Donwebbio

Nobody should be changing their opinion on the basis of one game. He seems to have binned off the high-risk passing out from the GK which is good and there was a generally more pragmatic footballing approach. There has been a lot of talk about his style but the achilles heel of this team is the defensive structure and a lack of desperation to keep the ball out of the net. It was better today but another poor goal conceded (I'm not sure how O'Hora is facing his own goal when the cross comes in). Let's see if they can back it up on Tuesday.

I mean, what a pi$$ take. We have a boardroom full of highly-paid executives whose job it is to show insight make good decisions for our club. This is a blatant admission that nobody knows what they are doing down there. We are a total laughing stock.

He is prepared to take his share of the responsibility. What precisely is he not responsible for? As far as we know, he has control over all departments of the football operation. Every staff appointment, player signing, contract extension, every outgoing loan, every scouting mission - Rudkin is responsible for all of it. The club has crumbled under his watch.

We have the worst owner in the country and the worst DoF so it shouldn't be too suprising that we have ended up with the worst manager too. Law of attraction.

Yeah but we have had 140 shots in 6 games.

I presume that is a joke or a throwaway comment. We would all be pretty lonely if we isolated ourselves from everybody who had a different opinion. They can support their football team however they want to.

They don't see any of it as Top's fault. Criticism of Top is a criticism of the family who they see as realising all our dreams. It's the kind of blind loyalty you would normally see in relatives.

It's hard to believe that protests aren't happening before every game until they are gone but there are just too many fans who believe that we just need the right manager and all will be ok. I have 2 friends who just won't entertain criticism of the ownership, that we just have to keep supporting through good times and bad.

Cullen had a 1v1 10 yards out in the 2nd half plus another couple of good chances.

Taking the toxic hats off for a minute. I thought we did actually play well yesterday. Some of the footvall was very good and the midfield 3 looks like it is going to be strong. Alves looks dangerous, Riis is a CF who will score goals. The back 4 looked better. A lot of positives to take if we ignore everything we know about Martin and the regime. There are downsides though: RW is a problem with no standout, we look weak at goalkeeper, especially with RM's high-risk box passing. Thomas is awful and seeing Faes play for us STILL in 2026 kills a bit of the sout with every hair flick. His subs are also very predictable, as his his response to pressure and I thought he was out-manouvred yesterday by the Barnsley manager.

It seems to me that the main feature of his style of play is playing high-risk passes in his own defensive 3rd in order to bait a press. The other feature is the CB's and non-inverted full back dominating possession in a fairly vertical way waiting for space to open up in front before ponderously working it forward. The major flaw with this seems to be that the slow build-up tempo allows the opposition to get back into their worked on defensive structure. To break that down you need a good level of technical ability and creativity to break theough the lines. You also need athleticism and awareness to guard against the counter when we are playing this aggressive high line but we have been absolutely honking against the counter. The fact Martin has no other way of playing and the inherent weaknesses we have in our squad means that teams can prepare all week for exactly what they are about to face with no danger of facing any flexibility.

There is a real lack of athleticism in the squad and that has been the case for a good while. I thought the blame for that should be squared at the recruitment department but you could be right with the fitness team.

I love Henry Winter for how he holds these idiots to account. Lives in Rutland I think.

Ridiculous appointment from Crudkin and his Thai bride.

At least we had a great transfer window though....