We haven’t won in 7 games now. Why do we insist in playing with 3 at the back and wing backs that are constantly exposed/can’t defend?
When Jacko took over, he took us back to basics. 4-4-2, and it worked. It essentially got him the job!
In one of his first interviews, he basically said that we needed to get the basics right. Well we need to do that again, because we are now one point out of a possible 21, and scored 3 goals in 7 games.
Comments
Are losing theirs and blaming it on you,
If you can trust yourself when all men doubt you,
But make allowance for their doubting too;
If you can wait and not be tired by waiting,
Or being lied about, don't deal in lies,
Or being hated, don't give way to hating,
And yet don't look too good, nor talk too wise:
If you can dream - and not make dreams your master;
If you can think - and not make thoughts your aim;
If you can meet with Triumph and Disaster
And treat those two impostors just the same;
If you can bear to hear the truth you've spoken
Twisted by knaves to make a trap for fools,
Or watch the things you gave your life to, broken,
And stoop and build 'em up with worn-out tools:
If you can make one heap of all your winnings
And risk it on one turn of pitch-and-toss,
And lose, and start again at your beginnings
And never breathe a word about your loss;
If you can force your heart and nerve and sinew
To serve your turn long after they are gone,
And so hold on when there is nothing in you
Except the Will which says to them: 'Hold on!'
If you can talk with crowds and keep your virtue,
' Or walk with Kings - nor lose the common touch,
if neither foes nor loving friends can hurt you,
If all men count with you, but none too much;
If you can fill the unforgiving minute
With sixty seconds' worth of distance run,
Yours is the Earth and everything that's in it,
And - which is more - you'll be a Man, my son!
Mike Bassett - July 2002
And the world makes you king for a day
Just go to the mirror and look at yourself
And see what that man has to say.
For it isn’t your father, or mother, or wife
Whose judgment upon you must pass
The fellow whose verdict counts most in your life
Is the one staring back from the glass.
He’s the fellow to please – never mind all the rest
For he’s with you, clear to the end
And you’ve passed your most difficult, dangerous test
If the man in the glass is your friend.
You may fool the whole world down the pathway of years
And get pats on the back as you pass
But your final reward will be heartache and tears
If you’ve cheated the man in the glass.
As bizarre as it may sound to some, I want him to stick to his 352 in prep for next season cos that’s clearly his plan.
That said, what a shame we didn't have a ref who guesses when it's a penalty like Lincoln had against us...
Under the last 3 managers we have had a pattern of play and a style, if not rigid formation, that worked. Then suddenly stopped working and they couldn't get it working again.
Regardless of your personal opinions of Bowyer, Adkins, Jackson, Euell and Skiverton you can't say they they don't have the relevant experience and qualifications to coach a 3rd tier English side. They are hardly a bunch of Belgium PE teachers, are they?
To be honest you can say the same about most of our players as well.
Shit players with no bottle seems a fairly accurate if overly basic summary of the problem.
That said, there are quite a few players I'm fairly disappointed with, both in terms of their quality and their decision-making
Go and read the Sunderland away post match threads, they are identical in terms of clear instructions, everyone knowing their role, how refreshing it was, certain players coming back into the team. They were six months apart. How is that even possible.
I guess what people are really asking for is just to go back to basics but there's going back to basics and then there's going back to 1996.
Different formations like 352, 433, 4231 enable you to play more specifically talented players in roles across the pitch