| Mick isn't the source of the problem, but I can't see him offering the solution 12:54 - Apr 13 with 645 views | clive_baker |
We're all but safe now, which is good news. Let's not underestimate how hard we would've found League 1, especially with an owner who's not interested in investing beyond keeping our heads above the water. It's easy to Look at Leicester and Bournemouth having success and think it could be us, but let's also remember for a second Coventry who are about to slip into League 2, or Blackburn who look likely to drop into League 1. Portsmouth, Bolton, Sheffield United…I could go on. It could be better, but it could also be much worse. For that we should at least be a bit grateful.
After all’s said and done, we’ll be starting next season in the Championship on the same points as the likes of Derby, Villa, Norwich, Sunderland probably, Middlesbrough, maybe Swansea. At least 2 of Leeds, Sheffield Wednesday and Reading. Wolves. You get the point, some big clubs who have spent serious money. We don't have a god given right to compete at the top end of this division, and we aren't good enough to do that at the moment, particularly when you consider our levels of investment relative to those around us. On balance, I would argue our league position is about ‘fair’ when you look at the opposition across this division.
Don't get me wrong, I'm no McCarthy sympathiser, I want him gone at the end of the season. But that's not born out of the fact we're 17th in the league at 20 points off the playoffs. I'm less bothered about that in the short term if I’m honest. My frustration comes more from the style we've adopted and become accustomed to under McCarthy, and the apparent lack of alignment on mid to long term strategy which McCarthy and senior management need to address. It feels to me like the decisions I see coming out of the club are all very short term, from player recruitment (there are exceptions) to ticket pricing. This of course isn't solely Mick's responsibility, but he has a role to play. We're told in updates from Milne and co. that we'll see us integrate a number of academy players into the first team squad, with the intention of 50% of the team being home grown, yet we've seen little evidence of it. We've signed a Danish left back who has consistently been favoured over Kenlock, and I don’t believe he’s an improvement. We've often seen a centre half at right back over the likes of Emmanuel. We've bought players in such as Spence, Digby, Malarczyk, Foley and Yorwerth ahead of promoting from within. I can't remember the last defender that came through our academy and held down a first team place. Smith perhaps, 10 years ago. We've signed players like Coke, Douglas, Toure, Wordsworth, Collison, Best, Henshall, Bajner, Ebanks-Blake, Moore, Nouble etc, ahead of giving more opportunities to Hyam and Bishop (injuries have hindered both in fairness), Dozzell, Nydam, Morris, Downes, Blanchfield, Benyu, Marriott. It begs the question are these vast number of signings better than what we have already, given the chance? If that’s the case then we’re not doing something right. Or, and I suspect this is the reality, is Mick not the man, or not prepared to develop and nurture academy players into the first team fold. I can’t think of many players in his time here that he’s developed from the academy into a regular in the starting XI.
If we give him the benefit of the doubt and say he's our manager next season, which I think is the most likely outcome, what sort of 'rebuild' do we think he has in mind? He alluded to rebuilding here in his press conference yesterday, but are we talking about drawing a line under this season, ripping up what's gone before and taking a completely different approach to how we go about our business? Giving more opportunities to the young players?
Or are we talking about moving on the likes of Berra, Chambers and Douglas and replacing them with more uninspiring stop gaps of the Douglas, Nouble and Coke mould? McCarthy has his hands tied to an extent to keep us competitive on limited resources, but he hasn’t done himself or the club any favours with how he’s played the hand he’s been dealt, certainly in the last 18 months.
The issues at our club go well beyond Mick McCarthy, although as the public figurehead he clearly gets the brunt of the abuse, somewhat unfairly. My dad said this to me on the train back from Fulham about McCarthy which I think sums it up: ‘He’s not the cause of the problem, but he isn’t the solution either’. Whatever happens, I feel like this is a pivotal summer of transition for the club.
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| Mick isn't the source of the problem, but I can't see him offering the solution on 13:16 - Apr 13 with 599 views | bontcho |
'He’s not the cause of the problem, but he isn’t the solution either’ is an excellent summary.
I think ME is more responsible for the disconnection with the fans than MM. MM has taken a budget of about 12-18th in the league and outperformed that until this year. The football isn't great but he's doing his bit of the bargain. Assuming ME remains I'm concerned what would happen if MM left.
There are however huge inconsistencies as ME etc seem to be putting more weight on promoting youth, while that simply isn't how MM works. I wonder if the plan next year might be to trim the squad quite a bit, buy in (say) two higher quality players and rely on the academy to bolster the squad. That might work for both sides? |  |
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| Mick isn't the source of the problem, but I can't see him offering the solution on 13:28 - Apr 13 with 566 views | goat_man |
"If we give him the benefit of the doubt and say he's our manager next season, which I think is the most likely outcome, what sort of 'rebuild' do we think he has in mind?"
This is very much the issue. MM already learns the wrong lessons after every match and sees the reason for defeats as the team not being defensive enough, rather than the fact we are already too defensive and give oppositions more of the ball than they deserve to attack us with. His "rebuild" will therefore be stocked full of defensive players, who will be playing in front of a tiny uninspiring crowd, which will lead to even worse football. |  | | |
| Mick isn't the source of the problem, but I can't see him offering the solution on 13:38 - Apr 13 with 536 views | textbackup |
| Mick isn't the source of the problem, but I can't see him offering the solution on 13:28 - Apr 13 by goat_man |
"If we give him the benefit of the doubt and say he's our manager next season, which I think is the most likely outcome, what sort of 'rebuild' do we think he has in mind?"
This is very much the issue. MM already learns the wrong lessons after every match and sees the reason for defeats as the team not being defensive enough, rather than the fact we are already too defensive and give oppositions more of the ball than they deserve to attack us with. His "rebuild" will therefore be stocked full of defensive players, who will be playing in front of a tiny uninspiring crowd, which will lead to even worse football. |
The players will be replaced with the same quality of player, asked to play the same way.
It'll be the same sht, but worse as we won't have bart |  |
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