Are We Being Brainwashed?

[Clint 221]

All this Webberlution and Farkelife lark, it''s almost like a cult.

We''re 14th in the 2nd tier with no chance of reaching the play offs but with a quarter of the season still remaining. We''ve got a negative goal difference, can barely score, have periodic defensive meltdowns, play the least effective and dullest football I''ve seen in years and are several points behind Ipswich. But yet, a large proportion of our fanbase are happy and there is zero pressure on Farke or Webber. Why?

Both Adams and Neil got sacked for being in far superior positions to what we are in now, with both playing a more enjoyable style of football. It seems we just seem to have written off this season from the off and given Farke a free ride, which would have some merit if I could see some level of progression and believed the spin coming out of our club.

Are we in transition? We have a new sporting director and a new manager but is that really an excuse for the garbage that we seem to have accepted this season? If it was not Farke and someone like McLaren, Pardew, Lennon, Hodgson etc in charge, would we be so forgiving?

It is easy to use transition as an excuse but all Farke seems to have done is take a decent squad on the fringes of the play offs backwards. People talk about all the players that have left but most of those, people were glad to see the back of, Martin, Bassong, Ruddy, Naismith, Wildschit, Bennett, Jerome etc.

There really hasn''t been this huge reduction in player quality that we are lead to believe, many of the players are simply not performing to previous years levels. Wes, Nelson, Murphy and Jerome before he left, all look pale shadows of the players we have seen before. Watkins, Vrancic and Leitner all came here with good reputations but have had minimal impact.

If we are using this as a transitional season, all I am seeing is a transition from promotion contenders to a team that will drift into obscurity playing a brand of football that no one wants to play or more importantly no one wants to watch. Why is this suddenly going to improve next season when the squad is significantly weaker?

But yet, as mentioned earlier, a vast proportion of people seem happy because it''s Farke and it''s all something a little different.

[TIL 1010 5,246]

Now, Now how dare you question our current direction of travel.

[Indy 3,477]

Let’s give it at least another summer, I know it’s hard to accept, but we had to change from Moxey & Neil, not to mention getting rid of the expensive deadwood burdening our club thanks to AN......

Brainwashed is a tad harsh, but Webber needs to prove his worth this summer or he can Farke off back to Huddersfield!

[BroadstairsR 2,273]

I want to like Farke but am beginning to think he is clueless.

However, we are committed to the project for another season, come what may.

[westcoastcanary 173]

Brainwashing? Doesn''t that presuppose possession of a brain?  [;)]

[SwindonCanary 457]

It does seem strange that everyone is saying that next season will be better, when we are loosing all our best players during the close season.  

[The gut 0]

I suppose you could call it Farke news.

I think there is a different feel at the games.

There is a lot of talk and acceptance of this transition on this website that I don’t exactly feel the fans at the game accept in the same way. It appears that a fair amount of support for this transition on these pages, which may affect people’s thoughts are from those that do not go regularly go to games, if at all.

[ec-p 117]

I do tend to agree that if we currently had one of the old school managers mentioned above in charge and we were in this situation, there would be an enormous outcry to sack them.

[sonyc 6,145]

I think the pressure will start towards the very end of this season Clint if there are few signs if optimism or change by then. Transitions only last so long. Brainwashing only happens if you allow yourself to be taken over by the usual bull**it that most clubs dispense, especially managers. The difference with Farke perhaps is a complete kind if honesty in his communications. He seems to say what fans think. He knows he is judged by results, same for Webber. Dare say we will at least move on into next October before we know what we are getting. Farke will have had a full season to know what the championship is all about, how the successful teams play in this country. I''m on the fence a bit. Performances have been sporadic, with wonderful inter-passing play (Maddison''s goal at Bristol) but then dull and turgid slow build up which just plays into other teams hands. And we will lose quality players. The pressure is on Webber finding new quality players. His performance in this area so far is very variable....a curate''s egg.

[Badger 2,745]

Clint, I agree with your assertion that we have under-performed with the players that we have had this season. The addition of Gunn and Hanley, in particular, have addressed issues that were the obvious striking failure of the AN team. Farke also deserves credit for this.However, the style of play thus far, seems to have neutered our attacking threat and our current league position imo represents a clear under-achievement, given the talent that we have. If Farke does not redress this over the summer and we remain so sterile in attack, I fear for his long-term future. My hope is that we will retain the possession game but adopt tactics which give us a greater attacking threat - which will sometimes mean just getting the ball into the box more quickly!If this is not the case, I would expect Farke to be replaced by Webber and the board. The advantage of the system is that they will then find a new coach who is able to work with the players that we have, rather than starting from scratch again.In short, I share your concerns about performances and under-achievement by still believe the model is the best for the long term.

[hogesar 10,774]

Unfortunately the fact that you refer to the transition as a ''new sporting director and head coach '' suggests you''re either purposefully ignoring what we have actually changed or are ignorant to the full changes at the club.

However, I understand concerns and I dont think anyone could be happy with our season overall. How unhappy you are I guess depends on how much weight you put towards this being a transition season.

[Indy 3,477]

I don’t buy into under achieving players, I believe they’re just not that good, they aren’t the quality to push us up, Farke has just two league losses in 15 games.

Hull are fighting for their championship future and we’re always going to give it their all.

If this isn’t working out it should be Webber going not Farke, after all it’s webber who’s in charge of recruiting players, isn’t it?

[ron obvious 1,711]

The existence of this message board means we are not being brainwashed.

[FCC 94]

This is all we can achieve with the best young attacking midfielder in the country and an England goal keeper.

How crap must the other 9 be - or we have got the wrong philosophy.

The thought of letting Webber replace Farke is horrific. We got Farke as no experienced coach would want to work with Webber. He has achieved nothing in the game to justify putting our clubs future in his hands.

After Roeder and Hamilton, no idea why the Board would ignore Moxey and get Webber in on a whim.

[king canary 8,763]

I don''t see much pressure on him until next season at the earliest.

However, I wonder if it will be more aimed at the board. If we sell Maddison, bring in cheap replacements and start poorly I think fingers will be pointed above the manager.

The reality is for a lot of fans that we''ve basically had 6-9 good months in the last few seasons despite multiple different managers/set ups.

[Bill 1,788]

"no idea why the Board would ignore Moxey and get Webber in on a whim.

"that might be because you don''t appear to understand the different roles Moxey and Webber have.. terms of reference etca clue might be Steve Stoneanother clue might be that we had only TWO years parachute payments this time so did not face having our income drastically reduced one year on in the summer of 2015

[Faded Jaded Semi Plastic SOB 1,223]

I do not think fans are being brainwashed at all, the crowds at home games have voiced their dissatisfaction more than once this season. Personally I am on the fence over Farke/Webber, I can see what Farke is trying to do but I am not convinced we have the quality in depth in the squad to do it. I tend to not make snap decisions about players/managers, but that is just me, some posters are keen to write players/the clubs off at every turn, that is their prerogative. I have said it before and I will say it again, players come and players go, managers come and managers go, owners come and owners go, the only things that will stop me pitching up to watch my beloved Norwich City is my health/wealth, if that makes me a "happy clapper" then I glory in being so.......

[4th floor 4]

A whole generation of fans has been brainwashed into accepting Paul Lambert''s type of football as an example of what we ought to be watching. Anything fast and attacking will do, as long as it''s not too route one.Farke seems to be aiming at more of a Stringer type of game with a tight defence and playing to keep the ball, which in my opinion is superior. It will only get better and eventually exceed what Lambert produced once the side is more settled and our passing becomes more instinctive.What we see today isn''t perfect, or anywhere near it. But look carefully and you''ll realise that it''s aiming at quality even if its execution is lacking at times. Labelling such a work in progress as boring or rubbish is wrong in my opinion.

[king canary 8,763]

''It''s aiming for quality''

Of course! Lucky we didn''t get one of those managers who doesn''t aim to play well...

[FCC 94]

Sooty - would that be the well known football man Steve Stone.

Worked for a pub chain, Gala bingo, and KPMG - who I believe were the auditors of Carillion.

Were in safe hands financially then. Given his pub experience you’d have thought he could at least make a go of the catering side.

[Mello Yello 2,573]

.....Owners come and owners go......I''d be surprised if our majority shareholding duo aren''t then considering cryogenic suspension.......Forever an'' ever.......Amen.....

[westcoastcanary 173]

Sound method is far more important to success than the quality of those (in this case, players) following it. "We need a better quality this or that" is a constant refrain on here; one moment it''s a better CB (or two), the next a better striker (or two), better DM, better AM, better RB, better LB, and so it goes on. Alex Neil thought our defensive frailty was due to our defenders not being individually good enough. It wasn''t, it was down to a systemic weakness in the way he required his team to play. In recent years Arsenal have had a back five of experienced internationals -- including e.g. Koscielney, Mertesacker, Mustafi, Cech -- yet are regularly undone by teams with far less talent because, however talented the back five, they are too often left unprotected by the Arsenal midfield. 

Webber and Farke have rightly prioritised having all our teams play sound football. This is the real "transition" taking place; and it is taking place, it''s not some bit of PR nonsense, or confidence trick on fans, it''s clearly visible to anyone who can see past fixations with e.g. league position, the result of the latest match, or bragging rights over Ipswich. 

[4th floor 4]

[quote user="king canary"]''It''s aiming for quality''

Of course! Lucky we didn''t get one of those managers who doesn''t aim to play well...[/quote]Some aim more at results than quality, usually to keep their job.I''d prefer to see someone tune up the side with a longer term goal of playing better rather than cut corners and end up going nowhere.

[JF 694]

There is some self indulgent crap on here at times. There is no transition. What we are seeing is a preferred style of play by a coach and sporting director working within a set budget, the same as every other team in the league. It will have a limited timeframe to work before they are shown the door and another tries their luck. I don’t remember any talk of transition when Hughton took over from Lambert? Just two managers with different styles of play.

[4th floor 4]

I see the transition as more to do with repairing the damage caused during the Hughton and Neil eras. The new sporting director setup will hopefully prevent some of the worst of this damage from happening again in the future, as well as providing continuity in our player trading and football.

[The gut 0]

Highly visible Westie if you can see it without being able to see the pitch. Amazing.

[Mello Yello 2,573]

Brainwashed?......More of idiosyncratic indoctrination......

[Indy 3,477]

More bugger all you can do about it, the board will decide, you can go or not go, buy a season ticket or become a casual, you can vent your anger at the match but then if your not enjoying it why go?

It’s great to chat on here but the fans aren’t being brainwashed the likes of Webber and Farke have their own minds and will live or die by their choices, fail to meet the boards requirements and they will be gone.

[Duncan Edwards 2,424]

[quote user="TIL 1010"]Now, Now how dare you question our current direction of travel.[/quote]

But what would arrest our decline? The trajectory is all downhill as this will be the second year in a row we’ve finished lower than the previous season. Momentum is being gathered as we hurtle towards the trapdoor to League One.

Championship experience is what is needed, not fancy job titles or foreigners.

Unless they’re buying the club.

[Big Vince 427]

Yes, you are being brainwashed.

That is the boy Ferrari''s job and in all the numpties he has fertile brains to wash.