The worm will turn ......... but not necessarily any time soon.

[AndyT]

Good points Andy and to a degree I agree that the expectation of Championship football was a hindrance but we have to be looking towards that if we are a decent top half League 1 side.

In fact when you look at the results when CP took over and also the way we played, just maybe we could have done it that season.

Although the run of results was what finally did for PB, the knives had been out for some time for any number of reasons. Not saying I agree with all of them, but take your pick.

Negative tactics
Sitting on a lead and inviting pressure
Signing old crocks and old lags
Favourites and undroppable players
Too much media time
Forcing out decent players he fell out with
Too orange
Too northern
Arrogant

I was in favour of getting rid mainly because I thought he had run his course and was too negative tactically.

What we would all give now for a genuine bit of clean sheet mentality!

Some fair points @Spenser

I remember many of those. The one that stands out is "forcing out decent players...". I think he shot himself in the foot when releasing Bolger, for example.

The others were less of an issue for me. Overall we were successful within our limitations under PB and that's all you can ask from a manager.

 

[seve le six]

The main reason for the bad run of results since Tom Hopper was injured last season has been the lack of height in the team and even before that the majority of other teams were aerially superior to us. Hence the reason we conceded so many goals from corners, high balls into the box etc.

So what chance have we got when we come up against a team like Blackpool with their players who are 6ft 6 + or a team like Bristol Rovers who decide to go long ball.

At least Sol has recognised this when he says that in response to why we play it out from the back as we can't win it when we play it long. Also that we don't have a commanding dominant centre back.
Here's hoping this problem will be solved come January.

 

[fbm]

I think Coxy could make a very good manager.

It's a shame there is a perceived issue with him. He has been our best player over pretty much all of the time he has been here.

I think there's a far bigger issue than Cox with another player on that earlier list Andy.

 

[AndyT]

Intriguing, but I can guess who it might be.

Got a lot of time for Cox, so I'll be disappointed to see him depart if it comes to it.

 

[GBJ]

The rumour is he bullies the younger players. He won his spat with Theo because its Theo that had to go. The next man on the list who can't stand Cox wont be so easy.......We shall see.

Humphrys?

Edit: I’m not only basing that on rumours, but the very clear body language from him, when playing with Cox (no inuendo)

 

[Barling Magna]

Not John White, surely......? Got to be Oxley then. I've seen that he's got a very clean punch...... he was sent off as a result.

 

[SheldonW65]

Humphrys?

Edit: I’m not only basing that on rumours, but the very clear body language from him, when playing with Cox (no inuendo)

Now the Joshua vs Ruiz circus has left town bring it on. I'll have £500 on Humphrys.

 

[Chrisb]

Not John White, surely......? Got to be Oxley then. I've seen that he's got a very clean punch...... he was sent off as a result.

Could possibly be Kiernan ?

 

[AndyT]

Kiernan or Oxley, for me.

 

[SheldonW65]

Kiernan was out for a long time injured so i'd be surprised but who knows....apart from Rigsby

 

[Yorkshire Blue]

The worm will turn and has started to turn but it will take time. The rot was set a couple of years ago and it's going to be a long term job to turn it around. The whole club reeks of negativity and that makes it hard to win games.

I didn't see the game Saturday but I wasn't surprised by it - neither the first half nor the second half performance. The first half showed that the worm had started to turn but the scars run deep. We'll endure a few more days like that before we emerge the other side.

What we're now playing for is next season. More than purging players we need to purge the mindset and establish some confidence and belief - for next season. Bond was ridiculed when he said it would take two or three transfer windows to turn things around but he was right.

We need to learn how to close out games - not just for the players but for the fans who will otherwise make Roots Hall a toxic atmosphere for our own side. It'll come from winning away games late as I can't see us getting anything from Roots Hall for another month.

But like how, if you looked, you could see our club sleepwalking into this scenario three or four years ago you can now see shoots of recovery. The danger is that we change track and destroy those roots. The target for next year needs to be consolidation in L2. That's going to be a hard sell - for Ron, for Sol, for new signings, for the fans but if we get it wrong we risk going through the L2 trapdoor. If we get it right we can consolidate in L2 in 2020/21, push for promotion 2021/22 and then look to make it a double promotion whenever we come back up, just in time for Fossetts to be nearly ready to start work.

 

[Brett Angle]

I agree we are toilet but let's not get carried away with things. I was behind the Brown Out campaigners but was also very sad that the players were responsible for his demise. He did his job but his tenure ended as the 'player malaise' began. Equally he introduced the style of play that we just don't perform well with. We don't, and didn't, have the players capable of of the defense style he wanted.
Look at Liverpool. Amazing stats but they concede every game. They can outscore the opposition because they try to.
You are a veteran fan, as I am, and we have seen a lot of good and dross performances. Our last four managers, have all played higher level football and all have wanted to introduce us to the way of playing they are accustomed to. I want to see a manager that accepts our limitations and plays to whatever strengths we have. Tippy-tappy football at the back ain't one of them.
My main point was about the disruptive players. Clearly it has been a long term issue and none of the managers have taken the bull by the horns. Oust the bad influences. I don't care who they are or how good they are.

I'd argue that we certainly defended better back then than we do now. We may have had to score twice to win a game under PB - but it's been 3, 4, 5 or more since.

 

[AndyT]

Trophies are won and success gained by stopping the other team scoring.

The teams at the top concede the least number of goals.

That's the only priority for the next twelve months. Just make ourselves difficult to beat and go from there.

 

[GBJ]

The change will come when a couple of the disruptive elements of our squad, are finally binned off.

Until then, this will not change.

 

[GBJ]

Now the Joshua vs Ruiz circus has left town bring it on. I'll have £500 on Humphrys.

Haven’t paid for a PPV event in years. Would definitely break that tradition for this fight.

 

[Leigh_Seasider]

Trophies are won and success gained by stopping the other team scoring.

The teams at the top concede the least number of goals.

That's the only priority for the next twelve months. Just make ourselves difficult to beat and go from there.

This is it. We haven’t competed. We’ve not been difficult to break down and we’ve defended as a team quite shockingly. I’ve seen improvement in the last few games, there’ll be more downs in the coming ones but I’m convinced Sol has us on the right road, finally. This is a squad of players alarmingly low on confidence and fighting spirit. All I ask is for a continued improvement in games, we have a great run of less tricky fixtures in which this may happen. The next 6/7 games are crucial. Not just for survival but to arrest the rot.

 

[AndyT]

This is it. We haven’t competed. We’ve not been difficult to break down and we’ve defended as a team quite shockingly. I’ve seen improvement in the last few games, there’ll be more downs in the coming ones but I’m convinced Sol has us on the right road, finally. This is a squad of players alarmingly low on confidence and fighting spirit. All I ask is for a continued improvement in games, we have a great run of less tricky fixtures in which this may happen. The next 6/7 games are crucial. Not just for survival but to arrest the rot.

The best thing to happen to us on Saturday would be to win 1-0.

One result and a clean sheet could make a big difference to this side, at present.

 

[south247]

Interestingly you can get 9-1 on us to stay up. Bolton just 4-1.

 

[blue pilot]

There's a lot to be said for Phil Brown's 'clean sheet mentality.' At least we were in with a shout of a result, with our current side we can start with a 2-0 head start most weeks and still lose, also our strike force isn't exactly prolific.