- This topic has 45 replies, 19 voices, and was last updated 14 years, 7 months ago by
.
-
Posts
-
Would we ?
If the team had shown a little more passion and committment to the cause in the games the equivalent I mentioned I don’t think goal difference would have come into it.
How many points have we ever won against a top 4 team, and how many points have we dropped over the last few seasons through losing to teams we should beat, especially at home.
Go work it out and come back to me if I’m wrong….
When Jewell was in charge he used to say quite openly that he wrote off the games against the bigger sides before the season began. He used to say it befroe the season & he used to come out in the press & say it in the week building up to the games.
I could see where he was coming from but you could also see more often than not the effect that this had on the players & the whole attitude of the team showed they were beaten before a ball was kicked.
Under Steve Bruce that outlook changed & whilst we still never won, the performances against the bigger clubs got better, we stopped shipping so many goals against em, we actually went to their gorunds & took points off em & hell at times looked like we might actually beat em.
You could see the players attitude had changed & a few of em even came out in the press & said that due to the preparation & manager they actually went into the games believing they could get something out of em for the first time. Hell the club even started to progress up the table for a couple of seasons
So, to me, the suggestion that we should play stiffs & youth teamers against the big clubs is a pathetic one no matter how tongue in cheek it was. If your only aim is to survive & you surrender games against certain clubs before a ball is kicked then you may as well not bother to play in the top flight
Unless of course you’re quite happy listening to your manager after seeing him rest 6 players at the likes of United & Liverpool – the latter of which was a pathetic display that he tried to justify on the grounds he’d got his tactics spot on coz we hadn’t got a kicking. Nevermind Liverpool had rested a shedful of players coz the had a European Cup tie & there was a chance we could have got somet out of it. Like Fulham did against a similarly weakened Liverpool side 2 weeks later!!When Jewell was in charge he used to say quite openly that he wrote off the games against the bigger sides before the season began. He used to say it befroe the season & he used to come out in the press & say it in the week building up to the games.
I could see where he was coming from but you could also see more often than not the effect that this had on the players & the whole attitude of the team showed they were beaten before a ball was kicked.
Under Steve Bruce that outlook changed & whilst we still never won, the performances against the bigger clubs got better, we stopped shipping so many goals against em, we actually went to their gorunds & took points off em & hell at times looked like we might actually beat em.
You could see the players attitude had changed & a few of em even came out in the press & said that due to the preparation & manager they actually went into the games believing they could get something out of em for the first time. Hell the club even started to progress up the table for a couple of seasons
So, to me, the suggestion that we should play stiffs & youth teamers against the big clubs is a pathetic one no matter how tongue in cheek it was. If your only aim is to survive & you surrender games against certain clubs before a ball is kicked then you may as well not bother to play in the top flight
Unless of course you’re quite happy listening to your manager after seeing him rest 6 players at the likes of United & Liverpool – the latter of which was a pathetic display that he tried to justify on the grounds he’d got his tactics spot on coz we hadn’t got a kicking. Nevermind Liverpool had rested a shedful of players coz the had a European Cup tie & there was a chance we could have got somet out of it. Like Fulham did against a similarly weakened Liverpool side 2 weeks later!!I agree. The only time we’ve gone to Anfield, with a really competitive attitude, we actually drew 1-1 with their full strength side. Still our best top-flight result.
Jewell always saw us as a little club (which we are) that was fortunate to be playing against the ‘big-boys’. No, not fortunate. It was done on merit.
Whilst Bruce approached the games differently, I think he still saw it as almost ‘David V Goliath’. However, he instilled an ‘have a go at them’ mentality.
Roberto, and whether this comes out wrong or not, I don’t know, is already coming out with comments along the lines of “Their stadium is fantastic” (prior to Saturday at Arsenal) and seems to be almost ‘in awe’ of the top flight surroundings. Is it because he never played at the top flight? I don’t know. (Hey, don’t get me wrong, I think Roberto’s a beltin chap, a lovely guy, and has good ideas of football, etc. But……)In my opinion, I really think we need to take some points from the so-called top sides this season, as I think we’ll not pick up maximum points from the promoted sides, and the strugglers. In all honesty, I can’t see it happening.
We need to do what Wolves did when they came and beat us. Go somewhere, play ‘high-tempo’, nick a goal, and then shut up shop. Are we good enough to do that? I’m not sure.
“We need to do what Wolves did when they came and beat us. Go somewhere, play ‘high-tempo’, nick a goal, and then shut up shop.”
What are you on about Vat ????
They didnt shut up shop they were clearly after adding to their lead and should have done but for a bad ref decision ! Not that they needed to shut up shop as we could have played till midnight and not scored !
Yes, because they shut up shop.
Typical McCarthey tactics. High tempo, nick a goal, hold it, win 1-0.
He did the same against us with Sunderland, when Marcus Stewart scored an early goal.
They then closed us down quickly, and kept things solid.
The negativity is shocking! Give Bobby time! Lots of managers of our club have had sticky spells and this could be Bobbys. We should be optimistic, least we are not being dished up football like the bolton fans are seeing. Its irritating when we lose 4-0 and sometimes shameful but i respect what Bobby is trying to do. I think he is naive to think we should try to outplay Arsenal and Man Utd, but dont forget Bobby is learning aswell. I for one am proud we have someone at the helm who generally takes pride in the club and is looking to build it.
When Jewell was in charge he used to say quite openly that he wrote off the games against the bigger sides before the season began. He used to say it befroe the season & he used to come out in the press & say it in the week building up to the games.
I could see where he was coming from but you could also see more often than not the effect that this had on the players & the whole attitude of the team showed they were beaten before a ball was kicked.
Under Steve Bruce that outlook changed & whilst we still never won, the performances against the bigger clubs got better, we stopped shipping so many goals against em, we actually went to their gorunds & took points off em & hell at times looked like we might actually beat em.
You could see the players attitude had changed & a few of em even came out in the press & said that due to the preparation & manager they actually went into the games believing they could get something out of em for the first time. Hell the club even started to progress up the table for a couple of seasons
So, to me, the suggestion that we should play stiffs & youth teamers against the big clubs is a pathetic one no matter how tongue in cheek it was. If your only aim is to survive & you surrender games against certain clubs before a ball is kicked then you may as well not bother to play in the top flight
Unless of course you’re quite happy listening to your manager after seeing him rest 6 players at the likes of United & Liverpool – the latter of which was a pathetic display that he tried to justify on the grounds he’d got his tactics spot on coz we hadn’t got a kicking. Nevermind Liverpool had rested a shedful of players coz the had a European Cup tie & there was a chance we could have got somet out of it. Like Fulham did against a similarly weakened Liverpool side 2 weeks later!!Agree 100%, but at the same time, we have to accept that 9 times out of 10 we will probably be beaten by these clubs.
At the weekend, Spurs lost 3-0 to Chelsea, Blakburn lost 3-0 at Everton. You could argue that the fans of these so-called bigger clubs could have more grounds for being disappointed than us. That said, I presume that those two teams tried to win the games yet still got dicked. If we had gone to Arsenal with a more positive attitude (or even a more determined and cohesive negative attitude :? ) we may have only lost 2-0 (or dare I say 2-1) and there might not be as much doom, gloom and despondency around the place as there is today.
I know what you’re trying to say Griff & I’ve been watching Latics long enough to be able to take a defeat on the chin without demanding the manager’s head on a plate but its the manner of certain defeats that gets a reaction from me & saturday’s game was one of them
Likewise when all but one of the performances this season have been shite (IMO) then you start to notice a pattern!!I know what you’re trying to say Griff & I’ve been watching Latics long enough to be able to take a defeat on the chin without demanding the manager’s head on a plate but its the manner of certain defeats that gets a reaction from me & saturday’s game was one of them
Likewise when all but one of the performances this season have been whale (IMO) then you start to notice a pattern!!Yep, I’m starting to think that way too.
A case in point for me was the 5-man break-away at Everton. When Sinclair decided to go it alone and ignore 4 team-mates in arguably better positions, not one of them complained. They just turned round and walked back. Rooney would have tvvatted him. Adebayor would probably have knifed him.
No-one seems to care. Is it the manager’s fault, is it the player’s fault. Or is it players which have no respect for the manager simply not trying for him. If so,we have been here before with Jewell, Whelan and the Wrexham game.
“At the weekend, Spurs lost 3-0 to Chelsea, Blakburn lost 3-0 at Everton. You could argue that the fans of these so-called bigger clubs could have more grounds for being disappointed than us. That said, I presume that those two teams tried to win the games yet still got dicked. If we had gone to Arsenal with a more positive attitude (or even a more determined and cohesive negative attitude ) we may have only lost 2-0 (or dare I say 2-1) and there might not be as much doom, gloom and despondency around the place as there is today.”
Before Mr Logic got all upperty that’s basically the point I was trying to make. We need to accept that expecting any points from the Big 4 is most unlikely. We have I believe run up 4 points out of a possible 100 and odd (I was off the day they did sums at our school). Imho we should put all our eggs in one basket and concentrate on the teams who we should be able to compete with.
Some people have short memories. Can’t they remember the moaning we were doing about the team playing their socks off against the top 4 and then seeming not to give a fook when they weren’t in the spot light against the other teams. The feeling at the time was they were all just trying to put themselves in the shop window. Massively disrespectful to the fans!“No-one seems to care. Is it the manager’s fault, is it the player’s fault. Or is it players which have no respect for the manager simply not trying for him. If so,we have been here before with Jewell, Whelan and the Wrexham game”
I don’t think we are quite at that stage yet Griff……the bunch of players who got tonked by Wrexham were really taking the Michael out of Jewell on a biblical scale. I would hope the current crop can see the folly in trying the same with RM. I’m willing to give it to November before making my mind up on that.
One of my worries about appointing Bobby & his backroom team of the likes of Graeme Jones & Graham Barrow would be that some of the ego’s in the team might not look at 3 blokes who never played outside of the bottom 2 divisions, & some of whose only experience outside those 2 divisions was a 9 month stint in charge of a club who finished 8th & think “Who the feck are these 3 to try & tell me how to play football the right way, I know & have experienced more about high level football in 5 minutes than this lot have combined”
Not Bobby’s fault if it did/does happen (or is happening) but comments from opposition managers that the players aren’t listening to him or the manager complaining after Saturday’s game that they didn’t play as instructed shows to me that it migh be happening
Right, i don’t think the problem is that the players don’t want to play for Bobby, He has signed nearly half this team, they would not have signed if they did not want to play for him. Scotland and Gomez even follwed him from Swansea And according to most on here Gomez has been our worse performer, and Scotland has done nowt, but they must want to play for Bobby they signed for him twice. Plus most of the other players that were already here have been reported to have said that they can’t get enough of the way Bobby is wanting them to play, I know Koumas, Bramble,and Mario have said at the start of the season that they were impressed with the new manager and respected him for what he did at Swansea.
I think our indifferent start (not as bad as what everyone is making out)is down to 3 main factors.1.Just a lack of premiership experiance on the management and coaching side of things, I am happy with all the appointments but i just think there should be an experienced and influential figure on the training ground aswell as those we have appointed.
2.At the end of the day lads, it’s a completely new team, new players, new managers, new coaches and a new style of play, you can’t seriously have expected us to have started to run before we could walk this season. have patience, even the Pompey lot were on Sky the other day saying give Heart till January and they are in bigger s..t than us.
3.The lack of Britishness, that first season we came up the vast majority of our team were British,this generated a fantastic team spirit, it was documented in the press nearly every week how good the team spirit was, it was evident on that dvd that came out. We even had players in tears when they had to leave. That team spirit has obviously been ripped apart and no matter how much money you have or haven’t got you can’t buy that.
It is early days and i am certainly not panicking just yet, i can however see why everyone is concerned, i am not blind and i know if things don’t improve we will struggle, but things will improve,they have got to they can’t get much worse can they. Be positive, stay calm, dont throw your’e season tickets away just yet and get behind the bloody lads.
You missed out the three weeks of madness when didn’t have a manager or backroom staff ,or scouts as well ,but all in all good post PWU
On the evidence of the previous home games this season, I’m gonna go to the DW on Saturday fully expecting us to lose.
This is because we will have far too much respect for Chelski, sit off them, let them have the ball etc. We will get picked off and will lose at least 2-0.
Negitivity or realistic? You decide.
On the evidence of the previous home games this season, I’m gonna go to the DW on Saturday fully expecting us to lose.This is because we will have far too much respect for Chelski, sit off them, let them have the ball etc. We will get picked off and will lose at least 2-0.
Negitivity or realistic? You decide.
It’s totally realistic that we lose to Chelsea. 2-0 would even be a reasonable damage limitation exercise.
Thing is though, you’re still going to support your team. That is what being a fan is all about. That gets my respect. Unlike those on hear saying they’re cancelling direct debits, no longer going, etc.
Unless of course you’re going so you can throw your season ticket at Roberto?
- You must be logged in to reply to this topic.
