why do I feel 'good' ? I feel sorry [ only a bit ] for Clemence - because of the bad luck re Hurtado and Andrews taking longer to start a game - but - There were far too many occasions when all we played was anti football... I was going nuts with the ball going sideways, backwards, backwards, backwards, hoooof - lose possession ( and repeat )... I've said that ( despite the aforementioned bad luck), the squad has not been set up correctly. The tactics have been utterly negative (( even defending throw-ins with all the side in our penalty area ! ))... There has been zero entertainment, virtually zero goals. Plenty of underachievement in relation to their collective potential - and I was not convinced that Clemence could be trusted with ' better ' players that might be recruited. .....I might just be tempted to renew my season ticket !
I guess I inadvertently take credit for this. Brad must have read my mid-season managerial changes thread to realise if he already had doubts he would be better cutting loose now rather than later. I can't say I ever really warmed to Clemence and whilst he leaves with a win ration of 35.29% which isn't terrible, it wasn't what we needed at this time. We were promised a better style of football from Harris and what we got was a team that could only play well for 45 minutes a match. Not the worst one we've had at the helm but certainly won't be going on my top list either.
It's a shame you didn't do a mid-season recruitment personnel changes thread(( and minority shareholder 'sacking' ))....... and ((despite being in favour of the demise of Clemence )), my criticism of the recruitment department might be a little unfair -- we'll never know what a fit Andrews and unhacked Hurtado would have done for the performances and results.
What happened to Hurtado was disgusting, I'm really surpised more wasn't made of that. We need some big lads who can protect players like him.
We need referees who don't cheat - and turn a bind eye to the thuggery that is dished out to players like Hawkins etc
Yeah but until that happens, we need like Haaland is to Foden or Akinwena was Cody. I don't want to see a mass punch up on the pitch but our own players need to be piling in on stuff like this, do you think someone like Charlie Lee would have accepted it, absolutely no way, he'd have been in there like a pitbull, so would Hessy snr. Edit: I say this because if we are serious about getting out of this league, pretty football alone will not get you out of it. Remember when we had Keds, Deon Burton, Barrett, Legge and as I mentioned Lee. That's how you do it a team that works together and looks after one another.
You don't actually need pretty football at all. I know that the game has moved on, but under Pulis we played the ugliest anti football imaginable, but we won matches and the crowd got behind it, but a team that contained, Green, Harris, Ratcliffe, Smith, Fortune West and Dave Martin took no prisoners and was not very pleasing on the eye, though Dennis Bailey was a joyful component of probably the hardest team ever assembled at Priestfield.
Well the favourites for the job are Gareth Ainsworth & Michael Duff who both last managed in the Championship so they may be pining for it after all.
