indierich06

What is this from? I can hear it in my head and I can't place it 😫

RVN or Corberan and I'll be reasonably happy tbh. Think Ruud's got something about him. Did a good job with PSV during the time when Slot was smashing it left, right and centre with Feyenoord. Seemed to be able to get a tune out of United in those couple of games he had with them too. I think the football would certainly be more attractive. Corberan's the one we should have appointed in the summer tbf.

I obviously want us to stay up, but not at any cost. There's a reason most West Ham fans wanted Moyes out by the end of his tenure - and the club is still trying to unpick the style of team he turned them into. I don't want us transformed into some constant drain-circling PL team, just scraping survival every season. There are other ways of doing it - Brentford, Brighton, Bournemouth, Villa are all thriving because they have a clear identity and clear way of doing things.

With my tinfoil hat on, I wonder if they'd got Potter lined up but didn't want the media circus of his first game being vs his old club/our old manager and a really tough fixture generally.

RVN will be looking for a job soon, bin Coop and get him in

I do take your point, we could be going out attacking and then getting battered every week and I suppose we'd all be calling Cooper naive for not being pragmatic. But at the same time, I don't think we're playing a particularly well-drilled, organised style of defensive football - there's no clear counter attacking style, we don't really have a clear way of playing in my mind. It doesn't feel like there's much organisation there - do we play out from the back? Do we soak up pressure and counter? What do we actually do? Maybe it's just more clear after Maresca - who, love it or hate it, had a way of playing that was clear and defined. We just seem... aimless to me.

I disagree with the Maresca comment - I feel he'd probably be doing slightly better, not amazing, but he probably wins the Palace game, maybe the Everton game. The results aren't particularly the problem at the minute - they're ok, they're not terrible. The main issues are the things everyone can see - the bad game management, bad subs, the lack of any discernible game plan or tactics outside of ultra defensive setups. The numbers point to a side that is creating very little and conceding a lot of possession, shots and chances, but is currently being carried through by individual quality - but that can't and won't last forever. To me that suggests that what's happening at the minute is happening in spite of the manager rather than because of him, and that's a worrying place to be.

anyone got a stream?

Tbf he's been ****ing shit for them until this game

Would he? I reckon we would probably have more points on the board at this stage than we do under Cooper. He would have carried on playing the way he had us playing last season, which we already had the players for. Not saying it would have been rosy, and we wouldn't struggle, but I think he leads us to a higher league finish than Cooper in all honesty.

As expected, individual quality is currently covering for his terrible tactics and poor in-game management/subs - you're right, it will end and soon, and then we're in the shit.

His primary thought going into games appears to always be 'don't lose' - so we set up conservatively, try and 'keep it tight' and then when we inevitably go a goal down anyway, we have to chase the game. That's my view on it anyway. You can't just park the bus and expect to not concede these days, teams will just go through you. We're evidently much better when we try and actually play.

The more I read this, the more I worry - if there was a tactical plan that we weren't quite executing right, it'd be one thing, but it looks more as though there isn't a plan and it's moments of individual quality that are dragging us through at the minute in terms of turning losses into draws etc. I think if we could see the idea, if we could understand what he's trying to do, that would placate the fanbase - he just seems like a man without a plan.

Top has no interest in getting rid of Rudkin, he loves the bloke, he clearly thinks he's doing a great job - that's the problem.

Ok cool, you sound nice. Good chat.

I'm not defending him. Just saying I feel sorry for him.

He clearly is, and he's clearly the wrong fit here too and the board should call time on it - those two things can both be true. I hate to see anyone struggling - he must feel like shit when he gets home after nights like last night.

The problem is the board, they **** it up every time.

"The application of not losing" could be the name of Cooper's managerial handbook. His first thought is never 'how do we win?' it's always 'how do we avoid losing?' - which explains his desire for 'experienced' players, his negative formations, his overly conservative game management, his negative substitutions. Palace was a prime example - they're piling forward and Steve's not thinking about how we play our way back into the game, he's thinking how do we soak up their pressure more - he brings on Coady and the rest is history. But hey, we didn't lose.

He just never got a sniff because Kasper played basically every single game during his time here, meanwhile he's sitting on a bench doing **** all - you don't play games, you lose that match sharpness. He went from not playing regular football for a couple of years to being expected to get up to speed over a summer break. Nonsense decision not to replace Kasper after he went.

Rudkin and basic competence don't mix unfortunately.

I do really feel for the bloke, because every time he comes out in an interview I think 'he sounds genuine, he wants to succeed - he seems to actually care'. You never hear him ducking, or making excuses, and he fronted up to the crowd's displeasure last night - it would have been easy to just throw out a bunch of excuses. But at the same time, it's just not working - and as nice a man as he seems to be, I can't see where this upturn in performances and results are going to come from.

I don't think he'd come, but Fabregas would be an interesting appointment, clearly has a tactical idea:

The only thing they will look at is the table, which says we're 15th and performing better than 5 other teams - they won't bother assessing performance or long term prospects, or fan opinion. All they care about is taking credit for the good, and shirking responsibility for the bad - so they'll all be sitting up in the boardroom convincing themselves that Steve's doing a good job, the fans are wrong and what a great appointment they've made. I firmly think Cooper is the wrong man, but I almost think what's the point in sacking him when you've got these absolutely inept, clueless morons running the club? A director of football who is a genuine idiot and a yes man, a CEO who has overseen business decisions that would have lead us to massive points deductions if not for a technicality, and an owner who is at best out of his depth, and at worst disinterested and incompetent. They've made some absolutely honking appointments, and this is one of the worst - they'd probably sack Cooper and spend a month trying to brig Graham Potter in again, before turning to Steve ****ing Bruce or someone like that. I can almost see the logic in appointing Cooper over Corberan if you're worried about how much you'll be able to reinforce the squad - it wouldn't just be £2m in compensation, it would be the fees for his staff too, and a manager can't be seen as an 'asset' in the same way as a player can... But then they go and spunk all that cash up the wall on a bunch of washed up PL journeymen who are holding back the younger and more talented members of the squad and offering nothing on the pitch.