Hugely improved

[melonhead]

birminghams problem was dressing room/manager based
replacing the manager was an easy way to resolve this

our problem was the quality of players in our squad, and a slow erosion of any character/ability/grit
which is harder to fix (especially while not allowed to spend any money)

[Harpers So Solid Crew]

Yet Pearce, Akpan, Guthrie all went to clubs at this level and Fed's went to the Premier league.
So other managers can see something in them.

[John Smith]

Yet Pearce, Akpan, Guthrie all went to clubs at this level and Fed's went to the Premier league.
So other managers can see something in them.

Would you have kept any of those players if you were the manager, Harper?

[Bob1871]

From Jan 31st

Reading 26 Games
Birmingham 22 Games

That's a whole month of us playing Saturday & Tuesday and them just playing Saturday. I'm sure you'll join me in amazement that Birmingham had better form.

[AthleticoSpizz]

You want a manager who knows his best team 2 games into the season, following a summer with many ins & outs, others still arriving and the transfer window still open

Some of you are so full of shit it just beggars belief.

+1

This IS the long awaited rebuild

[Lower West]

he squad was underperforming under Adkins and has continued to underperform under Clarke, if anything, looking even less threatening.

Money has ruined the game. Fans these days just expect instant results. Personally I don't mind watching teams evolve. As it adds to the enjoyment.

[Haag Royal]

Birmingham just go to show that you can show more discernable improvement over a shorter space of time than Clarke has managed

After we hit the bar 3? times, miss a penalty and they win by the odd goal.

This thread is a waste of bandwidth

Bit like your comments mate. Its an opinion forum if you didn't realise.

[Harpers So Solid Crew]

Yet Pearce, Akpan, Guthrie all went to clubs at this level and Fed's went to the Premier league.
So other managers can see something in them.

Would you have kept any of those players if you were the manager, Harper?

I would never have signed Guthrie to start with.
Pearce and Fed's did a good job for RFC.

Two of the main problems are still here, which are Pog and HRK, but nothing we can do about them yet.

[floyd__streete]

Birmingham just go to show that you can show more discernable improvement over a shorter space of time than Clarke has managed

After we hit the bar 3? times, miss a penalty and they win by the odd goal.

This thread is a waste of bandwidth

Birmingham 2-1 Reading was of course just one match in their discernible improvement. Reverse the scoreline in that particular match if you wish and Rowett's record at Birmingham still p*sses all over Clarke's record at Reading.

Have a nice evening.

[AthleticoSpizz]

Have a nice last season

All I am interested in is this seasons results

[RoyallyFcuked]

I can see Floyd's point but I think it's a little early to be saying it. I like what Clarke has done with the squad, all the players he let go it, it was time for them to move on. Some decent new signings that need time to jel and I don't think we are done in the market yet either.

We need to see how the squad looks on September 1st and even then, as long as were not caught up in a serious relegation battle by Christmas I think Clarke deserves this season in charge at least.

[Ian Royal]

Have to agree, Clarke has been deeply unimpressive thus far. The squad was underperforming under Adkins and has continued to underperform under Clarke, if anything, looking even less threatening.

I suppose any manager deserves a chance to put his own stamp on a squad but his failure to change the results, performances or general mood at the club in any way since joining does not auger well.

If he thinks a 0-0 at home to a terrible Leeds side is a point gained, it doesn't suggest were about to see a step change any time soon either.

I think the reason behind Adkins reluctance to shore up the defence is becoming increasingly obvious. Clarke has certainly made us much harder to score against, but at the cost of looking utterly incapable of scoring ourselves. And whilst we lost plenty, and badly, under Adkins, we also won a few games which meant we got more points. Under Clarke we've won just twice in the last 17 league games. In Adkins last 17 we won six times. That means Clarke has had an extra six games from which he's accrued just one more point.

It's also worth noting that we've won only 2 home league games under Clarke, which means Adkins was serving up better results and entertainment for more fans.

It's a new season and the summer has given plenty of reasons to think we should improve, particularly when we can get some actual wingers on the pitch and stop playing four central midfielders. But Clarke's ability to get us scoring appears poor. And I don't think that's just down to the available players... there are definitely things he could have been doing better to give us some much needed width and penetration even in the first two games and I think that extends into the third given the teamsheet.

The ongoing issues just highlight how foolish it was to blame Adkins for our poor results.

[floyd__streete]

as long as were not caught up in a serious relegation battle by Christmas I think Clarke deserves this season in charge at least.

I wholly agree. I have my concerns, however, as to whether we are capable of being clear of danger. A fear which will be somewhat eased by a nice four or six points this week!

[sandman]

Have to agree, Clarke has been deeply unimpressive thus far. The squad was underperforming under Adkins and has continued to underperform under Clarke, if anything, looking even less threatening.

I suppose any manager deserves a chance to put his own stamp on a squad but his failure to change the results, performances or general mood at the club in any way since joining does not auger well.

If he thinks a 0-0 at home to a terrible Leeds side is a point gained, it doesn't suggest were about to see a step change any time soon either.

I think the reason behind Adkins reluctance to shore up the defence is becoming increasingly obvious. Clarke has certainly made us much harder to score against, but at the cost of looking utterly incapable of scoring ourselves. And whilst we lost plenty, and badly, under Adkins, we also won a few games which meant we got more points. Under Clarke we've won just twice in the last 17 league games. In Adkins last 17 we won six times. That means Clarke has had an extra six games from which he's accrued just one more point.

It's also worth noting that we've won only 2 home league games under Clarke, which means Adkins was serving up better results and entertainment for more fans.

It's a new season and the summer has given plenty of reasons to think we should improve, particularly when we can get some actual wingers on the pitch and stop playing four central midfielders. But Clarke's ability to get us scoring appears poor. And I don't think that's just down to the available players... there are definitely things he could have been doing better to give us some much needed width and penetration even in the first two games and I think that extends into the third given the teamsheet.

The ongoing issues just highlight how foolish it was to blame Adkins for our poor results.

Perhaps that's the reason Southampton sacked Nigel, their current manager has today said that a good team is based on a solid defence.

[Nameless]

Yet Pearce, Akpan, Guthrie all went to clubs at this level and Fed's went to the Premier league.
So other managers can see something in them.

So did Clark as he regularly selected 2 of them !
The other two went to a club under a transfer embargo and thus extremely limited in who they can sign.

[Ian Royal]

I think Adkins record prior to last season (amongst other managers) demonstrates it's not the only workable philosophy. And a strong defence on its own gets you no where fast.

[Platypuss]

I bet there's a thread just like this about Coppell in 2004.

[Ian Royal]

I bet there's a thread just like this about Coppell in 2004.

Unlikely. Coppell won 6 of his last 15 in 03/04 and 3 of the first 4 in 04/05.

[floyd__streete]

I bet there's a thread just like this about Coppell in 2004.

Almost certainly. But I don't recall us averaging under a point a game under Coppell

To add some balance, Coppell inherited a club in a far, far stronger position.

[Lacoste]

Coppell always kept us ticking over even when he was putting his side together.

We lost games but there were always good performances and wins in between to convince we were going the right way.