He seems far more protective compared to last season. If it's a defensive mechanism because of our great finish then you can understand it to a certain extent. Almost don't do anything too rash and we'll be ok mentality.
The facts are! we didn't prepare at all for the new season. In fact! It was a fucking disgrace that so many players were not fit or motivated for the start. He had a fantastic nucleaus of players to build around and yet we didn't strengthen in key areas that would have seen us push on.
Now we are playing catch-up, just hoping a spark will ignite somewhere through the team. It looks like it will only happen if we get a couple of top class players in. And there lies the problem. We simply don't want to spend the money it would take; Just happy ticking along.
The motivation element lies entirely at the managers feet so he needs to get a full 90 mins out of them sharpish, or his days are numbered.