KaKa

2 minutes ago, Rafalove said:

 

 

Except we were quite capable of holding on to the ball, before we got the injuries.

Apparently none of that ever happened. We've been getting battered every week and are set to be relegated.

2 minutes ago, UncleBingo said:

I agree with this.

 

The midfield is clearly the issue, but I genuinely don't see how he does anything with the players available atm. We literally don't have a single player who can tackle, and zero pace in there. Hopefully Willock can get up to speed and stay fit.

 

 

It's the most obvious thing in the world but apparently some people just can't see it.

It was all Burn's fault before and now he didn't play, it's because 5 at the back was the obvious solution.

3 minutes ago, Hanshithispantz said:

Because we're trying to nurse half of our squad back to full fitness 

 

Playing with intensity (which we need to do both offensively and defensively) takes a lot of work, and is inherently risky.

 

I know it's boring, but we're going to be patchy at best until we get a robust squad back.

 

 

I really admire your tolerance and persistence. I don't think your audience is interested in dealing with the reality of our situation though, so mind you don't drive yourself crazy over the nonsense.

The away support seem really sound. Do they have their own online forum?

Oh look a midfielder with some legs did something. What a surprise.

3 minutes ago, Shearergol said:

I’d happily accept him being sacked if it meant some posters on here fucked off for good.

It's so unbearable man.

1 minute ago, KingArthur said:

Livramento has been awful to be honest. Saka is left footed, just don't let him cut in

Was inevitable after the clamour to blame Burn for everything and the suggestion Livramento would fix it all.

Botman and Schar have been horrific with their passing.

Midfield unable to protect the defence or play around the Arsenal press. Longstaff and Miley just not able to support Bruno against this level of opposition.

Shar and Botman also too careless playing the ball out from the back.

Need our more athletic midfielders back badly. 

Almiron ...

Boehly paid around £20 million to get Potter from Brighton right?

This old geezer needs to get the money out and stop all this noise.

46 minutes ago, Cheshire Mag said:

In that case Emenalo will be our next DoF/Sporting Director.

Got a role overseeing the restructuring of the entire Saudi League. Can't see it.

5 hours ago, The College Dropout said:

@KaKa here seems to suggest we could have made better decisions in certain areas in the transfer market and have a better balance in the squad. 
 

Not pointing the finger at you, but a few of us said the window left us short of quality, depth and balance. Many refuted that and were extremely happy with the window. Sounds like you’re playing both sides. 

We consistently sign players that have come in and looked very good in the team, and so as far as I'm concerned I am not unhappy about anything. There are clubs in this league spending £90 million on players that can't get on the pitch.

We could have gone about the recruitment in a slightly different way, but ultimately, that's the manager's call, and I can accept that. I think a more recruitment based DOF probably better advises and assists the manager in this regard though, and things can always be done even better.

I had no expectations of this squad being completely fixed this past summer, and ultimately the number of injuries and the nature of them would have caused us major problems regardless.

7 minutes ago, The College Dropout said:

I thought you were a big fan of our summer recruitment?

Where have I said I wasn't?

Actually quite excited about this. Think we could do with someone with a bit more of a player recruitment leaning to them.

Perhaps that would have helped with some of the decision making we've seen regarding doing a better job of targeting certain areas and getting a better balanced squad.

18 minutes ago, Deuce said:

I’m mostly intrigued by his motivations for leaving. Could be as simple as he’s friends with Ratcliffe and the allure of rebuilding one of the largest clubs in world football is too good an opportunity to pass up.

I don’t imagine money is a driver, since we’re likely paying him top dollar as it is.

 

The narrative coming out of his camp seems to be that he feels he’s been misled regarding his role here and/or cut out of the inner circle. If true, I’m curious as to why that’s the case. It’s not preposterous to wonder if he has been treated unfairly by PIF.
 

Could be a combination of those things! At this point it’s pure speculation.

He's leaving because he's close with one of the key people involved in the new Man Utd group. I forget the name, but it has been reported already. Think they worked together at Brighton.

I'm excited to see who we bring in to be honest. Be interesting to go back and see who else we interviewed at the time we appointed Ashworth. Think Emenalo was one, but he's now working in Saudi.

7 minutes ago, BennyBlanco said:

For me, he’s earned a bit of leeway this year. Last year was immense but this year there’s definitely some legitimate questions about his selection policy and in game management. We don’t see the inner goings on on the training pitch but we do see what happens on a Saturday - and it’s happening time and time and time again. I love Eddie but I can’t shake the feeling that there’s something of “Southgate” about him where he picks his mates and is far too slow or afraid to change things when it’s clearly not working.

 

Summer will be interesting, we obviously need a striker, a proper left back and a backup center half. If he gets them then there’s zero excuses to persevere with the same mediocre players - Burn and Almiron being chief suspects. I hope it clicks for him and he proves mine and others doubts to be false but I’m slightly worried, not gunna lie.

This is the key bit for me, and pretty much where I am at. If the recruitment doesn't prioritise these areas this summer, and we still continue to see Almiron and Burn as key first team players next season, then he is absolutely on the clock, as far as being under serious scrutiny.

For now though, not starting Almiron as much can't really be avoided, and we don't really have a natural left back alternative to Burn available, and for whatever reason he is not as keen on Tino featuring as a left back from the outset. 

Recruitment has to be spot on regarding the areas we target this summer, as the areas that need improving on are clear as day now.

14 minutes ago, TheBrownBottle said:

I don’t remember it being any different at any time of my watching football tbh.  One of my earliest memories at SJP was a bloke next to me and my dad calling for Willie McFaul’s head during a match.  You can’t sack the players, and you can’t choose the board - the manager is the sponge for venting those frustrations. 

I think it's a lot worse with social media now, and also after the Roman era at Chelsea as that was his thing, which is going to be a lot harder to get away with now as you can't just continuously throw a bunch of money at the situation at the same time with FFP.

Been watching Chelsea fans screaming about sacking Pochettino the last few weeks, having already sacked both Tuchel and Potter this season, both of whom they are still paying off, and so you know, just add Pochettino to the list.

Meanwhile they have remained largely in the same position, despite spending a billion in a year. Complete and utter chaos.

As much fun as people make of Todd Boehly, a lot of fans would run their clubs in the exact same manner. Dumb spending and rash decision making.

1 hour ago, Cronky said:

We don't have a fit striker, there's no cover in midfield and we're having to field a raw 17 year old. The back four has always been slow and now they're inevitably not getting the same protection as before. Simple as. With the resources available, Eddie is still doing a great job.

 

The underlying idea seems to be that the likes of Bournemouth are poor sides who we should be beating comfortably even with half the first team out. That's nonsense. The margins between victory and defeat at this level can be very fine. 

Football fans for the most part are so chaotic nowadays. No idea of how to realistically evaluate a manager's performance.

If there's anything they personally don't agree with or like, they start riling themselves up and talking about the manager being under pressure and getting sacked, because that's what they want to see happen.

With the assumption that the next man in will be the perfect man that does everything they deem to be right.

1 hour ago, BrianSwan said:

Someone like Xavi Hernandez, he will have big contacts in the game, possession focussed manager.

3 minutes ago, TheBrownBottle said:

£450m in two years isn’t pennies, either.  

Yeah, I see this get mentioned a lot, but we've pretty much spent this just to play catch up due to under spending for years under Mike Ashley.

If Howe doesn't turn things around for the likes of Longstaff, Willock, Joelinton, Almiron, Schar, Lascelles and Murphy, we never even come close to looking as good as we have the past couple of seasons, because there would have still been so many gaps. His improvement of these players is what has been the real bedrock of his success here.

Can't think of which other manager would have made use of those players in the same manner to then achieve a top 4 finish within one season.

1 minute ago, TheBrownBottle said:

We don’t know if we have unrealistic owners mate.  Seriously we don’t know. 

The kind of expectations being spoken of are only typical of clubs that spend vast amounts as was possible when Roman was at Chelsea or when Man City were pulling their funny business, both prior to ffp.

9 minutes ago, TheBrownBottle said:

No, ‘votes of confidence’ are notorious in football for being the exact opposite.  

It wasn't a vote of confidence in the first place, because his job was never under any kind of threat.

6 minutes ago, Jagten said:

We're controlled by KSA. There's nothing to wait and see bro. They will fire everyone if it goes badly for too long. 

Only unrealistic fans deem things to be 'going badly'.  It is far from the case in reality.

1 minute ago, TheBrownBottle said:

No, that’s definitely true.  Staveley has confirmed previously that PIF ultimately make the big calls on the big decisions.  It’s their club, not Darren Eales’. 

I do not see them coming in demanding the manager be moved on ahead of the people they have appointed at the club. Certainly not for a manager that is already over achieving and that has completely galvanized the club already in his short time here.

I don't even know who you think is sitting there that is a certainty to come in and do any better. I imagine at some point Pochettino would have been deemed a good option were he available, and at a club that has spent a billion in a year he has been sat in mid table the whole season.

We'll see how it goes.