I thought we should’ve won yesterday. They set up well & were hard to score past but with the chances we created & the shouts we had for pen I would’ve expected us to score a goal or two. I didn’t think their goal should’ve stood. Kouassi had his hand round Williams neck about 6-7 seconds before the pen is given. It was clearly a foul to us. There’s been a couple of shocking performances - Oxford & first half against Pompey but I didn’t think yesterday was one of them. I wouldn’t have started Chapman or Mcatee but Cosgrove was poor when he started & Russell’s been a bit hit & miss in the league so I don’t think they were terrible decisions. I thought the timing of his subs were fine it was just that Cotter had a shocker as opposed to Cadden who did well. I wouldn’t say I’m convinced by the manager but at the same time I don’t think his job should be under any threat as I don’t think he’s doing much wrong. I thought De Givigney did well. The one gripe I have with the manager is McCart. I just don’t see it. He’s just slow & ponderous on the ball & gives it away too much in games where we dominate possession. It’s annoying to see us build up from the back to get close to the half way line & then watch McCart punt it upfield when neither Cole or Mcatee’s going to win a header. The man of the man shout was ridiculous. It felt to me like they were deliberately letting him bring the ball forwards because they knew he couldn’t do anything with it. Yesterday showed how much we missed Phillips as well. Sometimes you don’t know what you’ve got til it’s gone & all that. I lost count of the amount of times the back 3 were passing it amongst themselves looking for a pass & there wasn’t one on. Phillips shows nearly every time. He was a big miss down the right. I don’t think it’s any coincidence that Williams & O’Keefe were poor too.
Seen a few shouts that he doesn’t know his best side. Me neither! I haven’t got a clue who his best defence is, sane goes for midfield & I also don’t know who should play up top with Cole. That’s what happens with a big turnaround of players & Luca Connell missing.
I thought that once again we were poor. And that the starting team selection was mistaken. We wasted the first half by playing Chapman who was too lightweight and thus anonymous. Plus McAtee does not seem to thrive when played fully up front. And banging big balls up for Styles to retrieve high up on the left wing was never going to work. Admittedly we don't have a midfielder who runs at defences (so how it can be thought by many posting on here that we have the best midfield in the league is a mystery to me). We have quite a few midfielders who are not far off being able to do the same somewhat limited job, and that includes Connell if as and when he comes back. So we have to go out wide in order to go forward. Fair enough, but yesterday O'Keefe had a mare, Dodgson spent most of his time in our half and neither did anything in attack. Cosgrove up front, with McAtee in a more withdrawn role instead of Chapman would have been better from the start. This state of affairs, where we do not look particularly good or threatening, has to be laid at the door of the coach, due to his team selection and tactics. Though I admit that when he picks players who seems to do well as a sub, the next game when they start they let him down. All is not yet lost if only these players could show consistency, and the correct team gets picked and shows up to play to our strengths. Defence did OK yesterday.
Right now I have absolutely no appetite for a managerial change. For the foreseeable future I am happy to be patient and win more games than we lose which might not mean a promotion spot this year but I don’t feel that we have a divine right to a top 6 finish. All this doesn’t mean I don’t think we will be in with a shout of the play-offs come April/May because I hope we will - just can’t think of an obvious candidate and still think Mr Collins deserves much longer to have a go at getting it right.
I'd only sack him now if we had the right guy lined up. However, then you have the problem of the window being shut and the same players available. Some times you have to suck it up.
If I'd lost all faith in him to achieve the desired results I'd get rid. Provided I had a replacement.
So how many managers would you be happy to employ in a season? 3? 4? Each of which costing a wedge until their contract is paid off.
Valerian Ismael must be very close to the sack at Watford, considering their league position. Would anyone have him back if he ever became available?
There's no way we should be discussing sacking our Head Coach after just 10 games into a season when we're 7th in the League. Madness.
If I didn't have an adequate replacement no. We're quite lucky at League 1 level we can experiment with a boss like Collins and give him time to see if he gets it right...eventually. I hope once he realises his best 11 results improve. He just hasn't inspired me thus far. Only guy I'd sack him for now is Warnock. That said, in League 1 we're never going down. It's just a shame to potentially waste a season.
Sadly, I think you will find that things will be worse in 20 games. I think we will be in or around 15th position then. Our fanbase will have become increasingly disgruntled with our performances, especially at home. Hope I'm wrong.
Patience a rare commodity in football By Christmas we should see what needs doing for the best for the Club and even then a replacement if needed,needs to be ready to go. Hopefully we won’t need to replace Collins by then and Home results get a lot better, hope so because the people above seem to take an age to make decisions and that’s what we don’t need if we are struggling then.