Quote Originally Posted by Shadrack the Red View Post
With out a doubt , we have no winners , no dominance & no leadership & one glaring problem is that if you take Williams out of the back 5 there is zero pace, the French lad is as slow as a tortoise with a broken leg , Leoparta , McCourt & Cadden are pedestrian at best so any ball over the top gives us big problems , thankfully Williams has got some pace but he cannot do it on his own , this problem needs urgent attention in january or maybe introduce a sweeper , what is Matty Appleby doing these days ? Another thing has crossed my mind, did we send out a search party last night to find Philips because he was nowhere to be seen on the pitch, Kane & Styles get all the stick whilst this lad seems to be ignored , is it because you never see him on the ball or even in the game at all ? out of sight out of mind possibly ? Anyway which ever way you look at it we currently resemble an average 3rd division outfit .
Agree that we resemble an average 3rd Division outfit.
What my differences of opinion is to yours is - who is responsible for that?

IMO it’s not the majority of players who are to blame - it’s the organisation and tactics of the team that’s at fault - which of course is the responsibility of the head coach.

For example - on organisation - Kane is not a defensive midfielder - he’s no pace and he can’t tackle.
Add to that two cardboard cut outs in Styles and Philips stood either side of Kane and that’s a remedy for failure.

Then of course there’s the poor tactics - which was touched on gingerly at the supporters meeting - but out of respect for Collins would IMO have been spoken about in depth if Collins wasn’t present at the meeting.
Only question relating to that asked during the meeting was about wingbacks automatically turning around and playing the ball backwards.
And we saw the exact same against Blackpool.

Unluckily for Collins we have seen recent teams under Ismael and Duff that knew how to get the best from the players available.
Collins is struggling with this.

The directors have the stats that shows the potential of these players.
I’m guessing here - but directors - especially James who signed these players - must be as frustrated as hell watching what’s happening at the moment on the field.
The directors won’t be happy with this.
They have made a poor appointment.
It’s an appointment that will cost £££ millions in potential lost revenue.
Has Khaled taken the blame for it ???

And I’ll have another guess - looking at the dynamics of the supporters meeting I believe there is only JAQ capable of dealing with the rough and tumble of football people.
Hence the reason to appoint a Director of Football as a go between the directors and those in the changing room.

Prediction.
DoF appointed in January.
Collins gone in February.
New HC prepares team for a push for promotion next season.