Nods

Nobody is saying it isn't warranted. Of course it's toxic. Still has a negative impact.

We were 22nd in the home league table, which is worse than we were away. Not my argument and not excusing the players either. Not even blaming the fans, it's understandable how toxic it is. I don't think fans can be expected to be less toxic in the circumstances, but I do think it plays a part. Just makes the Martin appointment an even more mind numbingly thick decision from the board. The mold needed to be broken to give the fans the feeling of a new movement, a gear change. Martin was a risky as fuq appointment given his own personal clusterfvck of a two year period (surely always a danger he's in a rut/lost the love of the game/whatever in those circumstances - more often than not a manager who has been shit for the past couple of years is also shit in their next role). Not only that, as has been discussed to death on here, he represented more of the same (and worse) as regards the maligned style of play. The first item on the agenda over summer should have been 'how do we get the fans back on board?' Instead it's genuinely as though they've contrived to leave no stone unturned in disillusioning us even further. It can't be expressed enough times how thick our owners and decision makers are, and how terribly run we are.

There's supposed to be a significant home advantage, though. That 4 point difference between home and away saw us 22nd for home form and 17th away. Our home form relegated us.

Nuance isn't welcome here

I think two things can be true at the same time. We need the owners to go for us to truly progress. Equally, there's no way we can't do better than Martin. He's the opposite of what we need now, and not just his style either. He comes across as complacent, toxic and distant. I'm sure we'd be able to bring somebody in who is committed, grounded and can get more from this team. That might not mean we get promoted, but we saw this story unfold last season. I said the same that there was no point sacking Cifuentes, and we know now how wrong I was. He should have been sacked early and given another manager more time to turn us around.

Possession football was the correct answer that season given the talent in the squad. And it was implemented with a clear plan that would create quality chances. We do not have the same incisive talent behind the strikers to make it work this season, least of all with such a high line. This season we'd benefit from being more direct from wide areas. Horses for courses. So two things there: 1) Given that we are possession obsessed, we have recruited poorly. This is why we have plenty of touches in the opposition box but few shots on target. The quality of the chances we create isn't good enough. 2) It's too simple to say all possession football is 'bad' and direct football is 'good'. What's bad is intending to play possession football and lining up with the likes of McCarthy, Okoli etc. If you can't recruit in a way that aligns with the vision, at least then have the flexibility to work with what you have. We've recruited in such a way that is not aligned with the vision, and to compound that we're blindly following that vision. Possession football in itself is not the enemy. Our poor direction in the market and a refusal to deviate from a style is where we're going wrong. As it happens, we do need to be more direct right now. Won't happen under these owners, especially not under Martin.

I don't even particularly mind 'possession football'. When people on here were complaining about watching us under Enzo, I was in the minority in defending it. What I do mind is possession as the objective. Possession over anything else. Possession without purpose. Possession first, results second. Our ownership's clear minded obsession with it is mind boggling. For a group of blokes seemingly unable to align on or achieve anything, they somehow simultaneously have been able to crystalise this totally unnecessary and damaging vision, nae raison d'être for having to keep the ball and score the perfect goal at all costs. I just do not get it. Nobody should touch Martin with a barge pole, but least of all us. A club on a remarkable downward spiral for two years, the last thing we needed was a manager on an equally dismal losing run. But he ticks the possession box, so who cares. I just fail to believe anybody is this stupid. There has to be some sort of conspiracy. Surely? It is painful to comprehend. Genuinely, I'd rather pick a random combination of fans to run this club at this point.

Has there ever been a more unfit player start consistently for us? Let's forget his inability to defend for a moment. The guy is blowing from minute 1 to minute 90. Who knows what the extent of the drinking is, but he looks every bit the Sunday League full back struggling on a hangover.

He really is a bit thick isn't he. He fully believes it's just poor finishing and moments in defence. Surely when the same story repeats, not only game after game, but season after season and club after club, you'd start to think that maybe, just maybe it might be worth looking a little closer to home. Any club that hires this cock truly deserves everything coming to them.

Signed to keep us in the Premier League btw

Vichai was at least ruthless and wise enough to delegate the football side to people that knew what they were doing. Success went to their heads, Vichai passed, and the rest is history. Complacency and arrogance might as well be put in writing as core club values.

He looks like how I imagine I'd look in our XI. And I was a goalkeeper, carrying a bit more weight than I'd like and coming off the back of a boozey golf trip. He looks absolutely knackered at all times. Surely any self respecting club would banish him on fitness alone? Let alone the schoolboy defending. I am truly gutted that of all the players we've managed to shed over summer, he isn't one of them. An absolute wet fart of a footballer. Just such a loser who embodies everything this club has become.

We sat back and did nothing as Martin was rumoured and then appointed. I can't talk because I've done nothing either, but the fans aren't going to suddenly mobilise now if we didn't then.

Players are clearly under instruction to work the ball in and around the box. We don't have the incisive touch or killer instinct to make it work. Too clumsy and often hesitant. On the occasions we do find the ball at our feet in the box, we're crowded out. That's why we have so few shots on target relative to our possession and overall shots. Although there is also an element of poor finishing (Doyle). Nothing wrong with most of the football, but we need to deliver earlier. Simple fix but I don't expect Martin to make it.

His mid-season break, the interviews during, the team selections, and the interviews after, all tell you the same thing. He could never be arsed (probably why he didn't take the permanent job he had been offered a week prior), saw it as a quick buck, and probably thought with the squad we'd survive even without much thought or effort, so could do his reputation some good in the process. While it's true our list of issues is longer than a Russel Martin list of excuses, I'm convinced that anyone with half a brain and the desire to make it work could have kept us up last season. You don't pick Winks, for a start. I know our options up top were a joke, but it's some utter, utter muck that stayed up ahead of us. 1 win for fvck sake. Blackburn doesn't count.