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| Where Did It All Go Wrong? | |
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| Tweet Topic Started: Sep 17 2017, 12:31 PM (606 Views) | |
| 87dominguez | Sep 17 2017, 12:31 PM Post #1 |
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Frank Worthington
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I must admit that once the game had finished against Bristol City way back in May and we had stayed up by the skin of our teeth I could never of imagined where we have ended up in late September. Looking back over the past few months there have been a few signs that things were not going as hoped and it wasn't going to be a rosey garden at St Andrews. So, lets go through them: Steve Cotterill I know this has been done to death but you do get the impression that the organisation and well drilled tactics that were instilled for those last few games were more down to Cotterill than Harry and Steve's decision to not stay on looks more of a painful one on our part by every passing match. Transfer Policy Its easy to look back in hindsight but to be honest, did we really need to buy all of these players? For me, we had the base of a solid Championship defence that, with the right coaching/direction could be very organised and disciplined. So why change it? Why rip up the whole squad and start again? It was glaringly obvious what the issues were, namely class and ability in the centre of the midfield, pace out wide and a different type of forward to Donaldson and Juke. So what do we do? We focus solely on a new GK, new defenders and a new defensive, albeit immoible midfielder. The constant tracking of the three African midfielders in Italy was the biggest farce and a complete waste of time. I don't deal in what if's, the fact is they didn't sign, end of story and the club wasted precious time trying to get players in who were not viable. The most glaring thing about all of this was the fact that it came down to the last couple of days of the Transfer Window to get the pace and forward areas seen too. We wrote off and wasted the first few weeks of the season messing about when we should have been proactive weeks/months before. The Squad It could be said that we are more disjointed and worse off in certain areas now than we were last season. At least under Rowett we kind of knew who would be playing in most of the areas. Now, we have no idea. The two central midfield roles are the most glaringly obvious. Who are first choice? I have literally no idea. It was the area that, in my opinion needed attention in May, sorted in May/June but here we are, in September with two important positions on the park where no one has any idea who is best option for it. The Philosophy/Style/Identity The last thing is touch on with Cotterill but I have no idea what that team is meant to be, is it attacking? defensive? Do they play the pressing game? It was as if Harry just told them to go out there and 'lets see what happens'. It is incredible disappointing as Harry had a track record of having vibrant and attacking teams but I never saw it. Maybe the players we simply not good enough. Maybe, but he could have sorted the problem positions we all know about over the Summer instead of wasting time signing players that we probably didn't need and dithering over other unrealistic ones. Injuries I wasn't going to bring this one up but with the amount of Hammys that have gone recently there must be somethnig that the coaching team have been doing on the training ground that is not easing new players into a new regime. It's another reason that has stunted and effected the start of this season. So, where do we go from here? In terms of new manager I would go back to a Rowett type. A modern student of the game. Carsley has the tools and hopefully can take squad by the scruff of the neck and instill some of that organisation and discipline again. Once the injuries subside there is a decent side there. Not good enough for the play offs in my opinion but one that can hopefully start of string a few wins together and start looking forward and hopefully build for next season. I know it's only September and we shouldn't be writing this season off but ultimately the issues and failures to do the important and basic work over the Summer has cost dearly already. Onwards and upwards into the 18/19 season. KRO |
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| willvbcfc | Sep 17 2017, 01:05 PM Post #2 |
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Gil Merrick
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Very good read. A facetious response to 'where did it all go wrong?' is quite simply "sacking Rowett". But you've gone through a lot of the reasons why Redknapp got the axe in a very thorough manner. It's just quite depressing considering how excited we all were when Harry signed permanently. |
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| BRUMYUM | Sep 17 2017, 01:32 PM Post #3 |
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Bob Hatton
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Not buying players in early transfer window, no time for players to gell and injuries |
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| beegeeblueboy | Sep 17 2017, 01:44 PM Post #4 |
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Bob Latchford
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An excellent read and I am pretty much in agreement. I will say however that last season's defence IMO wouldn't have got us promoted so needed fixing. There's definitely something seriously wrong at Wast Hills so a manager experienced in dealing with upheaval is required. We have a squad of haves and have nots who need to binded together. |
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| pooley | Sep 17 2017, 03:06 PM Post #5 |
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The Icon
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14/12/16 |
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| charliedontsurf | Sep 17 2017, 08:16 PM Post #6 |
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Geoff Horsfield
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Dominguez - What a cracking read **thumbup Thanks for taking the time to share your insight **thumbup I don't necessarily agree with literally every single syllable, but you definitely hit a lot of nails right on the head. The Management Side of things The most glaring answer would appear to be the Cotterill factor. It's not so much that we needed Cotterill himself, but that we needed someone who at least had a similar attention to detail; who would instill the diligence and doggedness needed to hold a lead and even win ugly when required. Harry has never been a training ground manager - he runs his teams on a mixture of charisma and enthusiasm and braggadocio. He needs a strong, solid and somewhat dour number two to temper his excesses and provide the structure. For whatever reason, the SC and HR axis just felt proper Blues - the ideal mixture of 'Bazza' Fry-style rambunctious abandon and Bruce/Eck/Rowett-esque "we'll fight them on the beaches/in the air/in our six yard box" fortitude. Bond brought none of that. It's hard to say what he does or what he wants. We look shapeless, spiritless and spineless. And I don't necessarily blame Harry for the shape (or lack thereof) of the team, simply because I always knew he was not that kind of manager. But I do think he could be held to account for his poor choice of coaching staff. They let him and us down - but only because he appointed them in the first place. It was an unimaginative and uninspiring - and clearly unsuccessful - selection. It's also too easy to just point the finger at the Rowett sacking. I said at the time it was ill-advised and stand by that, but let's not make him into something he wasn't. Under Gary we also went through vast swathes of the season without wins (in his second season we had a ten game run without a single victory and nary a goal to show for our tepid efforts.) We were also in danger of becoming a very poor and very very predictable side last winter; those last few weeks of his tenure were genuinely as abject as anything we have seen under Harry. True, Rowett could certainly have spent the money really well and shot us up the table, but it was just as feasible that his tried and trusted would still be in the side, continuing the tired and trusted malaise that had set in. He was so so loyal to his players, which worked in his favour for a while, but also perhaps inadvertently laid the seeds of the troubles that followed. Which leads me on to The Playing Side of Things There are clearly some very good players here. Jota and Boga and Walsh (and others) have shown in flashes and spurts and even whole halves that they possess the ability to light up matches with the kind of neon-coloured fluidity we haven't seen for a long while. There are also a number of players who have demonstrated their quality (again and again) for other teams in this division. I will also put forward the argument that, overall, the newest players have looked the best. And yet there is clearly a lack of fight and a real stench of disaffection and complacency on occasion - evident in the way we have crumbled both before and after the deadline day haul. For a while now there have been murmurs and whispers that perhaps the 'great bunch of lads' that Rowett had got together were not that great after all. That they were fine when playing for him, but as he sought to bring in new faces, the old guard downed tools somewhat. Similarly, whilst the words Gianfranco Zola and 'football manager' should never be heard in the same sentence, the attitude of too many post-Christmas was a disgrace. Are there rotten apples in the changing room? It's happened at bigger clubs and to bigger-name managers - The Special One's second tenure at Chelsea springs to mind - so it is quite conceivable that some kind of ill-feeling or surliness is festering somewhere. It's one thing to get beat; quite another to fold so feebly, even willingly. Harry talked about players "getting Zola the sack." Of course, Gorgon earned the sack through sheer eye-bleeding ineptitude, but there is perhaps something in what Harry says. Have some players been here too long? Are they too keen to lurk in their comfort zone and instead of rising to competition, they resent it? Is their confidence too brittle? Why have none of the very talented defenders we have brought in managed to strike up a relationship with Morrison - a player who is rumoured to wield a good deal of influence behind the scenes? What has happened to David Davis? Player of the year last season, now it looks like he has taken two steps forward and three steps back. Is "captain-leader/-legend" Robbo the altruistic model pro he makes himself out to be? Yes he has worked his bits off all his career, but also has a distinctly Machiavellian approach to his colleagues both on and off the field; blaming others for his mistakes in defence, praising Lee Clark one minute then criticising him as soon as he is sacked. How many bad eggs have been left around stinking the place out? Are too many still pining too much for a manager who would probably have left for Derby anyway? Is a bigger, fuller purge needed? On the upside, whoever comes in has a relatively young and potentially exciting squad. Players like Boga and Walsh will get better and better. This time last season we were pinning our hopes on Greg Stewart to be our match-winning winger par excellence. We were one injury away from having Robinson starting. If nothing else, Harry has brought in players that few other managers (including Rowett, who has been somewhat unimaginative with the money Derby gave him) would have the charisma or audacity to attract. We are in a much better place in terms of personnel, we simply need someone to organise the disparate entities into a cohesive whole. Ironically, it's not like when Rowett himself took over and major surgery was needed: for the most part we just need a clear gameplan and some proper tactics. There's still cause for positivity amidst the confusion. Edited by charliedontsurf, Sep 17 2017, 08:39 PM.
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| thetoot | Sep 17 2017, 09:15 PM Post #7 |
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Frank Worthington
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How good is this thread? It really puts any of the other journalists reporting on us to shame to be honest. |
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| bluenosealan | Sep 18 2017, 07:01 AM Post #8 |
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Martin Grainger
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Excellent summary of the situation we find ourselves in. Undoubtedly there are some rotten eggs stinking the dressing room out. We can all see that something is clearly wrong in the lack of effort and passion put into games under Gorgon and Redknap. But I hold our faceless owners responsible for the fiasco of the past 10 months, both in the ridiculous manner in which Rowett was sacked, and the appointment of the worst football manager in our history. Then the subsequent near suicidal delay in booting him out, followed by the knee jerk reaction in appointing Redknap. You really have to question what due diligence went into these appointments. Just a look at the supporters comments from Southampton, Portsmouth and QPR would have given anyone a massive clue about dear old Harry ( ain't my fault guvnor). The owners are entirely to blame for the mess we are in. I have little faith they, and whoever is advising them, will get it right now. |
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| westsussexbluenose | Sep 18 2017, 08:54 AM Post #9 |
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Garry Pendrey
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very good read, spot on . Got to applaud the tone of this summary, I would have been less polite! I think that most of us agree that regardless of whether we thought Rowett was the man for the job, played the sort of football to appease the fans and had the experience to take us to the Prem, the root cause and the blame for the shambles this club is in on and off the field, lies firmly at the door of the owners and decision makers who decided to change things when we were 7th, and 1 point away from a play off place.. we were all crying out for some stability ffs, I wasnt pleased with the HR appointment for lots of reasons, but at least give him a season to turn things around. |
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| scudwalker | Sep 18 2017, 09:14 AM Post #10 |
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Chief
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The only thing I would disagree with is that I think the squad when all fit is a playoff capable squad there are some real quality players now not just a bunch of hopers punching above their weight. |
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