Playing Devil's advocate. Assuming Hecky stays...

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Kozzy_is_my_Dad said:
Just to counteract Ingood Nick's possible fishing for appetite for Wilder on the Prince's behalf on Twitter... 😉

If we're assuming Hecky stays, what reasonable, realistic, match day advice would you give him?

I'll start.

Play Hamer in his natural position.

Drop the use of 5 at the back. It isn't working, we're still leaking goals. Put an extra man in midfield to give us a fighting chance of not being overrun.
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Ring in sick.
 

Kozzy_is_my_Dad said:
Just to counteract Ingood Nick's possible fishing for appetite for Wilder on the Prince's behalf on Twitter... 😉

If we're assuming Hecky stays, what reasonable, realistic, match day advice would you give him?

I'll start.

Play Hamer in his natural position.

Drop the use of 5 at the back. It isn't working, we're still leaking goals. Put an extra man in midfield to give us a fighting chance of not being overrun.
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I’d tell him to resign NOW.
 
Snowflake said:
So what does the owner do if he has no money ?
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I’m sure he’s got good credit streams. The whole football world…nay, the world in general functions on serviceable debt.
Over the the years our fans have become easily compliant with the spurious reasons why our club has never had a pot to piss in. This club could operate quite well if it was run correctly, it seems something much more obscure is holding us back.
 
luffenhamblade said:
I do see where you are coming from Snowflake but when the alternative is collapse with untold financial consequences then I suspect there are ways and means (even if that means borrowing against parachute payments).
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Understood, but are we on the point of collapse ? Yes, we are very poor in this league and should go down, but we are all guessing what might happen then in a poor Championship.
At the great risk of being told that I am wrong by those who watch our youngsters do we not have the makings of 5/6 decent Championship players amongst them ? If so surely that is how you begin to rebuild the squad .
 
Snowflake said:
Understood, but are we on the point of collapse ? Yes, we are very poor in this league and should go down, but we are all guessing what might happen then in a poor Championship.
At the great risk of being told that I am wrong by those who watch our youngsters do we not have the makings of 5/6 decent Championship players amongst them ? If so surely that is how you begin to rebuild the squad .
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Collapse is far too strong. However, I can’t see how on earth we go into a Championship season with anything but dread, on the back of a record breaking bad season and taking frequent hammerings.
 
Give Wes and the Leicester lad a rest and get Flecky on tea duty at half time - just a splash of semi skilled I mean skimmed for me please John.
 
A Storm of Blades said:
Collapse is far too strong. However, I can’t see how on earth we go into a Championship season with anything but dread, on the back of a record breaking bad season and taking frequent hammerings.
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We managed it last time. I agree that just relying on the current squad may have difficulties but that’s where the summer window becomes crucial: not to buy but to offload and use the promising young players.
 
Snowflake said:
We managed it last time. I agree that just relying on the current squad may have difficulties but that’s where the summer window becomes crucial: not to buy but to offload and use the promising young players.
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Yes but we had a new manager. Ok, Slav didn’t work out, but the management that failed was gone.
 
We did not get the same level of absolute hammerings last time. We have another 24 matches to play & based on yesterday, we can expect another half a dozen 5-0 or more pastings!

That will take some recovering from- plus we will lose 14 players (out of contract) and with the Prince at the helm we will not be spending any money next summer either.
 
  • Accept we're inferior in ability, low on confidence, and the identity we used to have is worthless.
  • Don't look for the ageing, immobile veterans in the squad to give us the "knowhow"
  • Clarify and simplify some basic defensive instructions. Zonal marking. Keep compact, right distance between departments and players.
  • Emphasis on aggression and mobility, players with the fitness to cover ground and pace to keep up with opponents
  • Look for quick, counter attacks; less backwards passing
  • Use subs, but try to stick to the above rules.

1701617955378.png

Assuming Baldock is out. Change to a back four. 4-5-1. Souza to stay central in front of the back four. Hamer the main playmaker, but must also try to stay central and not bomb forward too much. Full backs in wide midfield roles, inexperienced, but competitive and fast. Hope they can help us deal with Liverpool's threat from wide. There are four ball carriers in that midfield, and some pace up front.

I would still expect a defeat. But at least we will have tried to do a few things differently.
 
Kozzy_is_my_Dad said:
Just to counteract Ingood Nick's possible fishing for appetite for Wilder on the Prince's behalf on Twitter... 😉

If we're assuming Hecky stays, what reasonable, realistic, match day advice would you give him?

I'll start.

Play Hamer in his natural position.

Drop the use of 5 at the back. It isn't working, we're still leaking goals. Put an extra man in midfield to give us a fighting chance of not being overrun.
Click to expand...
Changing the midfield is the key, just like last time in the EPL.

Perhaps you are right about Hamer. He's looked shit to me over the dozen or so games but if he's being played out of position then perhaps that is a change needed. Difficult to see who plays with him though as everyone else has looked equally ineffective.
 
Why not drop some that’s not playing good and put some young talent in what’s the worst that can happen we might lose O we’ve been doing that I forgot. At least the young one will fight for that shirt and not expect it every match
 

shorehamview said:
Grow a fucking backbone and tell your players to do the same. Don’t send a team out that’s got less fight than a tent full of nuns.

Show some pride in the badge on your shirts. Try not to look like a pub side that won a chance to play at a Premier League stadium.
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Bergen Blade said:
  • Accept we're inferior in ability, low on confidence, and the identity we used to have is worthless.
  • Don't look for the ageing, immobile veterans in the squad to give us the "knowhow"
  • Clarify and simplify some basic defensive instructions. Zonal marking. Keep compact, right distance between departments and players.
  • Emphasis on aggression and mobility, players with the fitness to cover ground and pace to keep up with opponents
  • Look for quick, counter attacks; less backwards passing
  • Use subs, but try to stick to the above rules.

View attachment 175580

Assuming Baldock is out. Change to a back four. 4-5-1. Souza to stay central in front of the back four. Hamer the main playmaker, but must also try to stay central and not bomb forward too much. Full backs in wide midfield roles, inexperienced, but competitive and fast. Hope they can help us deal with Liverpool's threat from wide. There are four ball carriers in that midfield, and some pace up front.

I would still expect a defeat. But at least we will have tried to do a few things differently.
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Essentially how Luton have built a side to compete. I still don't know what our plan is.

Not sold on the idea of Seriki but at this stage you can probably say why not? The thinking behind it is sound enough. Him or Brooks are worth a shout.
 
Bergen Blade said:
  • Accept we're inferior in ability, low on confidence, and the identity we used to have is worthless.
  • Don't look for the ageing, immobile veterans in the squad to give us the "knowhow"
  • Clarify and simplify some basic defensive instructions. Zonal marking. Keep compact, right distance between departments and players.
  • Emphasis on aggression and mobility, players with the fitness to cover ground and pace to keep up with opponents
  • Look for quick, counter attacks; less backwards passing
  • Use subs, but try to stick to the above rules.

View attachment 175580

Assuming Baldock is out. Change to a back four. 4-5-1. Souza to stay central in front of the back four. Hamer the main playmaker, but must also try to stay central and not bomb forward too much. Full backs in wide midfield roles, inexperienced, but competitive and fast. Hope they can help us deal with Liverpool's threat from wide. There are four ball carriers in that midfield, and some pace up front.

I would still expect a defeat. But at least we will have tried to do a few things differently.
Click to expand...
This is what I said to my lad at 2.01 yesterday with Baldock and Mcburnie
 
I wouldn't give him any advice. He's too stubborn to listen anyway. No matter what advice you give him Norwood and Fleck would start, walking calamity error prone Anel will start as would Egan when fit, so would Luke Thomas. He'd stick with the same approach every game as he has done all season, and his only tactical thought would be bring on Ben Osborn when the second goal goes in. It would be a waste of time and energy to bother giving him advice.
 
Wards said:
Essentially how Luton have built a side to compete. I still don't know what our plan is.

Not sold on the idea of Seriki but at this stage you can probably say why not? The thinking behind it is sound enough. Him or Brooks are worth a shout.
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I think Seriki has matured a bit and looked solid for the U21s this season. He's played centre halves on occasions and is a strong one on one defender. Brooks can do amazing things, but is less disciplined defensively and still prone to losing the ball in dangerous areas.
 
Hecky says I can leave with my head high, the problem is the prince is broke and can't afford to pay him off. but I think and I may be wrong the players have stopped competing and are not bothered that we are now getting thrashed. are they getting paid or not?. if so someone at the club should make that public.
 
ATL Recs said:
Alan Partridge Biggs has posted a statement from the club -confirming PH will do a pre Liverpool match briefing on Monday afternoon
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Smacks of arrogance to me that,in other words Bettis is saying go fuck yourselves blades fans he's going nowhere. PH won't be attending though when it turns nasty!! And probably Bettis, theve turned us into a national football joke of a club.
 
TJ blade said:
Smacks of arrogance to me that,in other words Bettis is saying go fuck yourselves blades fans he's going nowhere. PH won't be attending though when it turns nasty!! And probably Bettis, theve turned us into a national football joke of a club.
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No they haven’t. We are totally out of our depth with this squad in this league, but in football as a whole we are no where near a joke.
I am not sure what you expected other than a lot of effort and running, which is what we seem to do more than other clubs. Where we are lacking is the quality needed to compete at this level and that was feared at the outset.
 
Its not really devils advocate but I have just started 3 seasons of the new Football Manager as the Blades, each one by Christmas I have lost the dressing room and been smashed by every side from Liverpool to Burnley.

Doesn't mean much but I only ask we change the way we lose. Maybe just get the kids in and get them some experience. That or destroy their mentality for years to come....
 
Bergen Blade said:
  • Accept we're inferior in ability, low on confidence, and the identity we used to have is worthless.
  • Don't look for the ageing, immobile veterans in the squad to give us the "knowhow"
  • Clarify and simplify some basic defensive instructions. Zonal marking. Keep compact, right distance between departments and players.
  • Emphasis on aggression and mobility, players with the fitness to cover ground and pace to keep up with opponents
  • Look for quick, counter attacks; less backwards passing
  • Use subs, but try to stick to the above rules.

View attachment 175580

Assuming Baldock is out. Change to a back four. 4-5-1. Souza to stay central in front of the back four. Hamer the main playmaker, but must also try to stay central and not bomb forward too much. Full backs in wide midfield roles, inexperienced, but competitive and fast. Hope they can help us deal with Liverpool's threat from wide. There are four ball carriers in that midfield, and some pace up front.

I would still expect a defeat. But at least we will have tried to do a few things differently.
Click to expand...
Would also like to see something similar. I'd have Archer over Seriki though, hoping his pace can cause problems out wide. He could also rotate with McAtee then depending on whether you want 2 up top or 3 in central midfield. Worth saying this really isn't that different to the 3atb we've been playing. You just push up the LWB to left mid, RWB drops back and LCB shifts across. Wolves have often done this with Ait-Nouri and Villa do this on the other side with Cash. That's why I'd also like to see Larouci play, he's defensively shaky but can be a real threat from out wide.

To me it seems like we have to at least try and make Souza+Hamer work in the middle as our best imitation of a Palhinha+Reed like pair. It might be a disaster but they're two players who at least have the physicality of PL centre-mids. I'd be slightly worried about Hamer's pass completion from deep and defensive positioning but he has the quality to make it work under instruction. I mean Ryan Christie and Alex Iwobi have played centre mid this year so I think he can do it.

Ultimately though we just need to be better organised all round. I've got a lot of time for Hecky but we've been disastrous both on and off the ball. Whether that's being too easy to run through, defending crosses/corners woefully or giving the ball away quickly and cheaply. Whatever personnel we pick and whatever shape we play we have to be better than we've shown so far.
 
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