He's not in the team to win 50/50 tackles in the middle of the park. It would be like berating Jason Pearce for not being able to do a Cruyff turn to get out of trouble. Ridiculous management.
Things are going a bit wrong for us at the moment. The old saying some we win some we draw. Went 1 nil up and tried to hold onto that 1 nil. Another day we take the 3 points. Why were picking on Williams I dont know.
Whether or not Williams bottled a challenge isn't important. You don't publicly humiliate a player by subbing him off shortly after bringing him on and then mug him off completely in the post match interview. You deal with it behind closed doors.
I've lost respect for Bows today and I hope this comment and his one about the fans isn't the start of a new trend.
The start? Have you seen how he's treated Maddison and Bogle?
I don’t think Bowyer’s been the same since his stint as a Skysports pundit !
I was thinking this at the time and was thinking what if it knocks his confidence and the players are taking the piss etc. Or even if the players lose a bit of respect for him. And maybe if a few didn’t lose it then, I’m sure a few have lost respect now.
Remember the type of player Lee Bowyer was, when he turned up coaching under Robinson I said if could impart a small percentage of that onto the squad we would be better for it. And we are
Johnny Williams is a class player on the ball, he has his moments off it and he strikes me as a really nice person however he isn't a ball winner and regardless of what anyone thinks of that I can guarantee pulling out of challenges will ignite our manager. I'm glad it does too because it isn't acceptable at any level of the game, Lee Bowyer the player would have torn a teammate a new arsehole for doing that and he's tempered it down a bit but the principle remains
I sort of agree with this and I like that our manager has that passion and standards. What bothers me is that LB calls out Johnny today but not others previously. He seems to have certain players that he publicly slams and other players get none when it is deserved. I can only Imagine maybe LB has had a personal 121 with Johnny and discussed this pulling out of challenges and its something he doesn't want to see again. Its happened again and he's lost patience and dragged him off? Who knows but I've got no problem a manager subbing someone if they aint doing as instructed. I just don't like the inconsistency.
Whether or not Williams bottled a challenge isn't important. You don't publicly humiliate a player by subbing him off shortly after bringing him on and then mug him off completely in the post match interview. You deal with it behind closed doors.
I've lost respect for Bows today and I hope this comment and his one about the fans isn't the start of a new trend.
The start? Have you seen how he's treated Maddison and Bogle?
I don’t think Bowyer’s been the same since his stint as a Skysports pundit !
I was thinking this at the time and was thinking what if it knocks his confidence and the players are taking the piss etc. Or even if the players lose a bit of respect for him. And maybe if a few didn’t lose it then, I’m sure a few have lost respect now.
All very plausible, especially the piss taking part. Something’s not been right since around that time.
He's the boss, he's making it clear to his players and he's happy to take any negative consequences coming his way. When you look of how the likes of Pratley have performed this season, I'm happy to let him have free range on his decision making and judge him on how the season turns out.
I suspect he's playing good cop/bad cop with Jacko as well, who is certainly earning his money supporting the players!
LB also played Conor Gallagher match after match when we had him. There was hardly much rotation. Creative and energetic I think is what LB wants and expects.
LB also played Conor Gallagher match after match when we had him. There was hardly much rotation. Creative and energetic I think is what LB wants and expects.
That's two post matches in a row that Bows has spouted absolute shite. Hold your hands up, admit your mistakes. If you have a grievance with a player, do it in a professional manner.
Spot on.
The thing is he takes Williams off but instead brings on another defender we drop forever deeper then he’s amazed when someone makes a mistake and we concede. I truely think he’s losing it but why I don’t know.
That's two post matches in a row that Bows has spouted absolute shite. Hold your hands up, admit your mistakes. If you have a grievance with a player, do it in a professional manner.
Spot on.
The thing is he takes Williams off but instead brings on another defender we drop forever deeper then he’s amazed when someone makes a mistake and we concede. I truely think he’s losing it but why I don’t know.
Pressure. Whether its self inflicted or from outside. From the time he got the job until the international break there hasn't been any pressure to succeed.
He has had to put up with unbelievable amounts of shit but its been other people's players, not enough players, not good enough players, new players, no time to coach them, key players refusing to play, injuries etc etc. I think every one has had sympathy for him in that regard. Despite all that he has done as good as job as anyone could have done.
For the first time in his, very short, career it's his players, his tactics, his coaching and only his. The support structure is still a work in progress but slagging off the players? You signed them mate, you coach them, you set out the tactics. You, not Karl Robinson, not little Tommy, not the super duper phone. You.
Back to the OP's point. I am probably the biggest fan of Williams, the player, on this forum. He is certainly championship level, in fact I would say top half championship at least, if you use him right. If you don't think he is go back and watch the Leeds game at the Valley last season.
He is a 10. Not an 8. Not a winger. Not a wide forward. He won't get 20 goals/assists in a season, ever. But that's not what he does. He looks after the ball, finds pockets of space, draws fouls, gets dozens of "pre assists".
Play him at the top of the diamond every game, for 60-70 minutes. Or there is absolutely no point him being here because he can't do anything else.
Comments
The old saying some we win some we draw.
Went 1 nil up and tried to hold onto that 1 nil.
Another day we take the 3 points.
Why were picking on Williams I dont know.
What bothers me is that LB calls out Johnny today but not others previously. He seems to have certain players that he publicly slams and other players get none when it is deserved.
I can only Imagine maybe LB has had a personal 121 with Johnny and discussed this pulling out of challenges and its something he doesn't want to see again. Its happened again and he's lost patience and dragged him off? Who knows but I've got no problem a manager subbing someone if they aint doing as instructed. I just don't like the inconsistency.
Reeves
Bonne
He's the boss, he's making it clear to his players and he's happy to take any negative consequences coming his way. When you look of how the likes of Pratley have performed this season, I'm happy to let him have free range on his decision making and judge him on how the season turns out.
I suspect he's playing good cop/bad cop with Jacko as well, who is certainly earning his money supporting the players!
But he is on the smaller, less physical side, and Bowyer has shown a consistent inability to manage such players
Bogle of course isn't small, but his game is more about skill than anything else
The thing is he takes Williams off but instead brings on another defender we drop forever deeper then he’s amazed when someone makes a mistake and we concede. I truely think he’s losing it but why I don’t know.
He has had to put up with unbelievable amounts of shit but its been other people's players, not enough players, not good enough players, new players, no time to coach them, key players refusing to play, injuries etc etc. I think every one has had sympathy for him in that regard. Despite all that he has done as good as job as anyone could have done.
For the first time in his, very short, career it's his players, his tactics, his coaching and only his. The support structure is still a work in progress but slagging off the players? You signed them mate, you coach them, you set out the tactics. You, not Karl Robinson, not little Tommy, not the super duper phone. You.
Back to the OP's point. I am probably the biggest fan of Williams, the player, on this forum. He is certainly championship level, in fact I would say top half championship at least, if you use him right. If you don't think he is go back and watch the Leeds game at the Valley last season.
He is a 10. Not an 8. Not a winger. Not a wide forward. He won't get 20 goals/assists in a season, ever. But that's not what he does. He looks after the ball, finds pockets of space, draws fouls, gets dozens of "pre assists".
Play him at the top of the diamond every game, for 60-70 minutes. Or there is absolutely no point him being here because he can't do anything else.