rock bus 851 Posted December 17, 2016 I am in agreeement with most people that Alex Neil should go. i don''t dislike him but he has clearly lost his way and we are just going backwards at an alarming rate.BUT in some ways I do like the idea of the club deciding to stick with a manager who displays the right principles of our club and deciding on a long term strategy.So IF the board are to back him for a 2/3 year plan I would support it if he took the same approach with the team. That means:dispensing of all the over the hill workhorses e.g. Bassong, Whittaker, Turner, Tettey, Dorrans (?), Dumping those that don''t really want to be here: Brady, Olson, Ruddy, Naismith,Lafferty Klose (?)Integrating young exciting players: Murphys, Oliveira,Thompson, Pritchard, Canos, Maddison Buy up and coming players who suit whatever style of play we are building the team on (Huddersfield actually showed how I''d like us to play).Use the likes of Hoolahan, Howson, Pinto, Jerome to nurture and develop the othersThe club should also announce that is the plan and is what they are going to do so all fans are clear and can accept it. I would even be willing to accept that this means promotion isn''t our aim this or maybe even next year. But in two years time we will have a team full of players we have developed who fight and play like a unit.At worst this could mean we get ''our'' team back and have one with the passion and commitment us fans deserve.At the moment I''m really losing faith and that hurts more than losing games. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
lake district canary 4,531 Posted December 17, 2016 Good thinking - a long term strategy. Difficult to put in place, but something that would make sense. Lower expectations, rebuild with young players - like Huddersfield. They and their fans plainly have a great attitide and enjoyment going on at what they are achieving - but they are doing it from a lower level and their expectations are not the same as ours. But by coming to terms with the situation as it is now - and if this group of players can''t get us promoted - then reducing expectations and rebuilding would imo be a good thing. AN will have to have a very thick skin to get through a non-promotion season and the board will have to be strong too - but if we can get to what you are suggesting, it would lead to a healthier long term situation. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
king canary 7,599 Posted December 17, 2016 Why would it lead to a healthier long term situation? Neil is already demonstrating he doesn''t trust the younger flair players by leaving them out in favour of average workhorse types. Why would he be the right man to guide a develop the Murphy''s, Canos, Pritchard, Thompson et al? Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
rock bus 851 Posted December 17, 2016 Fair point King Canary and the main stumbling block may be that Alex won''t be willing to change (there are signs that he is that stubborn) but again it requires the strength of the board. They TELL Alex that''s the plan and he MUST do it or leave.If he remains stubborn bring in someone like Rowlett who is told from the off that if he wants the job that''s the philosophy he must follow. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Faded Jaded Semi Plastic SOB 1,023 Posted December 17, 2016 A good idea in principle, but the one thing we have to factor in is that if we want to get promoted to the Premiership (I a assuming that is the aim?), then we really need to do so this season or next as the parachute payments will have run out..... Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
rock bus 851 Posted December 17, 2016 Although just to add, I am sure at one point Alex did say he wanted to build a young squad and many of his signings do support that.Maybe it''s just the pressure of trying to secure immediate promotion that has seen him resorting to experience and players who have previously proved they did have quality Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
lake district canary 4,531 Posted December 17, 2016 [quote user="rock bus"]Although just to add, I am sure at one point Alex did say he wanted to build a young squad and many of his signings do support that.Maybe it''s just the pressure of trying to secure immediate promotion that has seen him resorting to experience and players who have previously proved they did have quality[/quote]This ^^^. It''s going to be a tough season by the looks of things, but if we can see it through with AN in charge, whatever the outcome, we might just see the young squad come through in time. The board are going to have to be really strong this time and stick to their guns if that is what they want. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Guest Posted December 17, 2016 [quote user="rock bus"]I am in agreeement with most people that Alex Neil should go. i don''t dislike him but he has clearly lost his way and we are just going backwards at an alarming rate.BUT in some ways I do like the idea of the club deciding to stick with a manager who displays the right principles of our club and deciding on a long term strategy.So IF the board are to back him for a 2/3 year plan I would support it if he took the same approach with the team. That means:dispensing of all the over the hill workhorses e.g. Bassong, Whittaker, Turner, Tettey, Dorrans (?), Dumping those that don''t really want to be here: Brady, Olson, Ruddy, Naismith,Lafferty Klose (?)Integrating young exciting players: Murphys, Oliveira,Thompson, Pritchard, Canos, Maddison Buy up and coming players who suit whatever style of play we are building the team on (Huddersfield actually showed how I''d like us to play).Use the likes of Hoolahan, Howson, Pinto, Jerome to nurture and develop the othersThe club should also announce that is the plan and is what they are going to do so all fans are clear and can accept it. I would even be willing to accept that this means promotion isn''t our aim this or maybe even next year. But in two years time we will have a team full of players we have developed who fight and play like a unit.At worst this could mean we get ''our'' team back and have one with the passion and commitment us fans deserve.At the moment I''m really losing faith and that hurts more than losing games.[/quote]I like your thoughts but not with AN in charge. He is too rigid in his ideas, one dimensional.He is emphatic about not playing two up front to the extent he replaces one of our better players, Oliveira, our goal threat, with Jerome. Then he decides we need two so sends Bassong up front.That is so stupid that I can''t accept that he can take us forward. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
morty 0 Posted December 17, 2016 Probably the fans who to games fault, eh? Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Jim Smith 2,317 Posted December 17, 2016 If we are going to stick with a manager long term I''d rather it was a good manager who deserves it. Neil has done nothing whatsoever to deserve even the loyalty he has already been shown by our clueless board. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Indy 3,297 Posted December 17, 2016 One promotion, then a futile season in the Premiership with a lacklustre relegation, selling a decent players and keeping the underperforming pros, spending millions on players warming the bench or sitting at home.........but the one overriding fact is in two seasons he''s only come back from a losing position twice! Talk about piss poor tactical nouse! Share this post Link to post Share on other sites