Martin says he wishes he’d made more changes with more to come

[Bridgendjack]

Martin is out of his depth. He has no plan “B” and is too stubborn to give up on the way he thinks we should be playing.
At the end of the day he is still the same mid Division One Team Manager that he was when we employed him. Surely time is ticking with the powers to be and if we are 19th or 20th in March then he has to go !! A lot of the players he signed have been with him at MK Dons in the mid table position and are not suddenly going to take us to the top half of the Championship. He has brought in enough of his own players now and results are getting worse so he needs to be replaced before he drags us down to his level of the middle of League One.

 

[Dr. Winston]

If the players we have are not capable of playing the way he wants, whether it be 3 times a week or 1, then why are we persisting with it?

I would say the players can play the way he wants. Question is whether or not the way he wants to play is the right one.

We've all seen teams who can play it out of the back. We know how that works. If Garry Monk or Mark Gower can make it to the Premier League with us playing that style, then nobody in the current squad is incapable. We don't play it out of the back though. We play it around the back. There's a big difference.

The movement we need from midfield in order to create the space, the "triangles" that move the ball forward just isn't happening. Even when a midfielder does make themselves available for a pass there's a decent chance that the defender is going to get it straight back anyway. Even more so with Grimes. I don't think I've ever seen a supposed linchpin and playmaker make so many immediate one touch passes right back where it came from than he does.

That leaves us awfully vulnerable to a pressing team, and when we've only got three at the back anyway (unless we've compounded the midfield problem by dropping Downes back as we often do) that's just asking for trouble. We've got to the point where opposing managers are quite happy to point out the failings in our system because they're confident that it won't change. We haven't been in that situation since Brian Flynn.

There's a lot of talent in this team. Certainly more talent than has been reflected in many recent results. RM is rapidly running out of time to demonstrate that he knows how to get the most out of it, or whether his obsession with his own style will put an early end to his time here.

 

[lidojack]

If the players we have are not capable of playing the way he wants, whether it be 3 times a week or 1, then why are we persisting with it?

I would say the players can play the way he wants. Question is whether or not the way he wants to play is the right one.

We've all seen teams who can play it out of the back. We know how that works. If Garry Monk or Mark Gower can make it to the Premier League with us playing that style, then nobody in the current squad is incapable. We don't play it out of the back though. We play it around the back. There's a big difference.

The movement we need from midfield in order to create the space, the "triangles" that move the ball forward just isn't happening. Even when a midfielder does make themselves available for a pass there's a decent chance that the defender is going to get it straight back anyway. Even more so with Grimes. I don't think I've ever seen a supposed linchpin and playmaker make so many immediate one touch passes right back where it came from than he does.

That leaves us awfully vulnerable to a pressing team, and when we've only got three at the back anyway (unless we've compounded the midfield problem by dropping Downes back as we often do) that's just asking for trouble. We've got to the point where opposing managers are quite happy to point out the failings in our system because they're confident that it won't change. We haven't been in that situation since Brian Flynn.

There's a lot of talent in this team. Certainly more talent than has been reflected in many recent results. RM is rapidly running out of time to demonstrate that he knows how to get the most out of it, or whether his obsession with his own style will put an early end to his time here.

This is all part of the quandary.

We have a manager quite happy to decry the ability of his players to play the way he wants and opposition managers quite happy to publicly call out the deficiencies in the system he is desperately trying to achieve.

Personally, I can't see a style of play like this working in our formation. You look at the teams we are trying to ape and they all play with width and 2 centre halves.

 

[Dr. Winston]

Personally, I can't see a style of play like this working in our formation. You look at the teams we are trying to ape and they all play with width and 2 centre halves.

I don't like three at the back. Never have. Makes absolutely no sense to leave yourselves effectively a man short in defence when more and more teams are employing a pressing game.

 

[Jackmanandboy]

Personally, I can't see a style of play like this working in our formation. You look at the teams we are trying to ape and they all play with width and 2 centre halves.

I don't like three at the back. Never have. Makes absolutely no sense to leave yourselves effectively a man short in defence when more and more teams are employing a pressing game.

433/451 works a treat in this league. If ( and a big If) you have 2 decent enough wingers.

 

[Nocountryforoldjack]

That crap he's come out with smacks of floundering and desperation. It's not working and it won't work, y'all think we'll get a massive influx of top quality players that can make this mess work in the summer? I don't. He's a dead man walking I reckon. It'll be scrap one win, hammered for three the rest of this season and next season. They need to start looking now but they won't.

 

[Dr. Winston]

433/451 works a treat in this league. If ( and a big If) you have 2 decent enough wingers.

Yep. Ball and players have to move with a lot more zip too.

 

[Jack2jack]

I don’t know how many people remember the utter pearlers John Hollins used to come out with but this guy is taking it to the next level.
There were seven new players in the starting line-up on Saturday and he’s talking shyte.

Just as an aside, Dar.I saw and spoke to John last summer, to be fair he didn't look well, he's had a few health issues.
Nice fella, took me back a bit, as he looked well, on our previous meetings. I wish him well.