Pliskin

The whole thing was an orchestrated PR stunt, it’s free beer and cake gate again, and the KPFC fans just lap it up by the bucket. ****ing embarrassing. That whole weekend is just a massive red herring, he will come away from that thinking everything is okay, and continue to plunge the club into more disarray….. the potential points deduction will certainly bring him crashing back down to earth again……… I’d personally prefer a substantial fine for him, it’s his fault, why make the overall club and fans suffer with points deductions, slap him with a massive fine and he might decide enough is enough and **** off……………..

I don’t think thumped, because they’re just another poor championship outfit, I thought we would lose purely because of the system Marti deploys really hinders our attack.. The team look to me as if they don’t know what they’re being asked to do, we play when it’s not practical too, and then try to be direct when it’s not practical too, we never seem to get it right. The two goals however actually came from two breaks of play in the transition, and for me it highlighted how easily we can actually breach an opposition with the pace and ability we have on the counter. Id be happy if we were genuinely dog shit, but as easy as it is to dislike this team, there’s still enough quality within it to not be where we are. We should be competing at the top end of the table. I do respectfully disagree with the notion of the defence. Vestegaard, Faes and Ricardo all operated at this level perfectly fine at this level last time, and it is the same by and large, so there really are no excuses, I wouldn’t say they were sussed out, I think it was a combination of Enzo’s stubbornness and naivety on his set up that caused us to tail off rather than the individual ability of the players. There’s definitely fragilities within the team and potentially a hangover from last season, but surely a half decent coach would understand this, and deploy their tactics in a way that benefits the team? The threats we do have in the team, we don’t base our play around them, every time Fatawu and Mavididi get the ball, the game is at a walking pace, they’re having to generate their own momentum all of the time, and it’s one of the reasons neither of them are offering any consistency, they’re being expected to create something from nothing all of the time….. We’ve got to start looking at playing a slightly different way, yesterday proves that we can play through teams in less passes, and we can be effective in the transition, rather than triangles in our own half that eventually go back to the goalkeeper….. I know all of the issues are down to Top and Rudkin, but that isn’t changing, and we can’t make wholesale changes to the squad either, because of them, so options are fairly limited… I’m not naive enough to think that what I think is actually the gospel truth it isn’t, we’re treading water, and it’s starting to look like a sink or swim situation…..

It’s difficult to attain yes, but it isn’t unattainable, nothing is….. there are still managers out there who can do this….. we see this when teams have a sudden but consistent upturn in form…. As Forest did under Cooper, who arguably would probably be better for us in this current climate. It’s only difficult to envisage because of how things currently are….. but we only have to cast our minds back a few years to see what Enzo achieved…… any player can be inspired, regardless of their feelings. Yannick was want away, and Enzo managed to get him back onside…. Its how the manager motivates his group as to how this is achieved….. Its clear Marti isn’t a good man manager, the body language from the players has never improved, probably bar Winks who at least is showing willing again. It’s difficult but I maintain a manager who focuses on the players individual skill sets and sets the team up to maximise these will do better than a manager who is trying to play to his philosophy even when it’s not possible to do so, which what Marti is doing. As I’ve said, he should never have really been appointed, but he has but backing him long term will be a mistake too in my opinion…. Two things are going to happen 1) We get promoted and try to use the PL to rebuild, because you can’t rebuild at this level, especially when you’re making mistakes financially and tying your hands… 2) We fail to get promoted and drift into mid table obscurity. Rebuilding at this level is a myth, any team that does usually does following a change of ownership, with a fresh injection of investment….. otherwise the longer you stay at this level, the worse it gets, the more your financial strength reduces and the less appealing you become….. it’s why many teams have been lost the miserable black hole that is the EFL, which really is a purgatory for football…… an eternal stale waiting room…. The latter is now the more likely, because we’ve ****ed up yet again, but if you want to rebuild, you have to do what the likes of Burnley have done, and Leeds of recent years and bounce around the divisions for a couple of seasons to get that financial backing. It’s a difficult scenario, and I do agree with what you’re saying, you’re not wrong….. it’s just there’s still an opportunity to be better with a manager that suits our current skillset, which is limited, but we still have some good players…… But, it’s all immaterial due to the mess behind the scenes, which renders everything above possibly impossible..…..

I do agree.

A manager can make a huge difference. We are all well aware that there are fragilities, within the group but it’s all down to psychology, regardless of players attitudes towards a club, if they have a manager who appeals to their desires…. For example if you’ve got a player who wants away, endeavour to tap into that desire by getting them to essentially play themselves into a move away…… benefits everyone, there are managers who will be able to achieve this, just because a players wants to leave, doesn’t mean you can’t get them back onside one way or another……. Who that manager is, is naturally a massive question…. But I just don’t think this project is working with Marti. You make a good point about needing a wholesale refresh, we do, but it’s not realistic at the moment is it? We’ve got financial problems that I don’t think will even rest once this has done, I can see the EFL trying to have a go again with something fresh. So financially, unless we take a “**** ‘ems” approach, it’s likely to bubble on for a bit longer. It’s down to having the right people at the club. I agree with on pitch leaders, we have none, none once did Ricardo get in the ear of the referee yesterday, despite several terrible calls to book our players when none of Stokes were getting booked…

Things a great point, and it takes a manager with exceptional man management abilities to achieve this. We saw this with Enzo, he improved players, and has exceptional man management skills, which is remarkable considering it was his first job…… But with Marti, I just don’t get that, I just don’t think that his man management is good, the body language is terrible and as you rightly say we’re still mentally fragile. A new manager should breed a new lease of life, with the right type of character this can be achieved quickly. I just feel Marti got off to a bad start with a late arrival, no real transfer business, and a club on its arse…. So I don’t really blame him, he’s been asked to do something he can’t achieve, but it’s not what we need…..

I agree! Other than that, was it probably Liverpool? Lookman’s winner?

Swansea was okay, and the first half against Portsmouth. Other than that, I’ve not seen a decent performance.

He’s not got any physical attributes, he’s slow and built like a 13 year old. Couple that with his defensive frailties, and it’s frankly one of life mysteries that he’s operating as a professional footballer.

Most of that defence has eased this league before, and are international players. Player for player on paper this squad is still better than Stoke’s. It’s been said a million times that this side has glaring fragility, but int he same breath it’s got more than enough to be in the top cluster of teams in this league. What we’re seeing now is tactical problems, Marti’s philosophy isn’t working.

A sensible option would have been to have dropped to a back three. Silko Thomas is shit, it was a rubbish substitution, along with his more ridiculous decision to persist with Soumare.

If you can be, then I want whatever you’re taking.

Thomas being suspended is literally the best thing ever. Best place for him is sat in the stands. Aluko has to be given a chance. Either way, it’s immaterial as we will lose this one.

None, Cov will win the league at a canter, the rest of us, it will be like watching tramps fight over a bag of chips.

Absolutely Trash manager, horrible football, tactically clueless and has reverted back to the “tried and tested”. Seen more than enough, get him gone, and Top, you can **** off with him too.

Positive, we somehow won…. Negatives, everything else. ****ing terrible game, mildly entertaining but not for footballing reasons, for the shenanigans, hopeless referring and general scrappiness.. We didn’t deserve to win, I thought we were horrible. Two moments of quality provided the goals, other than that we were pretty terrible, I’d go as far as saying it’s one of our worst performances, two exceptional saves got us the three points today coupled with Stokes inability to finish, but I thought at the very least they deserved a point. It’s now getting to the stage where it’s tactical, Marti’s philosophy is disgusting, the football is utterly turgid and completely unimaginative. The majority of these players have played a similar style before, but the way we play you would think they’ve never passed a football before. The playing from the back is embarrassingly bad, what on earth are they being asked to do? Winks and Skipp drop far too deep, meaning the opposition can push right up and peg us in, and then there’s no way out other than Yannick to pass to Winks who under pressure bundles the ball to Faes who then again under pressure either bundles is back to Begovic, or bundles it to Ricardo who then launches it down the wing to Fatawu but instead concedes possession. This is a fairly simple tactic, you need your two midfielders to sit higher in the pitch, so winks drops into the hole creating space for the likes of James to drop into or Ricardo to invert into and then a pass and go triangle can see you playing through the press….. we did it all of the time under Enzo, Winks Ricardo and James should have the ability to play in this way. Ricardo is inverting at the wrong time, and he is getting caught in midfield constantly, allowing Stoke to break. The “passing” is far too slow, sideways and with absolutely zero movement off the ball, again this is a coaching/tactical problem. The second half was even worse than the first, I recall James’s miss control, and Abdul’s ball across the box being the only two moments that troubled Stoke? The subs were ****ing abhorrent, again, Silko Thomas has no business playing senior football, he’s absolutely trash, and he leaves Monga on the bench? Very, Very fortunate to have come away with three points, another red herring of a performance.

Monga says that 10 is his best position.

Just his complete inability, or reluctance, to change the system…… just try a different ****ing shape….. absolutely bollocks…..

How the **** does Luke Thomas start week in week out? The lads the ****ing garbage.

I’m actually going after boycotting recently. And it’s going to be utterly dreadful. I’m only going to see my mates, have a beer and a catchup, the thing in between will be just because.

You’ll soon come crashing down to earth after we concede a 96th minute equaliser after being completely abhorrent yet again for 90 minutes. It’s going to be great, piss wet through, sideways and backwards passing…..

This will be a rerun of the 2003 match won’t it? Wet, miserable and two absolutely honking teams shitting it out together. Compiled by this predictable line up. Begovic Ricardo Vestegaard Faes Thomas James Winks Skipp Fatawu Ayew Daka

There isn’t. It’s absolutely ****ing dross. I can’t stand it, the football is genuinely horrific, it’s stuck between long balls, and slow boring possession. How anyone can actually enjoy it is beyond me….. and we’re one of those teams.

I reckon he will be a good manager/coach. He’s got the right football intelligence.

It depends on what type of manager you have and their ability to manage their staff. Enzo was able to turn the heads of players who wanted away. It’s how you appeal to their desires, if they can contribute, but want away, you can sell it as an opportunity for them to play themselves to another club. It’s down to your management style, no matter how demotivated you are, the right coach can turn you around….. As I’ve said, it’s my opinion that Marti is trying to get the team to play to his philosophy, and not on a way that suits the profile of the players. Nothing will change, we won’t get any better, and the performances on the pitch rest solely on Marti’s head. The slow laborious buildup, the lack of desire to get the ball to the wide players and isolate their fullbacks…. The lack of chances created despite having two of the best wide players in the league. There’s a lot wrong with this team yes, but there’s also a lot of this team that have gotten out of this league fairly easily before. Marti isn’t the right fit… he will eventually be sacked in my opinion, perhaps not until we’ve failed to go up, or until it looks like we’re on the verge of going down. But he will be sacked. He should have gone after the Norwich game, that was a red herring and the decision not to remove him sooner will come back to bite us.