During the Summer, Flitcroft said that he had a recruitment list of 30 players. Now I do not know who was on that list, but we got to the end of the transfer window without being able to recruit a centre forward. Pedesen was recruited on loan, but in spite of this, we have continued to look for another forward, rightly in my opinion as the injury to Pedersen has proved. The big problem with your argument though is that you have ignored the big question that I forecast you would ignore in my original post. That question is how can the manager improve the quality of player at the club when he has one of the lowest budgets in the league. Unless you are prepared to address this difficult question, then you are closing your mind to the biggest difficulty that besets us.
Which of the retained players was he encouraged about by the majority of fans that are now not good enough?
I'm supporting him. Probably always will because, like you, I'm not one for calling for a bloke to be sacked/lose his job. In fact I said the other day he needs at least 2 years regardless of where we finish this season. And you are right RE his players not being available, that's why I said I have every faith we will turn it around. However, what we've not seen is the attitude we saw last season in terms of attacking teams or out battling them. Understand this year was always (and still is) going to be difficult but after a preseason of such positivity it still is a bit gutting. And your point about spending will always be valid. But if I could do see a cohesive plan from Flitcroft game by game I'd be fine. A style, a formation, a way of playing. But we just seem all over the place. That's the disappointment.
Nice bit of patronisation there. Anyway, I have said all along in response to others criticisms of managers/players and the club previously that we are battling with one of the lowest budgets around. However, Flitcroft made noises about assurances etc before he signed up - he must only have signed up when he was happy and had what he wanted - thus he hasn't delivered so far. The budget does not explain him going with a midfield bereft of creativity, his bizarre treatment of RNL, and his changing of personnel and formation week to week. Oh, and we have a squad of about 30 odd professionals so it's not like he hasn't given himself options. I don't expect top 6, even top ten. I said before the start of the season that I'd be delighted with mid-table. So take your sneering 'prediction' of what I'd argue and stick it up your arse.
To be honest, I think that coping with supporter over-expectation is the biggest problem for the manager, bigger even than the lack of points, because that is bound to improve when the injured / unfit players become available for selection. It is that supporter over-expectation that built throughout the Summer to become a tidal wave of hope that our 7 years of suffering was finally over. I cannot deny that I was caught up in it myself. The Wigan game was the cruelest cut, and like many more, I went away from that game with my hopes crushed. However, unlike many, my hopes have not turned into anger directed towards the manager who's enthusiasm suggested he may be the long awaited Messiah, but who turned out to be human after all. My thoughts have turned back to the problem that has beset the club for the last 7 years. In my view, David Flitcroft remains the clubs best chance of breaking away from the bottom of the league, but we must all be patient.
Agree with those sentiments but the myth that we're going through an injury crisis atm I just don't understand - because we aren't really. We can't expect Nyatanga's introduction to make a huge difference to us, after all the last defense he played in got relegated. And McCourt's a player that looked good 3 years ago but has yet to play for us. The squad atm is pretty good injury wise, as Flicker said yesterday. *Forgot about Peders
Even I had to laugh at that one, but my forecast was not meant to be patronising, it was simply meant to illustrate that most arguments about the manager's competence fail to recognise the elephant in the room. You may notice that I tend to ignore arguments about this or that player deserving a place in the team. The reason I do this is because I see serious faults in all their games that means the the manager is forced to pick between player A who has one type of fault which means the team has to be organised in such a way as to cover that fault, and player B who has a different fault that requires the team to be organised in a different way. You seem to have a bee in your bonnet about RNL. This is a player I have watched since the age of 16, a player who I was once convinced would make it in a big way. However, he is a player who has not fulfilled his potential, and I now have great doubts that he will ever do so. Those doubts are compounded now that he has been asked to play at wing back, a position that I believed he is ill suited to. Throughout his development, his skill on the ball has always been unquestioned. However, his concentration when his team does not have the ball and his willingness to track the runner has always been a problem. He also seems to have a problem with endurance - just watch how many times he puts his hands on his hips after his runs. Both these faults render him unsuitable to play wing back in my opinion.
Well he has looked capable at LWB in the few games he has played there to me. It doesn't mean anything what you thought when he was 16, he looks like he deserves a chance now. And Flicker agreed after the Huddersfield game.
Last two wins have come with him at left wing back and he has been one of the best players on the pitch in both.