More Questions Than Answers

[Davefevs]

@Midlands Robin

[Charlie BCFC]

12 hours ago, formerly known as ivan said:

QPR = shocking (not buying this “he was only here a couple of days” rubbish, it was QPR!!!)

Boro = shocking first 30 mins, threw away a 2 goal lead early in the second half (clearly no fault of Mannings with the individual mistakes) but dug in and got the win.

Southampton = was always gonna be tough so hard to judge. But there was just nothing to get excited about.

So far I am not seeing whatever it is that we were supposed to see from Manning. He inherited a top 6 squad. Yes I’m going to be overly critical due to the circumstances around his arrival, but his arrival happened as he was supposed to be our saviour. So far it’s been 2 and a half games of dire football.

What is it about this forward thinking coach am I not getting???

QPR - Not great but got a point against another new manager and last 20 minutes was much improved 

Boro - Played very well against a team who beat Leicester not long ago and are further into their project

Southampton - Very good first half, second half we dropped off but we also played a team who has a lot more quality than us 

 

Only three weeks in but happy with the progress we’re making

[bcfc01]

6 hours ago, Countryfile said:

I think they both do.

Both are young and shouldn’t be expected to start every game.

It might appear a backward step but I would bench them Sunday and start Cornick and Weimann just for some rotation and to take the pressure off of them.

Seems like both Bell and Conway are currently suffering from lack of confidence/form.

A fit and firing Conway would have had two goals last night and another against Boro.

Do you drop players that we know are good enough or do you persevere until they play themselves back into form ?

For me, its having a bit of patience and giving them the time to get back into form, a goal from open play would do wonders for both of them I reckon. I would start both personally.

In a few games time, we'll be talking about January and Bournemouth again (hopefully).

 

[italian dave]

14 hours ago, 1team said:

Just another example of how pointless changing  the manager was. 

Unless there were other reasons for changing the manager?

Which, I think it’s fair to say, the vast majority of us believe to be the case.

So I’m not sure there’s much value in persisting with conversations that put the change solely in the context of results/league positions/performance on the pitch.

Other than to make the point that we weren’t told the real reasons (maybe for good reason) and that the comms around it were bungled.

But we know that too!

Edit: @Midlands Robin @Kid in the Riot apologies - this teaches me to read the whole thread before commenting on an early post! You’ve both said much the same as this, but much better! 

Edited November 30, 2023 by italian dave

[redkev]

19 hours ago, Kibs said:

Not a dig at anyone, because it affects us all, but it just goes to show how unconscious bias can play such a big role in our opinions. 

Southampton unbeaten in 10 now btw since their poor start to the season. 

 

Seems to have gone under the radar that 

[REDOXO]

10 hours ago, Charlie BCFC said:

QPR - Not great but got a point against another new manager and last 20 minutes was much improved 

Boro - Played very well against a team who beat Leicester not long ago and are further into their project

Southampton - Very good first half, second half we dropped off but we also played a team who has a lot more quality than us 

 

Only three weeks in but happy with the progress we’re making

Progress. Your word!

[Superjack]

21 hours ago, TV Tom said:

Manning’s doing well considering the squad and injuries he’s inherited 

Manning is doing well at not being abrasive.

[Clutton Caveman]

On 29/11/2023 at 21:58, Silvio Dante said:

I posted at HT in the matchday thread that it was the best half of football under Liam - and one of the best of the season. Nobody could dispute that and if the game ends at 8:30, or if Tommy puts away one of two very good chances, or if there’s not a worldie save, again we’d be having a different conversation tonight.

But we’re not. 
 

The second half was as bad as it’s been this season. I’ve no doubt Liam asked them to keep doing what they were, but Southampton, as Boro did on Saturday, changed. Quicker press, quicker pace, and we didn’t react. Maybe that’s due to the players - maybe that’s due to the manager - but that’s now twice in a row we’ve been caught cold.

There are undoubted positive signs here. The first half has improved over the three games to date which gives me confidence Liam can get a message across on the training pitch and construct a good team. Against that, the second half has got progressively worse week on week. We had a good 20 post TGH entering against QPR, were largely under pressure against Boro and were dire today (against noted progressively better opponents).

There are a lot of questions at the moment. The key one for me is that we undoubtedly have a very good coach in initial setup but appear to have a glaring inability to react. And I’ll say again, Liam couldn’t turn MK Dons around when things weren’t working to his plan.

I’m not hitting the panic button yet. But I am seeing a pattern. And that pattern needs to change soon.

I think at the point opposition coaches don't yet know who we set up. After the first half they see what we are doing and adapt their style in the second half. As we play more, teams will see what others have done in the second half and do the same.

[maxjak]

I see Russell Martin believes that his team of over paid ex Premiership players should have won 4-0 against us on Wednesday?      Apparently extremely frustrated that it was only 1-0...............See U Next Tuesday Russ?    

[Mr Popodopolous]

On 29/11/2023 at 22:45, transfer reader said:

Course it is.

They've had a marked upturn in form since changing manager (not that that would be hard from their previous form).

Since cifuentes was appointed they've lost just 1 game, so does that make Alex Neil useless?

He'd been at Stoke more than 3 days before they played QPR and got a much worse result after all

He's set to get the sack so the answer would be, perhaps!