Yep absolutely. 18 points in 13 games extrapolated over a full season would give us 63 points and mid table bliss. I'm as big a fan of SCP as anyone but I don't think there's any doubt that JR has brought a little extra to the table. Hope he stays next season.
I think he was quite cute today - played Hariott and Sordell who've had pelters at home lately - only a few hundred to impress today so a lot less pressure. Now he has two players with more confidence prior to the home games.
It hasn't been easy as we have had to play so many games so close together. The intensity of the games mean you have your work cut out to try to keep the team fresh. So you can't play the same side every game and you get criticised for not doing so.
I think it should be noted that we are also trying to play a passing game since JR took over. Not always successfully, but enough to make a difference.
I think it should be noted that we are also trying to play a passing game since JR took over. Not always successfully, but enough to make a difference.
Total sea change in that respect- whereas under CP it was generally hoofball, under JR i've found myself shouting at players for not hoofing it !
I think Chrissy would have kept us up - but Riga was a risk which has worked out - and I am grateful to him for that. Would be happy if he remained manager for next season.
I'm struggling to like him (nothing to do with chris Powell) thought he was doing an ok job until the Barnsley and Bolton games, some of his tactics and playing style really frustrates me.
I'm struggling to like him (nothing to do with chris Powell) thought he was doing an ok job until the Barnsley and Bolton games, some of his tactics and playing style really frustrates me.
I suspect that fitness and fatique issues were maybe disrupting his plans somewhat.
I like him, but cautiously because whilst he's got us picking up points the fixture list has been kind. Barnsley proved the learning curve the Championship presents. But it's not Riga's fault he's not Chris Powell and he should be judged on his own merits, and those merits include several important wins.
He is different from Chrissy - he is not a tunnel jumper or a waver - he is more serious - but when he came in he had a job and a half and I think he has done well. I was ready to turn against him and so were a few others but he soon gained the respect of the fans. If he keeps us up - which I am now confident he will do, it will have been a great job. Yes we've had some ups and downs, but he has kept putting the points on the board for us and we can't complain.
It looks like, he has almost done his only job when he walked in the door, keep us up.
The form he has produced since he has joined is a improvement on SCP.
God knows whats going to happen over the summer, I guess none of us do, but if he keeps us up (I have said "if" so as not to tempt fate) then he has done well in my books.
You only have to remember the depressing journey home from Sheffield United where things were looking very bleak. If you'd been offered 18th place, a 2pts cushion from safety, a game in hand and with only 3 games left to play you'd have taken that all day long.
The key to it has been the early home games against Huddersfield and Bournemouth where we took 4 pts. Had both games been lost things could have turned very nasty very quickly but to his credit he got us results which got the fans on his side which i'm convinced has made a big contribution towards the wins over Forest, Leeds and Wednesday. Without the fans backing who's to say we'd have won any of these?
If he keeps us up i'd like to see him stay on in the job, he will have earnt it.
Was willing to give him til the end of the season but i was ready to jump on his back after seeing the teamsheet. Nice to see that he does know what he's doing and i still know nothing about football
Difficult to judge fully as yet, but certainly has something about him and has done what was asked of him (I hope) with someone else's players. Cant complain.
Can see the football he wants to play. He's kept the team spirit CP created, let him brinf some of his own players in in the summer and get him signed on a contract. Future looks a little bit brighter after this past 2 games.
Wouldn't mind a full season under Jose I reckon it would be a fine season where we would win and lose and very few draws and be up around 8th or 9th
Depending on player acquisition.
With this squad Riga could secure a mid table finish. Thing is ten players will be going this summer and Poyet, Fox, Dervite and Hamer are out of contract plus Ajdarevic and Sordell are on loan. So agree player acquisition is key as is player retention for CAFC to get back to the top half of the table.
Don't get me wrong still miss CP, but you can't deny, Jose plays better football and also gets his subs right, which is something CP always struggled with in my opinion. Wouldn't mind Jose signing up next season, hopefully as a championship manager.
I love him when I bumped into him today he's a top bloke I really hope we keep him on ,he's done well with a poor squad and a crazy schedule give him a full pre season and Little financial I think we could have a good year
I hate to say it as I love powelly. But I don't think he would have necessarily kept us up. Im not saying he wouldn't have, but it isn't a given thing that he would have. I think Jose has performed something spectacular.
What I like about Jose is that he seems to have confidence in all our players. Even if a player has a stinker (Harriot) one game, he isn't automatically barred from the next five, in fact he may even play in the very next game, as Harriot did yesterday. We had all given up on Church, who was mocked by all and sundry, yet Jose gave him confidence by believing in him and playing him against Bolton. Sordell and Dervite have looked like new players. The fact of the matter is that 90% of our players are of the required standard, or they wouldn't have contracts in the first place. In a team that's playing well, each player will look good or average. Whereas in a team that's playing poorly, without confidence, every player gets dragged down and looks poor or atrocious. The secret was to get the team playing better football, with more confidence and more positivity. From that, individual players begin to flourish. I've said before that somehow Riga has managed to accomplish this with next to no time on the training pitch. It has been an outstanding achievement IMO (If we stay up).
If we stay up (and it's still an "if") he'll deserve whatever bonus Duchatelet promised him. We were in big, big trouble and he's done a remarkable job (so far) to turn it around.
It's worth remembering that we started the game yesterday without any network players or any players signed from elsewhere since the new Owner arrived; everybody who started was available for selection on the opening day of the season against Bournemouth, but we were without Kermorgant, Stephens and Cameron Stewart. For me that puts into perspective what an incredible result it was yesterday.
If Riga stays (and, again, it's an "if" - he may not want the job, for example) then I have no doubt whatsoever that the players will improve under him and that we'll play more attractive, passing football. Moreover, I think we might keep players, including Diego Poyet, who might otherwise have left. Whether, ultimately, the football would be more effective than under Powell, leading to a better overall outcome, is hard to say. Only time might tell.
PS I recall reading somewhere a comment by a Begian journalist which said that Duchatelet makes decisions which are unpopular with fans, but that always end up being right. I thought at the time that this was nonsense (which it must be because nobody makes decisions which are always right), but if we survive this myth will gain yet more currency and, more importantly, further fuel Duchatelet's confidence in his vision, for better or for worse.
Massive risks involved with the changes and with the amount of players being out of contract, in my mind it had the potential to be an unmitigated disaster.
But it hasn't, far from it. And that's testament to the players, the remaining coaches who have given continuity, and Riga.
Some of his selections and subs have baffled me, I thought tactically we completely lost it 2nd half v Barnsley, for example. But I never expect perfection in management decisions, and he is certainly someone I could get behind for next season.
And there's the crunch. I can't fully 'commit' to him as ive no idea at all whether he will be 1st team coach beyond three games.
We are still not out of this, so how things end up will have a huge weighting on approach for next season. But if we do survive, he would have more than earned his chance for next season.
Comments
But I give him the benefit of the doubt on this one
Super jose Riga
The form he has produced since he has joined is a improvement on SCP.
God knows whats going to happen over the summer, I guess none of us do, but if he keeps us up (I have said "if" so as not to tempt fate) then he has done well in my books.
The key to it has been the early home games against Huddersfield and Bournemouth where we took 4 pts. Had both games been lost things could have turned very nasty very quickly but to his credit he got us results which got the fans on his side which i'm convinced has made a big contribution towards the wins over Forest, Leeds and Wednesday. Without the fans backing who's to say we'd have won any of these?
If he keeps us up i'd like to see him stay on in the job, he will have earnt it.
So agree player acquisition is key as is player retention for CAFC to get back to the top half of the table.
But what does the huh man think (does he actually do football thinking)
It's worth remembering that we started the game yesterday without any network players or any players signed from elsewhere since the new Owner arrived; everybody who started was available for selection on the opening day of the season against Bournemouth, but we were without Kermorgant, Stephens and Cameron Stewart. For me that puts into perspective what an incredible result it was yesterday.
If Riga stays (and, again, it's an "if" - he may not want the job, for example) then I have no doubt whatsoever that the players will improve under him and that we'll play more attractive, passing football. Moreover, I think we might keep players, including Diego Poyet, who might otherwise have left. Whether, ultimately, the football would be more effective than under Powell, leading to a better overall outcome, is hard to say. Only time might tell.
PS I recall reading somewhere a comment by a Begian journalist which said that Duchatelet makes decisions which are unpopular with fans, but that always end up being right. I thought at the time that this was nonsense (which it must be because nobody makes decisions which are always right), but if we survive this myth will gain yet more currency and, more importantly, further fuel Duchatelet's confidence in his vision, for better or for worse.
Massive risks involved with the changes and with the amount of players being out of contract, in my mind it had the potential to be an unmitigated disaster.
But it hasn't, far from it. And that's testament to the players, the remaining coaches who have given continuity, and Riga.
Some of his selections and subs have baffled me, I thought tactically we completely lost it 2nd half v Barnsley, for example. But I never expect perfection in management decisions, and he is certainly someone I could get behind for next season.
And there's the crunch. I can't fully 'commit' to him as ive no idea at all whether he will be 1st team coach beyond three games.
We are still not out of this, so how things end up will have a huge weighting on approach for next season. But if we do survive, he would have more than earned his chance for next season.