Not a manager Boingy but hey - I would have never played Gayle on the wing - left Barry exposed in the middle without pace, or played out from the back when it was not working week in week out. Then again, I am not thick either!
As for Sawyers yesterday - Jermain Jenas ( real star he was ) needs to visit Spec savers with his comments -
Sawyers’ main attribute is meant to be his passing, but he only completed 73.8% of his attempted balls and top of this, the 29-year-old only made one tackle and failed to register a single interception, clearance or block. That's in addition to a glorious chance even my late granny would have at least got on target! Slav might still be around had he not put his faith in Sawyers, Livermore and Phillips.
I would even know as a non manager - parking the bus at Vile Park in the first play off leg was plain stupidity! Sam is Fat but he's not stupid and expect some changes very quickly! Best man on the pitch yesterday in my view was Snodgrass!
Last edited by baggieal; 17-01-2021 at 01:05 PM.
Snoddy is a great player and even more important is he has a personality which draws the other players along with him. Sam knows this.
All managers will make mistakes but nowhere near as many as we would For one thing if we are too reactive with performances we would be changing the team every week, you have to put some faith in players and try to build some consistency. Its not an easy job, especially when you have an owner who cant just (or wont just) spend £80,000,000 on just one player.
Chris Waddle was often accused of being lazy and slow with his running action but he scored class goals and tore people apart. Sawyers has a similar running action and demeanor but he ain't scoring class goals and tearing people apart unfortunately. Oh for a young Brian Robson again. He would crunch a tackle, win the ball and make a good pass and he knew where the goal was too.
All I can say is that Sawyers must be absolutely brilliant in training as both Bilic and Allardyse keep on selecting him. Along with many other fans on here I have watched all the games this season and we've all seen how poor he has been. In the Championship last season virtually every commentator eulogised over him stating that he was the best passer of a ball in the division. Again, we didn't see it. Yes, he played well in the first half of last season but he was not the player that every pundit and commentator fawned over, especially after the Covid break.From a personal point of view I like to think that I can see a player's strengths and weaknesses and will often cut them some slack. However, I can't give him any benefit of the doubt and to my mind he has been shocking in all aspects of his game. It's nothing personal as he seems a nice enough lad. I'm only going on what I've seen during game time. Surely not all of us can be wrong.
I understand what you are saying. I think a lot of what he does keeps the wheels moving in midfield but its often unnoticeable stuff. A very understated role. Every time I think he's had a mediocre or a bad game I hear someone say how well he's played. I'm sure if Sam finds someone he considers better he will replace him. Probably true of any player.