El Prontonise Posted December 23, 2023 Share Posted December 23, 2023 6 hours ago, TheBrownBottle said: I went to most games that season, and anyone else who did wouldn’t write what you’ve written there. Context is important - it doesn’t matter if the Ashley years proved to be awful. Robson was finished and we could all see it - he’d lost the support of the fans, dressing room and owners. But we should have kept him on. Aye, alright - we were just impatient. I'd like to add Liverpool got rid of Houllier for finishing 4th and got a certain Rafa Benitez in..... Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
jackyboy Posted December 23, 2023 Share Posted December 23, 2023 They should have moved Bobby upstairs as a matter of respect. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Theregulars Posted December 23, 2023 Share Posted December 23, 2023 I differ on Bobby - I hadn't lost faith and felt it was a rancid decision at the time. I don't think he lost control, I think he suffered for lack of continued investment in the team so it couldn't evolve. Similar to the strange debate currently being had on Eddie Howe, shouldn't the Marseille semi-final be given a good chunk of context? A lot of our key players were missing which wasn't the case for the other team. There were players who were challenging his authority because frustration boiled over about early exit from the CL and then not being able to get back there in my view - at that point, a sensible chairman or board would have backed him and either recycled the players giving him grief or examined the situation and found another manager who would suit the playing staff. Let's be fair - did we do any better for backing Jermaine fucking Jenas and Kieron Dyer over Robson? We ended up with Souness and 2 decades of nonsense. I always thought at the time that people calling for Robson's head - and I think there were a lot, but I never thought majority of the fanbase - didn't know what they were wishing for and had short-term delusions of grandeur. Same thing happening with Howe now to some extent - he has some small flaws to work out but, to use the frame of the debate, I'd rate him as "well on the way to being elite, provided he learns from mistakes". I personally think he'll be a big name in European football for a long time. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Theregulars Posted December 23, 2023 Share Posted December 23, 2023 28 minutes ago, jackyboy said: They should have moved Bobby upstairs as a matter of respect. They never should have announced he had a season left - that was the stupidest part of a stupid decision/process. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Interpolic Posted December 23, 2023 Share Posted December 23, 2023 Yeah there were definitely big mistakes made at board level. They either needed to back Robson or move him upstairs, what we ended up doing was the worst way to handle it. Undermining him before a ball was kicked as you say, signing players he didn't seem to want (Butt over Carrick felt a sliding doors moment) and getting Souness in next. Really shit decision making which set us back years. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
WideopenMag Posted December 23, 2023 Share Posted December 23, 2023 Worst bit was replacing him with Souness, awful appointment. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Yorkie Posted December 23, 2023 Share Posted December 23, 2023 55 minutes ago, Interpolic said: Yeah there were definitely big mistakes made at board level. They either needed to back Robson or move him upstairs, what we ended up doing was the worst way to handle it. Undermining him before a ball was kicked as you say, signing players he didn't seem to want (Butt over Carrick felt a sliding doors moment) and getting Souness in next. Really shit decision making which set us back years. Add-in selling Speed to that incident without his say-so/knowledge. Scandalous. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Begbie Posted December 23, 2023 Share Posted December 23, 2023 1 hour ago, Theregulars said: I differ on Bobby - I hadn't lost faith and felt it was a rancid decision at the time. I don't think he lost control, I think he suffered for lack of continued investment in the team so it couldn't evolve. Similar to the strange debate currently being had on Eddie Howe, shouldn't the Marseille semi-final be given a good chunk of context? A lot of our key players were missing which wasn't the case for the other team. There were players who were challenging his authority because frustration boiled over about early exit from the CL and then not being able to get back there in my view - at that point, a sensible chairman or board would have backed him and either recycled the players giving him grief or examined the situation and found another manager who would suit the playing staff. Let's be fair - did we do any better for backing Jermaine fucking Jenas and Kieron Dyer over Robson? We ended up with Souness and 2 decades of nonsense. I always thought at the time that people calling for Robson's head - and I think there were a lot, but I never thought majority of the fanbase - didn't know what they were wishing for and had short-term delusions of grandeur. Same thing happening with Howe now to some extent - he has some small flaws to work out but, to use the frame of the debate, I'd rate him as "well on the way to being elite, provided he learns from mistakes". I personally think he'll be a big name in European football for a long time. I agree on what you are saying. The reason I think many where calling for SBRs head was because the club had stagnated and started to move in the wrong directions. Many wanted more structure in the squad, we had fantastic offensive players and lacked good defensive players. There were also rumours of a world class Ottmar Hitzfeld comming here. Some times I wish SBR wasnt such a honorable gentleman and came out and said the board was buying the players behind his back and say what he needed. But this wasnt him, he was a much bigger man! Think the board had neglected him a few transfer windows and this made our squad unbalanced with loads of big egoes. I do think if people had knew what was going on at the time that people would have backed him and called for a sacking of the board instead. Makes me really sad thinking back how bad they threated him.. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Miggys First Goal Posted December 23, 2023 Share Posted December 23, 2023 Seriously hope PIF don’t have an itchy trigger finger. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Krabbe2 Posted December 23, 2023 Share Posted December 23, 2023 20 minutes ago, Miggys First Goal said: Seriously hope PIF don’t have an itchy trigger finger. Saudi is known for good human rights, so I hope he survives. My only concern is whether Howe's style is sustainable year after year without a 30-man squad. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Begbie Posted December 23, 2023 Share Posted December 23, 2023 6 minutes ago, Krabbe2 said: Saudi is known for good human rights, so I hope he survives. My only concern is whether Howe's style is sustainable year after year without a 30-man squad. It doesnt help with 30 players if we dont rotate.. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
dcmk Posted December 23, 2023 Share Posted December 23, 2023 (edited) As long as lessons are learnt all for this guy. Can't even prepare a team or train properly are the moment. The fixture list is insane as well as our injuries. How is any squad/manager supposed to manage this. January can't come soon enough. Edited December 23, 2023 by dcmk Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
BShearer Posted December 23, 2023 Share Posted December 23, 2023 Saudi loans line up with some real quality early January or this season will be serious setback. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jagten Posted December 23, 2023 Share Posted December 23, 2023 39 minutes ago, Miggys First Goal said: Seriously hope PIF don’t have an itchy trigger finger. Think this is really unlikely. Staveley + whoever else will be unwavering. Our technical strategy has increasingly become long Eddie Howe. It would need to get so bad PIF were questioning their competency, and we are nowhere near that. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
astraguy Posted December 23, 2023 Share Posted December 23, 2023 lock this thread quick,too many alcoholics lurking Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
LiquidAK Posted December 23, 2023 Share Posted December 23, 2023 Not a single manager in the world I'd swap him for. Anyone actually advocating for moving him on is deranged. Fortunately only seen a couple who feel that way. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RS Posted December 23, 2023 Share Posted December 23, 2023 Not covering himself in glory here. Fit players must be a better option than playing cripples. His worst performance since he joined Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
PauloGeordio Posted December 23, 2023 Share Posted December 23, 2023 Positives. Botman. Isak looked good coming deep. Hall got some game time. Smash Forrest on Boxing Day. Give Chris “the goal” Wood a home coming welcome. Next Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Decky Posted December 23, 2023 Share Posted December 23, 2023 He really needs to sort the away form out fast. Its not even just about fatigue because its been poor all season. Being away to Liverpool and Villa in the next two away games won't help. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
dcmk Posted December 23, 2023 Share Posted December 23, 2023 Just now, LiquidAK said: Not a single manager in the world I'd swap him for. Anyone actually advocating for moving him on is deranged. Fortunately only seen a couple who feel that way. Combination of Injuries and fixture list have killed the team. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Aiston Posted December 23, 2023 Share Posted December 23, 2023 Away form is a joke, one of the worst in the league. Needs to change. Playing players that can barely move is so fucking risky as well. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Butcher Posted December 23, 2023 Share Posted December 23, 2023 Shown his limitations over the last month and that's okay. No one is perfect. Just hope he learns from it. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
mouldy_uk Posted December 23, 2023 Share Posted December 23, 2023 Really need Murphy and Barnes back to give Gordon and Miggy a rest and a kick up the arse Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
TBG Posted December 23, 2023 Share Posted December 23, 2023 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
dcmk Posted December 23, 2023 Share Posted December 23, 2023 Just now, Decky said: He really needs to sort the away form out fast. Its not even just about fatigue because its been poor all season. Being away to Liverpool and Villa in the next two away games won't help. With fixtures so quick and so fast. Can he even prepare the team? He can barely rotate nor train with any intensity. Since we have been thread bare for so long. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
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