Some great points here Les. How many times have we been to a game and then read a report afterwards which seems to bear no resemblance to what our eyes saw? The biggest single problem this team has is lack of quality. You cannot expect to compete in the toughest league in the world without quality. So many players come nowhere near quality eg Murphy, Willock, Krafth etc that you mention. The ones with quality are either getting too old and slowing down, or are young and physically breaking at regular intervals because of work overload while others think because they get paid montly they can put in a performance once a month. I too get infuriated with His Eddiness but going 3 windows without strengthening didn’t support him at all. Then when we got a few quid, we spunked it on 3 misfits. Whose fault that was I have no idea, but I do know it can’t be allowed to happen again, which is why Ross Wilson and David Hopkinson and whoever our Manager is, really will have their work cut out this summer. The alogrithm couldn’t blame them for last summer and the algorithm won’t be needed this summer because as usual, our will eyes will be the judge.
Outstanding piece Les. We've known about Eddie's weaknesses re. in game management for some time (my own big issue is WTF he does at half time as they rarely come out up for it) but he has generally overcome that by solid performances. That seems to have gone and his deficiencies are now standing out like a sore thumb.
I still love him and am very grateful to him for turning things around and winning the cup last year but football is a results game and he's not getting a tune out of most of the players. We've seen it all before and any seasoned supporter can see a team that isn't playing for their coach.
That's what I'm seeing now. I think he should have until the end of the season to turn it around and if he doesn't he should be gone in May to give the new guy a chance and the money to invest in new players.
I think Gordon is nailed on to go as is Livramento, not sure abut Sandro.
Can’t remember Slot moaning last season when Liverpool were humping everyone. And I’m sure if they were top and flying again he’d be revelling in it (and it would be the most exciting league in the world again).
It has been a weird season though and really emphasises how difficult it is for ‘smaller clubs’ (Us, Palace, Forest and a declining Villa) to compete in any European distraction (I appreciate the ECL is a massive, financially beneficial distraction).
Beating Liverpool in the CC was a great result, maybe Eddie can surprise us all again with an FA Cup/ECL win and keep the season alive. Not confident though.
Arsenal stuck with Wenger for years after early success and they simply got worse almost year on year. It doesn’t always work.
Interesting piece, Les. Maybe we just need some brave f*cker with big ‘nads to come in, sod the algorithm, play lads where they are best deployed (not where they want to play at the cost of others) and start playing old fashioned football again!
Its extremely difficult to integrate 10/12 players into a squad in one fell swoop regardless of who the coach is. Hopefully when the window opens sub standard players will not be dumped on the coach as was the case last summer.
Priority is a top class goalkeeper. I remember Callum Wilson being gifted a goal by Burnley’s goalkeeper and feeling relief that he wasn’t ours……
Somewhere round about para 13 you hit the nail on the head Les….The one about our ‘high line just begging to be overrun when we (inevitably) lose possession’ - because the model of play adopted by Eddie is one which requires two things we do not have -and have not had - for most of the season, namely:
a)fast, mobile defenders and
b) technically proficient forwards capable of:
b.i) completing crosses >55-60% of the time and b.ii) directing said crosses towards a given target
Or b.iii) passing to their own colleagues with >average success.
Without achieving these mean rates of success, this is a fucking stupid strategy.
And yet, HE STILL FUCKING PERSISTS WITH ABOVE STRATEGY!
I knew my B.Sc (Hon) (Salford) in Maths and Stats would come in useful one day..
It appears Eddies “credit in the bank” is proving worthless for many folks. It seemed bleeding obvious he was going to have it difficult this season given the many circumstances and demands. One question. Who is to replace him?
Do those circumstances make him above all reasonable critique and discussion? This isn't an empty polemic, it's a reasoned piece that makes a sound analytical point. At no point does the author or anyone in the comments call for him to leave. In fact the opposite. Instead, there's a hope that he'll reflect and adapt. As I've said before here, I'm not sure why reasonable and constructive critique is so often interpreted in this way.
As for your question, you'd think that was a matter of due diligence for a director of football with detailed knowledge of the game and who has been asked to make reasonable contingency plans. I've no idea, but definitely not Graeme Souness.
We need a pretty major squad overhaul even without the players being sold you mention. Im not as optimistic in terms of the players leaving you mention. I don't think the money is there to change maybe the 10 to 15 players we need to.
Great analysis, Les. I think I agree with everything you say here, and I have had the same ideas here and there throughout the season. I just don't think I could have put this all down on paper (so-to-speak) in such a logical structured order. Well done for that.
I too am already resigned to our season effectively being over by the end of this month, and I am already looking forward to a summer of rebuilding in preparation for our next campaign.
Let's pray we can keep Eddie, and the club has the financial room to back him sufficiently.
Brilliantly articulated Les. I'm in agreement with every point you make, and boy, do they chime with our current post-match discussions over beers in the Bodega. Have these also become an algorithm of sorts?
Great analysis and very balanced. He's definitely made mistakes with team selection at this season but I blame a lot of it on the shitstorm of last summer. I think he deserves proper backing from Wilson and Hopkinson in the summer with proper squad overhaul. (I know we spent big last summer but the Isak situation plus no CEO or sporting director saw us properly played, some fault also probably lies with Eddie). Bottom line is we need better quality to get nearer to the top clubs, hes squeezed everything out of Murphy, Burn, Willock etc but time for a lot of these guys to move on. Get recruitment sorted early and give him the chance next season, he deserves it for what hes done over past 4 years.
Some great points here Les. How many times have we been to a game and then read a report afterwards which seems to bear no resemblance to what our eyes saw? The biggest single problem this team has is lack of quality. You cannot expect to compete in the toughest league in the world without quality. So many players come nowhere near quality eg Murphy, Willock, Krafth etc that you mention. The ones with quality are either getting too old and slowing down, or are young and physically breaking at regular intervals because of work overload while others think because they get paid montly they can put in a performance once a month. I too get infuriated with His Eddiness but going 3 windows without strengthening didn’t support him at all. Then when we got a few quid, we spunked it on 3 misfits. Whose fault that was I have no idea, but I do know it can’t be allowed to happen again, which is why Ross Wilson and David Hopkinson and whoever our Manager is, really will have their work cut out this summer. The alogrithm couldn’t blame them for last summer and the algorithm won’t be needed this summer because as usual, our will eyes will be the judge.
Outstanding piece Les. We've known about Eddie's weaknesses re. in game management for some time (my own big issue is WTF he does at half time as they rarely come out up for it) but he has generally overcome that by solid performances. That seems to have gone and his deficiencies are now standing out like a sore thumb.
I still love him and am very grateful to him for turning things around and winning the cup last year but football is a results game and he's not getting a tune out of most of the players. We've seen it all before and any seasoned supporter can see a team that isn't playing for their coach.
That's what I'm seeing now. I think he should have until the end of the season to turn it around and if he doesn't he should be gone in May to give the new guy a chance and the money to invest in new players.
I think Gordon is nailed on to go as is Livramento, not sure abut Sandro.
Howay the Lads
Can’t remember Slot moaning last season when Liverpool were humping everyone. And I’m sure if they were top and flying again he’d be revelling in it (and it would be the most exciting league in the world again).
It has been a weird season though and really emphasises how difficult it is for ‘smaller clubs’ (Us, Palace, Forest and a declining Villa) to compete in any European distraction (I appreciate the ECL is a massive, financially beneficial distraction).
Beating Liverpool in the CC was a great result, maybe Eddie can surprise us all again with an FA Cup/ECL win and keep the season alive. Not confident though.
Arsenal stuck with Wenger for years after early success and they simply got worse almost year on year. It doesn’t always work.
Interesting piece, Les. Maybe we just need some brave f*cker with big ‘nads to come in, sod the algorithm, play lads where they are best deployed (not where they want to play at the cost of others) and start playing old fashioned football again!
Its extremely difficult to integrate 10/12 players into a squad in one fell swoop regardless of who the coach is. Hopefully when the window opens sub standard players will not be dumped on the coach as was the case last summer.
Priority is a top class goalkeeper. I remember Callum Wilson being gifted a goal by Burnley’s goalkeeper and feeling relief that he wasn’t ours……
That's a really good point in your last sentence and one that's weirdly never occurred to me!
Also a major cock up while playing for England
Somewhere round about para 13 you hit the nail on the head Les….The one about our ‘high line just begging to be overrun when we (inevitably) lose possession’ - because the model of play adopted by Eddie is one which requires two things we do not have -and have not had - for most of the season, namely:
a)fast, mobile defenders and
b) technically proficient forwards capable of:
b.i) completing crosses >55-60% of the time and b.ii) directing said crosses towards a given target
Or b.iii) passing to their own colleagues with >average success.
Without achieving these mean rates of success, this is a fucking stupid strategy.
And yet, HE STILL FUCKING PERSISTS WITH ABOVE STRATEGY!
I knew my B.Sc (Hon) (Salford) in Maths and Stats would come in useful one day..
Eloquently put Alan 😂
😂 forgot to mention: 2:2 (drinkers degree)
It appears Eddies “credit in the bank” is proving worthless for many folks. It seemed bleeding obvious he was going to have it difficult this season given the many circumstances and demands. One question. Who is to replace him?
Do those circumstances make him above all reasonable critique and discussion? This isn't an empty polemic, it's a reasoned piece that makes a sound analytical point. At no point does the author or anyone in the comments call for him to leave. In fact the opposite. Instead, there's a hope that he'll reflect and adapt. As I've said before here, I'm not sure why reasonable and constructive critique is so often interpreted in this way.
As for your question, you'd think that was a matter of due diligence for a director of football with detailed knowledge of the game and who has been asked to make reasonable contingency plans. I've no idea, but definitely not Graeme Souness.
A very around the block response. Sorry mate. Again, if Eddie was to be binned/leave, who would succeed him?
As I've said, I've absolutely no idea. That's Ross Wilson's job, and it would be a big risk. Who is asking for him to be binned/ leave?
Ok. Deflection arguments.
Respect your opinion. End of
I don’t want him replaced, I’d love nothing more than to see him succeed
We need a pretty major squad overhaul even without the players being sold you mention. Im not as optimistic in terms of the players leaving you mention. I don't think the money is there to change maybe the 10 to 15 players we need to.
Great analysis, Les. I think I agree with everything you say here, and I have had the same ideas here and there throughout the season. I just don't think I could have put this all down on paper (so-to-speak) in such a logical structured order. Well done for that.
I too am already resigned to our season effectively being over by the end of this month, and I am already looking forward to a summer of rebuilding in preparation for our next campaign.
Let's pray we can keep Eddie, and the club has the financial room to back him sufficiently.
Everything you said is what the majority are thinking, sadly I think Eddie won't be leading the changes in the summer.
Brilliantly articulated Les. I'm in agreement with every point you make, and boy, do they chime with our current post-match discussions over beers in the Bodega. Have these also become an algorithm of sorts?
Great analysis and very balanced. He's definitely made mistakes with team selection at this season but I blame a lot of it on the shitstorm of last summer. I think he deserves proper backing from Wilson and Hopkinson in the summer with proper squad overhaul. (I know we spent big last summer but the Isak situation plus no CEO or sporting director saw us properly played, some fault also probably lies with Eddie). Bottom line is we need better quality to get nearer to the top clubs, hes squeezed everything out of Murphy, Burn, Willock etc but time for a lot of these guys to move on. Get recruitment sorted early and give him the chance next season, he deserves it for what hes done over past 4 years.