The M62 corridor is a weird old place. Technically, it's the A580 corridor (East Lancs Road) rather than the M62 as that road came first. All those towns along it either side (St Helens, Warrington etc on the south side, Leigh, Wigan etc on the North side) have their own weird little subcultures built up largely around rugby league. They all used to have strong identities - back from when they were pit towns I guess - and all have little satellite towns around them that also have their idiosyncracies. The accents are the weirdest - the further away you get from Liverpool, the scousier they seem to get. Skelmersdale is the prime example - they sound more like scousers than scousers. Doesn't happen the other way though - once you get out of Salford coming West, they all have variations on the traditional Lancashire accent.
Of course, to the untrained ear, they're all just Northern monkeys.
Isn't "Skem" full of former scousers though? They moved out in the same way Millwall and Charlton supporters moved out towards Bexleyheath and Kent
Yes - but they're even more scouse than scousers. It's almost like when they got turfed out, they felt they needed to 'prove' they were still Mickeys by making their accent even squeakier than it was before, and subsequent generations have just ramped it up and up. If you stand in Skem town centre (actually impossible, because there isn't a centre, it's just a formless mass of grey and roundabouts) and listen to them talk, it sounds like a flock of geese coming into land
Christ thats a joke if he's just become our Longest Serving Manager!!
I'll agree with him on this though, he's definitely not a short-term Manager, his style of play is something that is going to take time for teams to adopt and will take longer (or shorter) depending on the type of player he's already got at is disposal
I really like him, have done since day 1, yes he waffles a lot but ...beneath all the bullshit I think there is a guy who actually knows a thing or two about football.
I really like him, have done since day 1, yes he waffles a lot but ...beneath all the bullshit I think there is a guy who actually knows a thing or two about football.
Agreed. I was not a big fan of his prior to him joining us but I've been quite impressed by him. Watching his presser this morning he speaks very candidly and thoughtfully about a lot of things. He is clearly clever when it comes to football coaching. And he seems to appreciate the size of the club, and constantly praises the supporters, his coaches, and the players.
We talk a lot about 4-2-3-1 and if it's attacking and if we should play two up front but I think that's a red herring because you can clearly see he has come in, implemented a system, bought players for that system, and then trained his players in preseason so that they're fit enough and they know their roles withing the system. That is good football coaching.
Lastly, something that I think is often overlooked in football is how well a manager improves players. I think it's clear that in his tenure here DaSilva, Bauer, JFC, Kashi (though a lot of that is fitness), Fosu, Clarke, Magennis, Dijksteel, and Aribo have all improved, or Karl has worked to get the best out of them. To me, that's the mark of a successful coach, and it's part of why I always rated Riga, he made players better.
I really like him, have done since day 1, yes he waffles a lot but ...beneath all the bullshit I think there is a guy who actually knows a thing or two about football.
Agreed. I was not a big fan of his prior to him joining us but I've been quite impressed by him. Watching his presser this morning he speaks very candidly and thoughtfully about a lot of things. He is clearly clever when it comes to football coaching. And he seems to appreciate the size of the club, and constantly praises the supporters, his coaches, and the players.
We talk a lot about 4-2-3-1 and if it's attacking and if we should play two up front but I think that's a red herring because you can clearly see he has come in, implemented a system, bought players for that system, and then trained his players in preseason so that they're fit enough and they know their roles withing the system. That is good football coaching.
Lastly, something that I think is often overlooked in football is how well a manager improves players. I think it's clear that in his tenure here DaSilva, Bauer, JFC, Kashi (though a lot of that is fitness), Fosu, Clarke, Magennis, Dijksteel, and Aribo have all improved, or Karl has worked to get the best out of them. To me, that's the mark of a successful coach, and it's part of why I always rated Riga, he made players better.
Really?
Kashi was already good as we're Clarke and Magennis.
Fosu has played five games, Dasilva is a Chelsea player, Dijksteel has hardly played.
He may well be a good coach and may have improved JFC and others but I think your going OTT saying he's improved players in such a short span and who were often already good players or highly rated prospects like Aribo.
I do think playing a stable side and to an agreed and settled formation helps any player but he also moved on a lot of players who presumably he couldn't improve such as Watt, Cebellos.
He's winning games which is great but let's not go OTT.
He came in and was naive in a lot of areas; communication and tactics, especially. I would hazard a guess part of his remit is to be the face of the club and take the eyes away from the board as much as possible, and at first he approached it completely wrong. Heaping praise on KM, calling RD 'president' etc in a highly charged environment was not the way to approach the situation.
I honestly thought the Bolton win last season was really going to kickstart our season on the ouch but for whatever reason it didn't materialise. That run of form of 1 win in 14, or whatever it was, that followed, was truly awful. I had little expectation of much for this year.
However, he has impressed me massively this summer. Players like Reeves and Marshall would have been coveted at this level, so whether it was the contract we offered, or the vision KR sold to them, it was impressive to sign them. Da Silva has clearly improved under him, Fosu looks a real find and Clarke is a class player. Results on the pitch have reflected this and he's clearly changed his media tone ever so slightly, trying to put everything on the fans.
He talks a lot, and he's the sort of fella who if he's your manager you love him, if he's not you hate his guts, but under the bubbling exterior there is clearly a man who loves football and can set a team up to win games and excite fans. We're only five games in, but green shoots are beginning to sprout. They could easily be trampled on, but right now I'm quietly confident.
I really like him, have done since day 1, yes he waffles a lot but ...beneath all the bullshit I think there is a guy who actually knows a thing or two about football.
Agreed. I was not a big fan of his prior to him joining us but I've been quite impressed by him. Watching his presser this morning he speaks very candidly and thoughtfully about a lot of things. He is clearly clever when it comes to football coaching. And he seems to appreciate the size of the club, and constantly praises the supporters, his coaches, and the players.
We talk a lot about 4-2-3-1 and if it's attacking and if we should play two up front but I think that's a red herring because you can clearly see he has come in, implemented a system, bought players for that system, and then trained his players in preseason so that they're fit enough and they know their roles withing the system. That is good football coaching.
Lastly, something that I think is often overlooked in football is how well a manager improves players. I think it's clear that in his tenure here DaSilva, Bauer, JFC, Kashi (though a lot of that is fitness), Fosu, Clarke, Magennis, Dijksteel, and Aribo have all improved, or Karl has worked to get the best out of them. To me, that's the mark of a successful coach, and it's part of why I always rated Riga, he made players better.
Really?
Kashi was already good as we're Clarke and Magennis.
Fosu has played five games, Dasilva is a Chelsea player, Dijksteel has hardly played.
He may well be a good coach and may have improved JFC and others but I think your going OTT saying he's improved players in such a short span and who were often already good players or highly rated prospects like Aribo.
I do think playing a stable side and to an agreed and settled formation helps any player but he also moved on a lot of players who presumably he couldn't improve such as Watt, Cebellos.
He's winning games which is great but let's not go OTT.
I agree with this but also what SD said to an extent.
Solly seems to have confidence back as he has played a lot better under KR than over the last couple of years. DaSilva was someone who was always going to get better with games so not sure on credit there. Bauer looks better with Pearce, again not sure on credit for KR. Kashi is a class act regardless, JFC probably better again with Kashi next to him and a clean slate with a pre season. Holmes and Magennis are the same. Fosu was in and out of a League 2 side, KR deserves credit for how he's played so far imo. Clarke was a decent player but one who Bradford seemed happy to let go. I think KR deserves credit for giving him his role and letting him do what he does best in this system. Can't give him any credit for Dijksteel or Aribo.
I think he could have improved Ceballos in this system, I don't think he got the chance. He looked a different player in pre season.
Not sure how much he's improved players so far, but he's certainly made them effective in the system. Yes early days but you would hope things can only get better.
I really like him, have done since day 1, yes he waffles a lot but ...beneath all the bullshit I think there is a guy who actually knows a thing or two about football.
Agreed. I was not a big fan of his prior to him joining us but I've been quite impressed by him. Watching his presser this morning he speaks very candidly and thoughtfully about a lot of things. He is clearly clever when it comes to football coaching. And he seems to appreciate the size of the club, and constantly praises the supporters, his coaches, and the players.
We talk a lot about 4-2-3-1 and if it's attacking and if we should play two up front but I think that's a red herring because you can clearly see he has come in, implemented a system, bought players for that system, and then trained his players in preseason so that they're fit enough and they know their roles withing the system. That is good football coaching.
Lastly, something that I think is often overlooked in football is how well a manager improves players. I think it's clear that in his tenure here DaSilva, Bauer, JFC, Kashi (though a lot of that is fitness), Fosu, Clarke, Magennis, Dijksteel, and Aribo have all improved, or Karl has worked to get the best out of them. To me, that's the mark of a successful coach, and it's part of why I always rated Riga, he made players better.
Really?
Kashi was already good as we're Clarke and Magennis.
Fosu has played five games, Dasilva is a Chelsea player, Dijksteel has hardly played.
He may well be a good coach and may have improved JFC and others but I think your going OTT saying he's improved players in such a short span and who were often already good players or highly rated prospects like Aribo.
I do think playing a stable side and to an agreed and settled formation helps any player but he also moved on a lot of players who presumably he couldn't improve such as Watt, Cebellos.
He's winning games which is great but let's not go OTT.
I agree with this but also what SD said to an extent.
Solly seems to have confidence back as he has played a lot better under KR than over the last couple of years. DaSilva was someone who was always going to get better with games so not sure on credit there. Bauer looks better with Pearce, again not sure on credit for KR. Kashi is a class act regardless, JFC probably better again with Kashi next to him and a clean slate with a pre season. Holmes and Magennis are the same. Fosu was in and out of a League 2 side, KR deserves credit for how he's played so far imo. Clarke was a decent player but one who Bradford seemed happy to let go. I think KR deserves credit for giving him his role and letting him do what he does best in this system. Can't give him any credit for Dijksteel or Aribo.
I think he could have improved Ceballos in this system, I don't think he got the chance. He looked a different player in pre season.
Not sure how much he's improved players so far, but he's certainly made them effective in the system. Yes early days but you would hope things can only get better.
Agree, he made players more effective in his system which is to his credit.
I really like him, have done since day 1, yes he waffles a lot but ...beneath all the bullshit I think there is a guy who actually knows a thing or two about football.
Agreed. I was not a big fan of his prior to him joining us but I've been quite impressed by him. Watching his presser this morning he speaks very candidly and thoughtfully about a lot of things. He is clearly clever when it comes to football coaching. And he seems to appreciate the size of the club, and constantly praises the supporters, his coaches, and the players.
We talk a lot about 4-2-3-1 and if it's attacking and if we should play two up front but I think that's a red herring because you can clearly see he has come in, implemented a system, bought players for that system, and then trained his players in preseason so that they're fit enough and they know their roles withing the system. That is good football coaching.
Lastly, something that I think is often overlooked in football is how well a manager improves players. I think it's clear that in his tenure here DaSilva, Bauer, JFC, Kashi (though a lot of that is fitness), Fosu, Clarke, Magennis, Dijksteel, and Aribo have all improved, or Karl has worked to get the best out of them. To me, that's the mark of a successful coach, and it's part of why I always rated Riga, he made players better.
Really?
Kashi was already good as we're Clarke and Magennis.
Fosu has played five games, Dasilva is a Chelsea player, Dijksteel has hardly played.
He may well be a good coach and may have improved JFC and others but I think your going OTT saying he's improved players in such a short span and who were often already good players or highly rated prospects like Aribo.
I do think playing a stable side and to an agreed and settled formation helps any player but he also moved on a lot of players who presumably he couldn't improve such as Watt, Cebellos.
He's winning games which is great but let's not go OTT.
DaSilva looks like he has come on leaps and bounds in the last six months. Yes, Kashi was already very good but getting him fit and keeping him fit has been huge. Was Clarke really as good as he has been for us while up at Bradford? I can't say I remember watching him play, but I find it hard to believe he was this good week in and week out.
I think Magennis has looked a much smarter player in his movement this season. Fair enough on Fosu.
As for Aribo and Dijksteel, yes both were rated, but it's worth remembering that despite us being desperately lacking in central midfield last year under Salde neither could get anywhere near the team in the league while we persisted with Foley, Jackson, and Crofts. They weren't even taken to Austria in pre-season. Since Robinson came in he has introduced both into the squad gradually. Aribo is probably a little unlucky not to be playing more but he has two very good players ahead of him.
Continued below because I couldn't figure out how to quote cafcfan1990
I really like him, have done since day 1, yes he waffles a lot but ...beneath all the bullshit I think there is a guy who actually knows a thing or two about football.
Agreed. I was not a big fan of his prior to him joining us but I've been quite impressed by him. Watching his presser this morning he speaks very candidly and thoughtfully about a lot of things. He is clearly clever when it comes to football coaching. And he seems to appreciate the size of the club, and constantly praises the supporters, his coaches, and the players.
We talk a lot about 4-2-3-1 and if it's attacking and if we should play two up front but I think that's a red herring because you can clearly see he has come in, implemented a system, bought players for that system, and then trained his players in preseason so that they're fit enough and they know their roles withing the system. That is good football coaching.
Lastly, something that I think is often overlooked in football is how well a manager improves players. I think it's clear that in his tenure here DaSilva, Bauer, JFC, Kashi (though a lot of that is fitness), Fosu, Clarke, Magennis, Dijksteel, and Aribo have all improved, or Karl has worked to get the best out of them. To me, that's the mark of a successful coach, and it's part of why I always rated Riga, he made players better.
Really?
Kashi was already good as we're Clarke and Magennis.
Fosu has played five games, Dasilva is a Chelsea player, Dijksteel has hardly played.
He may well be a good coach and may have improved JFC and others but I think your going OTT saying he's improved players in such a short span and who were often already good players or highly rated prospects like Aribo.
I do think playing a stable side and to an agreed and settled formation helps any player but he also moved on a lot of players who presumably he couldn't improve such as Watt, Cebellos.
He's winning games which is great but let's not go OTT.
I agree with this but also what SD said to an extent.
Solly seems to have confidence back as he has played a lot better under KR than over the last couple of years. DaSilva was someone who was always going to get better with games so not sure on credit there. Bauer looks better with Pearce, again not sure on credit for KR. Kashi is a class act regardless, JFC probably better again with Kashi next to him and a clean slate with a pre season. Holmes and Magennis are the same. Fosu was in and out of a League 2 side, KR deserves credit for how he's played so far imo. Clarke was a decent player but one who Bradford seemed happy to let go. I think KR deserves credit for giving him his role and letting him do what he does best in this system. Can't give him any credit for Dijksteel or Aribo.
I think he could have improved Ceballos in this system, I don't think he got the chance. He looked a different player in pre season.
Not sure how much he's improved players so far, but he's certainly made them effective in the system. Yes early days but you would hope things can only get better.
Good points, and it's that last paragraph that I was also trying to get at but didn't communicate well enough. I still think he has improved players individually, but as you rightly point out he's also put them in a system to succeed. And I sort of blurred that together in my first post, but I think it's worth giving him credit for finding a system that gets the best out of players, and players to get the best out of a system.
I really like him, have done since day 1, yes he waffles a lot but ...beneath all the bullshit I think there is a guy who actually knows a thing or two about football.
Agreed. I was not a big fan of his prior to him joining us but I've been quite impressed by him. Watching his presser this morning he speaks very candidly and thoughtfully about a lot of things. He is clearly clever when it comes to football coaching. And he seems to appreciate the size of the club, and constantly praises the supporters, his coaches, and the players.
We talk a lot about 4-2-3-1 and if it's attacking and if we should play two up front but I think that's a red herring because you can clearly see he has come in, implemented a system, bought players for that system, and then trained his players in preseason so that they're fit enough and they know their roles withing the system. That is good football coaching.
Lastly, something that I think is often overlooked in football is how well a manager improves players. I think it's clear that in his tenure here DaSilva, Bauer, JFC, Kashi (though a lot of that is fitness), Fosu, Clarke, Magennis, Dijksteel, and Aribo have all improved, or Karl has worked to get the best out of them. To me, that's the mark of a successful coach, and it's part of why I always rated Riga, he made players better.
Really?
Kashi was already good as we're Clarke and Magennis.
Fosu has played five games, Dasilva is a Chelsea player, Dijksteel has hardly played.
He may well be a good coach and may have improved JFC and others but I think your going OTT saying he's improved players in such a short span and who were often already good players or highly rated prospects like Aribo.
I do think playing a stable side and to an agreed and settled formation helps any player but he also moved on a lot of players who presumably he couldn't improve such as Watt, Cebellos.
He's winning games which is great but let's not go OTT.
DaSilva looks like he has come on leaps and bounds in the last six months. Yes, Kashi was already very good but getting him fit and keeping him fit has been huge. Was Clarke really as good as he has been for us while up at Bradford? I can't say I remember watching him play, but I find it hard to believe he was this good week in and week out.
I think Magennis has looked a much smarter player in his movement this season. Fair enough on Fosu.
As for Aribo and Dijksteel, yes both were rated, but it's worth remembering that despite us being desperately lacking in central midfield last year under Salde neither could get anywhere near the team in the league while we persisted with Foley, Jackson, and Crofts. They weren't even taken to Austria in pre-season. Since Robinson came in he has introduced both into the squad gradually. Aribo is probably a little unlucky not to be playing more but he has two very good players ahead of him.
Fraeye gave Lookman his debut. Did he improve him or just found a gem in the U23s?
Magennis was already an international player, Dasilva an England youth player.
Not saying KR hasn't helped them but they were good players.
Clarke was part of a play off team last year. He wasn't plucked from non league. Again credit to KR for getting him in, I've always rated him when I've seen him and have said he'll do better for us than Reeves but KR made that call, is playing him as a no. 10 and it's working.
Powell didn't make Yann a player, but he picked him, took the risk and got him to play for the team.
I really like him, have done since day 1, yes he waffles a lot but ...beneath all the bullshit I think there is a guy who actually knows a thing or two about football.
Agreed. I was not a big fan of his prior to him joining us but I've been quite impressed by him. Watching his presser this morning he speaks very candidly and thoughtfully about a lot of things. He is clearly clever when it comes to football coaching. And he seems to appreciate the size of the club, and constantly praises the supporters, his coaches, and the players.
We talk a lot about 4-2-3-1 and if it's attacking and if we should play two up front but I think that's a red herring because you can clearly see he has come in, implemented a system, bought players for that system, and then trained his players in preseason so that they're fit enough and they know their roles withing the system. That is good football coaching.
Lastly, something that I think is often overlooked in football is how well a manager improves players. I think it's clear that in his tenure here DaSilva, Bauer, JFC, Kashi (though a lot of that is fitness), Fosu, Clarke, Magennis, Dijksteel, and Aribo have all improved, or Karl has worked to get the best out of them. To me, that's the mark of a successful coach, and it's part of why I always rated Riga, he made players better.
Really?
Kashi was already good as we're Clarke and Magennis.
Fosu has played five games, Dasilva is a Chelsea player, Dijksteel has hardly played.
He may well be a good coach and may have improved JFC and others but I think your going OTT saying he's improved players in such a short span and who were often already good players or highly rated prospects like Aribo.
I do think playing a stable side and to an agreed and settled formation helps any player but he also moved on a lot of players who presumably he couldn't improve such as Watt, Cebellos.
He's winning games which is great but let's not go OTT.
I agree with this but also what SD said to an extent.
Solly seems to have confidence back as he has played a lot better under KR than over the last couple of years. DaSilva was someone who was always going to get better with games so not sure on credit there. Bauer looks better with Pearce, again not sure on credit for KR. Kashi is a class act regardless, JFC probably better again with Kashi next to him and a clean slate with a pre season. Holmes and Magennis are the same. Fosu was in and out of a League 2 side, KR deserves credit for how he's played so far imo. Clarke was a decent player but one who Bradford seemed happy to let go. I think KR deserves credit for giving him his role and letting him do what he does best in this system. Can't give him any credit for Dijksteel or Aribo.
I think he could have improved Ceballos in this system, I don't think he got the chance. He looked a different player in pre season.
Not sure how much he's improved players so far, but he's certainly made them effective in the system. Yes early days but you would hope things can only get better.
Good points, and it's that last paragraph that I was also trying to get at but didn't communicate well enough. I still think he has improved players individually, but as you rightly point out he's also put them in a system to succeed. And I sort of blurred that together in my first post, but I think it's worth giving him credit for finding a system that gets the best out of players, and players to get the best out of a system.
To be honest not sure he found a system to get the best out of the players but yes he deserves credit for getting the players to fit the system 100%.
We needed attacking midfielders to fit the system and we only had Holmes really. KR signed 4 and moved KAG to a wide player.
Looking at team for weekend we are clearly an attacking player short but admittedly that's not helped by 3 being out.
I really like him, have done since day 1, yes he waffles a lot but ...beneath all the bullshit I think there is a guy who actually knows a thing or two about football.
Agreed. I was not a big fan of his prior to him joining us but I've been quite impressed by him. Watching his presser this morning he speaks very candidly and thoughtfully about a lot of things. He is clearly clever when it comes to football coaching. And he seems to appreciate the size of the club, and constantly praises the supporters, his coaches, and the players.
We talk a lot about 4-2-3-1 and if it's attacking and if we should play two up front but I think that's a red herring because you can clearly see he has come in, implemented a system, bought players for that system, and then trained his players in preseason so that they're fit enough and they know their roles withing the system. That is good football coaching.
Lastly, something that I think is often overlooked in football is how well a manager improves players. I think it's clear that in his tenure here DaSilva, Bauer, JFC, Kashi (though a lot of that is fitness), Fosu, Clarke, Magennis, Dijksteel, and Aribo have all improved, or Karl has worked to get the best out of them. To me, that's the mark of a successful coach, and it's part of why I always rated Riga, he made players better.
Really?
Kashi was already good as we're Clarke and Magennis.
Fosu has played five games, Dasilva is a Chelsea player, Dijksteel has hardly played.
He may well be a good coach and may have improved JFC and others but I think your going OTT saying he's improved players in such a short span and who were often already good players or highly rated prospects like Aribo.
I do think playing a stable side and to an agreed and settled formation helps any player but he also moved on a lot of players who presumably he couldn't improve such as Watt, Cebellos.
He's winning games which is great but let's not go OTT.
DaSilva looks like he has come on leaps and bounds in the last six months. Yes, Kashi was already very good but getting him fit and keeping him fit has been huge. Was Clarke really as good as he has been for us while up at Bradford? I can't say I remember watching him play, but I find it hard to believe he was this good week in and week out.
I think Magennis has looked a much smarter player in his movement this season. Fair enough on Fosu.
As for Aribo and Dijksteel, yes both were rated, but it's worth remembering that despite us being desperately lacking in central midfield last year under Salde neither could get anywhere near the team in the league while we persisted with Foley, Jackson, and Crofts. They weren't even taken to Austria in pre-season. Since Robinson came in he has introduced both into the squad gradually. Aribo is probably a little unlucky not to be playing more but he has two very good players ahead of him.
Fraeye gave Lookman his debut. Did he improve him or just found a gem in the U23s?
Magennis was already an international player, Dasilva an England youth player.
Not saying KR hasn't helped them but they were good players.
Clarke was part of a play off team last year. He wasn't plucked from non league. Again credit to KR for getting him in, I've always rated him when I've seen him and have said he'll do better for us than Reeves but KR made that call, is playing him as a no. 10 and it's working.
Powell didn't make Yann a player, but he picked him, took the risk and got him to play for the team.
I'm not saying these are players that were awful who he has made good. But I do think he's improved them. JFC has played for England youth at ever level, and yet he's really struggled the last couple years. So far he has looked really good.
I'm not saying KR took rubbish players and turned them in to world beaters. I'm saying has has taken some good players and made them just a little bit better. And while that's obviously subjective and difficult to measure, I do think those littler differences go a long way in the game and are often overlooked.
Obviously it's still early and I don't want to get too carried away. But I think the early signs are good.
The biggest difference has been not sacking the manager at the end of the season again and leaving the off season and pre season in total disarray. The players have been in Robinson's preferred system last season and now he's had a pre season to drill it into them.
Nothing magic has happened. The club have simply acted like a normal football club for once. It just looks like a miracle compared to the idiocy we've have had to endure in previous years.
Comments
I'll agree with him on this though, he's definitely not a short-term Manager, his style of play is something that is going to take time for teams to adopt and will take longer (or shorter) depending on the type of player he's already got at is disposal
So we may need a testimonial committee.
We talk a lot about 4-2-3-1 and if it's attacking and if we should play two up front but I think that's a red herring because you can clearly see he has come in, implemented a system, bought players for that system, and then trained his players in preseason so that they're fit enough and they know their roles withing the system. That is good football coaching.
Lastly, something that I think is often overlooked in football is how well a manager improves players. I think it's clear that in his tenure here DaSilva, Bauer, JFC, Kashi (though a lot of that is fitness), Fosu, Clarke, Magennis, Dijksteel, and Aribo have all improved, or Karl has worked to get the best out of them. To me, that's the mark of a successful coach, and it's part of why I always rated Riga, he made players better.
I had a sneaky regard for him after the AFCW fans gave him dogs abuse last season and he kept his dignity.
But, as Brucie told us - points make prizes !
I had a sneaky regard for him after the AFCW fans gave him dogs abuse last season and he kept his dignity.
But, as Brucie told us - points make prizes !
Kashi was already good as we're Clarke and Magennis.
Fosu has played five games, Dasilva is a Chelsea player, Dijksteel has hardly played.
He may well be a good coach and may have improved JFC and others but I think your going OTT saying he's improved players in such a short span and who were often already good players or highly rated prospects like Aribo.
I do think playing a stable side and to an agreed and settled formation helps any player but he also moved on a lot of players who presumably he couldn't improve such as Watt, Cebellos.
He's winning games which is great but let's not go OTT.
He came in and was naive in a lot of areas; communication and tactics, especially. I would hazard a guess part of his remit is to be the face of the club and take the eyes away from the board as much as possible, and at first he approached it completely wrong. Heaping praise on KM, calling RD 'president' etc in a highly charged environment was not the way to approach the situation.
I honestly thought the Bolton win last season was really going to kickstart our season on the ouch but for whatever reason it didn't materialise. That run of form of 1 win in 14, or whatever it was, that followed, was truly awful. I had little expectation of much for this year.
However, he has impressed me massively this summer. Players like Reeves and Marshall would have been coveted at this level, so whether it was the contract we offered, or the vision KR sold to them, it was impressive to sign them. Da Silva has clearly improved under him, Fosu looks a real find and Clarke is a class player. Results on the pitch have reflected this and he's clearly changed his media tone ever so slightly, trying to put everything on the fans.
He talks a lot, and he's the sort of fella who if he's your manager you love him, if he's not you hate his guts, but under the bubbling exterior there is clearly a man who loves football and can set a team up to win games and excite fans. We're only five games in, but green shoots are beginning to sprout. They could easily be trampled on, but right now I'm quietly confident.
Solly seems to have confidence back as he has played a lot better under KR than over the last couple of years. DaSilva was someone who was always going to get better with games so not sure on credit there.
Bauer looks better with Pearce, again not sure on credit for KR.
Kashi is a class act regardless, JFC probably better again with Kashi next to him and a clean slate with a pre season.
Holmes and Magennis are the same. Fosu was in and out of a League 2 side, KR deserves credit for how he's played so far imo.
Clarke was a decent player but one who Bradford seemed happy to let go. I think KR deserves credit for giving him his role and letting him do what he does best in this system.
Can't give him any credit for Dijksteel or Aribo.
I think he could have improved Ceballos in this system, I don't think he got the chance. He looked a different player in pre season.
Not sure how much he's improved players so far, but he's certainly made them effective in the system. Yes early days but you would hope things can only get better.
I think Magennis has looked a much smarter player in his movement this season. Fair enough on Fosu.
As for Aribo and Dijksteel, yes both were rated, but it's worth remembering that despite us being desperately lacking in central midfield last year under Salde neither could get anywhere near the team in the league while we persisted with Foley, Jackson, and Crofts. They weren't even taken to Austria in pre-season. Since Robinson came in he has introduced both into the squad gradually. Aribo is probably a little unlucky not to be playing more but he has two very good players ahead of him.
Continued below because I couldn't figure out how to quote cafcfan1990
Magennis was already an international player, Dasilva an England youth player.
Not saying KR hasn't helped them but they were good players.
Clarke was part of a play off team last year. He wasn't plucked from non league. Again credit to KR for getting him in, I've always rated him when I've seen him and have said he'll do better for us than Reeves but KR made that call, is playing him as a no. 10 and it's working.
Powell didn't make Yann a player, but he picked him, took the risk and got him to play for the team.
We needed attacking midfielders to fit the system and we only had Holmes really. KR signed 4 and moved KAG to a wide player.
Looking at team for weekend we are clearly an attacking player short but admittedly that's not helped by 3 being out.
I'm not saying KR took rubbish players and turned them in to world beaters. I'm saying has has taken some good players and made them just a little bit better. And while that's obviously subjective and difficult to measure, I do think those littler differences go a long way in the game and are often overlooked.
Obviously it's still early and I don't want to get too carried away. But I think the early signs are good.
Nothing magic has happened. The club have simply acted like a normal football club for once. It just looks like a miracle compared to the idiocy we've have had to endure in previous years.