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Posted
36 minutes ago, Charlie Wayman said:

Evidently, Will Still is a very poor communicator witnessed by his painful press conferences. Is there any reason to suppose that he is any better at communicating with his players especially the more stroppy and arrogant ones.

That could be part of his problem, players take little notice of him because he can't get clear messages across

Disagree completely, the footage I saw of him from his previous jobs where he was giving team talks and training in multiple languages simultaneously. I don't give a fuck about saying the right things in press conferences, Martin said a lot of good things when interviewed with us. 

  • Like 13
Posted
2 hours ago, Badger said:

Who was he talking to ? If he was consulting  Trollope that's one thing, conferring with Nivea another. 

Or was he just talking to himself in the Tech Area. ? That might mean deeper problems for both us and him.

I'm really not sure. It was to a fellow human though! But my overall concern is a slow reaction time to change things. Whether that's because he's new and lacking confidence in himself, or wants to seek counsel, I do not know.

Posted

The more I reflect, the more concerned I am. We looked totally clueless yesterday as we have for most of the season. He bought wingers for crosses but we don’t have the forwards to get on the end of them. What on Earth is going on? I just can’t see how that will improve. Surely he won’t abandon wingers after insisting on needing them for ages. I am genuinely totally at a loss to understand what he’s trying to achieve.

  • Like 2
Posted

My concern with Still and his poor start is that if we look through every manager we've had in say the last 20 years I think its safe to say we've known if they're going to be good or bad once we're 7 games in.  I can't think of any managers that have looked poor at the start and turned out well or vice versa.  What we got at the start, we got for the rest of the time with the club.  Not looking good for Still on that basis. 

  • Like 6
  • Sad 1
Posted
1 hour ago, The Wyvern said:

My concern with Still and his poor start is that if we look through every manager we've had in say the last 20 years I think its safe to say we've known if they're going to be good or bad once we're 7 games in.  I can't think of any managers that have looked poor at the start and turned out well or vice versa.  What we got at the start, we got for the rest of the time with the club.  Not looking good for Still on that basis. 

Took Strachan quite a number of games to get his first win from memory and then we were patchy before an uptick. Not always the case that how we started with a manager was what we got longer term.

  • Like 4
Posted
1 hour ago, The Wyvern said:

My concern with Still and his poor start is that if we look through every manager we've had in say the last 20 years I think its safe to say we've known if they're going to be good or bad once we're 7 games in.  I can't think of any managers that have looked poor at the start and turned out well or vice versa.  What we got at the start, we got for the rest of the time with the club.  Not looking good for Still on that basis. 

We've played one game with the final squad, and that was a derby game so is an outlier. Give it another 7 games and see where we're at.

  • Like 15
Posted
9 minutes ago, James said:

Took Strachan quite a number of games to get his first win from memory and then we were patchy before an uptick. Not always the case that how we started with a manager was what we got longer term.

WGS and Lawrie slow starters. Pellegrino reasonable start and then became the worst Saints manager I’ve ever seen. Reed and Kruger must have on the lash most of that season to not sack him until March.

  • Like 1
Posted

Pardew took a long time to get going and then finished his season on promotion form.

 

My worry is that, like Ralph in his last year, Still could fail in his first year because no one is scoring the goals.

  • Like 2
Posted
36 minutes ago, James said:

Took Strachan quite a number of games to get his first win from memory and then we were patchy before an uptick. Not always the case that how we started with a manager was what we got longer term.

I'm not suggesting its an exact science, or that I can remember the quality of performances from 25 years ago to be honest, but I am racking my brains to think of a manager that has shown so little first up and then turned it around.  I thought we were abysmal in the first half on Sunday, unacceptably so.  

25 minutes ago, Saint_clark said:

We've played one game with the final squad, and that was a derby game so is an outlier. Give it another 7 games and see where we're at.

The "final squad"/"derby" is meaningless to me, every game and every manager works within some kind of constraint or other.  I don't expect us to win every game or even play well every game, I did expect much more from Still than we've seen to date though.  I want him to do well, I like the bloke, much more than Martin.  Got to see some significant improvement at Hull on Saturday. 

  • Like 5
Posted

My issue is he said he wants fast passing to get up field, but it’s so ponderous and slow.
Particularly from the back where tippy tippy wank football continues. Time to put his foot down and make it clear - quick forward looking passes or you’re out the team.

We still can’t shake off the LEGO head shit slow football, mainly because the central defence is unchanged. THB and Stephens ARE decent championship quality, but by fuck do they need a rocket up their arses to get the ball forward quicker. Downes ditto. 

We bought Downs as a pacey forward but he’s not even a starter - yet again we try to be clever and worry about ‘sell on value bollocks’ rather than buying the right player for the job. Keifer Moore, cheap, direct, a handful - job done. Not us. Let’s be clever. Bore off SR. It is about results now, not the future you melts.

We simply have to play two up front - Stewart and Archer play off each other, and go old school 4-4-2. Coz what we are doing with a midget up front is not and will never work in the championship,  please just sort it out. 

 

  • Like 7
Posted (edited)

I think, with the players we have, Will Still could do worse than studying and copying the way Liverpool play. Not saying we'll do it anything like as well but we don't need to as we are in the Championship. The first big thing they do is play Salah a left footer on the right and Gekpo a right footer on the left so that they can cut in and get shots away on their preferred foot and lots of their goals come from this set up. These two also drive to the byline and cut dangerous balls back for onrushing team mates. So we could play Fellows on the left and Scienza or Robinson on the right as we need goals from these guys not floaty crosses to midget strikers. Archer to play up front and position himself and make runs in the area the width of the penalty box with Azaz operating just behind him also width of penalty area. Behind Azaz, Charles and Jander to play the two man pivot and get forward to support Azaz and attackers as much as possible. Probably controversial but the two centre backs I'd use would be THB and Quarshie. For Liverpool VVD often plays long diagonals to Salah or Gekpo when they hug the touchline and I think THB could do this as we've seen him do it in the past. I'd also make him captain and responsible for keeping all players doing what they are meant to. Quarshie is big, powerful and quick so good attributes to cover any balls over the top with Baz operating from a high starting point as a sweeper keeper - Quarshie is also a threat at corners and set pieces and has a decent long throw. A right footed full back on the right and left footed one on the left - probably Mads and Manning or Jelert. They'd be encouraged to get forward and provide crosses or hit the byline and cut the ball back. Archer and Azaz to play between the lines and pick up fizzed low balls on the half turn from the back and midfield. Charles and Jander to receive the ball on the half turn from centre backs or advancing full backs.  Still needs to find a formation and shape so probably easiest to copy one of the top Premier league sides - no need to reinvent the wheel but he must make us more fluid in transition with a solid shape and a team that creates and scores goals because currently we look toothless and bereft of ideas. 

Edited by saintant
  • Like 6
Posted
23 hours ago, Midfield_General said:

Spot on. I've got no problem at all with using a big, strong centre forward as a focal point for headers, hold-up play and crosses, but it's pretty obvious you can't play those tactics with 5 foot 9 Cam Archer or 2 foot 1 Adam Armstrong, yet that appears to be what he's trying to do at the minute, which is really concerning because it's so screamingly obvious it's a complete waste of time. 

My worry though is that he thought he would be able to play like that with 6 foot 4 Damion Downs as the striker, but now he's had time to have a proper look at him, he's realised that he's nowhere near ready and is now trying to force fit that system to players completely unsuited to it. Though having said that, surely you'd start Stewart as the next one if that's how you want to play, as he does at least have height even if he looks like a strong breeze would knock him over. 

He's meant to be highly tactically adaptable and good at being pragmatic to get the best out of the attributes of the players available, so now we need to see that in action, starting at Hull. If Archer is starting, get the ball down and play through balls to him along the ground so he can run into space and play off the shoulder like he wants to. 

I think that was the plan, but the defence couldn't get the ball into midfield because they were being pressed, and the midfielders weren't showing for the ball.  From Still's post-match comments, this annoyed him immensely.  I think we may see a change in midfield next game.  There certainly has to be an improved performance.  Still has to get his message across to the squad.

Someone made the point earlier that the main crab football culprits all played under Martin.  If they can't adapt, and I'm talking about THB, Manning and Downes, then drop them.

  • Like 8
Posted
7 hours ago, vectraman said:

My issue is he said he wants fast passing to get up field, but it’s so ponderous and slow.
Particularly from the back where tippy tippy wank football continues. Time to put his foot down and make it clear - quick forward looking passes or you’re out the team.

We still can’t shake off the LEGO head shit slow football, mainly because the central defence is unchanged. THB and Stephens ARE decent championship quality, but by fuck do they need a rocket up their arses to get the ball forward quicker. Downes ditto. 

 

 

WS intimated something similar in his interview after the game, where he said something on the lines of getting the old ways out of the players system.

  • Like 1
Posted (edited)
2 hours ago, Wade Garrett said:

I think that was the plan, but the defence couldn't get the ball into midfield because they were being pressed, and the midfielders weren't showing for the ball.  From Still's post-match comments, this annoyed him immensely.  I think we may see a change in midfield next game.  There certainly has to be an improved performance.  Still has to get his message across to the squad.

Someone made the point earlier that the main crab football culprits all played under Martin.  If they can't adapt, and I'm talking about THB, Manning and Downes, then drop them.

Yeah either Downes or Charles need to be more willing or able to carry the ball or make a forward pass, and Azaz in particular needs to be more willing to drop deeper and show for it more to give them an option. Hopefully Jander is more of a ball-carrier/ string puller from deep, and is shown to be good enough to replace one of Downes/Charles over the coming weeks - ideally Downes as he's been way off the pace for ages now. 

Edited by Midfield_General
  • Like 1
Posted
3 hours ago, Wade Garrett said:

I think that was the plan, but the defence couldn't get the ball into midfield because they were being pressed, and the midfielders weren't showing for the ball.  From Still's post-match comments, this annoyed him immensely.  I think we may see a change in midfield next game.  There certainly has to be an improved performance.  Still has to get his message across to the squad.

Someone made the point earlier that the main crab football culprits all played under Martin.  If they can't adapt, and I'm talking about THB, Manning and Downes, then drop them.

You left out Stephens. 

  • Like 1
Posted
3 hours ago, Wade Garrett said:

I think that was the plan, but the defence couldn't get the ball into midfield because they were being pressed, and the midfielders weren't showing for the ball.  From Still's post-match comments, this annoyed him immensely.  I think we may see a change in midfield next game.  There certainly has to be an improved performance.  Still has to get his message across to the squad.

Someone made the point earlier that the main crab football culprits all played under Martin.  If they can't adapt, and I'm talking about THB, Manning and Downes, then drop them.

It's basics and easy to put right although why professional footballers would need to be coached to show for the ball, make clever movements between the lines and find pockets of space is beyond me. Surely they all know how important this is in progressing up the field - it's fundamental stuff not something only elite players can do. Will Still needs to read the riot act to any players seen to be hiding rather than showing for the ball as it's either laziness or cowardice because they don't want to take any responsibility. It needs sorting because it was very evident on Sunday that we were well short on the pass and move aspect of the game.

  • Like 8
Posted
5 hours ago, Midfield_General said:

Yeah either Downes or Charles need to be more willing or able to carry the ball or make a forward pass, and Azaz in particular needs to be more willing to drop deeper and show for it more to give them an option. Hopefully Jander is more of a ball-carrier/ string puller from deep, and is shown to be good enough to replace one of Downes/Charles over the coming weeks - ideally Downes as he's been way off the pace for ages now. 

I wouldn't mind Downes if he actually looked like he gave a shit, passed the ball forwards occasionally, played a game without getting a yellow card, didn't lose the ball in dangerous positions inviting counterattacks, and wasn't clearly pining for his 'fwend' Wussell. Otherwise he's ace. Wish he'd bog off.

Posted
7 hours ago, OldNick said:

WS intimated something similar in his interview after the game, where he said something on the lines of getting the old ways out of the players system.

He needs to bin the excuses. Straight out of the RM textbook. 

  • Like 1
Posted
31 minutes ago, Maggie May said:

He needs to bin the excuses. Straight out of the RM textbook. 

Yeah, Martin was 3 managers ago. For all his faults, there’s only so long you can blame the man. Time to move on. 

  • Like 1
Posted
2 minutes ago, Midfield_General said:

Yeah, Martin was 3 managers ago. For all his faults, there’s only so long you can blame the man. Time to move on. 

It was only 39 weeks ago to be fair... i.e. much less time than the incumbent government still blames the inheritance from the previous government.... ;)

  • Like 1
Posted
20 hours ago, CB Fry said:

Pardew took a long time to get going and then finished his season on promotion form.

 

My worry is that, like Ralph in his last year, Still could fail in his first year because no one is scoring the goals.

Agree.  With the transfer business I was genuinely surprised we didn't loan in a proven keeper and centre forward. 

  • Like 4
Posted
1 hour ago, Miltonaggro said:

Agree.  With the transfer business I was genuinely surprised we didn't loan in a proven keeper and centre forward. 

Why would we do that when there are defenders and midfielders to sign that might one day turn a profit!

  • Like 2
Posted
13 hours ago, Midfield_General said:

Yeah, Martin was 3 managers ago. For all his faults, there’s only so long you can blame the man. Time to move on. 

Yes, he had whole pre season, but with all the departures and arrivals that was heavily disrupted. Lots of games coming up and need to see improvements,  he also have Liverpool away in the fixed cup to experiment a bit, surely we'll see Aribo and Edozie given some minutes, particularly think Aribo could offer us some more strength in midfield 

Posted
8 minutes ago, Football Special said:

Yes, he had whole pre season, but with all the departures and arrivals that was heavily disrupted. Lots of games coming up and need to see improvements,  he also have Liverpool away in the fixed cup to experiment a bit, surely we'll see Aribo and Edozie given some minutes, particularly think Aribo could offer us some more strength in midfield 

More likely to be Jander IMO as Still clearly wasn’t too bothered about what he’s seen of Aribo so far if he was ready to ship him out. Might see him later in the season though if he’s still here once injuries and suspension start to kick in. Which wouldn’t be a disaster as I think he’s a perfectly decent player at this level and can at least hold the ball and pick a pass. I just think he’s a bit languid and maybe doesn’t appear to run enough for the high-energy approach that Still says he wants, hence in a massive squad that needed reducing he was one he was prepared to lose. Also one of the bigger earners by all accounts which was probably another factor. 

  • Like 1
Posted
On 15/09/2025 at 23:14, The Wyvern said:

I'm not suggesting its an exact science, or that I can remember the quality of performances from 25 years ago to be honest, but I am racking my brains to think of a manager that has shown so little first up and then turned it around.  I thought we were abysmal in the first half on Sunday, unacceptably so.  

The "final squad"/"derby" is meaningless to me, every game and every manager works within some kind of constraint or other.  I don't expect us to win every game or even play well every game, I did expect much more from Still than we've seen to date though.  I want him to do well, I like the bloke, much more than Martin.  Got to see some significant improvement at Hull on Saturday. 

On starting slow: 

If I remember rightly RM benefitted from having genuine PL players playing for us during August and we got points on the board (Tella, JWP). Then lost 4 on the bounce with some appalling results. 

You could argue that Will barely had any PL players to make a start with in August  - and even the good ones will have been pretty worn down by or distracted circumstances. If we were starting the RM way we would now lose the next 3 or 4. But I don't think we will.

He does need to find a way to play with the players we have in the building though. His reputation suggests he'll work this out. I admit to being a bit concerned about how our strikers are going to fit into it though.

  • Like 1
Posted
On 15/09/2025 at 22:32, Gloucester Saint said:

WGS and Lawrie slow starters. Pellegrino reasonable start and then became the worst Saints manager I’ve ever seen. Reed and Kruger must have on the lash most of that season to not sack him until March.

Slow starters?

Lawrie got us relegated. We were comfortably mid-table when he took over.

  • Like 2
Posted
On 16/09/2025 at 03:07, vectraman said:

My issue is he said he wants fast passing to get up field, but it’s so ponderous and slow.
Particularly from the back where tippy tippy wank football continues. Time to put his foot down and make it clear - quick forward looking passes or you’re out the team.

We still can’t shake off the LEGO head shit slow football, mainly because the central defence is unchanged. THB and Stephens ARE decent championship quality, but by fuck do they need a rocket up their arses to get the ball forward quicker. Downes ditto. 

We bought Downs as a pacey forward but he’s not even a starter - yet again we try to be clever and worry about ‘sell on value bollocks’ rather than buying the right player for the job. Keifer Moore, cheap, direct, a handful - job done. Not us. Let’s be clever. Bore off SR. It is about results now, not the future you melts.

We simply have to play two up front - Stewart and Archer play off each other, and go old school 4-4-2. Coz what we are doing with a midget up front is not and will never work in the championship,  please just sort it out. 

 

I'm sorry, but... what?

Did you watch the first half? We were playing it forward far too quickly. We were like Crazy Gang Wimbledon without the sense.

  • Like 3
Posted
On 16/09/2025 at 10:20, OldNick said:

WS intimated something similar in his interview after the game, where he said something on the lines of getting the old ways out of the players system.

Still has had a whole pre-season, his excuses need to stop and he needs to start showing why he is apparently ‘highly rated’ because so far we have been garbage. His appointment was a gamble and so far it doesn’t look like a wise one, I wouldn’t hesitate in getting shot if there are not signs of improvement very soon.

  • Like 1
Posted
On 17/09/2025 at 17:27, ecuk268 said:

Slow starters?

Lawrie got us relegated. We were comfortably mid-table when he took over.

Weren’t we 5th when he took over, having been widely credited with his part getting us there ? 

Posted (edited)
11 hours ago, aintforever said:

Still has had a whole pre-season, his excuses need to stop and he needs to start showing why he is apparently ‘highly rated’ because so far we have been garbage. His appointment was a gamble and so far it doesn’t look like a wise one, I wouldn’t hesitate in getting shot if there are not signs of improvement very soon.

It's not been the greatest start that's for sure, however he has lost pretty much our best players and the new additions haven't had time to settle in and gel let's see where he's at in a months time 

Edited by Mr X
Posted
18 minutes ago, JohnnyShearer2.0 said:

Danny Rohl anyone?!

Ha!! When he's the answer, christ knows that the question is. 

Posted
14 hours ago, aintforever said:

Still has had a whole pre-season, his excuses need to stop and he needs to start showing why he is apparently ‘highly rated’ because so far we have been garbage. His appointment was a gamble and so far it doesn’t look like a wise one, I wouldn’t hesitate in getting shot if there are not signs of improvement very soon.

do we ever learn, ever since Puel was deemed not to be good enough we have had more managers that I care to recall. I will remind you that Puel had us in a cup final and 7th or 8th. We would still be an established PL sidehad we not got rid at that time

  • Like 1
Posted
On 16/09/2025 at 13:36, saintant said:

It's basics and easy to put right although why professional footballers would need to be coached to show for the ball, make clever movements between the lines and find pockets of space is beyond me. Surely they all know how important this is in progressing up the field - it's fundamental stuff not something only elite players can do. Will Still needs to read the riot act to any players seen to be hiding rather than showing for the ball as it's either laziness or cowardice because they don't want to take any responsibility. It needs sorting because it was very evident on Sunday that we were well short on the pass and move aspect of the game.

In my long life watching football I've seen plenty of not showing for the ball and it's normally been due to a lack of confidence, normally in themselves but often team wide with their colleagues. Our defence often has a colleague to the side of them though, so that's where the ball goes by default. As someone pointed out the main culprits are the same ones as last year. The season before last we missed Downes when he wasn't playing, now we just miss him when he does so perhaps his illness will be a blessing this weekend.

 

On 16/09/2025 at 18:17, trousers said:

It was only 39 weeks ago to be fair... i.e. much less time than the incumbent government still blames the inheritance from the previous government.... ;)

The previous government had 14 years, I'm pretty sure we had a few managers last less than 14 weeks, so some of the people calling for him to go already probably couldn't even manage a one night stand.

  • Like 3
Posted
56 minutes ago, OldNick said:

do we ever learn, ever since Puel was deemed not to be good enough we have had more managers that I care to recall. I will remind you that Puel had us in a cup final and 7th or 8th. We would still be an established PL sidehad we not got rid at that time

He was sacked by Leicester after a dismal record then by St Etienne who were bottom of their division after 2 wins from 17 games. He has been twiddling his thumbs since Dec 2021 so, by your reckoning, there should be a long queue of clubs desperate to employ him. Whilst he did achieve things with us he's not some kind of genius manager and I'm not sure we'd still be an established PL side had we retained his services. 

  • Like 4
Posted
1 hour ago, OldNick said:

do we ever learn, ever since Puel was deemed not to be good enough we have had more managers that I care to recall. I will remind you that Puel had us in a cup final and 7th or 8th. We would still be an established PL sidehad we not got rid at that time

You appear to have forgotten that we went on a run of barely scoring goals under Puel.  We had better players under Puel but on more than one occasion we were absolutely dreadful.  The appointments since are more indicative of the people running things, not that he was the right manager.

  • Like 2
Posted (edited)
1 hour ago, OldNick said:

do we ever learn, ever since Puel was deemed not to be good enough we have had more managers that I care to recall. I will remind you that Puel had us in a cup final and 7th or 8th. We would still be an established PL sidehad we not got rid at that time

Not sure what point you are trying to make, I agree that Puel shouldn't have been sacked. 

Is you point that you are trying to make the fact that it makes sense to hire a manager with some experience and who has actually achieved something?

Puel played almost 500 games for Monaco, had managed for 17 years and won the French Championship with Monaco, the Intertoto Cup with Lille and got Lyon to the Semi Finals of the Champions League before we hired him.

Edited by aintforever
  • Like 1
Posted
On 15/09/2025 at 17:48, AlexLaw76 said:

The lauded tactician, sought after young manager in Europe, is basically a pound shop Sam allardyce

Should have gone all in and got sean dyche


 

im kidding - partly 

 

The Belgian Don Howe

Get it in the mixer!!!!

Posted
On 14/09/2025 at 15:21, Guan 2.0 said:

 

The Next 4 league games are Hull, Middlesbrough, Sheffield United, and Derby.

By then, I will be judging Still on formation, system of play and league position.

Players should be fully bedded in at this point. So he will either rise or fall on those results. I think (and hope) he will succeed. But we should have a much greater indication at this point.  

I won't be holding the Liverpool game against him, unless we lose to their under-12 side. 

P.S. What has happened to Flynn Downes?

Should it fail, I can see Rohl in before Christmas 🎄 

Posted
7 hours ago, OldNick said:

do we ever learn, ever since Puel was deemed not to be good enough we have had more managers that I care to recall. I will remind you that Puel had us in a cup final and 7th or 8th. We would still be an established PL sidehad we not got rid at that time

We finished 8th. Points-wise we were closer to 17th than 7th (seriously, go look it up).

Had the rest of the league not been abysmal that year, we'd have be right down the rough end. Only finished with 42pts if I remember right?

8th place and the cup final papered over the cracks, he didn't suit the English game. Pretty good in France, though.

  • Like 3
Posted
33 minutes ago, adrian lord said:

Puel's football was sludge. 

I remember the start of the season we were actually playing some of the best football we'd played in a long time. Romeu suddenly looked like a quality box to box player instead of just a DM. Second half of the season we tailed off and did look really boring especially last 10 games or so, don't know if losing the final and having nothing else to play for knocked the stuffing out the players. H

1 hour ago, kitch said:

We finished 8th. Points-wise we were closer to 17th than 7th (seriously, go look it up).

Had the rest of the league not been abysmal that year, we'd have be right down the rough end. Only finished with 42pts if I remember right?

8th place and the cup final papered over the cracks, he didn't suit the English game. Pretty good in France, though.

At the time I said I would be happy to give him another season but could fully understand if they chose to get rid. In hindsight, we absolutely should have given him the second season. 

Posted

This play reminds me of the Mark Hughes era, no real direction or idea and hope for the best.

i mean I'm great at throwing the kitchen sink at it on 65 mins and hoping for the best on champ manager…

Im really struggling to see his play/shape. We arguably have the best squad in the league and we look… I would say bang average, but I think that gives us more than we deserve. 
 

Side ways, side ways we then get to there last quarter and they have all players back. I’m trying to stay positive but it’s lack luster at best? 
 

Help I need positivity 😂
 

 

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