nnfox

AI is still just a problem solver. It gets instructed to solve human generated problems. It's a way off giving itself a problem where the solution leads to taking humans to extinction.

It all makes sense now. We're waiting for Will Still to get sacked at Auxerre (played 3, lost 5-2, 3-1 & 3-1). Then we'll sack RM and insert Still at the top of the list.

People need to calm down a bit. My position: I didn't want RM here. I honestly thought it was a joke that his name was merely mentioned and when he was appointed I thought it would be a disaster. I don't want him here now. The reality of the position: RM has signed a three year deal. We are 5 games into the first season. It's been a bumpy start (to be kind) which was probably not out of the question given the trajectory of the club, the cultural problems and the biggest playing staff turnover in recent years. We do not have the money to sack him BUT, our value as a club will be plummeting, so there are some considerations around that Yesterday was a disaster, no question. But, I would say that it's just one game of football. There had been some encouraging signs and that could be measured in the mood on this forum with, dare I say it, some optimism creeping in. Losing one game of football 4-0 isn't as bad as losing 4 games 1-0. We scored 0 out of 3 yesterday and whether we lose 1-0, 4-0 or 9-7 it's still "just" 3 points dropped. Whoever the manager is, we will lose again this season and drop points. I don't see him going anywhere for at least 10 games, and if we win 5 or 6 of those, he's here until Xmas at least.

He's the wrong appointment, in the wrong league at the wrong time. Virtually 100% of fans could see it. He's going nowhere right now. Yesterday was a terrible result and his managerial career has more than a sprinkling of these terrible results. His last full season (Southampton 23/24) was successful but he had a bumpy start there. He amassed 10 points from his first 4 games but then lost the next four consecutively, including a 5-0 defeat at Sunderland and a 4-1 home defeat to us. So 10 points from 8 games. We're 5 from 5 and there's an awful long way to go. Like it or not, he's going to be given time. My concern is that over 61 league games with Southampton and Rangers, the stand out statistic was the 22 game unbeaten run he went on with Southampton after those first 8 games. 16 wins, 6 draws. 9 clean sheets within them and a total of 13 goals conceded in the first 21 of those games. The final win in that sequence was a 5-3 win against Huddersfield, so 16 goals conceded in 22 games. After that, form dipped, but defensively, having been solid for so long, Southampton went on to concede 16 goals in their next 8 games. Was this the moment that he was tactically sussed?? Interestingly, over the 61 league games across two clubs, outside of that 22 game purple patch, his teams kept just 5 other clean sheets (one with Rangers and one in the Prem with Southampton). I'd love to know how many of the goals his teams have leaked have been as a direct result of being dispossessed in their own defensive third. To be fair to him, I like what he's done behind the scenes and we've played some nice stuff in patches, but his tactical inflexibility is a major flaw and a huge red flag. A bit of humility and going back to the drawing board could and would go a long way, but I fear his arrogant stubbornness will prevent that from happening. Stay as we are and we'll end up mid-table. Change and we could walk this league.

Still over 25 minutes to go.

I honestly think this guy just doesn't want to play football. He's like a kid who has been forced to play and wanted to impress his dad or something. Now he's made it as a pro, he doesn't actually like the sport and is happy to drift, putting in the minimum amount of effort to get paid something. He's the lazy guy that everyone knows at work who absolutely steals a living with zero output and is carried by everyone else.

I'd rather have a striker that was a poor finisher but created a lot of chances, than a great finisher who created nothing. In a perfect world you'd have both, but we're in League One and aren't exactly flush with money.

No.

My God, imagine that being his legacy here. "Yeah, he was good and had a really bright future, but at least he paid for Stephy Mavididi's wages." Honking.

Them the circles we move in now

Fans need to get on board with him staying. I honestly thought it was some kind of joke when his name was merely mentioned. He's here now, with a 3 year contract. Calling for his head three games into a season that's seen the biggest overhaul of a squad in recent years with all of the problems he inherited, is just plain stupid. He's going nowhere. I fully expect he will be Top's final managerial hire. I hate the obsession with possession and I don't think we have the players to do it well enough for long enough without making ridiculous mistakes that lead to big chances. That said, we have actually played some nice stuff and I've seen enough to give him time. We'll know better in 10-15 games time. If we haven't had a decent run of wins by then, then we'll be in trouble.

Interestingly, my MK Dons supporting mate was at the game today. He said we have lots of good players and were clearly the better team but Bristric was absolute pony and we were worse with him on the pitch.

The mere mention of a Fin means reminds me of this gem.

Haha that Ipswich player had the ball under pressure in his own box and just blasted it out of play. He'd never get in our team

The players are the players. Those are the tools he has at his disposal. They are not suited to his style of play and won't be either, regardless of how good a coach he thinks he is. I'll give him a fair chance when he recognises that the players he has are not technically good enough to play his brand of football. Our fortunes will change immediately if HE changes and comes up with a system that our players can actually play. Sticking stubbornly to this fairytale football for the next 10-15 games will only get him sacked and prevent us from getting promoted.

Hull away is not an opening day fixture any decent team wants.

I'm not sure we have the right players for the manager.

It felt like the hottest day today. I took a short walk and it genuinely felt like an oven. I'm just glad the evenings are drawing in now.

We won the Premier League 10 years ago, y'know. League One should be a walk in the park. Realistically though, it's because we're a massive club with a recognisable name. On paper we're a big fish in a small pond and the bookies are a profitable business and there will be lots of casual punters chucking a tenner on us as they think it'll be easy money. Bookies limiting their loss, that's all.

I feel like this is a point that isn't stressed enough. I think I'm right in saying that winters here are now milder by a greater margin than our summers. In summer it's easy to know that it's really hot because the sun is baking and everything is parched, but if the winter is a couple of degrees warmer, people still put a coat on and don't give it a second thought. More rain, less snow and ice, longer autumns, earlier springs. Our climate is changing quicker than most folk realise.

But it's not zero risk! With our players, it's high risk, and not in a good way! RM is here now, he's going nowhere for a while so this is the style of football we're going to get. But please man, for the love of God, don't play tippy tappy in our own box for at least the first 5 minutes, or the last 5 minutes if we're drawing or winning by 1.

Of course though, it's not that easy. It's a lucrative business and not dissimilar to the international drugs trade industry. You take the guy at the top out and guess what? You still have a drugs problem. Either someone a bit further down the command chain steps up and continues the operation, or a rival gang moves into the space and carries on the operation. I don't know what the answer is. Make it easier for people to come here in the first place? How exactly? Grant "Asylum Visas" and allow them to board a plane straight into Heathrow? What then? Form an orderly queue to be told yes or no? What do you do with those that you refuse entry, assuming we couldn't send them back to the persecution they're fleeing? How many do you say "Yes" to? 10,000 per year? 20,000? 100,000? 10million? What happens to the person in the queue who breaches the quota? It's such a multi-layered, complex issue, there just isn't one magic bullet that will sort it out. All measures can have some level of success, but nothing seems to have worked.

Has a manager ever been sacked before their first game? Would love Fuchs here, but not with RM. I don't see how they can work together - personalities and football philosophy are poles apart.

i actually think there's a disconnect between manager and player acquisition. It feels like the scouts and deal makers have a strategy to stick to and actually, the manager has very little input into the individuals that get signed. Sure, they might have some big picture input, but I don't think they are an active participant in signing players. Maybe it's the same at other clubs - I'll admit I don't pay particular close attention to everybody else's signings, but I can't get my head around just how many players we sign who don't play more than a handful of games for the club and end up as unused substitutes. Surely if we were signing players that the manager actively wanted, they'd play?

He's here. He's in charge. He works with a dysfunctional set of players in a dysfunctional organisation. He's got enough on his plate without the fans writing him off from the off. He has to be given a fair crack at it.