The difference a manager can make.

[sit_down_jack]

Vig, Burgess and Galbraith have been very consistent this season. I like the three of them loads.

Vip had a cracking spell of about 4-5 weeks, I'm still not completely convinced but he's definitely improving.

Everyone else has been flaky. You mention Tymon, but 1 assist in 14 league games this season. Is that good then? He's probably been better defensively, I'll give him that, but he's doing nothing up the other end. Inoussa and Widell - again, they look exciting to the eye, but what tangible outputs have they contributed?

We don't have many outright poor players, but we do have a lot of mediocre ones. Mediocre makes up about 75% of our squad, imo.

Which is why I firmly believe we'll just amble to mid table (regardless of the coach)

I don’t disagree that we have some inconsistent players, Eom, Ronald, Cullen are all capable of doing good things but we never seem to see it on a consistent basis. I wouldn’t put players like Widell and Inoussa on that list, we simply haven’t seen enough of them in the starting XI. When Inoussa started getting a decent run of games he picked up a couple of assists for us but he never seems to stay in the team (last night was obviously an injury).

I’d even argue in Eom’s case that he’ll never find consistency with the rate he is in and out of the team, that goal last night and form end of last season shows the quality he has.

As for Tymon, we’ve seen how good he can be over the past two years, he created the most chances of any fullback last season in the league, it’s not his fault that players don’t get on the end of his crosses.

Vip has been our most improved player this season and I’m not just talking about goals, his awareness of the players around him and his general game look much better. Add the goals in and he is a quality Championship forward, if he starts every game for us I’m confident he gets 20 in a season.

All I’m saying is, we could and should be performing better with the tools available to us. Not playoffs but at least one of the teams competing to get there in the final day.

 

[J_B]

We needed someone last night who was working hard off the ball and could get in to good positions to release Idah or Vip. Forget the hype about Brighton, he can play. That lad can turn on a sixpence which I have seen a number of times which is why I would have him in games where we are playing 3 CM's.

Agree.
I like the fact that he's always looking to turn and run at the opposition even though he frequently receives the ball facing the wrong way. That's a problem with us, we pass to feet or behind players far too often and not into space that they can run into.

 

[swannage]

Stating the obvious I know but all this focus on the players not being good enough is total nonsense in my opinion.

At the end of the window the vast majority of fans were delighted with the recruitment and were understandably optimistic about the season ahead, I’ve seen nothing in any of our opponents so far to suggest that we are that far behind any of them in terms of quality so something is going wrong somewhere.

Lampard took on a Coventry team flirting with relegation and turned them into a top six side, this season he has built on that again that’s what good managers do they get the best out of the players available to them, sadly that isn’t the case with us.

Despite the fact that I felt Sheehan was the wrong appointment from the start I would have been more than happy to admit that I got it wrong but fourteen games in and with no discernible style or tactics I’m afraid it’s not looking good for him…hell I don’t even know what our best side or formation is and that shouldn’t be the case at this stage of the season.

Instead of some on here claiming that the quality of the squad is mediocre at best maybe they should turn their focus elsewhere.

Another example you could have used was when Sheehan replaced Williams.

Getting rid of Sheehan now would be like Coventry getting rid of Lampard in Feb if they now go on a sticky run

 

[SwanseaBoy123]

Vig, Burgess and Galbraith have been very consistent this season. I like the three of them loads.

Vip had a cracking spell of about 4-5 weeks, I'm still not completely convinced but he's definitely improving.

Everyone else has been flaky. You mention Tymon, but 1 assist in 14 league games this season. Is that good then? He's probably been better defensively, I'll give him that, but he's doing nothing up the other end. Inoussa and Widell - again, they look exciting to the eye, but what tangible outputs have they contributed?

We don't have many outright poor players, but we do have a lot of mediocre ones. Mediocre makes up about 75% of our squad, imo.

Which is why I firmly believe we'll just amble to mid table (regardless of the coach)

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.

 

[sit_down_jack]

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.

That’s a good point about Charlton and Preston, not sure I’d take any of their players purely based on the two games we’ve played against them.

We’ve got some real technical quality, have to start playing to the strengths of these players.

 

[JackSomething]

Don't think a single Charlton or Preston player gets into our team and they are 4th and 6th.

I'd suggest that is wildly inaccurate comment and vastly overstates the quality of our players. Perhaps it comes from not being familiar with their players, but the suggestion that no player from the teams in 4th and 6th would get it in our team reeks of unearned arrogance.

 

[SwanseaBoy123]

I'd suggest that is wildly inaccurate comment and vastly overstates the quality of our players. Perhaps it comes from not being familiar with their players, but the suggestion that no player from the teams in 4th and 6th would get it in our team reeks of unearned arrogance.

Could make a case for James Bree RB from Charlton (on loan from Saints though so not sure that counts) and Dobbin No10 from Preston (on loan from either Villa/Everton I believe same thing applies) besides that I wouldn't take a single one in the starting 11.

 

[JackSomething]

Could make a case for James Bree RB from Charlton (on loan from Saints though so not sure that counts) and Dobbin No10 from Preston (on loan from either Villa/Everton I believe same thing applies) besides that I wouldn't take a single one in the starting 11.

I'm sure that's based on a thorough viewing of all of Preston and Charlton's games for you to be such an expert on their teams. It's hard to believe of course that either team could have a better player than Key, Eom, Ronald, Cullen, etc given how consistently superb they are for us...

 

[SwanseaBoy123]

I'm sure that's based on a thorough viewing of all of Preston and Charlton's games for you to be such an expert on their teams. It's hard to believe of course that either team could have a better player than Key, Eom, Ronald, Cullen, etc given how consistently superb they are for us...

I don't class Eom, Ronald and Cullen as starters that's just a case of a manager being out of his depth and desperate enough to chuck anybody in to see what works.

I really not sure why you keep mentioning this point about watching them religiously? I think anybody who has a basic grasp of football and has been watching for a while is aware of who the best/better players are for each team especially the ones in our league? That doesn't require seasons on seasons of watching a team to grasp that.

Just Look at Preston fans last night they were all raving about Galbraith and saying how he consistently as been performing like this for us. Did that require them watching all 14 games we have played?

 

[Andrew - North Hill]

I'd suggest that is wildly inaccurate comment and vastly overstates the quality of our players. Perhaps it comes from not being familiar with their players, but the suggestion that no player from the teams in 4th and 6th would get it in our team reeks of unearned arrogance.

Arrogance indeed. Well said.

Last season, we had only one player in the entire squad who had a shout of being in the division's team of the year, and that was Vig. One player.

Now, it's encouraging, because I think come end of the season we could be talking about Burgess and Galbraith joining him on that shortlist. Possibly Vip, if he carries on scoring at his recent rate.

But the rest are painfully average. They'll have one good game, three average to crap ones...then one good game, then three average to crap ones. And I'm probably being generous with the 'good' there. If they were genuinely top players for this division, they'd be holding their level every week, just like those three/four above. But they don't.

 

[Whaleoilbeefhooked]

Just seen the PNE worldie goal. Wtf was Casey thinking about, by heading a chest high ball aimlessly out of defence?
There wasn’t a Preston player near enough to threaten him.
In hindsight he could have chested it down, but i suppose that’s the frailty of youth, (which is probably to be expected) but that’s 2 games his misjudgment has cost us a goal

 

[sit_down_jack]

It would be interesting to see if a new manager did come in, whether the players we currently have would improve. It reminds me of Eom at the end of last season. As soon as Sheehan started giving him consistent minutes he hit his best form that we’ve seen.

Was that just a bounce or is that what Eom could be like week in week out? We can’t forgot that he got injured in preseason and has had to play catch up. Can he find that form again?

 

[JackFish]

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.

 

[Copamundial]

If I treated myself to a pair of £150 trainers, but they turned out to have a crap insole that felt like walking on rubble, and they gave me blisters every time I wore them.

Would I put them in the bin and reluctantly accept I'd bought a pair of duds, or would I stubbornly keep wearing them and tell everyone I meet "they're crap and I hate them, but I spent £150 on them so they must still be good, right?".

Why don’t you treat yourself to a pair of those dodgy trainers and jog on …bit of luck you’ll twist your ankle.

 

[Andrew - North Hill]

Why don’t you treat yourself to a pair of those dodgy trainers and jog on …bit of luck you’ll twist your ankle.

More cutting edge debate there from the mass debater.