I don't think he is good at in game tactics and there must be some question about his motivational skills - but he is prepared to try different things regarding how the team is set up at the start of each game and he does appear to be good in his handling/coaching of young players, which may be very helpful going forward. Combined with an assistant manager and Director of Football who is strong where Riga is weak then it might work. Unfortunately however we have senior management who don't understand how to appraise strengths and weaknesses and then put together a team where all the necessary skills are available - and I have seen enough to know that they will never learn. I am somewhat amazed that RD actually has a successful business.
For me, it's his failure to do the thing that he was "lauded" for the last time (winning the games that we really need to win) that worries me. It's all very well, beating Boro, but if we can't beat the franchise, Bristol City, Fulham or Bolton, we lose the benefit of taking points from our rivals. I know we beat Rotherham, but, in hindsight, that was clearly a fluke.
We've been facing "must win" games since November, and have never looked like digging out the required results.
And yes, we probably have been a bit unfortunate that others picked up good results when we did, but it shows the poverty of ambition, that the hoped for slump in others' fortunes, down to our level, is what the regime (as witnessed by RD's "interview") was relying on.
So, personally, I think Riga should go. He clearly has some concept of dignity, and he should not sacrifice his to remain as the public face of the regime.
I'd like to see him stay. I think he is a good coach. I think he has a system, he prepares his teams well. What he came up against this time was ridiculous on so many levels--he basically had to build a team in mid-season. I would point to Pope, Fanni, Fox, Diarra, Cousins, and Harriott as players he's made better. Could say he's gotten more out of Mak as well. I think with a proper pre-season he'd do quite well, but I just can't imagine he'll stay. There doesn't seem to be much love lost between him and Roland.
For me, it's his failure to do the thing that he was "lauded" for the last time (winning the games that we really need to win) that worries me. It's all very well, beating Boro, but if we can't beat the franchise, Bristol City, Fulham or Bolton, we lose the benefit of taking points from put rivals. I know we beat Rotherham, but, in hindsight, that was clearly a fluke.
We've been facing "must win" games since November, and have never looked like digging out the required results.
And yes, we probably have been a bit unfortunate that others picked up good results when we did, but it shows the poverty of ambition, that the hoped for slump in others' fortunes, down to our level, is what the regime (as witnessed by RD's "interview") was relying on.
So, personally, I think Riga should go. He clearly has some concept of dignity, and he should not sacrifice his to remain as the public face of the regime.
We were very lucky during the Fraeye period to be fair, because the teams around us were also dropping points. Had it not been for that, we would have lost touch months ago.
For me, it's his failure to do the thing that he was "lauded" for the last time (winning the games that we really need to win) that worries me. It's all very well, beating Boro, but if we can't beat the franchise, Bristol City, Fulham or Bolton, we lose the benefit of taking points from our rivals. I know we beat Rotherham, but, in hindsight, that was clearly a fluke.
We've been facing "must win" games since November, and have never looked like digging out the required results.
And yes, we probably have been a bit unfortunate that others picked up good results when we did, but it shows the poverty of ambition, that the hoped for slump in others' fortunes, down to our level, is what the regime (as witnessed by RD's "interview") was relying on.
So, personally, I think Riga should go. He clearly has some concept of dignity, and he should not sacrifice his to remain as the public face of the regime.
I think you forget that taking over from Karol Fraeye is a rather different challenge than taking over from Chrissy Powell.
For me, it's his failure to do the thing that he was "lauded" for the last time (winning the games that we really need to win) that worries me. It's all very well, beating Boro, but if we can't beat the franchise, Bristol City, Fulham or Bolton, we lose the benefit of taking points from our rivals. I know we beat Rotherham, but, in hindsight, that was clearly a fluke.
We've been facing "must win" games since November, and have never looked like digging out the required results.
And yes, we probably have been a bit unfortunate that others picked up good results when we did, but it shows the poverty of ambition, that the hoped for slump in others' fortunes, down to our level, is what the regime (as witnessed by RD's "interview") was relying on.
So, personally, I think Riga should go. He clearly has some concept of dignity, and he should not sacrifice his to remain as the public face of the regime.
I think you forget that taking over from Karol Fraeye is a rather different challenge than taking over from Chrissy Powell.
No, I absolutely accept that the club has been hurtling towards the drop for months, and that he could not stop it. The shock was that we were not completely adrift in January.
However, he could get the team and his tactics right for some games this time around, just not the right ones.
Our results against our closest competitors in almost every case led to them having an improvement, even our with our win in Yorkshire. What would the impact have been on Fulham, Bristol City or MK if we had beaten them.
I have been waiting for last night from the day when they got rid of SCP, I didn't want it, but I felt that it was inevitable, because with that one move (on top of the utter shite foisted on him), the regime showed that they had no long term plan and nothing but contempt for us.
But like I say, I think that, for his own sense of dignity, he should go.
It's actually quite unfair and unreasonable for any of us to be passing judgement on his managerial abilities. In his three spells in England he has walked into crisis situations on each occasion. At Blackpool he had a pre season, but only had about 3 players at one stage, to work with. It is only fair to judge any manager, when they have been able to build a team with the players of their choice, had a pre season in which to prepare, and then start the season on an equal footing with every other team. This is how we judge CP, Alex Ferguson, Curbs or any other manager. How much better would any of these managers have done, confronted with the same circumstances that Riga has had to deal with? Curbs is the only one we can come anywhere close to comparing when he took over at West Ham, but he had Tevez and the FA working for him. It took many seasons at Charlton before he started having any success and to find the right players. I'd like to see how Riga performs in normal, rather than crisis circumstances, then pass judgement, and I suspect that with a bit of upward, rather than downward, momentum, time, and players of his choosing, he'd do very well.
Comments
We've been facing "must win" games since November, and have never looked like digging out the required results.
And yes, we probably have been a bit unfortunate that others picked up good results when we did, but it shows the poverty of ambition, that the hoped for slump in others' fortunes, down to our level, is what the regime (as witnessed by RD's "interview") was relying on.
So, personally, I think Riga should go. He clearly has some concept of dignity, and he should not sacrifice his to remain as the public face of the regime.
However, he could get the team and his tactics right for some games this time around, just not the right ones.
Our results against our closest competitors in almost every case led to them having an improvement, even our with our win in Yorkshire. What would the impact have been on Fulham, Bristol City or MK if we had beaten them.
I have been waiting for last night from the day when they got rid of SCP, I didn't want it, but I felt that it was inevitable, because with that one move (on top of the utter shite foisted on him), the regime showed that they had no long term plan and nothing but contempt for us.
But like I say, I think that, for his own sense of dignity, he should go.
It is only fair to judge any manager, when they have been able to build a team with the players of their choice, had a pre season in which to prepare, and then start the season on an equal footing with every other team. This is how we judge CP, Alex Ferguson, Curbs or any other manager. How much better would any of these managers have done, confronted with the same circumstances that Riga has had to deal with? Curbs is the only one we can come anywhere close to comparing when he took over at West Ham, but he had Tevez and the FA working for him. It took many seasons at Charlton before he started having any success and to find the right players.
I'd like to see how Riga performs in normal, rather than crisis circumstances, then pass judgement, and I suspect that with a bit of upward, rather than downward, momentum, time, and players of his choosing, he'd do very well.