CSA96

Inclined to say this is more bad news for the club. You simply cannot keep chopping and changing the directors and managers at the rate we've done in recent years. No wonder the team is all over the place and the squad seems to always be a bit of a hotch-potch mess

It's almost 2026 and we're still rolling out Alex McCarthy as our #1...

I'd go to 4-2-3-1 as I think the key to getting out of this rut is going to be getting Scienza, Fellows and Azaz on the pitch and in the final third at the same time. I hear the criticism of Azaz and some of it is pretty fair, but he has proven it with Boro and with Plymouth and has back to back double-digit seasons for goals and assists. We need to find a way to get him going and that's on the coach We've committed £15m on him and don't have any other No. 10s in the squad, so he needs to bed in and find his feet quickly So I'd go for... McCarthy Roerslev Stephens Wood Manning Charles Downes/Jander Fellows Azaz Scienza Armstrong - Reasoning... Defence: get your experienced heads in there, take Edwards out of the firing line now and keep Quarshie watching. THB can play instead of Stephens if you prefer but I think Jack gives you more leadership and personality (yes, I know...) Midfield: I like Jander but his slack passing has cost us about three times now? Flynn is experienced and a bit more 'streetwise' in the Championship. Wouldn't drop Shea Charles, so it's up to you if you want Jander or Downes here Forwards: Archer is a dead weight so sack him off, get Fellows and Scienza where they should be (out wide and running at the full backs) and put Arma up top because he's the only striker worth anything if the ball comes to his feet in the box or 1v1 (even if he can't lead the line well and it's not his best role) Find a way to become more transitional when we're attacking. Get the ball into Azaz early and try and get Scienza, Fellows, Armstrong running into channels and beyond the defensive line That's all I've got but it's what I'd do at this stage

If we did sack him, I'd go for Tony Mowbray Heaps of experience. Didn't work out at WBA back end of last season, granted, and missed the playoffs, but prior to that he was on a run of four straight 'hits' in the past decade I would say... Coventry, Blackburn, Sunderland, Birmingham all improved with him and missed him once he was gone He is also liked and well-respected by fans of seemingly all of his former clubs and used to working with younger players, developing people and inheriting situations that need stabilising The counter to that would be that his most recent job didn't go well in this division and he's been getting over a health scare with his cancer diagnosis. Then there is the fact that his brother Darren was sacked by Johannes Spors and would probably have a few words for his older brother on Sport Republic...

Yeah I'm not sure I would yet but it's rapidly heading there. Which is what was said at the top end of the post

He was invited by Fleming as his guest

I just despise the hire and fire culture of modern football. Ange getting 39 days was just mental too. What was the point in hiring him, for example? Derby was what, game 8? Still too soon to sack a manager when we were 4pts off the playoff spots at that stage. But know what you mean

Neil Warnock's got his feet up

I don't want to lose too much time to tonight's game but going to share some thoughts I expressed on X and slam them together here... Have to say that we are quickly arriving at sacking territory for Will Still, unfortunately. I say unfortunately because he has been left high and dry by continuous stupidity from players and yet another fluffed transfer window by Sport Republic. He's not been great but I really do sympathise with the conditions There's no way of dressing it up, two wins from 11 games when you're managing a relegated PL side that just spent £50m on new players in the window is nowhere near good enough. But the sheer amount of maddening individual mistakes has been staggering And then you have the summer window. We are 4yrs into Sport Republic's ownership and still rolling out Bazunu and McCarthy as GK options. Needed a proper centre forward for years, yet punted £7m on Damion Downs - who looks dreadful - and Ross Stewart who can't stay fit 4 wins in 49 league games over 17 months. Presided over two relegations - one a huge, season-long humiliation - and continuously failed in windows despite committing funds. Only one decent managerial hire to their name (Martin in 2023) - SR have surely run out of road once and for all? There is now a run of four games: Blackburn away, Preston home, QPR away, Sheff Wed away before another international break from Nov 9. If he can't win 2/3 of those games and oversee an upturn in performances AND results (wins, not draws) then he will need to go I put a large share of what's happening on the players but players and squads are not sacked mid-season (nice thought...), but coaches are. Who they'd go for next I have absolutely no idea and I almost don't want to think what sort of hire they might make next, should it come to that

Since it looks like we'll be staying in this division for at least another year at this rate, I would be looking to sign Nathan Wood down to a new contract as a priority

So what's your solution if all three of the three available strikers shouldn't be considered?

The set up he went for created a clean sheet, 21 shots, 8 shots on goal and 4 clear chances. With those statistics you are always expecting to win the game, that's on the players composure and efficiency in individual moments and not related to the manager or the system

Games like this one just make me feel sorry for Will Still. Picked a decent lineup, defended well, created a tonne of chances, got a load of shots off… almost out of words with the wastefulness of our forward players. Pathetic finishing

Huh?

Wee Ross rides again!

Sorry, you’re holding up Watford as an example?

Not really. He'll get a decent Championship job because the last time he managed in the Championship he pushed 90pts and won the playoffs. That's enough to get you a crack with an underperforming Champ side with top six ambitions He was willing to take a Championship job before Rangers (he got offered the Leicester job and had meetings with WBA) so I'm sure he'd still be willing to take one next time around. He'd probably benefit from a bit of time out of the game because the Rangers experience has been a bit of an ordeal for him really And as much as Rangers was a total shitshow, there are also quite a few other contributing factors at that club (not that I am trying to find excuses for Dear Old Russ...) and a Champ side will look at Saints and Swansea as more relevant experience

He wasn't playing as a 10, we were playing a 3-4-2-1 with Arma up top and Fellows and Scienza as the two just off him to either side. Fellows was tracking back to help Fraser on the right side but Manning was looking very exposed on the left

The only thing I’d say is that he didn’t really help Manning out much and Manning wasn’t having a good game, perhaps as a result of a lack of support. WS pushed Fellows over to the left who, based on selection this season, is someone he sees as having a higher defensive work rate

Looked positive, got to be the most effortless dribbler of a ball we've had in quite some time? Does look a bit lightweight and needs to cut out the theatrics (they're a bit tedious already) but he looked dangerous at Derby, end product wasn't consistently good, but he always wanted to run at people, draw fouls, get a shot off from distance, play a through ball... we need more of that. He should stay in the side for Swansea

It’s soon to be 2026 and we’ve still got Alex McCarthy in goal and our two options for leading the line are Ross Stewart and Damion Downs I’m putting more of the blame on the execs than the manager but he of course isn’t without blame Still was very clear about how he wanted us to play and the profile of striker he needed and we’ve not provided it

Yes, very much the right profile

Thought he looked bloody good in the first 30 today and was bringing better performances out of those around him too. Fuck sake. Gutted for him but how we've let ourselves become so reliant on him is just a result of awful squad planning

Just back in the front door from Derby Thoughts... It was a game of two halves, but in the sense that the first half of the game was the 30 minutes where Ross Stewart was on the pitch and the second half of the game was the next hour. Honestly, I felt we looked great with Ross on the pitch, probably as cohesive and threatening as we've looked all season. Lots of nice, mixed passing, a balance of quick short play and direct play into Stewart and then exposing the space between the Derby back four and the midfield. Ross individually looked very good and managed to bring the others around him into the game and occupy the centre halves. Hopefully his injury is a minor one Sadly, after Ross went off, we seemed to almost immediately become drained of all ideas of how to progress the play beyond the midfield. Not enough movement, not enough penetration and zero physicality to use as a platform to bring others into the game. As a result the midfield pattern of play became a hell of a lot more sideways and backwards than it was in the opening half an hour as midfielders continually looked up to see nobody moving or stretching the Derby lines I have spent a fair bit of time defending/trying to be pragmatic about Downs but my goodness, he really offers such little to this team. The runs aren't right, he takes up odd positions out of possession, he doesn't press the backline, he doesn't win enough in the air and his touch/first-time passes are clumsy I actually feel a bit sorry for him because he looks way off it and, ordinarily, a 21yo striker would be able to dip his toe in and find his way into this league with some 15 minute cameos in games where business is already taken care of Given the scenario we're in, he gets thrown in when we're under pressure, the crowd is restless and he doesn't deliver and then takes more criticism on his shoulders. He looks absolutely bereft of self-belief right now and I'm not entirely sure what the answer to that is. I'd ordinarily say he needs to play through it but he is such a passenger that it is not fair on the other 10 lads on the pitch - maybe a loan and/or 21s games in the meantime? Anyway, going from back to front... McCarthy was great today and the defence, by and large, seemed pretty settled and comfortable. Wood continues to impress me. I was happy with the defence and the midfield in the past week or so, but it felt like our question marks were in goal and in the final third. We seem to have calmed down the goalkeeping situation now somewhat and McCarthy should stay in goal indefinitely this season. There's a 'spine' emerging of McCarthy, Wood, Charles, Jander, Armstrong and ??? (I hesitate to say Stewart due to his injury woes) At the other end, we're still all over the place really. Given how obvious Will Still was about his desire to have a physical profile up front to build his attack and entire tactical approach around, to be finding ourselves in a situation where by the first weekend of October we already look shit-or-bust based on whether Ross Stewart's body to sustain itself for an entire season isn't acceptable. For the only feasible alternative to be Damion Downs, who we spent £7m on and looks miles off the level right now, is also unacceptable. At best it is naive from Spors and co, at worst it is negligent I feel we've not yet found the best way to make use of our new signings in the wide areas: Fellows, Scienza, Azaz. These are guys with pedigree (some in this league, some elsewhere) and we've seen flashes from all of them. My feeling is that the formation is helping the central midfielders and the defenders but requiring our new wide players to play roles they aren't quite accustomed to yet. Scienza looked lively today, I loved his positivity in always looking to go forward and he is an effortless dribbler. He needs to cut out the play-acting though because that's already becoming slightly tedious Beyond that, I thought Charles and Jander looked good again in the middle today. Today felt like a game where we got enough from the keeper, defence and midfield to win the game, but the lack of ideas from the forwards left us high and dry and made the draw feel pretty inevitable