I still think that with a change of formation, we can be more competitive, as there are enough options in the squad. Our 4231/433 isn't working as we're being slaughtered down the flanks. With 4 attacking players who can't defend on the pitch, it can easily look more like 424
Change to a Curbs/Powell 442 or 4411 with one winger and 3 midfielders and we look more solid, e.g.
Keeper
RB Lavelle Famewo LB
Clare/Morgan Arter/Dobson Gilbey/Morgan CBT/Leko
Lee/Leko/Washington
Stockley/Davison
In no way excusing Adkins, but is the constant use of the 433/ 4231 a requirement? We've heard of the pathway plan which sounds exactly like the saints model, a clear pathway from the youngest age group to first team, all play to the same formation and style, players and coaches are scouted and brought in to fit to the club's vision.
I guess a question.to ask is, are we paying 433/4231 because that's what Adkins wants or do we have Adkins because thats what the club wants - 433/4231, sound similar yet pretty different... Look at Adkins' past jobs in particular the League one seasons and he mainly played... yep, 442...add in the comments that Henry wrote up from the teams chat the other day, about what's needed for a league one squad he said:
Tall players - as lot of goals come from set pieces A captian - for those tough games
Warriors - for those tough games Athletic players to get through a 40+ game season
Settled side
Left and right set piece takers - as a lot of goals come from set pieces Pacey player 20+ goal a season man
Sounds like the basics of a 442 to me...
And from that list of league one must haves we signed what?
One tall player - Stockley Pacey player - CBT/Leko
Again, not excusing him as if his hands are a bit tied*, then he needs to have a word and say something to the powers that be rather than act a complete mug and go with it - that's still stackable as that's avoiding our issues in the hope it'll click.
* Not trying to add to the current list of CL conspiracy theories facts:
Roddy keeping Adkins in job because they're old buddies from when they wasn't at Reading together
Roddy not telling TS how bad it really is because TS has no way of seeing that for himself.
Adkins has lost the dressing room because he's far too nice and the players don't respect him because of it.
JJ and Euell have no say because Adkins Mr far too nice immediately shuts them down and bullies them into silence.
Adkins channels his inner Fraye and only gives instructions such as "play football"
DJ threw a dildo called Adkins at the dugout on Saturday.
It's a good question. I see a lot of comments that it's the formation that's the problem or doesn't suit the players we have. Every club in this division, and the one above, play either a flat back four and 1 central striker or 3/5 at the back. The very rare examples of 442 use either a diamond or box 4 rather than the flat 4 of yesteryear.
We played it at the end of the season last season and it worked. Kirk probably hasn't played in any other formation in his career, Leko and CBT would have played it a youth level, Arter has played it most of his career. It shouldn't bother Lavelle in his position. Lee played it at both Luton and Oxford.
All the summer recruitment should have been based on 4231/433 because that's what the manager wanted. It probably was but, to me, it looks like it was more based on data and "good players" rather than how they fit in to the team. Kirk and Lee are good examples of this, they are very different types of players to the ones we had in those roles last season.
It's not, in my opinion, that it doesn't suit the players it's that he doesn't have the players that have defensive nous to play the system. Corey Blackett Taylor does not understand tracking back, maybe one of the reasons he is at this level. Lee is once again a purely offensive player as is Kirk. Contrast that with someone like Miller, who clearly knew how to defend and attack, Pratley and the sorely missed Forster Caskey. Players like Dobson and Morgan are still learning the game but will be very good players but not yet. For me Adkins problem is that he is stuck to a system that is not producing results and refuses to alter that system, look at the substitution of Lee on Saturday, he bought Corey Blackett Taylor on rather than Stockley, he then changed it positionally twice after that.
I agree. Adkins has to go but this squad is no great shakes either. A terrible recruitment drive in the summer.
We are in deep shit
Agreed we are currently in deep shit. However, this current squad is easily a top 6-12th squad in the league. No way should this group of players be where they are. They are partly to blame but buck stops with Adkins.
Is it? To be 6-12th we would pretty much have to have had double the points we have got. I could make an argument for 4 or 5 more points, but not 9-10 with the players we have got.
Last season we had a 6-12th team, a couple of slight improvements would have made it a comfortable top 6 team. We haven't improved a single position (maybe right wing and back up RCB at a push). Every other new player is worse than the one they replaced, in the starting 11.
Add in the fact last season, for large parts, we were as poor as we are now, the big difference was Aneke turned defeats into draws and draws into wins.
The whole place is rotten.
It really is. This squad is easily good enough for 6-12th in League 1. You can’t keep blaming recruitment and not Adkins. We have a decent squad for the third division of English football.
In October we: Don’t look fit.. all Manager doesn’t know his best 11 Making 5/6 changes per game Look incredibly easy to beat Have no identity or style of play Players in wrong position, i.e Gilbey CDM, Morgan in Number 10.
Who’s fault is that.. just recruitment?
It’s a shambles. The squad is being managed terribly hence why it’s sitting in the bottom 3 of league 1.
You seriously going to say that you don’t think this squad isn’t capable of let’s say.. 9th at this point? Come on now. Stop deflecting it away from Adkins. I like the guy, but it very clearly isn’t working with him.
To be 9th you would have to double our points. Compare it to last season. Keeper worse, left back worse, left winger worse, a massive JFC sized gap in the middle that hasn't been filled at all. No game changer coming off the bench which, how ever you dress it up, would have left us in the bottom half last season.
I am not deflecting it away from Adkins I am saying that just sacking him and plugging someone else in with the same players and same set up wouldn't magically have doubled our points total. I agree we should be doing better but I don't agree that we should be comfortably top half.
There is so much rotten, some of which is clearly Adkins fault, some of clearly isn't and some that we don't actually know who's fault it is.
He got the sub massively wrong on Saturday but outside of the starting 11 there wasn't anyone who is banging the door down to start a game.
There will be changes tomorrow night, regardless of who the manager is but the players that come in for the ones that were shit on Saturday will be the ones that were shit 2 or 3 games ago.
Ok so, If being realistic a decent manager who would have known his best 11 by now and I think the squad would 10000% be more fitter the winnable games this squad is easily capable of winning that we didn't:
Bolton (H), Cheltenham (H) MK Dons (A) Portsmouth (H) -(they was bang out of form when we played them) Lincon (A)
Out of those 15 points we got... 1. This current squad is very cable of getting more than 1 point return from those games. We should very easily have got at least 10-11 points from those fixtures. 11 points would put us currently 6th.. at worst.
I don’t understand this mantra of assuming we’re better than where we are with this squad and as such being able to beat the above.
Cheltenham were far better than us, as were Pompey who let us back in by taking the foot of the gas. Lincoln could’ve won by more were they more aggressive, and most of our fans chanted ‘you’re not fit to wear the shirt’ after MK Dons. Bolton’s late goals flattered the score line a tad, but we were terrible after they equalised.
I agree that someone (anyone), would probably have us a bit higher than NA, but the players also need to look at themselves and we need to stop seeing them as good players.
Gunter - crap Matthews - mediocre Purrington - mediocre Famewo - gone backwards Lavelle - looks dodgy to me Gilbey - massively overrated off the run of games at the end of last season, a great player to point and tell others what to do on the pitch, but floats in and out individually Leko - can he be bothered DJ - I’ve seen millions of wingers like him over the years, doesn’t stand out at all Kirk - has the physique and presence of a small child Stockley - gone backwards Morgan - gone backwards, Hollywood balls and no substance Watson - speaks volumes about our plight he seems to be the player in CM that is generally first choice Pearce - the old grappler
I might be being harsh and I probably don’t see it like a lot of others, but I think we’ve got a sea of mediocre professionals and a manager without a clue.
I don’t think you are being harsh at all - in fact you have been kind to a couple of the players in your assessment.
We have a clueless manager who until recently was living off the success he achieved at Southampton 10 years ago. We have a backroom team that must have serious question marks against their names. WTF goes on all week at the training ground?
All that said, I’m not sure many coaching teams would get much more out of such a poor group of players. We keep reading that we “have at least a top 6 squad” - but do we really? We might have a couple of top 6 players, but not a squad…..the recruitment over the summer was pathetic.
At this moment in time I would settle for a 14th place finish in the table and a complete rebuild starting now. Clear the entire management team out (and yes that includes Jackson). Get somebody in who is young and hungry and let him build something. We get far to many loan players in that don’t really give a shit.
We have to many people still let over from the RD and Southall debacles - clear them out, we just seem to have an acceptance at the club that being shit is acceptable.
Sandgaard has bought a football club - now he needs to run is as a football club. If he hasn’t got the finance, he should just put it up for sale. This farcical situation with Adkins has realised serious questions as to what he actually wants from all of this.
for sale, shit team with a shit manager, losing shit loads of money, ground and training ground not included as they're owned by some yellow toothed shit in Belgium.
i honestly think if he doesn't get someone else in soon and let them bring their own team then were going down and if we do he will admit defeat and pull the plug and thet'll be the end of us as a football club
We have not been on the end of a bad beating like some teams which is a positive! beat Stanley and the. We can go on a run!
Bolton at home?
Not getting hidings isn't the point is it, it's the manner of the defeat, the Cheltenham performance was the equivalent of getting done 5 nil
As BR7 said a few weeks ago. I can take losing, even on a regular basis it's the manner or the loss. Even if we had picked a point up Saturday it would of still been a bad as performance as a loss. All I want is some fight in the team. Sort out the problems in the club and if that means Adkins to go and half the team being u23s because others players are not up to for the cause , then so be it.
I still think that with a change of formation, we can be more competitive, as there are enough options in the squad. Our 4231/433 isn't working as we're being slaughtered down the flanks. With 4 attacking players who can't defend on the pitch, it can easily look more like 424
Change to a Curbs/Powell 442 or 4411 with one winger and 3 midfielders and we look more solid, e.g.
Keeper
RB Lavelle Famewo LB
Clare/Morgan Arter/Dobson Gilbey/Morgan CBT/Leko
Lee/Leko/Washington
Stockley/Davison
In no way excusing Adkins, but is the constant use of the 433/ 4231 a requirement? We've heard of the pathway plan which sounds exactly like the saints model, a clear pathway from the youngest age group to first team, all play to the same formation and style, players and coaches are scouted and brought in to fit to the club's vision.
I guess a question.to ask is, are we paying 433/4231 because that's what Adkins wants or do we have Adkins because thats what the club wants - 433/4231, sound similar yet pretty different... Look at Adkins' past jobs in particular the League one seasons and he mainly played... yep, 442...add in the comments that Henry wrote up from the teams chat the other day, about what's needed for a league one squad he said:
Tall players - as lot of goals come from set pieces A captian - for those tough games
Warriors - for those tough games Athletic players to get through a 40+ game season
Settled side
Left and right set piece takers - as a lot of goals come from set pieces Pacey player 20+ goal a season man
Sounds like the basics of a 442 to me...
And from that list of league one must haves we signed what?
One tall player - Stockley Pacey player - CBT/Leko
Again, not excusing him as if his hands are a bit tied*, then he needs to have a word and say something to the powers that be rather than act a complete mug and go with it - that's still stackable as that's avoiding our issues in the hope it'll click.
* Not trying to add to the current list of CL conspiracy theories facts:
Roddy keeping Adkins in job because they're old buddies from when they wasn't at Reading together
Roddy not telling TS how bad it really is because TS has no way of seeing that for himself.
Adkins has lost the dressing room because he's far too nice and the players don't respect him because of it.
JJ and Euell have no say because Adkins Mr far too nice immediately shuts them down and bullies them into silence.
Adkins channels his inner Fraye and only gives instructions such as "play football"
DJ threw a dildo called Adkins at the dugout on Saturday.
It's a good question. I see a lot of comments that it's the formation that's the problem or doesn't suit the players we have. Every club in this division, and the one above, play either a flat back four and 1 central striker or 3/5 at the back. The very rare examples of 442 use either a diamond or box 4 rather than the flat 4 of yesteryear.
We played it at the end of the season last season and it worked. Kirk probably hasn't played in any other formation in his career, Leko and CBT would have played it a youth level, Arter has played it most of his career. It shouldn't bother Lavelle in his position. Lee played it at both Luton and Oxford.
All the summer recruitment should have been based on 4231/433 because that's what the manager wanted. It probably was but, to me, it looks like it was more based on data and "good players" rather than how they fit in to the team. Kirk and Lee are good examples of this, they are very different types of players to the ones we had in those roles last season.
It's not, in my opinion, that it doesn't suit the players it's that he doesn't have the players that have defensive nous to play the system. Corey Blackett Taylor does not understand tracking back, maybe one of the reasons he is at this level. Lee is once again a purely offensive player as is Kirk. Contrast that with someone like Miller, who clearly knew how to defend and attack, Pratley and the sorely missed Forster Caskey. Players like Dobson and Morgan are still learning the game but will be very good players but not yet. For me Adkins problem is that he is stuck to a system that is not producing results and refuses to alter that system, look at the substitution of Lee on Saturday, he bought Corey Blackett Taylor on rather than Stockley, he then changed it positionally twice after that.
I agree. Adkins has to go but this squad is no great shakes either. A terrible recruitment drive in the summer.
We are in deep shit
Agreed we are currently in deep shit. However, this current squad is easily a top 6-12th squad in the league. No way should this group of players be where they are. They are partly to blame but buck stops with Adkins.
Is it? To be 6-12th we would pretty much have to have had double the points we have got. I could make an argument for 4 or 5 more points, but not 9-10 with the players we have got.
Last season we had a 6-12th team, a couple of slight improvements would have made it a comfortable top 6 team. We haven't improved a single position (maybe right wing and back up RCB at a push). Every other new player is worse than the one they replaced, in the starting 11.
Add in the fact last season, for large parts, we were as poor as we are now, the big difference was Aneke turned defeats into draws and draws into wins.
The whole place is rotten.
It really is. This squad is easily good enough for 6-12th in League 1. You can’t keep blaming recruitment and not Adkins. We have a decent squad for the third division of English football.
In October we: Don’t look fit.. all Manager doesn’t know his best 11 Making 5/6 changes per game Look incredibly easy to beat Have no identity or style of play Players in wrong position, i.e Gilbey CDM, Morgan in Number 10.
Who’s fault is that.. just recruitment?
It’s a shambles. The squad is being managed terribly hence why it’s sitting in the bottom 3 of league 1.
You seriously going to say that you don’t think this squad isn’t capable of let’s say.. 9th at this point? Come on now. Stop deflecting it away from Adkins. I like the guy, but it very clearly isn’t working with him.
To be 9th you would have to double our points. Compare it to last season. Keeper worse, left back worse, left winger worse, a massive JFC sized gap in the middle that hasn't been filled at all. No game changer coming off the bench which, how ever you dress it up, would have left us in the bottom half last season.
I am not deflecting it away from Adkins I am saying that just sacking him and plugging someone else in with the same players and same set up wouldn't magically have doubled our points total. I agree we should be doing better but I don't agree that we should be comfortably top half.
There is so much rotten, some of which is clearly Adkins fault, some of clearly isn't and some that we don't actually know who's fault it is.
He got the sub massively wrong on Saturday but outside of the starting 11 there wasn't anyone who is banging the door down to start a game.
There will be changes tomorrow night, regardless of who the manager is but the players that come in for the ones that were shit on Saturday will be the ones that were shit 2 or 3 games ago.
Ok so, If being realistic a decent manager who would have known his best 11 by now and I think the squad would 10000% be more fitter the winnable games this squad is easily capable of winning that we didn't:
Bolton (H), Cheltenham (H) MK Dons (A) Portsmouth (H) -(they was bang out of form when we played them) Lincon (A)
Out of those 15 points we got... 1. This current squad is very cable of getting more than 1 point return from those games. We should very easily have got at least 10-11 points from those fixtures. 11 points would put us currently 6th.. at worst.
I don’t understand this mantra of assuming we’re better than where we are with this squad and as such being able to beat the above.
Cheltenham were far better than us, as were Pompey who let us back in by taking the foot of the gas. Lincoln could’ve won by more were they more aggressive, and most of our fans chanted ‘you’re not fit to wear the shirt’ after MK Dons. Bolton’s late goals flattered the score line a tad, but we were terrible after they equalised.
I agree that someone (anyone), would probably have us a bit higher than NA, but the players also need to look at themselves and we need to stop seeing them as good players.
Gunter - crap Matthews - mediocre Purrington - mediocre Famewo - gone backwards Lavelle - looks dodgy to me Gilbey - massively overrated off the run of games at the end of last season, a great player to point and tell others what to do on the pitch, but floats in and out individually Leko - can he be bothered DJ - I’ve seen millions of wingers like him over the years, doesn’t stand out at all Kirk - has the physique and presence of a small child Stockley - gone backwards Morgan - gone backwards, Hollywood balls and no substance Watson - speaks volumes about our plight he seems to be the player in CM that is generally first choice Pearce - the old grappler
I might be being harsh and I probably don’t see it like a lot of others, but I think we’ve got a sea of mediocre professionals and a manager without a clue.
I don’t think you are being harsh at all - in fact you have been kind to a couple of the players in your assessment.
We have a clueless manager who until recently was living off the success he achieved at Southampton 10 years ago. We have a backroom team that must have serious question marks against their names. WTF goes on all week at the training ground?
All that said, I’m not sure many coaching teams would get much more out of such a poor group of players. We keep reading that we “have at least a top 6 squad” - but do we really? We might have a couple of top 6 players, but not a squad…..the recruitment over the summer was pathetic.
At this moment in time I would settle for a 14th place finish in the table and a complete rebuild starting now. Clear the entire management team out (and yes that includes Jackson). Get somebody in who is young and hungry and let him build something. We get far to many loan players in that don’t really give a shit.
We have to many people still let over from the RD and Southall debacles - clear them out, we just seem to have an acceptance at the club that being shit is acceptable.
Sandgaard has bought a football club - now he needs to run is as a football club. If he hasn’t got the finance, he should just put it up for sale. This farcical situation with Adkins has realised serious questions as to what he actually wants from all of this.
I don't think we have a top 6 squad.
But I don't think we have a bottom 6 one either. We're underachieving.
All this mess and the way football is now leads me to these conclusions:
1. Only ever give a new manager a one season contract. 2. Have a get out clause related to minimal acceptable performance. For example if in League One the team is under 1.25 points per game on average at any point after 10 games played then the contract can be terminated without paying up the contract. 3. After the first season a manager can have a two year contract and after that three years etc.
It sickens me that Adkins would get his contract paid up in full if sacked. It doesn't happen in the real world.
That will only work if you give them a huge salary and make the risk worth it with a progressive club that could shoot up the leagues.
you wouldn’t attract the decent managers who could get a 3 year deal with no strings elsewhere.
Ok but:
1. Adkins wasn't getting any other offers, was he?
Not convinced we have a top 6 squad but I do expect a lot more than they’re showing.
Take Kirk as an example, he scored 6 goals in 42 league games for Crewe last season. He clearly has no confidence and looks like someone playing about 3 levels above where he should be. There’s no way if he moved on to a better run club that he’d look so ineffective.
Clubs like Lincoln and Cheltenham have smaller budgets and yet they play out from the back, create chances and press far better than we do.
We’ve made mistakes with recruitment, we’re still building up fitness levels and players need to settle in but by now we should at least see signs of a style of play emerging. That’s my biggest concern and why I don’t see Adkins turning it around. If we saw signs of that we’d see a way we could improve results, but we’re nowhere near, we’re poor in every area.
To start with we need to stop being so open and be braver on the ball. Plenty of clubs manage that without our resources, it’s down to motivation and tactics. There are plenty here if moved on would do well at another L1 club.
All this mess and the way football is now leads me to these conclusions:
1. Only ever give a new manager a one season contract. 2. Have a get out clause related to minimal acceptable performance. For example if in League One the team is under 1.25 points per game on average at any point after 10 games played then the contract can be terminated without paying up the contract. 3. After the first season a manager can have a two year contract and after that three years etc.
It sickens me that Adkins would get his contract paid up in full if sacked. It doesn't happen in the real world.
No decent manager would sign up for that though.
Your applicants would be untested managers looking for their first managerial job, or out of work desperate managers looking to take any job to get back in the game.
Well, Adkins falls into the second category, and Jackson falls into the first. It's time to give Jacko a go. I'm confident he'd at least get us the 1.25 points per game to avoid relegation. If we wait until Christmas the target will be 1.5
All this mess and the way football is now leads me to these conclusions:
1. Only ever give a new manager a one season contract. 2. Have a get out clause related to minimal acceptable performance. For example if in League One the team is under 1.25 points per game on average at any point after 10 games played then the contract can be terminated without paying up the contract. 3. After the first season a manager can have a two year contract and after that three years etc.
It sickens me that Adkins would get his contract paid up in full if sacked. It doesn't happen in the real world.
That will only work if you give them a huge salary and make the risk worth it with a progressive club that could shoot up the leagues.
you wouldn’t attract the decent managers who could get a 3 year deal with no strings elsewhere.
Ok but:
1. Adkins wasn't getting any other offers, was he?
2. Is he a decent manager?
He claims he turned down championship clubs between the Hull job and ours. Claims he recommended Andy Cosby to them. Claims is doing a lot of heavy lifting because there is no, realistic, way of knowing if its true.
Not convinced we have a top 6 squad but I do expect a lot more than they’re showing.
Take Kirk as an example, he scored 6 goals in 42 league games for Crewe last season. He clearly has no confidence and looks like someone playing about 3 levels above where he should be. There’s no way if he moved on to a better run club that he’d look so ineffective.
Clubs like Lincoln and Cheltenham have smaller budgets and yet they play out from the back, create chances and press far better than we do.
We’ve made mistakes with recruitment, we’re still building up fitness levels and players need to settle in but by now we should at least see signs of a style of play emerging. That’s my biggest concern and why I don’t see Adkins turning it around. If we saw signs of that we’d see a way we could improve results, but we’re nowhere near, we’re poor in every area.
To start with we need to stop being so open and be braver on the ball. Plenty of clubs manage that without our resources, it’s down to motivation and tactics. There are plenty here if moved on would do well at another L1 club.
This has been evident for quite a while. It can be down to a lack of confidence and passing the buck for somebody else to cock it up. But whatever it is down to I don't recall less bravery from a Charlton side and we have had some poor ones being honest.
Another game with Adkins in charge I think is another opportunity wasted and any opportunity to gain any points wasted. I'm very concerned that TS has done nothing about the situation up to date, 12 games in for goodness sake with just 9 points!!!! The worst league position in the clubs history somebody said , how much worse do you let it get before you act TS????
Not convinced we have a top 6 squad but I do expect a lot more than they’re showing.
Take Kirk as an example, he scored 6 goals in 42 league games for Crewe last season. He clearly has no confidence and looks like someone playing about 3 levels above where he should be. There’s no way if he moved on to a better run club that he’d look so ineffective.
Clubs like Lincoln and Cheltenham have smaller budgets and yet they play out from the back, create chances and press far better than we do.
We’ve made mistakes with recruitment, we’re still building up fitness levels and players need to settle in but by now we should at least see signs of a style of play emerging. That’s my biggest concern and why I don’t see Adkins turning it around. If we saw signs of that we’d see a way we could improve results, but we’re nowhere near, we’re poor in every area.
To start with we need to stop being so open and be braver on the ball. Plenty of clubs manage that without our resources, it’s down to motivation and tactics. There are plenty here if moved on would do well at another L1 club.
This has been evident for quite a while. It can be down to a lack of confidence and passing the buck for somebody else to cock it up. But whatever it is down to I don't recall less bravery from a Charlton side and we have had some poor ones being honest.
Agree. I’d argue Parky’s 10/11 side probably had less technical ability but they battled and created enough to get results, even though it wasn’t great to watch.
Not convinced we have a top 6 squad but I do expect a lot more than they’re showing.
Take Kirk as an example, he scored 6 goals in 42 league games for Crewe last season. He clearly has no confidence and looks like someone playing about 3 levels above where he should be. There’s no way if he moved on to a better run club that he’d look so ineffective.
Clubs like Lincoln and Cheltenham have smaller budgets and yet they play out from the back, create chances and press far better than we do.
We’ve made mistakes with recruitment, we’re still building up fitness levels and players need to settle in but by now we should at least see signs of a style of play emerging. That’s my biggest concern and why I don’t see Adkins turning it around. If we saw signs of that we’d see a way we could improve results, but we’re nowhere near, we’re poor in every area.
To start with we need to stop being so open and be braver on the ball. Plenty of clubs manage that without our resources, it’s down to motivation and tactics. There are plenty here if moved on would do well at another L1 club.
re Kirk. Of all the players he's the one I'd cut some slack. With what happened in his personal life, moving down to the smoke and then being asked to play in a team short on confidence and lacking in direction on the pitch it's no wonder he's struggling. In fact he's probably asking himself 'what have I fucking done'?
Another problem is that if Jackson/Euell get the job and get a couple of scrappy draws. TS is going to be very unpopular if he sacks them both for his 'preferred' choice.
The fanbase are going to cling onto any kind of improvement that JJ + E give to the team because of how desperate they are to succeed.
Giving them the job and them doing an average job will put us in a lot of trouble because TS will be hesitent to move them on, even if they aren't getting the result required to save us.
To save us this season, an average job is all we need.
To decide on the manager for next season: For the last ten games, if they're getting 2 points a game, they keep the job.
Anything other than automatic promotion form is not good enough but for the immediate future it's make do and mend.
This season we need to get safely in mid table and have a go at the cups. The worry is, under this manager and set up, that doesn't look an easy aspiration.
The bizarre thing is against Bolton we played well for the longest period yet suffered our biggest defeat when we imploded for the last 25 minutes or so. A combination of fitness, poor mentality, lack of confidence, inability to play with any cohesion over 90+ minutes and TBF to Bolton they did attack in numbers which I had pointed out in preview when I watched many of their goals on Quest.
The worse indictment on Nigel Adkins is after two international breaks we have been the most clueless after 10 sessions on the training ground. Either on the pitch and with the analysis inside at Sparrows lane; every player should be aware of what formation and tactics we were going with against Cheltenham and Lincoln.
The first half against Cheltenham was as bad as it could get against a bang average team. Craig MacGillivray kept the score down that day.
Only seen the goals but sounds a similar performance against a Lincoln team that are weaker than last season.
Not saying anything I didn't say in pre season but like a few others have mentioned the reason I thought we wouldn't do as well as last Season with no super sub Chuks Aneke But I still thought 8th to 10th, which would be disappointing but the lack of a mid field playmaker to link the play and get some positive performance out of our many wingers was always going to be problematical.
Nigel's position is untenable.
Ged Roddy has to bite the bullet and tell Thomas Sandgaard that it hasn't worked out which may mean he falls on his sword as well because he had a big say in Recruitment of Adkins also he was part of the "committee" who picked the players to go after.
there is no way this squad is as bad as some are making out, a decent manager would (and should) have us challenging around the play offs - no excuses.
The squad argument is back again. And I’m sticking to the original point I made weeks ago.
I’m not having that 7 maybe 8 of the players we had last season have turned into bad players, i still, despite what we’re being served up believe with a different manager our squad could easily compete at the top in league one.
There was a transfer window thread we had going a while back discussing our business, the overwhelming majority said it was a good window and we should be top six.
If we let Stockley, Famewo, Matthews, Gilbey to name a few, piss off to rivals in this league you’d see them flourish in an organised side I’ve no doubt about that.
Was it assembled late? You could argue that, is that Adkins fault? Probably not. But fuck me come on even the most patient amongst us know W2 D3 L7 is unacceptable despite this.
Somebody Tweeted today that Adkins has taken training this morning and they had a team meeting and the players are fully behind Nige - he has 3 games to save his skin as there's nobody out there - what a depressing thought!
Amazed there's been no comment from our 'leader' not even a vote of confidence
What happened is a squad that just missed out on the play offs with a great late run was allowed to go backwards where we lost the continuity which bought Curbs success, with continuous improvement. We started the season with an eleven that picked itself and not enough goals in the team. Then we have brought players in but they have been behind the curve fitness wise and also, they haven't in all cases been exactly what we need and have been a touch desperate.
To solve this the manager has tried to chop and change to try to get fitness in the squad and also find our best eleven. He was making five changes a game which was desperate and not sustainable, then tried not making changes at all, without not really knowing what our best combination and formation was. We seem no nearer to that and you have to go back to the start of the season and see how much weaker we were after a full pre-season and see there has been an almighty cock up there. The person or people responsible for the strategy are to blame but we don't know exactly who is most to blame. Some clever dick or dicks for sure.
We don't really know what Roddy's power or influence is within the club. We know he is part of the transfer committee and I do find myself asking why?
Somebody Tweeted today that Adkins has taken training this morning and they had a team meeting and the players are fully behind Nige - he has 3 games to save his skin as there's nobody out there - what a depressing thought!
Amazed there's been no comment from our 'leader' not even a vote of confidence
Can mean one of a number of things, though I ain't too sure what they are....
Somebody Tweeted today that Adkins has taken training this morning and they had a team meeting and the players are fully behind Nige - he has 3 games to save his skin as there's nobody out there - what a depressing thought!
Amazed there's been no comment from our 'leader' not even a vote of confidence
Somebody Tweeted today that Adkins has taken training this morning and they had a team meeting and the players are fully behind Nige - he has 3 games to save his skin as there's nobody out there - what a depressing thought!
Amazed there's been no comment from our 'leader' not even a vote of confidence
Sounds as if sandgaard has set out his stall, which is good - just a shame he hasn’t pulled the trigger!
Sounds as if work is on going to find alternatives to Adkins which is positive - should it be correct
The squad argument is back again. And I’m sticking to the original point I made weeks ago.
I’m not having that 7 maybe 8 of the players we had last season have turned into bad players, i still, despite what we’re being served up believe with a different manager our squad could easily compete at the top in league one.
There was a transfer window thread we had going a while back discussing our business, the overwhelming majority said it was a good window and we should be top six.
If we let Stockley, Famewo, Matthews, Gilbey to name a few, piss off to rivals in this league you’d see them flourish in an organised side I’ve no doubt about that.
Was it assembled late? You could argue that, is that Adkins fault? Probably not. But fuck me come on even the most patient amongst us know W2 D3 L7 is unacceptable despite this.
A lot of the players who were here last year and are here now are the ones that looked, often, hopeless under Bowyer and picked up when he left.
This squad lacks bottle and leadership on the pitch. The arm band gets passed around by default.
I might even go as far as to say all our players are worth a place in a top 6 squad but they are missing too many of the vital ingredients to be a good team and no manager is going to change that, certainly over night.
That said its totally unacceptable and for that reason the manager needs to go. But don't expect a serge up the table when he does.
to the excellent post from @BR7_addick, the squad is good enough, if it had say been the Cowley's who had taken over when Bow left, we would know the style of play. If Bow had this squad I would expect them to be top half.
Adkins has been lining up the excuses with the 'I wanted the squad together on the first day of pre season', which is a lovely aspiration, but not going to happen in League 1 and in a major tournament summer. Was the recruitment slow, who knows, it is what it is, and a good manager given the quality of the players provided, should do better with this. No manager is going to control who comes in now in the modern game, Kloop for example didn't want Salah when he signed for Liverpool, and clubs throughout the leagues have Directors of Football and Recruitment who make the call based on a load of things.
This is a top half squad, people like Stockley haven't become terrible players, and the Kirk's of the world have been badly mismanaged.
The squad argument is back again. And I’m sticking to the original point I made weeks ago.
I’m not having that 7 maybe 8 of the players we had last season have turned into bad players, i still, despite what we’re being served up believe with a different manager our squad could easily compete at the top in league one.
There was a transfer window thread we had going a while back discussing our business, the overwhelming majority said it was a good window and we should be top six.
If we let Stockley, Famewo, Matthews, Gilbey to name a few, piss off to rivals in this league you’d see them flourish in an organised side I’ve no doubt about that.
Was it assembled late? You could argue that, is that Adkins fault? Probably not. But fuck me come on even the most patient amongst us know W2 D3 L7 is unacceptable despite this.
A lot of the players who were here last year and are here now are the ones that looked, often, hopeless under Bowyer and picked up when he left.
This squad lacks bottle and leadership on the pitch. The arm band gets passed around by default.
I might even go as far as to say all our players are worth a place in a top 6 squad but they are missing too many of the vital ingredients to be a good team and no manager is going to change that, certainly over night.
That said its totally unacceptable and for that reason the manager needs to go. But don't expect a serge up the table when he does.
Bowyer can point to the fact that the poor run he had, which was nowhere near as bad as this season run by the way, was due to having Oshilaja and Pratley at centre back for a lot of it. We leaked goals at an embarrassing rate but he could give you a reasonable excuse. Adkins cannot.
Too many lightweights out there Saturday....Kirk, Leko and CBT even Gilbey was anonymous. Davison had his worst game for us ....didn't put in a shift. Arter was one of the few putting himself about. I don't know what has happened to Dobson but he has completely disappeared off the radar as far as the L1 squad. That said its up to the manager to gee them up and its not happening. Needs to go.
Comments
i honestly think if he doesn't get someone else in soon and let them bring their own team then were going down and if we do he will admit defeat and pull the plug and thet'll be the end of us as a football club
I can take losing, even on a regular basis it's the manner or the loss.
Even if we had picked a point up Saturday it would of still been a bad as performance as a loss.
All I want is some fight in the team.
Sort out the problems in the club and if that means Adkins to go and half the team being u23s because others players are not up to for the cause , then so be it.
But I don't think we have a bottom 6 one either. We're underachieving.
1. Adkins wasn't getting any other offers, was he?
Take Kirk as an example, he scored 6 goals in 42 league games for Crewe last season. He clearly has no confidence and looks like someone playing about 3 levels above where he should be. There’s no way if he moved on to a better run club that he’d look so ineffective.
Clubs like Lincoln and Cheltenham have smaller budgets and yet they play out from the back, create chances and press far better than we do.
We’ve made mistakes with recruitment, we’re still building up fitness levels and players need to settle in but by now we should at least see signs of a style of play emerging. That’s my biggest concern and why I don’t see Adkins turning it around. If we saw signs of that we’d see a way we could improve results, but we’re nowhere near, we’re poor in every area.
To start with we need to stop being so open and be braver on the ball. Plenty of clubs manage that without our resources, it’s down to motivation and tactics. There are plenty here if moved on would do well at another L1 club.
It's time to give Jacko a go. I'm confident he'd at least get us the 1.25 points per game to avoid relegation. If we wait until Christmas the target will be 1.5
I'm very concerned that TS has done nothing about the situation up to date, 12 games in for goodness sake with just 9 points!!!!
The worst league position in the clubs history somebody said , how much worse do you let it get before you act TS????
To decide on the manager for next season:
For the last ten games, if they're getting 2 points a game, they keep the job.
Anything other than automatic promotion form is not good enough but for the immediate future it's make do and mend.
A combination of fitness, poor mentality, lack of confidence, inability to play with any cohesion over 90+ minutes and TBF to Bolton they did attack in numbers which I had pointed out in preview when I watched many of their goals on Quest.
The worse indictment on Nigel Adkins is after two international breaks we have been the most clueless after 10 sessions on the training ground. Either on the pitch and with the analysis inside at Sparrows lane; every player should be aware of what formation and tactics we were going with against Cheltenham and Lincoln.
The first half against Cheltenham was as bad as it could get against a bang average team. Craig MacGillivray kept the score down that day.
Only seen the goals but sounds a similar performance against a Lincoln team that are weaker than last season.
Not saying anything I didn't say in pre season but like a few others have mentioned the reason I thought we wouldn't do as well as last Season with no super sub Chuks Aneke But I still thought 8th to 10th, which would be disappointing but the lack of a mid field playmaker to link the play and get some positive performance out of our many wingers was always going to be problematical.
Nigel's position is untenable.
Ged Roddy has to bite the bullet and tell Thomas Sandgaard that it hasn't worked out which may mean he falls on his sword as well because he had a big say in Recruitment of Adkins also he was part of the "committee" who picked the players to go after.
Edit* Unless you're part of the risk element of our support
Edit** Then you'd get 50% off and first class away travel
Was it assembled late? You could argue that, is that Adkins fault? Probably not. But fuck me come on even the most patient amongst us know W2 D3 L7 is unacceptable despite this.
Amazed there's been no comment from our 'leader' not even a vote of confidence
To solve this the manager has tried to chop and change to try to get fitness in the squad and also find our best eleven. He was making five changes a game which was desperate and not sustainable, then tried not making changes at all, without not really knowing what our best combination and formation was. We seem no nearer to that and you have to go back to the start of the season and see how much weaker we were after a full pre-season and see there has been an almighty cock up there. The person or people responsible for the strategy are to blame but we don't know exactly who is most to blame. Some clever dick or dicks for sure.
We don't really know what Roddy's power or influence is within the club. We know he is part of the transfer committee and I do find myself asking why?
This squad lacks bottle and leadership on the pitch. The arm band gets passed around by default.
I might even go as far as to say all our players are worth a place in a top 6 squad but they are missing too many of the vital ingredients to be a good team and no manager is going to change that, certainly over night.
That said its totally unacceptable and for that reason the manager needs to go. But don't expect a serge up the table when he does.
Adkins has been lining up the excuses with the 'I wanted the squad together on the first day of pre season', which is a lovely aspiration, but not going to happen in League 1 and in a major tournament summer. Was the recruitment slow, who knows, it is what it is, and a good manager given the quality of the players provided, should do better with this. No manager is going to control who comes in now in the modern game, Kloop for example didn't want Salah when he signed for Liverpool, and clubs throughout the leagues have Directors of Football and Recruitment who make the call based on a load of things.
This is a top half squad, people like Stockley haven't become terrible players, and the Kirk's of the world have been badly mismanaged.