Bournemouth vs Boro 02/04/2021 3pm -Good Friday or Bad Friday? 3-1 (Watmore)

[DanFromDownSouth 1,706]

26 minutes ago, RiseAgainst said:

After the last few years of despondency, I hoped Warnock's appointment would galvanise not just the team but the fans, and he certainly talked a good game early doors. He also seemed to have the right idea re signings, bringing in width and strengthening the midfield. Instead, it feels as if apathy is slowly taking over, and there's no passion around the club at present. Even if fans were attending stadia, would anyone have enjoyed watching us get comprehensively out-played by a team managed by Plank?

I reckon after Woodgate, fan expectations were through the floor, so any remotely half decent manager would have looked like an absolute Saint. Whether they played rugby and got results I don't think it mattered for a lot of fans. But that's starting to wear off now I reckon, especially for those that were taken in early doors by Warnock's sound bites.

Ultimately we don't play an entertaining brand of football, our gameplans at times seem be dice rolls at a chance of winning or losing rather than trying to dictate or dominate opposition teams (especially the "lesser" teams). Getting positive results will negate those two elements for a lot of people but recently (and that horrible run Birmingham, Blackburn and Rotherham) we've not been getting results. I'm sure after the summer, when Warnock has got the big lump he wants up top, we play the same dull brand of football but importantly get a few results they'll be less apathy kicking about. 

[Neverbefore 10,942]

5 minutes ago, DanFromDownSouth said:

I reckon after Woodgate, fan expectations were through the floor, so any remotely half decent manager would have looked like an absolute Saint. Whether they played rugby and got results I don't think it mattered for a lot of fans. But that's starting to wear off now I reckon, especially for those that were taken in early doors by Warnock's sound bites.

Ultimately we don't play an entertaining brand of football, our gameplans at times seem be dice rolls at a chance of winning or losing rather than trying to dictate or dominate opposition teams (especially the "lesser" teams). Getting positive results will negate those two elements for a lot of people but recently (and that horrible run Birmingham, Blackburn and Rotherham) we've not been getting results. I'm sure after the summer, when Warnock has got the big lump he wants up top, we play the same dull brand of football but importantly get a few results they'll be less apathy kicking about. 

I think there's a lot of feeling floating around that this is a guarantee, when it's anything but. For one, he's spent 2 transfer windows trying to find that striker and failed. Theres every chance that that could be the case again this summer. Secondly, he had the lump forward in his last season with Cardiff, they were sat in 14th when he left and they went on to finish in the play offs. 

Warnocks season of getting Cardiff promoted is an anomaly in his last 10 years of management. His brand of football is outdated and will not get any team promoted anymore. Just yet another waste of 2 years at this football club, it's exhausting. 

[TeaCider24 12,646]

30 minutes ago, Neverbefore said:

Warnocks season of getting Cardiff promoted is an anomaly in his last 10 years of management. His brand of football is outdated and will not get any team promoted anymore. Just yet another waste of 2 years at this football club, it's exhausting. 

I presume you're excluding the QPR promotion as it was 10 years ago.

If you're excluding Cardiff, and it's a big exclusion, he's not really managed that much in the last 10 years.

Crystal Palace in the Premier League for 17 games.

Season and a half at Leeds, 63 games, didn't achieve anything.

Miraculously saved Rotherham from relegation in 16 games, and that was as good as a promotion in my eyes.

He saved us from relegation, though I wouldn't call it miraculous, and has probably achieved an average at best finish this season, as of yet he's been here 50 games.

He was at Cardiff for 144 games and got them promoted in a season and a half, he managed them for as long every other club combined in the last 10 years, so it's strange to call it an anomaly. It was also only 3 years ago that he got them promoted, and football has not changed that much in 3 years.

 

 

Edited April 2, 2021 by TeaCider24

[TeaCider24 12,646]

.

[Uwe 3,545]

Win the next 10 games on the bounce and we’re promoted regardless of what anyone else does #facts #itsinourhands

 

[DanFromDownSouth 1,706]

24 minutes ago, Neverbefore said:

I think there's a lot of feeling floating around that this is a guarantee, when it's anything but.

I agree, unless we change our gameplan, it'll be luck in games, luck with injury and luck with officials that'll get us top 6 next season, if we get there at all. But you can just imagine if we win 4 on the spin to start the season, people will be on board the NW bandwagon again. 

I didn't want Warnock when we sacked Woodgate, I didn't want us to keep him after he kept us up and I didn't want us to keep him past this season. Admittedly during this season and next (in terms of finances) potentially being COVID affected I said Warnock would be a safe pair of hands and I could see why Gibson would stick with him, but I'd still rather go for someone else. 

But that said I didn't want Woodgate either, but was happy to give him a fair shot.

[Blanco 4,917]

3 minutes ago, Uwe said:

Win the next 10 games on the bounce and we’re promoted regardless of what anyone else does #facts #itsinourhands

 

Absolutely beautiful and magical post @Uwe 😍

[Neverbefore 10,942]

13 minutes ago, TeaCider24 said:

I presume you're excluding the QPR promotion as it was 10 years ago.

If you're excluding Cardiff, and it's a big exclusion, he's not really managed that much in the last 10 years.

Crystal Palace in the Premier League for 17 games.

Season and a half at Leeds, 63 games, didn't achieve anything.

Miraculously saved Rotherham from relegation in 16 games, and that was as good as a promotion in my eyes.

He saved us from relegation, though I wouldn't call it miraculous, and has probably achieved an average at best finish this season, as of yet he's been here 50 games.

He was at Cardiff for 144 games and got them promoted in a season and a half, he managed them for as long every other club combined in the last 10 years, so it's strange to call it an anomaly.

 

 

Rotherham I'll give you, but surviving relegation is not anywhere near the same as a promotion. You wouldn't expect Sean dyche to go into a job at United and win the title despite him consistently keeping Burnley up. QPR was in 2011 so in a months time that will be outside the 10 year time frame I gave.  

Leeds he was awful, crystal palace same, Cardiff he got promoted (the one season I consider an anomaly) but got relegated instantly with a whimper and was stuck in 14th when he left. With us he did what any decent manager would have done to keep us up and in my opinion has underperformed this season with the squad he has. 

I stand by it.

[Uwe 3,545]

3 minutes ago, Blanco said:

Absolutely beautiful and magical post @Uwe 😍

I may be a few whiskies in 😇

[Blanco 4,917]

1 hour ago, Uwe said:

I may be a few whiskies in 😇

Me too 😛

[Redcar Rioja 5,979]

Today wasn't as bad as the spineless Pulis Villa surrender but for a game with such high stakes we reasonably expected some fight and passion. A mixture of underwhelming performances from those under contract and a mixed dysfunctional erring on disinterested showing from those on loan failed to get anywhere close to a band of brothers type display of never say die blood and guts. From the team selection right through to the tactics employed Warnock got it badly wrong today but putting that aside I didn't see much in the way of a fight from any of those on the pitch.

[AnglianRed 6,320]

9 hours ago, Redcar Rioja said:

Today wasn't as bad as the spineless Pulis Villa surrender but for a game with such high stakes we reasonably expected some fight and passion. A mixture of underwhelming performances from those under contract and a mixed dysfunctional erring on disinterested showing from those on loan failed to get anywhere close to a band of brothers type display of never say die blood and guts. From the team selection right through to the tactics employed Warnock got it badly wrong today but putting that aside I didn't see much in the way of a fight from any of those on the pitch.

I think you've highlighted Boro's other major problem.

Aside from the apparent lack of ability, poor tactics and team selections, there seems to be a real problem with morale.

Everything's fine when we're winning, but whenever we have a tough game, or things go against us, our heads go down and any kind of fight or desire to turn it around just seems to evaporate.

Like you said, far too many players just seem disinterested. Not just the loanees either.

 

 

[Redcar Rioja 5,979]

30 minutes ago, AnglianRed said:

Aside from the apparent lack of ability, poor tactics and team selections, there seems to be a real problem with morale.

We don't have a Club Captain, a leader not only on the pitch but off it as well. Add in too many loan players with little genuine love for the Club and in games like yesterday the lack of morale shone through for all the wrong reasons. Grant was a Makem through and through but when he pulled on the Boro shirt he bust a gut and it mattered to him. I'm just not seeing any of that at the moment from the older more experienced players in the team. The nearest (and a long way off Grant's benchmark) is Howson who now looks like his legs have gone. Huge rebuilding job in the Summer required and based on the loans and signings this season I'm now getting a tad concerned about who is brought in.

[Neverbefore 10,942]

46 minutes ago, Redcar Rioja said:

We don't have a Club Captain, a leader not only on the pitch but off it as well. Add in too many loan players with little genuine love for the Club and in games like yesterday the lack of morale shone through for all the wrong reasons. Grant was a Makem through and through but when he pulled on the Boro shirt he bust a gut and it mattered to him. I'm just not seeing any of that at the moment from the older more experienced players in the team. The nearest (and a long way off Grant's benchmark) is Howson who now looks like his legs have gone. Huge rebuilding job in the Summer required and based on the loans and signings this season I'm now getting a tad concerned about who is brought in.

There was always a concern with Warnock about the style of player he might bring in. But there's definitely a very valid concern about the quality of the players he's brought in and how much he's getting out of them now too. 

Bettinelli, akpom, nml, bolasie, Roberts, archer have shown absolutely nothing. Morsy has his fans but I think he's very limited and there's a reason he's 29 and has never played at a higher level than struggling championship teams. Fisher has also been average to poor since his debut. Watmore and kebano have shown in flashes that they have quality but have struggled for consistency - a large part of that is the style of football. Hall was signed before he got here. 

That's a really poor record and I don't think even warnocks biggest fans can argue with much of that assessment. He also had a really poor couple of windows to finish his reign at Cardiff, spending fairly significantly on players that he couldn't get functioning. 

I worry not just about the next year with Warnock in charge, but about the number of years after he goes that we'll be trying to clean up his mess.

[TeaCider24 12,646]

Assuming Johnson, Fletcher, Bolasie and Kebano are all leaving for good in the summer, I'd be starting Watmore and Akpom in every game for the rest of the season.

I really don't rate Akpom but he's the only senior striker we have who's not out of contract, and it might finally click for him with the pressure off.

I know Watmore had Covid, so it's hard to say how much him being dropped was down to selection or necessity, but he's our top scorer and he should be cemented as a starter for next season.