Sack him tonight

You’ve just made that up. I’ve not said that’s the only way we can play.

He’s dropped McAtee into a 10 role plenty of times. He’s also alternated between a 5-3-2 & a 5-2-2-1 but we are clearly restricted in how we can set up due to having no wingers & only one full back at the club.

All the recruitment has been done for us to play a back 5. We’ve signed wing backs & no full backs or wingers.

All I’m asking is for people who are wanting the manager sacked to explain what he should be doing.

When I wanted Flitcroft, Johnson & Morais sacked I posted on here exactly what I thought we were doing wrong & how I thought we should be playing.

I don’t see an obvious formation shift or players that Collins is not picking that should be starting. I think if we played at a faster tempo & allowed the game to be more end to end we would have worse results because we don’t have the pace in the team to prevent counter attacks. If we give more free kicks away bringing players down we just leave ourselves more vulnerable to set pieces.

I think the way he sets us up is the correct way to do it given the players we have. I just think we need a bit more bravery in one on one situations like when Williams & O’Keeffe are on the ball facing full backs & choose to pass backwards rather going at them & we need more quality from Cadden who’s delivery was the worst I’ve ever known it to be yesterday.

 

I struggle to see why against weaker teams we couldn't go to full backs instead, we don't need 3 CBs when plenty of teams have 1 up top

Agree we don't have wingers but it's not the only way to play a midfield 4 (or a 3)

Just wish we'd at least try something different when plan A clearly isn't working, nothing to lose when we're losing already

 

.

 

this

 

Collins gas somehow managed to turn what most people saw as the 2 best wingbacks in the league into shadows of their former selves. Not sure how he’s managed it but he has.

 

Has he? Cadden was crap yesterday but I’ve been happy with him over the season. Williams done well at wing back when he’s played there other than yesterday & against Lincoln for me.

 

I’ve listed a couple of different ways you can play with a back 3. I don’t believe you change from a back 3 & be successful. I don’t think we’ve got the players to play with a back 4 & I don’t think we’ve got the wingers to play a 4-4-2 or 4-3-3.

I bet Mcatee’s played in midfield at least 10 times in games.

I think we’re boring but I think we have to be to win games given the deficiencies in our team.

All I’m asking is for someone to tell me the team he should be picking & what formation we should be playing.

You keep saying he should change formation & attack more without saying how it’d work or what team he should pick.

We all want us to be exciting & attack more but I want us to be able to play more exciting football & still win games but I don’t think we can & I’ve explained why. All I’m wanting is for someone to do the same for the other argument.

 

Far too sensible

 

Oh I dunno, the port vale game was pretty exciting when our players were allowed to continue what they'd done last season and attack with pace. Pretty sure we even played essentially with wingers in that game too cotter was so far forward

 

This two best wing backs in the league stuff is just bull.

 

I don’t think that’s what happened that day. We were battered first half & couldn’t get out of our own half. Going in at half time 2-0 up was one of the biggest flukes I’ve ever known & then they gave us a 3rd straight after the half time & gave up.

 

That was a day when everything turned to gold, we had 8 shots on target and scored with 7.

 

To be fair we didn’t get battered by any stretch. I agree though that at 3-0 up I was wondering how it had happened.

 

Don't give us the lost the dressing room thing.
Has he tried looking under the bed, or in the closet, that's usually where people hide.

 

Mate, from what I’ve seen Jimmy has given a few suggestions, but you just keep repeating that nobody has given you an alternative.

You do realise that they are all professional footballers getting paid a lot of money to play professional football. And that we have excellent training facilities and a team of coaches, who are all trained in various styles of football, to get the badges. We’ve just had two weeks to practice alternatives, for if we are chasing the game. We have been one dimensional since day one, so we have had all season to look at alternatives. Are you trying to say that every one of our players can only play in one position and one style, and that our coaches can only coach them to play to that style? If that’s true then the coaching team all need replacing immediately and we need a clearout of the entire squad.

Take yourself back to the days of Lee Johnson. We only had one winger, cos Ben hadn’t given Johnson what he asked for (all this is first hand from them at Supporters Trust meetings, by the way), so Hourihane was being played out wide. “He can’t play as part of a midfield two” was the quote, and it was undoubtedly true. Johnson said that they were training Hourihane away from the main group, taking him apart and putting him back together as a central midfielder. We got Hammill in, so Johnson could play with two wide players, the new Hourihane was put into the middle, Sam Winnall said thank you very much, as Hourihane fed him his chances and the rest is history.

Take yourself further back. Hill and Flicker had been given Vaz Te. Vaz Te was so awful in pre-season me and my mate called him Crazy Legs and emailed the club to sponsor his socks. The club, of course, never bothered replying to the email. At a Trust meeting Hill said they were taking him apart and rebuilding him as an attacking player. And boy, it worked.

Collins has been there all season and hasn’t been able to coach the team, or any of the individual players into playing in any other style, for when we come up against teams who play differently to the rest, or if we’re chasing a game? You’re not selling him to me.

Lincoln came out and pressed us from the off, forcing us into mistakes and blew us away. I turned to my mate and said that we need to do what teams did against us when we played like that. Even a knuckledragger like Wayne Rooney worked out what to do against that style. Don’t hang on to the ball at the back and give them a chance to nick the ball off us. Launch it straight over their press where we’ll then outnumber them. They’ll soon stop piling forward in numbers. Did we do it? No, we fannied about with the ball and kept gifting them chances.

I am not seeing that the manager has a clue what to do when we come across teams that play differently or when we’re chasing the game. Presumably he plays what he sees as our strongest team every game. All his subs are like for like, so all he’s doing is replacing his first choice for a position with his second choice, playing the same and hoping for an improvement. A few weeks ago we ended up with three right wing backs on the pitch, for God’s sake, with two playing out of position. He has had all season to come up with options, but I’m not seeing any.

You seem to want someone to give you forensic details about how the team should be set up and who should play where. Well, none of us are football coaches, so we’re not going to be able to do that. We have seen enough football matches, however, to know that when things are not working, things need changing. We have a coach getting paid a fortune to come up with these ideas and if he can’t do it, which is beginning to look pretty clear, then we need someone who can.

In 1990, in Italy, England were predictable and one dimensional against Holland and Ireland. We were pretty rubbish. In the few days before the next game we went to 5 at the back and a sweeper system. England had never played like that, Robson had never played like that, but we did it, and nearly won the World Cup. Time and time and time again we have come away from Oakwell saying “no plan B”, occasionally saying “what’s plan A”. We’re at the end of the season and still have no plan B. What do they do in training! Play Bingo?

I disagree with the ‘poor recruitment’ line. Cosgrove got 16 goals last season. MDG, McCart and Earl are easily good enough to be able to cope with the opposition we have faced this season. Lopata looked raw but the fans were positive about him early this season. Why has he been shipped out rather than trained and improved? Why is Earl going backwards after an excellent start? Why has Cosgrove gone from 16 goals to only scoring if the keeper drops the ball at his feet? Where is the improvement?

I don’t know what the answer is, but I know how important going up this season is, because it’s going to be our best chance for some time, as the situation with contracts and money suggest we won’t be bringing in players as good as the ones leaving for free. We are in danger of becoming a lower mid-table L1 club with owners that are having to sell our best players and chuck millions away every year. This is not sustainable and they are going to draw a line at some point. Then what? We have to do our best to go up this season. We have to. And we have the players to do it. To answer your question earlier on, yes, Pompey, Derby, Bolton and Peterborough would love Roberts, MDG, Earl, Williams, Connell, Kane, Phillips, McAtee, Cole or Cosgrove in their team. We have a very good L1 squad who are not playing well as a L1 team. If Collins cannot do it and we are going to end up moving him on in the summer, then why wait? Someone like Warnock (can you imagine all the backwards passing under him?) or whoever might not get us up, but at least they’d give it a go. I’m not seeing a team that are giving it a go. Something needs to change, and soon.

 

No Jimmy just keeps saying we could change the formation or the style of play but hasn’t given an example of how.

That’s all I’m asking for. Nothing forensic. I just believe that if you're asking for a manager to be sacked that you should be able to list what they’re doing wrong & why they’re doing it wrong.

You mention Lee Johnson, Johnson was a manager I was critical of because we already knew Hourihane could play in a 4-4-2 because he had before Johnson took over.

 

It’s painful this.

I know we can play a different formation. I’ve explained why I think 3-5-2 makes the most sense given we’ve signed lots of wing backs & don’t have any wingers. I have never said we can’t play a different formation I’ve just said the squad has been built to play 3-5-2.

I’m asking you what formation we should be playing.

That’s all. It’s dead simple.

Please don’t put something stupid again like he could play a different formation as I won’t be responding

 

Whatever your views on Collins the starting line-up looked like a April fools joke and now the footballs shocking.