The reality is that performance was barely any different to the Wigan game. Aneke sticks that one away narrative would’ve been very different. We’re playing a game of very fine margins… I don’t believe a team can get promoted doing that all season, need to be able to WIN games and take control of them so concession of a goal isn’t always terminal. We’re playing penalty shoot out football and it might be enough to scramble you through to a euros final across 5 or 6 lucky games but not in a 46 game season
Well that was another disappointing result!, Just checked the highlights, the opening frames show us with a Stevenage player shoving one of our players backwards!. If you are going up to mount an attack you stand your ground, fling your arms out !. The ref will blow up if he thinks there is any 'agro' going on, or should do!. There roll out by the keeper which led to the goal, you have to put a challenge in, not let there player run over half the length of the pitch without closing him down, let alone put a tackle in!. A simple pass over the goal mouth, and Roberts thinks Christmas has come early. 1-0 Very poor marking, the defenders must have been aware!.
Keeping control of the ball, and closing down in this league are a priority, Okay I have only managed men's lower league football, but if that is professional football tactics then someone should have a word!
Quite why Leaburn was not on the bench I have no idea!.... Could have come on the last 15 minutes surely, I appreciate he has had a serious injury, and probably 'advised' not to start, but the guy needs game time, all the gym work in the world is not the answer, or playing knock about training sessions.
Sorry, I was not there so perhaps this limited perspective is wrong, but some pretty inept football mistakes.
The reality is that performance was barely any different to the Wigan game. Aneke sticks that one away narrative would’ve been very different. We’re playing a game of very fine margins… I don’t believe a team can get promoted doing that all season, need to be able to WIN games and take control of them so concession of a goal isn’t always terminal. We’re playing penalty shoot out football and it might be enough to scramble you through to a euros final across 5 or 6 lucky games but not in a 46 game season
And by WIN I mean go out and win them on points to use a boxing analogy (or XG!) and not on penalties
No statistical evidence for this, but it feels like, amongst our current staring XIs, we'd have the fewest Charlton appearances since I started supporting the club in 1972. Where are the long-serving players, the talismen, the players who know and have the club at their heart?
No statistical evidence for this, but it feels like, amongst our current staring XIs, we'd have the fewest Charlton appearances since I started supporting the club in 1972. Where are the long-serving players, the talismen, the players who know and have the club at their heart?
pretty sure Chuks has the most appearances (and goals?) for the club in the squad. Apart from TC & Leaburn I don’t think anyone else was around the senior squad in the 22/23 season, they’re all relatively new
No statistical evidence for this, but it feels like, amongst our current staring XIs, we'd have the fewest Charlton appearances since I started supporting the club in 1972. Where are the long-serving players, the talismen, the players who know and have the club at their heart?
Maybe I’m just defeated after 15 years of general disaster at our club, but this really has the makings of a very disappointing season.
The warning signs were there from the summer recruitment, but “in Jones we trust” was the mantra. I have to admit that, tonight, that trust is really shaken.
The big problem is that I don’t believe we have the tools in the squad to address what I see as the main problem - the abject lack of creativity. We’ve assembled a set of pedestrian (and seemingly similar) midfielders who can’t create and strikers who need someone to create for them. I’m not sure how we solve that conundrum and I don’t have much faith than Jones’ knows how to either.
I agree but the last hope is with Leaburn, which is ridiculously unfair on a lad who’s been out injured for a year. If our attacking play doesn’t work playing off him then it could start getting painful
Not only that but his contract is up at the end of this season.
He is free to talk to other clubs come beginning of 2025.
Similar to pattern tom the Blackpool game although not quite as bad, first 20 we looked half decent, playing some football and with purpose, Coventry was heavily involved breaking up play and quickly laying the ball off, he and Anderson were getting about quite high up the pitch, the defence themselves were keeping a higher line too. The changes to the 11 and tweak in formation seemed to make the difference and some ok football has us using the wingbacks and TC well, BUT we struggled at the business end, 3 forwards and only one was in the game (Campbell) Godden isn't going to battle and hold the ball up and the less said about Kanu the better, he could have been sat in the stands and had the same influence on the match.....SO as a result, and as the half started to come to a close we completely dropped off.
-- Including Cambridge in the bsm, thats 3 games we've tried to play a more expansive game and we have given up midway through the first half, players not buying into it or by design? (I'd go with the latter.)
Second half and we start just as poorly as we finished the first, never got into and was second best throughout, even throwing on chuks slightly earlier than usual didnt bring much change in fortune although it did see us ping off another shot at least. We very quickly become panicked and rushed and nothing comes off, we look awful and Stevenage get to celebrate the win.
Special mention to Coventry, started well but faded (as they all did) but how on earth can he be our designated set piece taker, terrible!
Extra special mention to Kanu, sorry lad, atrocious, couldnt control the ball, couldnt hold the ball, couldnt pass the ball, nothing.
If Jones isnt happy with Small and theres a problem there then can we at least have Edun on the bench? yes yes, he hasnt been great for us but please, not Gillesphey and LB anymore.
All in all, pretty wank really.
-- Personally, I thought at the time and more so now, that Jones didnt use preseason well enough, and given the amount of changes to the midfield and the rotating strike force I think its fair to say he's still trying to work it all out himself. I'm not losing faith or whatever just yet, but its easy to see how fans of other clubs have described him as losing the plot. We do have the players to make some good combinations of battling/ pace/ passing, just hope that he can figure out who to play and how to play them sharpish as I dont think any of us can take too many more Blackpool and Stevenage displays.
It's harsh to our younger players, but I don't think DK and Karoy would be starting games for any other team in this league. If we offered them up for loan they'd be going to L2 or below. Yet they have both played in 5/8 of our L1 games so far. They're not ready to be such regular features and aren't having the desired impact.
Hope Jones goes back to the team that started at Wigan. And I hope the fans stick with Jones through this. We can't do another rinse and repeat, and I think part of this odd chopping and changing of the team is to find the right balance between defensive and attacking. He'll get it right imo but we got to stick with them.
I’m very concerned after that performance yesterday. I hate the style of play but if it brings results ( ala early season results) then I can live with it but playing like that and losing is not acceptable I would rather watch Garnerball tbh
Hope Jones goes back to the team that started at Wigan. And I hope the fans stick with Jones through this. We can't do another rinse and repeat, and I think part of this odd chopping and changing of the team is to find the right balance between defensive and attacking. He'll get it right imo but we got to stick with them.
I really can’t see a reality where Jones gets sacked unless we’re heading for relegation. Hasn’t he got a (very, by L1 standards) long contract? Payoff would be astronomical and the standard of replacement would be no better.
I get the sense that the players are starting to drop their bollock a bit by the lack of the goals we've scored and heads are dropping once we go 30 mins without creating much, if it clicks into place against Rovers and we can score 2/3 before 60 minutes, I could see our fortunes changing quickly with a bit of confidence. I recognise they were a bit more out of form at the time, but in the Bolton game we were able to carve out a good number of opportunities, there's no reason we can't get back to those heights imo. Doc or Berry need to step up as an outlet. I feel Jones has been let down by the pair of them from a creative pov
No statistical evidence for this, but it feels like, amongst our current staring XIs, we'd have the fewest Charlton appearances since I started supporting the club in 1972. Where are the long-serving players, the talismen, the players who know and have the club at their heart?
I think the most tragic thing is the familiarity with it all. On the way up my mate rang me and said 'you're playing Stevenage today, should be a win for yous right' and I had to explain to him how it's nowhere near as simple as that.
We dwarf them in every aspect, yet the last 3 times I've been there, we haven't looked better on the pitch. Even when we beat them on pens in the carabao, they were the better team that night. No disrespect to Stevenage, as I'm sure they've got some nice fans and decent people associated with the club, but for a club of our size and the alleged money involved, to go there and look like the worse team, is well and truly unacceptable.
I'm looking at the players more than Jones. I've always had the belief that we don't have the right owners and management setup (generally speaking) in place. We obviously don't have much money, hence why we have tried to sell any decent player we have had in May, CBT and Dobson. I am still concerned about the people pulling the strings and what their aim is. Any of us can see that this football is getting us nowhere.
We go 1 down and you can pretty much guarantee we are getting a draw at best, it's abysmal. The only players I truly like the look of are Jones, Mitchell, Ramsay, Coventry and sometimes TC. The rest I'd happily see sold or loaned out. In some cases (Edwards & Dixon) I haven't seen enough to form a proper opinion.
Either way, I want the season over now. It's clear we got the transfer window wrong again, looks like we are gonna need another 2 or 3 (how many times has this been said), all that awaits is now is probably a mid-table ish finish and watching clubs we should dwarf, finish above us as usual.
It's a very depressing cycle. I've not lost hope in Jones just yet, but I am having doubts about my vote of confidence, and I am starting to think him and Luton are just a match made in heaven.
The football we play is no different to the likes of Slade, Adkins, Holden etc. Sideways crap passing, until we run out of options and start lumping it long. Then Chuks comes on and we hope he can pull a rabbit out the hat. Woeful.
Sold the best striker we've had since Yann to end the game with Lloyd Jones playing as a striker. Pass me the fkn cyanide
Jones got the players he wanted, he didn’t want May. The owners and board backed.. the buck stops with Jones in my opinion.. sorry, we had all pre season, with most of the squad in place, and all we have done is learnt to lump the ball forward.
It is the worst football I have ever seen from Charlton, maybe since the Parkinson relegation season!
As much as a wet weekend Appleton was, we tried to play football..
Na I'm sorry but he didn't. He may say he did, but he simply has to, to keep his job. No manager in the world completely goes against the board unless they have a certain pull. He probably got what he could, but there's no way he would have been completely happy with the outcome of the transfer window, no top manager in their right mind would.
It isn't the first time he has told a white lie to protect the higher ups in the club, it won't be the last:
It was common knowledge that Dobson was heavily linked with the Hungarian club, but he lied almost immediately before he'd even set foot in the club properly. This is the nature of football.
The football is awful, but it's no different from his predecessors. The difference being, he has proven he can get results, even at a higher level unlike most of the managers we have had.
I just think he needs time and a few transfer windows with some actual cash to secure quality, not chump change.
Got a few solid players with Coventry, Jones, Mitchell, Ramsay etc. Tie them down to better contracts, build slowly. That's the solution. His hands are tied right now imo, he just won't say it for obvious reasons.
If you offered me for the season to end now, mid-table finish, keep Jones and all the players I've mentioned, all the dross out of the club, with more freedom in the transfer market, I'd snap your hand off. This is going to be a slow and ugly process, unless we get cash strapped owners.
Not having that, he has been supported, he got the players he wanted, he didn’t want May.
Godden Berry Edwards Campbell Gass Mitchell Potts are all players that Jones wanted, he got them. He wanted total control, he got that. So far he hasn’t delivered. He promised attacking and direct football, we haven’t got that.
I’m very concerned after that performance yesterday. I hate the style of play but if it brings results ( ala early season results) then I can live with it but playing like that and losing is not acceptable I would rather watch Garnerball tbh
A few of us got pelters at the start of the season when we questioned the manner in which we were winning & were not subscribing to the mantra of "a wins a win".
And now everyone is seeing it for themselves. Teams can always scrape a few 1-0 wins but that wont last long. Long term a decent top 6 side will win well, not win ugly. 8 games in & we've hit the net 7 times....with only one game having scored more than once.
I've said it before & I'll say it again. I'd rather lose 3-2 than win 1-0 as it shows you can score goals, and a good team will overcome the odd defensive lapse & overpower poor teams.
The manner in how you win is so important. I would say the first 4 games this season were an outlier & we have now reverted to type.
Make no mistake, this is all down to Nathan Jones. This is very much his team and it’s very unbalanced and devoid of guile and of a goal threat. Seven goals in eight games if continued will not get us top six. Can you see that materially changing with what we have ? I can’t. We’re looking bang average mid table and boring to watch to boot. Unless things turn around very quickly which I struggle to see how then I think the fan base and NJ’s love in will abruptly cease. I’m not suggesting anything drastic like sacking him. I want him to remain and get it right and given time I suspect he will but currently what we’re getting is totally unacceptable.
Having had a bit more time to reflect on the game and read this thread this morning, I understand why some (not many) want NJ gone, across the SM sites. I agree the football we're playing is turgid and unattractive, with little to no end, our defence is much better this season. However we've lost creativity and hence goals. Midfield is, in the main, sedantry, Coventry the best of the midfield, but very poor dead ball delivery. However do we really need to go on yet another managerial merry go round? Who would people suggest took the reins, surely not another journeyman? We need to stick with NJ and see if he can turn it around. We've suffered 3 defeats all season (league) we're not shipping goals as we used to, so that seems better. NJ now needs to work on creativity in m/f, why not give Taylor a go? Will Miles be used on Tuesday? Kanu isn't the answer, Ahadme is injured, Chuks is a bit part player, Godden isn't getting service. Is Dixon worth a place on the bench, perhaps to use his supposed pace? There's no point harking on about May and Dobbo going, it's happened, it ain't changing, so time to let it go. I do believe we have a defensive foundation for the first time in years, it's all about creativity now. NJ isn't stupid, he must see what is blindingly obvious. If, and I know it's an if, we can be in and around the playoffs by January, NJ will have to go to the board to freshen up midfield and attack. In the meantime he needs to, in my opinion, utilise Taylor, get Miles back and give Dixon a chance. Changing managers now is not the right option, we could be back to square one in weeks.
If he could not 'utilise' Alfie May because of his system , what makes you think he can 'utilise' Taylor, who plays only in the same position as Coventry? The last thing we need is to play 2 defensive midfielders.
It’s easy to go overboard after a(nother) defeat but what is deflating me most is not seeing signs of improvement.
I wasn’t impressed at all with us in pre season and at the start of season, but I was balanced enough to appreciate it takes time for new arrivals to settle and the team to bed down, and if we were nicking a few results then great.
But we’ve stopped nicking results and the team hasn’t bedded down yet.
What is really disappointing is Jones has brought in a lot of players yet before we’ve even got to the end of September…
Doherty (Captain) - dropped Ahadme - dropped Mitchell - dropped Berry - dropped Godden - can’t get in Small - dropped A Campbell - still not in T Campbell striker experiment - abandoned
We’ve a big squad with what seems like a lot of averageness and already look like we are just shuffling the pack around hoping something works differently to the last game.
Even though Small has his faults, imo he's about the only player we have who can put a decent ball in.
Are you serious . That’s the worst part of his game !
Make no mistake, this is all down to Nathan Jones. This is very much his team and it’s very unbalanced and devoid of guile and of a goal threat. Seven goals in eight games if continued will not get us top six. Can you see that materially changing with what we have ? I can’t. We’re looking bang average mid table and boring to watch to boot. Unless things turn around very quickly which I struggle to see how then I think the fan base and NJ’s love in will abruptly cease. I’m not suggesting anything drastic like sacking him. I want him to remain and get it right and given time I suspect he will but currently what we’re getting is totally unacceptable.
I think if there is not an upturn in form then Jones's departure may be inevitable Shooters. We could well lose the next two games and there would no excuse that they were all teams with we have lost too have an expentency of a top six finish, bar Birmingham. My own feeling having watched all the games so far is that our lack of creativity and end product are now costing us games, after the Orient game Jones declared that 'yes we are not fluent but that will come', his team selection yesterday included two full backs in a midfield four, how that promotes attacking fluency is beyond me. If Jones is to turn this around then he needs to trust his back four/three and allow his team to attack, if he wants to play wing backs, fine but let them attack as wing backs, not sit in a back five. Ultimately I have to agree with many posters on here, you generally win games because you attacked a side, that has only happened sporadically this season and that has to change.
Jones is a bit of a loose canon. If a player has a poorish game, they should be relegated to the bench, not left out altogether. Appleton did this and bought players in from nowhere. it's a sure way to lose the dressing room. The balance of Jones recruitment has been poor and his team selection is becoming increasingly erratic. This doesn't bode well and I'm beginning to think that he's yet another manager who's best, is well in the past.
At no point yesterday did I actually think we might score. I feel for Coventry as he must be having a mental battle watching all those failed deliveries from free kicks and corners. Surely the pressure should be taken from him literally anyone on the pitch is capable of delivering better balls than he is at the moment
I think the most tragic thing is the familiarity with it all. On the way up my mate rang me and said 'you're playing Stevenage today, should be a win for yous right' and I had to explain to him how it's nowhere near as simple as that.
We dwarf them in every aspect, yet the last 3 times I've been there, we haven't looked better on the pitch. Even when we beat them on pens in the carabao, they were the better team that night. No disrespect to Stevenage, as I'm sure they've got some nice fans and decent people associated with the club, but for a club of our size and the alleged money involved, to go there and look like the worse team, is well and truly unacceptable.
I'm looking at the players more than Jones. I've always had the belief that we don't have the right owners and management setup (generally speaking) in place. We obviously don't have much money, hence why we have tried to sell any decent player we have had in May, CBT and Dobson. I am still concerned about the people pulling the strings and what their aim is. Any of us can see that this football is getting us nowhere.
We go 1 down and you can pretty much guarantee we are getting a draw at best, it's abysmal. The only players I truly like the look of are Jones, Mitchell, Ramsay, Coventry and sometimes TC. The rest I'd happily see sold or loaned out. In some cases (Edwards & Dixon) I haven't seen enough to form a proper opinion.
Either way, I want the season over now. It's clear we got the transfer window wrong again, looks like we are gonna need another 2 or 3 (how many times has this been said), all that awaits is now is probably a mid-table ish finish and watching clubs we should dwarf, finish above us as usual.
It's a very depressing cycle. I've not lost hope in Jones just yet, but I am having doubts about my vote of confidence, and I am starting to think him and Luton are just a match made in heaven.
The football we play is no different to the likes of Slade, Adkins, Holden etc. Sideways crap passing, until we run out of options and start lumping it long. Then Chuks comes on and we hope he can pull a rabbit out the hat. Woeful.
Sold the best striker we've had since Yann to end the game with Lloyd Jones playing as a striker. Pass me the fkn cyanide
Jones got the players he wanted, he didn’t want May. The owners and board backed.. the buck stops with Jones in my opinion.. sorry, we had all pre season, with most of the squad in place, and all we have done is learnt to lump the ball forward.
It is the worst football I have ever seen from Charlton, maybe since the Parkinson relegation season!
As much as a wet weekend Appleton was, we tried to play football..
Na I'm sorry but he didn't. He may say he did, but he simply has to, to keep his job. No manager in the world completely goes against the board unless they have a certain pull. He probably got what he could, but there's no way he would have been completely happy with the outcome of the transfer window, no top manager in their right mind would.
It isn't the first time he has told a white lie to protect the higher ups in the club, it won't be the last:
It was common knowledge that Dobson was heavily linked with the Hungarian club, but he lied almost immediately before he'd even set foot in the club properly. This is the nature of football.
The football is awful, but it's no different from his predecessors. The difference being, he has proven he can get results, even at a higher level unlike most of the managers we have had.
I just think he needs time and a few transfer windows with some actual cash to secure quality, not chump change.
Got a few solid players with Coventry, Jones, Mitchell, Ramsay etc. Tie them down to better contracts, build slowly. That's the solution. His hands are tied right now imo, he just won't say it for obvious reasons.
If you offered me for the season to end now, mid-table finish, keep Jones and all the players I've mentioned, all the dross out of the club, with more freedom in the transfer market, I'd snap your hand off. This is going to be a slow and ugly process, unless we get cash strapped owners.
Not having that, he has been supported, he got the players he wanted, he didn’t want May.
Godden Berry Edwards Campbell Gass Mitchell Potts are all players that Jones wanted, he got them. He wanted total control, he got that. So far he hasn’t delivered. He promised attacking and direct football, we haven’t got that.
So when Jones walked in, do you think he specifically asked for those players?
Within reason he got what he wanted, maybe, but I'd be willing to wager there are a fair few players here he would rather replace or move on. The owners don't have the funds to give a manager a proper go at a transfer window, it is a budget. Not much point comparing us to the rest of the league and how we have the '4th highest budget', as a) we should be playing above this level and b) most of these clubs are at the right level or are punching.
If the owners want out of the league, show the money. I remember then saying about the 8 elite players nonsense. We arguably don't even have one elite player. Some very decent players yes, but no one that walks into any team in the league. So already that was a load of nonsense.
I am not saying Jones is above any criticism, the football has been poor, and that is partly down to him. I imagine some of these players aren't performing to the level expected, and that always isn't in the managers control.
Would be bonkers to get rid of Jones at this time. HOWEVER, if after 25 games we are devoid in the goals department, then WHOEVER MADE THE FUCKING DECISION TO GET RID OF MAY has to go.
As stated earlier I am away for a short break and within an hour's drive from Bristol. I couldnt even be arsed to see the score till I got back to our cottage till the evening as the result was inevitable.
Can't be bothered to go Tuesday even though I am quite close and the other half wants to visit Bristol this week.
We have had many ups and downs over the years and in the past I would have made this trip.
Shows how bad we have become. Spoke to a few mates who were there yesterday and basically said it was dross as I have witnessed so far.
Midweek in front of about 300 away fans are exactly the games we’ll go and win Chips
Went to the 5-1,a few years back mate, then we had mcginnis and lookman up front... Now we have nobody.
The last time we had a midfield with less creativity than this was when we had Crofts, Foley and Jackson ( when his legs really had gone). NJ and Andy Scott have a lot to answer for in not bringing in a creative midfielder. We can shuffle the pack as many times as we want but without that bit of creativity that is missing it will make no difference.
It pains me to be fair to Scott. But Jones insisted the signings were down to himself & I distinctly recall Jones saying some of the staff (surely Scott) weren't happy that Jones insisted Docherty could play as an attacking midfielder. As it stands Jones was wrong and Scott? was right.
Comments
Just checked the highlights, the opening frames show us with a Stevenage player shoving one of our players backwards!. If you are going up to mount an attack you stand your ground, fling your arms out !. The ref will blow up if he thinks there is any 'agro' going on, or should do!. There roll out by the keeper which led to the goal, you have to put a challenge in, not let there player run over half the length of the pitch without closing him down, let alone put a tackle in!. A simple pass over the goal mouth, and Roberts thinks Christmas has come early. 1-0
Very poor marking, the defenders must have been aware!.
Keeping control of the ball, and closing down in this league are a priority, Okay I have only managed men's lower league football, but if that is professional football tactics then someone should have a word!
Quite why Leaburn was not on the bench I have no idea!.... Could have come on the last 15 minutes surely, I appreciate he has had a serious injury, and probably 'advised' not to start, but the guy needs game time, all the gym work in the world is not the answer, or playing knock about training sessions.
Sorry, I was not there so perhaps this limited perspective is wrong, but some pretty inept football mistakes.
Similar to pattern tom the Blackpool game although not quite as bad, first 20 we looked half decent, playing some football and with purpose, Coventry was heavily involved breaking up play and quickly laying the ball off, he and Anderson were getting about quite high up the pitch, the defence themselves were keeping a higher line too. The changes to the 11 and tweak in formation seemed to make the difference and some ok football has us using the wingbacks and TC well, BUT we struggled at the business end, 3 forwards and only one was in the game (Campbell) Godden isn't going to battle and hold the ball up and the less said about Kanu the better, he could have been sat in the stands and had the same influence on the match.....SO as a result, and as the half started to come to a close we completely dropped off.
-- Including Cambridge in the bsm, thats 3 games we've tried to play a more expansive game and we have given up midway through the first half, players not buying into it or by design? (I'd go with the latter.)
Second half and we start just as poorly as we finished the first, never got into and was second best throughout, even throwing on chuks slightly earlier than usual didnt bring much change in fortune although it did see us ping off another shot at least.
We very quickly become panicked and rushed and nothing comes off, we look awful and Stevenage get to celebrate the win.
Special mention to Coventry, started well but faded (as they all did) but how on earth can he be our designated set piece taker, terrible!
Extra special mention to Kanu, sorry lad, atrocious, couldnt control the ball, couldnt hold the ball, couldnt pass the ball, nothing.
If Jones isnt happy with Small and theres a problem there then can we at least have Edun on the bench? yes yes, he hasnt been great for us but please, not Gillesphey and LB anymore.
All in all, pretty wank really.
-- Personally, I thought at the time and more so now, that Jones didnt use preseason well enough, and given the amount of changes to the midfield and the rotating strike force I think its fair to say he's still trying to work it all out himself. I'm not losing faith or whatever just yet, but its easy to see how fans of other clubs have described him as losing the plot. We do have the players to make some good combinations of battling/ pace/ passing, just hope that he can figure out who to play and how to play them sharpish as I dont think any of us can take too many more Blackpool and Stevenage displays.
And I hope the fans stick with Jones through this. We can't do another rinse and repeat, and I think part of this odd chopping and changing of the team is to find the right balance between defensive and attacking.
He'll get it right imo but we got to stick with them.
Berry
Edwards
Campbell
Gass
Mitchell
Potts
are all players that Jones wanted, he got them. He wanted total control, he got that. So far he hasn’t delivered. He promised attacking and direct football, we haven’t got that.
And now everyone is seeing it for themselves. Teams can always scrape a few 1-0 wins but that wont last long. Long term a decent top 6 side will win well, not win ugly. 8 games in & we've hit the net 7 times....with only one game having scored more than once.
I've said it before & I'll say it again. I'd rather lose 3-2 than win 1-0 as it shows you can score goals, and a good team will overcome the odd defensive lapse & overpower poor teams.
The manner in how you win is so important. I would say the first 4 games this season were an outlier & we have now reverted to type.
😉
Within reason he got what he wanted, maybe, but I'd be willing to wager there are a fair few players here he would rather replace or move on. The owners don't have the funds to give a manager a proper go at a transfer window, it is a budget. Not much point comparing us to the rest of the league and how we have the '4th highest budget', as a) we should be playing above this level and b) most of these clubs are at the right level or are punching.
If the owners want out of the league, show the money. I remember then saying about the 8 elite players nonsense. We arguably don't even have one elite player. Some very decent players yes, but no one that walks into any team in the league. So already that was a load of nonsense.
I am not saying Jones is above any criticism, the football has been poor, and that is partly down to him. I imagine some of these players aren't performing to the level expected, and that always isn't in the managers control.
But Jones insisted the signings were down to himself & I distinctly recall Jones saying some of the staff (surely Scott) weren't happy that Jones insisted Docherty could play as an attacking midfielder.
As it stands Jones was wrong and Scott? was right.