Making Plans 957 Posted February 6, 2016 That was the day that will ultimately see us relegated.The day that AN abandoned his principles, his tactics and his raison d''etra.The day that everything that had got him to where he was went out the window.We had been doing ok up until then playing attractive attacking football.We were unlucky not to have a few more points on the board at that stage & apart from the Southampton game we were playing quite well.And in that game at Newcastle we were playing well, creating chances & still in the game when we tried to go for broke with 30 minutes left and we got stuffed. It was the right attitude but unfortunatle that result set the tone for the rest of the season and apart from the odd good performance since then, it hasn''t worked.AN went into his shell & became negative & far too cautious.The players obviously haven''t bought into the system he employed after that game and they lost confidence, understanding, enthusiasm and belief.Take Redmond as an example - he was playing well early season but has been totally ineffective ever since. He is not the only one.AN has failed to play to our strengths by employing negative formations and team selections, playing players out of position, making poor substitutions and being too reliant on players who are clearly out of form.And today was a classic example of all those failings against the worst side in the league in a game that was a must win.We didn''t go for it & we paid the price big style. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Fuzzar 1,861 Posted February 6, 2016 I''m flattered you agree. But why start a whole new thread about it when you could have added this to Ray''s? Surely there''s enough sh!t flying around here tonight? Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Making Plans 957 Posted February 6, 2016 [quote user="Fuzzar"]I''m flattered you agree. But why start a whole new thread about it when you could have added this to Ray''s?[/quote]Because I hadn''t read it. There''s a whole page of new threads on here tonight & unlike some I don''t have time to read them all. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Thecanaryfan 0 Posted February 6, 2016 My thoughts exactly MP. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Creative Midfielder 2,203 Posted February 6, 2016 I agree with most of what you say but think you should also include Saturday 9th January 2016 - we did play a lot of good football at Newcastle, albeit coupled with some horrendous defending. But that was mainly the result of individual mistakes rather than the way we were approaching and playing games.AN completely overreacted to that defeat which led to a very poor set of performances up until the unexpected win at Old Trafford. But that win was no fluke, we again played some good stuff and using your example of Redmond looked genuinely dangerous. That carried on through the holiday period and by the New Year we seemed to be up and running again.Then the second big mistake - to pretend the cup game didn''t matter and that we would ''focus'' on the league. This is a common but extremely naive mistake and one that has cost us dear. The momentum, continuity and confidence were all thrown away, and after today it is very hard to believe that it will return in time to get us out of trouble even though we have a squad that has the capacity to do it.Having said all that I still think we should stick with AN - he has got a lot about him, and I believe he will learn from his mistakes and become even better. Even if we have go down and come back up for that to happen it will be worth it. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Peanuts 154 Posted February 6, 2016 What I don''t really get is that AN had a great reputation at Hamilton built on getting a squad of limited ability players to over-perform - exactly the situation we are in in the PL. If anything, last season where he came into a ''big'' championship club where expectations were high should have been the bigger test, yet in the champs he seemed confident and organised but now he looks lost more often than not.I almost feel like AN is too tactical sometimes and that we''d be better off keeping it simple and playing to the strengths of our best players rather than chopping and changing every week. It seems as if he''s determined to play in a particular way each game and that he picks who he feels is best suited to that week''s system, regardless of form or ability.Take Redmond for example, he''s always had his critics but it wasn''t that long ago he was touted as arguably our best player - a genuine prospect and future full England international, yet now he can''t get a start and rarely has an impact from the bench.Another thing I''ve noticed is that last season AN talked a lot about work rate and working harder than the opposition, yet I don''t remember him mentioning that at all this season - and the stats for ground covered suggests we''re not working as hard as other teams to press or chase the ball, something I felt we did really well last season.Earlier in the season I felt like we were a shit version of Spurs, but at least we played some good football at times, now it''s like we''re a shit version of Villa :( Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
