Steve McClaren

[TRon]

We were showing some encouraging signs before tonight, God knows why we were suddenly so shit. Hopefully it's the final proof he needs that De Jong and Perez have to play and certain other players are a waste of skin.

 

I know we are only 5 games in, but he really should have twigged far earlier that the midfield formation he favours wasn't working. Very worrying, especially as he was criticised as an England manager for insisting on pairing Lampard and Gerrard despite the criticism that they were two of a kind. He seems too scared to make decisions when it comes to dropping big reputation players even if they don't fit together. Bilic isn't even a particularly good manager, but he seems to enjoy making McClaren his bitch and the bitch doesn't seem to have too many objections.

[Dan Gleebals]

He definitely needs to change his approach and fast.  Yes, conceding 60+ goals last season needs to be addressed but IMO, we are essentially playing to contain the other team  and its simply not working.  We are essentially saying to teams "safety first" which is allowing them to push further up the field, which when mistakes are inevitably made by Anita/Colback or even Gini - we are in big trouble.

 

When we try and initiate an attacking move, Colback and Anita are nowhere to be seen most of the time which creates space for the counter, which teams are exploiting when our moves break down.

 

Mitrovic, when back, is going to need service and on the current showing, he is simply not going to get it.

 

Given our team, it seems pretty obvious that 4-4-2 would be a better option for us or even 4-1-1 with De Jong or Perez playing off him.  Or a pure 4-3-3 with two banks of 3

 

Two defensive players is really hurting us. Colback should be a sub at most.

 

 

My choice would be

 

Sissoko  Anita  Gini

Perez  Cisse/Mitrovic  Aarons or Thavin

 

 

[ExiledGeordie]

We were showing some encouraging signs before tonight, God knows why we were suddenly so s***. Hopefully it's the final proof he needs that De Jong and Perez have to play and certain other players are a waste of skin.

 

I know we are only 5 games in, but he really should have twigged far earlier that the midfield formation he favours wasn't working. Very worrying, especially as he was criticised as an England manager for insisting on pairing Lampard and Gerrard despite the criticism that they were two of a kind. He seems too scared to make decisions when it comes to dropping big reputation players even if they don't fit together. Bilic isn't even a particularly good manager, but he seems to enjoy making McClaren his bitch and the bitch doesn't seem to have too many objections.

 

Spot on, the midfield and formation needs sorting as it's clearly not working.

[Wullie]

TBF to McClaren, I'm more and more convinced that the problems on the pitch can never be put right under the current administration.

 

The poisonous anti-competitive culture that has been deliberately developed since the day Hughton was sacked can't be swept away by a few new players or even new staff. The manager's another one who wouldn't get a job anywhere else in the top flight and the players know it.

 

The best comparison is Hearts who were a joke for years under the last owner. A new lot has come in, they haven't spent a single penny on transfer fees, yet the club has been completely transformed, just from a different attitude at the top. This lot seem to think everything can be put right by playing Coloccini in the cups but they're finding out quickly that it can't.

[TRon]

TBF to McClaren, I'm more and more convinced that the problems on the pitch can never be put right under the current administration.

 

The poisonous anti-competitive culture that has been deliberately developed since the day Hughton was sacked can't be swept away by a few new players or even new staff. The manager's another one who wouldn't get a job anywhere else in the top flight and the players know it.

 

The best comparison is Hearts who were a joke for years under the last owner. A new lot has come in, they haven't spent a single penny on transfer fees, yet the club has been completely transformed, just from a different attitude at the top. This lot seem to think everything can be put right by playing Coloccini in the cups but they're finding out quickly that it can't.

 

I think that's a separate, and very valid issue. At the moment though, McClaren is just picking a poor combination of players, he can certainly do better with what he's got available.

[mrmojorisin75]

TBF to McClaren, I'm more and more convinced that the problems on the pitch can never be put right under the current administration.

 

The poisonous anti-competitive culture that has been deliberately developed since the day Hughton was sacked can't be swept away by a few new players or even new staff. The manager's another one who wouldn't get a job anywhere else in the top flight and the players know it.

 

The best comparison is Hearts who were a joke for years under the last owner. A new lot has come in, they haven't spent a single penny on transfer fees, yet the club has been completely transformed, just from a different attitude at the top. This lot seem to think everything can be put right by playing Coloccini in the cups but they're finding out quickly that it can't.

 

I think that's a separate, and very valid issue. At the moment though, McClaren is just picking a poor combination of players, he can certainly do better with what he's got available.

Yeah I'm the same as you Tron. He's keeping our best attacking players on the bench and playing a system with two midfielders who contribute nothing going forward and that isolates the attack from the defence and seemingly relies on Sissoko and Wijnaldum getting up and down the pitch at pace the entire match.

 

He's continued the overly cautious Pardew approach and is also sticking with players not performing.

 

 

[ExiledGeordie]

TBF to McClaren, I'm more and more convinced that the problems on the pitch can never be put right under the current administration.

 

The poisonous anti-competitive culture that has been deliberately developed since the day Hughton was sacked can't be swept away by a few new players or even new staff. The manager's another one who wouldn't get a job anywhere else in the top flight and the players know it.

 

The best comparison is Hearts who were a joke for years under the last owner. A new lot has come in, they haven't spent a single penny on transfer fees, yet the club has been completely transformed, just from a different attitude at the top. This lot seem to think everything can be put right by playing Coloccini in the cups but they're finding out quickly that it can't.

 

I agree, this will always be an issue while Ashley is here. We'll never see true progression until he goes, whenever that is.

[Wullie]

I agree but I think no matter who he picks, there's a long battle at the bottom ahead. I don't see him changing the habit of a lifetime and suddenly trying to attack. Crippling negativity was his trademark at Boro and he's been exactly the same here so far.

 

Early indications are that none of the sides who have been promoted are going to be whipping boys whilst the other clubs who were down there last year have all improved. Alarm bells should already be going off within NUFC imo.

[olliemort]

Only five games but he can fuck off if he's going to keep that ginger wanker on the pitch with that coward of a performance last night. It was so frustrating to watch. Clearly obvious that west ham are not very good and they were there for the taking last night.

[buzza]

I agree with the jist of the comments above, the 4231 is not working and jack and anita are both playing far too deep most of the time. i like the look of the 433 above or a proper 4411. Means one of jack or anita wouldn't play which would improve us 10 fold attack wise.

 

[mrmojorisin75]

I agree but I think no matter who he picks, there's a long battle at the bottom ahead. I don't see him changing the habit of a lifetime and suddenly trying to attack. Crippling negativity was his trademark at Boro and he's been exactly the same here so far.

 

Early indications are that none of the sides who have been promoted are going to be whipping boys whilst the other clubs who were down there last year have all improved. Alarm bells should already be going off within NUFC imo.

I think he's going to have to change his approach or he'll not see out the season, unless we start scoring goals we're down.

 

Pardew had the knack of getting 1 goal wins at the right time, SMC doesn't appear to have that.

[SUPERTOON]

A serious question, how long do people think he should be given, in terms of the number of games before we fairly judge him?

[Unbelievable]

A serious question, how long do people think he should be given, in terms of the number of games before we fairly judge him?

 

I'm of the opinion that he shouldn't have been given the job period, but seeing as he's here we owe him at least a season to see what he can do unless we're in serious danger of going down later in the season, which I don't really expect despite the rocky start to our season. That said, this won't stop me from criticising decisions I see as errors of judgement as and when I see them. I just think any pressure on him to get the sack before the end of the season is unwarranted unless we are in deep brown stuff.

[ExiledGeordie]

 

Think he's going to have to sign Austin (or another proven striker) and another defender in Jan at the very least.

[Guest]

 

Think he's going to have to sign Austin (or another proven striker) and another defender in Jan at the very least.

 

I'd be happier to see neither and for us to get a proper midfielder.

[AyeDubbleYoo]

Midfield is a problem, hopefully he'll spot that. I think the rest will come good if he does.

 

Wijnaldum looks lost in the hole. Anita is OK coming deep to link play but Colback isn't a good partner for him. He's hiding or out of position too often and can't cover ground either.

 

Obvious solution seems to be drop Wijnaldum deeper into CM and put De Jong in. TBF to McClaren he might have done it already if De Jong was fit. I would also consider Perez starting while Mitrovic is out.

 

I believe we have enough good players to have a decent season still, but last night was weirdly bad.

[Nobody]

Please stop this four CMs bullshit. Get rid of Colback and Sissoko for De Jong and Perez, and we'd look twice the team.

Assume he wanted us to be counter attacking West Ham with the pace of Sissoko, Wijnaldum and Thauvin yesterday, but that fell to pieces when they got an early lead. He really needed to change things up at half time, but as we've seen, he's been very late with his subs, and they haven't been the best. At least yesterday the right players came on, which is one of the only positives I can take from yesterday.

[NG32]

He needs a win against Watford.  Anything but a win and the panic starts edging in.

[TRon]

A serious question, how long do people think he should be given, in terms of the number of games before we fairly judge him?

 

I'm of the opinion that he shouldn't have been given the job period, but seeing as he's here we owe him at least a season to see what he can do unless we're in serious danger of going down later in the season, which I don't really expect despite the rocky start to our season. That said, this won't stop me from criticising decisions I see as errors of judgement as and when I see them. I just think any pressure on him to get the sack before the end of the season is unwarranted unless we are in deep brown stuff.

 

You and Wullie are both right in that he shouldn't have been given the job in the first place, but while Ashley's the owner this is probably as good as we are going to get. Unless he's a complete craven coward he'll have to change something, and at least the changes he made after an hour gave us something of a glimpse that we can be a lot better than his starting line up. It's just a shame just about 90% of the people on here could have called it 3 games ago.

[Shak]

Going to give him some time, obviously two points from five games is very poor but it must be said that the fixture list has been a difficult one for a manager who's trying to completely change the way we play.

 

However, there have been some incredibly worrying signs from him.

 

Perez not playing is a joke. Obertan starting games ahead of him was nonsense and when Ayoze did get the start against Man U he looked good only to be dropped again for the Arsenal game. I'm excited about Thauvin but it really does seem that McClaren is playing favourites and Ayoze isn't on his list. First Obertan, now Thauvin. We'd also have been far better off starting Perez up top than persisting with Cisse, who is an absolutely atrocious lone striker. Guy needs to play against Watford.

 

Extending Colo's contract still pisses me off too. We've basically handcuffed ourselves into an Mbemba-Colo partnership for the next two years, two players who are desperately ill-suited to playing together in this league. Should have let him go to Palace, he's done and is going to just linger around declining further over the next year or two.

 

However Colback and Anita starting together in CM every game so far is by far the most alarming thing we've seen from him. Individually they're absolutely average footballers, very limited players who have glaring holes in their game. But as a partnership... fucking hell they're awful. Been completely bossed in every game we've played so far and I have no hope that they'll get better. What's worrying is that many people said that they should never play together, it seemed obvious that they'd be shite together. Yet he's picked them, and is now sticking with them. It's not like he has no other options either. Wijnaldum looks better suited to playing deeper, we could also put Sissoko back in CM. Both of these options would allow us to get a player like De Jong or Perez on the field. I really don't think he's going to change it any time soon either, which means I can't see us being much use as a team even when the supposedly easier fixtures come around.

 

Needs to make some big decisions in the coming weeks.

[Disco]

They're actually keeping him out of the side though, Perez could easily slot in anywhere across the front 4 and we'd not jeopardise our balance too much by taking out one of Colback or Anita.

 

People can say what they like about needing 2 conservative midfielders in the team (I disagree anyway) but it's not even making us look much more solid and it's most certainly contributing to us having f***-all going forward.  Just slot Perez in anywhere - left, right, central - doesn't matter.  Kid needs to be on the pitch, no excuses.

 

If McClaren doesn't appear to understand that over the next few games I'll actually start getting a bit concerned.

 

Even if he plays Gini in midfield I could see valid reasons for a front four of say Thauvin, De Jong, Sissoko & Mitrovic when they're all fit.

 

Agreed it's wank though if it still means Colita in midfield.

 

Perez is easy to leave out because he a) came in as a backup for a low fee, b) won't kick up a big fuss, c) won't be on big wages.

[Mole_Toonfan]

Needs to learn quickly the Anita/Colback partnership doesn't work. As much as I want Perez in the team, there's at least reasons for him not being in, but no excuse now for these two.

 

Can't think what they would be personally, he's always by far our best player. Should start all of the time.

[Wisdom Body]

 

The best comparison is Hearts who were a joke for years under the last owner. A new lot has come in, they haven't spent a single penny on transfer fees, yet the club has been completely transformed, just from a different attitude at the top.

 

Another comparison, remaining in Scotland - and more pertinently under Ashley - would be Rangers. A club that's doing well, very frustratingly, under the manager that we should have appointed. A manager probably hired with the recommendation of McClaren himself after he got his arse handed to him by Warburton in the Championship. While we opted for the steady and safe hands of Steve...

A bit too fatalistic your point of view; we'll get better, but ultimately it was just a poor appointment.

[Dave]

Going to give him some time, obviously two points from five games is very poor but it must be said that the fixture list has been a difficult one for a manager who's trying to completely change the way we play.

 

However, there have been some incredibly worrying signs from him.

 

Perez not playing is a joke. Obertan starting games ahead of him was nonsense and when Ayoze did get the start against Man U he looked good only to be dropped again for the Arsenal game. I'm excited about Thauvin but it really does seem that McClaren is playing favourites and Ayoze isn't on his list. First Obertan, now Thauvin. We'd also have been far better off starting Perez up top than persisting with Cisse, who is an absolutely atrocious lone striker. Guy needs to play against Watford.

 

Extending Colo's contract still pisses me off too. We've basically handcuffed ourselves into an Mbemba-Colo partnership for the next two years, two players who are desperately ill-suited to playing together in this league. Should have let him go to Palace, he's done and is going to just linger around declining further over the next year or two.

 

However Colback and Anita starting together in CM every game so far is by far the most alarming thing we've seen from him. Individually they're absolutely average footballers, very limited players who have glaring holes in their game. But as a partnership... fucking hell they're awful. Been completely bossed in every game we've played so far and I have no hope that they'll get better. What's worrying is that many people said that they should never play together, it seemed obvious that they'd be shite together. Yet he's picked them, and is now sticking with them. It's not like he has no other options either. Wijnaldum looks better suited to playing deeper, we could also put Sissoko back in CM. Both of these options would allow us to get a player like De Jong or Perez on the field. I really don't think he's going to change it any time soon either, which means I can't see us being much use as a team even when the supposedly easier fixtures come around.

 

Needs to make some big decisions in the coming weeks.

 

[KaKa]

Happy we were so bad last night.

 

Will be fascinating to see his team selection for the next game now, as there will have to be a complete re-think on things.

 

We will have a very clear indication of just how much trouble we are going to be in this season then.