Fabrice29

Did it go in the net and therefore under the bar?

He suits a system of having to defend with the ball rather than without it. He’s good on the ball and a good reactive, recovery defender. He’s exposed when it comes to having to defend his box and go up against powerful forwards at this level.

Martin and his team selection got us two nil up then presumably, if that’s the way it works? Or maybe the defeat was because we went down to 10 men, got run over physically and in the final moments the ref went to blow his whistle, they won a corner instead and smashed a ball from the edge of the box under the bar rather than into it like yesterday. Fine margins.

We literally went down attempting all guns blazing stuff 2 seasons ago. And guess what…it was crap, it didn’t feel like we were all guns blazing because we were so bad at it, there’s no guarantee that ‘all guns glazing’ translates into results or football you would enjoy. What is more likely is you’ll see a squad that’s largely physically out of its depth get rolled over completely and torn apart even more than we do now. Last year we scored a lot of goals, that isn’t going to translate because the league is ridiculously tough and ruthless at both ends, but you need to stick with them as the team navigates it. I’d much rather us try and bait teams in and fuck it up ourselves than attempt to match teams for speed and tempo and get beat up every week. You don’t have to go if you’re not enjoying it. It’s beyond bizarre people who have been moaning for over a year now continue to go and then moan again.

We could have been sat here talking about 2 previous home wins if the fine margins went our way previously. That’s the ruthlessness of this league and combine that with the fact that we’re the worst team in it on paper based on the last 2 seasons, we’re going to have to accept that until we get a striker or proper defender that can decide games on their own, fine margins will be a big factor and we’ll have to stick with them each time they fall against us.

The difference fine margins make in this league is crazy. Feels good this time.

I'm well aware we changed goalkeeper for those games because (if we're being pedantic about such minute details) I watched those games and at least one of the goals we scored included a short pass from McCarthy to his defenders and us "passing out" but again...things are much more nuanced than "THIS KEEPER ISNT AS COMFORTABLE AS OTHERS AND WE WON SO OUR TACTICS MUST HAVE CHANGED COMPLETELY WHY CANT WE DO THAT AGAIN ITS SO OBVIOUS OMG!!!" And again...if we're talking things you haven't recognised...you seem to be omitting the fact that we had success against those teams with Bazanu in goal too.

Don't think I mentioned McCarthy did I? Happy to be corrected.

Talking of things that never happened, the victories over West Brom, Leeds and quite a few others before those four games and the season in which we finished bottom attempting to play higher tempo, less passing around the back and quick delivery to the front. It's almost as if things are slightly more nuanced than "good manager and high tempo ffs!"

Again, not what I said. Win or lose today it doesn’t define his tenure or his ability as a manager and win or lose I’ll probably still think the players will have played some part. Radical, I know.

Yeah you’ve said that twice now. Well done. And just for clarity, I’ll laugh at those who have been and will continue to be so definitive in their views on RM being a terrible appointment. And if we don’t win, I’ll continue to laugh at them.

Except I didn’t say it has nothing to do with him either way did I? I made the point because some people seem so emotionally invested in him that every good or bad result will ultimately be a judgement on him. It’s extreme and probably part of an unhealthy English football culture ultimately but your responses just seem to highlight the extreme nature of it all, it can only be all his fault or nothing to do with him. Nobody seems capable of actually finding or even exploring the nuanced truth in the middle.

Btw just a quick reminder to those below and others so obsessed with RM that he’s just the manager, the game isn’t just won or lost because of who the manager is and having him as the manager isn’t the only thing that matters. Just insane levels of obsession on here.

Imagine being aggrieved by one person ffs. Thinks we’ll win but positioning himself to not enjoy it if we do.

I sometimes suspect that you don't know what a fact is and more often than not I'm right.

This is funny because Russell Martin has delivered on the objective he was tasked with in his first season, bought together a broken dressing room and completely changed the style of play of a squad whilst doing it so it feels likes got quite a lot to show any prospective future employers. Suspect he probably manages in Europe for example before we get there as a club tbh.

Beautifully put. Completely ignores the total incompetent team we became last team we did all that in this league and how the possession based obsession got us back to this league of course but hear bloody hear!

How’s McKenna getting on this year out of interest?

Maybe most people who go to the games are more measured, appreciative of the circumstances and happy to see how we do up until now? Not everyone has to be as angry as you or others online.

That’s a you problem not SR.

Listen to yourself pal 🤣

I’m not, no. But I’m not so angry at one man that I think it’s all his fault.

Hahahaha fucking hell.

You’re angry at one man. It’s odd.

You really have to stop watching pal. You’re not enjoying it, that’s okay but you’re out here being so angry at one man you’re comparing him with a whole football club. Doesn’t feel healthy. Walk away, at least from the website.