| On Being Busy – With An Apology and Some Out-of-Season Reflections… 08:41 - Jun 29 with 8671 views | HarryfromBath |
“Congratulations! You have the blood pressure of a 20-year-old!” Last week’s visit to my Nurse Practitioner was akin to an eight-year-old receiving a Gold Star from teacher for getting all of their spellings correct. My 128/68 blood pressure reading was a marked improvement on the numbers I posted here a few months ago.
The apology is for being a bit quiet lately, as I decided to take the two blog-free months between May and the end of June to launch a serious assault on my health, albeit in a good way. Healthy — and salt-free - dieting and notably cycling on average 120 miles per week has seen a four inch drop in the waistline and we are all the better for doing it.
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It wasn’t just the lifestyle changes though, in all honesty. I was at the Forest game in May and ended up sitting in a pub with Mullet picking over the ashes of both a game and a season which had left me thoroughly dejected. The season had been that party which saw the house trashed and which only had one or two good moments to show for all the damage.
It is a bit convenient to say that the Forest game summed up the season, but the truth was that much of that 90 minutes had such a familiar ring to it. We had the better of a first half but lacked the cutting edge to turn it to our advantage. We then fell behind to a moment of poor defending and yet another ropey penalty decision.
Then came Mick’s half-time water and a formation change which saw our flanks overloaded, our central midfield pulled out to reinforce the barricades, giving Forest’s Chris Cohen all the space he needed to rifle home a 20-yard special. Our Plan B of launching it to the big guy kept the ball out of our half, but the big guy we were launching it to wasn’t Daryl Murphy. Arrivederci 2016/17.
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Chatting in the pub after the game, I ventured the notion that we would pretty much know by the end of July how the coming campaign would play out. The thinking was borne out of the chaotic transfer windows we had witnessed under Marcus Evans, with January’s having had the hallmarks of Paul Jewell’s fateful final summer with plenty of noise, nothing concrete and a final trolley-dash.
To be fair, this window appears to be progressing with a semblance of planning and investment even if we are not doing a Derby or Sheffield Wednesday. I don’t think any of us want that absurd level of financial waste here but there seems to be a desire from the top at least to see us being competitive.
I know Mick has to bang on about the top six, but I just want to see us regroup after last year’s chaos and then push on if the team looks settled and balanced. After last season, I am still looking at the coming campaign through the prism of risk rather than opportunity. I am still just a bit nervous.
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Turning things over when pedalling along the Kennet and Avon Canal towpath, the notion that we will know how the season will pan out by the end of July has not gone away, but this has as much to do with how Mick approaches the season as the funding he had been given to rebuild the squad.
On Radio Suffolk after that hopeless January defeat at home to Derby, Mick Mills highlighted something which has stuck with me. He noted the tactical clarity of the team Mick assembled when he first arrived here and highlighted how this clarity has been increasingly been blurred since the play-off season.
“It was... ...another system change. I can’t make my mind up.” It is unfair to highlight a throwaway comment Mick made in a relaxed mood after our Easter win at Burton but it was nevertheless very revealing. This comment hit me like a torpedo when I first read it because it echoed what Mick Mills had been saying.
When Mick first arrived, he inherited an unbalanced chaotic squad and set about building to a plan and a specific style of play. A bit physical and direct, yes, but a tough nut to crack and you knew where and how any new player would fit in, such as when Jonny Williams first pitched up. It worked.
Look at all of the teams that finished in this season’s top six. Each and every one has an identity and playing style which you can readily describe. Jaap Stam’s Reading killed teams with possession and knifed them. David Wagner used energetic Bundesliga pressing while Slavisa Jokanovic was one of the last of the great romantics.
You simply have to do this to succeed in this division, purely because the players are imperfect at this level and working to a coherent playing style and formation instils confidence and adds crucial percentages to teamwork and ability. It matters less what the system is — contrast Ian Holloway and Sam Allardyce — but it is well-nigh impossible to get out of this league without a clear playing style.
Mark Warburton maintained his high-risk passing style in the Forest game when the stakes couldn’t have been higher. Some of the playing out from the back by keeper Jordan Smith was reminiscent of poor old David Button on that Boxing Day at Griffin Park, but Warburton wants to use this system next season and wants to see who in his imperfect squad are comfortable playing this way.
In contrast, we seem to have drifted season-by-season to a point where changes of shape at half-time or mid-game have become the norm. It all has the semblance of making it up as we go along. Switching to 4-4-2 at Cardiff cost us the game, while switching to wing-backs at Forest saw us faring no better. It’s hardly a surprise if the players are left confused and errors start creeping in.
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It’s not just the playing philosophy and formation switches. Mick’s approach to the character to team-ethic of his signings was heralded when he arrived. He quickly weeded Chopra and JET out of the squad and went about creating a band of brothers who genuinely fought for each other. The arrival of Leon Best was so far removed from this approach that it beggared belief in hindsight.
I know that Jonny Williams’ impact was coloured by a wide assortment of injuries, but as his loan spells progressed I felt that his role became more ill-defined. When he first pitched up his expressive playing style was a perfect foil for a disciplined team build on industry rather than imagination. He raised the horizons of fans and team-mates and fitted in like a perfect jigsaw piece.
This time around I was unsure about role, even allowing for his injury record. I could not understand how he was meant to dovetail with McGoldrick and our two most creative players ended up killing the momentum of an attacking move by getting in the others way. It was another small example in a season when so often we were less than the sum of our parts.
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Looking at the squad, the lack of width has been highlighted by other posters and this is a concern. Mick has used his wide players like Anderson and Stephen Hunt more often in a defensive capacity to nullify a wide threat rather than to stretch or get behind a defence and I remember one Canary before the play-offs suggesting that Mings was our one real danger out wide.
Forest overloaded our flanks in the second half at the City Ground when we switched to playing with wings-backs. The East Midlanders forced us to play deeper, whereas weeks earlier Fulham managed to get in behind our back five when we used the same shape. If we persist with this system, we need to see evidence in pre-season that it is working defensively or we are asking for trouble.
Mick knows 4-4-2 better than most managers in the division and has used it successfully in different guises here and elsewhere. It is in his DNA and I would like him to return to this shape much as other managers have a preferred system in their DNA. It gives us a better balance and makes the best out of our limited resources, although it can move the problem out wide into central midfield.
Brentford rumbled our 4-4-2 back in August at Griffin Park when they man-marked and stifled Skuse in the second half with Bru effectively disappearing. We were reduced to punting long balls upfield while the Bees, marshalled by the irritating Ryan Woods, didn’t let us out of our final third. Huws is less likely to disappear and could give us a decent midfield balance linking with a withdrawn striker.
The arrival of Joe Garner is good news and I really want him to succeed with us. He is a nightmare to play against and will add some positive personality to the starting XI. He reminds me a bit of Murphy when he arrived, an absolute handful for defenders but who needed to work on his finishing. If he clicks, he will be loved by a North Stand who will quickly learn how to choreograph with his theatrics.
I am thrilled that we still have Chambers and my one defensive concern is around Tommy Smith’s one-footedness. If you don’t believe me, watch out for the next time the lovely Chris Martin pitches up at Portman Road. It pains me to say it, but he has Tommy’s number and he threw him onto his wrong foot several times in the first half at Craven Cottage with toe-curling defending ensuing.
I said one defensive concern, but there was one other moment at the City Ground. When the full-time whistle sounded and the Forest hordes went all Scotland-at-Wembley on the pitch (I feared for the goalposts at the far end), it was brilliant to see that Bart alone had made his way through the melee to thank us and those of us who remained reciprocated warmly. It did make me worry that a player we had grown to love and admire may have been saying his farewells.
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Apologies if this all comes across as being a bit wary and fretful, but it is really a plea for Mick to get back to what he does best, cut the messing around out and unclutter his thinking. We all know that he can do this as he demonstrated brilliantly at times in his first two-and-a-half seasons here. I will be keeping a very close eye on how he goes about setting us up tactically across the pre-season.
It has not been a great post-season with wider events in the last couple of months adding to what the Queen called the sombre mood of the nation. That said, she has always been the first to acknowledge both the importance of looking forward and the importance of showing kindness to the people in our worlds.
In that sense, the support this forum so readily offers and the friendships we have formed following the club are as enduring as anything happening on the pitch. So often last season I have come away from games thinking the football was rubbish but seeing friends before the game was brilliant. This is something we will never lose, no matter how often we finish 15th in this blessed division.
Right then, time to crack on. It had been a few seasons since we looked at what Millwall fans were getting up to…
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| On Being Busy — With An Apology and Some Out-of-Season Reflections… on 08:52 - Jun 29 with 7605 views | hype313 |
Brilliant read Harry, can't disagree with that one iota.
I'm very happy that we have secured Huws and Garner, but they should be the start of a quite comprehensive recruitment drive. We have let a number of players go, quite rightly, but we need to make sure we add quality to this squad, because as it stands I feel that this team is mid table at best.
I'm hopeful Marcus has realised that trying to compete on a budget works to a degree, and I appreciate he had his fingers burnt in the past, but Mick has been here for 5 years now and if he doesn't trust him to spend wisely then he can't trust anyone. |  |
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| On Being Busy — With An Apology and Some Out-of-Season Reflections… on 08:58 - Jun 29 with 7563 views | Bluebell |
Great read Harry and welcome back. 
I look forward to your weekly reports and you being a busy **** starting in 37 days time. (Yes, I am counting!) |  | | |
| On Being Busy — With An Apology and Some Out-of-Season Reflections… on 09:04 - Jun 29 with 7543 views | Swansea_Blue |
Superb piece 
Agree with all of that, although the fourth paragraph starting 'Turning things over..' especially strikes chord. I think that sums up our problems in a nutshell and why reasonable players can so easily look out of sorts. |  |
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| On Being Busy — With An Apology and Some Out-of-Season Reflections… on 09:05 - Jun 29 with 7528 views | The_Romford_Blue |
Your way with words is beautiful
Cracking post |  |
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| On Being Busy — With An Apology and Some Out-of-Season Reflections… on 09:07 - Jun 29 with 7518 views | GeoffSentence |
Mick out, Harry in! |  |
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| On Being Busy — With An Apology and Some Out-of-Season Reflections… on 09:09 - Jun 29 with 7521 views | SWGF |
Nicely put.
Yet after all of that, all I can think about is that a meeting with Mullet forced you into a sustained period of abstinence. |  |
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| On Being Busy — With An Apology and Some Out-of-Season Reflections… on 09:10 - Jun 29 with 7504 views | xrayspecs |
HfB - top post, completely agree with your assessment.
Having found his favoured 4-4-2 undermined by the last minute sale of Murphy, Mick, and perhaps encouraged by the fans, experimented with different formations. As you say, none of these had the conviction of the 4-4-2 leaving players and fans alike confused.
I would like to see a Murphy replacement to lead the line, with Garner, McGoldrick and Sears as options off the front man. I believe we are two or three quality players away from being a competitive side in this division. |  | | |
| On Being Busy — With An Apology and Some Out-of-Season Reflections… on 09:14 - Jun 29 with 7483 views | Coastalblue |
Welcome back.
I've gone from being completely disenchanted to quietly optimistic in the last week or so. The optimism is not expecting to be challenging for a top 6 position but more as you've alluded building a solid base and a side that plays consistently and competitively.
I'd be happy to get back to a mid table position, but one where we look like we know what we're doing, we have a few building blocks in place and we're looking to add to what we have rather than feeling the need to tear everything down and start again.
I think the recruitment so far looks like it could be our best window in an age, that's good because it had to be but we were/are at a crossroads in my mind.
One does wonder though, if this is possibly Mick's last year if it does get wasted by putting the foundations down and then changing it all again next summer anyway. |  |
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| On Being Busy — With An Apology and Some Out-of-Season Reflections… on 09:18 - Jun 29 with 7452 views | Deano69 |
Excellent! Also mentions my 4 biggest fears for next season
Losing Bart
Not signing goal scorer(s)
Not Signing Chambers
Not Signing Huws
in that order
2 and a half out of 4 so far, i would be happy with not signing anyone else and Bart staying, but have my fears on that.
Micks Meddling is also a pet hate of mine, particularly as we have been so easy to read and work out by the opposition. It wasn't an attribute of his I was aware of. I also firmly believe we ended up with a bit of a siege mentality last season, always appearing defensive (on and off the pitch) changing our way to suit the opposition and playing 'hot potato' with the ball. Not every game should be viewed as a 'lets try not to lose'.
A smudge a glimmer of hope, surely the new season wont be a poor as the last one, surely, can it?, please tell it wont be, someone, anyone, wibble... |  |
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| On Being Busy — With An Apology and Some Out-of-Season Reflections… on 09:18 - Jun 29 with 7448 views | Swansea_Blue |
| On Being Busy — With An Apology and Some Out-of-Season Reflections… on 09:05 - Jun 29 by The_Romford_Blue |
Your way with words is beautiful
Cracking post |
Far better than most of the guff you read on line. I feel like we're having a chat in the pub. A very one side one of course :-), but he's got such a natural and easy style of writing. | |
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| On Being Busy — With An Apology and Some Out-of-Season Reflections… on 09:37 - Jun 29 with 7366 views | Bobbychase |
Welcome back Harry and good news about the health. My wife and I walked from Bristol to Bath (over two Saturdays) along the banks of the Avon recently - lovely stuff. Hope to see you pedalling past if we do it again.
Feeling a lot better about next season but as you say, it's important we keep Bart and find a system that works. Where does Freddie Sears play for example... |  |
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| On Being Busy — With An Apology and Some Out-of-Season Reflections… on 10:06 - Jun 29 with 7267 views | Guthrum |
Good stuff Harry. You must be leaner than a whippet after losing four inches!
I feel it is likely to be Smith and Knudsen who lose out in a switch to 4-4-2, with a first choice backline of Spence-Chambers-Webster-Kenlock. One CB is our Captain, the other the best ball-player of those available, with the youngster arguably the better of the two at LB.
Midfield of Rowe/Ward-Skuse-Huws-Celina and front two of McGoldrick/Sears-Gardner.
People may say that's no better than last season's outfit. But, as you say, it's all about how it's used. If we can start getting two or even three men into the box, we'll get better chances and score more often. |  |
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| On Being Busy — With An Apology and Some Out-of-Season Reflections… on 10:10 - Jun 29 with 7249 views | LankHenners |
Great read Harry, welcome back - good to hear you're doing well!
This stuck out at me: "so often we were less than the sum of our parts". To think our main weapon just a few years ago was the complete opposite of that statement. A promising early transfer window, and with the combative Garner and the energetic Huws signed up Mick could well be looking to head back to the values of hard work and high tempo that saw us reach the play-offs. Not to say I'm expecting that this season, I think a top half finish with 'better' football - which would be getting an identity back as you brilliantly explained - would see most people fairly happy that we're getting back on track.
The comment by Mick about wanting Celina to play wide left in a midfield 4 perhaps gives away his tactical thinking and like you I would welcome the 442 back - strange maybe that he's never managed to get the balance of that formation right whilst here, barring a spell when we comfortably switched between that and 433 in our play-off season, with Bishop on form, Murphy on fire, Tabb and Anderson doing great hard work and Mings at times unstoppable bombing up and down the line. With a few more additions we could get back to being able to fluidly switch between those two formations without it looking like we're randomly trying different methods to put out a fire.
Anyway, as ever hopeful this season will be better than the last, a good start to the season will get people on side (even if it might be begrudgingly in some of the more volatile quarters), whilst I'm looking forward to seeing how the likes of Kenlock, Dozzell, Nydam now, and hopefully Bishop will develop over the season. |  |
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| On Being Busy — With An Apology and Some Out-of-Season Reflections… on 10:40 - Jun 29 with 7168 views | jaykay |
| On Being Busy — With An Apology and Some Out-of-Season Reflections… on 08:52 - Jun 29 by hype313 |
Brilliant read Harry, can't disagree with that one iota.
I'm very happy that we have secured Huws and Garner, but they should be the start of a quite comprehensive recruitment drive. We have let a number of players go, quite rightly, but we need to make sure we add quality to this squad, because as it stands I feel that this team is mid table at best.
I'm hopeful Marcus has realised that trying to compete on a budget works to a degree, and I appreciate he had his fingers burnt in the past, but Mick has been here for 5 years now and if he doesn't trust him to spend wisely then he can't trust anyone. |
great read harry and spot on in everyway. two things in that read which made me think its just not our formation in some games is wrong and how teams exploited our weakness in certain areas.the martin ,smith and skuse bit. in most matches it seemed we didnt know where the achilles heel was in the opposition teams.
with your health improving and signs of better things to come at portman rd it will be a good season all round. |  |
| forensic experts say footers and spruces fingerprints were not found at the scene after the weekends rows |
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| On Being Busy — With An Apology and Some Out-of-Season Reflections… on 11:30 - Jun 29 with 7037 views | Steve_M |
Ah, blood pressure. Mine is a little high apparently so I'm sat at work with a blood pressure monitor on. What a pain in the arse that is. And I'm supposed to write down exactly how much I drink tonight.
Glad to hear yours is much better. Some time away from here is probably healthy as well, although I don't seem to manage it I've not commented much on football as a bit of a break from it is healthy.
On football though, I think that is exactly right. We've struggled for two seasons to have a defined system and often lack cohesion as a result. Things can click and we can play very well at times but dreadfully at others - often within the same match. It was originally for good reasons - Brentford away in August 2015 was excellent football but built on far shallower foundations than the 14/15 side.
We might have recovered something last season, and August showed some promise but then we sold, and failed to replace, Murphy. And it affected us right from the day that deal went through to the end of the season - albeit with handful of enjoyable exceptions.
That said, there were early causes for concern. In that Brentford match in 2016, even when we played some nice football in the first half it was notable that we didn't really have a clear view of what we were doing, it looked forced rather than instinctive. Add in some horrendous defending and that second half was very dispiriting.
Reading your post though, everything points to changing the manager to freshen things up a bit. I'm still quite surprised that that hasn't happened in the Summer. But then we come to the real problem at ITFC: Mick, for all his failings, seems to be the only one who knows what he is doing. Nothing about Evans track record here suggests either big investment nor a change of approach to the structure of the club.
And with that, then maybe continuity is the way forward in the short-term, certainly without McCarthy the chances of signing Huws would have been lower. But he really has to get back to a defined style of play and we have to start the season relatively well, especially at Portman Road where the last two seasons have been rather dull. [Post edited 29 Jun 2017 12:14]
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| On Being Busy — With An Apology and Some Out-of-Season Reflections… on 12:01 - Jun 29 with 6945 views | bluewein |
| On Being Busy — With An Apology and Some Out-of-Season Reflections… on 11:30 - Jun 29 by Steve_M |
Ah, blood pressure. Mine is a little high apparently so I'm sat at work with a blood pressure monitor on. What a pain in the arse that is. And I'm supposed to write down exactly how much I drink tonight.
Glad to hear yours is much better. Some time away from here is probably healthy as well, although I don't seem to manage it I've not commented much on football as a bit of a break from it is healthy.
On football though, I think that is exactly right. We've struggled for two seasons to have a defined system and often lack cohesion as a result. Things can click and we can play very well at times but dreadfully at others - often within the same match. It was originally for good reasons - Brentford away in August 2015 was excellent football but built on far shallower foundations than the 14/15 side.
We might have recovered something last season, and August showed some promise but then we sold, and failed to replace, Murphy. And it affected us right from the day that deal went through to the end of the season - albeit with handful of enjoyable exceptions.
That said, there were early causes for concern. In that Brentford match in 2016, even when we played some nice football in the first half it was notable that we didn't really have a clear view of what we were doing, it looked forced rather than instinctive. Add in some horrendous defending and that second half was very dispiriting.
Reading your post though, everything points to changing the manager to freshen things up a bit. I'm still quite surprised that that hasn't happened in the Summer. But then we come to the real problem at ITFC: Mick, for all his failings, seems to be the only one who knows what he is doing. Nothing about Evans track record here suggests either big investment nor a change of approach to the structure of the club.
And with that, then maybe continuity is the way forward in the short-term, certainly without McCarthy the chances of signing Huws would have been lower. But he really has to get back to a defined style of play and we have to start the season relatively well, especially at Portman Road where the last two seasons have been rather dull. [Post edited 29 Jun 2017 12:14]
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Measuring your blood pressure is a pain in the arse...? Are you sure you're doing it right Steve...? |  |
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| On Being Busy — With An Apology and Some Out-of-Season Reflections… on 12:31 - Jun 29 with 6795 views | olimar |
| On Being Busy — With An Apology and Some Out-of-Season Reflections… on 11:30 - Jun 29 by Steve_M |
Ah, blood pressure. Mine is a little high apparently so I'm sat at work with a blood pressure monitor on. What a pain in the arse that is. And I'm supposed to write down exactly how much I drink tonight.
Glad to hear yours is much better. Some time away from here is probably healthy as well, although I don't seem to manage it I've not commented much on football as a bit of a break from it is healthy.
On football though, I think that is exactly right. We've struggled for two seasons to have a defined system and often lack cohesion as a result. Things can click and we can play very well at times but dreadfully at others - often within the same match. It was originally for good reasons - Brentford away in August 2015 was excellent football but built on far shallower foundations than the 14/15 side.
We might have recovered something last season, and August showed some promise but then we sold, and failed to replace, Murphy. And it affected us right from the day that deal went through to the end of the season - albeit with handful of enjoyable exceptions.
That said, there were early causes for concern. In that Brentford match in 2016, even when we played some nice football in the first half it was notable that we didn't really have a clear view of what we were doing, it looked forced rather than instinctive. Add in some horrendous defending and that second half was very dispiriting.
Reading your post though, everything points to changing the manager to freshen things up a bit. I'm still quite surprised that that hasn't happened in the Summer. But then we come to the real problem at ITFC: Mick, for all his failings, seems to be the only one who knows what he is doing. Nothing about Evans track record here suggests either big investment nor a change of approach to the structure of the club.
And with that, then maybe continuity is the way forward in the short-term, certainly without McCarthy the chances of signing Huws would have been lower. But he really has to get back to a defined style of play and we have to start the season relatively well, especially at Portman Road where the last two seasons have been rather dull. [Post edited 29 Jun 2017 12:14]
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Totally agree- everything starts back in Summer 2015 for me. MM spent most of 14/15 basically telling his critics to stuff it, that we had a style that was successful, that was more entertaining than was being suggested.
But for 15/16 there was a clear strategy to try and supplement the 14/15 side with a bit more style, a bit more possession. I remember writing something at the time about how it was a bold move, given that we had a style already that seemed a really good fit for the individuals MM had brought in specifically to suit it. Asking players like Smith, Berra, Chambers to adapt felt like it could be a challenge. For me, it was exacerbated by the type of players we supplemented the squad with- I didnt see any players who were going to be instant first team regulars and help adapt that style (even Fraser who, at that point, had been a bit part player for Bournemouth).
After we had gone to Preston and won, despite probably deserving to have lost, I thought MM might well be the Messiah, having pulled off the feat of supplementing all the great attributes of 14/15 with a bit more style and an ability to win even when it wasnt deserved.
The game at home to Brighton was an eye opener as, although we lost 3-2, they should have scored 4 or 5 and we were completely outclassed in the middle of the pitch. It was the first indication that the new approach wasnt quite what we expected, or robust. It collapsed at Reading the next week and MM essentially lost his confidence and, essentially, lost his way from that point. He attempted to shore things up, get the solidity back, and we have been constantly going through that cycle of - test new style => fail => regress back to solid hard to beat.
It has to be broken somehow. I dont think Huws alone is the answer, for all that Harry mentions in his excellent and far better summary. | | | |
| On Being Busy — With An Apology and Some Out-of-Season Reflections… on 13:20 - Jun 29 with 6631 views | nshearman1 |
| On Being Busy — With An Apology and Some Out-of-Season Reflections… on 12:31 - Jun 29 by olimar |
Totally agree- everything starts back in Summer 2015 for me. MM spent most of 14/15 basically telling his critics to stuff it, that we had a style that was successful, that was more entertaining than was being suggested.
But for 15/16 there was a clear strategy to try and supplement the 14/15 side with a bit more style, a bit more possession. I remember writing something at the time about how it was a bold move, given that we had a style already that seemed a really good fit for the individuals MM had brought in specifically to suit it. Asking players like Smith, Berra, Chambers to adapt felt like it could be a challenge. For me, it was exacerbated by the type of players we supplemented the squad with- I didnt see any players who were going to be instant first team regulars and help adapt that style (even Fraser who, at that point, had been a bit part player for Bournemouth).
After we had gone to Preston and won, despite probably deserving to have lost, I thought MM might well be the Messiah, having pulled off the feat of supplementing all the great attributes of 14/15 with a bit more style and an ability to win even when it wasnt deserved.
The game at home to Brighton was an eye opener as, although we lost 3-2, they should have scored 4 or 5 and we were completely outclassed in the middle of the pitch. It was the first indication that the new approach wasnt quite what we expected, or robust. It collapsed at Reading the next week and MM essentially lost his confidence and, essentially, lost his way from that point. He attempted to shore things up, get the solidity back, and we have been constantly going through that cycle of - test new style => fail => regress back to solid hard to beat.
It has to be broken somehow. I dont think Huws alone is the answer, for all that Harry mentions in his excellent and far better summary. |
What an incisive, insightful and fascinating read, Harry, and indeed also the responses on here! This is, I believe, Mick's last contracted season and a lot rides on it - for him as much as anyone. A clear, simple approach is definitely needed and one that starts with us not shipping goals like last season, while also making our midfield robust and giving them the freedom to attack - and finding a striker who strikes on a regular basis. The past two seasons we have relied on two star loanees (Fraser and Lawrence) to pull us through the mess, and right now it looks crucial how he plays Celina - wingers have constantly been one of Mick's big weaknesses here. | | | |
| On Being Busy — With An Apology and Some Out-of-Season Reflections… on 13:48 - Jun 29 with 6542 views | olimar |
| On Being Busy — With An Apology and Some Out-of-Season Reflections… on 13:20 - Jun 29 by nshearman1 |
What an incisive, insightful and fascinating read, Harry, and indeed also the responses on here! This is, I believe, Mick's last contracted season and a lot rides on it - for him as much as anyone. A clear, simple approach is definitely needed and one that starts with us not shipping goals like last season, while also making our midfield robust and giving them the freedom to attack - and finding a striker who strikes on a regular basis. The past two seasons we have relied on two star loanees (Fraser and Lawrence) to pull us through the mess, and right now it looks crucial how he plays Celina - wingers have constantly been one of Mick's big weaknesses here. |
As much as changing the manager from year to year is obviously a bad thing, there is also an issue that if a manager tries to put together a side to go in one direction and it fails, then there has to be question mark around where you go next. Unless they make a total disaster of it, then for stability purposes then maybe they can be given another attempt.
But if you fail again, then it surely begins to have an impact on the club, players losing trust/faith, more turnover in players, lack of belief in the fan base.
For me, Jewell failed quite considerably going in one direction (short term, expensive loans, quick fix, promotion target) and the fact that he told the fans he was doing something completely different all the way through aswell should have made it untenable.
MM failed at the end of 15/16 with one approach and had earned the right to attempt to put it right, take a new direction (or even go back to the old one). After a further year, it wasnt clear that there was a key direction and you start to get into that drift where you have somebody just trying different ideas in the hope that something sticks- with the likelihood that each change brings less possibility of success. We have probably crossed that point, but at least if MM gets properly funded, then there really is no excuse for not defining his style, sticking to it and living or dying by that. | | | |
| On Being Busy — With An Apology and Some Out-of-Season Reflections… on 14:05 - Jun 29 with 6469 views | xrayspecs |
| On Being Busy — With An Apology and Some Out-of-Season Reflections… on 13:48 - Jun 29 by olimar |
As much as changing the manager from year to year is obviously a bad thing, there is also an issue that if a manager tries to put together a side to go in one direction and it fails, then there has to be question mark around where you go next. Unless they make a total disaster of it, then for stability purposes then maybe they can be given another attempt.
But if you fail again, then it surely begins to have an impact on the club, players losing trust/faith, more turnover in players, lack of belief in the fan base.
For me, Jewell failed quite considerably going in one direction (short term, expensive loans, quick fix, promotion target) and the fact that he told the fans he was doing something completely different all the way through aswell should have made it untenable.
MM failed at the end of 15/16 with one approach and had earned the right to attempt to put it right, take a new direction (or even go back to the old one). After a further year, it wasnt clear that there was a key direction and you start to get into that drift where you have somebody just trying different ideas in the hope that something sticks- with the likelihood that each change brings less possibility of success. We have probably crossed that point, but at least if MM gets properly funded, then there really is no excuse for not defining his style, sticking to it and living or dying by that. |
On a related point, both Burley and Royle had clearly defined game plans. Burley lost the way when he added a number of very expensive players to an established squad. Royle walked when it became clear the money was not there to follow through his preferred approach. | | | |
| On Being Busy — With An Apology and Some Out-of-Season Reflections… on 15:08 - Jun 29 with 6374 views | olimar |
| On Being Busy — With An Apology and Some Out-of-Season Reflections… on 14:05 - Jun 29 by xrayspecs |
On a related point, both Burley and Royle had clearly defined game plans. Burley lost the way when he added a number of very expensive players to an established squad. Royle walked when it became clear the money was not there to follow through his preferred approach. |
Agree on the latter, though I would say that Burley always kept to his footballing principals.
Certainly theres an argument that he undermined the spirit within the squad though. | | | |
| On Being Busy — With An Apology and Some Out-of-Season Reflections… on 15:16 - Jun 29 with 6352 views | xrayspecs |
| On Being Busy — With An Apology and Some Out-of-Season Reflections… on 15:08 - Jun 29 by olimar |
Agree on the latter, though I would say that Burley always kept to his footballing principals.
Certainly theres an argument that he undermined the spirit within the squad though. |
On footballing style, yes, I would agree. However, a big part of our success - in being promoted and in our first season - was having a tight knit squad of hungry players. Most had a point to prove - having been cast off by other clubs (Holland, Clapham, Venus, Mowbray) or overcoming injury (Reuser). We had a real underdog spirit and desire to prove people wrong, which gave us an edge.
We lost this when we started spending big money on the likes of Sereni and Finidi. | | | |
| On Being Busy — With An Apology and Some Out-of-Season Reflections… on 15:37 - Jun 29 with 6302 views | Steve_M |
| On Being Busy — With An Apology and Some Out-of-Season Reflections… on 14:05 - Jun 29 by xrayspecs |
On a related point, both Burley and Royle had clearly defined game plans. Burley lost the way when he added a number of very expensive players to an established squad. Royle walked when it became clear the money was not there to follow through his preferred approach. |
Royle's problem in the Summer of 2005 was that he no longer had the players for his preferred strategy (early ball into the channels, play from there) with the loss of Kuqi, Bent and Miller.
Indeed, it became so central to how we were playing that when Kuqi was injured he tried to get Scowcroft to do the same. Then, the next season, he tried the same thing with Sam Parkin who had neither the mobility nor energy to chase balls into the corners. It was only with the signing of Alan Lee in January that we saw any semblance of the previous season's effectiveness - and that only lasted six weeks or so. | |
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| On Being Busy — With An Apology and Some Out-of-Season Reflections… on 15:40 - Jun 29 with 6289 views | olimar |
| On Being Busy — With An Apology and Some Out-of-Season Reflections… on 15:16 - Jun 29 by xrayspecs |
On footballing style, yes, I would agree. However, a big part of our success - in being promoted and in our first season - was having a tight knit squad of hungry players. Most had a point to prove - having been cast off by other clubs (Holland, Clapham, Venus, Mowbray) or overcoming injury (Reuser). We had a real underdog spirit and desire to prove people wrong, which gave us an edge.
We lost this when we started spending big money on the likes of Sereni and Finidi. |
I think thats a bit too simplistic. We had a squad of hungry players with a point to prove- but arguably, by the time we had finished 5th and qualified for Europe, many of those players may well have naturally lost that edge. They suddenly achieved everything, some of them became internationals, they all got significant pay rises. Leicester struggled in that respect last season too.
Im not saying thats the reason, certainly Sereni was seen to be quite aloof to the rest of the squad, more that its maybe a bit more complex.
Id also throw in that Finidi was a bad fit because we didnt play to his strength and asked him to do things that werent part of his natural game. We were asking him to drop back and cover the fullback, something that I think was unknown to him previously, whilst it also meant he was receiving the ball from a standing start on the halfway line quite often. When he got the ball played ahead of him, with space to accelerate, he was outstanding, as we saw fleetingly. | | | |
| On Being Busy — With An Apology and Some Out-of-Season Reflections… on 15:51 - Jun 29 with 6263 views | olimar |
| On Being Busy — With An Apology and Some Out-of-Season Reflections… on 15:37 - Jun 29 by Steve_M |
Royle's problem in the Summer of 2005 was that he no longer had the players for his preferred strategy (early ball into the channels, play from there) with the loss of Kuqi, Bent and Miller.
Indeed, it became so central to how we were playing that when Kuqi was injured he tried to get Scowcroft to do the same. Then, the next season, he tried the same thing with Sam Parkin who had neither the mobility nor energy to chase balls into the corners. It was only with the signing of Alan Lee in January that we saw any semblance of the previous season's effectiveness - and that only lasted six weeks or so. |
I also thought the strategy in summer of 2005 was all wrong. All our transfer fees that summer went into one player, who was unproven at this level. Then we partnered him with a forward with loads of experience, but chronic injury problems, hence why he was free.
Parkin struggled to adapt (not all his fault) and Forster got injured- neither unexpected turns of events. But it left us with nothing else and we ended up scraping around with players like Dean McDonald and Adam Proudlock just to give us an option.
Finding the £300k in Jan to bring in Lee and WIlliams made such a difference, but the damage was done.
I remember Forster got fit at the end of the season and looked great. Without his injuries, he would have been a more than decent option. | | | |
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