Sorry for the long post but it’s likely to be a long one. There’s a lot to say, and this thread seems to be the most appropriate place to say it.
I went yesterday, for the first time this season, through choice. I took a Derby mate with me and sat on the kop. I’ve not missed seeing any of our games through sky or streams this season, and maybe not seen a handful in the past three seasons. I state this here to counter any “you’re not watching games” claims that come my way. I usually get in 10-15 games per season as I can’t commit to a season ticket. I’m not sure I’ll go to 5 this season unless there’s a radical change.
Pre-match my Derby mate was saying it’s an easy three points, they have maybe 2 fully fit defenders and are plagued by injuries. They also can’t score. I countered that we struggle to make chances now so it won’t be as one sided as he believed. He wasn’t having any of it, he said they’re so poor that he couldn’t believe they were 3/1 to win, it should’ve been 20/1. Again, added for context that’s one fans view.
That first half was dire, and I wasn’t surprised we conceded. Derby got an edge and took it, they were the better team for a sustained spell of about ten minutes. Having the lead they could sit back and weather the inevitable response.
Second half, exactly the same. Slow, lethargic, backwards passing, watching BBD and others struggle to make even a minimal impact. Arblaster I forget he was playing. Phillips and Chong did enough but again, nothing special. Cannon and Bamford feeding off nothing, not even scraps at this point.
Cue the sending off and introduction of Seriki and Donovan. We finally got some bite, and you could see Donovan trying to make things happen every time we got the ball. Seven minutes of injury time and we’re still pissing about retaining possession and passing it backwards. Game over and 2 points dropped, at home, to another awful side.
Wilder, I just don’t know what he’s doing anymore. These are players he’s signed or favours, over the more energetic and impactful players we have. He’s coming out with contradictory statements all season, and seems to have no clue what his best team is. He’s relying on Burrows or Seriki to come back strong, but the former looks a shadow of himself and the latter will need game time to get over that injury.
It’s like he’s playing these games thinking we’ve already won, so we can tinker with a line up. When we inevitably don’t win it’s someone else’s fault, and we’re left chasing points for the rest of the season.
Let’s be honest, if one of those later chances goes in, no one is saying is a great performance but the points are there. Same as Bolton, but against worse opposition.
I’m getting so numb to the apathy we’re being expected to ingest and be happy about week after week. These players have no character, no leadership, no drive to push on.
As I say, it was my first game this season and I was surprised by how many empty seats there were for an early Saturday kick off. Minimal queues for food or the toilets, not taking long to get out of the ground. Boos and disinterest across the crowd. It’s not hard to see the split between the fans and the team.
CW has been pushing out this shit now since the 92 point season. Some of us noticed it wasn’t sustainable and would catch us up, but the excuses he has given have now got little to no weight.
These are his players mainly, his tactics, his team selections, his subs. Yes we’ve had to sell, but replacing Hamer with BBD because he used to be good is frankly criminal. All these loan players are loans for a reason, they can’t get into their parent clubs, and not every parent club is a Man City.
He’s getting a track record of underusing talent for “reasons”, see Donovan and JRS for example, in favour of ageing experience. That experience should help guide the youth, not replace it. The balance is all wrong.
I’ve thought for a while we need a change in direction, starting at manager level. It will pain some fans and there’ll be kick back, but that’s what clubs need, as while we stick with this set up, nothing will change. We’re noticeably going backwards in my opinion.
The board need to make a short term plan, as they obviously don’t have funds to be competitive in the championship, so they’re definitely not factoring in a relegation into their thoughts.
We’ve now been sleepwalking in apathy for so long, we’re accepting this as our reality. Nothing will change until the people who make the decisions actually wake up to the our actual reality, at best a lower mid championship team, at worst destined for League One.