Midfield_General

Alternatively, to run with WW1 analogy, Stephens is the sort of bloke who wouldn’t pay attention properly when the platoon were being instructed on the dangers of no man’s land, and would then step on a land mine and blow up half his own men by accident. He might not have meant to do it, but it was still entirely avoidable, completely his fault and the disastrous result is the same.

Where have you seen/ heard that?

It’s a shame we need competent defenders who understand the concept of marking rather than someone who can handle a machine gun then really isn’t it. Footballers crying as well - good lord. Give me strength. Absolute performative bullshit. You can show how much it means to you by tracking every run, making every tackle, working relentlessly in training at the elements of your game that need improvement, never accepting mediocrity from yourself or those around you, never getting yourself pointlessly sent off when you’re meant to be the captain. Funny how you never saw players crying before 1990 isn’t it, before images of Gazza made a huge media splash which I’m sure is a complete coincidence.

Spotted at Ocean Village moving his furniture back in earlier this evening 👍

Also who could forget the unironic lap of honour they did last year when they finally scraped onto 12 points. Doing a lap of the pitch, laughing, celebrating and giving it the fist pumps like they'd won the Cup, because they'd managed to become only the second worst Premier League side of all time. Reinforced by a gloating official tweet from the club, directed at Derby. Fucking embarrassing, but a perfect illustration of the mindset that now permeates the club from top to bottom. It's a club stocked to the brim with losers.

Having met Bazunu he's as meek as a church mouse so I very much doubt he's got that level of spirit in him. He probably also can't believe anyone is still picking him so I don't think he'd be looking to rock the boat. My money is one the ones who have been around since the Martin days, have the most obvious arrogance about them, give up the quickest when the going gets tough, are the most contemptuous towards the fans and/or give it the big one at the slightest opportunity despite having been desperately bang average themselves for longer than anyone can remember. Specifically: Stephens, Manning, Harwood-Bellis, Downes, Armstrong, Fraser, Aribo and McCarthy. Wood also gives me wanker vibes and appears to be so dumb I could see him just going along with the school bullies. I'd get rid of the lot of them at the drop of a hat if it was possible. Just sweep the entire rotten thing clean and start again with a new generation and new ownership who bring in a proper manager and coaching staff to lead them.

Watch SR sack Tonda and then go all out for Wilfried Nancy

Agree, 100%. Still, I expect the appointment of Ben Garner as Tonda's assistant, from Ghana's Right to Dream Academy and most recently in England sacked by Colchester in 2023, will really bring the steady senior hand and professional gravitas that this group so badly needs. At last, the experts at Sport Republic have finally understood the level of quality needed for success at this level, and are stopping at nothing to bring in people like Ben who will really make an impact with players and fans alike. Added to an elite backroom staff comprising of legends of the game Jeremy Newton, Ben Reeves, Ryan Flood and analyst Albert Jones, it's brought a real wave of renewed optimism and a feel-good factor that should stand us in great stead as we look to roar back to the Premier League. They've really pinpointed the issue and stopped the rot. Well done lads. Well done.

Three of whom have still been regular starters this season, so will be likely to 'set the tone' for the dressing room, and there's also McCarthy as well. I don't disagree with you, and I don't condone it, I'm just saying I can see how the toxicity might spread when it's a relentless parade of nobody after nobody coming into the pivotal role from which the leadership tone is set. Have you ever joined a new company, walked in through the door and realised that the team you've joined are all utterly demoralised and have basically given up? Even if you're new and keen, it knocks any motivation out of you pretty quickly and it doesn't take long to be sucked into a toxic culture. Which yes, usually stems from the bitter old-timers who have been there the longest and drag everyone down with them. I agree that they need to take responsibility, but with a bunch of spoilt, self-centred twats like we've got, it's starting to feel like a big 'name' who they at least respect the professional career of might be the only way to shake them up. I'm probably wrong of course, I'm just clutching at straws because the whole thing is so utterly demoralising and depressing and I really don't know where we go from here.

Utterly pathetic as their display was yesterday, I'm actually not entirely surprised that the players clearly don't give a fuck anymore. Since Ralph went, they've seen a relentless succession of nobodies walk through the door. Selles, Jones, Martin, Rusk, Still, Eckert. Not one man who has achieved anything of any note whatsoever in the game, either as a player or a manager. Some of them haven't even played the game at any decent level. They're absolute non-entities. The only one who really had anything vaguely of note on their CV was Juric, from managing a club the size of Roma, but even then he had failed there pretty much completely. He also took over a squad that was utterly broken at the time and beyond saving. Obviously Martin got a tune out of them for a season, but even then he didn't have much by way of a CV when he came in. 29 appearances in six years for an appalling Scotland side who didn't qualify for a single tournament, whoop de fuckin do. If you were in your well-paid, high-profile job, and every 6 - 12 months you were informed that your latest manager had gone because they were shit, and then they were replaced by yet another new person who basically also had zero track record or credibility for the level you and your company was apparently meant to be aspiring to, how would you react? Some of these players have had that up to six times now. It in no way excuses it, but I can see why they must be getting as jaded as we are at the endless parade of losers and nobodies who are brought in to 'lead' them. Part of me understands why they might just go 'well the club clearly don't care about delivering success, so why should we?', and just sit back and trouser their £40k a week for the next 4 years or whatever deal they're on. It must be pretty difficult to be motivated when most of the people who are brought in to manage you have a lower standing in the game than you and half the players around you.

Alright lads I’ve been out this afternoon, how did it go?

And a pie Don't forget the pie, that made a 600 mile round trip in the snow to support a bunch of spineless cowards led by a puppet all worthwhile

Second best for the first part of the first half but have come more into the game the longer it's gone on. They've had more of the ball but we've had the best chances and should be ahead. Three golden chances to take the lead from Azaz, Downes and Fellows and we've not taken any of them. Azaz and Fellows both playing well and causing them problems. Overall though we're playing better and if we stick at it and don't do anything silly we could get something here. What I really, really hope doesn't happen though is the manager make some unnecessary changes just because he's decided earlier this week that those are the changes he's going to make no matter what. No-one looks tired, we're doing alright, so just leave it as it is until 65-70 minutes and then if we need to change it, make decisions at that point based on what's actually happening in the game in front of you.

You think that in the second tier, with £55m+ spent, a squad full of internationals and under-21 internationals, probably the best player in the division, and the league's current top goalscorer, he will have achieved success if he doesn't relegate us? This place is priceless

Puppet on a String, In honour of Tonda. But nothing by Plan B.

I'm sure when he's giving his next tactical masterclass interview on Sky he'll be talking about how he put the foundations in place and built a platform for Danny to achieve success

As discussed on the 'non-Saints games' thread: Nancy took over a team who’d won 7 out of 8, changed the system and formation to fit his 'philosophy', and has now lost 6 in 8, with the same players. Rohl took over a team 8th in a 12-team league who'd only won 1 out of 7 league games, changed it away from Martin's 'philosophy' which was utterly failing, and now has them 3 points off the top and with a very real chance of winning the title, with the same players. But apparently managers and formations aren’t important, according to some on here 🤣

Nancy looking like he might be in contention for the Nathan Jones trophy for how quickly you can get appointed and then sacked. Took over a team who’d won 7 out of 8, changed it all, and has now lost 6 in 8 with the same players. But apparently managers and formations aren’t important, according to some on here 🤣

We can only dream

Great game. Rohl slowly pulling Rangers into title contention and showing just what an appalling job Martin did with the same players. But how the fuck is Paul Tisdale director of football at Celtic? That’s hilarious.

It will be interesting to see how long they give him if this current slump continues. While we won’t go down, we’re currently one defeat and goal difference away from being 18th. If we start slipping back down towards the relegation places, lose away at the skates and keep playing this shite football then the crowd could easily turn toxic again, and we all know how this board of cowards and idiots reacts to deflect attention from their own failures when that happens.

So according to German media it seems that the situation with Peretz is: - He’s a Bayern player - He’s been on loan at Hamburg but hasn’t played - Bayern want to terminate the loan, recall him and then loan him to us - The player really wants the move - Hamburg originally agreed to it but have now put the brakes on terminating the loan until they’ve brought in a replacement who can take over as their no. 2 - The player didn’t report for training at Hamburg, but the coach said this wasn’t related to the situation and was because a flight was cancelled which was outside his control So it’s gone from a ‘done deal’, to now being dependent on Hamburg signing someone else or changing their stance.

More genius recruitment work from ‘squad planning is an art’ Spors

We have some decent individuals but too often we don't resemble a team, in terms of the personnel we've recruited, the roles they play, how they complement each other to make a whole, and how and where they are utilised by the manager. We're lopsided, dysfunctional and missing too many key components of a successful team - a reliable goalkeeper, an organising defender and a strong physical presence up front, to name but three.

And in the meantime, let's take a look at how he's utilised one of the few players we have who actually does have standout creative quality and can unlock defences, Leo Scienza, over the important Christmas period: - vs. Oxford: Subbed him off on 55 minutes, with the game in the balance at 1-1 and us needing a goal, presumably to 'keep him fresh for the next match'. We went on not to score any more goals and to lose the actual game we were playing in at the time against Oxford 2-1. - vs. Birmingham: The game he was presumably 'keeping him fresh' for. He dropped him to the bench, so he didn't get on the pitch at all until the 58th minute. So we kept him fresh in order to play him for just over half an hour, by which time we were a goal down and chasing the game. Final score, 1-1. - vs. Millwall: Subbed him off at half-time, with the score at 0-0 and with us needing to find a way to break them down. Presumably to 'keep him fresh' for the Boro game? Final score, 1-1. So this genius's management of our star player, and probably the best player in the division, has seen him only have him on the pitch for just over half the available time he could have been trying to win matches for us, and this visionary 'managing of minutes', against two teams below us in the league and one not in the play-off places, has delivered a whopping 2 points from 9. And meanwhile our only other real standout creative attacking talent, Fellows, is being instructed to spend half his time defending. What a manager.