Spineless and cowardly

[Miquel The Work Geordie]

5 hours ago, AKCJ said:

Spurs were always miles behind us. We won the league at a canter.

 

This is comfortably the biggest bottle job i've seen in football.

 

I'd say in my lifetime (certainly in this country) Keegan's Newcastle blowing the title after spending a fair whack and being 12 points ahead is worse, their recent history is synonymous with them ****ing that - arguably the most famous crumble since my apple and blackberry effort in year 7 Home Economics.

[Ricey]

4 hours ago, car1os said:

Very simply, Bournemouth wanted to win. They found their backs against the wall and we started to go into cruise control.

 

Then it happened. Kasper’s saved us a few points this season but it was a clanger.

 

Then we fell apart.  Total lack of desire from the Players. It’s not Brendans fault Kasper kicked it straight to their striker.  It’s not completely Brendans fault that our team fell apart.  That’s mentality, and our players do not have the resilience needed to be a top team and when the going gets tough. 

 

 

That’s a very revisionist version of events.
 

It didn’t change because of Kaspers kick, it changed at HT. Bournemouth were on top and we could barely string a few passes together. A goal was always coming.

[Mickyblueeyes]

8 minutes ago, Miquel The Work Geordie said:

 

I'd say in my lifetime (certainly in this country) Keegan's Newcastle blowing the title after spending a fair whack and being 12 points ahead is worse, their recent history is synonymous with them ****ing that - arguably the most famous crumble since my apple and blackberry effort in year 7 Home Economics.

That collapse does come to mind. I think we Nick it though. We’ve gone from 3rd in the league, 12/14 points clear to being at a realistic risk of finishing 8th. We have three tough opponents coming up who are all favourites to beat us. Ah man.

[kingfox]

I don’t think it’s necessarily about individuals and who possesses a leader mentality.

 

This weak mentality runs throughout, it stems from Rodgers and moves to the players.

 

We’ve seen it many times before with other managers, you can pinpoint things where things start to change. We saw it under Ranieri where in one game we finished with Fuchs and Ndidi as centre backs, you knew at that point he was finished. We saw it under Puel, a string of shit results against teams we should be beating, yet we couldn’t break them down, you knew at that point he was finished.

 

Rodgers since Christmas has produced many managerial mistakes where we as fans think “What the fvck”. Last night though was the most baffling mistake yet.

 

You see with other teams how mentally strong they are, and that all stems from their managers. Look at Sheffield United, started off terribly after the restart, yet Wilder has got them back on track with quality performances against Spurs, Wolves and Chelsea. Burnley were struggling, three points off the relegation zone at one point, Dyche has managed to turn things around and now they are on a current run of only two losses in fourteen games. Southampton got smashed by us 9-0, Hasenhuttl looked like a dead man walking, yet he’s dramatically turned things around.

 

When the going gets tough, we fold and go backwards, that’s because Rodgers and the squad have no backbone.

[The_Rorab]

16 minutes ago, SheppyFox said:

We shouldn’t underestimate how much our players rely on the fans in the stadium. They’re a group that rely on being fired up, like Vardy does. They need us in the stadiums to play with a proper intensity.

 

Im not defending them for yesterday, but they’ll be equally devastated about it, combined with embarrassment. BR should acknowledge he ballsed up as-well. 

If that's true then the question surely has to be why are our players so reliant on the fans such that the other teams in the league aren't similarly affected? 

Edited 13 July 2020 by The_Rorab

[inckley fox]

4 hours ago, car1os said:

Very simply, Bournemouth wanted to win. They found their backs against the wall and we started to go into cruise control.

 

Then it happened. Kasper’s saved us a few points this season but it was a clanger.

 

Then we fell apart.  Total lack of desire from the Players. It’s not Brendans fault Kasper kicked it straight to their striker.  It’s not completely Brendans fault that our team fell apart.  That’s mentality, and our players do not have the resilience needed to be a top team and when the going gets tough. 

 

 

If we'd not had Kasper in goal, we'd have secured even less points since the restart. Surely the manager has to be responsible for those repeatedly below par performances. Really he should have hauled them over the coals after the Brighton game rather than waiting until the rot set in.

 

It wasn't a case of, out of the blue, one error leading to a total collapse. Even if we look at this game in isolation, we'd failed to drive home our superiority in the final 15 minutes of the first half, and needed to seize the initiative again. For 15 minutes before the error, they were starting to gain the upper hand and ask questions of our defence. The manager, in the midst of all this, made an intervention and it played a big part in allowing them back into the game.

 

If we're wondering where our killer instinct and positivity has gone then, bearing in mind Rodgers rightly took the credit for reigniting it when he took over, we probably need to look at the signals he's sending out now. Or, for instance, when he picked his side for that Brighton game.

[Miquel The Work Geordie]

13 minutes ago, Mickyblueeyes said:

That collapse does come to mind. I think we Nick it though. We’ve gone from 3rd in the league, 12/14 points clear to being at a realistic risk of finishing 8th. We have three tough opponents coming up who are all favourites to beat us. Ah man.

 

I think the only reason they'd nick it is based on pre-season expectations, spending relative to the rest of the league etc. We're horrid though, no doubt.

[FerrisBueller]

Is there a 'Tunnel Cam' from last night? That would make for some interesting viewing and presumably a lot of bleeps.

 

I do often watch these little videos and it's worth noting how vocal Kasper is pre match, he's a proper leader.

Find it hard to be mad at him for yesterday, a genuine mistake that he has apologised for. We can never question his commitment to us.

[Freeman's Wharfer]

Even the day after, it feels like a very significant moment for Rodgers and the team.

 

I think in reality we’ve all known for a long time that we haven’t been good enough (I for one put money on us to not make top 4 on the way back from a dismal showing at Burnley in January) but we’ve held off too much criticism due to the league standings. We all knew that a win last night would more or less see us get away with the last 7 months of crap and to have thrown it away in such manner is galling.

 

I don’t think anyone seriously wants Rodgers out but the conversation has started and is not being dismissed as absurd. And that in itself is hugely significant when he’d seemingly done such a great job up until December.

 

It’s over to Rodgers now to have a transfer window to put this right. The foundation is there but if we don’t see at least two ‘been there and done it’ older heads with enough quality to play in our first XI coming in during the window then he’s gonna struggle.

 

Watford in ‘13 ignited the fire in that young talented group and Pearson played a blinder getting the likes of Wasilewski, Hammond and Phillips in and around them. Hopefully Bournemouth ‘20 is our next catalyst and Brendan finds some older heads with enough quality to make a difference on the pitch. If anyone’s listened to our games without the fake crowd sound on, Kasper is one lonely leading voice out there barking instructions and cajoling them. Need a couple more to help him out.

[SheppyFox]

13 minutes ago, The_Rorab said:

If that's true then the question surely has to be why are our players so reliant on the fans such that the other teams in the league aren't similarly affected? 

I think a lot of other teams have been similarly affected, it just shows more with us because of our over achievements early in the season.

[weller54]

One positive from yesterday...

Bournemouth stay up at the expense of West Spam!

[Freeman's Wharfer]

29 minutes ago, SheppyFox said:

We shouldn’t underestimate how much our players rely on the fans in the stadium. They’re a group that rely on being fired up, like Vardy does. They need us in the stadiums to play with a proper intensity.

 

Im not defending them for yesterday, but they’ll be equally devastated about it, combined with embarrassment. BR should acknowledge he ballsed up as-well. 

Nonsense. We’ve been shite since December and for three months of that we had fans in stadium.

 

If this was a run of bad form that only started post-lockdown then I’d be inclined to think about agreeing but the reality is that we’ve been poor both with and without fans for a while now.

[Manwell Pablo]

There’s a few I’d say are better, Newcastle meltdown in 1996 with the Keegan “and I will love it” rant amongst a few others, we have just bottled the right to get pasted across Europe after all not a league title, and besides whilst it’s not looking great because we look fcking awful even CL football is still in our hands so we haven’t bottled anything quite yet

 

But Should we end up outside a continental football place altogether it’ll certainly be up there.

[CosbehFox]

50 minutes ago, Miquel The Work Geordie said:

 

I'd say in my lifetime (certainly in this country) Keegan's Newcastle blowing the title after spending a fair whack and being 12 points ahead is worse, their recent history is synonymous with them ****ing that - arguably the most famous crumble since my apple and blackberry effort in year 7 Home Economics.

Didn’t Wolves do something similar in the second tier once as well? 

[Miquel The Work Geordie]

1 hour ago, Cardiff_Fox said:

Didn’t Wolves do something similar in the second tier once as well? 

 

Not sure mate but it's comforting to hear people coming forward with other examples of complete meltdowns, makes me feel like we're not alone

[Blue ROI]

Newcastle 96 is still the worst collapse I can recall. Not that ours isn't up there but at least we have a title to fall back on.

 

96 still haunts Newcastle to this day I reckon.

[Corky]

1 hour ago, Cardiff_Fox said:

Didn’t Wolves do something similar in the second tier once as well? 

Millwall were top of Division One in December 95 and ended up being relegated.

[hackneyfox]

2 hours ago, AKCJ said:

I think it's harsh to say that the likes of Vardy and Schmeichel aren't big personalities.

 

You just need more of them.

One in goal and the other at the far end of the pitch, with the exception of Evans there's nothing between the two. Perhaps someone like Lallana is needed.

[reynard]

I want a reaction, I expect a reaction and frankly if we don't get one it will be a disgrace. The play since the mid December has been very poor but the performances since the return of the league have been little short of abysmal and last night an utter embarrasment.

There doesn't appear to be an ounce of mental toughness in the entire squad.

 

 

[Free Falling Foxes]

4 hours ago, Freeman's Wharfer said:

 

Kasper is one lonely leading voice out there barking instructions and cajoling them. Need a couple more to help him out.

I have the crowd noise on when I watch so didn't realise this. 

If that is the case, it's a disgrace. They should be all calling, shouting, encouraging each other.

Wonder if that was the case earlier in the season?

[Chrysalis]

9 hours ago, pmcla26 said:

It’s undeniable that Rodgers made a poor decision taking Nacho off but one sub shouldn’t make that much difference considering we were coasting so think people need to let the players in the second half hold the buck a bit. 

It wasnt just a sub, it was also a tactical change to the team.

 

Perez was dropped back (even though rodgers thinks we fools for pretending he was in the same position), and a midfielder came in for a striker, plus the team as a whole sat back.

 

It was a tactical shift, rodgers even let slip in his interview about his comment on grinding out 1-0 wins.

[Babylon]

15 hours ago, Webbo said:

I think we lack leadership on the pitch. Having your keeper as captain isn't ideal, he can't gee up and bark orders from the goal line. We need a nasty bastard in defence or midfield who can inspire confidence or sling a few fcks about and get them going. 

The captain thing is well over blown, it’s not about who is captain. It’s about having leaders on the pitch, they don’t need a bit of material on their arm.