Bury-d

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Kairdiff Exile
Mid-life Crisis
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Bury-d

Post by Kairdiff Exile »

I didn't go last night, Jerome, but I think we're all worried to see/hear of another capitulation. Lots of the usual over-reaction and hyperbole at the Other Place - but I'm not sure that firing the manager, deposing the chairman (or both) is the right option at this stage. We're all very quick to criticise clubs like Birmingham or Torquay who make big changes after just a few games, and equally I don't think a better owner is waiting in the wings. What is needed are some cool heads to analyse what the hell is going so wrong that we've conceded 10 in four games and only won one of our last eight.

There is some (justified, to my mind) criticism of Pep for bringing in his mates from all around the world rather than sticking with the tried and tested recruitment policy which had served us so well under Appleton. But the opportunity to put that right won't be until January, so we need to work with what we have. That necessitates ending the "square pegs in round holes" strategy (eg, Mousinho at right back, GvK as a striker) and Pep kissing and making up with Wes Thomas over whatever has clearly gone on between them.

Pep probably also needs to apologise (privately, at least) for the misguided 'team bonding' nonsense at the army barracks the other week. What this lot need are time on the training pitch, getting the basics right - not being yelled at by squaddies and firing weapons. When Appleton was under the cosh, it was put right by a week at Bisham Abbey, using top-class facilities to identify what was wrong with the players and tactics; significantly, what he didn't do was get the team to pose by tanks and pretend to be soldiers.
OUFC4eva
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Re: Bury-d

Post by OUFC4eva »

Good post - think fans need to calm down and take a breath.

With the huge turnover in personnel both playing and non playing it was never going to be
a smooth transition. There were plenty of bumps in the road this time three years ago
with the Cambridge disaster bringing things to a head in the second week of October 2014.

However, what Appleton was able to do and was forced to do, was to ditch the likes of
Tom Newey, Junior Brown and Michael Raynes as he knew you could still loan players
with Tarieq Holmes-Dennis and Tyrone Barnett coming in and giving James Roberts a go.

We can't do that now ( although asking Roberts to come in looks possible but highly unlikely)
as short term loans have ceased between transfer windows so we have what
we have until January. We need to get Obika fit pronto and work on a defensive shape
because we are leaking goals for fun.

The one thing I would say is that Pep does not fill me with confidence - seems far too laid back in defeat
and always says he will analyze the match on the DVD and re-focus but we're getting worse.
Kairdiff Exile
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Re: Bury-d

Post by Kairdiff Exile »

Can't see James Roberts being the answer. He had one good spell for us, several years ago, at a lower level - and since then has had his loan terminated at a club playing in Conference North level and failed to impress during pre-season with the main squad. Hard to see his days being anything other than numbered, and to play him now would almost smack of desperation.

I agree that getting Obika and Thomas fit and happy is vital. Otherwise we're relying heavily on Agon Mehmeti - there's not been this much pressure on an Albanian since Skanderbeg. We could also do worse than look at this quite impressive list of unattached and available strikers; could we tempt Dexter Blackstock to returning to his hometown club until the end of the season?
ty cobb
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Re: Bury-d

Post by ty cobb »

We were so close to beating Bradford and since then it has all gone wrong!

No need to panic (yet) we have the same number of points at this stage as last season and have had pretty frustrating injuries to our strikers - some may say unexpected given their record.

I do rather feel if Maguire was on the other side last night the result would have been different - how did we lose the services of our top scorer to Bury. I also think we miss Dunkley, we have little mobility at the back now.
OtmoorYellow
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Re: Bury-d

Post by OtmoorYellow »

Wes Thomas is not the answer. He isn't good enough by a stretch. He never has been (bar one season with Cheltenham in League 2) and never will be. If he was a proven goalscorer, his lack of effort for the team and poor hold up play just might be ignorable, but he provides nothing.

I agree GvK is not the answer either. He is clearly not a striker, I'm not even sure he is that good as a wide player. He isn't quick enough to take players on and he doesn't defend.

Obika is by far the best striker at the club (given that we've yet to see Mehmeti to any significant degree).

I don't mind a lone striker in a 4-2-3-1/4-4-1-1 formation, provided the number 10 is actually contributing. So far I've been disappointed with Payne. He isn't linking play up between midfield and the striker, he isn't feeding off the striker's hold up play, and he isn't creating much. Very much a poor shadow of Maguire so far.

If we are to continue with a lone striker, then we need to get balance in the side. We are far too right sided, with Hall hugging the touchline most of the match, but GvK when played wide, roams all over the shop. That leaves big holes down the left, and when coupled with the left sided defence issues, we are massively open to attack.

Neither Lego, nor Rothwell, nor Ruffels have found any consistency. Lego is played too deep trying to fill Lundstram's boots and he ends up as an extra defender. That leaves us short in the middle, which might to some extent explain why GvK goes walkabout.

Riccardhino has an issue at left back that he strays inside too much, leaving huge space for opposition wide right. With GvK not defending much and also roaming, our left side is very very weak.

I don't actually think our centre backs are playing that badly, they are just coming under too much pressure as a result of problems elsewhere. Sure Williamson is a bit slow, but he makes up for lack of space with usually good positioning and he is excellent in the air. Nelson is also pretty quick to cover most Williamson pace issues.

Moushino has been disappointing so far. I'm not sure I get the logic of signing him. We already have a plethora of decent centre backs, and Moushino is definitely not a right back. We miss Ribs badly.

Defence is a little like playing a character in a computer game, they get worn down by persistent attacks and all defences will eventually yield. That doesn't necessarily mean the defence is bad, but that the lack of attacking provides no relief.

Talk of wanting Eales out is completely bonkers, and it is far too early to be talking of getting rid of the manager, although lack of plan B is a big concern. It will take time to settle and experience of our own and others' situations says that changing managers is costly financially and it takes even longer to achieve success. We need to ride this period out.
Kernow Yellow
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Re: Bury-d

Post by Kernow Yellow »

OUFC4eva wrote: Wed Sep 27, 2017 10:02 am Good post - think fans need to calm down and take a breath.
Agree with this. I haven't seen any of these last three matches, and I understand that they've been bad. But it's far too early to think about changing the manager, and I'm not sure why DE is coming in for such stick, A couple of weeks ago everyone was praising him for a visionary managerial appointment!

People also need to remember that we're in League One, and earlier this month we were sitting in our highest league position for 18 years or so. We fell from there originally by constantly sacking managers, a feature of Kassam's tenure that isn't often remarked upon. We rose again by making the right appointments and sticking with them even when results weren't going well. In 2012-13, after a good start, we lost ALL SIX league matches in September, conceding 18 goals. We still finished 9th that season and Wilder hasn't proved such a bad manager has he?

And for all these people hoping that Carabao's Thai owners take us over, or a Monaco-owning Russian oligarch's son-in-law - FFS. It's hard enough to maintain a strong emotional connection with the team when the personnel changes so much every year, but I think I'd really struggle if I thought it was all being done to build a brand in the far east or help a French club beat FFP rules.

I appreciate that most of this post is in answer to views being expressed on a different forum than this one, but it's hard to ignore such idiocy sometimes...
Kairdiff Exile
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Re: Bury-d

Post by Kairdiff Exile »

Agree with all of KY's post except for this bit:
Kernow Yellow wrote: Thu Sep 28, 2017 10:58 am We fell from there originally by constantly sacking managers, a feature of Kassam's tenure that isn't often remarked upon.
Whilst I agree with the premise that a high turnover of managers is generally a Bad Thing, in Kassam's case the fault was appointing such shit ones in the first place. Apart from possibly Ramon Diaz and Denis Smith, were any of the managers appointed during his time really much cop and deserving of a longer tenure? (I know some people also rated Arrogant TwAtkins, but I was not amongst their number)
Radley Rambler
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Re: Bury-d

Post by Radley Rambler »

Kairdiff Exile wrote: Fri Sep 29, 2017 9:40 am Agree with all of KY's post except for this bit:
Kernow Yellow wrote: Thu Sep 28, 2017 10:58 am We fell from there originally by constantly sacking managers, a feature of Kassam's tenure that isn't often remarked upon.
Whilst I agree with the premise that a high turnover of managers is generally a Bad Thing, in Kassam's case the fault was appointing such shit ones in the first place. Apart from possibly Ramon Diaz and Denis Smith, were any of the managers appointed during his time really much cop and deserving of a longer tenure? (I know some people also rated Arrogant TwAtkins, but I was not amongst their number)
Cause and effect - appointing shit ones will likely lead to the need to sack them.
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