Emotions aside, and McKenna needs at least until November, you likely are in the wrong side of this.
The more I look at it, the more obvious it is; that McKenna hasn’t ever built the core team dynamic here…, that’s not to detract from his coaching and what he has achieved.
Morsy, Burns, Chaplin, Burgess, Walton (in league one) were the leadership group, he didn’t sign any of them, Wolf too was already here.
That was one hell of a chunk of our success that Ashton and McKenna inherited.
They added quality, coached the group very well, and we had one season where the alchemy was magic…., it was also the season in 45 years watching us, the small margins fell in our favour more than ever.
The group was ripped up, and we’ve spent close to £190 million now gross.
Sunderland and Leeds have achieved more in two games than we did in an entire season.
We bought EFL championship players of the season in Sammie, Greaves, and Clarke, and they’ve all regressed massively, and they’ve been here over a year.
Our recruitment strategy very clearly doesn’t exist.., we sign good players, but there seems no obvious plan or vision.
Even the rhetoric around our recruitment is SO poor…, we signed young players knowing if we were successful, they’d be sold, and if we weren’t successful, they’d be sold.
That 100% wasn’t the strategy sold to the owners.
McKenna leveraged himself a champions league level contract, and has been awful ever since…, maybe a coincidence, maybe not, that’s a lot of pressure to put yourself under at such a young age.
He’s clearly a great coach.
He’s also clearly WAY short in a lot of areas, essential to be elite. Both can be true.
This group won’t do better than 96 points, they won’t even be close.
And that group cost 10 million…, not close to £200 million.
Sorry. This isn’t progress. It’s not success. It’s not elite.
Who’s to blame doesn’t matter.
Long term there will need to be changes.., otherwise we can’t be successful.
We could win every game this season .., then what?
Our 1990’s WBA defence that was never elite at any point, how’s that going do in a premier league now five times the level the last time they couldn’t cut it.
Shall we spend another £200 million next summer. Replace the defence and GK entirely? And half the rest of the group?
Theres no plan, no vision, no togetherness, it doesn’t need to make you feel good to be true.
What we do about it, is for another day, but doing nothing won’t be the answer long term.
Look at Sunderland.., no legacy finances, or players, they’ve done more in TWO games than we did in a season!
They are TOGETHER and have a team dynamic.
We have t had that since McKenna disbanded the group Cook brought in, right decision probably, but he clearly can’t build that dynamic.
I don’t think McKenna or Ashton fully understood what made the magic work.
McKenna 100% thinks the answer to every question is on the coaching pitch…, it’s not .., most elite sides are built between the ears.
Mo Salah would run over his grannie to be the best version of himself.
Johnson and a few we’ve signed, wouldn’t cross the road to be that.
Chaplin would.., Morsy would give you a black eye if you didn’t.., Burns too wanted it, Burgess did, Wolf at the time, bought in.
We lost the traits that make a team.
Replaces them with better quality, that doesn’t have the fire, the motivation, the hunger.
Philogene, Nohnskn, Clarke, they wouldn’t play in our legacy group…, they’d be out injured after Sam have them a ‘straightener’
McKenna is a carrot motivator .., great when it’s going well.
He doesn’t have the other side, and the bit that’s really not elite, he doesn’t have the awareness to know he needs that quality in the group.
It’s poor.., 14 months results don’t lie.., players going backwards don’t lie.., watching us, doesn’t lie.
Maybe your ego won’t ever let go of the fantasy you built, but don’t abuse people who probably will end up on the right side of the argument.
If elite is established premier league, and that’s the level he’s still paid at, then it’s how he has to be judged.
And it’s staggeringly short.
This group of players should walk this league, and we need patience, but the last rebuild failed massively, and our WBA defence won’t ever make the standard, no coach can achieve that.
New owners ‘incoming’ so let’s see how much patience they have.
If it was your business.., £200 million spent, you would be beyond annoyed.
That’s a lot of money in the EFL - FOURTY YEARS EFL back TV money we’ve spent, on new players in 18 months.
There isn’t an option where we stay in the EFL without severe consequences. |
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