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| Alex Mcleish; The pros and cons | |
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| Tweet Topic Started: Sep 22 2008, 11:37 AM (949 Views) | |
| franscar | Sep 22 2008, 11:37 AM Post #1 |
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Mikael Forssell
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First a caveat: I'm very much undecided on Big Eck. I said when he was installed as manager that he would need at least a year to give an indication of where he is taking the team, and that statement still stands although I would now be more inclined to see how things are league position and squad wise at the end of the January window before passing judgment. But in the meantime what's going right and what's going wrong from the manager during his time here? Pros: Some great football in spells. Less reliance on the hoof. Big improvement in Maik Taylor's game since Dave Watson came into the club. The presence of players such as Lee Carsley and Kevin Phillips. Kept hold of McFadden and Larsson. A much more solid looking backline in recent weeks. Cons: Doesn't seem to know his best eleven. A number of questionable formation-personnel choices. Inability to get the side playing and picking up points away from home in the top flight. Couldn't find a place for Zarate, and seems to be struggling to do the same for Quincy. Slow to react to opposition formations. Didn't give enough of an opportunity to the likes of Palacios and De Ridder. Let's not turn this into another Bruce vs. McLeish or whatever type of thread, but instead are my observations fair? Do others have their own they'd like to make? Have people made their mind up one way or the other? |
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| mad4theblues | Sep 22 2008, 11:49 AM Post #2 |
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Alex Govan
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I would say they are resonably fair yes. I mean theres deffinatly been better play throughout the team since he came in and we play better football. But the thing which currently concerns me most is how we cannot find out best starting 11 and how he keeps changing the formation. We need to find out best starting 11, the formation they play well in and then stick to it! Mcleish is a great manager, hes brought in some good talent and is looking to bring in more (Boateng, Quashie - still in them prem regardless of what everone says) I think the cons about the top flight isn't really fair on him, i personally am going to judge him mainly on this seasons performance, where he was the manager form the off. In short, find our best 11, find out best formation and win games! :banner: KRO! |
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| thehawk | Sep 22 2008, 11:57 AM Post #3 |
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Geoff Horsfield
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some people would say changing the formation and trying different things for different games was a positive thing. Alex Ferguson regularly changes formation, from game to game and even players like Owen hargereaves and Wayne Rooney play different positions week to week. However the style of play remains the same. That is what isn't quite happening at the minute. We were very fluid and passing snappily against Bristol City, but didn't pass it about at all against Blackpool. It is a consistency of style that we have not yet got. |
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| pooley | Sep 22 2008, 12:01 PM Post #4 |
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The Icon
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but to be fair they have world class player (while we have a few stars in our midst they aint united quality) who can adapt and premept things and can therefore swap around a lot easier than the guys we have |
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| Blooboy | Sep 22 2008, 12:06 PM Post #5 |
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quality stuff Franscar. i would like to add, the Mental attitude of the team is in question, some of our players (and this has been a problem for years at Blues) Seem to think they can just turn up against certain teams and win. I actually felt for Blackpool coming to the ground, some of the comments on local radio were a disgrace to the seasiders. lets not be wrong here, Blackpool to me are a great club with solid foundations and a good tradition, they strive to get better on the resources they have. sometimes i think Blues don't give opposition the respect they deserve and this has been going on since we first went up into the Premiership. Alex needs to get players up for it when they walk out, We don't start matches with enough urgency. This is for me the reason why we lose games that on paper we should win. |
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| Lucky | Sep 22 2008, 04:54 PM Post #6 |
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Bob Latchford
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FRANS, As ever mate your spot on, Im not convinced with Mcleish at all and said so from day one, nothing has happened to change my mind, I would go sofar as to say we are worse of now football wise than before, agreed he should know his team now his formation,how to play teams,for me its still guess work , He is hampered yes by funds but im sure there are lots of players out there if you really look, Im far from convinced and saurdays result just showed our weakness |
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| Deleted User | Sep 22 2008, 05:03 PM Post #7 |
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What comments were made on the radio and by whom? Your post seems to suggest that they were comments from players....surely not? From some fans I can well believe, but from the players themselves? |
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| knzulu | Sep 22 2008, 05:09 PM Post #8 |
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Jose Dominguez
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how can a manager change his formation so many times in 1 game. he should be sacked for playin 1 up front alone mcleish hasnt done enough for me i still think he could of kept us up if he would of made 1 or 2 more signings in january |
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| lester | Sep 22 2008, 05:17 PM Post #9 |
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Paul Devlin
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Give amc a break, he's done fairly well, no cause for complaint thus far as its still fairly early in the season.. Wait till the end of the year and see our standings before we judge him |
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| demood | Sep 22 2008, 05:20 PM Post #10 |
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Frank Worthington
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We have been awful since he took over in truth. I for one expected some improvment and that he would keep us up. But in my view we ended up worse and this season i cant belive how lucky we have been to get the points we got but we all know long term that was`nt going to last as it hasn`t. Sorry but AMc lacks lots of things for me and is hopeles in the transfer market too. I know this is not a Bruce V AMc post but like i have said when he took us down he couldn`t lace Brucie`s boots as far as i am concerned and he wern`t the best by far, but i am afraid we have gone backwards with Alex |
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| The Concerned Potato Head | Sep 22 2008, 05:39 PM Post #11 |
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Big Bawss
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i don't think he;s a great motivator. i don't think he's the one who'll lead us on to great things. i can appreciate him wnating to play a more adventurous style but i think he has too much to learn. for the players he's brought in he gets a 6/10 from me |
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| demood | Sep 22 2008, 05:44 PM Post #12 |
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Frank Worthington
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Its the one`s he hasn`t bought in that counts. |
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| Deleted User | Sep 22 2008, 05:44 PM Post #13 |
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I'm not his biggest fan to be perfectly honest. The Zarate issue wound me up at the time, and still does now. De Ridder and Palacios discarded to Wigan for a tripe supper after some pretty decent performances, and still nothing is being done about our midfield problem - although I have to say I am pleased with the Carsley signing, we are still lacking that bit of craft in midfield. I don't want to go on too much, but honestly, how he could have kept picking Gary McSheffrey last season whilst Zarate was warming his @rse on the bench is mind numbing. |
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| lowdham bluenose | Sep 22 2008, 06:26 PM Post #14 |
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Joe Bradford
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I really do believe that McLeish's problem is his own doing ie the appointment of Roy Aitken. McLeish may have a vision and plan for the future and know what "brand" of football he wants. Sadly the coaching side is a complete failure, well done Aitken!! Alec, a tip if you want to keep your job - get rid of Aitken...quick |
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| Blooboy | Sep 22 2008, 08:14 PM Post #15 |
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i'm not saying it was from Players, i'm just saying some think clubs like Blackpool turn up to defend..... the sooner we get out of that thinking the better. By the way i'm not the only one to think some comments made on the radio were arrogant......i found this Click Here |
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| Deleted User | Sep 22 2008, 10:11 PM Post #16 |
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I know what you mean about us fans sometimes being disrespectful towards so called 'lesser teams'. I made a comment last week (before the Bristol City game) that I thought we had 4 tough games coming up - that was shot down in flames and Blackpool (along with Derby) were dismissed as second rate. I have a feeling that most Blues fans think we're a certainty to go up. It may explain why there's a knee jerk reaction when we don't win, or we play mediocre stuff. If we go out against other sides with the same attitude as against Blackpool, we'll be going nowhere. |
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| brumtum | Sep 22 2008, 10:50 PM Post #17 |
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Geoff Horsfield
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Yea just because preston stuffed blackpool 7 (SEVEN)- 1 a few days ago dont make them mediocre tomatoes :silence: |
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| NO1BLUENOSE | Sep 22 2008, 11:10 PM Post #18 |
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Peter Enckelman
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When did that happen? |
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| Bluediver | Sep 23 2008, 12:33 AM Post #19 |
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Alex Govan
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Difficult to judge McLeish until he has been given an opportunity to bring in his own players. It is clear that this season he's had to rely largely on the existing squad, trimmed by a few players to generate wages so that he could bring in freebies and loanees. I'm pretty certain that if he'd had a transfer budget to spend we would see another CD in the squad, as well as a creative midfielder. As for him getting rid of Palacious, De Ridder and Zarate, well, if the loss of their wages was the price to pay for keeping McFadden and Larsson, then I can see why he would make that choice. I think that McLeish does know his best 11, but what he considers is 'best' changes depending upon the opposition. Where he is probably being hindered is that some of his key players have underperformed so far this year. I disagree that McLeish is slow to react to opponents formations. In fact some of his substitutions have been inspired. Bringing on Phillips to score with his first touch against Sheff United, and doing the same against Southampton are two obvious examples. Less obvious were the changes against Doncaster where he was forced to cover for Nafti's dismissal yet fashioned a dogged performance to take three points. Okay, we followed up our best 45 mnutes of the season, at Bristol City, with a poor display last Saturday. But that wasn't down to formation. We may have lined up at 4-5-1, but on the attack we were 4-4-2 and, eventually, 4-3-3. It is a formation that Chelsea use in their matches - and it seems to work well enough for them. But we had half a dozen players who were not at their best, to say the least. The reason we lost was down to the players, not to the manager. I have no idea whether McLeish can deliver an inspirational dressing room talk. What I can say is that he has forged a team that he inherited, plus a few loanees and freebies, into a side that are likely to comfortably gain promotion this year. Look at their RESULTS, including in pre-season, and tell me that we are not going to win most of our home games and either win or draw most of our away games. But like any team that has ever gained promotion from this league, there will be more than one poor performance, and more than one poor result. It is the nature of the league. I would agree that we have yet to see the best of this side, but we will. We have a very good manager now. No, he may not be perfect, but considering the owners we have, I would say that we couldn't have hoped for anyone better. It's just a pity that those owners haven't given him any money to spend. Then we could judge him. |
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| Bluenose_68 | Sep 23 2008, 05:41 AM Post #20 |
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Peter Enckelman
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How people can blame big eck for losing Zarate astounds me. We had a top class player on a deal which was never going to be long term even if we stayed up. I do rate Mcleish- i think he wants to play football the right way and is moulding this side away from the clogging outfit we had become under the previous regime. I do worry about our failure to beat poorer sides- but i think thats as much to do with lack of quality in midifield than it is to lack of motivation bn68 |
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| lowdham bluenose | Sep 23 2008, 08:12 AM Post #21 |
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Joe Bradford
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...Marcus Bent. My judgement is starting to take shape. |
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| Ian | Sep 23 2008, 08:14 AM Post #22 |
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Alex Govan
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Absolutely cracking post. How anyone can question him astounds me. He picks the players the tactics and the formation to play to if they don't do it then he'll make sure they do it next time. Saturday was a prime example of players not doing there jobs. They were lazy, played sloppy football, got caught on the break numerous times and consistently got caught in possession. Once the manager sends players onto the pitch its there job to play and they let him down big style. I think the way we play on our next home game will be an interesting response to the fans that were booing. |
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| Ian | Sep 23 2008, 08:20 AM Post #23 |
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Alex Govan
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Agreed i mean Zarate, Murphy, McFadden, Phillips, Quincy all dross aren't they :rolleyes: I think your clutching at straws now. Unfortunately he wont ever win your confidence which is sad really supporting a team where not matter what happens you'll never support the manager. Just out of curiosity if we get promoted will you have belief in him then? Or does he have to then finish progressively higher in the Premier league every season? How can he gain your trust, what would it take thats in the realms of possible? |
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| B25 YEW TREE LOYAL | Sep 23 2008, 08:25 AM Post #24 |
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Geoff Horsfield
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:banghead: ........we failed to bring our flair players into the game could someone please take the above comment and explain it ffs |
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| lowdham bluenose | Sep 23 2008, 08:33 AM Post #25 |
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Joe Bradford
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By showing he has some tactical and technical expertise. Currently we have "the best squad in the CCC" but he cannot get them to play as a unit. Last season he did not have a clue what to do away at Wigan and Fulham, hadn't a clue at home to Derby and didn't know what to do after being 2-0 up at home to Liverpool. This season there doesn't seem to be any shape or structure to his teams, there is no motivation in some of the players and there is no policy of the strikeforce pecking order. Added to all that he has had two transfer windows to find just one creative midfield player....still we have none. And finally, what the hell does his appointee Roy Aitken do? |
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