Thanks Kev - but is a new manager needed?

[Napster]

I just think it’s nice to read a thread about footballing matters rather than whether the club will still exist. FWIW I believe Kevs harshest critic is himself.

 

[Tangled up in Blue]

I just think it’s nice to read a thread about footballing matters rather than whether the club will still exist. FWIW I believe Kevs harshest critic is himself.

Not while there are plenty on SZ.

 

[Leigh_Seasider]

Put simply I wouldn't have bought a season ticket if I had known how unentertaining, boring and negative our football was going to be and will think very hard before next season if things don't change.

I think you’ve hit on something here. With Ron gone and COSU coming in plus the fact we only just missed the playoffs last season, a lot of fans snapped up season cards with a real expectation that we’d make playoffs but also looking at who’s in the league maybe even a shot at the title. New dawn and all that.

We’ve seen a couple of good attacking performances - Solihull was one .. where everything has fallen into place on the day but that’s the exception rather than the norm. People expected more entertainment. More goals. Scoring goals has been an issue for us for years, Cardwell having such an amazing season just papered over the cracks. Set pieces again .. they’ve been **** for years and show no signs of improvement.

I kind of get the feeling a lot of teams especially away teams visiting the Hall have worked out our gameplan plus, there’s not the backs to the wall siege mentality there was last season. Funnily enough we managed to up our game vs Charlton .. how strange .. that could’ve been our springboard but it hasn’t been. It’s pure frustration from fans.

 

[Holy Joe]

I hope that COSU realise that the overriding priority is results on the pitch. All the other stuff is of course important in its own right but 'sustainability' to use a somewhat vague but fashionable buzzword is meaningless if we are flirting with relegation and oblivious to its dire consequences. Looking at the present situation through the wrong end of the telescope is not the way forward.

Says someone not funding the club!

COSU have stated their priority as becoming financially sustainable - we don't know quite what that means apart from increasing non football related revenues and stemming losses of circa £1.5m per year.

 

[blues exile]

Says someone not funding the club!

COSU have stated their priority as becoming financially sustainable - we don't know quite what that means apart from increasing non football related revenues and stemming losses of circa £1.5m per year.

I fully understand they wish to increase non football revenue and that is a perfectly laudible ambition but if the footballing side is left to flounder because of inadequate management there will be a commensurate drop in revenue from that source.

 

[Holy Joe]

I fully understand they wish to increase non football revenue and that is a perfectly laudible ambition but if the footballing side is left to flounder because of inadequate management there will be a commensurate drop in revenue from that source.

Maybe but remember this season they're probably above 'budget' on ticket revenue - if it falls back to budget next season - if I were COSU it wouldnt be ringing alarm bells.

 

[Thundersley Blue]

I think you’ve hit on something here. With Ron gone and COSU coming in plus the fact we only just missed the playoffs last season, a lot of fans snapped up season cards with a real expectation that we’d make playoffs but also looking at who’s in the league maybe even a shot at the title. New dawn and all that.

We’ve seen a couple of good attacking performances - Solihull was one .. where everything has fallen into place on the day but that’s the exception rather than the norm. People expected more entertainment. More goals. Scoring goals has been an issue for us for years, Cardwell having such an amazing season just papered over the cracks. Set pieces again .. they’ve been **** for years and show no signs of improvement.

I kind of get the feeling a lot of teams especially away teams visiting the Hall have worked out our gameplan plus, there’s not the backs to the wall siege mentality there was last season. Funnily enough we managed to up our game vs Charlton .. how strange .. that could’ve been our springboard but it hasn’t been. It’s pure frustration from fans.

The Charlton game may well have been the Springboard everyone wanted. Unfortunately, a certain referee made a mistake and we ended up against a pretty decent Yeovil side with 10 men for over an hour.

 

[nick12]

So many posts about OK, does everyone really think if he was still with us and not injured we would be much more entertaining to watch and much higher up the league?

Yes he was a loss as was HC but I can't see how he would have made all the difference?

GM looked a class above when he arrived but within 3 matches he was playing the same negative backwards football as the rest of our midfield and BP has shown he is a goal scorer but what can he do when our possession is 90% in our own half?

 

[blues exile]

So many posts about OK, does everyone really think if he was still with us and not injured we would be much more entertaining to watch and much higher up the league?

Yes he was a loss as was HC but I can't see how he would have made all the difference?

GM looked a class above when he arrived but within 3 matches he was playing the same negative backwards football as the rest of our midfield.

 

[IloveShrimp]

Personally I think the consortium has bitten off more than they can chew and don’t have the cash resources required.

I voted for Kev to go. I have no doubt that he passionately wants SUFC to succeed, but I think his team selection, obvious picking of favourites over players on form and stifling of creativity is causing rifts in the dressing room.

 

[blues exile]

Personally I think the consortium has bitten off more than they can chew and don’t have the cash resources required.

I voted for Kev to go. I have no doubt that he passionately wants SUFC to succeed, but I think his team selection, obvious picking of favourites over players on form and stifling of creativity is causing rifts in the dressing room.

They were certainly over hasty in extending his contract and have made a rod for their own back. As I have said on numerous occasions Project Maher has run its course and as the years roll on his shortcomings grow more obvious.

 

[Morty01]

Watch us go on a 12 game unbeaten run after this

 

[Exiled Shrimper]

The style of play (and formation) wouldn’t be a topic of conversation if we were winning more games. We’ve seen 3 of the top 4 play the way that we want to play football against us this season (D2 L1) and we play the fourth of those teams next weekend…

A little bit more on this, because the more I reflect today, the more I consider the influence of the intensity of our play (or lack thereof) on current perceptions compared to last year, on the pitch at least.

In the best performances of this season, and our best successes last season, the intensity of our press - high up the pitch - and our passing, particularly through midfield, has been much greater than it was yesterday.

There were reasons for that earlier this season, when we were forced to recruit players late and without a full pre-season behind them, then going through much of August and September with a Saturday-Tuesday-Saturday schedule.

That has settled down now, but the last hour against Yeovil (for obvious reasons because we were trying to manage the game with ten men) and particularly yesterday, has seen standards drop
In that respect. And because fans haven’t seen that intensity, the frustration is growing.

York’s press at Roots Hall and Barnet’s passing at The Hive are probably the two biggest stand-outs in terms of the head-to-head differentials between us, and it’s probably the easiest thing we can fix on the training ground. Being effective at this should lead to more (and better) chances being created, scoring more goals and ultimately winning more games.

 

[Sandbach Shrimper]

Not yet - let's not forget we nearly knocked Charlton out of the cup a couple of weeks ago and had won three of our last four games before that - but if our form continues to slump then questions have to be asked. Give him until the end of the year. If we're still hovering above the relegation zone then a change may be needed.

 

[IloveShrimp]

Watch us go on a 12 game unbeaten run after this

Hope so