I can definitely see why people want our manager sacked

It's quite the leap to be annoyed at the club having the best keeper and striker in the league. New one for me that.

 

great point

 

But all it’s saying is if some players didn’t play as well as they have done, we’d be lower in the league.

 

Well, we let 2 in at home to Fleetwood, 3 at home to Horsham, 3 at Derby and 5 at Bradford in 4 consecutive matches…

 

You’re ignoring his other points that go in conjunction with this, and that are the reason we’re doing better than our performances suggest we should be, and there was ample evidence of it last night in the opening 15 minutes. Our defence gifts the opposition chance after chance, but we are lucky that a) we have a great keeper and b) the teams we are playing are rubbish. They should have scored at least 3 in the opening 15 minutes. You can’t have watched the game yesterday and been happy with our defence. It’s January, and our defence has not improved since the beginning of the season. Admittedly, the midfield doesn’t help in this respect, by allowing teams to run through us.

Look back at the stats from our matches and you’ll see that in most of our wins the opposition have had more chances than us. Even when we beat Port Vale 7-0 we should have been 3 down before we scored. At one point, before his injury, Roberts had made the most saves in the entire league.

 

For me Collins has done a fantastic job, we have a very shaky defence (this affects the whole team). The midfield has been up and down and still not settled (many reasons but nothing to do with Collins). Up front Cole has been great but other options have bit part (in/ more out of form ) McAtee finally finding his feet. Some flashes of our style of play are there, plenty to look forward to.

 

Admittedly, I only attend home matches (not missed a game at home this season) but in my view, mostly our play has been quite poor. We often play like a team of strangers.
Many passages of play between our right hand side trio of Phillips, Williams and Okeeefe hardly ever works well and often moves break down easily. Yet Collins insists in starting with this trio every game.
Similarly for the left hand side trio of Shepherd (or Mccart when fit), Styles and Kane. Collins picks this trio to start the game and we more often than not it doesn't work well
Our passages of play between these players are often very poor and again moves end up breaking down, yet Collins still starts with these players on the left hand side
Collins choice for front two pairing, Cole and Mcatee earlier this season didn't work well, (admittedly it has definitely improved recently), but was gash to start with. Yet again he stubbornly picked these front two to start.
So yes the goals from Cole and the saves from Roberts are the main reasons we are so high in the table. We are doing well this season, not because of Collins but despite him.

 

That explains much also.

 

The upcoming run of games will against Stevenage, Oxford Bolton and Derby will determine whether Collins is up to the job.
Play like we did first half yesterday then can't see us getting a point out of these games.
On the other hand get 6 to 8 points from these and I think he will have earned more backing from the BBS than he is currently getting.

 

Absolutely menkalgaga.

 

Perhaps stubbornly picking them together is precisely why it is now working? Just a thought.

 

Its not daft at all and using Nudger to rub it in is not really fair mate. The poster explained his/her points fairly well. You may disagree, which is fair enough but cut anti-Collins opinions some slack if people try and explain their points. Even Danny Wilson got things wrong when we were in the Premier League.....it would have been right to express an opinion about that team even though most fans were generally very happy...

 

If someone wants a manager sacking when we're 4th in the league, 2nd top scorers, 4 points of the top spot with a game in hand, 3 points off automatic promotion, unbeaten in ten, 2nd in the 'form table' and have taken 14 points in our last 6 games then they're fair game.

Its fair to say that theres room for improvement, and that some players are underperforming to their high standards. It's also fair to say that individual errors were rife last night, and that sometimes we can be a little passive in games instead of taking them by the scruff of the neck. It's also fair to say we've conceded some silly goals, and I personally would also like to see Jordan Williams at RWB. Its fair to say that some of our squad players are a little weaker than last season - particularly in defence and up front.

But wanting him sacked? Nah, that's idiocy imo.

 

No one can argue about league position I think. Its very good after the fire sale. If people do question that then they genuinely are daft I would say. However, criticism of the manager, even if its extreme, if its based on an understandable argument, is perfectly ok. Would this team be better without Collins? Dunno. Would this team be worse? Dunno. 'Sack him' seems harsh to me but based on what happens on the pitch week in week out I can see why people are actually disillusioned despite that good league position so if their disillusionment leads them to a different conclusion to most people I can see it. My take.

 

Sorry i edited my post after you replied.

I get there can be a little criticism, I'm not saying it's perfect. I dont think anyone is. Ive outlined some of my thoughts in my edited post. But to make the leap from this to wanting him sacked is some effort.

 

I can't speak for anyone else but I personally don't care if he's from America or the south pole. It's three things for me.
1. We are horrendous to watch. Absolutely horrendous. I'm bored shitless sat watching us play drab uninspiring football that's designed to bore the opposition into a lapse in concentration. Like it or not football is an entertainment business and if they want my money I want to be at least slightly entertained, and I don't mean by laughing at the embarrassing flame things, the absurdly tall advertising boards, or the spectacle of a chubby bloke taking his shirt off (no offence to granty, what I'm saying is that they're the things I'm smiling at at the football not whats on the pitch)
2. Williams isn't a centre back. Styles is piss poor compared to Cadden, McAtee is quite clearly a midfielder and in general his team selection is poor and means we aren't playing at our best. And he does have options, we've got about 50 defenders, we've got a bloody good left wing back and we had to leave a striker that champions league teams were after out of the squad.
3. The quality of the league is absolutely horrendous, it's the worst I've ever seen. If Carlisle strikers had ever had a football net described to them then they'd have buried 5 gilt edged opportunities last night for example. On Saturday a similar story. The opposition is just awful week after week after week. And yet we haven't dominated a single side since the opening day of the season when we played tactics that were totally at odds with what we are now served up. Yes we are getting results but I don't think that's because of the manager, I think it's in spite of him and simply because of one thing, this squad is far better than the squads of the teams we are playing who would struggle against wombwell main.

 

I genuinely don't think the league is as weak as some people think.

Last season it had 3 outstanding teams in it - all 3 got over or close to 100 points. The next 5 teams in the League last year are the current top 5 - so that would suggest that those 5 are at a similar level.

It'll be interesting to see at the end of the year what the final points totals are both for the "big 5" and for the mid to lower table teams.

 

Sack him then? I wouldn't but I don't think its idiocy to suggest such as Fonzie says. Calls to sack are exactly because of what you've stated. Also, for me you highlight the main thing-the entertainment. The team look disjointed/intermittent/unsure/tentative lots of the time and make bad decisions/passes/runs. From what I've seen anyway. They are nowhere as good a unit as last year (and I take the defence into account). They don't look like they really know what they're supposed to do a lot of the time in my opinion. And yet, they're winning and as long as they win most people will be happy. I'm not happy with the team set up (and it looks like Collins to me overall) but the league position is really good.....

 

I didn’t see the Horsham game but the Bradford team was a complete reserve side barring Connell coming back from injury.

If Roberts played behind a team with players like Hickinbottom, Yoganathan, Chapman in it I’m sure he’d concede plenty too.

The spell also coincided with Connell been out & Kane was also missing from the Derby game.

If Roberts plays in the same team as Russell instead of Connell logic says he’ll also concede more goals like Killip was.

 

I agree that sacking him with us in the position we are in would be harsh, but based upon the performances not so harsh. We certainly appear to be way higher in the table than our performances suggest we might be. We have a string of games against some of the better clubs coming up though. I’m expecting them to be tough games and if we play like we have been playing I’m not expecting much, if anything, out of them. If, however, the performances improve and we do well in these matches, I’ll happily reassess my view of the coaching team.

But whilst I wouldn’t necessarily complain if Collins was replaced, there would have to be a lot more thought put into it than we have seen in recent years. There is no point, for example, in sacking him and then searching for a new manager, or sacking him and replacing him with someone with no track record but he’s a mate of Jose Mourinho, or sacking him and replacing him with a young coach who’s highly thought of in Sweden. You get my point! If we have someone better lined up then go for it, but just sacking him on the strength of the poor performances alone, with us sitting where we are and no clue of who we would replace him with would be stupid and pretty unfair. Unless we have a solid replacement coming straight in (someone like Warnock, for example) he’s earned the right to carry on based upon the points/position. The position we are in, if he somehow got the team to click in the next couple of weeks, automatic promotion is well in sight. If Pines can steady the defence, Connell can stay fit and we bring in one or two others, who knows.

Anyway, can we remember the last time we appointed a manager who we all thought was a great appointment, because he had a track record of success, or bags of experience at the level we were playing at? Danny Wilson had the experience and the success, but he was way past his best and many fans didn’t want him back after the way he left (not me, I was chuffed when he came back). So are we going as far back as Gudjon Thordarson, or am I forgetting anybody (and a couple of letters in Gudjon’s surname??). Usually, when we approach managers with decentish records they turn us down.