An alternative view

[WBA123]

I think its quite clear now that the majority want Val out. As per usual, I have the minority view on here.

I'm still supportive of him, but I recognise that things need to change.

What I will say in Val's defence is this;
- Yes the league is poor but so is our squad. It really lacks quality. He hasn't spent a penny on new players other than Dike who has played half a game. He's been handed strikers like Hugill and Zohore who have been pretty useless to us.
- From the outside looking in, he looks like he is giving the players a rocket which many of us wanted at the start of the season.
- We have seen glimpses, particularly at the start of the season (thinking Luton, Sheff Utd, Cardiff away), of his style of play being effective.
- He has tried to implement youth. TGH, Fellows and many more on the bench
- Defensively, we've looked solid on the whole this season, for that he should be given some credit
- We wanted longevity with a manager, we have changed our structure and bought players to suit his style of play. He signed a 4 year contract in the summer, do we really want to chop and change manager every 6-12 months? He's a relatively young and inexperienced manager, he will make mistakes. We've had experienced and older managers in the past who have made mistakes too. I think he deserves more time to bring in the players that would suit his system better.
- Finally, I don't know of any other manager out there and available, off the top of my head, who would come in and improve us

I can accept why others think differently. Its hard to defend the team or manager after that performance on Wednesday. And its been coming for a few weeks now. Our style of football really isn't pretty. But I was quite happy he was given a long contract, because I wanted us to give a manager time. And there will be bad moments, we're going through one right now.

As a side note, I rarely get to midweek games but had a meeting in Birmingham in the afternoon on Wednesday which tied in well to make the game. After watching our worst performance of the season, I got back to London at 1.30am and was up for work 5 hours later. The things this club does to me!

[kettering_baggie]

I more or less agree with that because whoever we were to replace VI with would also struggle with our present owner and board. A new manager would want to fashion the team to play his style but would the funds be there to acquire the players he wanted? Almost certainly not. We could, if ‘lucky’, get a really promising new manager only for him to be thwarted by the wretched Lai and lackeys. We just have to grin and bear it until the runt is gone.

[boingy]

I don't want him out and I think we have a decent squad. We played very badly v Preston, but have mostly played pretty well minus a goal threat in recent weeks. It is what it is. Football. The manager "In out In out shake it all about" thing doesn't seem to make much difference to this club. Val said that we don't take our chances to push on when we have a chance to gain ground. Well Val, I cant think of one manager we've had in decades who's been able to fix that problem, so don't take it all on yourself.

[SwedishBaggie]

I think its quite clear now that the majority want Val out. As per usual, I have the minority view on here.

I'm still supportive of him, but I recognise that things need to change.

What I will say in Val's defence is this;
- Yes the league is poor but so is our squad. It really lacks quality. He hasn't spent a penny on new players other than Dike who has played half a game. He's been handed strikers like Hugill and Zohore who have been pretty useless to us.
- From the outside looking in, he looks like he is giving the players a rocket which many of us wanted at the start of the season.
- We have seen glimpses, particularly at the start of the season (thinking Luton, Sheff Utd, Cardiff away), of his style of play being effective.
- He has tried to implement youth. TGH, Fellows and many more on the bench
- Defensively, we've looked solid on the whole this season, for that he should be given some credit
- We wanted longevity with a manager, we have changed our structure and bought players to suit his style of play. He signed a 4 year contract in the summer, do we really want to chop and change manager every 6-12 months? He's a relatively young and inexperienced manager, he will make mistakes. We've had experienced and older managers in the past who have made mistakes too. I think he deserves more time to bring in the players that would suit his system better.
- Finally, I don't know of any other manager out there and available, off the top of my head, who would come in and improve us

I can accept why others think differently. Its hard to defend the team or manager after that performance on Wednesday. And its been coming for a few weeks now. Our style of football really isn't pretty. But I was quite happy he was given a long contract, because I wanted us to give a manager time. And there will be bad moments, we're going through one right now.

As a side note, I rarely get to midweek games but had a meeting in Birmingham in the afternoon on Wednesday which tied in well to make the game. After watching our worst performance of the season, I got back to London at 1.30am and was up for work 5 hours later. The things this club does to me!

I, more or less, agree too.

I think it is our weakest squad the last ca 15 seasons, and therefore can’t really be surprised if mid table Championship position and performances occur.

Furthermore, a distant and disinterested owner unwilling to invest is the major problem.

On a side note and quality of players aside: Would anyone believe that, say, G Mac, Jonas, Mulumbu, Yacob etc would ”fall out with the boss due to style of play, tactics or whatever”, and therefore not put a shift in on the pitch, fight to the last minute, sulk etc!?

I don’t think so, and that also says a lot about some parts of our squad…

FOL!!!

[Leicesterbaggie]

I'm sorry, but can't agree with you 123. You say that we haven't got the players that suit his system of play. From what I've witnessed I can't imagine anybody who claims to be a footballer who would suit his system. What system? Hoof the ball upfield and hope for the best. That about sums it up. How anybody can call this a system is beyond me. His selections and substitutions just don' t make sense and are so predictable. He cannot respond to how the course of a game is progressing. The discipline in the side is also poor. I find it hard to find any positives in his management of the side. These comments are coming from a fan who has never booed a player or coach and never been very outspoken regarding getting rid of a manager but the absolute dross that we have produced week in week out is just not acceptable. I realise that sacking a manager at this point is not ideal but something has to be done and nothing could be worse than watching this rubbish.

[calvinboy]

I want Lai out.

I've been supporting the Club for only a few years (from the States) and have seen Pulis, Megson (for a moment), Pardew, Moore, Shan, Bilic, Allardyce and Val. The one constant, and the root cause of our issues, is Lai.

[baggiematt]

I used to think he was going to be a big hit at the club and his system would work in time but a few things have turned me against Val.

Firstly, we don't seem to be getting any better. With managers who apply certain specific systems usually make their players more adaptive to that system and get better over time...we seem to be getting worse not better.

Secondly, the fans cannot stick this brand of football. Irrespective of my views, we can't be booed off every half or whenever we concede a goal. Equally, we have dwindling attendances. We need the fans to buy back into the club and the brand of football is essential for that.

Finally, we just don't score enough goals under Val. It's so bloody obvious that it's no longer because we're unlucky or need a goalscorer. The system must be contributing to this and Val's done nothing to rectify it with what we have. I've never seen us have so many shutouts.

[WBA123]

I used to think he was going to be a big hit at the club and his system would work in time but a few things have turned me against Val.

Firstly, we don't seem to be getting any better. With managers who apply certain specific systems usually make their players more adaptive to that system and get better over time...we seem to be getting worse not better.

Secondly, the fans cannot stick this brand of football. Irrespective of my views, we can't be booed off every half or whenever we concede a goal. Equally, we have dwindling attendances. We need the fans to buy back into the club and the brand of football is essential for that.

Finally, we just don't score enough goals under Val. It's so bloody obvious that it's no longer because we're unlucky or need a goalscorer. The system must be contributing to this and Val's done nothing to rectify it with what we have. I've never seen us have so many shutouts.

I can understand all of your points here, but especially your last one. Our final ball or shot is awful. How much of that is down to Val? He's the manager and he picks the team so I suppose he is responsible. But did he want Hugill? He certainly got lumbered with Zohore. I just wonder if he had a front 3 he himself was able to choose, how much of a difference that would be to us. We have by and large been on top in almost every game we have played this season, its the attacking side of our play that has really cost us.

[boingy]

I can understand all of your points here, but especially your last one. Our final ball or shot is awful. How much of that is down to Val? He's the manager and he picks the team so I suppose he is responsible. But did he want Hugill? He certainly got lumbered with Zohore. I just wonder if he had a front 3 he himself was able to choose, how much of a difference that would be to us. We have by and large been on top in almost every game we have played this season, its the attacking side of our play that has really cost us.

"We have by and large been on top in almost every game we have played this season, its the attacking side of our play that has really cost us".

Pretty much perfect appraisal.

[baggiematt]

"We have by and large been on top in almost every game we have played this season, its the attacking side of our play that has really cost us".

Pretty much perfect appraisal.

I can understand that. But there's something about the priorities of the manager at the start of the season which has bothered me. He clearly planned for Dike to come in, in January which has been a risk that hasn't paid off. Basically, there was some money there and Val put all his eggs in one basket, at a point in the future. He bought in loan players like Mulumby that he doesn't really play that often. Clarke's been in on loan at the expense of Ajayi. Now Clarke's a good player but he's using loans to sign players marginally better than those replaced in low priority positions and yet he's got Phillips playing up top. Would a better manager have prioritised a second striker loan and freed Phillips up to play centre mid? Possibly.

Also, I don't know how much input a manager has on signings, but you would think he was part of the process. The guy Hugill scored 5 goals the term before and you would think he'd have picked up on this and said to go for someone else. We have very little pace in the side and no transfers have sought to address this.

This is all a bit hindsight for us, but a manager should be eating, living and breathing what the qualities of the team are and prioritise key positions to improve. We started the season with Phillips up top and a manager who had a plan to bring his replacement in, in January....that mistake is firmly on his shoulders.