Roberto Di Matteo

[AntrimBlack]

I was disappointed yesterday. Only a friendly, yes, but I would have thought that for the last friendly, the team would have been almost the team he will be putting out for our first match. It is not just that some of the players on the bench should have been starting, in my opinion, of course, but there was no plan out there, players were all over the place, and I would have thought yesterday would have been a final opportunity to iron out any perceived problems and tweak as necessary. Apart from its' usefulness to the players to be in as near as possible a proper match situation.

Yesterday would indicate that there is a lot still to do, and decisions to be made.

Edited July 31, 2016 by AntrimBlack

[KSV]

28 minutes ago, DCJonah said:

I would as well. We've been linked with the guy from Leicester. I think we have bigger issues than RB at the moment.  

I like him. Be a good signing. Do we though? Our defence is garbage and that is our weak spot.

[Zatman]

midfield is clearly our weak spot, havent had a decent midfielder in that position since Petrov who last played 2012

[TRO]

44 minutes ago, Richard said:

RDM may or may not be a decent manager for us in terms of results on the pitch.  For me the jury is still out,  especially given some of his selections this summer both personnel and formations,  but he is a professional manager been in and around football for a while so that's up to him,  its his career not mine.

However this business about having a group of talented players just lacking decent management really scares me,  as I do not believe it is true!

Firstly this squad is generally poor.  We have one or two players that may be good,  and certainly good for us in our current position but in the main they are poor.  Evidence of last season,  this summer and even before last season at this club and other clubs has shown they are poor.

Secondly whilst doubts about RDM's ability are there ,  one thing he is is a professional football manager,  and I do not believe he is stupid. Professional football managers want to be successful.  They want it for pride,  they want it for their career and they want it for job security above anything else.  To get success they like to have a group of players that they can trust and if possible players of their own choosing ,  that they know ,  that they have scouted and who they can build a relatkionship with.  In the main that is new players certainly not the cast off and patch work assembly of 3 or 4 managers and certainly not when that group of players has failed and continues to carry the stench of failure.  That will not help success.  Where a manager is offered enough money to facilitate a fresh start and enabling him to assemble his own team he will take it.  because he is not stupid and because he is professional. 

Where he has to rely on the squad he has and work with them he will openly big them up. This is what I believe we are seeing now.

I doubt he has any decent money at his disposal because logically if he has I cannot see a reason why he has not spent it already.

I agree with that.

Much has been said about our new regime, what concerns me is the unsaid.

I want to remain positive like the next man, but when it reaches the pitch reality kicks in.

I do not want to go through another 6 years of promises and silences on the  back of poor performances.....of course we all know this will take time and that time may be longer than we think assuming we are on the right track.

When I was a salesman and things were a bit quiet my masters would want to know what I was doing ( in detail), what was the plan to turn it around, what was the structure, what was the objective, what was the problems and more importantly what are the solutions......needless to say I was not paid anything like a football manager, so the questions can easily be directed at that seat too.

I understand the need for discretion and keeping one's own council.....but surely a manager has a way of communicating to us that he is not happy with results or aspects of play and convince us that "TIME" will be the factor that will deliver.....assuming lack of funds is not the issue and if it is, they need to be honest with us.

It is unacceptable to go through season after season with little or no comfort that there is an awareness of the issues and that the Status Quo is all that can be achieved.

This post maybe a bit premature and I accept that, but I am looking for some feasible feed back from our manager, a few explanations.I think it will work in his favour

I am not looking for player assasinations but a bit of respect to us for what we are watching.

ps However,We cannot keep hiding behind player indiscretions and a fear of upsetting them..... we need transparency.

Edited July 31, 2016 by TRO

[TRO]

19 minutes ago, KSV said:

I like him. Be a good signing. Do we though? Our defence is garbage and that is our weak spot.

Each department is Garbage and puts pressure on the others.

our biggest problem and has been for yonks, is recruitment of players......and despite the fee's, we rarely seem to get it right.

Martin O'Neill was probably one of the best managers in the last 10-15 years and he got about a handful right out of c40

IMO its a major issue for us and one that has got us where we are.

[foreveryoung]

Needs to get his finger out his proverbial. He's done nothing to install me confidence as yet. We kick off in a couple of weeks, an the team is no better than last season, though he seems to think we have the quality for the upcoming season.

 

[Richard]

13 minutes ago, foreveryoung said:

Needs to get his finger out his proverbial. He's done nothing to install me confidence as yet. We kick off in a couple of weeks, an the team is no better than last season, though he seems to think we have the quality for the upcoming season.

 

A week, he doesn't have the luxury of a couple of them. He's got one of them

[Jareth]

Well there are 5 games before the window shuts, if we take our time and get the right players in then I will forgive RDM if he doesn't record 5 straight wins. 

[BigJim]

18 hours ago, Daweii said:

It's hard for him to play super attacking when Gestede is an elephant that has no positional awareness and Ayew (not his fault) has to keep coming deep into midfield to get the ball because most of our players aren't attack minded. Grealish could run the flanks all day and cross the ball in all day with ease, but when there is no one there to receive it he has to go down different avenues that cause us playing sideways.  

I agree Gestede is not the most mobile, but still I don't remember many aerial crosses from open play for him to attack. He clearly doesn't work if we want to keep the ball on the deck.

[Duck]

3 hours ago, AntrimBlack said:

I was disappointed yesterday. Only a friendly, yes, but I would have thought that for the last friendly, the team would have been almost the team he will be putting out for our first match. It is not just that some of the players on the bench should have been starting, in my opinion, of course, but there was no plan out there, players were all over the place, and I would have thought yesterday would have been a final opportunity to iron out any perceived problems and tweak as necessary. Apart from its' usefulness to the players to be in as near as possible a proper match situation.

Yesterday would indicate that there is a lot still to do, and decisions to be made.

First half was definitely better than the second. But then again Middlesborough barely turned up at the start. Once they scored their first we were always going to lose.

It really was the same old story. It doesn't matter who plays for me, everybody looks like their playing for themselves and not the team. The majority of the second half yesterday was like watching a schools cup game. It just looked like a disorganised mess, players had given up and the ones that were still going were just running out of options.

The Middlesborough friendly was the most important for us. It gave us a stab at playing a team promoted from the championship last season. It gave us a level to aim for and let us know what to expect from the top teams in the league. Judging by the second half we're a long way  off the pace already ....

[Dr_Pangloss]

2 hours ago, Jareth said:

Well there are 5 games before the window shuts, if we take our time and get the right players in then I will forgive RDM if he doesn't record 5 straight wins. 

Perhaps, but we really do need to get off to a good start, 3 wins out of the first 5 games should be the minimum expectation.

[sharkyvilla]

28 minutes ago, Dr_Pangloss said:

Perhaps, but we really do need to get off to a good start, 3 wins out of the first 5 games should be the minimum expectation.

I don't think we should hit panic stations if we don't, although I know there will be a meltdown on here.  I'd be happy with a late push into the play offs with a bit of momentum as a target for this season.  It seems to me that there is too much serious surgery needed to finish top 2.

[Demitri_C]

Honestly have no idea what he is doing. He knows we desperately need a striker and  a creative midfielder yet he seems to be taking his time like we still have another 8 weeks until season begins. 

[a m ole]

5 minutes ago, Demitri_C said:

Honestly have no idea what he is doing. He knows we desperately need a striker and  a creative midfielder yet he seems to be taking his time like we still have another 8 weeks until season begins. 

call the club and ask, they might not realise he's sat in his office all day googling pictures of his CL win.

[DCJonah]

16 hours ago, Dr_Pangloss said:

Perhaps, but we really do need to get off to a good start, 3 wins out of the first 5 games should be the minimum expectation.

We won 3 games in 38 league games last year. Expecting to win that amount out of our first 5 games is a huge jump up. 

[VillaChris]

Well we're going to need 20 odd wins just to finish in play offs.

I'd say it's vital we get in some players quick who know how to win football games. They don't all play in the premier league or cost 20m.

[CarewsEyebrowDesigner]

There are a lot of games in the Championship, and most teams will have spells of good form and bad form. Consistency is absolutely key and at the moment Newcastle (because of their quality) and Brighton (because they are settled) are probably going to get of to good starts and stay ahead. At best we can have a middling start, get a few quality players in, then go on a good run and finish in the playoff spots. If we want to avoid that and finish 1st or 2nd, we need to get off to a flyer and stay there and I just can't see that right now when there are at least 2 better teams in the division.

 

I think we'll be playing fairly dour and defensive football under Di Matteo which will solidify us in mid-table but the lack of creativity and goals (currently) will prevent us from pushing on. I'm OK with stability this season as we have been on a downward trajectory for years and putting a halt to that is the priority. At this stage I'd take scraping into the play-offs because I think that is the best we can do. I'm not totally convinced that Di Matteo is the guy to rebuild us but he has a good enough coaching set up and seems a good enough person that I'm happy to give him a chance.

Edited August 1, 2016 by CarewsEyebrowDesigner

[bobzy]

18 hours ago, Dr_Pangloss said:

Perhaps, but we really do need to get off to a good start, 3 wins out of the first 5 games should be the minimum expectation.

You don't though. I hate it when people put this crap. It's ideal to get off to a good start but not vital in the slightest. 

Burnley last season, for example, didn't win any of their first three games but still won the league. 

[GENTLEMAN]

2 hours ago, CarewsEyebrowDesigner said:

There are a lot of games in the Championship, and most teams will have spells of good form and bad form. Consistency is absolutely key and at the moment Newcastle (because of their quality) and Brighton (because they are settled) are probably going to get of to good starts and stay ahead. At best we can have a middling start, get a few quality players in, then go on a good run and finish in the playoff spots. If we want to avoid that and finish 1st or 2nd, we need to get off to a flyer and stay there and I just can't see that right now when there are at least 2 better teams in the division.

 

I think we'll be playing fairly dour and defensive football under Di Matteo which will solidify us in mid-table but the lack of creativity and goals (currently) will prevent us from pushing on. I'm OK with stability this season as we have been on a downward trajectory for years and putting a halt to that is the priority. At this stage I'd take scraping into the play-offs because I think that is the best we can do. I'm not totally convinced that Di Matteo is the guy to rebuild us but he has a good enough coaching set up and seems a good enough person that I'm happy to give him a chance.

We should have appointed Pearson?

[Dr_Pangloss]

2 hours ago, bobzy said:

You don't though. I hate it when people put this crap. It's ideal to get off to a good start but not vital in the slightest. 

Burnley last season, for example, didn't win any of their first three games but still won the league. 

I disagree.  A string a poor early results will get the fans on the backs of the players, which is even easier to do given we have retained a number of last seasons lot in our current first team. This will create a toxic atmosphere from the get go, thus making life more difficult. So a good start is pretty important in my book.