questions for the lightside

1. It’s better to watch than the rubbish we had to watch under Hutchings and Steve Bruce, even if it may be diffcult to pull off and make successful.
2. I didn’t answer ‘not’ to question 1, but injuries to key players are the main reason for the poor performances at the moment. If we still struggle when they are all back then we can have another conversation.
3. Currently he is staying in the premier league with a lower wage bill. That’s the instruction from his boss and he is therefore currently succeeding.
4. But he hasn’t really got that nickname has he? You’ve just made it up haven’t you? And you’re really proud of it despite the fact that it’s neither very clever nor witty, aren’t you?
5. Off the field, yes. On the field he said he is aiming for 10th place this season. Impossible to answer this until May, of course, but at the moment, it looks a bit remote, which is what I thought when he originally said it.
6. Both
7. See answer to 2)

1. Dissapointed that we are not improving, but certainly I like what we do at times. Would prefer it to previous managers.

2. Lack of real competition for places.

3. Shape and flow of the team going forward can be a treat.

4. Maybe it should be bottom 5 or 6 bob.

5. On track, once the youngsters in this squad come through together in the next year or so, we will have a belting team.

6. Right Man. Bu I dont know the finances involved.

7. On the fence with this.

I’m a darksider but I’ll answer the questions anyway:
1) From the end of January onwards last season I could start to see genuine signs of progress & the plus points in what Bobby was trying to put in place. If you average our points per game total from that period over the course of a full season of 38 games that it gives you somet like 53 points & a top half finish. Early days this season but things seem to have gone backwards so far – I’m not a fan of Alcaraz as i feel he plays like a primary school footballer & always gets sucked towards the ball so I’m not sure that his return will see much improvement. For a team low on goals however we were always going to miss the input of Rodallega even if he isn’t a left winger in the memory of man. personally i much preferred the football played by under Bruce prior to his team being sold out from under him in January 2009
2) I think what is going wrong, & has been since Bobby joined, is his inflexibility & determination to force players into his system & way of playing instead of adapting his system to the players he has. More often than not Latics look lethargic, sloppy and devoid of passion & fight. On the handful of occasions where the system clicks it looks pretty good but over 80 odd league games he’s been in charge (IMO) we are literally talking about less than a quarter reaching that level so I’m inclined to believe that they are exceptions to the rule
3) n/a
4) His nickname from a handful of people isn’t justified. In his 1st season in charge Latics were never in the bottom 3. In his 2nd season in charge they spent 68% of the season in the bottom 3 & this season so far its been 14% of the time in the bottom 3. If my maths are right during his reign the club has spent a total of 27% of the time in the bottom 3 & 73% out of it
5) By the end of last season i thought he was on track although I always find it amusing that the length of his plan gets extended every year. Initially it was 3 transfer windows, then it was 2 seasons & now its 3!! That said I don’t really know where his plan aims to have the club at the end of these 3 years. if its surving & becoming self sufficient then he’s on target so far but if the plan is to have latics challenging the top half of the table then he’s way off target
6) I don’t feel that he was the right man for the job but I don’t feel that he was the cheap option either. Bobby was in demand during that close season but I said at the time that if he was anyone other than somebody who used to play for Latics then Whelan would not have gambled on taking on someone with barely 2 & a bit years lower league managerial experience. I also think that if Bobby was anyone other than Bobby (& everything that comes with that) then he would be getting far more grief from the crowd than he does & I think Whelan would have bombed him out. Back to being a cheap option to bring him & his team to Latics cost the best part of £4mill to £5mill – there would have been far cheaper options out there at the time
7) I genuinely don’t know. For the last 2 seasons I’ve said he wouldn’t do it & he has so at the moment I think its far too early to tell