I watched Shrewsbury with a different view to most opposition yesterday. Trying to figure out what could be done. I came away thinking they are f’ed.
Marquis was a proven striker but was nothing yesterday. He constantly moaned at his team mates and was part of an argument as they left the field at half time. Great job from a senior pro.
Castledine is highly rated but I would not have know he was playing in the first half.
Their defence is gutless and largely ineffective against passing and pace. Pierre clearly has great positional sense and awareness still but his fitness seems to have deserted him. Against an attack of 3 they were exposed time and again.
Will they go down ? Absolutely. Too much to do even for Gareth and Dobbo.
I do wonder if GA was so wildly successful with us by the end that he forgot how many different components went into the journey. He is an incredible man motivator, but not by waving a motivation magic wand - he had a squad of excellent leaders like Blooms, Bayo and JJ all backing him up and singing the same song. That does not translate into going to a dreadfully constructed squad and suddenly turning them into world beaters and leaders in what may be the strongest ever L1.
Sorry if that sounds negative. I feel a little sick whenever I think about GA and Dobbo's situation and how they are right back into the midst of immense stress, so I guess it is just wishful thinking that they had gone somewhere a bit more forgiving.
Didn't have Taylor for those 2. Hartridge with some mistakes in the Wrexham game.
We were playing 2 quality teams too, which probably is a big factor too.
The people that think Bishop should be starting have probably reduced significantly though and it'd be a major surprise to see him stay beyond December. Some loan simply don't work out, it just feels like we've had such a saga with him.
true. Hartridge in his defence, (if you will pardon the pun), had a really good game v Villa showing both strength and pace considering who he was up against and feel he has been unfortunate to not get much of a look in since. 🤷♂️
I’ve been a critic of Ravizolli, I think he’s a weak link due to his failure to command his area, and think Bishop should be playing instead of him.
However what shouldn’t go unnoticed is how well Ravizolli has adapted into our style of play. He almost plays an additional centre back at times allowing others to move further forward. This was particularly evident at Shrewsbury. Fair play to him for this.
You wonder if after a period out of management, Ainsworth was just pleased to back in a job even if it wasn’t perfect . Clearly there is the promise of new owners which could mean more investment. It’s a tough gig Ainsworth and Dobbo find themselves in. Hopefully they will be given time.
True, and we never know what truly happens behind the scenes. I just hate seeing him already stressed, and confessing he needs to find different solutions. The QPR period had some dark days and gut wrenching interviews.
That was the setup at QPR too and I find it baffling. It's the "head coach" who gets fired if the results don't come, so the DoF can recruit a bunch of overweight, one-legged alcoholics and sit around counting his cash.
I do enjoy the irony of us (the Gasroom collective) discussing at length the attributes of various managers as if we actually .know what we are talking about.
Less than a year we were pretty much all convinced Matt Bloomfield didn’t have a clue how to manage a football club.
To be fair, GA has a 12 year track record in management whereas Blooms was almost brand new out of the box and did appear to be struggling mightily. I would still be more comfortable discussing GA's style (despite him having left two years ago) in a more dogmatic sense than that of Blooms, because the latter is still evolving (and only just completed his Pro License this past summer). There are probably more levels to come from MB.
I'd put it this way - Blooms could still surprise us, but I think GA has his stall thoroughly set out at this point.
We had quite a few gasroomers who often seemed to be watching a different game to me. Gaz and Dobbo oversaw survival in dire financial straits, worked with what he had to begin with, then signed some of the most memorable players, permanent and on loan, we had had for years and gave us an incredible decade of growth and success. The idea a limited one dimensional manager got us from L2 to The Championship and almost back again before his departure is disappointing. He'll do alright for the Shrews I think...if anyone can.
I would be genuinely interested in hearing from those who think GA is going to keep Shrewsbury up as to your own view on why it went so wrong at QPR, and why it will be different at Shrewsbury. The reason I am asking is that giving a successful ten year tenure somewhere as a reason for turning around an absolute mess in half a season does not seem as relevant to me as a more recent experience at another complete mess (QPR) that did not go so well.
In other words, why do you think his Wycombe tenure is more of an indicator than his QPR tenure as to Shrewsbury's chances of survival with a 10 point deficit and players he did not bring in? To me, the QPR fiasco seems much more comparable - a club who have fallen away from their peak and now have a painfully thin squad. GA did keep QPR up, but barely, and from a points cushion that shrank, before also starting terribly the next season and getting the sack.
My view is that GA is indeed exceptional, but needs time for his particular strengths to shine best (finding characterful players, getting buy-in to his team chemistry etc.), and is not a short term miracle worker - hence, if Shrewsbury give him a couple of seasons he will turn it around, but he is not going to be able to take this group from a standing start and have them in top ten form for the rest of the season, even with January additions.
I don't think any of this is disrespectful to GA, as I have seen him say much the same thing in analyzing his own management style. When he was at QPR he said (and this is as close to verbatim as I remember) "I am a builder, not a turnaround manager." He said similar things in his opening interview with Shrewsbury, with references to it taking a lot of time to turn the club around. I also heard an interview with him talking about figuring out at his next job how to buy himself time, because that's what he needs. I would guess GA could read this whole post and not feel the slightest bit disrespected or offended, as he agrees with so much of it!
I’m pretty sure most of us were edging towards that conclusion but subsequent events have demonstrated that, as @LX1 says, most of us didn’t have a clue.
@Shev QPR 'We are a great club with fantastic players that belongs in the Premier League and European football..what the **** is a Haka? This bloke's a nutter.'
Shrewsbury: 'We've got a terrible squad and losing every game. Haka? Whatever it takes to get this lot firing, I'm in.'
Comments
I watched Shrewsbury with a different view to most opposition yesterday. Trying to figure out what could be done. I came away thinking they are f’ed.
Marquis was a proven striker but was nothing yesterday. He constantly moaned at his team mates and was part of an argument as they left the field at half time. Great job from a senior pro.
Castledine is highly rated but I would not have know he was playing in the first half.
Their defence is gutless and largely ineffective against passing and pace. Pierre clearly has great positional sense and awareness still but his fitness seems to have deserted him. Against an attack of 3 they were exposed time and again.
Will they go down ? Absolutely. Too much to do even for Gareth and Dobbo.
If Gaz n Dobbo don't have a huge say in the recruitment they really are on a hiding to nothing.
I do wonder if GA was so wildly successful with us by the end that he forgot how many different components went into the journey. He is an incredible man motivator, but not by waving a motivation magic wand - he had a squad of excellent leaders like Blooms, Bayo and JJ all backing him up and singing the same song. That does not translate into going to a dreadfully constructed squad and suddenly turning them into world beaters and leaders in what may be the strongest ever L1.
Sorry if that sounds negative. I feel a little sick whenever I think about GA and Dobbo's situation and how they are right back into the midst of immense stress, so I guess it is just wishful thinking that they had gone somewhere a bit more forgiving.
I am happy with Rav between the sticks. What I will point out though is that Bishop has the following record: P3 conceded 7!
What defence did he have in front of him for those games though?
I think the first two, pretty much 1st choice?
Didn't have Taylor for those 2. Hartridge with some mistakes in the Wrexham game.
We were playing 2 quality teams too, which probably is a big factor too.
The people that think Bishop should be starting have probably reduced significantly though and it'd be a major surprise to see him stay beyond December. Some loan simply don't work out, it just feels like we've had such a saga with him.
true. Hartridge in his defence, (if you will pardon the pun), had a really good game v Villa showing both strength and pace considering who he was up against and feel he has been unfortunate to not get much of a look in since. 🤷♂️
You shouldn't get so defensive about making puns
I can't really see how he gets anywhere near it unless we have a lot of injuries or lose Taylor in Jan.
Arguably he's 5th choice centre back, and 3rd choice left back.
Agreed - it's always much harder to break into a stable defence than other areas of the pitch.
I’ve been a critic of Ravizolli, I think he’s a weak link due to his failure to command his area, and think Bishop should be playing instead of him.
However what shouldn’t go unnoticed is how well Ravizolli has adapted into our style of play. He almost plays an additional centre back at times allowing others to move further forward. This was particularly evident at Shrewsbury. Fair play to him for this.
You wonder if after a period out of management, Ainsworth was just pleased to back in a job even if it wasn’t perfect . Clearly there is the promise of new owners which could mean more investment. It’s a tough gig Ainsworth and Dobbo find themselves in. Hopefully they will be given time.
True, and we never know what truly happens behind the scenes. I just hate seeing him already stressed, and confessing he needs to find different solutions. The QPR period had some dark days and gut wrenching interviews.
That was the setup at QPR too and I find it baffling. It's the "head coach" who gets fired if the results don't come, so the DoF can recruit a bunch of overweight, one-legged alcoholics and sit around counting his cash.
I do enjoy the irony of us (the Gasroom collective) discussing at length the attributes of various managers as if we actually .know what we are talking about.
Less than a year we were pretty much all convinced Matt Bloomfield didn’t have a clue how to manage a football club.
To be fair, GA has a 12 year track record in management whereas Blooms was almost brand new out of the box and did appear to be struggling mightily. I would still be more comfortable discussing GA's style (despite him having left two years ago) in a more dogmatic sense than that of Blooms, because the latter is still evolving (and only just completed his Pro License this past summer). There are probably more levels to come from MB.
I'd put it this way - Blooms could still surprise us, but I think GA has his stall thoroughly set out at this point.
That is a caricature of Gaz as a manager. It's the trap that opposition fans fell into time and time again. He's far more layered than that
We had quite a few gasroomers who often seemed to be watching a different game to me. Gaz and Dobbo oversaw survival in dire financial straits, worked with what he had to begin with, then signed some of the most memorable players, permanent and on loan, we had had for years and gave us an incredible decade of growth and success. The idea a limited one dimensional manager got us from L2 to The Championship and almost back again before his departure is disappointing. He'll do alright for the Shrews I think...if anyone can.
If @flymofrank was a football team (god forbid!) he would be chewed up and spat out through intelligence by Ainsworth
@flymofrank
What part of your professional or personal experience makes you think you can comment on a football manager?
I'm pretty sure Alan Parry didn't.
I know I didn't
I would suggest most of the gasroom didn't
Best not to try and speak for all as we know where that leads
I would be genuinely interested in hearing from those who think GA is going to keep Shrewsbury up as to your own view on why it went so wrong at QPR, and why it will be different at Shrewsbury. The reason I am asking is that giving a successful ten year tenure somewhere as a reason for turning around an absolute mess in half a season does not seem as relevant to me as a more recent experience at another complete mess (QPR) that did not go so well.
In other words, why do you think his Wycombe tenure is more of an indicator than his QPR tenure as to Shrewsbury's chances of survival with a 10 point deficit and players he did not bring in? To me, the QPR fiasco seems much more comparable - a club who have fallen away from their peak and now have a painfully thin squad. GA did keep QPR up, but barely, and from a points cushion that shrank, before also starting terribly the next season and getting the sack.
My view is that GA is indeed exceptional, but needs time for his particular strengths to shine best (finding characterful players, getting buy-in to his team chemistry etc.), and is not a short term miracle worker - hence, if Shrewsbury give him a couple of seasons he will turn it around, but he is not going to be able to take this group from a standing start and have them in top ten form for the rest of the season, even with January additions.
I don't think any of this is disrespectful to GA, as I have seen him say much the same thing in analyzing his own management style. When he was at QPR he said (and this is as close to verbatim as I remember) "I am a builder, not a turnaround manager." He said similar things in his opening interview with Shrewsbury, with references to it taking a lot of time to turn the club around. I also heard an interview with him talking about figuring out at his next job how to buy himself time, because that's what he needs. I would guess GA could read this whole post and not feel the slightest bit disrespected or offended, as he agrees with so much of it!
POTY
I’m pretty sure most of us were edging towards that conclusion but subsequent events have demonstrated that, as @LX1 says, most of us didn’t have a clue.
@Shev QPR 'We are a great club with fantastic players that belongs in the Premier League and European football..what the **** is a Haka? This bloke's a nutter.'
Shrewsbury: 'We've got a terrible squad and losing every game. Haka? Whatever it takes to get this lot firing, I'm in.'
That's my take...
Cheers! I do hope that no matter what happens on the pitch, GA does Haka 3 just to mess with everyone.
I did not say that.
Totally missed the point