we will stay up but only by other teams shortcomings.
Don't be so sure about that.
The team is fractured and the manager inept. And the teams below us are at least playing with a desire to get out of the bottom 4.
And don't forget after Saturday, 3 of the next 4 games are against Bradford, Scunthorpe and Sheff Utd.
This is where we will pick up points - we always seem to do better against the better teams & lose against the lesser ones. We won away at Bolton don't forget & I reckon we will do similar at Sheff U.
Win at Sheff Utd? The phrase "Sir, I admire your indefatigability" comes very much to mind!
we will stay up but only by other teams shortcomings.
Don't be so sure about that.
The team is fractured and the manager inept. And the teams below us are at least playing with a desire to get out of the bottom 4.
And don't forget after Saturday, 3 of the next 4 games are against Bradford, Scunthorpe and Sheff Utd.
This is where we will pick up points - we always seem to do better against the better teams & lose against the lesser ones. We won away at Bolton don't forget & I reckon we will do similar at Sheff U.
Win at Sheff Utd? The phrase "Sir, I admire your indefatigability" comes very much to mind!
Probably didn;t see the home game against Sheff U. We were battered. At home. And got a point because they had Leon Clark up front.
Hard to know how far Robinson is the problem, partly because he says ten implausible things before breakfast each day, but if he keeps losing he will have to go IMO. More at www.votvonline.com
Hard to know how far Robinson is the problem, partly because he says ten implausible things before breakfast each day, but if he keeps losing he will have to go IMO. More at www.votvonline.com
Robinson "says ten implausible things before breakfast each day". OK, so now we know why he gets on so well with Meire. In her case breakfast is at 12.30pm.
Just watched Robinson's post-match interview, which was both idiotic and completely irresponsible. Although his pronouncements were intended to be self-serving, by heaping the blame on "deadwood" players who aren't giving their all, what he had to say was, in truth, utterly self-defeating. How on earth does he think he is going to get the best out of this group of players in the final two months of the season ? Glib quips about getting in "non-contract players" are only going to add fuel to the fire, although most of the squad will now (understandably and probably correctly) regard him as a dead man walking.
The overriding impression is of someone making it up as he goes along and lashing out desperately in an attempt to deflect blame.
If the rot continues, I think we can expect an announcement on Sunday or next Wednesday after the Scunny game.
That post Shrewsbury interview sky are showing is strange, it's either a man under a lot of pressure or very foolhardy rant, clearly players will be moving on but I can't see how that helps.
As boring as Slade's team was, it sounded very much like he was teaching the squad how to walk again. Just as it was starting to take its first wobbly, but unaided steps, again, it suffered a fall at Swindon. Now we have Robinson who is telling the squad it can skip learning to walk and just run, and we are getting undone defensively every game.
Slade was not the first to come unstuck because an owner and fans couldn't understand that, sometimes, playing ugly is the most effective way to for a side, under certain circumstances, to gather points.
Powell got criticised for it, Curbs got criticised for it. Gary Rowett recently suffered for it at Birmingham.
Robinson, however badly he keeps delivering his message, may well have a point about the players lacking commitment and desire, but he is not doing his job right now either. We're not scoring goals so he just keeps throwing more and more "attacking" players into the side and onto the bench. No changes in tactics or approach, just more forward thinking players but barely anymore goals, and those that are scored are easily cancelled out by goals scored against our wide open and exposed defence.
Pards used to do the same thing and it worked about as well for him too. Curbs (and later Powell) used to get back to basics and work on getting a couple of clean sheets, even if all that earnt us was a nil-nil. It wasn't always pretty but it kept us well away from relegation for the most part, even when working under much tougher financial constraints than Robinson has. I'd be delighted with a couple of ground out points right now.
'Sack me now, I don't know what I'm doing and quite frankly, I can't be arsed to think of any potential solutions any more. By coming out with this inadvisable crap I hope that it will deflect the blame from me enough for some other basketcase of a club to give me a job when RD inevitably gives me the tin-tack'.
Too depressing to read back thru most of these pages. We were fine going forward, again not making the most of our forays in to their box. Holmes hat-trick had class written all over it although I am sure the wind paid a part in the first two. The worrying fact that we conceded 4 virtually identical goals tho is just unacceptable. Each goal they broke away from well within their half, running almost unchallenged until getting within shooting range and letting the shot go. Can't fault Rudd as I am sure the wind assisted. That's 3 consecutive games ive been to that we should have won but failed to score from our various opportunities.
KR might have a point in some of the players not being worthy of the shirt but you can't remove him from blame as he didn't learn on the night from their 4 goals. Tidy little ground and a good turnout turnout. Thankfully not many more aways for me to go for the season.
s'all been written .. just a few points .. Jackson brought a degree of calm and accurate passing to the side .. but never the quickest even as a younger man, he was a total tortoise in the wake of the Shrews right flank attacks for two of the goals, we never really recovered from the first of them, yet another early belly punch .. Page is not all that but should have been at left back .. If JJ is to be in the side it MUST be as a deep lying, covering midfielder .. Aribo was anonymous, perhaps JJ should fit in there but with him and Crofts, two oldies ? .. still Scunny have a usually VERY effective midfielder in Bishop and he is older then JJ, and Dawson, his partner is about the same age
Where would we be without Holmes my dear Watson ?
I've written elsewhere that Watt and not Novak should have started
Rudd is VERY vulnerable to low, skiddy shots and has been sussed out by opposition strikers
Start of the season we had more central defenders than I have had hot dinners .. where have they all gone ? .. Konsa's performance last night emphasised once more that he is just not ready for that role .. BUT there was no one else available, where is Jolly Roger when you need him ?
Last night's game was very entertaining, IF you're a neutral .. Shrewsbury are too good to go down, pity the same can't be said about us
Klueless Karl has put us deeper in the mire, I can almost smell the frustration and despair on some of our players .. new arrivals going down with 'injuries' (am I being too cynical ?), too many red and yellow cards, too many square pegs in deep, deep round holes ... Krusoe's got to go and I don't care if he's the 35th manager to leave in the past year, the bloke is useless and a liability .. give JJ the job, give anybody the job, but Kackeling Kreepy Karl is indubitably NOT the man for us
PWR on the coach home, it's become so depressing and the football so disjointed of late I'm struggling to even be able to judge player marks out of 10 because players usually have so much time and space on the ball when they attack us and our attacks constantly break down. Not just tonight though.
The tight defence we had has gone and Holmes hattrick aside we offered very little attacking threat - again.
Never have I longed to hear Curbs tell us we're going back to basics in training and then grind out a 1-0 win next game.
I will confess I couldn't take much more of the boredom of Curbs last 2 or 3 seasons, bright starts to a season with a faltering end, I think at one stage we managed to draw three 0-0 games consecutively at home in the Prem years being bored witless. What I wouldn't give to have that stability back on and off the pitch. Never have I missed Curbs so much as I do right now.
This PWR lark is really catching. WE DON'T BLOODY CARE!!
I listened to the game on the radio. Amazing how a man that conceded 4 goals was our second best player after hat-trick Holmes. That's no disrespect to Rudd as it sounded as if he was playing without a defence.
Robinson HAS to go - but he won't as he's eaten Katrien Meire who is still able to talk from inside KR.
Team vs NTFC should be; Rudd, Barnes, Bauer, Konsa, Lapslie Holmes, Dijksteel, Jackson, Aribo, KAG and Kennedy (recall him)
The regular, gutless, shabolic pros can fuck right off. At least the above team will give 100% without even having to ask them. If they lose, who cares as it's surely not about what happens on the pitch now. We NEED to get the Belgians out. They are destroying everything.
I listened to the game on the radio. Amazing how a man that conceded 4 goals was our second best player after hat-trick Holmes. That's no disrespect to Rudd as it sounded as if he was playing without a defence.
Robinson HAS to go - but he won't as he's eaten Katrien Meire who is still able to talk from inside KR.
Team vs NTFC should be; Rudd, Barnes, Bauer, Konsa, Lapslie Holmes, Dijksteel, Jackson, Aribo, KAG and Kennedy (recall him)
The regular, gutless, shabolic pros can fuck right off. At least the above team will give 100% without even having to ask them. If they lose, who cares as it's surely not about what happens on the pitch now. We NEED to get the Belgians out. They are destroying everything.
Robinson is doing what Duchatelet wants. Promote the youngsters as the priority and then secondly, go for results. He must feel pretty safe as this is what he is doing although he has allowed the points to slip quite alarmingly of late.
Robinson's emotions in front of the media now appears to be quite an act. No wonder we can't fully understand his interviews as he struggles to balance out his excuses between what his employer wants to hear and what the fans want to hear.
He has already said too much and it cannot be long before Duchatelet tires of him and replaces him with the next yes man.
Robinson intimated a lot during his infamous outburst, but was clear to state that the owners, multiple managers and lack of funds were not to blame.
I’m not sure how these factors can be disassociated with the general apathy and lethargy that surrounds the squad’s performance in recent years.
Paul Mortimer on Radio London (following the Bury game) spoke of talent and he spoke of human frailties. We may well have the talent required, but talent is adversely affected by instability, insecurity and uncertainty - the very qualities brought to the club by the owner, his revolving door and the SMT.
It matters not if you work for a builder, bank or professional football club, you will work better for a company who provides stability with a future and prospects that can be aspired to.
Robinson intimated a lot during his infamous outburst, but was clear to state that the owners, multiple managers and lack of funds were not to blame.
I’m not sure how these factors can be disassociated with the general apathy and lethargy that surrounds the squad’s performance in recent years.
Paul Mortimer on Radio London (following the Bury game) spoke of talent and he spoke of human frailties. We may well have the talent required, but talent is adversely affected by instability, insecurity and uncertainty - the very qualities brought to the club by the owner, his revolving door and the SMT.
It matters not if you work for a builder, bank or professional football club, you will work better for a company who provides stability with a future and prospects that can be aspired to.
Spot on.
Robinson keeps prattling on about honesty and how straight he is but to try and disassociate the impact of the owner's approach, managerial instability and lack of investment from the downward spiral of the team is thoroughly disingenuous. Yes, we should be doing better with this squad we have but all these factors have had - and continue to have - a thoroughly corrosive effect. It's as plain as a bloody pikestaff and he's fooling anybody (although I guess it was all intended for Duchatelet and the press - not that the latter are going to swallow his nonsense). Robinson should have adopted a more neutral position and just got on with the job he's being paid to do, namely, managing his players and winning some football matches.
As many other Lifers have observed, he's also undermined himself by being an unsubtle PR mouthpiece for the regime - for example, through effusive ramblings about his discussions with 'The President' (pass the sick bag) and attempts to hawk young lads like Konsa and Aribo (especially) around the market after a handful of games.
I wanted to get behind Robinson, notwithstanding a garrulous nature which is the very antithesis of Lenny and the Curbs. His enthusiasm looked initially as if it would be an asset, given our plight, but I was left dumbfounded by his atrocious post-match interview on Tuesday.
Comments
The overriding impression is of someone making it up as he goes along and lashing out desperately in an attempt to deflect blame.
If the rot continues, I think we can expect an announcement on Sunday or next Wednesday after the Scunny game.
(which sadly we seem capable of) then we will go down.
Slade was not the first to come unstuck because an owner and fans couldn't understand that, sometimes, playing ugly is the most effective way to for a side, under certain circumstances, to gather points.
Powell got criticised for it, Curbs got criticised for it. Gary Rowett recently suffered for it at Birmingham.
Robinson, however badly he keeps delivering his message, may well have a point about the players lacking commitment and desire, but he is not doing his job right now either. We're not scoring goals so he just keeps throwing more and more "attacking" players into the side and onto the bench. No changes in tactics or approach, just more forward thinking players but barely anymore goals, and those that are scored are easily cancelled out by goals scored against our wide open and exposed defence.
Pards used to do the same thing and it worked about as well for him too. Curbs (and later Powell) used to get back to basics and work on getting a couple of clean sheets, even if all that earnt us was a nil-nil. It wasn't always pretty but it kept us well away from relegation for the most part, even when working under much tougher financial constraints than Robinson has. I'd be delighted with a couple of ground out points right now.
'Sack me now, I don't know what I'm doing and quite frankly, I can't be arsed to think of any potential solutions any more. By coming out with this inadvisable crap I hope that it will deflect the blame from me enough for some other basketcase of a club to give me a job when RD inevitably gives me the tin-tack'.
Yawn.
KR might have a point in some of the players not being worthy of the shirt but you can't remove him from blame as he didn't learn on the night from their 4 goals. Tidy little ground and a good turnout turnout. Thankfully not many more aways for me to go for the season.
Page is not all that but should have been at left back .. If JJ is to be in the side it MUST be as a deep lying, covering midfielder .. Aribo was anonymous, perhaps JJ should fit in there but with him and Crofts, two oldies ? .. still Scunny have a usually VERY effective midfielder in Bishop and he is older then JJ, and Dawson, his partner is about the same age
Where would we be without Holmes my dear Watson ?
I've written elsewhere that Watt and not Novak should have started
Rudd is VERY vulnerable to low, skiddy shots and has been sussed out by opposition strikers
Start of the season we had more central defenders than I have had hot dinners .. where have they all gone ? .. Konsa's performance last night emphasised once more that he is just not ready for that role .. BUT there was no one else available, where is Jolly Roger when you need him ?
Last night's game was very entertaining, IF you're a neutral .. Shrewsbury are too good to go down, pity the same can't be said about us
Klueless Karl has put us deeper in the mire, I can almost smell the frustration and despair on some of our players .. new arrivals going down with 'injuries' (am I being too cynical ?), too many red and yellow cards, too many square pegs in deep, deep round holes ... Krusoe's got to go and I don't care if he's the 35th manager to leave in the past year, the bloke is useless and a liability .. give JJ the job, give anybody the job, but Kackeling Kreepy Karl is indubitably NOT the man for us
Worryingly
neither does Karl !
--------------Rudd
------Konsa -- Tex -- Bauer
Byrne---------------------Chicksen
-------Aribo---------JFC
-------------Holmes
------------Magennis
I think is our strongest 11, but like fuck has he got the tactical nous to even think of that
Robinson's emotions in front of the media now appears to be quite an act. No wonder we can't fully understand his interviews as he struggles to balance out his excuses between what his employer wants to hear and what the fans want to hear.
He has already said too much and it cannot be long before Duchatelet tires of him and replaces him with the next yes man.
I’m not sure how these factors can be disassociated with the general apathy and lethargy that surrounds the squad’s performance in recent years.
Paul Mortimer on Radio London (following the Bury game) spoke of talent and he spoke of human frailties. We may well have the talent required, but talent is adversely affected by instability, insecurity and uncertainty - the very qualities brought to the club by the owner, his revolving door and the SMT.
It matters not if you work for a builder, bank or professional football club, you will work better for a company who provides stability with a future and prospects that can be aspired to.
Robinson keeps prattling on about honesty and how straight he is but to try and disassociate the impact of the owner's approach, managerial instability and lack of investment from the downward spiral of the team is thoroughly disingenuous. Yes, we should be doing better with this squad we have but all these factors have had - and continue to have - a thoroughly corrosive effect. It's as plain as a bloody pikestaff and he's fooling anybody (although I guess it was all intended for Duchatelet and the press - not that the latter are going to swallow his nonsense). Robinson should have adopted a more neutral position and just got on with the job he's being paid to do, namely, managing his players and winning some football matches.
As many other Lifers have observed, he's also undermined himself by being an unsubtle PR mouthpiece for the regime - for example, through effusive ramblings about his discussions with 'The President' (pass the sick bag) and attempts to hawk young lads like Konsa and Aribo (especially) around the market after a handful of games.
I wanted to get behind Robinson, notwithstanding a garrulous nature which is the very antithesis of Lenny and the Curbs. His enthusiasm looked initially as if it would be an asset, given our plight, but I was left dumbfounded by his atrocious post-match interview on Tuesday.