derry

Three self inflicted goals. The first was one of the worst pieces of defending I've ever seen. The second was stupid defending leaving the keeper exposed to make a decision which he didn't make and ended nowhere. Sugawara was unlucky as he chested the ball onto his arm. Onuachu was playing well when taken out by Gakpo from behind. Armstrong and Dibling were good. Dibling especially. Fernandes played well. The back five did their best and McCarthy as a goalkeeper gave it a good go however his playing out from the back is suicidal as as the whole theory. The manager is the problem. We scored two goals on the break. This team is better than the manager he needs sacking before he can do any more damage. I'd like to add that our lack of a co-ordinated physical press is also an indictment of the manager's pie in the sky theory. A one trick pony I'm afraid.

The one thread that is constant in our play is the average slowness of our possession and the lack of pressure on the opposition because they are able to defend in numbers. The only way there can be improvement is for the tempo to be increased, transition quickly and break the opponents defensive lines. Does anybody in their right mind think for one second Martin will do that. We could wait for ever to see this present style improve into a workable system at this level. With Wolves winning again we are being cut adrift slowly but surely.

Liverpool sites calling his method "Arrogant and Naive"

The trouble is we aren't sucking the opposition in to create the space behind to break out. What the opponents are doing is massing behind the ball and due to the slowness of our recycling just retreating into a massed barrier we have neither the space or ability to breach. 7 goals for and 21 against says it all. It's just a con wasting two seasons and hopefully not many more.

If in the unlikely event that the people running the club are geniuses who see something nobody on this planet has seen in over a century of football to expect supporters to go and watch the unwatchable work in progress and pay is dishonest in the extreme. To sell it as competing in the Premier League is a scam. If they want to run it as a project then try and sell it to the supporters as such, accepting virtually losing every match, not competing and preparing to be relegated without trying to stay up. I don't buy that. Trying to sign players would be completely dishonest without admitting we and they aren't good enough, that'll work. What I see is unwatchable going nowhere garbage that the average player is unable to play at this level. Martin's project is fatally flawed because it doesn't work.

Total Garbage.

No he's got Russell Martin syndrome, playing in a garbage style and out of position. What's the point of buying players and playing them inappropriately.

I've just watched the U21s playing Wealdstone in the National League Cup. They lost 1-3 and scored a late goal from a corner. Exactly like the first team, total garbage. As an example, for the last minute and a half needing a goal we just recycled the ball including possibly three free kicks on the halfway line. "Hail Mary" time, everybody into the box, no fear, pass it sideways and back to the keeper and out to the full backs, etc, etc, never got over the halfway line, shades of Manchester City, the ball went back to our keeper then the full time whistle was blown. I think the players are playing by numbers and virtually brain dead. Much like the so called coaches. Can somebody invent another game this one is a scam.

However they have only lost five games as opposed to our nine and are out of the bottom three.

So no danger of a boot hitting you on the head or the tray of drinks hitting the wall after losing. Sod the love. Alex Ferguson wasn't successful with the love, they were bloody terrified of him. We need something different.

Ipswich just beat Spurs 2-1. We're now 4 points behind. Ipswich, high press, high tempo and fast breaks. Still it's a lot easier to stroll, pass short and slow, lose and pick up loads of money. Something wrong somewhere.

If that's a quote the man is a deluded idiot albeit on a rock star's salary. The club seems full of con men, can be the only conclusion. As he rightly says the guys at the back take all the risks. So stop taking the risks because as soon as they start rotating the ball opponents breathe a sigh of relief, form up and put the whole team in front of the ball making it incredibly difficult to pass through. If he wants to break the line, change the focus, pass the ball quickly forward thence to the breaking forwards maximum two or three passes into the space behind the defenders. Use the whole width and attack out to in. Equally in defence defend in to out instead of kamikaze wing backs leaving spaces for opponents to exploit. Never mind three centre backs defend with a back four. What we are currently doing will never work at this level unless we do it with the best players in the world and that can't happen. We have some good players that aren't being used to their natural strengths and are currently wasted. We need a manager that throws away the dogma and looks at the players and puts them into a framework that brings the best out of them, supports colleagues and provides the team with it's best chance. At the moment they are like actors reading from a script and daren't adlib. Sad to say they are getting the results their play deserves. Everything is so slow. High tempo, hard press, physical challenge and hard running is the way to go. It is long past the time for change.

That was a hypothetical figure circa £12m and covered all the costs of the existing contracts and replacement contracts. In my view worth every penny.

I think this particular train has hit the buffers.

How would he be if we made him the focal point and gave him the service he needs and stick BBD alongside. I think that might well rattle a few cages.

I just wanted to check he had left Coventry but we could do a lot worse than Mark Robbins.

All through the week we had a number of Martin style supporters trying to argue the science of the style I have long labled garbage. At either end of the pitch there is the only reason to play the game one you defend to stop the other team scoring and at the other you do your damnest to score. Endlessly recycling the ball five yards at a time mostly in one's own half is total nonsense. Today 71% possession and 9 shots 0 on target. That isn't football it's the absolute opposite. Probably 90% of our passing was worthless and led to the endless recycling. The team lacks shape and apart from the passing seemed to have no idea how to mount attacks and if they do it has taken us so long we are still facing the whole opposition closing us down. Onuachu and BBD come on but still no crosses into the penalty area. Multiple corners just aimlessly crossed. There seems an obsession with full backs running wide and leaving us open, we'd be better served with a back four that concentrated on defending and used attackers and midfielders to attack. Martin needs sacking but the knobs who advocate and condone this garbage probably won't.

Arsenal. Downes pass to Saka for Arsenal's first goal. Fatawu tore us a new one v Leicester.

I've just been watching the U21s, two quick breaks 0-2 up at Woking. Playing the same garbage indiscriminate possession at the back. Mess up numerous times going nowhere, two quick goals against 2-2 at half time. The U21s are worse at it than the first team but not much!

I absolutely agree. I've got coaching badges which in the main bear little resemblance to managing. The only thing I can say in my opinion successful management is "keep it simple, stupid" something all the really successful managers do. Look at the players, see what they can do, put them into a shape that complements their abilities, and look for blend and balance. What we are seeing is garbage and doesn't work. We are the worst team in the league that concedes three times as many goals as we score. We have been worked out and are easy to play against. Very few of our goals for were multi passing goals but either set pieces or quick breaks. Thanks to our goalkeeper and a quick break which all the other teams do we scored and clung on to win v Everton. Abysmal defending cost us 5 points against Leicester and Ipswich. Downes gave the ball away v Arsenal and a couple of passes later their equaliser was in our net.

I saw the Fernandes - Young incident live. Young recklessly pushed the ball into Fernandes's face with both hands. Never mind the yellow card to Fernandes Young should have been sent off. It was violent conduct. Andy Madley made a poor decision. VAR should have intervened.

One thing we did better was defending corners, I noticed for once that we were covering the D at the edge of the area. Everton weren't easy because they had three good headers of the ball.

Delighted with the win. The break for the goal was brilliant and cut Everton to pieces. Armstrong hit that perfectly coming in on his right foot and bending it away from the unsighted keeper. Fernandes was the best player on the field. Young should have gone for pushing the ball into his face. We were hanging on at the end. We played the ball around quicker in the first half and Archer made a couple of good breaks. All that game proved for me is the passing around really achieves very little. As with the Leicester game it was the full backs breaking quickly and getting in behind that opened up the defence. The back three defended well, however Stephens gave the ball away stupidly as he does. We defended better with the three centre backs. Going to two made us more vulnerable but led to the goal. That offside was too close for comfort.

Not what I think, but what Martin was quoted as saying on Newsnow.

It might be because RM was remarking how well Armstrong was doing and that his opportunity might come soon.