He's not delusional, but quite a few managers come across that way in interviews because they can't say the truth. If he comes out and says, Wilks has been ****e, KLP misses chance after chance and all Magennis did against Luton was fall down then he's going to lose the dressing room pretty quick. He also can't say, well I knew we needed to spend money in the summer window but the owner is too tight to let me so we don't have enough quality then he's going to be out of a job pretty quickly and he doesn't want that. TBF the performances aren't bad, we're just soft and can't score. We do need a refresh and whilst I think 433 works great in L1, it's an attacking formation when the wingers don't really trackback or defend and leaves us open. There's nothing wrong with playing a defensive 352 and trying to nick a goal. We conceded at the weekend because Wilks made a central run which left Onyedima in loads of space and 1 on 1 with Coyle. Thinking back to the 1st time we went up under Bruce, we didn't have loads of quality, we had a bit though but away we parked the bus, defended well and often nicked it 1-0. You can't leave yourselves wide open when the opposition has more quality. Being tough to beat is so important and we simply aren't.
Look there's a deal in the background. McCann must know he's a dead man walking. Vent on here all you like, I know I have but it does no one any favours to kick the man whilst his team is playing - it just serves no positive purpose and is detrimental to the lads in the shirt.
Nobody's expecting him to come out and say so and so's ****, or to call the Allams tight. Why jump to extreme examples? Game after game he comes out with pretty much the same BS, about 'we're playing well', 'it's working', 'just need to ....'. It's not working, we are not playing well. Games are not won or lost by whatever passes, possession, crosses, neat bits of play that doesn't matter, etc. And it's not just up top and at the back. We are not good enough, not creative enough in the middle third either. The guy has to be deluded to say what he's saying, and also to keep at something that isn't and won't work! Just come out and say something sensible and meaningful, and try something different ( .... or even better, just **** off!).
Just acknowledging things aren't right would be a start. How about: "The team is working hard but its frustrating to see that their hard work isn't reflected in the results and the league position. I can understand concerns but fans should be reassured that we're of course taking it seriously and looking into how we can improve things, and we have a few ideas to try out on the training ground. I'd ask the fans to get behind the players on match days because that 12th man is a vital part of our team. We've got a great squad and I'm confident that we can turn things around and be out of danger by the end of November." There. Wasn't hard.
I heard from someone in the gym this morning that we apparently played well! Carpet said we played poor. That's good enough for me.
Koren - Brady - Chester - Quinn - Boyd - Elmohamady - Meyler - Gedo - Fahty - Faye - Aluko - Cooper McShane - Faye - Fryatt - Cairney - Hobbs - Dawson - Jakupovic - Rosenior - Olofinjana - Stockdale yeah - not much quality there eh - ffs - and thats missing out average players like Simpson. McLean and Prozzie and duds like Junior Bruce
Terry trots out his standard after the match fare. His way of playing, the system, the City philosophy, working hard, the formula etc., etc., etc., unfortunately for him the first thing in football is the result. Three points is three points. After that nice playing style, attractive football etc. is great for the fans but they want to see the team win. We must set up now to be hard to beat and try and nick a couple of results. It’s literally madness to do the same thing all the time and expect a different outcome.
I said this before when he was going on about playing styles before Luton, but we don't even play a style that's particularly attractive. Everyone passes it on the floor in defence and midfield nowadays so we're not special there, and in the final third we just sling it in the box as many times as possible.
The recent interview references to 'having to play the right way' appear to be to be code for being stuck with a wider club philosophy - which appears to be about maximising sale value for players in the longer term as opposed to winning individual matches. It would also explain why certain players seem to never get dropped regardless of form. McCann's tone appears much less bullish and more contrite in recent weeks also. I'm pretry sure he knows he's going.
Whilst I want McCann to go as much as anyone, it's pretty obvious that he's there as a human shield for Ehab. The agreement, unspoken or not, is that McCann keeps his job as long as he doesn't blame the team's performances on the obvious lack of pre-season investment that everyone could see we needed - an experience cb and someone of Championship standard who could put the ball in the onion bag. On top of that, the football genius that is ****wit Junior, has decreed that we play 4-3-3 despite all the evidence that it doesn't work with these players at this level. Most of these issues, if not all, are self-inflicted but as long as McCann doffs his cap he keeps his job.