Great start ....

[champs95]

....top goalkeeper!! What a joke outfit thos lot really are.

[AucklandRover]

Champs - just take a step back.
When you were raving about what a top team we were, potentially, you were over the top in one direction.
Now you have swung to the other extreme.
For two seasons, we have been of middling standard for the Championship. We have been maddeningly inconsistent, and again, that means we are in line with many other teams.

Earlier this week, I went to fan-sites for two other clubs, Bristol City and Ipswich. I have a cousin who is a Bristol City supporter and he has quickly turned against Lee Johnson, so I had a look to see if he is an isolated voice. As for Ipswich, I used to live near there and my son supports them, so I keep an eye on their results.
I swear the following is true (and it's easy to check my story). You could strike out Johnson's or Lambert's name, and put Mowbray's in, and you simply would not know you were not on a Rovers site.
The comments are identical.
Coincidence? Did I just happen to light on two clubs out of all those through the Leagues where this is happening?
I think we all know the answer, because fans everywhere are the same. Doing badly? Easy solution! Change the manager!
Yeah, right.
If Mowbray goes, I will support whoever replaces him, but I cannot believe that so many fans are so blind to history and statistics that they think this is a guaranteed SOLUTION!
As far as I am concerned, Mowbray is about a 7/10 manager. What will we replace him with? Another 7/10 manager, probably. For a start, there are almost none who have proved they are consistently 8+/10, and we certainly aren't going to get one of them, anyway.
In the end, it's largely a matter of luck. Lee Johnson is a classic case. My cousin has spent most of the last year talking him up. Now he is "rubbish" and "clueless"!
And you should see what the Ipswich fans are saying about Lambert.
On the other hand, Jonathan Woodgate at Boro has suddenly become a "good" manager.

[champs95]

I didn't see a great deal of enthusiasm today. And I felt it was another poor performance. That was the performance I expected and wasnt surprised in the slightest. And in no way do I blame the manager for that. In my post above yours, in no way did I mention the manager. Or refer to him as to why we where so poor. He wasnt out on the pitch. And I didn't feel luck played any part of today's result. I just felt it was a poor display.

[AucklandRover]

I don't see how you could have "expected" a performance where we outplayed the opposition and created lots of chances, but didn't take one of them.
I thought we found another way of losing!
As for Mowbray, you have spent the last two weeks blaming him for taking us nowhere, so I assumed your phrase "joke outfit" included him.

[champs95]

I don't see how you could have "expected" a performance where we outplayed the opposition and created lots of chances, but didn't take one of them.
I thought we found another way of losing!
As for Mowbray, you have spent the last two weeks blaming him for taking us nowhere, so I assumed your phrase "joke outfit" included him.

It's all down to luck anyway. So it doesn't matter who plays. We where just unlucky. Like we have been the last 4 games. Not poor. Just unlucky.

[champs95]

Aucks. I guess the Ipswich fans are angry that Lambert just got a new 5 year contract down there?

[AucklandRover]

Apparently, they have nothing to spend.
The fans are certainly unhappy with the players he has brought in, and - guess what - they are complaining about him "chopping and changing" the team too much, while at the same time advising him what changes he should be making.

[champs95]

Apparently, they have nothing to spend.
The fans are certainly unhappy with the players he has brought in, and - guess what - they are complaining about him "chopping and changing" the team too much, while at the same time advising him what changes he should be making.

I reckon that goes on at every club up and down the leagues. Leicester City fans where leaving, on mass, in the 75th minute of their game on boxing day vrs Liverpool. Because they had just conceded a 4th goal. It's an unreasonable, and odd world football supporting.

[AucklandRover]

I reckon that goes on at every club up and down the leagues. Leicester City fans where leaving, on mass, in the 75th minute of their game on boxing day vrs Liverpool. Because they had just conceded a 4th goal. It's an unreasonable, and odd world football supporting.

But, Champs, that's exactly what I'm saying!
Every match is a mystery. Some turn out well; some don't. That's part of the fun.
Trying to reason out or explain long-term patterns is just a guaranteed way of doing your head in - especially in a league where there are many teams of roughly the same ability.
I love analysing a particular match in terms of who and what went well or badly on the day, but working out why everything can change so dramatically from match to match is beyond me. I believe it's beyond everybody.
When we're on a good run, I have my fingers crossed at the start of every game. When we're on a bad one, I just say to myself when the whistle goes, "This could be the day it changes."
That's simply the way I am.
I like Mowbray as a man. It looks to me as if he has the respect and support of the players. I have no confidence at all that anyone we can afford is likely to be much better.
If he goes, he goes, but I simply don't see him as somehow solely responsible for any problems or negatives.

[seventwo]

The modern game isn't as you describe Aucks. The players are wired up, fitness is constantly monitored and every aspect if each match is analysed. That's the only way to stop errors and improve tactics and performance.