A

[Royal Boil]

My thoughts. Any other opinions? Apologies for the length of this post!
<RANT MODE ON>
Okay, at the moment we're sh*t and we know we are. The good news is that we're not going to get relegated this year, and that's pretty much all the good news. We have come from being every opposition manager's certainty for promotion in the first half of the season to everyone's favourite whipping boy in the second half. But how did a team that was waltzing towards the promised land suddenly become one that can't buy a goal, let alone a win? How have we come to this?

Point One. The Team Attitude.
One could make the accusation that they are willfully not performing because they might feel that they will be discarded if they make the move up. The facts don't support this though, because the nucleus of this team have been there before and have nothing to fear, in my opinion. I may be naive, but I expect any player to have the ambition to play amongst the elite. However, I do have a sneaking suspicion that the current crop of players don't have that ambition or confidence though, and I couldn't give you a man of the match for the last n matches. They've all been pitifully bad. Do any of them actually care? Are they happy to get their current wage?

Point Two. The Training Staff..
This is a trickier subject, because it's more important. I'm not a STH, but I have been a regular at the MadStad for some time. Why is it that Harper rarely passes the ball forward? Why is it that we stopped playing that really nice fast, pass and run game that served us so well, but for the past season and a half have reverted to that horrible long ball cr*p game? Jeez, I ain't a football coach, but I'd really be looking at this. Do they really distrust the midfield so much that they'd rather launch the ball over their heads and hope for the best instead of using them to build up play?!

Point Three. Returning Messiahs.
I don't post on this board that often, but I did make an observation before Christmas that Dave Kitson was a busted flush and, the Doncaster goal aside, I haven't seen anything to change that opinion. Apparently Stoke have a striker injury crisis but they haven't asked for him to return. And Glen Little has done, erm, little. In my own opinion this was a false dawn. Maybe it was supposed to ressurect the old days, but it hasn't.

Point Four. The Manager.
As far as I'm concerned, Steve Coppell is, and will be the Messiah who finally led us to the promised land. But the evidence is that he lacks decisiveness when times get hard. For example, WTF is SHunt still doing in the team when he's patently sulking about not being at a supposedly "bigger" club that "supposedly" came in for him in January? He was anonymous today and has been for a while. Why can't NHunt get a game when the playing team can't score for toffee? Why is Lita consigned to scoring goals for Norwich and the reserves? WTF is going on with the tactics? Why don't we appear to have a plan "B"? This season is beginning to feel like 2004-2005, when SSC took over. It came to the last game and we were at home to Wolves. We had to win to have a chance at the play-offs and rely on other results. At half-time we were 1-0 up, despite being outplayed by a team that were going nowhere, and the other results were going our way. By full-time we'd lost 2-1 and ended up seventh, despite the other results going our way. This season is beginning to feel like that one.
<RANT MODE OFF>
Anyway, I'm sure that those hardy souls who make the journey to Blackpool on monday will have a fab time.

[AlexY25]

Looks well thought out and well written.












Cant be bothered to read it though

[SLAMMED]

Dont bother posting threads that long. No-one reads them.


And no, i didnt read it.

[AthleticoSpizz]

Point Three. Returning Messiahs.
I don't post on this board that often, but I did make an observation before Christmas that Dave Kitson was a busted flush and, the Doncaster goal aside, I haven't seen anything to change that opinion. Apparently Stoke have a striker injury crisis but they haven't asked for him to return. And Glen Little has done, erm, little. In my own opinion this was a false dawn. Maybe it was supposed to ressurect the old days, but it hasn't.

in regards to DK

then you obviously watched the game from your tv today then Royal Boil,

Kits worked his bollox off (off camera)and provided us with two of our three only goalbound chances.

[AlexY25]

Credit to you AthleticoSpizz for actually reading that.

[AthleticoSpizz]

Credit to you AthleticoSpizz for actually reading that.

...I never read a word of it fellah

(itsa kind've understanding of the predictive slaggin') lol

[Rex]

I read it all - after all i'm at work with nothing else to do.

As coppell has said before the team lack confidence and panic when losing. They therefore seem have little confidence in their own tactics when playing from behind. Perhaps we need constant balls out direction and shouting from the technical area. I see very little evidence of this when we are either losing or winning.

[Scarface]

Point Three. Returning Messiahs.
I don't post on this board that often, but I did make an observation before Christmas that Dave Kitson was a busted flush and, the Doncaster goal aside, I haven't seen anything to change that opinion. Apparently Stoke have a striker injury crisis but they haven't asked for him to return. And Glen Little has done, erm, little. In my own opinion this was a false dawn. Maybe it was supposed to ressurect the old days, but it hasn't.

in regards to DK

then you obviously watched the game from your tv today then Royal Boil,

Kits worked his bollox off (off camera)and provided us with two of our three only goalbound chances.

I agree, Kitson looked far more of a goal threat than the Super Kevin Doyle. People moan at SHunt for sulking about not getting a move, clearly this is true, but Doyle has also been sulking since Christmas. I'd drop Harper, SHunt and Doyle for the rest of the season, thanks lads but we need committed players out there.

[Barry the bird boggler]

In Ireland its the close season for the first 3/4 months of the year and, unfortunately, Kevin finds it hard to get out of that routine, rest of the year there's no one better!

[Forest Gump]

Apart from the reference to Kitson I agree with all of this. Something has happened in the dressing room and SC has lost it.
It's the same scenario as in 2004/5 when we went 11 without a win.
No one knows how that started but if they know how they made that run end they should repeat the process now.
I think it is time to have a frank talk to the players who should be playing better; SC is not the person to do this.

[susieroyal]

Like most others - agreed with everything except the bit about Kitson.

A worrying thing for me is again, Coppell's post match comments. It can't be good for a team, in fact club, to hear the manager once again publicly saying that he does't know what happened, doesn't know why we lost etc.