BOF Posted February 13, 2012 Moderator Share Posted February 13, 2012 It's a pity because his team selections have largely been good. The trouble is they're being sent out with terrible instructions. With the exception of putting Heskey on the wing which to me is unfathomable, he has picked attacking line-ups and not been afraid to blood the youth. We regularly have 3 strikers in our starting line-up and his first 11 is not the first 11 you would necessarily have expected a notoriously defensive manager to choose. But as those above have implied, it is not in the manager's nature to be attack-minded in his tactics so even these relatively adventurous line-ups are having their hands tied by instructions that seem to prioritise that we not concede rather than that we score - and we can clearly see that the 'not concede' instruction isn't exactly working a treat either. Sadly I think he probably does have to go now. Though I don't think his first 11 needs that much tinkering with. I wouldn't expect anyone who replaced him to come in and put a vastly changed side out. The pity is that he is not a million miles from getting it right but it's not in his nature to do the bits that are missing, so he is probably doomed to fail. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Haito Posted February 13, 2012 Share Posted February 13, 2012 He needs to axe Collins,Warnock, Hutton and Heskey for starters. He needs to decide which few out of our youngsters can really make the grade. Not all are going to make it we need to realise that. 4 or 5 out of Clark, Baker ALbrighton,Herd,Delph,Gardner,Bannan,Delphouneso should really be pushed and the others loaned out or sold. We then need 6 new players minimum to get back anywhere near we once were. A new CB, 2 fullbacks, 2 central midfielders and another winger. Diame, Scott Sinclair, Dann would be my starting points. I just feel Mcleish will buy more Scottish mediocrity though and lead us even more up the shit creek. Were far too static as a team. We lack mobility at the back and the middle of the park. Until we put paid to that we will get nowhere. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pacbuddies Posted February 13, 2012 Share Posted February 13, 2012 The one good thing about having McLeish as manager is that one day, when he gets the sack, I will be so euphoric. It will be better than going to the dentists and having a tooth extracted after suffering weeks of agonising pain and drinking Whisky and rubbing gels onto the affected area to avoid going to the dentists. That day will surely come and the beer that will be supped in celebration will be so nice. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
trevor Posted February 13, 2012 Share Posted February 13, 2012 I was disappointed when he joined the club, not because he was ex Blues but because there was a sense of " is this the best manager we can get?" The tripe we played under O'Leary at the end of his tenure was awful, but with the players we now have this unambitious fodder is insulting to the supporters. How much of a genius do you have to be to realise that a) hoofing the ball upfield to Bent is a complete waste of time. If you want to play that way hoof it to Heskey or Gabby instead. the defence are constantly under pressure because they get no respite and c) people watch football to be entertained irrespective of what division their club is in as 48,000 v Bournemouth 1972 shows. The manager has to bear responsibility for setting the team up this way and the board of directors ought to feel ashamed for allowing this underachievement to be served to the supporters. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Woodytom Posted February 13, 2012 Share Posted February 13, 2012 it probably started when we lost the League Cup final . Its been downhill since Sure has. Something went off that day. Could tell on MON's face the next game at Reading. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Robbie09 Posted February 13, 2012 Share Posted February 13, 2012 I was disappointed when he joined the club, not because he was ex Blues but because there was a sense of " is this the best manager we can get?" The tripe we played under O'Leary at the end of his tenure was awful, but with the players we now have this unambitious fodder is insulting to the supporters. How much of a genius do you have to be to realise that a) hoofing the ball upfield to Bent is a complete waste of time. If you want to play that way hoof it to Heskey or Gabby instead. the defence are constantly under pressure because they get no respite and c) people watch football to be entertained irrespective of what division their club is in as 48,000 v Bournemouth 1972 shows. The manager has to bear responsibility for setting the team up this way and the board of directors ought to feel ashamed for allowing this underachievement to be served to the supporters. Great post. And you've summed it up precisely by saying the board should be ashamed of themselves. The current state of affairs is soley down to them for firstly allowing O'Neill's spending to get out of control and then with the subsequent managerial choices. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
markavfc40 Posted February 13, 2012 Share Posted February 13, 2012 it probably started when we lost the League Cup final . Its been downhill since Sure has. Something went off that day. Could tell on MON's face the next game at Reading. I don't agree. We had 12 league games remaining after the league cup final. We won 5, drew 4 and lost 3. The three defeats being against Man City and Chelsea away and a last day home defeat to Blackburn. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Woodytom Posted February 13, 2012 Share Posted February 13, 2012 it probably started when we lost the League Cup final . Its been downhill since Sure has. Something went off that day. Could tell on MON's face the next game at Reading. I don't agree. We had 12 league games remaining after the league cup final. We won 5, drew 4 and lost 3. The three defeats being against Man City and Chelsea away and a last day home defeat to Blackburn. We went from Lge cup final, Fa semi, and chance of 4th to finishing 6th quite meekly. MON's teams do not get beat 7-1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CI Posted February 13, 2012 Share Posted February 13, 2012 The semi against Chelsea was abysmal I recall Little passion for a semi Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
VillaRoy Posted February 13, 2012 Share Posted February 13, 2012 MYSTERYMAN, any ideas what sort of money McLiesh will have available to him in the summer? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
VillaRoy Posted February 13, 2012 Share Posted February 13, 2012 The semi against Chelsea was abysmal I recall Little passion for a semi We were unlucky in that semi. John Terry should have been off for a horrible tackle on Milner and Gabby should have had a peno at 0-0. We played well, 3-0 flattered Chelsea in the end. They scored 2 in the last minutes of the game and was 0-0 till about the last 20 mins. We were in it right till the last 5 mins. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CI Posted February 13, 2012 Share Posted February 13, 2012 Yeah they scored and our heads dropped and we gave up Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pacbuddies Posted February 13, 2012 Share Posted February 13, 2012 Yeah they scored and our heads dropped and we gave up Straight out of the McLeish book of football. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mantis Posted February 13, 2012 Share Posted February 13, 2012 Yeah they scored and our heads dropped and we gave upWe'd given up before the game had even started. That's the Alex McLeish way. EDIT: Just realised you meant the FA Cup semi-final. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Demitri_C Posted February 13, 2012 Share Posted February 13, 2012 You can take the manager out of the shit but you can't take the shit out of the manager I am afraid absolutely one of the best sayings ive seen on this site best describing mcleish Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
villianusa Posted February 13, 2012 Share Posted February 13, 2012 Yeah they scored and our heads dropped and we gave up Straight out of the McLeish book of football. If that's the case why have we won so many points from losing positions. Seems just another chance to have a dig of the manager. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
macandally Posted February 13, 2012 Share Posted February 13, 2012 We played on the counter most of the time under MON. The reason it don't work no is we had a good back four to soak up pressure, we had Milner and Barry who could keep the ball and pace on the wings. That is why counter attacking football worked OK McLeish is not playing to our strengths but that is maybe to cover other weaknesses we have. Our full backs need help and to be fair to Albrighton he is not the best at defending I really do think without some investment any manager will struggle, We have a unbalanced side. Weather McLeish will sign the right players is another matter but he needs a chance to have his own players and not use a squad which has been created by 3 managers in 3 seasons, all with different ideas on how we should play and what players we should buy. Very good post . He will be given money in the summer :!: but it's if he can get the right players and the jury is out if he can coach them . I would love us to play like Swansea but the truth is we don't have the players to do it . Randy might as well just burn the money in the Holte Car Park. He needs to go now, he is not the right man for the job, never was, never will be. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pacbuddies Posted February 13, 2012 Share Posted February 13, 2012 Yeah they scored and our heads dropped and we gave up Straight out of the McLeish book of football. If that's the case why have we won so many points from losing positions. Seems just another chance to have a dig of the manager. Perhaps, just perhaps, we shouldn't have been in those 'Losing' positions to start with. Oh and I don't need to be given the chance to 'have another dig of the manager' as you put it as there are numerous reasons for this already and they are supplied direct from him. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
keefa3011 Posted February 13, 2012 Share Posted February 13, 2012 I think McLeish got half the job right yesterday, it was just a shame that he didn't get the whole thing right. Let's be fair, all you people who are saying that you wouldn't mind losing if we at least had a go, if he had sent the team out to attack City and lost 4 or 5 you would still be screaming blue murder at him. Everton and Sunderland won by employing a very similar game plan to what we did, the only difference was that they concentrated in defence for 90+ minutes, and that they committed a few more bodies to their counter attacks. That was all that disappointed me, I don't mind playing counter attacking football against superior teams if we're going to commit bodies to our counters. We just didn't do that yesterday. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mantis Posted February 13, 2012 Share Posted February 13, 2012 Yeah they scored and our heads dropped and we gave up Straight out of the McLeish book of football. If that's the case why have we won so many points from losing positions. Seems just another chance to have a dig of the manager.This stat always baffled me but then it hit me yesterday - it's because we have very often this season set out to draw games, which normally results in us conceding at least once at some point in the match. Only when we're a goal or two down do we actually attack. Someone said it earlier - McLeish is a reactive, not a proactive manager. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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