This club must move on from the "Worthy won Div 1" mantra for its own good

[Tumbleweed 106]

Reading many of the recent posts on the rights and wrongs of Worthy, the main evidence quoted by the defence is that Worthy won us the Div One championship. Yes, of course he did and we won by a good margin, although I have to say that our performances often didn''t match the apparent dominance shown by the end of season table.

However that''s all history now- it has little relevance to the current debate as to whether he is still the right man for the job. I see many adverts for financial products in the newspapers- they all carry a salient warning- past performance is no guarantee of future rewards. We need to remember that.

Worthy believes, so he tells us, in workrate, commitment and belief. So on those three measures we would expect his teams to be first rate. Yet anyone watching many of the recent games would see little evidence of this. The players look hardly out of puff when they finish and too often seem to be smiling- I want them on their knees in disappointment, knackered by the exertion of giving their all. Its not happening.

Worthy has made many signings yet got precious little out of them or played them in the wrong positions (Helveg in central midfield, Doc in attack??). His reaction has been to drop them- retreat to the safety zone of the core team from last season. A Divison One team bar Ashton. Where is the vision and leadership in that?

Worse, the talisman from the Div One team was ripped out leaving it gutless and spiritless. OK, so Malky would probably not have been up to the job against Arsenal and Chelsea, but as a team spirit and a figurehead on the pitch or the bench there were none better. Combine that with Iwan, perhaps only a 15 minute supersub but again a key component to our team spirit. Where is our leader now? Who is out there getting the sleeves rolled up and leading the battle cries? What happened to the England Rugby team when their talisman (Martin Johnson) left the side?

So not only have the training field basics and the tactics not improved from last year but the careful balance of the team, a blend of ability and psychology, has been destroyed

To his credit (but the disappointment of many on this Board) Worthy does not generally criticise the players in public. Dirty washing should definitely be kept behind closed doors.

I am undecided myself on Worthy- the case against is growing by the match but am inclined to give him 15 games next season. But our Board is just too damn nice to really bite the bullet. Football is a ruthless business and a manager may well be capable of reaching a certain height but it does not mean that they can sustain it or lead it to the next level. Reid at Sunderland, Burley at Ipswich, O''Leary at Leeds- recent examples of managers who did well for their clubs for a couple of years but then couldn''t halt the decline and action was taken too late. We are not there yet but we are closing in rapidly.

Beware inertia.

 

[charlies dad 0]

Good points, and well made. I beleive that Worthington should be given the chance to re-achieve promotion to the premiership. He''s done it once and all that. However i share your dissapointment and frustration that the team has taken a massive step back this season. In august, the bare minimum expected had to be above Palace and Brom, but not quite good enough to overcome an established premier team. This hasnt/wont happen, and the two sides mentioned have overtaken us dramatically whilst still not coming up to the mark. I disagree that Mackay would have made a difference. His performance for West Ham proves that. The persistent picking of Holt, Edworthy and Fleming in spite of sustained and abject form beggars belief. (Ooooohh an opinion, dear me!) Im looking for a massive improvement in effort on Saturday, even if we go down, we should go down fighting. Failing to make a tackle is not an option.

[Tumbleweed 106]

My point on Malky was what he brought as a figurehead rather than anything else. As to playing him, I doubt he would have been a first choice but against a less daunting attack may have been a good man for the physical stuff such as Bolton and Blackburn. Isn''t he captain at West Ham?

[Temp the Revelator 0]

Tumbleweed, you make a very good and I believe salient point about leadership and heart and soul of the club.  You''re right - regardless of their ability on the field, we have not replaced the character of Iwan and Malky.  I guess Worthy was hoping from more from some of the players, and was maybe asking them to step up to the challenge, but that hasn''t happened.

I would have expected more from Holt, in particular, and possibly Drury and Helveg, but the main culprit appears to be the man who has pictures of Worthy in a compromising position* - Fleming.  I have been totally disappointed with him in every aspect this season.  I completely endorsed his selection as POTS last season, but what a transformation - I think no-one at this club has missed Malky more than Fleming.

* this is purely speculation of course, but what other reason is there for his continued selection?