Why do our players under perform?

[Stevie Wonder 0]

Hello!

I have been along time viewer of these fine pages albeit on the quiet whilst at work. Having at last dragged myself into the 21st Century by purchasing a PC the first thing I have done is register with this message board (sad I know!!).

For my first post, I wanted to generate a bit of a discussion so here goes;

Perhaps not surprisingly there is a lot of negativity around the club currently. As a long time fan, the biggest frustration is seeing what, on paper, is a decent group of players badly under perform week after week. For instance, Gallagher, Doherty, Safri & Robinson are all experienced internationals and Hughes, McVeigh and Thorne have probably played in excess of 200 games at this level. Clearly, we should be seeing much more from them on a regular basis but why aren''t we? Is it down to the coaching? We have changed the manager without much of an improvement although we have retained most of the coaching staff. Hunter for Foley seemed to make no difference either! Both Worthy & Grant have said the players look great in training but they certainly aren''t carrying this through to match situations. There seems to be a complete lack of leadership skills amongst the players (DD excepted) and this shows with the amount of goals we concede from set pieces. Is it simply an indication of the malaise that seems to have set in throughout the club from top to bottom since promotion in 2004?

Most importantly, how does the club address the situation?

Your thoughts are awaited.

[sheded 0]

[quote user="Stevie Wonder"]

Hello!

I have been along time viewer of these fine pages albeit on the quiet whilst at work. Having at last dragged myself into the 21st Century by purchasing a PC the first thing I have done is register with this message board (sad I know!!).

For my first post, I wanted to generate a bit of a discussion so here goes;

Perhaps not surprisingly there is a lot of negativity around the club currently. As a long time fan, the biggest frustration is seeing what, on paper, is a decent group of players badly under perform week after week. For instance, Gallagher, Doherty, Safri & Robinson are all experienced internationals and Hughes, McVeigh and Thorne have probably played in excess of 200 games at this level. Clearly, we should be seeing much more from them on a regular basis but why aren''t we? Is it down to the coaching? We have changed the manager without much of an improvement although we have retained most of the coaching staff. Hunter for Foley seemed to make no difference either! Both Worthy & Grant have said the players look great in training but they certainly aren''t carrying this through to match situations. There seems to be a complete lack of leadership skills amongst the players (DD excepted) and this shows with the amount of goals we concede from set pieces. Is it simply an indication of the malaise that seems to have set in throughout the club from top to bottom since promotion in 2004?

Most importantly, how does the club address the situation?

Your thoughts are awaited.

[/quote]

A thoughtful post Steve ,  and one which I agree with  mostly !    there IS  a malaise   running  right through  the  the establishment of this club   , and I`m not just talking about the board !!    the " scouts "  , the  " academy " ,  the  " coaches "    all  under performing , all seemingly unsackable !   WTF is going on ?   looks like Grant is operating with one hand tied behind his back ......

As you say , we actually DO have players  capable of doing the business  , but , for some reason ,  seem to prefer  playing at only 50 %  of their capability  !    I don`t envy Grant  his task in sorting this out .....   but I feel that unless the cancer is cut out , it will infect any new players we bring in  ....  [:(]

[the shark 0]

because most of them are not very good.some people can not see past there yellow tinted glasses can you here that ..........other clubs knocking on our door for our best players no because they aint very good.you need 15 good players in a sqaud to compeat. we got 4-5 the club is going down hill huge depts small poor quality squad. so wake up everyone its mid table in champs for quite a while.

[Regime Change 0]

Ino the clubs £9 million wage bill is a clear indicator that the players are overpaid, and that they have no incentive to acheive or do well whilst playing for City.

[Salopian 1]

I think that they are low on confidence, and afraid. PG recognised this when he first arrived, - urging them to play without fear, and pointing out that human beinga are permitted to make mistakes. Clearly, from what he and others have said, they turn it on during training but on mtach days go into their shells.Their problem comes from a run or poor performances, and one or two heavy defeats. It comes from a crowd getting on their backs and criticising mistakes. It comes from a concern about fellow players and the need to cover for them. It comes from a lack of leadership and example on the pitch. Experimental tactics and team selection in PG''s early days may have contributed.It can be reversed, but it needs someone talismanic, like Hux inspiring the rest of the season after signing at Christmas. It would be nice to think that  the arrival of Chadwick, Brown and Marshall (hopefully) plus...., might galvanise them by individual skill and example. Perhaps a change of captaincy (Dion?) could improve things. Perhaps an impressive win against Plymouth on Saturday, and following Tamworth, could give some impetus. The signing of an outstanding established player could also give them a lift, but this looks unlikely now. Even a youth player turning in a good performance could lift them.

[Chris Meadows 0]

thorne and hughes despite playing so many games at this level have never been part of a promotion winning side. Thorne was a decent player but is now well into his 30''s. mcveigh has always been inconsistent, Hucks is a good player but no longer the star he was, the balance of the side is also wrong imo, Hucks in a 4-4-2 leaves us exposed but when we play 4-5-1 Earnie is then very small and struggles to keep the ball up that end

[Stevie Wonder 0]

[quote user="Salopian"]I think that they are low on confidence, and afraid. PG recognised this when he first arrived, - urging them to play without fear, and pointing out that human beinga are permitted to make mistakes. Clearly, from what he and others have said, they turn it on during training but on mtach days go into their shells.

Their problem comes from a run or poor performances, and one or two heavy defeats. It comes from a crowd getting on their backs and criticising mistakes. It comes from a concern about fellow players and the need to cover for them. It comes from a lack of leadership and example on the pitch. Experimental tactics and team selection in PG''s early days may have contributed.

It can be reversed, but it needs someone talismanic, like Hux inspiring the rest of the season after signing at Christmas. It would be nice to think that  the arrival of Chadwick, Brown and Marshall (hopefully) plus...., might galvanise them by individual skill and example. Perhaps a change of captaincy (Dion?) could improve things. Perhaps an impressive win against Plymouth on Saturday, and following Tamworth, could give some impetus. The signing of an outstanding established player could also give them a lift, but this looks unlikely now. Even a youth player turning in a good performance could lift them.
[/quote]

I couldn''t agree more! Most of our success under Worthy was based on a great home record when the fans created an intimidating atmosphere for visiting fans and players! Sadly, a significant minority of our fans seem to concentrate on making it an intimidating place for our own players as has been witnessed by the recent booing of Hughes, Thorne & Robinson - they certainly aren''t going to play any better with the treatment they get.....

What we need to get back to is the days when the fans were 100% behind the players because when we all pull together we are almost unstoppable. The Leicester game this season showed what happens when we do.