hypochondriac

It hasn't taken long until they dampened expectations for the season. Getting smashed by the top teams shouldn't be acceptable at all if we are looking for promotion.

Weren't we linked with one Portuguese free agent last week?

I disagree. I think we have made some decent footballing appointments this year, I just think the tactics have been wrong in the last few games and it has meant we have fallen well short. Ultimately Sports Republic are responsible for the footballing philosophy but they've clearly brought people in this year to push that and it doesn't seem like they have had much involvement with it. If the senior management team fail then I'd be blaming them first rather than Sports Republic who look like they've made reaosnable appointments on paper.

Yep. If we employ the same tactics tomorrow and we are two plus down at half time then I can imagine a number in the crowd flying off the handle and starting to give some abuse to the manager. It's one thing to lose, but quite another to get hammered with nonsensical tactics whilst refusing to change the setup (if we don't change the role of the wingbacks then I think that's going to cause some major friction when they inevitably give goals away again.)

The only reason for threads like this are due to our short term crap form, relegation and some bad decisions but in truth we have been on a decline for ages that largely predates Sports Republic. Given the money they have invested, they do deserve a chance to show they can rectify some of their early egregious errors. If we beat Ipswich and Boro (unlikely as that may be) then no one is going to be starting threads like this or questioning their motives. It will certainly be interesting though if we get hammered in both games this week to see how long SR allow Martin to persist with these tactics without change. Equally interesting will be what they decide to do next season if we finish mid table this year. Will we double down? Or go for something a bit more realistic and pragmatic (albeit a bit less exciting and "special"?)

Should be the latter option 100%. If we did that, played Charles as a dm, sorted out the stupid leaving no one back at corners then that's the majority of problems solved.

That was the worst thing that happened all game. I don't see how something like that cam occur without rank incompetence.

I wonder if Fonte was ever actually serious about coming back here. Imagine him next to THB with Charles back in defensive midfield. We'd probably still be fecking it up because of the ridiculous inverted FB thing but experience is so underrated in this league. Again, we've left ourselves without a wise head in key positions at CB and DM.

What experienced players do you mean? The problem we have isn't with our attack, it's with the defence and how we protect them from midfield. Bazunu had an alright game yesterday so the only players you could be referring to are kwp and then a whole bunch of our attacking players who have little to do with the shitshow at the back. Charles THB Manning Downes Fraser Had nothing to do with the past few years, Smallbone barely played, Edozie was pretty good yesterday so the remaining two are Armstrong and Adams so it's three maybe four players from that starting eleven. We need a back to basics approach. We have been crying out for years to have a player in their best position with a very clear idea of what their job is and what role they are doing for the team. If we have that and are still struggling then I'll agree with you but I strongly suspect that it would see a marked upturn in form and performance from a host of players.

And he's proud of the team? What's there to be proud of after you concede 4 goals at home?

I think the comments in here highlight that he can still have an alright game and ship goals. That means in other games when people have been rightly critical, he can also ship goals and perform poorly.

I wonder if he were honest with himself if he'd rather we played exactly how he wanted us to and lost or nothing like it and won. I am nervous it's the former.

Bollocks. More than half the team are new recruits. Many of these players have been top performers in promoted teams. It's the system that's causing this. An experienced and pragmatic manager woukd have us performing better than we are currently.

I think Martins deficiencies in this area were well known prior to his appointment. We've given him the time and it's clearly this is still what is sorely lacking. If we managed to sort the defensive setup (the fullbacks especially) then we'd probably be very successful. I'd say there's a good case for bringing in alternatives.

If he can't sort out the defence then he has to go. Football should be a simple game and we have excellent players for this division. We either need a new defensive coach or a complete rethink.

It sounds to me like he's more worried about how much they stick to his system than the actual results on the pitch. In one of the earlier games he said he was annoyed and unhappy because we hadn't played his system that well despite winning and here he sounds almost satisfied despite getting spanked at home because we've got closer to tippy tappy possession. I wonder if we play even closer to it on Tuesday and lose whether he will continue to be quite pleased with how things went.

He was the worst player on the pitch but I don't think it's his fault.

Defense needs to be Bazunu Kwp THB Bednarek Manning Charles But we need to play the fullbacks in their proper positions and not however Martin has been trying to play them as it doesn't work. With Downes possibly injured, we may have little choice but to play Smallbone but if we could just get him to play like he played in the first couple of games that would be brilliant.

Who is meant to be shielding the back four? I feel as if that's probably our most important position to make this system work and it isn't.

Yep. Could sneak playoffs if we get Stephens back and Stewart recovers and gets into some form. No chance of anything else playing this way though.

There were moments in the first half where Leicester wide players were just stood on their own with no full backs anywhere near them. I don't think the full backs have any idea what they are supposed to be doing. We've seen it with the amount of crosses that come into our box and with the lack of closing down. Similarly we had Edozie doing defensive work again, in front of the defense for one of the goals. I don't think a number of players know where they should be when we are defending which is what us causing all these problems. KWP is an excellent player yet he looks appaling. It has to be the coaching.

I'll be honest I thought he wasnt bad tonight. With everything else going to shit around him I thought he comes out with some credit.

But we know he's not terrible at all. It's obviously these tactics and the way it's played. Both him and Manning look like two of our worst players. It's not a coincidence.

I think some of our attacking play is nice enough. I can't see what shape we're supposed to be in when we are defending though. We have spells in games where we dominate and look the superior team but it doesn't last and we make terrible choices that lead to numerous chances and goals for the opposition.

That's the first time this season that I completely disagree with him and think he sounds like a loony. We weren't watching the same game if he thinks that.