It?s Not Just Money But Managers!

[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!

[Dubbag]

s.

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

Stop reading old posts.....

[Omegstrat6]

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!

Of course you can't keep blaming Lai for everything Al and you have to move on to deal with the problems in front of you regardless but I mentioned him only in reminding ourselves of the context as to why Mason only has so much to play with. How he choses to use that available resource is the issue.

Nothing wrong with the favoured game plan and playing out from the back in itself but you have to have players capable of doing so and, even then, it is only one of several options. Nothing at all wrong in mixing up tactics and having greater flexibility rather than slavishly trying to adhere to just one.

Sometimes you have to accept the square peg/ round hole analogy. Part of Rooney's failing at Blues that saw them relegated was him trying to get them to play a Premiership style of football that the players were simply unable to deliver. Davies turned them around in League One, partly by shipping some players out but also by getting them to play in a style that suited them better. They even got to the "win ugly" stage when they took 3 points even with quite dire performances. Of course, the gulf in quality between League One and the Championship is huge and Blues are struggling a it since coming back up, but you get my point.


Like so many, I'd like to see Mason ditch this over-reliance on the tippy-tappy stuff, still make the most of what could be a quite solid back four but adopt a far more attacking style of play, moving the ball forward much faster and pressing in numbers.

[Leicesterbaggie]

To my mind, the game v. Sheffield Wed. on Saturday is make or break for us and the manager. In my opinion, there has to be a complete change of tactics and approach as what has been served up of late has not been acceptable. If it is more of the same then I am afraid that Mason will lose any support that he still has.

[baggieal]

To my mind, the game v. Sheffield Wed. on Saturday is make or break for us and the manager. In my opinion, there has to be a complete change of tactics and approach as what has been served up of late has not been acceptable. If it is more of the same then I am afraid that Mason will lose any support that he still has.

Agree LB completely! I thought my son had gone mad when his Charlton ticket arrived. Even going though he?s lost faith in Mason?s tactics he?s still off to London.

[bordering]

To my mind, the game v. Sheffield Wed. on Saturday is make or break for us and the manager. In my opinion, there has to be a complete change of tactics and approach as what has been served up of late has not been acceptable. If it is more of the same then I am afraid that Mason will lose any support that he still has.

Mason ain't going to change his tactics . He has a premier league mindset for a slightly better than average championship club squad

Mason is and always will be sideways tippy tappy football manager believing in creative midfield incisiveness and clinical finishers

He clearly does not see we have neither and he is too thick or too stubborn to evaluate the squad strengths and create a style that gets the best out of these resources .

But he won't change and we can't afford to dump him so this is our club going nowhere or gradual decline.

Mason is not the answer but there is no other given our finances

Mid table at best with only boring football to make a disenchanted crowd getting more and more disenchanted