It?s Not Just Money But Managers!

[baggieal]

Of course money helps to bring in quality players but it?s also the manager who can work miracles with bare resources and playing style.

Always loved Derek McInnes and Hearts are top of the league playing great football. Hearts could never match Celtic and Rangers for spend. Ever!

Never rated Darren Moore as a manager and Port Vale are in the relegation zone so no surprise there! The Bradford manager on the contrary his doing a brilliant job and they are just off the top spot having been promoted with Vale. Great football being played!

Hull, Stoke, Bristol and Millwall are playing good football and that?s down to their managers. I can?t even remember Coventry spending much pre season and their football is fast and quality even getting the best out of Asante. To think we used him as a lone striker!

Managers can shape a side on next to nothing. Some say get McInnes which I would love but that?s not going to happen! Any side with McInnes will play like he played - to try and win the game and cover every blade of grass!

Apart from a manager it?s fantastic recruitment! Even this year with dire finances we spent six million on Heggebo and Campbell which many would say was a waste of money when we don?t have any pace or creativity in midfield.

[Bombers right foot]

Completely correct, I don?t think there?s a positive bone in Mason?s body, if I was in the changing room listening to that cockney drawl I would fall asleep, we?re back to 1999, oh for a Gary Megson type manager, these modern day tippy tappy managers don?t work in the Championship, you have to earn the right to play by matching the opposition for determination, passion and hard work something dearly missing in today?s team

[bordering]

cassandra

Completely correct, I don?t think there?s a positive bone in Mason?s body, if I was in the changing room listening to that cockney drawl I would fall asleep, we?re back to 1999, oh for a Gary Megson type manager, these modern day tippy tappy managers don?t work in the Championship, you have to earn the right to play by matching the opposition for determination, passion and hard work something dearly missing in today?s team

Said so almost from start - did wobble with our 2 wins but he's afraid to win , he want premiership tactics from average championship players. Sideways and back that is from the manager and it won't work not now not ever

Wrong man wrong tactics and we are stuck with him we ain't got the money to fire him so it's dire football. dire results
..............
BTW.............In Greek mythology, Cassandra or Casandra was a Trojan priestess dedicated to the god Apollo and fated by him to utter true prophecies but never to be believed.

[Albionic68]

Al. Coventry are getting the best out of Asante because they're playing him in his natural position as a wide right sided forward. He also has closer support from other forwards who are actually fit.

For the most part he only played as an out of position lone striker for us due to a combination of ongoing injuries and poor recruitment. It wasn't because anyone thought it was his best position.

Besides, if it had been up to you you'd have had him down the glue factory for being a donkey. Taken from memory: 'cannot fault his effort but he's a poor footballer and can't finish' or words to that effect.

[baggieal]

Al. Coventry are getting the best out of Asante because they're playing him in his natural position as a wide right sided forward. He also has closer support from other forwards who are actually fit.

For the most part he only played as an out of position lone striker for us due to a combination of ongoing injuries and poor recruitment. It wasn't because anyone thought it was his best position.

Besides, if it had been up to you you'd have had him down the glue factory for being a donkey. Taken from memory: 'cannot fault his effort but he's a poor footballer and can't finish' or words to that effect.

Very true Dan. Like many I didn?t rate him when he was with us apart from his effort as he missed a lot of one on one chances. Just shows what a decent manager can do to a player and those that surround him. Well done to the lad.

Whilst at Boro many of their supporters speaking in pubs did not rate Mowatt when there or Junior. Junior is much better than Wallace but for me he?s never a Premier player or Harvey Barnes.

[Albionic68]

It's fair to say SIJ is still settling in but on current form he is a significant downgrade on Tom Fellows who is a huge loss for us.

This suggests to me SIJ might not even make the bench at Southampton at the moment never mind get a game in the Premier League.

Wallace still has a role to play if he regains his fitness and I don't mean at either end of a pantomime donkey either by the way 😆 😄 😂

[On Balance]

For me Asante always had the potential, we just did not know how to use him.

In my mind we are struggling because of the Nestor practice. We do not have the players perhaps to fulfill the model or quite possibly the players are just not behind it.9

Either way, the football is pretty boring and the results indicate something is wrong. Not sure yet whether it?s the coach or the model. However, the one thing is, nothing has changed in well over 12 months in regards to results.

[baggiematt]

For me Asante always had the potential, we just did not know how to use him.

In my mind we are struggling because of the Nestor practice. We do not have the players perhaps to fulfill the model or quite possibly the players are just not behind it.9

Either way, the football is pretty boring and the results indicate something is wrong. Not sure yet whether it?s the coach or the model. However, the one thing is, nothing has changed in well over 12 months in regards to results.

I do think the model has been misunderstood. It’s the basic principles most clubs now follow. We will put the ball on the ground and play 433 - thats about it.

I think our modernisation has been seen as the reason why we are failing. We have just transitioned from an owner that nearly plummeted us to depths of league one and administration. The whole team needed an overhaul and we needed to save 10s of millions of pounds to satisfy FFP.

Selling your best players, replacing them with cheaper ones and still being competitive would be a fine feat. Us being competitive at the top of the table was unrealistic and will take a couple more transfer windows, maybe longer.

[baggieal]

I do think the model has been misunderstood. It’s the basic principles most clubs now follow. We will put the ball on the ground and play 433 - thats about it.

I think our modernisation has been seen as the reason why we are failing. We have just transitioned from an owner that nearly plummeted us to depths of league one and administration. The whole team needed an overhaul and we needed to save 10s of millions of pounds to satisfy FFP.

Selling your best players, replacing them with cheaper ones and still being competitive would be a fine feat. Us being competitive at the top of the table was unrealistic and will take a couple more transfer windows, maybe longer.

Recruitment has always been poor Matt and still not great. Six million on Heggebo and Campbell who are average at best could have got us another Grimes albeit cheaper. Loans still poor as Junior whilst better than Wallace is poor compared to Fellows. Even Boro fans said he was not great!

So have we improved the side and replaced players with money well spent? No! Phillips and Mepham are fine but then we lost Heggem, Bartley and AJ who were good!

[baggiematt]

Recruitment has always been poor Matt and still not great. Six million on Heggebo and Campbell who are average at best could have got us another Grimes albeit cheaper. Loans still poor as Junior whilst better than Wallace is poor compared to Fellows. Even Boro fans said he was not great!

So have we improved the side and replaced players with money well spent? No! Phillips and Mepham are fine but then we lost Heggem, Bartley and AJ who were good!

Our business overall has been really good for a club in financial difficulty:

Heggem - 600k
Price - 2.5m
Mepham - 1m
Campbell - 1m
Johnstone - 3.5m
Phillips - 3m
Styles - 600k

I still think Heggebo might be ok once he has adjusted. He looks the only suspect transfer in 2 windows! Appreciate Bany might go in that list but we have had bad luck with injuries.

You are seriously calling AJ and Bartley good having slated them season after season?

[baggieal]

Our business overall has been really good for a club in financial difficulty:

Heggem - 600k
Price - 2.5m
Mepham - 1m
Campbell - 1m
Johnstone - 3.5m
Phillips - 3m
Styles - 600k

I still think Heggebo might be ok once he has adjusted. He looks the only suspect transfer in 2 windows! Appreciate Bany might go in that list but we have had bad luck with injuries.

You are seriously calling AJ and Bartley good having slated them season after season?

I slated AJ at times but never Bartley until he was evidently unfit last season. Heggebo for 4 million? I would have paid one as he?s not a clinical goal scorer, The sales have been mixed as for me we were robbed with what we received for Palmer and Fellows albeit yes we needed to sell them.

The point to me is the absolute dross of football we are playing which is down to Mason, Do Hull, Bristol and Charlton play this way to name but a few! Hearts are playing brilliant football but can?t match the spend of Celtic or Rangers. Some managers can work miracles on a very limited budget so not just about money!

[baggiematt]

I slated AJ at times but never Bartley until he was evidently unfit last season. Heggebo for 4 million? I would have paid one as he?s not a clinical goal scorer, The sales have been mixed as for me we were robbed with what we received for Palmer and Fellows albeit yes we needed to sell them.

The point to me is the absolute dross of football we are playing which is down to Mason, Do Hull, Bristol and Charlton play this way to name but a few! Hearts are playing brilliant football but can?t match the spend of Celtic or Rangers. Some managers can work miracles on a very limited budget so not just about money!

2 top half seasons under Corberan without money proves you right. But in your eyes, you couldnt wait to have him gone.

Something to bear in mind for your point is that Charlton spent £11m net this summer. Net, that is £19m more than us. Bristol and Hull net spend was about £9m more than us and they barely spent a penny; the point is they didnt have to lose their best players.

Not many have done what we have done and remained competitive.

[baggieal]

2 top half seasons under Corberan without money proves you right. But in your eyes, you couldnt wait to have him gone.

Something to bear in mind for your point is that Charlton spent £11m net this summer. Net, that is £19m more than us. Bristol and Hull net spend was about £9m more than us and they barely spent a penny; the point is they didnt have to lose their best players.

Not many have done what we have done and remained competitive.

Corberon couldn?t take us any further and the football towards the end was similar to now which is why Abella should have gone. Perhaps McInnes at Hearts has hit lucky then 😭

[Omegstrat6]

I agree with Matt in that our transfer business -certainly in terms of finances- has been good. With the situation that Lai left us in and PSR there were never going to be easy or quick solutions.

We have lost some good players in Heggem, Palmer and Fellows but in reality, it is Tom we currently miss most despite him being the most hit and miss of the three.

Campbell is not great going forward certainly but I would argue that he is still an improvement on Furlong defensively and Phillips and Mepham are surely better than Bartley and Ajayi? Styles is good at driving forward (even if his passing is still too sloppy) but can be poor defensively but we now have Taylor who can cover LB. I'd then argue that our back 4 now is an improvement on what we had beforehand and this, in turn, has raised Griffith's confidence and improved his performances. He is no Palmer but is becoming decent enough.

Midfield remains an issue however as we have the same players we had before in Mowatt, Molumby and Diakite who have their qualities but lack the creative spark we desperately need. Will Bany prove to have some of this once he eventually returns? Let's hope so! Collyer looked like he was beginning to show some of the qualities Man Utd fans say he has so maybe he can help us in this department when he comes back from injury ( though he is, of course, on loan).

Styles plays in midfield for his country and is listed in this position on the club website but Mason needs to figure out where best to play him still. The same could be said of Price. Clearly he has ability but is too often unable to make any impact on games and Mason seems unsure of where best to deploy him.

Attack wise, we still have Mikey but we miss Fellows on the other wing. Wallace doesn't have the pace any more and neither Iling Junior nor Grant can match Tom. As a number 9, Heggabo holds the ball up well and fights but is clearly no natural goal scorer and if Maja is better at this then he still needs to be given the service. Dike may yet prove he can score goals too, but again, he won't get many without the service. Bostock, I would also like to see being given some game time.

Over-all (whilst acknowledging that we haven't managed to come close enough to replace Fellows) I would argue that this season's squad is an improvement on what we had at the end of last season. It isn't brilliant and quality wise we probably are Upper Mid table but it isn't a really poor squad either and-regardless of injuries or lack of depth- we should be putting in better performances and getting better results than we have been. This surely has to be down to tactics and selection? The job of any manager, regardless of the field they work in, must primarily be to achieve the best results with the resources at their disposal. I don't think that anyone can argue that Mason is currently doing that.

Certainly, any manager needs some time to be able to implement changes to achieve and it is unreasonable to expect things to improve over night but it is equally true that there is an expectation that improvements can clearly be seen within a certain time window. That time window is beginning to run out.

[baggieal]

I agree with Matt in that our transfer business -certainly in terms of finances- has been good. With the situation that Lai left us in and PSR there were never going to be easy or quick solutions.

We have lost some good players in Heggem, Palmer and Fellows but in reality, it is Tom we currently miss most despite him being the most hit and miss of the three.

Campbell is not great going forward certainly but I would argue that he is still an improvement on Furlong defensively and Phillips and Mepham are surely better than Bartley and Ajayi? Styles is good at driving forward (even if his passing is still too sloppy) but can be poor defensively but we now have Taylor who can cover LB. I'd then argue that our back 4 now is an improvement on what we had beforehand and this, in turn, has raised Griffith's confidence and improved his performances. He is no Palmer but is becoming decent enough.

Midfield remains an issue however as we have the same players we had before in Mowatt, Molumby and Diakite who have their qualities but lack the creative spark we desperately need. Will Bany prove to have some of this once he eventually returns? Let's hope so! Collyer looked like he was beginning to show some of the qualities Man Utd fans say he has so maybe he can help us in this department when he comes back from injury ( though he is, of course, on loan).

Styles plays in midfield for his country and is listed in this position on the club website but Mason needs to figure out where best to play him still. The same could be said of Price. Clearly he has ability but is too often unable to make any impact on games and Mason seems unsure of where best to deploy him.

Attack wise, we still have Mikey but we miss Fellows on the other wing. Wallace doesn't have the pace any more and neither Iling Junior nor Grant can match Tom. As a number 9, Heggabo holds the ball up well and fights but is clearly no natural goal scorer and if Maja is better at this then he still needs to be given the service. Dike may yet prove he can score goals too, but again, he won't get many without the service. Bostock, I would also like to see being given some game time.

Over-all (whilst acknowledging that we haven't managed to come close enough to replace Fellows) I would argue that this season's squad is an improvement on what we had at the end of last season. It isn't brilliant and quality wise we probably are Upper Mid table but it isn't a really poor squad either and-regardless of injuries or lack of depth- we should be putting in better performances and getting better results than we have been. This surely has to be down to tactics and selection? The job of any manager, regardless of the field they work in, must primarily be to achieve the best results with the resources at their disposal. I don't think that anyone can argue that Mason is currently doing that.

Certainly, any manager needs some time to be able to implement changes to achieve and it is unreasonable to expect things to improve over night but it is equally true that there is an expectation that improvements can clearly be seen within a certain time window. That time window is beginning to run out.

Totally agree Omeg in that Mason is not getting the best out of a good squad ( not great by any means ) with selections and tactics. Zero attempts at two away games is shocking and many know why! You can?t keep blaming the lack of quality as a really good manager could get the best out of this squad or any other squad with less resource and talent.

The easiest option is to keep blaming the past ie Lai blah blah. It?s a wonder Starmer is not blaming Maggie for everything FFS!