And if we lose or beat Leicester on Saturday...

Either result matters not in the short term...

However, if the Reds lose all the Hill haters will be on the 'I told you so' bandwagon' with regard to how crap he is and how his team cant hack it. We will have more vitriol and negativity (even if the performance has promise) and all the players will be crap beyond comprehension

If the Reds win all the Hill haters will be reserving judgement because any improvement is 'only one game' and therefore because they've already decided they dont like the guy he wont get credit and neither will the players (unless they happen to be existing favourites like Hassell, in which case they will be immune to any form of criticism).

If it's a draw then it wont be good enough either, even though Leicester have spent multi-millions in the last year or so...

So, in essence, Hill cant win with some fans in the short term in my opinion. However, even if the reds get pummelled on Saturday I will still be reserving judgement on the team, the playing style, Hill etc. It will still be far too early in my opinion to make sweeping judgements about the manager so with the greatest respect to the negativity brigade I would just say 'GIVE THE MANAGER A FEW MONTHS AND DONT JUDGE HIM PREMATURELY'

Of course I now expect to be immediately slagged off......

 

not by me you won't. The Leicester game is one we would struggle to get a result in now just as we would have struggled in that sort of match 10 or 20 years ago. Rightly or wrongly they've got resources that dwarf ours. I'd be delighted with a point from this one but of course that won't do for some. But these are the same people who judged the manager before we'd kicked a ball because he used to manage Rochdale.
It's clear from how Hill had Rochdale playing and from what he was getting us to do pre season that IF he succeeds we should see some good football. The football we've been served up since coming back up has, for the most part, been dire. I for one would love to see something more entertaining but unless you've got Leicester's money you can't get the players to make it happen overnight.
Six months down the line let's see where we're at.

 

The only thing I will expect is an improvement of the players' attitude on the pitch. Showing some effort and commitment to the cause should get the crowd onside. Remember the QPR game last year? We lost, but battered them, and the players were applauded off at the end.

That attitude is what I want to see. If we lose, we lose, but let's go down fighting.

 

Also if we win there will be a minority who because they can't moan about the result will moan about somethin else - Hill didn't wave at us, Hill said something unacceptable, it rained and it was Hills fault are potential points to fuel the anti Hill gang.

 

From a footballing perspective it is obviously too early to judge.

I think it is entirely fair to level criticism at him for failure to get the fans on board. Before the season he was keen to extol the virtues of the passing football his Rochdale side played. I don't think anyone could argue that to get Rochdale from 20th in League 2 to 8th in League 1 in two seasons was any less than a monumental achievement. He then came here and brought in some players which he felt were (in his own words) "hungry, talented and determined". He also made noises suggesting that the budget was not as tight as people thought ("I wouldn't describe it as a small, shoestring budget - I think it is competitive", is another direct quote from the man).

Now he's telling us we can't play football against the better sides in this division because we haven't got a competitive squad and that anyone who thinks we're not skint is an idiot. Now I'm all for giving him time to get things right on the pitch. However, I look at our best starting eleven and what I see is a weaker team sheet than last year. The manager has all but admitted that his pre-season optimism was hollow rhetoric and is openly critical of supporters who have voiced disappointment with this about-face.

If we are as skint as we are now being told, we have no choice anyway - it looks like we couldn't afford to sack him even if no progress is made. Hill is an inexperienced manager (especially at this level) who has made a poor start here on and off the pitch. He has a steep learning curve ahead and all I ask for in September is tangible evidence that he is learning. Improvement in effort levels and concentration on the pitch, an olive branch to the loyal support off it and for now, I'll take the rough with the smooth on results.

 

I'm not interested in slagging Hill off, come what may, but as things stand, I have doubts about his ability to do this job and also about the players he has brought in -which is not totally his fault given the limitations upon him.

The result at Reading raised the eyebrows, but had Reading scored their penalties then we'd have been looking at another defeat. At Millwall, by all accounts, we barely had a shot.

If we beat Leicester, then I'm not going to crab that, because if we can achieve that sort of result once against a club in their situation then we can achieve it against others. I have to say though, I don't think we will.

Thing is, if, as I suspect, the current squad is simply not good enough, then there is little scope for it to get better. With no money for decent loanees and the window shut until January, it could by then be a rescue mission. Let's hope not!

 

If Reading had scored their penalties?? If we'd had a better ref they wouldn't have got two of them.

 

I'm a better fan than you.

Ner, Ner, Ner Ner, Ner.

 

What happens if we get royally tonked? I dread to think. I am all for giving them time but I don't think Hill has helped himself with the contradictory statements he has made in the last few months. His early interviews now seem comparable to an election manifesto, pure rhetoric. He has my full support though, massive step up for him, he will learn and improve, hopefully.

 

Dont you think Hill will play the ner ner ner told you so game?

Shouldn`t we judge managers with whats served up to us on the pitch and not in the press room.

Whilst the manager and the boys have produced results and glimpses of good football away from home at Oakwell they have failed on both fronts in my opinion. So, giving an opinion that is critical of those 2 games makes me a Hill hater, boo boy or any other derogatory term you can think of. Those that use these terms love argueing as much as those that dont like Hill and are making a mountain out of a molehill by constantly retaliating.

 

One result may not matter greatly in the long term context of the season, but we need to start getting points at home.

 

I'm not expecting anything other than a loss on Saturday, anything else is a big bonus.
However i am expecting 100% effort from 11 red shirts, and i'm confident they will give 100% so who knows what happens.

Lets just remember who we are, and who Leicester are. The pressure is on Leicester.
Whatever happens Saturday i am still 100% behind Hill.

 

That post is absolutely spot on.