Mbo makes team of the week

[morty 0]

[quote user="Tumbleweed"]Another interesting one is AN''s "rotation" policy. Have we had a settled side at any point?

Many commentators have expressed the view that a contributing factor to us struggling has been AN "not knowing" his strongest side. In my line of work, if we changed our set up every week we''d be in chaos. So it seems common sense to me that you''d keep a side settled.

I remember feeling that in Walker and Stringer''s days we could pretty much write down the team. Now we have whole threads as none of us have the foggiest what the line up will be. Does this help? I don''t think so. AN is a football manager trained in footballing stuff and knows what is going on at Colney etc but surely some things transcend pure football and doesn''t require specialist football training or expertise. On those aspects maybe some people do actually know more than the manager.[/quote]You do know that football has changed a bit though?Fact is, we shop in the bargain basement, very few of our players are even close to being the finished article, and very few have the consistency over a whole season, how many of them would walk into a top half Premiership side?

[Van wink 2,994]

morty wrote the following post at 06/04/2016 2:46 PM:

Vanwink wrote:

Mrs Miggins "The thing is M you keep bringing up the same point (which is why we''re going round in circles) that AN knows more about football than us, yet once again, that is something that every person in this thread including myself agree with. " Exactly,👍

You''re like the kid no one likes, circling an argument shouting "Fight"

Says "the fat controller" 😄

[morty 0]

Cheers for proving my point[Y]

[Jim Smith 2,314]

[quote user="morty"]Here you go Jim, this is what I said, and sums up your "I know better attitude""Jim said" :-I will even admit that the last two results/performances have perhaps

made resting Wes from time to time defensible although I still don''t

want to see us do it too regularly.

So heres an example of the manager getting it

100% right, but you will only, begrudgingly, acknowledge it? But still

don''t like it? What is your opinion based on here exactly?[/quote]

I still think we might have played better in both games with Wes playing to be honest, I don''t like seeing Wes left out ever as I like watching him play and believe he is our best creative player.

Saturday was the first time Naismith has shown any indication that he could fulfil the same role anything like as effectively so it was a high risk move.

[morty 0]

[quote user="Jim Smith"][quote user="morty"]Here you go Jim, this is what I said, and sums up your "I know better attitude""Jim said" :-I will even admit that the last two results/performances have perhaps

made resting Wes from time to time defensible although I still don''t

want to see us do it too regularly.

So heres an example of the manager getting it

100% right, but you will only, begrudgingly, acknowledge it? But still

don''t like it? What is your opinion based on here exactly?[/quote]

I still think we might have played better in both games with Wes playing to be honest, I don''t like seeing Wes left out ever as I like watching him play and believe he is our best creative player.

Saturday was the first time Naismith has shown any indication that he could fulfil the same role anything like as effectively so it was a high risk move.[/quote]Yeah, you have confirmed what I thought, you genuinely think you know better.The funny thing is that what was probably the difference was what the manager sees in training, which people are telling me is no advantage...

[mrs miggins 0]

"The funny thing is that what was probably the difference was what the manager sees in training, which people are telling me is no advantage..."

-------------------

Who''s saying that?

[PurpleCanary 5,553]

[quote user="mrs miggins"]Indeed, Purple you''ve summed it up very well.[/quote]Mrs M, it seems like a statement of the bl**ding obvious, but these two concepts, knowing more and knowing better, do occasionally get confused, with the assumption that the former always equates to the latter. As someone who has from time to time lost at chess to a player rated well over 100 points below me I know that to be a false assumption...The problem with this argument is that it tends to focus on specific decisions, when there often will be private reasons why a manager has played X rather than Y, or chosen one tactical formation over another, and then criticism from fans will be uninformed and often wrong.But where amateur fans can make an informed and valid judgment (and I mean judgment) is over time on a manager''s overall abilities, or lack of them, because there will be enough hard and fast information publicly available, in the form of win ratios and trophies acquired and so on. To argue against that would be to deny that it is possible for someone who has never been a football manager to decide that Alex Ferguson was better at the job than, say, Bryan Gunn.

[morty 0]

[quote user="mrs miggins"]"The funny thing is that what was probably the difference was what the manager sees in training, which people are telling me is no advantage..."

-------------------

Who''s saying that?[/quote]You have had your turn mate, go speak to Jim Smith, I reckon you two will get on like a house on fire.[:)]

[mrs miggins 0]

Mrs M, it seems like a statement of the bl**ding obvious,

-----------------

It was purple but you put it in a precise way. You made the point that I made in 2 paragraphs, in 2 sentences and much clearer, kudos.

[mrs miggins 0]

morty wrote the following post at 06/04/2016 3:10 PM:You have had your turn mate, go speak to Jim Smith, I reckon you two will get on like a house on fire.

----------------

I can see what he means with Hoolahan. He''s done so well this season and provided a lot of assists as well as chipping in with a few goals, however I personally think he''ll be used in more away games now or if towards the end of games. Although Mbokani can play well with Hoolahan (as we saw v Villa), Naismith''s movement seems ideal when partnered with Naismith.

[morty 0]

[quote user="mrs miggins"]morty wrote the following post at 06/04/2016 3:10 PM:You have had your turn mate, go speak to Jim Smith, I reckon you two will get on like a house on fire.

----------------

I can see what he means with Hoolahan. He''s done so well this season and provided a lot of assists as well as chipping in with a few goals, however I personally think he''ll be used in more away games now or if towards the end of games. Although Mbokani can play well with Hoolahan (as we saw v Villa), Naismith''s movement seems ideal when partnered with Naismith.[/quote]AAAAAAAARGHHHHH!We won two games, can you not see that this is exactly what I am talking about? We won the two games and still Jim doesn''t accept Alex Neil''s decision was the correct one!

[Van wink 2,994]

Morty

"Cheers for proving my point"

Hardly proving your point, the point it does prove is that if you provoke somebody there is a good chance they will react, but you already knew that fella👍

"I only have issue with people who claim to know better than the manager, which they obviously don''t. "

Are you still saying this or have you now conceded that on occasions fans will know better than the manager, not often I would concede, but certainly sometimes.

[morty 0]

[quote user="Vanwink"]Morty

"Cheers for proving my point"

Hardly proving your point, the point it does prove is that if you provoke somebody there is a good chance they will react, but you already knew that fella👍

"I only have issue with people who claim to know better than the manager, which they obviously don''t. "

Are you still saying this or have you now conceded that on occasions fans will know better than the manager, not often I would concede, but certainly sometimes.[/quote]Fu(k off fella, you long since gave up the chance to join with adult debate.

[Van wink 2,994]

morty wrote the following post at 06/04/2016 4:48 PM:

Vanwink wrote:

Morty "Cheers for proving my point" Hardly proving your point, the point it does prove is that if you provoke somebody there is a good chance they will react, but you already knew that fella👍 "I only have issue with people who claim to know better than the manager, which they obviously don''t. " Are you still saying this or have you now conceded that on occasions fans will know better than the manager, not often I would concede, but certainly sometimes.

Fu(k off fella, you long since gave up the chance to join with adult debate.

😄

[mrs miggins 0]

lol

[Jools 584]

[quote user="Vanwink"]morty wrote the following post at 06/04/2016 4:48 PM:

Vanwink wrote:

Morty "Cheers for proving my point" Hardly proving your point, the point it does prove is that if you provoke somebody there is a good chance they will react, but you already knew that fella👍 "I only have issue with people who claim to know better than the manager, which they obviously don''t. " Are you still saying this or have you now conceded that on occasions fans will know better than the manager, not often I would concede, but certainly sometimes.

Fu(k off fella, you long since gave up the chance to join with adult debate.

😄[/quote][:D]

[Katie Borkins 1]

[quote user="Nuff Said"]Even a stopped clock is right twice a day. [/quote]

Not if it''s a digital clock, because then the display is blank so it''s always wrong unless time itself stops.

Just though I''d make that helpful observation before masturbating over Masterchef.

Night.

[westcoastcanary 0]

Jim Smith wrote: ".........it is now abundantly clear that he [Howson] is most comfortable and at his best playing as an orthodox central midfielder because his strength is in surging forward with or without the ball and in making those late runs into the box. He is also technically good and has a great engine on him. He is not suited to playing wide on the right of a midfield four and he is also not (contrary to some views) really suited to playing in the Wes/Naismith role behind the striker.Its no coincidence that since Neil has realised this (or had his hand forced by injuries and suspensions) and Howson has had a run in the middle he has been great. It is similarly no coincidence that since Martin went back to right back he has improved gradually and recently looked back to something close to his best nor that Olsson playing regularly at left back has improved our defence nor that Brady has regained his form playing on the left of midfield. All these changes have helped the team find balance and the moral of the story is play your players in their best/proper positions unless you have absolutely no choice. Again, thankfully Neil seems to have realised this/hand his hand forced just in the nick of time.""I would point out that not playing Howson wide, moving Martin out of CB and back to RB, bringing in Ryan Bennett, playing Olsson at LB and moving Brady up to LM, are all changes that a significant number of fans have been wanting to see for quite some time so perhaps it is worth acknowledging that the opinions of fans who watch their team week in, week out are worthy of some respect rather than the "manager always knows best" attitude that pervades at times on here." Mrs Miggins wrote: "I''d argue that [Alex Neil]''s made a lot of selection errors this season, not just from the start but substitutions as well, and I think there are some posters who wouldn''t have made these mistakes .......... in terms of team selection I''d say it''s taken him a long time to realise that Whitts isn''t good enough, Martin is not good enough at CB to play there regularly, Howson is not a RM and Brady should play further foreword in front of a genuine LB in Olsson .......... I think other posters have been right to point these errors out. Luckily now he''s rectified those mistakes, found his best 11 and we''re getting some wins." Whilst agreeing with Purple that experts and professionals have no monopoly on the truth, to my mind the squabbling on here about who knows best, being wise before or after the event, etc. etc. is all based on the false premise that our recent upturn in results is the consequence of playing "our best 11" and having those players playing "in their best positions".Firstly, we have not started the last three games with the same eleven; AN has started 15 different players; secondly, there have been been several positional switches. Is "our best 11" the one that started against Man City, or WBA, or Newcastle? And is Klose''s best position RCB or LCB (he''s played both in the three matches); is Jarvis''s best position LM or RM (he''s played both in the three matches)? I''m not denying that the introduction (or re-introduction) of certain individuals has made a difference, notably Klose, Ruddy, Jarvis and Olsson. But crucially and much more significant has been AN''s acceptance of the need to prioritise defensive solidity over a vulnerability-creating, fan-assisted (sic), managerially-inclined, emphasis on attacking play. Coupled with the arrival of Klose and rediscovery of form by Ruddy and Olsson, it is this to which IMO our improved results are principally attributable, rather than sudden managerial enlightenment regarding certain players; in short, strategy, tactics, shape, not individuals.

[Mr Apples 1,315]

Nevermind that, how did Masterchef end up last night???

Apples

[hogesar 9,609]

[quote user="Mr Apples"]Nevermind that, how did Masterchef end up last night???

Apples[/quote]

Well since Bor hasn''t posted, I presume he''s spent.

So good episode, presumably.

[Mr Apples 1,315]

Excellent news, I do love a happy ending. I hope he''s not doubling up with Bake-off ''Crème de la Creme''...

Apples