Analysis of our failure

[Crinklyfox]

The most likely scenario is now that we'll be relegated at the end of the season and will need to plan the way forward.  What we do will be dependent upon the owners view of the season, both the squad and the managers performances being central to their decision-making process.  There are basically four views that can be taken, though variants of these can be derived, as follows:

 

Squad and manager competent for the Premier League

The manager and the squad would have performed adequately, however we would have been let down by bad refereeing decisions and had sheer bad luck.  Whilst I believe that we have not had our fair share of decent referees, I cannot accept that the performances and results reflect this view.

 

Squad not competent, manager competent

If the team is not good enough to play Premier League football the manager has an impossible task.  Replacement of the manager would not significantly change the outcome of matches.  IMO there are a number of players whom I consider have not performed at a level required for the Premier League, this has been evidenced by individual and collective errors throughout the season.  I doubt that if we are relegated that our squad will be decimated by other teams coming in for all our Premier League standard players.

 

Squad competent, manager not competent

The effectiveness of players who have the competency to play in the Premier League can be reduced by playing them out of position and by employing the wrong tactics.  Whilst I don't accept this due to my reservations about the abilities of some players to perform at this level, there have been times when I have been exasperated at formations, tactics and substitutions, all of which are the managers responsibility.

 

Squad not competent, manager not competent.

Our position could be attributed to players not able to perform and a manager who was unable to get the best out of them.  For most of the squad, and the manager, this was their first season in the Premier League and they have either not developed their competencies to perform at that level in time, or do not have the ability to do so.

 

So where do we go from here?  Some posters want NP out as soon as possible, others believe him to represent our best chance of promotion if we are relegated.  It is true that both the manager and players have already shown that they are good enough for the Championship, unfortunately they have not yet shown that they are good enough for the Premier League.  Success next season, if it comes, would be tempered by the real possibility of subsequent failure.  If we do not learn from history than we may be at risk of its repetition.

[foxinsox]

I think that Nigel is a competent manager at Championship level. As well as our own success at that level he did well to set the foundations at Hull and also kept Southamton up the year we got relagated to League 1. He has form at that level. Any other manager would be an unknown quantity.

At the moment though he risks losing the support of management and players through contrariness and bloody mindedness. He may be better off moving on.

Indeed I wonder if he is trying to get sacked (and therefore paid off) rather than quit.

We have not often played people out of position. Mostly the team has not stepped up to this level. Many are not far off and if we keep a solid core and Nigel together then I think we can bounce back. That was how Micky Adams did it.

Sack him in the autumn if it is not working.