Levein's future - can we afford to persist with him?

[filbertway]

the biggest mistake the club and can do and I am worried they will do is give craig money to spend in jan and allow him the transfer window, then I feer in march/april when we are in the bottom 3 we will sack him and the manager to replace him will have too little time and no transfer window and funds.

I dissagree weve already seen that he can make some good shrewd signings, i am just hoping he has noticed our weak points and is looking to rectify them

[Anish]

We are only doing that so Gudjohnson can play as far forward as he likes. A move that the mjaority of you lot are praising and saying theat we are benefiting greatly from. In my opinion it is something Gudjohnson is benefiting greatly from but not the team. We are left we two midfield players who don't have top class passing ability. I'd play Williams and Hughes but then you lot would be saying that Levein hasn't a clue because Joey seems to have become a favorite.

The whole "Levein doesn't have a clue about tactics rant" is bollocks and is just a n easy cliche. He knows the game very well, you may not enjoy his decision making but you can't accuse himn of not knowing how the decision he makes will effect the game or what he is trying to do. He is anything but a "Pick 11 players and fit them into a 4-4-2" ala Micky Adams. Doesn't mean I am happy with the way he is sending out his side it is just that I can recognise that he is not clueless.

We can still play Gudjonsson and Williams/Hughes in midfield, and abandon playing a defensive midfielder entirely. After all, why should we be worried about the likes of Crewe and Millwall, who by and large are getting spanked every week??

As for Levein being as tactically astute as you think - what on earth was he thinking when he brought Hughes and De Vries on for the final TWO minutes yesterday? Is that a sign that he knows how his changes will affect the game? I think not. Hammond was looking knackered after 70 minutes and yet De Vries only came on in the 88th minute. Pointless springs to mind.

[Bert]

I dissagree weve already seen that he can make some good shrewd signings, i am just hoping he has noticed our weak points and is looking to rectify them

yes, he can start by finding a new left back and a right winger in which he may already have possibly sorted with that trialist we had because we need ome consistency around the place. Another weak point is our goalie, we can all see it but, he will not drop Rab Douglas.

[chesterfox]

It's plain to see that the one common thread - however daft it sounds is the passion we all hold for our club - I can't remember any one person who has commanded such fierce debate with such opposite opinion. I honestly am not sure what the best policy is - if we were to act it would have been good to get Burley as I cannot see anybody being particulalry interested in taking the challenge at this stage of the season. Scowy makes his points really well though and it would be good to have some of them answered because like him what worries me, is from what we know, CL has made some major errors Gilbert, Sheehan and more. Some however are plain baffling and make no sense - his substitutions being one of them. But why oh why does he not know his best team and stick to it instaed of thinking he is some mastermind tactician who can outthink us all? I realise that Hughes has been injured but when he does play him he plays him all over the show and not in the right position - in the middle of midfield. How can he play Johannsen or Tiatto(and how can he make him captain) at left back ? Why does he not think that Wright, Wilcox or O Grady are not good enough to be offered a chance? I still think that releasing Heath was another error.

I guess that the reason that he does stir so much debate is that he has done a lot of good - but I do not want to be going to play Fo*&sT next year- and the fact that there are so many ?s and so few answers is another. At 6-1 they're a good bet tomorrow but I wouldn't want odds on being out of the bottom 5 by May

[TornadoShaunUK]

I just get sick of him playing his favourites.. Kisnorbo and Maybury come to mind. Maybury hasnt been as bad as some other players you'll have heard slated but in my eyes he isn't up to scratch either.. Kisnorbo and Douglas should both be warming the bench. It took ages for Levein to get the hint that De Vries is not good enough upfront in this league and when he finally changed we started scoring on a more regular basis. We have a few players who are great players but too lazy, Sylla and Williams and Craig needs to sort these two out.. the LB problem is obviously a bit of a problem area still, I actually thought Sheehan was alright against Crewe but he showed his inexperience at this level and will be remmebered for the silly sending off and getting skinned for the Crewe goal. He needs to go out on loan to a league 1 side or something and he may be one ofr the future I think. In my eyes we already have a good enough squad to be challenging for the top 6 and it all comes down to the managers influence on the squad not being good enough. This means things like motivating players, using the right tactics/formations bla bla.. I'm no manager but even I can see what isn't working on the pitch...

[Thracian]

I am far from happy with Levein. It's been over a year now, and he and his team keep repeating the same mistakes game after game.

1) He has never fielded a consistent side. And, he has never solved the left back position. He goes out and purchases Gilbert for 200k, thinks he's not good enough after a few starts, and then ships him out on loan. Now we don't know the situation behind Gilbert, but I find it shockingly poor that Levein spends that much on a player, provides him with a chance despite not being match fit, doesn't do himself any justice based on that reason, and then finds himself shifted out. If there is another reason why Levein has seemingly got rid of Gilbert, then fair enough, but he's never made it public. So he'll be judged by us fron the facts provided to us.

2) Set pieces, both offensively and defensively. We're slightly better than we used to be (defensively) but we rarely seem a threat from corners and free kicks. There always seems a lack of preparation and thought in to what we're trying to do. The Leeds away game recently highlighted our inability to react to defending set pieces.

3) Levein gives the impression he's tactially inept. He often plays players out of position, and he's far too cautious of the opposition.

4) Levein plays too many players who simply don't cut the mustard.

* Douglas - I've defended him, but I still don't think he's good enough. We need someone who provides assurance behind the back 4. Whenever I've seen Henderson (Derby and Bury away) he's been solid and reliable. I didn't go to the Cardiff away game in the cup, but apparently he was superb there, producing 4 world class saves, and still gets dropped, despite doing as much as he can to get in the side. So what if Douglas has played for both Celtic and Scotland, and played in front of crowds of 60,000 plus, that doesn't mean he should automatically command a place on goal. He's playing in front of less than 20,000 every week, so that argument shouldn't be used in favour of Douglas.

* Kisnorbo - He just isn't a footballer. His passing is abysmal, he has no positional sense, and is a liability when in posession of the ball. He also doesn't hold a footballing brain and often finds himself overrun in midfield. A half decent squad player perhaps, but nothing more.

* Sylla - Frustrates the hell out of me. No consistency and often no work rate. He only plays when it suits him, and we can't have that in our team. He can be good on his day, but he doesn't have too many of those.

* Hamill - Lightweight, average and non-effective.

* Tiatto - Simply a liability.

* Dublin - Fine as a centreback, but past it as a striker. Makes me laugh when people suggest Dublin is a better forward than de Vries, despite the latter scoring 8 compared to Dublin's 0.

* de Vries - Yes, he's our top goal scorer, but he holds us back. He has a good first touch and turning ability, but he doesn't have the pace or composure in front of goal to make a difference.

* Hammond - I don't think he will ever be a consistent goalscorer. Plenty of running, work rate, pace and enthusiasm, but he doesn't have the killer touch.

We don't have the resources to draft anyone else in, unless the person who can improve our affairs isn't currently in a job. 20th position in the Championship at this stage is a disgrace, and that cannot be defended. I'm willing to persist with him, but if our current run continues, then we need to consider what direction we take. Don't forget, despite Levein cutting the wage bill in half effectively, he still has one of the biggest budgets in the division.

I think we have played well recently, and I'd like to think things will start to click together soon, but we've has this hard luck scenario bleated out by Levein far too many times. Where do we draw the line? Do we carry on and persist with draws at home against teams who are desperately poor? Do we persist with the woeful away results, which has seen us win just once in 2005? Do we persist with the fact we can't string a number of results together? Do we persist with the fact we're 20th in the table after half a season?

Let's see what he can do in January - I'm not optimistic though. Attempting to draft players in to a club struggling above the relegation zone in the Championship won't be an easy task.

Great analysis that. Hard to argue with any of it.

[Darth Fox]

The only reason Levein is keeping his job is we are only losing matches by the odd goal. If we get thrashed in a match I'm sure the board will soon react. I for one don't think we are too good to be relegated as some forum poster seem to think(are u Forest fans in disguise?). It will be disastorous if we are relegated and financial implications would be horrendous. I don't see us getting many more than 12,000 fans attending matches next year if we go down.

[Hullfox]

he's bought in some good players, including hammond.

No No No No No No No No NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!

[The People's Hero]

I'm with Jason here.