DuncDisorderly
Active Member
Firstly, I'm not really a Blackie supporter, but I do accept that he is the manager of the club, and that I have no influence either way in changing that. Que sera sera. If the Chairman's had enough then we will get a new manager, until then we won't. First and foremost, we really dont know the parameters under which he is working. We can speculate about it but what is really going on? Its clear that there are some perplexing questions
Where are the lines and boundaries that Kev McCabe and the board have drawn..? We now have Trevor Birch in post but we dont know what his role is really. Are we looking for investors, buyers, neither of the above..? Kev McCabe says he is NOT going to sell-up, but is that whole-hearted..? What has he decided about how much money he wants back out of the club..?
What we see is that we have spent on Evans, and a fair bit on wages, but can barely put a team out who all have full contracts. Its not clear why we are in this position. I doubt its all Blackwells fault. I can see what was wrong with our team last year, and that Blackie has tried to get more width, pace and midfield guile. I can also see that we haven't put out the same side for two games running, never mind anything close to ur 'first choice' team and we are never going to get consistency on that basis.
During the last bad run there was a lot of talk about playing 'good football', well for me, we have tried to do that. Williamson has made a difference, Harper too. Quinn has had his best couple of games in seasons. Some effort has gone in, but to what end? I watched the Pigs-Newcastle game yesterday, and Newcastle spent the whole game getting the ball out to the full backs before launching long balls into Andy Carroll. Good football = successful football? I think not...
Yesterday, we get the howls about being negative, but is this because we didnt just steamroller the opposition? It might be a shock, but you know what, I think Leicester were trying to win the game as well. In my view, if we'd have gone 4-5-1 instead of a more attacking 4-3-3ish, their midfield wouldn't have had the space to play. Stopping the opposition away from home was what we built our season on last year. No plan 'B'? Well, we changed to 4-4-2, then we changed the striking option at half time and it nearly paid off. Undone by two defensive mistakes.
As for the manager question, I can't immediately think of a better one, unless we just want to fire Blackie and see what happens next. I think that would be a mistake. In the Championship there is very little difference in the majority of teams. Preston, and Cardiff are two clubs who should be up there come the end of the season. Dave Jones and Alan Irvine are both good managers, yet they have had a run of six games without a win. Its that kind of league. It is consistency that we need, and that can only come from settling the team and the squad.
There is no doubt that a big clue is almost upon us; the January transfer window. With several of the loanees, including the vital ones like Bunn (did I say vital, eek!) due to head back, it will be a clear indication of the long term objectives that are being set by the Chairman and board. I'm not expecting much, but I hope I am wrong...
What I dont get is that there were howls for him to be sacked, then we go seven unbeaten, nothing, then we lose and its howls again. Fickle, fickle, fickle. If you want these opinions to be taken more seriously, then why dont you balance them up with a bit of praise when we do well, not reluctantly, not grudgingly, not 'absence of criticism is praise enough'. Charles Dickens wrote (very appropriate to the time of year) that 'narrow minds deliver broad statements'. Perhaps we would do well to remember that...
Keep the faith. UTB.
