Vitor Matos on West Bromwich Albion | Reaction

[ARQS]

He's had 12 games in charge of a division 2 Portuguese side.
Wilder is a tried and tested Championship manager who took 9 weeks to get two wins on the bounce with a much better squad that was 15 minutes from the Premier league in May.
I have absolutely nothing against Matos and I fervently hope that he's a brilliant success. I don't have words to describe what I feel about idiots who are recklessly gambling with the club's future.

It's been alluded to elsewhere but I genuinely believe the board think we have an underperforming mid table squad that just needs a manager to have us playing to our true potential.

In a nutshell, they don't think it can get any worse than it did under Sheehan.

If they actually believe that we are going to be in a relegation dog fight then it's an absolutely astonishing gamble.

If we had an experienced manager in charge and one of the sides down the bottom with us had appointed someone with Matos CV, I think we'd all secretly be quite pleased.

On the contrary, if they'd appointed someone like Manning, Still, Carrick, Hellberg, even old Russ, I think we'd all be a bit concerned.

Matos could turn out to be brilliant but there's no way anyone can know that at this stage and in all probability there's more chance of the appointment failing than it succeeding

 

[Cinio Dydd Sul]

Yes they have started both games much more positively and more aggressively. They aren’t fit which is much more their failure (and Sheehans) than his.

Yes I agree, if this is the route he's taking (same shape, players as Sheehan, but doing it better), this will take a long time to work. Good long term but we need results now.

 

[Dillwyn the Dog]

Yes I agree, if this is the route he's taking (same shape, players as Sheehan, but doing it better), this will take a long time to work. Good long term but we need results now.

If the players are unfit due to 3 of the last 4 managers (Duff tried to get them better conditioned and where is he now ?) basically had them playing walking football. They will get fitter but it’s going to take about a month.

I think he’s more positive than Sheehans/O’Dea but he needs the players much fitter. I hope the board get in a midfielder, a right back and an experienced CB and in the mean time Matos utilises Yalcouye in CM - he will run and run for you.

 

[SwanseaBoy123]

Why has fitness suddenly become an issue? Nobody even mentioned it as a problem 2 weeks ago now suddenly its the sole reason for our awful season.

We're not an unfit team we just aren't coached well. You don't have the worst attack in the league and a bottom 5 defense because of 'fitness' the issues are alot more specific then that.

 

[Smurph]

Why has fitness suddenly become an issue? Nobody even mentioned it as a problem 2 weeks ago now suddenly its the sole reason for our awful season.

We're not an unfit team we just aren't coached well. You don't have the worst attack in the league and a bottom 5 defense because of 'fitness' the issues are alot more specific then that.

It seems Matos wants us to play in certain way that requires a high level of fitness, something theses players haven't been used to since the season started.

 

[JackSomething]

Why has fitness suddenly become an issue? Nobody even mentioned it as a problem 2 weeks ago now suddenly its the sole reason for our awful season.

We're not an unfit team we just aren't coached well. You don't have the worst attack in the league and a bottom 5 defense because of 'fitness' the issues are alot more specific then that.

To me it feels like the latest attempted explanation for why we're not very good. The manager usually gets the blame, but we've been poor under enough different managers recently to somewhat negate that argument.

The fitness of the players and the impact of the coaches (O'Dea prominently) have become the latest scapegoats. Who knows with the coaches, perhaps Fotheringham really made that big a difference last season? With the fitness though, how was that not a problem in the last third of the previous season, but is now such a big deal?

The possibility that people understandably don't want to consider is that maybe we've got a load of players who simply aren't good enough. That or there's some other problem with the club that isn't an easy fix.

 

[J_B]

I suspect that the players are individually good enough for a mid table team in the championship. The problem is that they don’t look collectively like a team. Where are the combinations that good teams have all over the park? Where are the Rangel/Dyer type understandings in sections of the team? Where are the triangles that come from combinations of players who understand each other and know each other’s games inside out? Where are the players busting a gut to find space to give the ball carrier options?

We’re not playing as a TEAM.

 

[SwanseaBoy123]

To me it feels like the latest attempted explanation for why we're not very good. The manager usually gets the blame, but we've been poor under enough different managers recently to somewhat negate that argument.

The fitness of the players and the impact of the coaches (O'Dea prominently) have become the latest scapegoats. Who knows with the coaches, perhaps Fotheringham really made that big a difference last season? With the fitness though, how was that not a problem in the last third of the previous season, but is now such a big deal?

The possibility that people understandably don't want to consider is that maybe we've got a load of players who simply aren't good enough. That or there's some other problem with the club that isn't an easy fix.

Agreed. Is it really outside the realms of possibility that we've just hired/signed some really poor managers/players?

When 7-8 players are underperforming that screams of a coaching issue. The fact they're confidence is on the floor is making it look worse aswell.