sacking the spaniard

“It is hard to disagree with most of what you say, though I really cannot ABIDE Alan Pardew”

Like you griff ;) I can’t stand him either. When he was in charge at Reading they were a nasty set of f00kers & the way he had the reading ball boys wiping down the balls for reading throw ins & not even moving to get the ball for Latics ones in that play off 2nd leg really pished me off
BUT I think he’s relatively good at making the best of what he’s got & I don’t mind my teams being a bit nasty. Someone’s pointed out in another thread & some radio commentator I heard during the Hull game the other week made the point that the team seems almost too nice. Whereas other teams will harass the ref if we think decisions are wrong/against us & put pressure on him, Latics just seem to shrug their shoulders & accept it

“That said, one thing we have not touched on during this debate though it is something I have mentioned on numerous occasions, is the possibility that some players are not performing because they have no respect for Martinez. They may have the “I know better than you and what have you ever done anyway” mentality” – If I could be @r$ed trawling back through this site (or another one work has filtered out!!) that was one of the major worries I had about Martinez being appointed & it started to manifest itself very quickly if Ian Holloway’s statement after the Carling Cup game had any truth to it.
If true its not completely Bobby’s fault & the players need to have a long hard look at themselves but I also don’t think Bobby has handled the public displays of dissent from within his camp well either – Paul Scharner should have been publicly railroaded on numerous occasions this season for his behaviour & yet each time Bobby has defended what he has done or said. Now I know he made reference to it on the interview he gave you saying his attitude had deteriorated & it was probably best for him to move on AND I can understand if he’s wanted to rollockings in house whilst putting on a united front to the public BUT a) i think it sends out the wrong message to the squad b) if he has done it in house it hasn’t worked coz Scharner continued to do it & c) it makes him look weak

“I really like the patient passing type of football that Martinez tries to play” – I don’t. Watching continental & to a certain extent international football can be tedious at times due to this “style”. I much prefer the blood & guts, in your face, high tempo stuff & i don’t wanna see 15 passes knocked about sideways between defence & midfield before the lack of movement forces someone to just lump it forward aimlessly anyway

“I will be fascinated to see who, if anyone, we bring in to try to improve things on the pitch” – So will I & as I’ve said before I don’t think Bobby can risk any more signings who “need to settle in”. They’ve all got to hit the ground running. Reading Whelan’s comments at the back end of this season I don’t share your belief that he sees Martinez here for the long run regardless. I think he’s gonna live or die by who he brings in this summer & if any more “poor quality” players arrive from the likes of Swansea & we’re still scraping round the bottom 3 I think he’ll get the push by October