OutByEaster? Posted October 23, 2021 Moderator Share Posted October 23, 2021 2 hours ago, TrentVilla said: We have less points at this stage than we did when we nearly went back down in. 19/20. This is true, but it's probably also worth remembering that in 19/20 we then lost the next three. I don't think the comparison tells us very much in itself. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dudevillaisnice Posted October 23, 2021 Share Posted October 23, 2021 It’s not great is it… let’s see how we do against West Ham. Worryingly the players look like they aren’t bothered anymore which doesn’t bode well. Another defeat would be really damaging especially if the others at the bottom start to pick up points. Still, I have faith he can turn it around.. this season atleast. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ciggiesnbeer Posted October 23, 2021 Share Posted October 23, 2021 1 hour ago, OutByEaster? said: This is true, but it's probably also worth remembering that in 19/20 we then lost the next three. I don't think the comparison tells us very much in itself. Thanks. That's my nightmares sorted for this evening then 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jareth Posted October 23, 2021 Share Posted October 23, 2021 He should definitely feel the heat - but I could have predicted this pressure after Wolves. We had a great record against Arsenal until yesterday, nobody predicted victory again, whatever anyones misgivings are I challenge the neysayers to come up with someone better for the long term. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jareth Posted October 23, 2021 Share Posted October 23, 2021 Ings Watkins not working. 3 at the back not working. A change is needed - but ripping it up to go for a manager that could have ended up at NUFC. Nope. Cannot believe the haste to drop Smith this evening. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jareth Posted October 23, 2021 Share Posted October 23, 2021 2 minutes ago, desensitized43 said: Top managers wouldn’t have tried to limp on until half time at 1-0. Who? 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
desensitized43 Posted October 23, 2021 Share Posted October 23, 2021 1 hour ago, Jareth said: Who? I really don’t have to reel off a list of names to satisfy you do I? You know who I’m talking about. Would you have picked that team yesterday? A top manager recognises when he’s got something wrong at the start and changes it before the situation becomes irredeemable. That’s not to say he shouldn’t make mistakes in selection or system, every manager does, but when you see him with his assistants in full blown discussion on what to do for more than 10 mins while we get overrun isn’t good. I’m not saying he needs to go. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
the_eristic Posted October 23, 2021 Share Posted October 23, 2021 6 hours ago, Kuwabatake Sanjuro said: Give it Prandelli till the end of the season. Would've been great years ago, but think he's probably done after he had to leave Fiorentina. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Popular Post cheltenham_villa Posted October 23, 2021 Popular Post Share Posted October 23, 2021 A few bad results with a team that needs time to gel and bed in some players. Smith has delivered improvements every year and should be given the opportunity to do that again. Were not Watford and he's one of our own. I'll judge at the end of the year where I expect us again to be sat around that mid table space. 6 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
villalad21 Posted October 23, 2021 Share Posted October 23, 2021 1 minute ago, cheltenham_villa said: A few bad results with a team that needs time to gel and bed in some players. Smith has delivered improvements every year and should be given the opportunity to do that again. Were not Watford and he's one of our own. I'll judge at the end of the year where I expect us again to be sat around that mid table space. If he loses the next 3 he should be gone for me. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cheltenham_villa Posted October 23, 2021 Share Posted October 23, 2021 1 minute ago, villalad21 said: If he loses the next 3 he should be gone for me. If this happened id like to know the plan. My impression has been that our current setup is less about the individual. Smith isn't your typical top of the hierarchy but part of a team put together. Will changing one of that team make a difference. Personally I'd like the structure to have chance to settle. We've got new coaches, new players and it needs some time. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DCJonah Posted October 23, 2021 Share Posted October 23, 2021 Still think talk of sacking him right now is mad. But, even after sleeping on it, I can't get over how abysmal that performance was. What concerns me is that even though I think he should have changed the formation, I'm not entirely sure the formation is the sole issue. Buendia looks a complete waste of money and Ings and Watkins are not bringing the best out of each other. Bailey is the one shining light. I'm willing to be patient and see how we can fix this but I didn't expect to see games like that after what we'd seen earlier this season. 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
villalad21 Posted October 23, 2021 Share Posted October 23, 2021 1 minute ago, DCJonah said: Still think talk of sacking him right now is mad. But, even after sleeping on it, I can't get over how abysmal that performance was. What concerns me is that even though I think he should have changed the formation, I'm not entirely sure the formation is the sole issue. Buendia looks a complete waste of money and Ings and Watkins are not bringing the best out of each other. Bailey is the one shining light. I'm willing to be patient and see how we can fix this but I didn't expect to see games like that after what we'd seen earlier this season. By switching to 4-3-3 Dean is giving himself a chance. He is a goner if he persist with 5-3-2 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TrentVilla Posted October 23, 2021 Moderator Share Posted October 23, 2021 4 hours ago, OutByEaster? said: This is true, but it's probably also worth remembering that in 19/20 we then lost the next three. I don't think the comparison tells us very much in itself. It isn’t a couple of games it is a quarter of the season and I think it shows just how badly we have started, it isn’t like we’ve been unlucky. We could be 15th by the end of the games this weekend. Obviously it doesn’t necessarily follow we will continue as badly, although looking at our fixtures to come it easily could. I do though think a lot of people will be surprised at the stat because many don’t seem to think we have been that bad. 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
hippo Posted October 23, 2021 Share Posted October 23, 2021 51 minutes ago, cheltenham_villa said: If this happened id like to know the plan. My impression has been that our current setup is less about the individual. Smith isn't your typical top of the hierarchy but part of a team put together. Will changing one of that team make a difference. Personally I'd like the structure to have chance to settle. We've got new coaches, new players and it needs some time. But that plan went out of the window when Terry and ROK quit - both for no good reason. The idea was the if the head coach quit there wasn't a major upheaval in the coaching set up. But we seem to have the upheaval albeit in reverse. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tayls Posted October 23, 2021 Share Posted October 23, 2021 (edited) Been saying it for a while now, and I’m sorry to all of those who hate reading my negative posts, but it is how I feel and from the seems of things, a few others might be feeling the same way now as well. However, to me it was clear that something wasn’t right this summer, and not just because we sold Grealish (which we didn’t have much choice on the matter). The recruitment was sloppy and wasn’t well thought out. Great individual players for sure, but I had no idea what they were planning to do with them as there was no way they would fit in all together. The loss of backroom staff was surprising and whilst the reasoning seemed legit, my guess is that we aren’t getting the full story there. I think to lose someone like JT was pretty vital to our planning. I’m not buying the poor pre-season excuse anymore. Other teams had similar issues and we are now almost 10 games into the campaign. What is concerning is that we look so disjointed, unorganised and have very few ideas on what to do when in possession of the ball. The majority of this comes from the coaching. But you also have to consider that some of the players that we have are just not that great. I don’t think the squad is capable of top 10, too many errors and very fragile mindsets will mean we fall short of that, however I do believe it is better than bottom three. We will be in a scrap this season though if we carry on as we are. I have no answers on how things should be changed. Part of me is super sentimental and what’s Smith to remain, but another part of me thinks we need to push on and change the way we go about things if the ambition is still there from the higher-ups. This season will be quite telling in a variety of ways. Edited October 23, 2021 by Tayls 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
desensitized43 Posted October 23, 2021 Share Posted October 23, 2021 56 minutes ago, Keyblade said: You very very rarely see tactical substitutions in the first half. Even Tuchel waited until halftime to sub off Saul against us, and he didn't even need to change the formation to do so. Waiting til halftime also has the added benefit of discussing the change in shape during the break. Ideally yes you wait until half time for that kind of major surgery but when you’re already losing and the opposition look like scoring every time they come forward you have to judge whether you have that kind of time. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
hippo Posted October 23, 2021 Share Posted October 23, 2021 32 minutes ago, TrentVilla said: It isn’t a couple of games it is a quarter of the season and I think it shows just how badly we have started, it isn’t like we’ve been unlucky. We could be 15th by the end of the games this weekend. Obviously it doesn’t necessarily follow we will continue as badly, although looking at our fixtures to come it easily could. I do though think a lot of people will be surprised at the stat because many don’t seem to think we have been that bad. I think many got carried got away with a good 50 minutes against Chelsea. Never saw it myself we went a goal down pretty quickly. Then went toe to toe for a short period in the game. Chelsea shifted out of 2nd gear and scored 2 more. I think the hailing of that as a breakthrough performance was a mistake. 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Delphinho123 Posted October 23, 2021 Share Posted October 23, 2021 41 minutes ago, DCJonah said: Still think talk of sacking him right now is mad. But, even after sleeping on it, I can't get over how abysmal that performance was. What concerns me is that even though I think he should have changed the formation, I'm not entirely sure the formation is the sole issue. Buendia looks a complete waste of money and Ings and Watkins are not bringing the best out of each other. Bailey is the one shining light. I'm willing to be patient and see how we can fix this but I didn't expect to see games like that after what we'd seen earlier this season. This too is a worry for me, especially as I was desperate for us to sign him. He needs to start from the right in a 4-3-3 in the next match with Bailey on the opposite side. Hopefully that brings out the best in him and it’s just a case of him playing out of position that’s causing the poor form. Smith needs to move back to a 4-3-3 now. We can all blame injuries as to why he has persisted with the 3-5-2 this season but I’m a believer that you work to a specific system and if you get an injury, one player just slots in for another. At the moment, we seem to want to accommodate certain players without playing to our strengths. Smith will be gone if this continues. The pressure now is growing, whether you agree with it or not. He needs to find a way of winning consistently without Grealish. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
hippo Posted October 23, 2021 Share Posted October 23, 2021 6 minutes ago, Tayls said: Been saying it for a while now, and I’m sorry to all of those who hate reading my negative posts, but it is how I feel and from the seems of things, a few others might be feeling the same way now as well. However, to me it was clear that something wasn’t right this summer, and not just because we sold Grealish (which we didn’t have much choice on the matter). The recruitment was sloppy and wasn’t well thought out. Great individual players for sure, but I had no idea what they were planning to do with them as there was no way they would fit in all together. The loss of backroom staff was surprising and whilst the reasoning seemed legit, my guess is that we aren’t getting the full story there. I think to lose someone like JT was pretty vital to our planning. I’m not buying the poor pre-season excuse anymore. Other teams had similar issues and we are now almost 10 games into the campaign. What is concerning is that we look so disjointed, unorganised and have very few ideas on what to do when in possession of the ball. The majority of this comes from the coaching. But you also have to consider that some of the players that we have are just not that great. I don’t think the squad is capable of top 10, too many errors and very fragile mindsets will mean we fall short of that, however I do believe it is better than bottom three. We will be in a scrap this season though if we carry on as we are. I have no answers on how things should be changed. Part of me is super sentimental and what’s Smith to remain, but another part of me things we need to push on and change the way we go about things if the ambition is still there from the higher-ups. This season will be quite telling in a variety of ways. The squad didn't get top 10 with Jack. Quite how people were expecting improvement with a superficial summer window was beyond me. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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