives from.

Personally for me, this is not good news. Sometimes you need to see for with your own eyes where it is going wrong and not rely on a bunch of figures. This worries me.

You can run for miles, string a bunch of passes together and have the ball in dangerous areas as much as you like...but if you are not scoring goals and conceding, you're not winning games and these figures mean jack shit.

I don't need to study figures to know when a team has played badly or done well. You can see with your own eyes. Pro Stats are great for finding out the fitness of your players and the like, but i'm under the impression that our great thinker manager maybe reading too much into these figures and not using his own eyes and brain. Some managers in the past have mentioned how they became too reliant on stats and how it effected their judgement.

What do you make of the statement below....?

.KEITH Millen has urged his under-achieving Bristol City players to keep the faith.

Concerned that confidence could be undermined by their poor record at Ashton Gate, City's manager will accentuate the positives as he prepares his team for Saturday's mouthwatering showdown with Leeds United at Elland Road.

Despite City's failure to register a goal or a win in four home games this season, Millen is adamant now is not the time to panic and start making changes in personnel and tactics. And he is encouraging his frustrated players to maintain the courage of their convictions as they bid to escape the lower reaches of the npower Championship table.

City were booed off the pitch by a section of the Ashton Gate crowd following Saturday's 1-0 defeat to leaders Brighton & Hove Albion.

But the manager has since had time to study a video re-run of the game and insists his team's shortcomings are not as serious as some fans fear.

He said: "I watched the game again on Sunday and went through it in fine detail with the players in a meeting on Monday. I understand this is a results business and people see only that we lost the game 1-0. But up until we conceded the goal, there was not a lot wrong with the performance.

"It was the best we have passed the ball this season and the statistics backed that up by showing the number of completed passes.

"We had the ball in dangerous areas more often than in any other game.

"In fact, we matched a very good Brighton side who are flying high at the top of the league for much of the game. In the end, they scored a goal and we didn't and that is all that people see."

Far from being resigned to defeat, City's players were united in their frustration after the game and Millen must now earn his money to ensure confidence is not affected.

He said: "We showed the players the good things they did against Brighton and they have seen that for themselves.

"Of course, our results at home are a problem and we feel for the fans, who are as frustrated about it as we are. But we must not be too down on ourselves.

"We have another massive challenge ahead of us at Leeds on Saturday and it is my job to build the players up and make sure they are looking forward to the game and have the confidence needed to go out there and win it.

" Our away form has been pretty good. This is certainly not the time to panic and start chopping and changing things or alter the way we play."

"This group of players has come through difficult times before and, if they stand strong and keep faith in what they are doing, they will come through them again."

[Jordan Tansley]

Spud, he's right. James only had to make one save (Worldy it was too) and we created much more than them. We didn't deserve to lose last week but I don't think we really merited the win either.

It's not really the point anymore, we have some very good players and they just aren't playing well enough. Unfortunately in football the buck stops with the manager on that one.

[RedRaw]

In the end, they scored a goal and we didn't and that is all that people see."

Well yes Keith, as you said yourself its a results business

I dont mind playing 5hit every now and then and winning but we cant keep on playing, in your eyes only, well and losing

[!james]

I read an interesting acticle on the bbc today - http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/football/14916181.stm

Regrading Middlesborough and Tony Mowbray by Scott McDonald

"Middlesbrough striker Scott McDonald says manager Tony Mowbray has put the 'enjoyment' back into football at the Riverside this season. The Teessiders are third in the Championship and remain unbeaten after six games in Mowbray's first full season in the post.

"We're really enjoying his philosophies and what he wants us to do," the Australia international told BBC Tees.

"Everyone's moving in the same direction and on the same wavelength."

Under Strachan they had an underperforming team, full of overpaid 'stars'. The attendances started dropping off rapidly and the chairman made a decision to hire Mowbray who now seems to have steadied the ship and as McDonald says above is helping them play and improve the team

[Riaz]

Spud, he's right. James only had to make one save (Worldy it was too) and we created much more than them. We didn't deserve to lose last week but I don't think we really merited the win either

Really? A question for you...... who looked like the home side? and who were sat back with 10 men behind the ball?

[slartibartfast]

Really? A question for you...... who looked like the home side? and who were sat back with 10 men behind the ball?

well, Brighton didn't look like the home side, if that's what you are saying. very average

[spudski]

Spud, he's right. James only had to make one save (Worldy it was too) and we created much more than them. We didn't deserve to lose last week but I don't think we really merited the win either.

It's not really the point anymore, we have some very good players and they just aren't playing well enough. Unfortunately in football the buck stops with the manager on that one.

Yes...unfortunately the buck does stop with the manager. I feel our players have to take more responsibility in their actions, and fans anger shouldn't just be aimed at the manger but at the players as well.

However... Even though i blame Lansdown for the mess we are in on the pitch and not Milley, i really can't see our manager inspireing our players to turn it around this season and making us a force again. Not Milleys fault...but a catalogue of errors.

We are already only a few games into the season, and it is starting to feel like a survival mode. If the players are feeling under pressure and need their confidence boosting already, then it doesn't bode well. If you are a player and you wake every morning knowing and feeling you are going to work to survive rather than win or have a chance of winning ( ie promotion ), then how are you going to feel inspired to do well, or put in that extra 10 %. Players are in a comfort zone, get the occasional bollocking, and put in a meagre return from what i've witnessed this season and last.

Personally...I think we need a big shake up.

Like i said i don't blame Milley...but imho, we need a new injection of life down the Club. A new manager and some fresh ideas to kick some life back into this club. We are dying slowly, fans are walking with their feet and it can only be negative for the Club in the long term. The Board and SL need to act now.

[The Dolman Pragmatist]

Really? A question for you...... who looked like the home side? and who were sat back with 10 men behind the ball?

Brighton spent the whole of the first half playing the ball across the back four and back to the goalkeeper. There was no doubt who was the home side. We looked just the better side in the first half, and were even more on top at the start of the second half. We faded somewhere around the hour mark, but we certainly didn't deserve to lose on the balance of play.

...or are you another of the many people on this forum who don't appear to go to matches?

[StGeorge]

James only had to make one save

Well I saw him make at least three good saves, dunno what you were watching. But we didn't really deserve to lose.

[Robbored]

Personally...I think we need a big shake up.

Like i said i don't blame Milley...but imho, we need a new injection of life down the Club. A new manager and some fresh ideas to kick some life back into this club. We are dying slowly, fans are walking with their feet and it can only be negative for the Club in the long term. The Board and SL need to act now.

Lots of fans would agree with you but a 'big shake up' as you put it won't guarantee success. Rovers and Leicester both did it and neither have got off to a great start.

That said the season is still in its infancy and Leicester and the Gas may, as the season progresses reap the benefits of a major shake up. In the same breath might City also reap the benefit of sticking with Millen, who as we know maintained City's Championship status with a very decent 15th place and only 3 points and 1 point less than the previous two season's.

If any club plan to implement a 'big shake up' then the time to do it is over the summer. Not a few games into the season. City could well implement it next summer with loads of players out of contract and bring in a new manager at the same time. Assuming City retain their Championship status, I can't see it happening.

[Pete1975Legend]

Do us a favour Keef and just walk for god sake!

Millen OUT

[spudski]

Lots of fans would agree with you but a 'big shake up' as you put it won't guarantee success. Rovers and Leicester both did it and neither have got off to a great start.

That said the season is still in its infancy and Leicester and the Gas may, as the season progresses reap the benefits of a major shake up. In the same breath might City also reap the benefit of sticking with Millen, who as we know maintained City's Championship status with a very decent 15th place and only 3 points and 1 point less than the previous two season's.

If any club plan to implement a 'big shake up' then the time to do it is over the summer. Not a few games into the season. City could well implement it next summer with loads of players out of contract and bring in a new manager at the same time. Assuming City retain their Championship status, I can't see it happening.

I fully understand where you are coming from Robbo, and to some extent agree. However...it seems we are flogging a dead horse. Do the players look inspired and confident to you? Does their body language look like they feel they are going to win? Do they look scared? Do they play percentage football? Do you actually believe our set of players feel they have a possiblity of gaining promotion through the play offs? Do they have a look of relief on their face when we score? Do they look to go and kill off a game when leading or try to hang on?

Too me everything looks and feels negative. I really do feel we need a change now rather than later. Yes it doesn't mean success, but i really can't see us improving under Milley at the moment. Sometime a change is needed, and it has worked for other teams in the past.

If the fans get on Milleys back and they continue to speak with their feet then it will be interesting to see what the board do.

[Robbored]

I fully understand where you are coming from Robbo, and to some extent agree. However...it seems we are flogging a dead horse. Do the players look inspired and confident to you? Does their body language look like they feel they are going to win? Do they look scared? Do they play percentage football? Do you actually believe our set of players feel they have a possiblity of gaining promotion through the play offs? Do they have a look of relief on their face when we score? Do they look to go and kill off a game when leading or try to hang on?

Too me everything looks and feels negative. I really do feel we need a change now rather than later. Yes it doesn't mean success, but i really can't see us improving under Milley at the moment. Sometime a change is needed, and it has worked for other teams in the past.

If the fans get on Milleys back and they continue to speak with their feet then it will be interesting to see what the board do.

Better results!

Much of that is down to confidence, or rather lack of it. It was no surprise last season when City's away form was better than at AG. It was largely due to the players feeling far less pressure away and performances showed that.

The point being that getting booed off after losing at home, in what was a close game destroys player confidence. I remember years ago John Ward complaining about it after City drew 1-1 at AG on a tuesday night. Players tend to tense up and make more errors when every mistake leads to a groan from the crowd and that only happens at AG.

Two or three decent results will lift that pressure and after Leeds we have Hull and Reading coming up in quick succession at AG. Hopefully those games will be the turning point.

[SJC]

The more Millen speaks the more I hear an assistant manager talking.

I don't begrudge him or criticise his 'clipboard' approach, his detailed game analysis and apparent dependence on stats, however a manager needs to inspire and motivate, two things that you most certainly cannot do via a clipboard.

[Jesus]

Two or three decent results will lift that pressure and after Leeds we have Hull and Reading coming up in quick succession at AG. Hopefully those games will be the turning point.

What would be your take on it all if we lost against Leeds, Hull and Reading? Would you still be behind the manager? This isn't a dig, but you're very pro Millen and it's interesting to know when your patience will run out.......

[spudski]

Better results!

Much of that is down to confidence, or rather lack of it. It was no surprise last season when City's away form was better than at AG. It was largely due to the players feeling far less pressure away and performances showed that.

The point being that getting booed off after losing at home, in what was a close game destroys player confidence. I remember years ago John Ward complaining about it after City drew 1-1 at AG on a tuesday night. Players tend to tense up and make more errors when every mistake leads to a groan from the crowd and that only happens at AG.

Two or three decent results will lift that pressure and after Leeds we have Hull and Reading coming up in quick succession at AG. Hopefully those games will be the turning point.

Surely the players are educated enough to know that most booing fans are just frustrated. Confidence should come from believing in your own ability and believing in your team mates and manager.

Do you actually believe KM is the man to make this Club a promotion contending force?

Do you actually believe the players believe in KM?

Yes a few positive results will inspire confidence, but you are presuming we will do well. If we lose the next 3 games how will you feel then? How far does the downward spiral continue before you make a change?

How far would you leave it Robbo...just interested.

[Slave to the rhythm]

Spud, he's right. James only had to make one save (Worldy it was too) and we created much more than them. We didn't deserve to lose last week but I don't think we really merited the win either.

It's not really the point anymore, we have some very good players and they just aren't playing well enough. Unfortunately in football the buck stops with the manager on that one.

We played better against Brighton than against Ipswich or Pompey, but I sensed from the outset that the best we were hoping to get was a 0-0 draw, which just cannot be good enough.

I'll shock you Jordan, but I thought James was excellent on Saturday.

[mookey]

We all know Millen will go, it might be next week or it might be the week after. The club is just in Limbo until it happens.

We dont need new players, transfer windows or loans, god knows weve got more players than most teams, we just need an inspiring Manager with an educated system of playing to use the players in the best possible fashion?

So Steve dont waste anymore money on duff short term overpaid players just focus on what is really important, a good Manager.

[glynriley]

We played better against Brighton than against Ipswich or Pompey, but I sensed from the outset that the best we were hoping to get was a 0-0 draw, which just cannot be good enough.

I'll shock you Jordan, but I thought James was excellent on Saturday.

I agree with that. If we play the same against Leeds we might sneak it as they will attack us far more than Brighton did as the away side.

It's just $hit to watch at home.

[Port Said Red]

Nothing will change my opinion that we didn't get the break/bobble whatever you want to call it in front of goal that Brighton did. I went to the game expecting us to be given the same sort of run around that Swansea did, but we were the better team for around an hour. Brighton did pick up the pace for a while after the break and forced that great double save from Jamo, but they took the lead after another good spell for us and it took the wind out of our sails a bit. It still needed a good save from Pitman's effort at the end to stop us getting something from the game.

If KM is telling the players that they will win more games than they will lose from that sort of performance then I think he is right.

[Nogbad the Bad]

Well I saw him make at least three good saves, dunno what you were watching. But we didn't really deserve to lose.

I thought we definitely deserved to lose.

Brighton should have got 2 or 3, City never looked like scoring.

Good effort from Pitman near the end, but really it was comfortably saved.

They won without having any real scares, or needing to play well.

[Monkeh]

brighton result has been and gone no point in dwelling on it,

Teflon will get a win at leeds he always pulls one result out of the bag but we prolly go on and lose the next 3,

It just seems when one step is taken forward 3 are taken backwards

[NOTR]

and who were sat back with 10 men behind the ball?

Both teams me thinks,as with most teams they sat back knowing we wouldn't create much and waited for thier chance to come,which they took.

[Jordan Tansley]

Really? A question for you...... who looked like the home side? and who were sat back with 10 men behind the ball?

The player who had the ball most was Casper Angrekman (sp)

Brighton had little to no interest in attacking for large parts of the game but we didn't press them fast enough. Strangely we could have done with Danny Haynes up frog chasing things. That aspect of our team has disappeared and that is when we are playing at our best.

As I said, James made the double save in the second half and pushed one over the bar (easy save really) and almost kept their goal out. Other than that he didn't have much to do.

We had quite a lot of opportunities from just outside the box, only Pitman had the quality to test the keeper however. We also had JCR's golden opportunity when he broke into the box. We didn't play all that well but it was much better than against Pompey and we definitely didn't deserve to lose.

That's the trouble with our 451. It's very effective when the opposition come at us but if they sit back its about as useful as a nun in a brothel. Mullen needs to find a suitable formula for our home games when teams will tend to sit a little deeper and commit less men forward. We need to run our asses into the ground for 70 minutes and then have the subs do the same. The first line of defense is our attack and we seem to have forgotten that.

[Riaz]

The player who had the ball most was Casper Angrekman (sp)

Brighton had little to no interest in attacking for large parts of the game but we didn't press them fast enough. Strangely we could have done with Danny Haynes up frog chasing things. That aspect of our team has disappeared and that is when we are playing at our best.

As I said, James made the double save in the second half and pushed one over the bar (easy save really) and almost kept their goal out. Other than that he didn't have much to do.

We had quite a lot of opportunities from just outside the box, only Pitman had the quality to test the keeper however. We also had JCR's golden opportunity when he broke into the box. We didn't play all that well but it was much better than against Pompey and we definitely didn't deserve to lose.

That's the trouble with our 451. It's very effective when the opposition come at us but if they sit back its about as useful as a nun in a brothel. Mullen needs to find a suitable formula for our home games when teams will tend to sit a little deeper and commit less men forward. We need to run our asses into the ground for 70 minutes and then have the subs do the same. The first line of defense is our attack and we seem to have forgotten that.

We did well in the first half - theres no doubt about that - but all we did was contained Brighton - we had no ambition to score IMO.

[NOTR]

We did well in the first half - theres no doubt about that - but all we did was contained Brighton - we had no ambition to score IMO.

But they had no ambition either and it made for a dull game.

[Riaz]

But they had no ambition either and it made for a dull game.

i think they did - just that we did a good job containing them.

[NOTR]

i think they did - just that we did a good job containing them.

Its down to peoples definition of ambition,they seldom pushed up as a team,with the back four sitting very deep,but they have got a lot of pace up front,which is a great out let to have.

[Forza Revolution]

Refuse to watch millen videos on player and dont even go on links related to him on the site. Not interested.

[RedM]

So if we had the ball in the 'dangerous areas' so much, then why did it seem like we didn't. We never looked like scoring in a million years (ok slight exaggeration).

I don't care what Millen or anyone says but we we out to stop Brighton scoring more than we were attempting to score ourselves. We were hanging on with the plan until they scored late in the game, too late for plan b to be implimented.

He says we passed the ball better than the previous games, well that couldn't have been hard judging by what I saw (Ipswich and Portsmouth). It would be hard to play as inadequately again.

I'm not calling for his head, but he needs to turn it around somehow (his problem, he is manager at the end of the day). I know he has restraints but many are down to his own management and the players he has brought in or has had to work with. if he hasn't the skills to get the best out of players he inherited then any kind of man management is not for him.