Wilson's Approach

[Rodley]

His tactics, substitutions and team selections are conservative with a capital 'C'. I'm all for consistency but I think DW needs to be slightly more adventurous in his approach. Whilst he's the right man to get us out of this division and is doing a great job despite with his hands tied, I think one of the key contributing factors is the awful, awful standard of opposition in the league rather than any outstanding tactical nous or inspired signings on his part. Coventry and Pompey have come down and, unusually for relegated sides, have offered very little and the teams which have been promoted look reasonable but nothing more. The division is as poor as it has been for years.

My concern is that we're grinding out results now and not really giving the youngsters any game time, even in the cup competitions. If we do get promoted, I really can't see us investing significantly and so we have to hope that a couple more youngsters can emerge this season and make the step up next year. It's great Long has broken through, but I think this is more reflective of our complete lack of transfer clout rather than a commitment to pushing through the youngsters (we were even looking at Darren Ward!). Having endured the relegation season, I have serious doubts that Doyle and Collins are any where near the standard we'll need if we get up (despite our determination to offer them long-term contracts). Whitehouse, Kennedy, McFadzean etc need to be getting 5-10 minute substitute appearances right NOW in order to bring them on. These three are good prospects and should be making the bench, fitness permitting.

To reiterate, I'm 100% behind Wilson and this is as much an observation rather than a critique. But having recently watched a match between a couple of middling Championship sides, we really are light years away from that level.

UTB

 

[Bergen Blade]

Relevant and valid observations which no doubt will be dismissed by a few saying "let's worry about the Championship when we get there".

I also think the Championship looks more difficult nowadays with many decent teams, and the best way to make an assault on it would be to have a fresh, young side gaining real momentum in League One, playing effective and modern football. It's not the approach we've chosen at the moment.

 

[SouthEssexBlade]

Cart before the horse springs to mind!

 

[alcoblade]

Relevant and valid observations which no doubt will be dismissed by a few saying "let's worry about the Championship when we get there".

I also think the Championship looks more difficult nowadays with many decent teams, and the best way to make an assault on it would be to have a fresh, young side gaining real momentum in League One, playing effective and modern football. It's not the approach we've chosen at the moment.

I don't want to make this mine and your hobby horse Bergs, but what if the other options aren't good enough?

I'm actualy uncomfortable with this too as I think we're a whisker away from losing matches. But I think it's a tweak with approach that's needed. I'd hope we could develop Miller on one wing, and find the answer in youth on the other side. Then it's up to the players to move move purposefully towards goal. But it's a really difficult situation to analyse. Priority 1, 2 and 3 has to be promotion. We are top of the league. Wilson isn't going to change tactics right now, and nor should he drastically.

Remember that it's the loss of a few players that's made this shift in style. It thus only takes the gain of a few players to regain the style.

UTB

 

[metalblade]

A way too sensible OP, should we be promoted at the end of the season we will need a virtual new team otherwise we will be embarrassed. Can anyone here see past Long, Maguire, McDonald and maybe one of Blackman or Miller being good enough to make the step up ??? For that matter will Wilson be good enough or has he found his level ??? Lots of questions but few answers but I can tell you all one thing for sure that Nigerian fella will bring fook all cash in and the tax dodger in Belguim will be more worried about finding cash to build his student flats than investing in the team. Lets face it the pigs have brought new faces in and they are struggling big time in the Championship it really is a world away from this pub league we find ourselves in.

 

[blader]

I absolutely agree. I can't believe we are top of the league, when we are a shadow of the side that failed to win promotion last year! But everything about Wilson's approach this season so far has been "let's not lose this one", hence why we are unbeaten, but have yet to beat a team convincingly.

Firstly, playing Williams as a full-back is stupid. Playing him as a winger is god-damn ridiculous and Wilson really needs to be questioned more on this. Not only is it negative playing a full back on the wing, but let's face it, the guy is sh*ite!

The substitutions always amaze me too. I would be very surprised if there has been any game this season where we have made the first unforced substitution of the match. I've never seen us make a tactical sub before 75 minutes! And to bring Cresswell on instead of Cofie/Miller is again, just a negative move.

The team is worse this year, everyone knows that, but Wilson'd lack of confidence in his squad as a whole is very apparent. Also, he makes reactive subs in each match, whereas the best managers have always been proactive. Just hope he makes these minor changes, which I think would improve our performance.

Ultimately though we're top and unbeaten, what do we know, eh!?? Wilson must be doing something right!

 

[BladeFisher]

I absolutely agree. I can't believe we are top of the league, when we are a shadow of the side that failed to win promotion last year! But everything about Wilson's approach this season so far has been "let's not lose this one", hence why we are unbeaten, but have yet to beat a team convincingly......

I thought County away (JPT) was pretty convincing.

 

[mpjacko]

A way too sensible OP, should we be promoted at the end of the season we will need a virtual new team otherwise we will be embarrassed. Can anyone here see past Long, Maguire, McDonald and maybe one of Blackman or Miller being good enough to make the step up ??? For that matter will Wilson be good enough or has he found his level ??? Lots of questions but few answers but I can tell you all one thing for sure that Nigerian fella will bring fook all cash in and the tax dodger in Belguim will be more worried about finding cash to build his student flats than investing in the team. Lets face it the pigs have brought new faces in and they are struggling big time in the Championship it really is a world away from this pub league we find ourselves in.

Don't forget we will still have Porter, Hill, Doyle (who standards by the way have dropped since he has been given his 3 year contract).

 

[Pinchy]

I've had more than enough of this 'substitutions' bollocks. Substitutes are on the bench because they are not selected as part of the best XI on the day. Yet people are shouting for them to come on after ten minutes. If the same player had been selected from the outset there would be nothing like the same enthusiasm!

Across the world of football, thousands of substitutes are used each week. Their typical contribution is minimal to average. That's why it's headline news when a substitute scores but goes unmentioned when one drops a clanger or, much more often, does nothing remarkable whatsoever,

Personally I'm perfectly happy to finish a game with the same XI that started. If it was the best team at 3 O'Clock it's a fair assumption it's still the best team at quarter to five.

I think some of you read too many comics.

 

[Kev Gee]

Wilsons record on developing youth is woeful.
The only reason that youngsters such as Harry & Long are playing is because there was/is no-one else?
IF we go up then i cant see Macabe investing much in the team. So were will that leave us?

 

[metalblade]

What a godsend it must have been to the Swindon defence who after chasing a football for 75mins then had an old and slow Cresswell to contend with rather than a much younger forward with pace such as Miller or Cofie. Maybe the best team at kick off was Porter/Blackman up front but 75mins in you would think if we wanted to win the game fresh legs with pace would have a better effect against a tiring back four.

 

[Revolution]

I also think the Championship looks more difficult nowadays with many decent teams, and the best way to make an assault on it would be to have a fresh, young side gaining real momentum in League One, playing effective and modern football.

No, the best way to make an assault on it is to purchase better players. That is what we are going to have to do if we (a) go up and (b) want to stay up.

There may be one or two non-first team players who are going to help next season (I assume that is why Chappell is at Burton now, for example - United did the same with Walker and Quinn at that stage of their careers). They will get a go when we need them or when we can play them in less risky situations. At the moment, we need to focus on winning promotion, and as we sit in the promotion places with a third of the season gone I think I'd rather let Wilson get on with things as he sees fit rather than bring the likes of Tonne on with 15 minutes to go just to get a run out.

 

[Patrick Suffaux]

Starting to get a tiny bit bored of all this now but we'll keep hearing/reading it until they start winning every game 4-0.

If we open up we will start dropping points I'm certain of it. Wilson has chosen the current approach for a reason, he's no mug. I'm sure he realises that we lack creative width and attacking full backs and that we're subsequently unable to press the opposition back for extended periods. Hence he's sensibly gone for the defensively solid and more direct approach. It's about mixing it up when you have to and he's a good enough manager to know how to implement that.

I'm sure that if or when he has significant funds to spend on the 3 or 4 players we need, he would go for a more open and attack minded approach. It's about being confident that you can press the opposition back and out-score them if it becomes an open game. He obviously doesn't feel we can do that at the moment and I would agree with him.

 

[Pinchy]

DW had two 'lists' of transfer targets. One for the Championship; another (as sadly transpired) if we stayed in Division Three. I bet there were few if any on both lists.

Mock if you want, but K Mc will allow Danny to recruit at a higher level of quality when we go up. As for Danny having 'found his level' ask Barnsley fans how he coped with Championship football. On second thoughts.....perhaps not - they might not understand the question.

 

[Fiery Blade]

Unfortunately Pinchy it was a long time ago - Since then he has tried and failed with Swindon, Hartlepool Bristol City and Milton Keynes.
He adopted a team with players capable of getting out of this division and we blew it!
Yes, he has lost some of his better players Quinn, Williamson, Lowton, etc
Evans is wiling his time away at Her Majesty's Pleasure for gross stupidity
And your mate Monty is sunning himself 'Down Under'
We still have the most expensive squad in the third division otherwise FFP is fatally flawed!
Yet we are reduced to playing reserve full backs in midfield, youth loanee strikers in midfield and
he refuses to play the only striker that appears to have any idea of creating space and running off the ball!

 

[Pinchy]

...and we sit unbeaten at the top of the league on course to win it!

 

[blade too long]

We still have the most expensive squad in the third division otherwise FFP is fatally flawed!!

think youll find thats Portsmouth,
followed by Coventry

pompey have 3 players on wages that match our current entire first 11

 

[SwissBlade]

Wilson convinced me last season that he can get his side playing decent, attractive football where we score goals. We also showed some defensive vulnerabilities, not much, but enough to mean that we didn't go up in the Automatics.

This season I have been pleasantly surprised by the way he has addressed the defensive frailties have been addressed, defensively we have conceded fewer goals than other teams in Championship, L1 and only Gillingham at the top of L2 have conceded so few as us.

So whilst the excitement and pace of the team (relatively speaking) last season is not present at the moment, we have tightened up at the back and its resulted in us closing the points gap on free scoring Tranmere to just 2 points.

It comes at a price though, with us being goal shy we lag behind Tranmere on Goal Difference as well. But if you are someone that doesn't believe GD will be a big issue at the back end of the season, its far from a reason to panic.

So for me, Wilson's approach in the first third of the season is not questionable. we have an excellent base to build on, I do think we need to get smarter on our attacking play and take more chances, it not a major concern at the moment, but will become more important later on.

I also think (and its related to the last point) that we need to also use our subs better, this was an issue last year and also this year.

 

[secretchief]

It's all of a piece. If we like the 1-0 wins, we have to be consistent and not moan overmuch at the nil-nils, especially when they are ground out. They are horns on the same goat!

If we finish below the top two, there will need no ghost from the grave to come tell us that playing a left back on the left wing was a poor strategy, or that to recruit six/seven strikers and no wingers worthy of the name was poor recruitment.

 

[Pinchy]

Don't worry about Tranmere. They will not feature in the race for automatic promotion.

 

[blade too long]

We are winning games , drawing games but not losing games
AESTHETICS rarely get you promoted
I listen to people on here going on about how mundane we are and complaining every game isn't a goal fest as we sweep teams aside like they were shit on our boots, but wheres the reality
I watched 3 of europes biggest clubs in action , chelsea man utd and barcelona last night
chelsea were outplayed but won , man utd were dreadful for 80 minutes but won , and Barcelona dipped at celtic,
will celtic man utd or chelsea fans be up in arms as they werent brilliant , but won ugly
is it a total myth teams can be superb every game
in europe man utds won all 4 but in 3 of them theyve been in footballing terms outplayed
Dannys got a squad thats on half the wage bill of last season , and these days quality is commensurate with wages, weve gone from 24 million a year wages in 2006 to 6 mill in 6 years , a quarter
All I ask is just a couple of weeks without this constant yes we are unbeaten but are we happy shit
for gods sake cheer up , lifes too short to be a miserable depressing sod every day of your life

Are there any positive thinkers out there, please, urgently required apply sheffield united supporters club

 

[Fiery Blade]

think youll find thats Portsmouth,
followed by Coventry

pompey have 3 players on wages that match our current entire first 11

So how come we cannot sign any more loans players because of Financial Fair Play - Our turnover must be far higher than both Portsmouth and Coventry
In fact early doors we couldn't play Monty and Cresswell due to FFP - how does that work?

 

[Balham]

I've had more than enough of this 'substitutions' bollocks. Substitutes are on the bench because they are not selected as part of the best XI on the day. Yet people are shouting for them to come on after ten minutes. If the same player had been selected from the outset there would be nothing like the same enthusiasm!

Across the world of football, thousands of substitutes are used each week. Their typical contribution is minimal to average. That's why it's headline news when a substitute scores but goes unmentioned when one drops a clanger or, much more often, does nothing remarkable whatsoever,

Personally I'm perfectly happy to finish a game with the same XI that started. If it was the best team at 3 O'Clock it's a fair assumption it's still the best team at quarter to five.

I think some of you read too many comics.

I agree with a lot of what you say, Pinchy, but I'm going to have to disagree with you on this one.

Substitutions can be used as a reactive measure - player X is having a shocker, the opposition line up is different to that which was expected - or proactively - the opposition has a weakness at right back that the scouts hadn't spotted, they're down to 10 men, player Y is tired and so on.

My issue with Wilson is that he does not do enough of the latter. Swindon's back four was ponderous yet the change was to bring on a slow, immobile centre forward for a relatively mobile one (albeit a mobile striker having a shocker).

 

[Darren]

So how come we cannot sign any more loans players because of Financial Fair Play - Our turnover must be far higher than both Portsmouth and Coventry
In fact early doors we couldn't play Monty and Cresswell due to FFP - how does that work?

It occurs to me that you might be given some time to conform with FPP when you are relegated. After all, if Coventry have players on championship contracts based on championship income, it would seem a mite unfair to hit them straightaway with the full force of FPP rules when they are relegated.

 

[alcoblade]

So how come we cannot sign any more loans players because of Financial Fair Play - Our turnover must be far higher than both Portsmouth and Coventry

Isn't it just because their overall wage bill is lower than ours?

In fact early doors we couldn't play Monty and Cresswell due to FFP - how does that work?

Wasn't that because they were on appearance / win bonuses that if paid, took us above the threshold?

UTB

 

[blade too long]

So how come we cannot sign any more loans players because of Financial Fair Play - Our turnover must be far higher than both Portsmouth and Coventry
In fact early doors we couldn't play Monty and Cresswell due to FFP - how does that work?

its worked out on a very complex basis , our higher crowds doesnt mean our incomes bigger
if we sell 1000 season tickets at 400 pompey still get more if they sell 800 at 600 quid for example
bigger gates mean bigger policing bills higher stewarding costs costlier insurance, theres all sorts of factors
and theres all sorts of debts ,,depends on what we say is income overall , might be lot less than pompey
our 18000 crowd last monday probably had 3-4000 paying what 1000 would have 5 years ago due to marketing enticements, we probably got more from 18000 crowds 7 -8 year ago than we get now

 

[metalblade]

It occurs to me that you might be given some time to conform with FPP when you are relegated. After all, if Coventry have players on championship contracts based on championship income, it would seem a mite unfair to hit them straightaway with the full force of FPP rules when they are relegated.

So are you saying we didn't have players on long Championship contracts that couldn't be changed ??? Quinn and Monty immediately spring to mind. The way Pompey are getting decent players in makes the system a joke at best.

 

[Pinchy]

I agree with a lot of what you say, Pinchy, but I'm going to have to disagree with you on this one.

Substitutions can be used as a reactive measure - player X is having a shocker, the opposition line up is different to that which was expected - or proactively - the opposition has a weakness at right back that the scouts hadn't spotted, they're down to 10 men, player Y is tired and so on.

My issue with Wilson is that he does not do enough of the latter. Swindon's back four was ponderous yet the change was to bring on a slow, immobile centre forward for a relatively mobile one (albeit a mobile striker having a shocker).

It's a matter of emphasis rather than disagreement, mate. Of course substitutes are a useful asset and should be used constructively. There are those, though, it seems to me, who get hugely carried away about the need for, and effect of, substitutions. It's as though substitution has some intrinsic merit of its own, regardless of circumstances. Why else would Danny be criticised for not making a substitution in games that we win? I certainly don't accept 'giving X a run' as a valid reason for a substitution. That, I'm afraid, is the stuff of the Sunday League.

P.S. I still ❤ you.

 

[blade too long]

we were rumbling along nicely till we went up to the prem ,we were top 10 championship winning more than we lost , wage bill of 8 mill earning 9 -10 so paying for the odd improvement then we go up , bang,,, wage bill soars to 24.6 mill , unlucky , not brave enough , not spent just enough we go down , 34 million parachute payment over 3 years well 16 mill just covered first season in prem wages then we have to go back to 8-10 mill income with subsequent wages bills of 20 18 16 and 14 then 12 a total 38 million on top of the 14 million loss on wages in the prem meant we are 18 to 20 million down just over income so the parachute .
The outlay on players of 14 million in fees in the prem on top takes us to roughly the 34 mill we were at before this season
the 4 million we spent on beattie we lost 2 mill on and ched 2=3 mill is up the spout and some keep asking wheres the money gone, the 8 we got for the kyles , which we are getting in instalments is then 3, and theres loads more we lost money on
all in all the prem was the worst thing that happened to us, gave us a good kicking financially you need 2-3 years up there to make it start to work, but they now get nearly 50 million in parachute as the prem realises the financial mess it leaves any club in

the idiot on the radio saying we are being milked is so far off the mark its untrue
being in the prem is like someone handing you a rolex watch and smiling while they empty your bank account behind your back

 

[Jonny G]

Was discussing the Pompey squad with my brother during the game and we decided that these monthly contracts and loans must somehow fall outside of the figures you'd need to report for FFP!?

But then you hear that Swindon have an embargo placed on them because of signing players for fees that take them over their limit.

So at the moment I'm reasonably happy to say that our approach may be Wilson's way of getting the best out of what we have and he can get. Although I would like to see a bit more quality on show!