Sadly

[AucklandRover]

I have a very basic view on football aucks. Players perform and its their shirt to lose. There should have been no changes to the team today..

Mowbray has come out and said he feels at fault today because he didn't make ENOUGH changes.

I can't agree with that at all, and fear history is about to repeat itself, whereby another of his teams fall away second half of the season, as has been the case under him at middlesboro and Coventry.

But you're just guessing - on the back of one game. If we beat Oldham 4-0 next week, it won't be just because of the manager! I don't get this business of drawing wide conclusions, based on one performance.
If we had fielded the same team, and still lost 2-0, what would you have put the result down to then? You must be able to see there is no one simple answer to these things! Kilmarnock beating Celtic today - explain that in simple terms!
And are you seriously saying that this one game makes it inevitable we are going "fall away" in the rest of the season? Equally as daft as saying our 18-match run proved we were never going to lose again!

[Saxo1man41]

But you're just guessing - on the back of one game. If we beat Oldham 4-0 next week, it won't be just because of the manager! I don't get this business of drawing wide conclusions, based on one performance.
If we had fielded the same team, and still lost 2-0, what would you have put the result down to then? You must be able to see there is no one simple answer to these things! Kilmarnock beating Celtic today - explain that in simple terms!

If we'd kept the same line up and APPROACH as against Walsall, no complaints.

[Saxo1man41]

Its not based on one performance either aucks. Northampton?

[Saxo1man41]

Our '18 game run' is deceptive too, as it included 7 draws.

[AucklandRover]

If we'd kept the same line up and APPROACH as against Walsall, no complaints.

But the manager alone doesn't dictate the "approach". I managed an excellent schools-squad once. We won four successive games by four or more goals, and lost the fifth 3-0, to a team we'd beaten 6-1 in that run. I used the same 13 players throughout. How do you explain the sudden defeat? There is NO answer. That is the nature of sport. Draw conclusions from a long sequence of games, for sure, but predicting a "falling away" on the back of this is ridiculous. Even if your prediction turns out to be correct, there will be no science in it.
If you do that, and I say we are going to be much better from now on, and a third person says we will be so-so, one of us will be right, but that won't be because he read the situation better than the others. So much of sport is random. The "good" managers are those who get most things right in a particular season. The same man often gets it "wrong" the following year.
I'm starting a club, entitled "Let's Not Buy Into This 'Good Manager/Bad Manager' Nonsense".
I don't imagine you will be applying to join.
Obviously, SOME do prove better than others in the long run, but the margins are tiny. Which category does Roy Hodgson fit into?

[AucklandRover]

Its not based on one performance either aucks. Northampton?

But what about Walsall? Why choose one rather than the other?
Our "performances" have been erratic all season, but we are still third. Are you saying that's DESPITE the manager?
You need to be consistent on this!

[Acido]

Hello again Aucks & Sax.
Do you care about who goes down from Lg One this season, as I see two local teams like Bury & Rochdale are in real trouble arent they. And it could also include Oldham & Blackpool as well, not a good season for the Lancy mob.
Your sights are set on the Champship again of course, and admittedly Wigan arent running away with it like most people thought they would do.
Shrewsbury have been a breath of fresh air for me as a complete neutral, and although they both arent out of it of course, I expected better from Charlton & Portsmouth this season.

[AucklandRover]

Hello again Aucks & Sax.
Do you care about who goes down from Lg One this season, as I see two local teams like Bury & Rochdale are in real trouble arent they. And it could also include Oldham & Blackpool as well, not a good season for the Lancy mob.
Your sights are set on the Champship again of course, and admittedly Wigan arent running away with it like most people thought they would do.
Shrewsbury have been a breath of fresh air for me as a complete neutral, and although they both arent out of it of course, I expected better from Charlton & Portsmouth this season.

Acido - probably, Lancashire's resources are spread too thin. (I still call it all "Lancashire"!)
Inevitably, money is going to talk, I suppose.
I have a friend who is a Blackpool supporter. He says they have been playing quite well, but chronically lack a goal-scorer.
In the end, consistency is worth so much. It IS good to see Shrewsbury doing well, but I feel the same about Burnley. (Hold on - is that a hit-man in a Rovers' shirt at the door?)
As for D.1 expectations, I thought, in advance, that Portsmouth might be near the top, but they've also been up-and-down.
Good luck for the run-in.

[In Dyche We Trust]

This will be my final reply to you, to let u know I'm gonna do all you need to do with my postings, ignore them.

10 without a win, chin chin, bye bye..

7th in the Pl pal - compared to where?

My final word to you -

[Acido]

Acido - probably, Lancashire's resources are spread too thin. (I still call it all "Lancashire"!)
Inevitably, money is going to talk, I suppose.
I have a friend who is a Blackpool supporter. He says they have been playing quite well, but chronically lack a goal-scorer.
In the end, consistency is worth so much. It IS good to see Shrewsbury doing well, but I feel the same about Burnley. (Hold on - is that a hit-man in a Rovers' shirt at the door?)
As for D.1 expectations, I thought, in advance, that Portsmouth might be near the top, but they've also been up-and-down.
Good luck for the run-in.

Cheers kid, and can I ask how you all felt at this stage last season.... the transfer deadline had passed and we were into February. How many of you were seriously thinking about relegation then, even at that stage of the season ?.
By the way we got Brad Potts from the Blacky orange lashers in the summer, but hes been found wanting for us this season at this level. We also sold Stefan Payne to the Shrews and hes done well for them, so good luck to him and them.
Portsmouth in all fairness shouldnt be at this level should they, I dread to think of how bad their management has been over the years to put them in this position.