Forino was brought on because he’s a huge threat at set pieces and set pieces were the only way we were going to get a sniff on goal. Was a very smart substitution that could have worked. The fact that people were booing that shows just how much the average football fan understands tactics.
What details, if any, do we really know about the contract extension? I imagined Matt was simply offered a rolling 12 month contract, such as GA had, rather than untill the end of this season.
If so, it means 12 month rather than 6 months compensation if he leaves now. That shouldn't be the decisive factor in RCs mind as an extra 6 months compensation would be far less costly than relegation.
Firstly, however, RC has to appreciate that we are in a relegation fight - form would suggest we are even if the table currently says otherwise. Then he has to decide if he believes Matt can turn it around enough to avoid relegation.
Next week might see more action than just the fireworks.
I understand and share the frustrations over the performance (from an attacking perspective), but the reaction to bringing Forino on was odd. It was right at the end of the match, so wasn't really going to make any difference. Sadlier was bright in the 1st half, but we hadn't got him involved at all in the 2nd. Forino I assume was bought on to keep things tight at the back and add a threat from set pieces which we did have a couple of in injury time.
We've got plenty to moan about without making issues out of a last minute substitution.
A player I presume? Not sure adding players to an already bloated squad is the right move. After the Lyle Taylor signing it just feels like we’re slinging stuff at the wall and begging it sticks, rather than cohesively amending what we already have. We have a lot of individual quality. This crop of players should place 12th in the league at a minimum as far as I’m concerned.
I get that we were doing well before but mostly due to Anis and then Wing, there's no real reason to believe this squad is anywhere as strong as hoped.
One of MBs problems is that Vokes is coming to the end of his playing days. A great player for us, but the legs have gone. It’s not his fault, it happens to all players. At his best he would have made the team tick in the final third, but those days have gone. GA was brilliant at finding under-valued assets, like rescuing Uche from Jockland. MB has to prove he can do the same in January, and RC has to back him or sack him now. To not give any incoming manager a window would be unfair.
Personally I would postpone making any decision until after the Button game.
My reasoning for this has (I don’t think) nothing to do with sentiment but more to do with the clear progress we had visibly made in playing style up until Potts injury.
Since then it has been disappointing (to put it mildly) but if there are signs in the next two games (now that Potts is hopefully back) that we could get back to that kind of level I would be tempted to stick with MB (although we desperately need a win in at least one of those games).
Personally however i don’t think that MB has the confidence left in himself to inspire the team to do that, so my expectation would be that we will regrettably part company in a little over a week’s time.
I would also like to think that as supporters we would show the same level of patience and support to any manager of ours regardless of their history with us. We shouldn’t be a club that knee-jerks into sacking managers every time we go a few games without winning.
100% agree we don’t want to be that club that hires and fires on a whim but we are not talking about a 13 game dip we are talking about an 11 month period that has not yielded enough points to keep us in this league. Which with the players at his disposal is not good enough. Add to that some of the worst games in living memory (some of us still have PTSD after
I have managed to wrestle some fickle fans down to AP recently and all have said they wouldn’t watch that dross again. So on and off the pitch he is damaging a club he did so much for.
I said this on the Exeter match thread, but I don't know where/when the "visibly clear progress in playing style" happened? We've had two good games in the whole season so far (Blackpool and Fleetwood), and arguably only 3 in his whole tenure
There was a little spell where it felt like we'd cracked it a little. We played 4 of the top 5 very close together, unlucky that a last min pen stopped us beating Oxford away, late goal conceded at Portsmouth. A couple of the other games were narrow too.
Unfortunately, the narrow margins of defeats kept coming against all sorts, and the Reading home defeat felt like a turn towards the gloom and the Morecambe cup defeat when it suddenly hit us square in the face that we'd be in for a relegation battle.
I think we're just playing really fearful football now. We can set the team up to defend well enough - fine - but I don't think MB has it in him to strike the right balance in the side.
But even when we have looked like we've been playing slightly more positive football, the attacking patterns just haven't been there. And as much as anything, it's just bloody boring.
And the time wasting, slowing down of the game that occurred simultaneously - that was to win corners for Forino to head in too? How about bringing on a right back to play on the right wing?
Personally would have Vokes down as a big threat from set pieces too, but what do I know?
Potts, Gmac, Sadlier, Leahey 4 of the more creative players to have played for us in recent years. And yet it’s some of the dullest football I can recall.
A few weeks ago I wondered if the players simply couldn’t understand or implement the system Blooms was trying to play. I think it’s become clear that the problem lies with the manager. He doesn’t seem to know how to get the best out of the squad he’s assembled.
Since Rob Couhig won’t sack Blooms in ten thousand lifetimes, we probably need to stop tilting at that windmill and knuckle down for a long and unpleasant second half of the season, willing our team to 50plus points.
Finally, Matt Bloomfield has given the best years of his life to our football club. That doesn’t mean he’s immune from criticism Or eventually losing his job, but it still means a great deal. We’d do well to remember that.
we very rarely target Vokes at set pieces, Forino or Taf tend to be the focal points. But yeah, I get that even if he isn’t the focal point, he’s useful to distract defenders and create space for others.
There will be plenty of youngsters at the match on Monday, including our neighbours’ six year old son who came running up to me on Christmas Day excitedly flourishing a Wanderers woollen bobble hat. He’d already persuaded dad to buy him a replica shirt at a game which I’m sure he’ll always remember - his very first match.
Serendipitously, that was the match against Carlisle, very much a family occasion with a bit of everything, including the incident when Sam Vokes had ‘cleverly’ stayed behind the goal line as the Carlisle goalkeeper played the ball forward several yards outside the penalty area and wound up being tackled by big Sam, handling the ball on the deck as he fell and getting sent off.
The matches Daniel has been to since may not linger so long in his memory (unless for the wrong reasons but I think, and sincerely hope, that his youthful enthusiasm will outweigh any sense of disappointment).
In any case, I’m assuming that most youngsters (and a good few mums and dads) enjoy a brief firework display, especially somewhere well away from domestic pets. Indeed, provided they haven’t already left to avoid the crush, the fireworks might be the abiding memory.
I posted something similar a couple of weeks back but for a refresher on how we were collectively viewing us under MB at the time I recommend a read through the posts on here for the Peterborough away game. There was almost universal praise on here for the style of football we played that day.
That isn’t to defend some of the really awful ‘’performances’ we have seen since but it is does help contextualise why some of us have held on to the hope that he does know what he is doing.
And I do appreciate with every passing game that is becoming harder and harder to do.
I actually think @ReturnToSenda made a really valid point a few posts earlier about us now playing “fearful” and unbalanced football. It does feel and look that way
We're being joined at AP on Monday by a nephew (who is currently resident in Australia) together with his 5 and 7 yr old sons. Said nephew, 15-20 years ago or so, while in his teenage years and before his departure to sunnier climes, travelled with us to many memorable home and away games. He has since really bigged up the Blues to his lads, even buying them Wycombe shirts for Christmas. I am frankly in dread of what Monday may bring. A 5-0 drubbing at the hands on Brizzle, the in-your face chanting of their fans. And worse the embarrassment of seeing a much loved player and now manager being torn to shreds by elements of our own supporters.
Comments
Forino was brought on because he’s a huge threat at set pieces and set pieces were the only way we were going to get a sniff on goal. Was a very smart substitution that could have worked. The fact that people were booing that shows just how much the average football fan understands tactics.
What details, if any, do we really know about the contract extension? I imagined Matt was simply offered a rolling 12 month contract, such as GA had, rather than untill the end of this season.
If so, it means 12 month rather than 6 months compensation if he leaves now. That shouldn't be the decisive factor in RCs mind as an extra 6 months compensation would be far less costly than relegation.
Firstly, however, RC has to appreciate that we are in a relegation fight - form would suggest we are even if the table currently says otherwise. Then he has to decide if he believes Matt can turn it around enough to avoid relegation.
Next week might see more action than just the fireworks.
Felt like a substitute to tighten things up at the back and hold on the point to me, so maybe I don't understand tactics either
That post-match interview is just delusional. We're in deep shit.
I understand and share the frustrations over the performance (from an attacking perspective), but the reaction to bringing Forino on was odd. It was right at the end of the match, so wasn't really going to make any difference. Sadlier was bright in the 1st half, but we hadn't got him involved at all in the 2nd. Forino I assume was bought on to keep things tight at the back and add a threat from set pieces which we did have a couple of in injury time.
We've got plenty to moan about without making issues out of a last minute substitution.
Some bloke on a podcast I listened to for the first time yesterday said that he has inside knowledge that we've already signed somebody.
Happy days.
A player I presume? Not sure adding players to an already bloated squad is the right move. After the Lyle Taylor signing it just feels like we’re slinging stuff at the wall and begging it sticks, rather than cohesively amending what we already have. We have a lot of individual quality. This crop of players should place 12th in the league at a minimum as far as I’m concerned.
I get that we were doing well before but mostly due to Anis and then Wing, there's no real reason to believe this squad is anywhere as strong as hoped.
Got the MoN autobiography for Christmas. Matt should read the first chapter. He makes the art of management very simple.
We were doing fine without Anis. Wing deserted a sinking ship, unsurprisingly. MB's first action as manager was to play him in defence!
Yes, a player. It was called the HP12 podcast or something. 30 minutes of grown men not bursting into tears!
I think they believe we’ve signed Ronan Curtis.
One of MBs problems is that Vokes is coming to the end of his playing days. A great player for us, but the legs have gone. It’s not his fault, it happens to all players. At his best he would have made the team tick in the final third, but those days have gone. GA was brilliant at finding under-valued assets, like rescuing Uche from Jockland. MB has to prove he can do the same in January, and RC has to back him or sack him now. To not give any incoming manager a window would be unfair.
It can be both things. Happy you’ve learned something today!
Personally I would postpone making any decision until after the Button game.
My reasoning for this has (I don’t think) nothing to do with sentiment but more to do with the clear progress we had visibly made in playing style up until Potts injury.
Since then it has been disappointing (to put it mildly) but if there are signs in the next two games (now that Potts is hopefully back) that we could get back to that kind of level I would be tempted to stick with MB (although we desperately need a win in at least one of those games).
Personally however i don’t think that MB has the confidence left in himself to inspire the team to do that, so my expectation would be that we will regrettably part company in a little over a week’s time.
I would also like to think that as supporters we would show the same level of patience and support to any manager of ours regardless of their history with us. We shouldn’t be a club that knee-jerks into sacking managers every time we go a few games without winning.
100% agree we don’t want to be that club that hires and fires on a whim but we are not talking about a 13 game dip we are talking about an 11 month period that has not yielded enough points to keep us in this league. Which with the players at his disposal is not good enough. Add to that some of the worst games in living memory (some of us still have PTSD after
I have managed to wrestle some fickle fans down to AP recently and all have said they wouldn’t watch that dross again. So on and off the pitch he is damaging a club he did so much for.
The truth really hurts.
I said this on the Exeter match thread, but I don't know where/when the "visibly clear progress in playing style" happened? We've had two good games in the whole season so far (Blackpool and Fleetwood), and arguably only 3 in his whole tenure
There was a little spell where it felt like we'd cracked it a little. We played 4 of the top 5 very close together, unlucky that a last min pen stopped us beating Oxford away, late goal conceded at Portsmouth. A couple of the other games were narrow too.
Unfortunately, the narrow margins of defeats kept coming against all sorts, and the Reading home defeat felt like a turn towards the gloom and the Morecambe cup defeat when it suddenly hit us square in the face that we'd be in for a relegation battle.
I think we're just playing really fearful football now. We can set the team up to defend well enough - fine - but I don't think MB has it in him to strike the right balance in the side.
But even when we have looked like we've been playing slightly more positive football, the attacking patterns just haven't been there. And as much as anything, it's just bloody boring.
And the time wasting, slowing down of the game that occurred simultaneously - that was to win corners for Forino to head in too? How about bringing on a right back to play on the right wing?
Personally would have Vokes down as a big threat from set pieces too, but what do I know?
Potts, Gmac, Sadlier, Leahey 4 of the more creative players to have played for us in recent years. And yet it’s some of the dullest football I can recall.
A few weeks ago I wondered if the players simply couldn’t understand or implement the system Blooms was trying to play. I think it’s become clear that the problem lies with the manager. He doesn’t seem to know how to get the best out of the squad he’s assembled.
Since Rob Couhig won’t sack Blooms in ten thousand lifetimes, we probably need to stop tilting at that windmill and knuckle down for a long and unpleasant second half of the season, willing our team to 50plus points.
Finally, Matt Bloomfield has given the best years of his life to our football club. That doesn’t mean he’s immune from criticism Or eventually losing his job, but it still means a great deal. We’d do well to remember that.
we very rarely target Vokes at set pieces, Forino or Taf tend to be the focal points. But yeah, I get that even if he isn’t the focal point, he’s useful to distract defenders and create space for others.
There will be plenty of youngsters at the match on Monday, including our neighbours’ six year old son who came running up to me on Christmas Day excitedly flourishing a Wanderers woollen bobble hat. He’d already persuaded dad to buy him a replica shirt at a game which I’m sure he’ll always remember - his very first match.
Serendipitously, that was the match against Carlisle, very much a family occasion with a bit of everything, including the incident when Sam Vokes had ‘cleverly’ stayed behind the goal line as the Carlisle goalkeeper played the ball forward several yards outside the penalty area and wound up being tackled by big Sam, handling the ball on the deck as he fell and getting sent off.
The matches Daniel has been to since may not linger so long in his memory (unless for the wrong reasons but I think, and sincerely hope, that his youthful enthusiasm will outweigh any sense of disappointment).
In any case, I’m assuming that most youngsters (and a good few mums and dads) enjoy a brief firework display, especially somewhere well away from domestic pets. Indeed, provided they haven’t already left to avoid the crush, the fireworks might be the abiding memory.
He won't sack him if he's not put under pressure to do so. But it can't go on any longer for everyone's sake, Bloomfield included.
As boring as your constant 1 line "Sack Matt now" posts?
I'm told the Cowleys were at the game again yesterday
I posted something similar a couple of weeks back but for a refresher on how we were collectively viewing us under MB at the time I recommend a read through the posts on here for the Peterborough away game. There was almost universal praise on here for the style of football we played that day.
That isn’t to defend some of the really awful ‘’performances’ we have seen since but it is does help contextualise why some of us have held on to the hope that he does know what he is doing.
And I do appreciate with every passing game that is becoming harder and harder to do.
I actually think @ReturnToSenda made a really valid point a few posts earlier about us now playing “fearful” and unbalanced football. It does feel and look that way
We're being joined at AP on Monday by a nephew (who is currently resident in Australia) together with his 5 and 7 yr old sons. Said nephew, 15-20 years ago or so, while in his teenage years and before his departure to sunnier climes, travelled with us to many memorable home and away games. He has since really bigged up the Blues to his lads, even buying them Wycombe shirts for Christmas. I am frankly in dread of what Monday may bring. A 5-0 drubbing at the hands on Brizzle, the in-your face chanting of their fans. And worse the embarrassment of seeing a much loved player and now manager being torn to shreds by elements of our own supporters.