Can you imagine this photo with Fraye at the front? At least the players seemed to have respected Riga:
That group, for all of its limitations, had a lot of character . Bar Jacko and Diarra, I don't see that in this lot
They were also quite good at playing football. We'd have stayed up that year with Powell, Riga, Luzon or possibly even Peeters in charge. Our games in hand, the number of easy home games we had left, and the quality of the squad meant the manager was a pretty minor factor in my opinion.
We were dreadful in the last days of Powell. The team that played Sheffield United was going down.
We played the best football under Riga in that season. In my opinion Riga deserves a lot of credit in turning that shower around.
Getting Riga in is the only major footballing decision they have got right.
Can you imagine this photo with Fraye at the front? At least the players seemed to have respected Riga:
That group, for all of its limitations, had a lot of character . Bar Jacko and Diarra, I don't see that in this lot
They were also quite good at playing football. We'd have stayed up that year with Powell, Riga, Luzon or possibly even Peeters in charge. Our games in hand, the number of easy home games we had left, and the quality of the squad meant the manager was a pretty minor factor in my opinion.
Well we'll never know.
What we do know is that Riga did turn it around and that we did stay up.
This wouldn't go as well as last time around, why? The difference in squad, we had a tight knit squad that really wanted to prove something and fight for their position in the league. This season we don't have that.
It'd be the easy decision for them yet again, hail it is as a proven coach coming in he kept us up he's loved at the Club blah blah, one to please the fans and take the fire out of our eyes.... Better than Fraeye but we're going round in circles.
Can you imagine this photo with Fraye at the front? At least the players seemed to have respected Riga:
That group, for all of its limitations, had a lot of character . Bar Jacko and Diarra, I don't see that in this lot
They were also quite good at playing football. We'd have stayed up that year with Powell, Riga, Luzon or possibly even Peeters in charge. Our games in hand, the number of easy home games we had left, and the quality of the squad meant the manager was a pretty minor factor in my opinion.
We were dreadful in the last days of Powell. The team that played Sheffield United was going down.
We played the best football under Riga in that season. In my opinion Riga deserves a lot of credit in turning that shower around.
Getting Riga in is the only major footballing decision they have got right.
We were 24th in the table, but had a superior points per game to the teams around us (we had about 4 games in hand if I remember rightly). That, coupled with the fact we had so many more home games left than our rivals, meant 18th-20th was about par for the course. We'll never know if Powell could've kept us up, but I don't remember a great change in style once Riga took over. He did well, but I think you and others are overplaying his impact.
Given the choice of Carol, another unknown from the lower Belgian Leagues, or Riga, it's got to be Riga. I think we have to give up on thinking that they'll ever consider employing an English manager. We need to arrange an anti Riga protest quickly so that Roland will bring him back.
Can you imagine this photo with Fraye at the front? At least the players seemed to have respected Riga:
That group, for all of its limitations, had a lot of character . Bar Jacko and Diarra, I don't see that in this lot
They were also quite good at playing football. We'd have stayed up that year with Powell, Riga, Luzon or possibly even Peeters in charge. Our games in hand, the number of easy home games we had left, and the quality of the squad meant the manager was a pretty minor factor in my opinion.
We were dreadful in the last days of Powell. The team that played Sheffield United was going down.
We played the best football under Riga in that season. In my opinion Riga deserves a lot of credit in turning that shower around.
Getting Riga in is the only major footballing decision they have got right.
We were 24th in the table, but had a superior points per game to the teams around us (we had about 4 games in hand if I remember rightly). That, coupled with the fact we had so many more home games left than our rivals, meant 18th-20th was about par for the course. We'll never know if Powell could've kept us up, but I don't remember a great change in style once Riga took over. He did well, but I think you and others are overplaying his impact.
I've said it so many times but Powell was also on an incredible run of away games. 8 out of his last 10 games in charge were away - all the time he was also being undermined by Fraeye, Duchatelet & Meire (and probably Riga too). I don't buy into the Riga hype at all - he was lucky to have Matthews, Roberts & Dyer there to help him steady the ship.
People go on about the Sheffield United result (where CP was yet agin undermined by the r-soles running our club), I prefer to remember Powell for his last home league match that incredible win over soon to be promoted QPR - the last time I felt any real affinity with what's going on under this poxy regime.
Can you imagine this photo with Fraye at the front? At least the players seemed to have respected Riga:
That group, for all of its limitations, had a lot of character . Bar Jacko and Diarra, I don't see that in this lot
They were also quite good at playing football. We'd have stayed up that year with Powell, Riga, Luzon or possibly even Peeters in charge. Our games in hand, the number of easy home games we had left, and the quality of the squad meant the manager was a pretty minor factor in my opinion.
We were dreadful in the last days of Powell. The team that played Sheffield United was going down.
We played the best football under Riga in that season. In my opinion Riga deserves a lot of credit in turning that shower around.
Getting Riga in is the only major footballing decision they have got right.
We were 24th in the table, but had a superior points per game to the teams around us (we had about 4 games in hand if I remember rightly). That, coupled with the fact we had so many more home games left than our rivals, meant 18th-20th was about par for the course. We'll never know if Powell could've kept us up, but I don't remember a great change in style once Riga took over. He did well, but I think you and others are overplaying his impact.
I don't think you remember how utterly dross we were.
I loved Powell.
I guarentee had it been Powell who kept us up you would be giving him all the credit.
Edit. I can't guarentee anything as i don't know you but its the sense i get.
Isn't the current story doing the rounds that Riga wasn't retained due to his refusal to defer to and work closely with Fraeye? I hardly see him coming back if that was the case
Saturday’s game against Bristol City could be key to deciding our next manager. A win and Fraeye continues as interim head coach. We lose and Riga is appointed.
People go on about the Sheffield United result (where CP was yet agin undermined by the r-soles running our club), I prefer to remember Powell for his last home league match that incredible win over soon to be promoted QPR - the last time I felt any real affinity with what's going on under this poxy regime.
I lived in Scotland through that season and travelled down more than I do at the moment. I honestly mostly remember Riga for the Burnley 0-3, Derby 0-3 and Blackburn 1-3, all of which I travelled for, along with Forest away, which was also terrible but fortunately our opponents were in meltdown and we managed a win.
He had a good song though.
For statto heads, in terms of points-per-game, from the start of the season to Powell's sacking, we were 21st (0.9 points per game). From Riga's appointment to end of season we were 13th (1.5 points per game)
Saturday’s game against Bristol City could be key to deciding our next manager. A win and Fraeye continues as interim head coach. We lose and Riga is appointed.
He won less than half his games for us. Did well to keep us up and probably a nice bloke but not the man to take this club forward. Cannot believe people are getting excited by this.
I don't want Riga I want an experienced British manager, but as that isn't gonna happen, Riga is certainly the best of a bad bunch and seems to at least have a degree of feeling for the club.
He got Callum Harriot playing and scoring. He even got Marvelous Marvin scoring goals where all others have failed. Would be a damn fine Xmas present too. But as we all remember he wasn't asked to stay on for whatever reason so that would probably piss on the Christmas turkey.
Can you imagine this photo with Fraye at the front? At least the players seemed to have respected Riga:
That group, for all of its limitations, had a lot of character . Bar Jacko and Diarra, I don't see that in this lot
They were also quite good at playing football. We'd have stayed up that year with Powell, Riga, Luzon or possibly even Peeters in charge. Our games in hand, the number of easy home games we had left, and the quality of the squad meant the manager was a pretty minor factor in my opinion.
Well we'll never know.
What we do know is that Riga did turn it around and that we did stay up.
Actually, what we know is that our league position improved after Riga took over.
We don't know if the main reason for that improvement was Riga, Fraeye, Matthew, Dyer, Roberts, Jackson, professional pride in the squad in general, easier fixtures, games in hand.
I wasn't personally convinced Riga would have been able to maintain the better form long term, but it made no sense to sack him at the time, and even less so in hindsight, and he's definitely preferable to what we have in charge right now, imo.
It's also a very different squad dynamic now because one thing you can say about the players signed by Powell is they usually had some spirit and commitment about them and I think they would have been a lot easier to rally than the current lot. I'm not convinced he;d be able to do it again, but there seems zero chance of us signing anyone else so I'd take him on the basis of beggars can't be choosers.
Can you imagine this photo with Fraye at the front? At least the players seemed to have respected Riga:
That group, for all of its limitations, had a lot of character . Bar Jacko and Diarra, I don't see that in this lot
They were also quite good at playing football. We'd have stayed up that year with Powell, Riga, Luzon or possibly even Peeters in charge. Our games in hand, the number of easy home games we had left, and the quality of the squad meant the manager was a pretty minor factor in my opinion.
We were dreadful in the last days of Powell. The team that played Sheffield United was going down.
We played the best football under Riga in that season. In my opinion Riga deserves a lot of credit in turning that shower around.
Getting Riga in is the only major footballing decision they have got right.
We were 24th in the table, but had a superior points per game to the teams around us (we had about 4 games in hand if I remember rightly). That, coupled with the fact we had so many more home games left than our rivals, meant 18th-20th was about par for the course. We'll never know if Powell could've kept us up, but I don't remember a great change in style once Riga took over. He did well, but I think you and others are overplaying his impact.
I don't think you remember how utterly dross we were.
I loved Powell.
I guarentee had it been Powell who kept us up you would be giving him all the credit.
Edit. I can't guarentee anything as i don't know you but its the sense i get.
Oh I agree we were an average side and it wasn't much fun. The point I'm trying to make is that I don't think Riga made that much difference, and the players are more important than the manager anyway. We were hardly Barcelona after his arrival (there were some equally shocking performances under his stewardship which have been listed by @IA above), and he had a lot of home games.
I'm not convinced he is what we need right now. But we're probably going to get relegated whoever is our manager for the rest of the season.
Can you imagine this photo with Fraye at the front? At least the players seemed to have respected Riga:
That group, for all of its limitations, had a lot of character . Bar Jacko and Diarra, I don't see that in this lot
They were also quite good at playing football. We'd have stayed up that year with Powell, Riga, Luzon or possibly even Peeters in charge. Our games in hand, the number of easy home games we had left, and the quality of the squad meant the manager was a pretty minor factor in my opinion.
We were dreadful in the last days of Powell. The team that played Sheffield United was going down.
We played the best football under Riga in that season. In my opinion Riga deserves a lot of credit in turning that shower around.
Getting Riga in is the only major footballing decision they have got right.
We were 24th in the table, but had a superior points per game to the teams around us (we had about 4 games in hand if I remember rightly). That, coupled with the fact we had so many more home games left than our rivals, meant 18th-20th was about par for the course. We'll never know if Powell could've kept us up, but I don't remember a great change in style once Riga took over. He did well, but I think you and others are overplaying his impact.
I don't think you remember how utterly dross we were.
I loved Powell.
I guarentee had it been Powell who kept us up you would be giving him all the credit.
Edit. I can't guarentee anything as i don't know you but its the sense i get.
Oh I agree we were an average side and it wasn't much fun. The point I'm trying to make is that I don't think Riga made that much difference, and the players are more important than the manager anyway. We were hardly Barcelona after his arrival (there were some equally shocking performances under his stewardship which have been listed by @IA above), and he had a lot of home games.
I'm not convinced he is what we need right now. But we're probably going to get relegated whoever is our manager for the rest of the season.
Give him a 3 year contract and it would buy the ownership another 12 months of sympathy from the supporters. It will never happen, but with this regime I genuinely can't rule anything out.
Can you imagine this photo with Fraye at the front? At least the players seemed to have respected Riga:
That group, for all of its limitations, had a lot of character . Bar Jacko and Diarra, I don't see that in this lot
They were also quite good at playing football. We'd have stayed up that year with Powell, Riga, Luzon or possibly even Peeters in charge. Our games in hand, the number of easy home games we had left, and the quality of the squad meant the manager was a pretty minor factor in my opinion.
We were dreadful in the last days of Powell. The team that played Sheffield United was going down.
We played the best football under Riga in that season. In my opinion Riga deserves a lot of credit in turning that shower around.
Getting Riga in is the only major footballing decision they have got right.
We were 24th in the table, but had a superior points per game to the teams around us (we had about 4 games in hand if I remember rightly). That, coupled with the fact we had so many more home games left than our rivals, meant 18th-20th was about par for the course. We'll never know if Powell could've kept us up, but I don't remember a great change in style once Riga took over. He did well, but I think you and others are overplaying his impact.
I've said it so many times but Powell was also on an incredible run of away games. 8 out of his last 10 games in charge were away - all the time he was also being undermined by Fraeye, Duchatelet & Meire (and probably Riga too). I don't buy into the Riga hype at all - he was lucky to have Matthews, Roberts & Dyer there to help him steady the ship.
People go on about the Sheffield United result (where CP was yet agin undermined by the r-soles running our club), I prefer to remember Powell for his last home league match that incredible win over soon to be promoted QPR - the last time I felt any real affinity with what's going on under this poxy regime.
Saturday’s game against Bristol City could be key to deciding our next manager. A win and Fraeye continues as interim head coach. We lose and Riga is appointed.
Riga didn't have enough time to fail. Give him the full season and he'll turn out like Peeters and Luzon. No manager can succeed under such restrictive player recruitment methods.
Can you imagine this photo with Fraye at the front? At least the players seemed to have respected Riga:
That group, for all of its limitations, had a lot of character . Bar Jacko and Diarra, I don't see that in this lot
They were also quite good at playing football. We'd have stayed up that year with Powell, Riga, Luzon or possibly even Peeters in charge. Our games in hand, the number of easy home games we had left, and the quality of the squad meant the manager was a pretty minor factor in my opinion.
We were dreadful in the last days of Powell. The team that played Sheffield United was going down.
We played the best football under Riga in that season. In my opinion Riga deserves a lot of credit in turning that shower around.
Getting Riga in is the only major footballing decision they have got right.
We were 24th in the table, but had a superior points per game to the teams around us (we had about 4 games in hand if I remember rightly). That, coupled with the fact we had so many more home games left than our rivals, meant 18th-20th was about par for the course. We'll never know if Powell could've kept us up, but I don't remember a great change in style once Riga took over. He did well, but I think you and others are overplaying his impact.
I don't think you remember how utterly dross we were.
I loved Powell.
I guarentee had it been Powell who kept us up you would be giving him all the credit.
Edit. I can't guarentee anything as i don't know you but its the sense i get.
Oh I agree we were an average side and it wasn't much fun. The point I'm trying to make is that I don't think Riga made that much difference, and the players are more important than the manager anyway. We were hardly Barcelona after his arrival (there were some equally shocking performances under his stewardship which have been listed by @IA above), and he had a lot of home games.
I'm not convinced he is what we need right now. But we're probably going to get relegated whoever is our manager for the rest of the season.
Riga targeted games very cleverly, as we had such a backlog to catch up on. With 2 games a week, he found a way of beating the crap teams, which gave us the points that kept us up comfortably. That meant sometimes not putting full strength teams or 100% effort against the better teams, but made total sense at the time.
Indeed his win ratio is incredibly good - there was a thread about this
Riga didn't have enough time to fail. Give him the full season and he'll turn out like Peeters and Luzon. No manager can succeed under such restrictive player recruitment methods.
Comments
We played the best football under Riga in that season. In my opinion Riga deserves a lot of credit in turning that shower around.
Getting Riga in is the only major footballing decision they have got right.
What we do know is that Riga did turn it around and that we did stay up.
It'd be the easy decision for them yet again, hail it is as a proven coach coming in he kept us up he's loved at the Club blah blah, one to please the fans and take the fire out of our eyes.... Better than Fraeye but we're going round in circles.
People go on about the Sheffield United result (where CP was yet agin undermined by the r-soles running our club), I prefer to remember Powell for his last home league match that incredible win over soon to be promoted QPR - the last time I felt any real affinity with what's going on under this poxy regime.
I loved Powell.
I guarentee had it been Powell who kept us up you would be giving him all the credit.
Edit. I can't guarentee anything as i don't know you but its the sense i get.
Does he know this division? Yes.
Would he be able to get the players playing well? Possibly.
Would the fans give him more patience and support than Fraeye? Almost certainly.
A win and Fraeye continues as interim head coach.
We lose and Riga is appointed.
He had a good song though.
For statto heads, in terms of points-per-game, from the start of the season to Powell's sacking, we were 21st (0.9 points per game). From Riga's appointment to end of season we were 13th (1.5 points per game)
We don't know if the main reason for that improvement was Riga, Fraeye, Matthew, Dyer, Roberts, Jackson, professional pride in the squad in general, easier fixtures, games in hand.
I wasn't personally convinced Riga would have been able to maintain the better form long term, but it made no sense to sack him at the time, and even less so in hindsight, and he's definitely preferable to what we have in charge right now, imo.
It's also a very different squad dynamic now because one thing you can say about the players signed by Powell is they usually had some spirit and commitment about them and I think they would have been a lot easier to rally than the current lot. I'm not convinced he;d be able to do it again, but there seems zero chance of us signing anyone else so I'd take him on the basis of beggars can't be choosers.
I'm not convinced he is what we need right now. But we're probably going to get relegated whoever is our manager for the rest of the season.
Indeed his win ratio is incredibly good - there was a thread about this