Alex Neil totally lacks bottle

[The young canary 0]

Let''s look at facts Neil''s performance this Callander year has been dreadful I really can''t see any case to keep him on any longer

[Barking Mad Barclay Boy 13]

i have been a supporter of neil since he got here, but being unable to set a team up to defend a lead is very worrying. he lacks the experience and it really does show, a more experienced manager wouldnt allow some of the things we have witnessed this season. Very hit and miss , but if you want promotion to the top league you need a much more solid game plan. Time looks like its nearly up for neil.

[Feedthewolf 4,846]

[quote user="morty"]I just can''t keep up with it all. It was "attack attack attack" under Lambert, and we weren''t great defensively, but that was okay.

Then it was "defend defend defend" under that nice man Houghton, but that wasn''t okay.

Now we score a lot of goals, but can''t defend, like under Lambert, but now it''s not okay. And it''s not just about winning either, because a few weeks ago we were top of the league, and folks were still moaning.

I think people have got a bit mixed up as to where we deserve to be, and perhaps got a bit carried away while playing FIFA on their egg boxes.[/quote](Alex) Nail on head.If there was a formation/system/tactical setup that gave the perfect balance between defence and attack, and the optimum chance of winning matches, surely everyone would be using it? We have a wealth of attacking talent, but not enough top-quality defenders to base our system around being solid at the back. Besides, since day one Neil has played with high, attacking fullbacks and one specialist DM (usually Tettey) to drop in and cover the gap vacated by the fullback, and we''ve had a lot of success with it.I''m not sure about your use of the word ''deserve'' though - the sense of entitlement of some fans is quite remarkable, but, by the same token, with the players available to us I feel we should expect to remain in the mix for the top two.I am starting to have reservations about Neil falling down the same holes time and time again, but as long as we keep scoring goals and winning/drawing we''ll be fine.

[Baywing 0]

TBH Morty if you havent worked out the differences between the 3 managers mentioned, their systems and each ones benefits and weaknesses it really would be a waste of anyone''s time trying to explain it ! It is clearly beyond you !

However management is just about picking a team, calling substitutions and giving instructions to players before the game....

Alex seems incapable of man management would any of the current squad run through brick walls for him or the shirt ? Lambert gelled a unit that wanted to win, this current collection seem happy enough to collect their dough and look for a way out (few exceptions granted)

I actually believe with the resources afforded to Alex either of the 2 afore mentioned managers would have achieved better !

I also question fitness levels....the team seem to run short of energy, stamina and enthusiasm around 75 mins....

He doesnt seem to read a game well, picks players out of position whilst suitable replacements languish in the wilderness, etc etc

Why was Tettey starting last night ? its well documented he cant cope with 3 games a week ?

As I have already said he will be a competent manager at some point/level BUT can we afford to let him learn at our expense ?

He appears to be guessing at present.....and I am not sure the players are fully behind him !

[Farmer Canary 0]

It''s pathetic everyone''s obsession with Paul Lambert, a big reason why it went so well was because he came in with a squad way too good for league 1, a squad which gained more and more confidence, big characters in the team such as Holt, we stayed in the Prem because we had a tip striker, would of never stayed up without Holt and also back then although only a few years ago the league''s were no way near as competitive as they are now. We are fourth in the league! In the most competitive championship seen. I don''t know what you all expected but you all need to stop being so deluded and realise we aren''t doing that bad. Some of you just look for any excuse to moan and groan about the manager and are clearly quite clueless

[Farmer Canary 0]

[quote user="Baywing"]TBH Morty if you havent worked out the differences between the 3 managers mentioned, their systems and each ones benefits and weaknesses it really would be a waste of anyone''s time trying to explain it ! It is clearly beyond you !

However management is just about picking a team, calling substitutions and giving instructions to players before the game....

Alex seems incapable of man management would any of the current squad run through brick walls for him or the shirt ? Lambert gelled a unit that wanted to win, this current collection seem happy enough to collect their dough and look for a way out (few exceptions granted)

I actually believe with the resources afforded to Alex either of the 2 afore mentioned managers would have achieved better !

I also question fitness levels....the team seem to run short of energy, stamina and enthusiasm around 75 mins....

He doesnt seem to read a game well, picks players out of position whilst suitable replacements languish in the wilderness, etc etc

Why was Tettey starting last night ? its well documented he cant cope with 3 games a week ?

As I have already said he will be a competent manager at some point/level BUT can we afford to let him learn at our expense ?

He appears to be guessing at present.....and I am not sure the players are fully behind him ![/quote]

Tettey played 45 minutes. What players are played out of position and who should be in for them?

[Van wink 2,994]

Seven posts in 8 years, a double post to boot.😀

[If wed only kept Howie.. 3]

something ironic about a thread about lacking bottle being started by someone who clearly has no bottle.

A couple of loses and the pathetic babies start crying... you bunch of whiny soft feeble gutless fusks!

[The young canary 0]

So how many defeats have you seen this year

I go home and away all the time and I have seen some dross. Not a reaction to a few games but months and months of utter utter rubbish

[Baywing 0]

Farmer Tettey was playing his 4th game in 11 days fooking ridiculus given his knee problems

Which players are out of position FFS do you even bother watching matches

Brady is no left back

Any number of players have had a ''wasted'' stint on the left under AN....Howson, Wes, Naismith, and all whilst the club has had 3 young wingers desperate to play and not included.

The best had to be Naismith the lone striker at Brum.....still chuckle at that one !!

and can anyone really understand why Nathan struggled for game time last season and is an ever present for the Saints this season ? just another example of AN not getting the best out of his players.

[Feedthewolf 4,846]

[quote user="The young canary"]So how many defeats have you seen this year

I go home and away all the time and I have seen some dross. Not a reaction to a few games but months and months of utter utter rubbish[/quote]The kind of ''utter, utter rubbish'' that had us top of the table until a week ago. Nine consecutive games where we scored two or more goals. The most spectacular array of talented attacking players in many years. I bet Wolves and Forest away were a real drag for you, because we should have won 4-0... right?I don''t deny we are still underachieving, and I don''t deny that Neil is still making some of the same mistakes. But your constant over-the-top rhetoric is a pitiful waste of a loyal supporter. Try saying something - anything - positive once in a while and you might get taken a bit more seriously.

[Baywing 0]

[quote user="The young canary"]So how many defeats have you seen this year

I go home and away all the time and I have seen some dross. Not a reaction to a few games but months and months of utter utter rubbish[/quote]

Got to agree young ''un, this isnt just a knee jerk reaction to a very bad week ! Its a culmination of poor performances (or part performances) all season....Ipswich away was poor, Brum worse still, Newcastle beyond belief wins at home to Cardiff, Wigan and Rotherham not convincing despite leading comfortably along the way !

Now whether people say we are arrogant or over optimistic the fact remains as yet I havent seen another clubs player this season guaranteed a start in our first 11, and on the similar theme wouldnt think many opposing managers wouldnt have swapped 9 or 10 out of our line up at the start of any game ?

Like it or not on paper this is the best City squad ever assembled.....why cant Alex make it work ?

[Buh 0]

F£@@ing "Callander" hah! Love it

[Feedthewolf 4,846]

[quote user="Baywing"]Like it or not on paper this is the best City squad ever assembled.....why cant Alex make it work ?[/quote]Because football is played on grass, not paper.There are only two teams in every match, both of whom want to win, but only one of whom can. ''On paper'' you could say that we have the second-strongest squad in this division, and I would be of a mind to agree with you.But the way some people on here feel, being the ''second-strongest'' team in the division means we should beat everyone except Newcastle. This shows a complete lack of understanding of the variables at play in every single match. Formations, tactics, injuries, suspensions, referees, luck... the truth of the matter is, we are roughly where we should be in the table (on paper). To be unable to accept that results like the Preston defeat will happen from time to time, is to similarly state that results like our win at Old Trafford should never happen.Over 46 matches, we will win some, draw some and lose some. One would expect us to win a great deal more than we lose. But to put all our failings at the manager''s door is just so facile. Sometimes, an opposition manager has a tactic that works really well. Sometimes it''s a dubious penalty, a lucky deflection, or a group of players playing out of their skins. On the flipside, of course, it''s easy to say (with hindsight offering 20/20 vision, of course) that the starting XI was wrong, or the tactics were wrong, or the substitutions were wrong.I do agree that, in broad terms, Alex Neil doesn''t appear to actively influence the outcomes of matches for the better with his input from the sidelines in terms of tactical switches and/or substitutions. I also think that the seemingly endless vulnerability from long balls over the top (and, to a lesser extent, set pieces) is something that needs ironing out. There are clearly visible problems that do not appear to be being addressed, and that is a concern.But hey, I''m just a spectator. I don''t have a UEFA Pro Licence, I don''t see the players in training, I don''t set the transfer targets or deal with the agents. The thing that some people just can''t get their heads around is that pretty much every team has a blueprint for success, a strategy for improvement, and a threshold for failure before a change is made. But there is no club, no player, no manager and no strategy with a perfect ''Top Trumps''; everything has its pros and cons. An inability to rationally analyse both sides of the coin pretty much shows a weakness in logic and reasoning - and that also applies to those who can find no fault in any aspect of the club''s behaviours, Neil''s management, the players'' efforts and so on.Bearing in mind that those people employed in full-time roles to make these big decisions understand the ramifications of their actions (and, indeed, their inactions), people need to realise that making a managerial change not only results in complete upheaval of tactics and relationships on the field, but also the whole backroom structure of the club. If the ''right'' person is available (and I can see why some Neil-outers were attracted to Steve Bruce), you need to be pretty sure that the improvement will be both palpable and (more importantly) sustainable. Can any of you ''Neil-outers'' give those guarantees? And if so, with whom at the helm?

[Baywing 0]

Them there ramifications of which you speak.....doesnt relegation carry similar consequences ?

And even more relevant now is that not achieving an immediate return would also have ramifications !

And as for all these variables you refer to.....I say its so much simpler than that if you get you nose in front all you got to do is keep the ball and then you cant lose !

Last night getting pegged back by 10 men says it all.

In answer to the last part for me its Big Sam

Over achieved at Bolton

Over achieved at West Ham

Over achieved at Sunderland

[Feedthewolf 4,846]

[quote user="Baywing"]Them there ramifications of which you speak.....doesnt relegation carry similar consequences ?

And even more relevant now is that not achieving an immediate return would also have ramifications ![/quote]Yep, true. But again, you have to make a decision that pretty much guarantees both an immediate upturn in fortunes, and a sustainable long-term improvement. You have to be prepared for the squad to be turned on its head and dismantled, new backroom staff to be brought in... and for what? If you make that change and you go down anyway, what then? The fans were not calling for Neil''s head even after relegation, so it would have been a bold decision, especially considering the boardroom upheaval that punctuated the back end of last season.Ultimately, we went down. You are using that as evidence with the benefit of hindsight. You are also pre-empting a failure to achieve promotion this season. We are still in a reasonable position with a largely popular manager and a very talented squad.[quote user="Baywing"]And as for all these variables you refer to.....I say its so much

simpler than that if you get you nose in front all you got to do is keep

the ball and then you cant lose !

Last night getting pegged back by 10 men says it all.[/quote]That is remarkably simplistic. So keep the ball, for half an hour, without overplaying and getting caught in possession? Or having a shot that is saved or goes out for a goal kick? I agree that last night was a microcosm of a lot of our problems this season, and I agree that they need sorting out. But saying ''all you have to do is keep the ball'' is FIFA talk, not real life.[quote user="Baywing"]In answer to the last part for me its Big Sam

Over achieved at Bolton

Over achieved at West Ham

Over achieved at Sunderland[/quote]I will respectfully agree to differ. A crooked old dinosaur with a reputation for playing ugly, direct football would be a huge step backwards for this club. Same applies to Pulis, Warnock, and all the other old luddites who know how to ''grind out results''. I would like a progressive approach that encourages technically gifted players to express themselves. Doubt we''ll find much common ground on this subject [:)]

[Mr Angry 1,555]

Last night''s result and performance was pretty inconsequential as far as I''m concerned. This Saturday is the chance for the team that lost against Preston-with a couple of changes probably-to redeem themselves.