Lay off Roeder: He is not the problem.

[Thecanaryfan 0]

I have noticed something very concerning on this MB since the AGM, something that could prove disastrous to the future of this club if changes in attitudes are not altered. For some reason or other there has been a shift in the direction of the abuse for the club failings. I don’t know exactly what Delia Smith said at the AGM but she has somehow managed to deflect all the blame onto Roeder. The number of ‘Roeder Out’ threads being posted since Saturday is quite remarkable: they have grown in number exponentially, and in term have replaced the ‘Board Out’ threads. This is a fairly remarkable achievement given her history and neglect to the squad. Can we not see history repeating itself? Do we ever learn from the past? Is there a reason why the board are now seemingly in the clear again? Why Roeder is now the front runner for the head rolling? Surely if Roeder left the underlying problem would remain? I have given this much thought and here are my views on the matter…..

 

Maybe it is the fact that the club is now officially seeking new investment that is the reason. Has Delia finally done the honourable thing by employing an outside agency to actively seek new investment? Maybe, but this doesn’t wash with me at all. Have the club not already been seeking new investment for the last two seasons? I understood they had been but it now seems fairly obvious that they hadn’t. Much like the players on the pitch over the last 3 seasons, they simply weren’t applying themselves. The simple fact is this: Delia has finally waved the white flag and people no longer feel comfortable casting the blame on her. Hence the reason they have diverted their anger onto Roeder. We must collectively remember one important thing here: though she appears to have forfeited her crown, she hasn’t actually departed. Pressure is still needed to see her departure through to the end. We mustn’t get lax by taking our frustrations out on the manager.

 

Is it Glenns attitude that the supporters have finally had enough of? To blame the attitude of a manager is fairly stupid if you give it some thought. I agree that Roeders attitude is fuelled by arrogance. I don’t like his arrogance as much as the next man but to use it as a reason for his failings on the pitch? That is surely absurd?

 

Is it the performances on the pitch? It’s fair to say that recent performances, especially on the road haven’t been great but let us not forget how poor we used to be: cast your minds back to Grants final days, we all know how awful things got, we were a shambles. And don’t forget how brightly we started the season: True we weren’t picking up the points we deserved but we were finally playing half decent football again, only misfortune and a lack of fire power prevented the team earning any real success. We were dominating games to no prevail and no one can deny this. How is Roeder expected to get the team playing decent football if he doesn’t have any support? The board have never supported him, the players only support him when they feel like it, and now seemingly he isn’t getting any support from the fans. Performance wise we all know things could get a lot worse. I personally think that if the selections became a little more consistent we will finally start to pick up points. Roeders tactical approach and style of play is spot on and will eventually pay return.

 

Is it the loans? This is the one thing I hate about the club at the moment: it is the loans that are the root of our troubles. Roeders over reliance on the loan system is clearly his Achilles Heal and it does him and the club no favours. However, is this Roeders fault? It is his team: he chooses who comes and who goes and the manner in which they do so, surely no one can deny that? But could it have been avoided? Has Roeder been given the financially backing to arrange a team he can call his own? The answer to this is clearly NO. The fact he had practically no money to spend pre season is testament to this, personally I think he should be rewarded for assembling the squad he has on a wafer thin budget. Let us get something straight here: The reason why Roeder has so many loans is because it was the loans that saved our club from relegation last season. Back then they could do no wrong. The board took note of this and saw it as an excuse to cut corners, to save on the outgoings. However loans should have only ever been a short term solution. The fact that the board expected Roeder to rely on them long tern is a disgrace.

 

Is it the team selections? This is the only thing I can truly knock Roeder for. They can be at times quite ridiculous and down right illogical. I mean what on earth goes through his head when he makes his selections?! He constantly fields Croft and Fotheringham when they both clearly have no end product. He constantly plays players out of position when it isn’t really required. He constantly leaves our better players (Lupoli) out of his team selections, preferring over the hill goal dodgers who have done nothing to deserve a recall. Is he insane? He doesn’t seem to realise that these are school boy errors, it’s almost deliberate!!

 

My final point is this: What is the advantage of turning against a man who isn’t going anywhere any time soon? It would be foolish to do so. Let’s face facts: the club don’t have the money to sack him and even if they did do you honestly believe they would use it to pay off Roeder? Not a chance in hell. He is staying till at least the end of the season and probably beyond. He isn’t the best manager in the world but he’s the best we’ve got and the best were going to get given the financial climate. Concentrate your anger on the board or else we are never going to get out of the sinking sand. Focus on replacing them. If the fans get behind the manager and the team it will breed confidence. Back the team ad not the board.

[Beauseant 0]

Excellent post TCF. I must admit to not being a fan of Roeder, but getting rid of him without a change at the top makes no sense and is essentially self defeating.As Mr Chops and others have eloquently argued elsewhere, a new manager would deflect attention away from our real problems.Apart from that we need every penny we can scrape together in January (and all those buttons that We Are Yellows donated lol!), so a big compensation payment to Roeder would be, to put it mildly, unhelpful!

[blahblahblah 2]

Why are people after Roeder now ?  It''s mainly the results, partly that D & M have said that they want out.  Most of the time fans will forgive poor performances if the results are good.

[quote]Concentrate your anger on the board or else we are never going to get out of the sinking sand. Focus on replacing them. If the fans get behind the manager and the team it will breed confidence.[/quote]

In my opinion an air of protest at a club in the bottom 6 is likely to help to sink the ship.  Fans can''t replace the board unless they can raise several million as a one off, and then at least another 3 million a year from then on.  I''d have suggested "Concentrating energy on backing the team".  The board will be replaced sooner or later, they are of retirement age after all, and the time-frame for this is out of the reach of all of us, it''s down to the the people with serious money.  Trying to push them out the door won''t change the time it takes to find a buyer.

In investing in our club, D & M have already lost a stack of cash - Giving these people a hard time won''t get rid of them any quicker, and might make finding a new buyer harder.

[canary cherub 1]

I''m becoming highly sceptical about the "seeking new investment" story.  So they''ve appointed Keith Harris have they?

Well don''t hold your breath folks . . . he''s just become a director of Cardiff City.  If he finds any spare wonga lying around I think I can confidently state that we won''t be his first port of call . . . clear conflict of interests if you ask me.

The AGM put the final nail in the coffin of our hopes that somehow a way might be found to bring Peter Cullum on board.  People accept that the board are going nowhere but they need to vent their frustration so Roeder is the obvious target, and he hasn''t done himself any favours by being so obnoxious.  But unlike the Worthy and Grant situations, this time I don''t think many people are under the illusion Roeder is the real cause of our problems or that sacking him is the solution.  They''re looking for a scapegoat pure and simple and they don''t really care if it''s his fault or not.

 

[SNAP 0]

Better defence than we''ve seen at Carrow Road for some months however........

......The “problem” (if problem is the right word) is that if someone is going to have an arrogant attitude they need to have a talent to match. Glenn Roeder has failed to show that talent at any club he has been with for a second season. With most failures in football (ultimately Nigel Worthington and even Peter Grant as examples) you say, “Nice enough bloke, but just not up to it”. With Glenn Roeder one can’t help feeling that even the “Nice bloke” bit is missing.

[tribes 0]

[quote user="TCF"]

I have noticed something very concerning on this MB since the AGM, something that could prove disastrous to the future of this club if changes in attitudes are not altered. For some reason or other there has been a shift in the direction of the abuse for the club failings. I don’t know exactly what Delia Smith said at the AGM but she has somehow managed to deflect all the blame onto Roeder. The number of ‘Roeder Out’ threads being posted since Saturday is quite remarkable: they have grown in number exponentially, and in term have replaced the ‘Board Out’ threads. This is a fairly remarkable achievement given her history and neglect to the squad. Can we not see history repeating itself? Do we ever learn from the past? Is there a reason why the board are now seemingly in the clear again? Why Roeder is now the front runner for the head rolling? Surely if Roeder left the underlying problem would remain? I have given this much thought and here are my views on the matter…..

 

Maybe it is the fact that the club is now officially seeking new investment that is the reason. Has Delia finally done the honourable thing by employing an outside agency to actively seek new investment? Maybe, but this doesn’t wash with me at all. Have the club not already been seeking new investment for the last two seasons? I understood they had been but it now seems fairly obvious that they hadn’t. Much like the players on the pitch over the last 3 seasons, they simply weren’t applying themselves. The simple fact is this: Delia has finally waved the white flag and people no longer feel comfortable casting the blame on her. Hence the reason they have diverted their anger onto Roeder. We must collectively remember one important thing here: though she appears to have forfeited her crown, she hasn’t actually departed. Pressure is still needed to see her departure through to the end. We mustn’t get lax by taking our frustrations out on the manager.

 

Is it Glenns attitude that the supporters have finally had enough of? To blame the attitude of a manager is fairly stupid if you give it some thought. I agree that Roeders attitude is fuelled by arrogance. I don’t like his arrogance as much as the next man but to use it as a reason for his failings on the pitch? That is surely absurd?

 

Is it the performances on the pitch? It’s fair to say that recent performances, especially on the road haven’t been great but let us not forget how poor we used to be: cast your minds back to Grants final days, we all know how awful things got, we were a shambles. And don’t forget how brightly we started the season: True we weren’t picking up the points we deserved but we were finally playing half decent football again, only misfortune and a lack of fire power prevented the team earning any real success. We were dominating games to no prevail and no one can deny this. How is Roeder expected to get the team playing decent football if he doesn’t have any support? The board have never supported him, the players only support him when they feel like it, and now seemingly he isn’t getting any support from the fans. Performance wise we all know things could get a lot worse. I personally think that if the selections became a little more consistent we will finally start to pick up points. Roeders tactical approach and style of play is spot on and will eventually pay return.

 

Is it the loans? This is the one thing I hate about the club at the moment: it is the loans that are the root of our troubles. Roeders over reliance on the loan system is clearly his Achilles Heal and it does him and the club no favours. However, is this Roeders fault? It is his team: he chooses who comes and who goes and the manner in which they do so, surely no one can deny that? But could it have been avoided? Has Roeder been given the financially backing to arrange a team he can call his own? The answer to this is clearly NO. The fact he had practically no money to spend pre season is testament to this, personally I think he should be rewarded for assembling the squad he has on a wafer thin budget. Let us get something straight here: The reason why Roeder has so many loans is because it was the loans that saved our club from relegation last season. Back then they could do no wrong. The board took note of this and saw it as an excuse to cut corners, to save on the outgoings. However loans should have only ever been a short term solution. The fact that the board expected Roeder to rely on them long tern is a disgrace.

 

Is it the team selections? This is the only thing I can truly knock Roeder for. They can be at times quite ridiculous and down right illogical. I mean what on earth goes through his head when he makes his selections?! He constantly fields Croft and Fotheringham when they both clearly have no end product. He constantly plays players out of position when it isn’t really required. He constantly leaves our better players (Lupoli) out of his team selections, preferring over the hill goal dodgers who have done nothing to deserve a recall. Is he insane? He doesn’t seem to realise that these are school boy errors, it’s almost deliberate!!

 

My final point is this: What is the advantage of turning against a man who isn’t going anywhere any time soon? It would be foolish to do so. Let’s face facts: the club don’t have the money to sack him and even if they did do you honestly believe they would use it to pay off Roeder? Not a chance in hell. He is staying till at least the end of the season and probably beyond. He isn’t the best manager in the world but he’s the best we’ve got and the best were going to get given the financial climate. Concentrate your anger on the board or else we are never going to get out of the sinking sand. Focus on replacing them. If the fans get behind the manager and the team it will breed confidence. Back the team ad not the board.

[/quote]loans; GR chooses how he spends the money and he chooses to spend it on loans. £8.5M worth on players wages.

arrogance and ego; when that attitude is extended to the way in which he treats the players, then recipe for disaster.

confidence; the manager also needs to insril that and doesn''t seem to be doing a very good job of it.

team selection; a matter of opinion and generally OK if we win but lose and all wrong. Your inference to deliberate in that paragraph may point to his Achilles heal.

performance; no teams supporters could have given GR as much support as ours have. 20,000 season tickets etc.

I am afraid his arrogance dictates the way he behaves to players and supporters and to ask supporters to ignore it and get behind him will be well nigh impossible now. Unless the team start winning then everything no doubt be fine. That is the reality I''m afraid.

[Soldier on 160]

Excellent post TCF.  The pressure must be put on the board not Roeder & the team.  Also I dont buy the story that Cullum has ''gone forever''.  Force Delia & Co out the door and I am quite certain that Cullum will be interested again.  I hope we are close to the end game because change at the top is what we so desperately need.

I also second the points about Harris.  Havent we needed investment for years now hence delia''s "any idiot that wants this club can have it" at the previous annual general meeting.  The fact that Harris has now been appointed smacks of publicity stunt and a lame attempt to deflect Cullum questions at this years annual general meeting.

That said why havent Archant attempted to get an interview of sorts from Harris.  What is his brief from delia?  Does his role at Cardiff represent a conflict of interest etc etc

[blahblahblah 2]

[quote]Well don''t hold your breath folks . . . he''s just become a director of Cardiff City.  If he finds any spare wonga lying around I think I can confidently state that we won''t be his first port of call . . . clear conflict of interests if you ask me.[/quote]

I think I''m right in saying that Mr Harris owns the company that is a specialist in arranging football club takeovers, they get a fee for doing this.  Mr Harris doesn''t arrange the takeovers personally.

[blahblahblah 2]

[quote] Force Delia & Co out the door and I am quite certain that Cullum will be interested again. [/quote]

Give me 1 genuine and recent quote from Cullum that leads you to believe this.  Just one.

[dave538football 0]

Most people accept that the problems at NCFC are from the combined impact of a manager with no personality, tactical awareness, or man management skills, a board who took Delia''s promise to be ''humble'' in the premiership too literally to the extent that we have become very humbled indeed, a chief executive who shows as much disdain and contempt for the fans as Roeder does, and a hard core of fans who bury their heads in the sand and put blind faith in the belief that everything will come good in the end if we (year after year) just weather the storm and keep paying good money for absolute rubbish. Hope I''m proved wrong but some of the posters on this board need to wake up to the fact that in any other business such incompetency as shown over the past four years by the so called ''managers'' of this club would have resulted in dismissal long before now. Norwich city fans have shown incredible patience and have endured absolute dross for too long; we''re on the way to Division 1 if drastic action isn''t taken now, so whats to be lost by making it clear changes are needed and must happen sooner rather than later?

[blahblahblah 2]

[quote]Norwich city fans have shown incredible patience and have endured absolute dross for too long; we''re on the way to Division 1 if drastic action isn''t taken now, so whats to be lost by making it clear changes are needed and must happen sooner rather than later? [/quote]

They won''t happen though will they.  How do you go about changing the board without the money to do so ?

[tribes 0]

[quote user="blahblahblah"]

[quote] Force Delia & Co out the door and I am quite certain that Cullum will be interested again. [/quote]

Give me 1 genuine and recent quote from Cullum that leads you to believe this.  Just one.

[/quote]There aren''t any.

Also GR not to be blamed at all?. Presumably because doesn''t have money to get decent players.

He doesn''t think so. Two fullbacks " best pair in the championship" he said awhile ago.

Kennedy " could be playing for AC Milan.

Hoolahan " one of new heroes".

Bell " only played 2 games and clubs after him"

Sibierski " we could not afford to buy player like that".

Lita. Not bad is he?.

Lupoli " Italian Serie A  Coundn''t afford to buy"

Marshall. Number 2 Scots keeper.

That is without Clingan, who most would say is a very good purchase.

He has the players then, who are not being paid peanuts, but a total of £8.5M for all players not including part of Litas.

It is of course Delias fault that the team isn''t performing.

[canary cherub 1]

[quote user="blahblahblah"]

[quote]Norwich city fans have shown incredible patience and have endured absolute dross for too long; we''re on the way to Division 1 if drastic action isn''t taken now, so whats to be lost by making it clear changes are needed and must happen sooner rather than later? [/quote]

They won''t happen though will they.  How do you go about changing the board without the money to do so ?

[/quote]

Change will happen eventually, it''s a cast iron certainty.  It''s just that the fans don''t feel there''s anything they can do to bring it forward.  They''re voting with their feet in increasing numbers but not because they expect it to achieve anything.  Ironically, apathy could turn out to be the most effective form of protest.

 

[singing canary 0]

im going to ask santa for ncfc for christmas,with a budget of 50 mill..( just for players)

[Soldier on 160]

No direct quotes blah blah a personal opinion that I am entitled to have as a result of email dialogue with Towergate press contact.  He has not confirmed that Cullum remains interested in buying/investing in the club.

However Cullum''s most recent article where he confirmed his interest was in acquiring new shares.  He stated that he would carry on as a life long supporter watching results with concern.  Once again he is a shrewd businessman.  Dont be surprised to see him surface at a time of his choosing to make another play for the club.

I may be wrong but if the Harris thing doesnt uncover any investment takers then I think we may be approcahing the end game.  Fan protests will in my opinion speed this process up.

All about opinions though isnt it??!

 

[blahblahblah 2]

[quote]Ironically, apathy could turn out to be the most effective form of protest.[/quote]

I agree with you here - the quickest way to get change would be to stay away.  The loss of income could also be very difficult to recover from.  I guess we''ll find out with the season ticket renewals.

[blahblahblah 2]

[quote user="Soldier on"]

No direct quotes blah blah a personal opinion that I am entitled to have as a result of email dialogue with Towergate press contact.  He has not confirmed that Cullum remains interested in buying/investing in the club.

However Cullum''s most recent article where he confirmed his interest was in acquiring new shares.  He stated that he would carry on as a life long supporter watching results with concern.  Once again he is a shrewd businessman.  Dont be surprised to see him surface at a time of his choosing to make another play for the club.

I may be wrong but if the Harris thing doesnt uncover any investment takers then I think we may be approcahing the end game.  Fan protests will in my opinion speed this process up.

All about opinions though isnt it??!

[/quote]

Don''t get me wrong soldier on, I''d like to believe that a billionaire former Norwich boy, and possibly the richest East Anglian since the middle ages, is going to ride to the rescue of our club, pick it up for a song, and throw money at it until it''s fixed.  I can''t see it happening though.

16,000 people signing a petition created enough buzz to get the A11 dualled a couple of years early.  How many names would you need to get to convince Cullum to be interested again ?

[Soldier on 160]

I dont know interesting question.  I think what most would like to see is Delia & Cullum come to an agreement for the benefit of the club.

Im surprised that nobody has some sort of Cullum petition up and running.  What harm can it do??  Would do it myself but I really wouldnt know how.

Having said that just because Cullum has claimed to have withdrawn interest doesnt mean that is true.  How many transfer deals are denied by all and sundry before they actually happen.

Its all a bit of a game isnt it.  Sure I remember an interview with Cullum where he claimed to love the thrill of the chase

[Clever Farke 64]

Totally agree that fans protests are the best way to speed the process up. Staying away will just enable the status quo to continue for longer.

[Mr Brownstone 0]

My Cullum source is indicating to me that any chance of a deal happening is dead in the water. Hand on heart though, i still think it will happen. Maybe that''s just blind hope though.

[canary cherub 1]

[quote user="blahblahblah"]

16,000 people signing a petition created enough buzz to get the A11 dualled a couple of years early.  How many names would you need to get to convince Cullum to be interested again ?

[/quote]

How many names you would need to get Delia to be interested is more to the point.

 

[canary cherub 1]

[quote user="earnsless"]Totally agree that fans protests are the best way to speed the process up. Staying away will just enable the status quo to continue for longer.[/quote]

Will it?  Why''s that then?

 

[Thecanaryfan 0]

[quote user="SNAP"]

Better defence than we''ve seen at Carrow Road for some months however........

......The “problem” (if problem is the right word) is that if someone is going to have an arrogant attitude they need to have a talent to match. Glenn Roeder has failed to show that talent at any club he has been with for a second season.

[/quote]

Depends what you mean by talent. If your referring to the team and the style of play I think you are wrong. The team have performed very very well in fits and starts this season. I think they have been very misfortunate to not have picked up more points. True performances have dwindled a little over recent weeks but that will change if Roeder is allowed to correct the areas where the team is failing. Remember - we could and should have been 3 or 4 goals to nil at half time against Swansea. It was the players who caved during those crucial 5 mins not Roeder.

We have played the best football we have in 3 years since Roeder took charge. There has been improvement. It is the board that needs replacing not Roeder.

[Yellow Fellow 0]

How can you blame Reoder when the only money he has had is to bring in a few mid to below par players (This sounds like the day Martin O''N walked out all over again). As for people saying we have too many loan players who else is going to want to come and play for us and how could we afford them. Ok the loan players may not be 100% to the cause as they can go back to their teams but who else do we have to make up the numbers? The youngseters aint up to it in my opinion but give them another chance and see what they can do off the back of their loan spells. If they still not up to standard should we sell or keep them. If we sell who can we buy with what little money we get and if we keep them they are only here to keep the squad numbers up.

The first changesat the club need to be a director and board level and then worked down through the club to player level. I think we should keep Reoder (how can we sack him and pay him off and bring in a new manager with no wages) and STAY IN THE CHAMPIONSHIP AT ALL COSTS! alough do you think if we went down it would de-value the club and someone might be tempted to buy us then?

 

Never mind the danger  

[Robert N. LiM 4,350]

[quote user="TCF"][quote user="SNAP"]

Better defence than we''ve seen at Carrow Road for some months however........

......The “problem” (if problem is the right word) is that if someone is going to have an arrogant attitude they need to have a talent to match. Glenn Roeder has failed to show that talent at any club he has been with for a second season.

[/quote]

Depends what you mean by talent. If your referring to the team and the style of play I think you are wrong. The team have performed very very well in fits and starts this season. I think they have been very misfortunate to not have picked up more points. True performances have dwindled a little over recent weeks but that will change if Roeder is allowed to correct the areas where the team is failing. Remember - we could and should have been 3 or 4 goals to nil at half time against Swansea. It was the players who caved during those crucial 5 mins not Roeder.

We have played the best football we have in 3 years since Roeder took charge. There has been improvement. It is the board that needs replacing not Roeder.

[/quote]

What he said - spot on. Especially the bit I''ve put in bold. The players deserve enormous flak for their gutless and unprofessional performance around half time. No one, not even Clingan, took a lead. They fell apart appallingly, and that''s their fault.

Roeder has made a Roed (geddit?) for his own back with his arrogant comments to the fans, and he was incredibly stupid to do so. But there are plenty of positives about the way the team has played this season, amongst all the undoubted negatives. I still support him. I do wish he''d shut up, though.

 

[Bigmarkcanary 0]

Some great posts in this thread, well said, especially TCF, Darren and Robert. [Y]

[ZLF 274]

Lay off Roeder: He is not the problem.

Wronmg wrong wrong.    Not all the clubs woes are down to him and the board has to take the shots for that.

However.  Responsibility for the on pitch performance IS his sole responsibility.  He has chosen his squad and it is his and only his job to get them performing week in week out.  So far he has failed miserably - and that is no one elses fault than his.

Performances against Brum and Wolves show what his squad can do;  and performance such as those against QPR etc also show how he is failing to chose the best team,  that his tactics are not deeply embedded and that he fails to motivate the team.    HIS team - which is good enough to compete - is inconsistent in the extreme due to his failures.

Once he has identified his best team,  has learnt to motivate his players and drilled them in the style of play so that injuries do not hinder performance then the clubs problems lie elsewhere.  In the meantime our current league position is down to the playing staff. 

 

    

[Thecanaryfan 0]

[quote user="ZippersLeftFoot"]

Lay off Roeder: He is not the problem.

Wronmg wrong wrong.    Not all the clubs woes are down to him and the board has to take the shots for that.

However.  Responsibility for the on pitch performance IS his sole responsibility.  He has chosen his squad and it is his and only his job to get them performing week in week out.  So far he has failed miserably - and that is no one elses fault than his.

Performances against Brum and Wolves show what his squad can do;  and performance such as those against QPR etc also show how he is failing to chose the best team,  that his tactics are not deeply embedded and that he fails to motivate the team.    HIS team - which is good enough to compete - is inconsistent in the extreme due to his failures.

Once he has identified his best team,  has learnt to motivate his players and drilled them in the style of play so that injuries do not hinder performance then the clubs problems lie elsewhere.  In the meantime our current league position is down to the playing staff. 

[/quote]

Apart from the 3 x wrong bit and the last three paragraphs, your post makes alot of sense.

[gazzathegreat 0]

Spot on Zipper. Shame as the team CAN play well, but are so inconsistent (due in some part to the tactics, changing them around and playing bizarrely out of position at times) he forces changes and therefore moves away from any semblance of those players gelling and learning each other''s game.

[lucky green trainers 0]

[quote user="ZippersLeftFoot"]

Lay off Roeder: He is not the problem.

Wronmg wrong wrong.    Not all the clubs woes are down to him and the board has to take the shots for that.

However.  Responsibility for the on pitch performance IS his sole responsibility.  He has chosen his squad and it is his and only his job to get them performing week in week out.  So far he has failed miserably - and that is no one elses fault than his.

Performances against Brum and Wolves show what his squad can do;  and performance such as those against QPR etc also show how he is failing to chose the best team,  that his tactics are not deeply embedded and that he fails to motivate the team.    HIS team - which is good enough to compete - is inconsistent in the extreme due to his failures.

Once he has identified his best team,  has learnt to motivate his players and drilled them in the style of play so that injuries do not hinder performance then the clubs problems lie elsewhere.  In the meantime our current league position is down to the playing staff. 

 

    

[/quote]fair comment zlf,,,the team is under-performing at the mo - but unfortunately many of his loan gambles haven''t come off, and this hasn''t helped...even if the side became reasonably settled, and began to perform to the level of their ability, it seems this will be only enough (maybe comfortably) to save us from the drop,,,if we continue to under-perform, then we must be looking at a relegation dog fight...