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Old Man Andy

Thankyou, and goodbye.

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Every now and then, in life as well as football, there comes a time when you just know that things have to change. Excuses just won''t do anymore, the evidence is there, plain and simple, for all to see.

On Saturday afternoon, at about 4.30 pm, came that moment for Nigel Worthington.

Not content with playing a centre back at right back (Craig Fleming), Nigel decided to further confuse the opposition by bringing on a strapping, bustling, powerful centre forward(Peter Thorne)......and playing him on the right side of midfield. Next, came the masterstroke. Jurgen Colin (a full back) was brought off the bench to replace Craig Fleming (the centre back playing as a full back). And was played as striker. Jurgen looked even more stunned than I did. By my reckoning, during one 90 minute game of football, we had four different players operating as a right sided midfielder at various stages of the game. Marney to start with, then Huckerby, then Thorne and finally Jurgen Colin.

No wonder then, that at about 4.30 the moment arrived that finally proved to me that something is seriously wrong at this club. The players were so busy trying to sort out amongst themselves just what the hell their manager wanted them to do and where they were supposed to be, they failed to realise that we were 0-1 down with only a few minutes left to play. The ball went out for a Norwich throw in, and the only player to notice it was Robert Green who sprinted almost to the halfway line, grabbed the ball and then realised that it might be a little dangerous to have your keeper taking a throw in half way up the pitch.

We are, in short, a laughing stock at the moment. We are getting beaten, regularly, by average and even poor teams. Poor teams who are organised, know what they have to do and what is expected from each player.

Am I the only one to find the sight of Dean Ashton sending crosses from the left wing in to the box for the combined ariel "threat" of Darren Huckerby, Ian Henderson and Jim Brennan a little strange? That should be the other way round, shouldn''t it?? It''s not bloody rocket science after all, is it Nigel?


Poor teams, who are well organised. That''s all that is needed to beat Norwich City these days.

And that hurts.


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Thank god you put this post up because i thought i was going mad and seeing things yesterday! I really cant describe how  i feel nowadays,id doesnt hurt anymore after a loss,i have got use to it!

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[quote]Thank god you put this post up because i thought i was going mad and seeing things yesterday! I really cant describe how i feel nowadays,id doesnt hurt anymore after a loss,i have got use to it![/quote]

The whole throwing in thing was there for 90 minutes, no one seemed up for it at all. I felt sorry for Greeno though he wasnt performing brilliantly, what else was he to do at that point with NO ONE coming back for the ball! It did look like a farce. The amount of times he would take a goal kick and be waving for the team to move left or something, but have no option but to punt it towards Ashton when no one reacted. It seemed like all the players heads were down (Except for Safri, Drury looked brighter, plus a couple of others), not a good day at the office.

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And another thing, while I''m in full on "revolution" mode......

If any shareholder is thinking of attending of Monday''s AGM and is stuck for a question to ask the board, consider asking them this one:

"Does the board still consider that granting long term contracts to managers who hold them to ransom with ''I''m ambitious to manage in the Premiership, are you as ambitious as me'' speeches is a good idea? Considering the fact that we are now in 20th position in the Championship with 16 points from 16 games, after being dispatched back from where we came just one season ago, does the board not now believe that employing a manager who is not as good as he thought he was on a contract whose length and terms makes it financially impossible for it to be terminated even if the board, fans and, who knows.....even some of the players realise that he has completely lost the plot is a very bad idea indeed?"

Managers should be employed on 1 year, rolling contracts. Get results, do your job properly, and you keep the job. End of.

It''s harsh, but, hey......it''s the kind of pressure most of us poor sods(the supporters who live in the "real world", follow the team home and away, and don''t get paid a FRACTION of what Nigel Worthington is pulling down every week) have to live with.

I don''t want to hear lame excuses from a man who could probably pay off my mortgage with less than six months of his salary. I don''t want to hear him talking about "pressure". I want to see him doing his job properly.

And if he doesn''t do what he''s paid an enormous amount of money to do, I want him to be replaced with someone who will. On a one year, rolling contract obviously.



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The one-year rolling contract thing is a nice idea (in fact why not make it a one month rolling contract!) but the reality is that it''s a competitive market place for managers out there, and no-one decent would accept that kind of contract when a longer term deal was on offer elsewhere (which it would be).

The reason no-one would accept it is because managers know this kind of thing can happen in their careers - a period in the wilderness. Look at David Moyes - he was manager of the season in the prem last season and (with a strengthened squad no less) had failed to win a single game until yesterday. Likewise Steve Bruce at Birmingham. Paul Jewell says the same thing in his interview in the Observer today.

It''s interesting to me that there are no protests at Everton and Birmingham yet. No calls for their managers heads (or very few).

Maybe''s Worthy''s time is up. Seems pretty obvious based on our league position. Or maybe Everton and Brum fans know something we don''t?

(Actually that was something Moyes said in an interview over the weekend which I though was quite fitting: "success doesn''t come in straight lines". How true.)

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