Worthington or the Players.....

[Andrew Kent 0]

...who''s to blame for last night,and the rest of the season.

Now I know the anti-Worthy people will say, "the buck stops with the manager" and more obviously "he''s got to go". But think about this:

Last night was POSSIBLY, the strongest team we could have fielded (taking into account all our injuries) For the first 10-15 mins we look good, had a few good chances and should have been 1-0 up atleast. When their first goes in, I was still thinking positively, because of how well we''d played. THEN Greeno slips and fluke of the season is scored. No blame for Greeno, it''s just one of those things. HOWEVER, the rest of the players lost confidence, concentration, shape and passion, once the second had gone in.

So Luton take advantage and score 2 more and embarrass us totally. My point is simple, we didn''t take our chances, when we conceded didn''t keep our heads up and try and get back into the game. For me Worthy can only do so much from the sidelines, but if they are playing that badly in the space of 25 mins, how can you blame him? Because it''s obvious to me that last night and most of this season, when things haven''t gone right in games, it''s due to not taking chances, and then losing confidence, concentration and focus. All mental sides of the game, that when the game is going, the manager will struggle to control.

discuss

ON THE BALL CITY!!!!

[View From The Moon 0]

In response to our strongest possible team, I felt that Jarrett should have played in midfield last night, he got some minutes under his belt on Saturday and in an midfield injury crisis like ours you surely want players playing in their best position not Simon Charlton in centre midfield. 

However apart from that I have to lay some blame at Worthy because my mate sitting next to me commented that when the second goal went in he just had his head in his hands Sven style and looked clueless, yes these things happen but words of encouragement were needed, not a time to feel sorry for yourself.

[Plastic Scouser 0]

You can be the greatest manager in the world but if the players let you down you are the worst.

 

The problem IS twofold - the players are very definitely NOT playing up to their potential and they are suffering from poor management.   I''m a manager and if my team are underperforming I attempt to rectify the situation with additional training, support and feedback.   Is this happening at Colney this morning?   What steps are the club taking to ensure that we don''t have to suffer any more embarrassment like this - is there some extra training on the menu today or is it the usual couple of hours?

 

What exactly are the coaching team doing to prevent such disasters re-occurring?   What are the board doing about making some sensible buys in the Jan sales (not that they would tell us obviously) but it would be nice to know that we''re not the only people worried about this alarming inconsistency?

[StevenageFan 0]

not being at the game it is difficult to comment on Worthy actually doing anything when the 2nd goal went in.   There are things he could have done as a Manager which involve shouting at key players and getting their heads up quickly.   Players like Hughes, Huckerby, Ashton and mainly Greeno, if he got them going then their influence would spread throughout the team.   However, it sounds like he burried his head in his hands.  Players would have seen this and from there on it was a downward slope.

Did he send any subs out running up and down the line, thats the usual thing to get players going again isn''t it?

He should of also started with Jarrett over either Charlton or Hughes.   Charlton has been rubbish as a central midfielder and Hughes has just recovered from an injury.  Neither of them got much mention on the radio so I assume they didn''t play big parts in the first half.   I also heard from another poster that Ashton spent a lot of time in central midfield trying to help out, so what does that tell you.    Worthy instead of noticing this and making the right changes at half time, takes off McVeigh presumably because he didn''t touch the ball, but by the sounds of it he was isolated up front.

Did Jarvis play on the wing and Hendo move upfront?   Regardless it was the centre of the park, the engine room, that needed something changing and Jarrett was the clear option.   He then doesn''t bother bringing him on until 6 minutes remain on the clock!!    If I was Jarrett sitting there watching a defender play in my position and play badly at that, my confidence would be shot.   Surely Nigel needs to understand this?

Also, correct me if I am wrong, but he didn''t use his 3rd sub did he?   4-1 down and a sub not used is ridiculous, Rossi should have at least been given 10 minutes.

Another thing is Davenport, just made the game having been injured, on a yellow card and Worthy leaves him to (a) risk further injury and (b) get a second booking.  Okay the booking is one of those things that may never happen, but we are 3 goals behind so swapping a defender to keep him fresh would have been sensible.

So without even being at the game I can see 4 or 5 things the manager could have done to affect the game  and thats without even knowing what his team talk consisted of at half time.

[ZLF 274]

On a one of game or two it can be the players but over 15 months, for me, it becomes solely a managerial responsibility.

OTBC