• Due to a recent spam attack on the site we have switched user registration to require administrator approval. Please bear with us as this could take a few hours to approve new registrations (depending on availability) but all genuine registrations will be approved

The difference a manager can make.

Other than the two Cooper seasons we've finished 10th, 15th, 10th, 14th and 11th since we were relegated, and we're now 17th this season. The idea that no player from the teams currently in 4th & 6th would get into our team is absoluately laughable.
How does a squad from 3 years ago have anything to do with today?

Preston were 90minutes away from relegation last season and Charlton weren't even in the same division than us.
I really dont think its outrageous to say our squad is better then theirs.

If you're genuinely happy to be sat comfortably below 2 teams who we're both 90minutes away from being a division below us this season then you really need pick your expectations up and stop settling for a manager which could have this team 20th place by Saturday evening.
 
Re the OP.

It is difficult to agree with the premise that the ‘fault’ of our season so far lies with Sheehan rather than the players given the second half of last season saw the same manager with different players achieve close to play off form (may have been play off form - I can’t remember).

Either last season’s players (second half only) were better than this lot. Or Sheehan has regressed. Or last year he was lucky. Or the players last year although not better suited him more.

To claim that the players this year are miles better than results if only for a change in manager is speculation at best.

For what it’s worth, I think we have fairly average players with a fairly average manager. A few results will go our way and a few will not and we’ll be mid table. Whether lower or higher mid table will depend on a bit of luck unless something changes.
 
Don't think a single Charlton or Preston player gets into our team and they are 4th and 6th.

Even if you think we are a mid table team (I disagree) we are not even performing to a mediocre level under this manager. We are the worst offensive team in the league and defensively we are lower mid table. 2 wins in 10, we don't win home games, we don't score goals, we don't score set pieces and we concede soft goals.

That's all the ingredients of a relegation team to me. We are going only one direction under this manager and it is a relegation battle.

Albeit I disagree with your assessment of the strength of our players (that player Small looked very good to me for example even without his goal), it actually doesn’t much matter since by definition they have, at the moment at least, better teams.
 
I can’t believe some of the stuff I’m reading.

Vig international
Burgess international
Cabango international
Stamenic international
Eom international
Galbraith international
Idah intetnational
Cullen international
Vipotnik international
Benson international

Inoussa u21 international
Widell u21 international

Yep we’ve really got a lot of very average players that’s for sure.
 
I can’t believe some of the stuff I’m reading.

Vig international
Burgess international
Cabango international
Stamenic international
Eom international
Galbraith international
Idah intetnational
Cullen international
Vipotnik international
Benson international

Inoussa u21 international
Widell u21 international

Yep we’ve really got a lot of very average players that’s for sure.

With the possible exception of South Korea the other countries aren't blessed with many options.
 
Cooper international
Delcroix international
Nathan Tjoe-A-On international
Christie international
Allen international
Pedersen international
McLaughlin international

Fulton u21 international
Abdulai u21 international
Thomas u21 international
Lloyd u21 International
 
I can’t believe some of the stuff I’m reading.

Vig international
Burgess international
Cabango international
Stamenic international
Eom international
Galbraith international
Idah intetnational
Cullen international
Vipotnik international
Benson international

Inoussa u21 international
Widell u21 international

Yep we’ve really got a lot of very average players that’s for sure.
Santos international
Yalcouye u21 international

Widell is actually a full Swedish international
 
This is a well made point. I think there is a middle ground that people need to accept. The squad is not as good as some people thought it might be and the coach is also not as good as some people thought he might be. The squad is also not as bad as some people think it might be and neither is the coach. The squad not being good enough is not helping Sheehan but Sheehan not being good enough is not helping the players either.

Inoussa feels like a very good example of this. Some people have gone over the top with praise on performances so far and see him as an elite Championship player already. Some people are now starting to question his quality. I think he has shown promise, but needs a lot of improvement and I do not think Sheehan has a plan to put him in a position to succeed. To be a top winger in this league you need to have more output around the box and he has not really been in positions around the box in space to show whether he can do this or not yet. Often times he getting the ball in very deep areas and if he dribbles by the defenders he is still 40 yards away from goal, until we see him getting these chances against the fullback outside the area it will be hard to know whether he has that next level.

I do not think we have many bad players in the squad and most can play in the Championship in the right team. Unfortunately I think our transfers were too focused on defenders and midfielders and not enough on attacking players. We have ended up with a lot of good but not great players who all do similar things and who all suffer from not having the difference makers around them to make up for their weaknesses. I do not know who is responsible for this, maybe it is Sheehan and how he sees the game. The fans forum showed he is mainly focused on out of possession work but the club trusted him and we ended up with a very Sheehan squad. Maybe they can help him out and get him more attacking players but I do not know if he would play them. Widdel is a good example because he is more attacking than other players we have but does not seem to be a luxury player or even a player hard to fit in a team because he is too attacking but he is no Bruno Fernandes or De Bruyne and he still was not selected much. We spent quite a lot this summer and have a squad to build from but the transfers need to be very effective in January to help the other players out if Sheehan is the manager or if he has gone by that point.


⬆️ Inoussa is excellent, up there as one of the most effective dribblers and chance creators in the championship, which is pretty impressive considering he’s new to English football and came here off the back of a bad injury. He’s not even got started and he’s performing at top championship standard.
 

⬆️ Inoussa is excellent, up there as one of the most effective dribblers and chance creators in the championship.
That's wrong for a start, elite dribblers play at a higher level, that should be rephrased top championship dribblers who don't create enough, but it's pointless arguing with an idiot trying to justify the utter shambles you've created in 2 years
 
That's wrong for a start, elite dribblers play at a higher level, that should be rephrased top championship dribblers who don't create enough, but it's pointless arguing with an idiot trying to justify the utter shambles you've created in 2 years

Vipotnik is an elite ball striker
Galbraith is an elite passer

To say you can’t have elite traits in the championship is just obviously incorrect.
 

Members online

Preston North End v Swansea City

Back
Top