Are we short sighted?

[StriderHiryu]

Short answer: yes.

 

Long answer: yessssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssss.

[Ceirboy]

2 hours ago, M0901 said:

I'm still baffled there was a fan who went on TalkSport a few weeks ago and said he was the worst manager the club has ever had. Genuinely baffling. 

Mate, if you are still baffled by a comment on a radio station made weeks ago, then you have issues far more pressing than Foxestalk so turn the computer off and go and seek professional help.

It's out there.

[nwl fox]

10 hours ago, Foxhead said:

I have my issues with Puel like most people on here. I can't ignore the fact however that he seems to have identified "poor signings" and wants them out. At the same time, he seems to be promoting excellent young players and transitioning the squad into something more competent.

 

Are our short comings the gaps that haven't been bridged yet but HAVE been identified?

 

I'm starting to wonder if Puel actually knows what he's doing and we just can't see the bigger picture?

 

4 hours ago, knitro said:

Sounds like you're starting to understand why the Puel-Out Brigade makes me pull my hair out. They'd rather keep doing the same fire/rehire/fire cycle in perpetuity.

More importantly, I think we've got this the wrong way round, surely the "mob" should be the outers and the "brigade" should be the inners? 

[whoareyaaa]

I think there is one or two managers that could get more out of this squad however he has done a great job of bringing through and playing the younger players which will no doubt set us up for years to come.

 

I think we have seen more bad performances than good but other teams around us are experiencing the same, the fact he continues to play and develop the squad/team then we should just get behind him until the board thinks that as far as he can takes us.

 

Its a tough league with good players/teams throughout it after all that I would say yes we are short sighted *****.

 

 

[Izzy]

“Man United are short sighted, they wear glasses on their arses” 

 

...as my 9 year old boy sang to me yesterday 

[Babylon]

29 minutes ago, indierich06 said:

I think it's great that he's giving time to young players, and the performances against Man City, Chelsea and Liverpool have been fantastic - the problem is, why can't we do it against Cardiff, Wolves, Newport, Southampton etc? And why has he shown such little interest in actually trying to win a domestic trophy? Despite last night's result, we've still only had 1 win in the last 5 games, crashed out of the FA Cup and we're still slipping down the table.

 

Even if you're Claude's biggest fan, if you can't see several big negatives then you're either stupid or wilfully ignorant.

We've beaten Cardiff, Southampton (twice), Wolves (twice) this season. Whilst performances are clunky, frustrating and at times not good enough. I think we are in danger of overplaying this issue a tad, the teams around us have all got the same issues, because it's not easy to win every game. We clearly need to improve our game against teams wanting to sit back and defend all game, but we've had chances and missed them in most of those games (more than we had last night). I don't think we're far away from having a decent team. I am concerned about the coaching, the lack of movement up top needs to change if this style is going to work... ditto the umpteen crosses into the box.

 

Unless there is a disaster he's here for the season so I think people should just ease off the bloke, back the team and see where we are at the end of the season, how the young lads progress and whether Tielemans can add a bit of what we're missing (if he signs).

[Dames]

One thing i've noticed and I actually think is a bad thing is how animated he has become on the sidelines lately. Its one thing having a manager willing you on and driving you forwards but Puel screams at his players and berates them when they make mistakes, there have been several instances over the last few games where this has happened and i've noticed the players are looking towards the bench a lot more when they make a mistake to see if he's noticed.

 

Clearly he's frustrated but I don't think it helps the players especially when a key element of his tactical approach is to be patient and not make mistakes. The result last night will give the players confidence but Puel needs to build on that now. The team looked so much better when they were allowed to attack without fear of reprimand.

[Analysethis]

I think part of the issue is we all want a Klopp or Pep style manager these days who loves his players and the players seem to love them. Claude seems a little cold, more of a disciplinarian and maybe that winds up both fans and players. Players can be sensitive as we all know and it seems we have some highly influential senior members of the squad who may want someone else in. Either way, I think Claude is doomed and we might as well get on with getting him out.

 

He was at Southampton for less than a year, got to a Cup final and finished 8th in the league but dressing room unrest and fans not liking his style all equated to him leaving. He has arrived at a more successful club with better players and critically more expectant supporters after our Prem win and Champions League run. He cant just go through the motions here and blend youngsters in with our club. Personally I think its unfair and would like him to have been given a chance from the get-go and let him have a couple more transfer windows but my fear is the negativity created by many parts of our fan base coupled by the media has us in a state of the inevitable. 

[The whole world smiles]

2 hours ago, indierich06 said:

I think it's great that he's giving time to young players, and the performances against Man City, Chelsea and Liverpool have been fantastic - the problem is, why can't we do it against Cardiff, Wolves, Newport, Southampton etc? And why has he shown such little interest in actually trying to win a domestic trophy? Despite last night's result, we've still only had 1 win in the last 5 games, crashed out of the FA Cup and we're still slipping down the table.

 

Even if you're Claude's biggest fan, if you can't see several big negatives then you're either stupid or wilfully ignorant.

Can you name a club outside the top 6 that deal with the so called lesser clubs significantly better than us?

 

Also with domestic cups we have reached the quarter finals of 3 of the last 4 cup competitions we have played in losing to Man City on penalties twice and Chelsea in extra time which is well above par for a club like ours so I don't really think domestic cups is something that you can level at his door.

 

Funnily enough I am not puels biggest fan. The slow build up style of football and the tactical inflexibility grate on me massively. But I would argue that currently the pros out weigh the cons and it seems like the owners think that way too. 

[danlcfc4ever]

14 hours ago, winteriscoming said:

Is he an improvement on Shakespeare? Yes 

Have we improved under him? Yes 

Would young players like chilwell and chodury been given the playing time under Shakespeare? No

Will puel be here next season? No. 

That's my opinion. I agree that I'm split at times with puel. I just see someone else being in charge next season. 

Dean Saunders?

[Guest]

15 hours ago, Paddy. said:

Well I am actually short sighted so the answer is yes.

Is that the same as near sighted, or does it mean you can't see tall people? ?

[lifted*fox]

FoxesTalk would get a ****ing massive group discount down Specsavers tbf. 

[z-layrex]

15 hours ago, Foxhead said:

I have my issues with Puel like most people on here. I can't ignore the fact however that he seems to have identified "poor signings" and wants them out. At the same time, he seems to be promoting excellent young players and transitioning the squad into something more competent.

 

Are our short comings the gaps that haven't been bridged yet but HAVE been identified?

 

I'm starting to wonder if Puel actually knows what he's doing and we just can't see the bigger picture

I've been saying this for months, I think the league win has totally corrupted half our fanbase however.

[Dames]

7 minutes ago, z-layrex said:

I've been saying this for months, I think the league win has totally corrupted half our fanbase however.

Wouldn't say so. Most of us just want a team that tries to win a football game from the outset and not until they've conceded a goal or two.

 

No matter which way you slice is Puel is a very defence orientated manager, he's done some very good things and he's also done something very poorly too, he's middle of the road. Some people (like me) feel that he's done all he can and set us on a path that might need someone else with a similar philosophy to come in and finish the job as Puel is just too afraid to let his sides attack. The only time the team have looked really good this season is when they are chasing a game from falling behind but there is massive potential there and Puel at the moment doesn't seem like the right person to unlock it fully. He's laid great foundations don't get me wrong but he just doesn't seem like the man to get this team firing on all cylinders. The football is too reactionary (awful to watch a lot of the time too) and not proactive enough.

 

Obviously you'll have people who blindly hate him but they don't speak for the majority.

[ThaiFox]

The answer to the OP is obviously yes.

 

Like all football fans the vast majority want instant success and cannot see what's going on behind the scenes, or any sort of plan for the future.

 

I've been saying on this forum for months to support and get behind Puel. I, for one, can see what he's trying to do, long term, and I like what I'm seeing, even though our performances have often been poor, and certainly inconsistent. The guy has won a major league title, managed a team to a C/L semi final, and won a European trophy. He did this because he was given TIME to develop a side, and promoting young players.

 

I don't like coming on this forum after we lose because the comments are so hysterical it's embarrassing. 

 

I posted the below on the 'moronic things fans say' thread and I'm afraid it does sum up an awful lot of football fans in general.

 

I was living in Southend for a while and went to watch a Southend United match, which also happened to be Alan Little's first in charge as manager. He was paraded around the ground to huge applause before the match started. After 20 minutes Southend United were losing 2-0 and some bloke next to me went crazy and started shouting  'he's no better than the last bloke!' 

[Manwell Pablo]

5 hours ago, indierich06 said:

I think it's great that he's giving time to young players, and the performances against Man City, Chelsea and Liverpool have been fantastic - the problem is, why can't we do it against Cardiff, Wolves, Newport, Southampton etc? And why has he shown such little interest in actually trying to win a domestic trophy? Despite last night's result, we've still only had 1 win in the last 5 games, crashed out of the FA Cup and we're still slipping down the table.

 

Even if you're Claude's biggest fan, if you can't see several big negatives then you're either stupid or wilfully ignorant.

 

In his defense and the defense of every other manager who gets berated for this, the direction of the club and how seriously the team takes the domestic cup competitions is probably coming from a lot higher position than the first team manager. I should imagine he is well briefed on how seriously both the league and FA cup should be taken at each stage. 

[Babylon]

13 minutes ago, Dames said:

No matter which way you slice is Puel is a very defence orientated manager

He's really not, cautious at times yes. But I'm not sure how anyone can watch how teams play when they come to us and think that we're defensive. We have more possession, more shots and more time in their final third in virtually every one one of those cruddy games where we struggle to break teams down. We aren't particularly defensive, we're just not very good in attack. You don't put in two of the most attacking full backs in the league and swap a defensive 10 for an attacking one if you are defensive manager. 

 

He's made a few errors that were too defensive, like starting the 3 DCM's against Saints, but most of those moaning about that screamed at him for not playing that against Cardiff. His cautious nature takes hold sometimes like last night and all the subs that conceded ground and he's slow to ever remove the second DCM if we need a goal. But it's not like we sit back against these teams just trying to defend.

 

 

[Gav_LCFC14]

Puel would be a fantastic Director Of Football at a club, he has a clear vision and is brilliant at the project of bringing up youth. But tactically on a match to match basis, he's too one dimensional  (i.e. defensive). I've never seen such a Marmite manager before though. 

[PaulW]

7 hours ago, indierich06 said:

I think it's great that he's giving time to young players, and the performances against Man City, Chelsea and Liverpool have been fantastic - the problem is, why can't we do it against Cardiff, Wolves, Newport, Southampton etc? And why has he shown such little interest in actually trying to win a domestic trophy? Despite last night's result, we've still only had 1 win in the last 5 games, crashed out of the FA Cup and we're still slipping down the table.

 

Even if you're Claude's biggest fan, if you can't see several big negatives then you're either stupid or wilfully ignorant.

The majority of Prem. clubs have 'crashed out' of the FA Cup.

[whetstonefox]

Because most of us only tend to see the home matches, which by and large have been dull, he’s always going to be under pressure until we consistently beat the teams below and around us. If we’d beaten Cardiff and Southampton but lost to Chelsea and Man City he’d be under a lot less pressure. Ultimately it depends on the stuff we don’t get to see (but the ownership does) that will determine his longevity. Hope he succeeds as he’s given a chance to the to the younger players. 

[Chester Dontlie]

2 hours ago, Dames said:

Wouldn't say so. Most of us just want a team that tries to win a football game from the outset and not until they've conceded a goal or two.

 

No matter which way you slice is Puel is a very defence orientated manager, he's done some very good things and he's also done something very poorly too, he's middle of the road. Some people (like me) feel that he's done all he can and set us on a path that might need someone else with a similar philosophy to come in and finish the job as Puel is just too afraid to let his sides attack. The only time the team have looked really good this season is when they are chasing a game from falling behind but there is massive potential there and Puel at the moment doesn't seem like the right person to unlock it fully. He's laid great foundations don't get me wrong but he just doesn't seem like the man to get this team firing on all cylinders. The football is too reactionary (awful to watch a lot of the time too) and not proactive enough.

 

Obviously you'll have people who blindly hate him but they don't speak for the majority.

Well said. Puel backers who are confused why Puel sceptics are conflicted about him or want him gone should just put on their glasses on and read this post, repeatedly, until they see and understand the others' point of view. 

 

One more thing, I keep reading on here time and again that the possession based football we're attempting to play is a great idea, but the reason we can't do it well is 'we just have too many dead wood and/or not enough players who are good enough to play it'. And I'm inclined to agree with this point of view, at least to some extent. But what makes you think we will get so many players 'good enough' to complete the transition to possession based team and be really effective at that (and by effective, I mean convincingly winning games against the likes of Cardiff, Palace, Fulham, Newport, not just mindlessly passing sideways or to the back)? In my opinion we would need not just one technically gifted player (like Tielemans seems to be) but four or five, because our current lot, older players as well the youngsters, didn't learn it over a year (they have other qualities though, which Puel seems to be blind to). And will our defensive minded manager even play those technically gifted players when (and IF, and that's a big IF)  we manage to sign them? or are we sentenced to watch Ndidi and Mendy forever and ever, and lonely Vards upfront every game? That would be rather cruel from Puel if you ask me! 

 

 

And believe me when I say there is not one Puel sceptic/outer who 'likes changing managers'. No supporter likes that. But when things don't work out the way they should, well, some difficult decisions should be made.

I'm afraid we will stagnate under Puel as his tactical 'ideas' doesn't seem to reach players which results in our defensive shortcomings (the infamous Leicester speciality, early 1 goal give away is the most glaring symptom of it) and the results (especially against bottom table teams) being poor. Having many youngsters given time is great (a pity Kapustka was gone before Puel came, maybe he would get some playing time and didn't regress), but the perspective of long term mediocrity at best and relegation flirt at worst doesn't make me a very happy supporter. Maybe my glass is half empty, but I have good glasses, thank you.  

 

[Voll Blau]

12 hours ago, Izzy said:

“Man United are short sighted, they wear glasses on their arses” 

 

...as my 9 year old boy sang to me yesterday 

Haha that one was doing the rounds when I was a kid in the mid 90s. Glad it's been passed down.