From Modric to Mid Table: Is Sheehan Out of His Depth?

[sit_down_jack]

It needs to be changed then, I would say a formation change would be the option.....I think that's clear though.

If the plan was to go out and get a player or players who were similar to O'Brien and keep it rolling with those new faces, we have clearly got it wrong then.

My fear is that we will see a stubborn stance and stick with the plan in the mindset it will eventually work.

I don’t think it would take much to get us going in the right direction, it’s clear that we have some good players. I don’t think top 6 level, but good enough to be troubling teams more than we are right now.

I have the same fear, it seems like it’ll be persistence with the current set up and we’ve seen with managers like Russell Martin, that persistence isn’t always the right option.

 

[Copamundial]

I’ve read and written some boll.x in my time but some of the comments on here are laughable.
After the recruitment during the summer I doubt that there wasn’t a single poster on here who wasn’t full of confidence that we could at least challenge for a top six spot and rightly so.
The revisionism of some as we lumber from one directionless performance to another is pathetic.
This league is wide open this year and we should be doing a lot better than we currently are.

 

[Jack2jack]

Not sure if it's him trying to protect his job or its something else. When he was Interim he had nothing to lose and everything to gain. It's nagging at me why the players are not going for the kill, something doesn't seem right. Is Sheehan telling them to play cautious? He has to get this right, I'm not calling for his head but in many ways I would of rather us of gone at Southampton and lost than perform the way we did it's a valuable point but it comes with its consequences? I think next 2 home matches we will see more attacking mind set. But he has to stop with playing with caution and fear when we go up against certain teams

Fair assessment, I'd also like to see the shackles come off, when we can.

 

[3swan]

I’ve read and written some boll.x in my time but some of the comments on here are laughable.
After the recruitment during the summer I doubt that there wasn’t a single poster on here who wasn’t full of confidence that we could at least challenge for a top six spot and rightly so.
The revisionism of some as we lumber from one directionless performance to another is pathetic.
This league is wide open this year and we should be doing a lot better than we currently are.

Not full of confidence but hoped that we were at least showing improvement and heading in the right direction

 

[JackSomething]

No i didn't, i criticised him after having a full pre season and then producing a shocking performance in the season opener at Middlesbrough, and to be honest, not much has improved since. Yesterday was a new low, it was like a bunch of 9 year old playing against a bunch of 14 year old , trying to stop them scoring.

My apologies, I should have remembered you gave him the grace of a full 90 minutes before making your mind up.

 

[cmajack]

My apologies, I should have remembered you gave him the grace of a full 90 minutes before making your mind up.

Well so far i haven't been proved wrong, the clouds of discontent are gathering. Just read todays forum after that shitshow yesterday, and no i don't get any pleasure out of it. I'm a fan that attends every game , and i want my club to be doing well.

 

[JackSomething]

I’ve read and written some boll.x in my time but some of the comments on here are laughable.
After the recruitment during the summer I doubt that there wasn’t a single poster on here who wasn’t full of confidence that we could at least challenge for a top six spot and rightly so.
The revisionism of some as we lumber from one directionless performance to another is pathetic.
This league is wide open this year and we should be doing a lot better than we currently are.

Easily proven, just look at the poll here: https://jackarmy.net/forum/threads/poll-where-will-we-finish.26443/

The most popular option (just) was that we'd finish 7th-12th, although more people predicted 1st to 6th than outside the playoffs. So it seems like there were plenty of people who believed we'd finish outside the playoffs, although it's hard to quantify how many of those 49 posters who said we'd finish 7th to 12th would consider us close enough to 6th to count as challengers.

 

[JackSomething]

Well so far i haven't been proved wrong, the clouds of discontent are gathering. Just read todays forum after that shitshow yesterday, and no i don't get any pleasure out of it. I'm a fan that attends every game , and i want my club to be doing well.

There's a very good chance you'll be proven right in the long run also, more managers fail than succeed. Doesn't change the fact that making your mind up after 1 game is fucking pathetic either way.

 

[tardylum]

I think people would be more content with the current position if the performances had been different. Which is why it is way too early to be judging things on league position or how many points we are away from certain high or low positions. Other than Derby we are the worst attacking side in the league, by some distance. It is very hard to keep the faith if you rarely look like scoring in any game. If we can just bridge that gap and be an average attacking side, I think top half is still very possible and there will not be much between 6th and 14th, as per usual in this league.

The rising discontent also comes from us getting worse but we were unlikely to get as many points as we did when he was caretaker because he set the bar so high. I think we will improve but being in the middle pack and hoping for some luck to get us to the front of it may be the best we do with Sheehan and this squad.

 

[cmajack]

There's a very good chance you'll be proven right in the long run also, more managers fail than succeed. Doesn't change the fact that making your mind up after 1 game is fucking pathetic either way.

So you don't think after a full pre season under his belt that the players would have a plan in place and be champing at the bit. It was a completely gutless and clueless performance, the fans that paid decent money for that deserved far better.

 

[crazedbison]

I think it’s easy to overlook that we have a first time manager with a recently nearly completely overturned squad.

By no means do I think the performances have been good enough, but I certainly don’t think it’s quite time to even begin thinking about sounding the alarm.

If we were going to bring in a first time manager and completely overturn the squad, we had to be prepared to give him the season as long as we’re not in danger of relegation. Turning things around from where we were cannot be expected to be something that can happen instantly. However, I’m not sure the new owners will be that patient.

Personally, if I were running the club, I would wait and see where we’re at by the Wrexham match just before Christmas. That’s 12 more league matches and the Man City cup match. If things haven’t measurably improved by then and if there was a top tier, can’t miss replacement available (and willing to come here) I might begin to consider it. It really depends on where we’re at and who’s available and willing to replace him. However, again, ideally he’d be given the year if we’re not in danger. If the year doesn’t turn out quite up to par I imagine it’ll be far easier to get a quality replacement over the summer.

 

[Londonlisa2001]

I think it’s easy to overlook that we have a first time manager with a recently nearly completely overturned squad.

By no means do I think the performances have been good enough, but I certainly don’t think it’s quite time to even begin thinking about sounding the alarm.

If we were going to bring in a first time manager and completely overturn the squad, we had to be prepared to give him the season as long as we’re not in danger of relegation. Turning things around from where we were cannot be expected to be something that can happen instantly. However, I’m not sure the new owners will be that patient.

Personally, if I were running the club, I would wait and see where we’re at by the Wrexham match just before Christmas. That’s 12 more league matches and the Man City cup match. If things haven’t measurably improved by then and if there was a top tier, can’t miss replacement available (and willing to come here) I might begin to consider it. It really depends on where we’re at and who’s available and willing to replace him. However, again, ideally he’d be given the year if we’re not in danger. If the year doesn’t turn out quite up to par I imagine it’ll be far easier to get a quality replacement over the summer.

You mention a completely overturned squad a couple of times.

I think this is overstated.

Yesterday, 7 of our starting 11 were here last year. In some games as many as 9 of the starting 11 are last year’s squad.

That is the issue in some ways. We recruited a large number of players and are still playing many of last year’s team. Whether that is because Sheehan is picking the wrong players or the new players aren’t good enough to dislodge the players from last year is a question that we can’t really answer at the moment.

 

[Ryan]

I was not as optimistic for this season as a lot of other fans were. I understand on paper as it were, the squad improved but I just still thought we were weak in key areas.

However, I think Sheehan has done some decent things and yes some head-scratching things also. Regardless, I am not ready to write the dude off quite yet with us just being 4 points off from the playoffs and still a lot of time left to rectify things.

 

[crazedbison]

You mention a completely overturned squad a couple of times.

I think this is overstated.

Yesterday, 7 of our starting 11 were here last year. In some games as many as 9 of the starting 11 are last year’s squad.

That is the issue in some ways. We recruited a large number of players and are still playing many of last year’s team. Whether that is because Sheehan is picking the wrong players or the new players aren’t good enough to dislodge the players from last year is a question that we can’t really answer at the moment.

That’s completely fair.

I will say that having 36% of your starters and 56% of your bench being new isn’t nothing, though perhaps my saying “completely overturned” isn’t quite literally accurate.

I just think that, between Sheehan being a first time permanent manager and a sizable number of new players, the group needs to find their groove. I can only imagine that this takes time. Just my opinion.

For me, the issue is that we cannot keep toggling between managers that want to be here but aren’t quite cutting it and managers that see us as a stepping stone and will leave as soon as they can.

 

[Londonlisa2001]

That’s completely fair.

I will say that having 36% of your starters and 56% of your bench being new isn’t nothing, though perhaps my saying “completely overturned” isn’t quite literally accurate.

I just think that, between Sheehan being a first time permanent manager and a sizable number of new players, the group needs to find their groove. I can only imagine that this takes time. Just my opinion.

For me, the issue is that we cannot keep toggling between managers that want to be here but aren’t quite cutting it and managers that see us as a stepping stone and will leave as soon as they can.

Completely agree with your conclusion.

We have to have a period of stability. Blaming managers for squad weakness or imbalance can’t continue.

I’ve said before that Sheehan wouldn’t have been my choice but I could completely understand why he was given the role. I don’t think now is the time to change again, albeit I genuinely think we are pretty poor at the moment. Not so much in results, but in lack of creativity, formation, attacking intent, intensity, just sheer entertainment to be honest.

I find us just boring to watch. But changing manager won’t necessarily inject creativity into the players we have. Nor shape.

I can’t help think that we are focussing on buying players as individuals, (looking at resale opportunities) rather than buying a coherent team. Let’s hope that as the weeks go by we become more coherent than we are.