by facaldaqui »
08 Dec 2013 14:56
Wimb ZacNaloen Defensively, mostly solid, midfield mostly solid in the second third but when it comes to attack we have very little penetration and I think it's because we do everything too slowly and mechanical. It's clear it's still work in progress and considering where we are it would not hurt us to have another year in the championship so lets not get ahead of ourselves yeh?
Sorry Zac, you'll find a vocal minority that just cannot accept that anything takes time and may require a learning curve, to actually spend a season or so rebuilding is a heinous idea that shouldn't ever be taken into account at Reading football club despite the fact that our three most successful managers finished their first seasons, 12th, 9th and 9th
Some things do take time, but you need some signs that persistence might pay off. I am not in favour of dumping Adkins, but I have to admit I do feel pessimistic.
I was just reading what Dave Whelan had to say about Owen Coyle:
"Owen had a difficult job but I just don't think he was part and parcel of Wigan Athletic Football Club. Sometimes managers are successful, sometimes they are not. When we lost three games in a row I had been watching the selection of the team and the performance and I wasn't happy with the decisions he was making.We were good friends so there was no personality clash whatsoever. A manager has to come across well and give you the impression he knows the game and you end up interviewing them and it's a finger in the air moment. If he's successful it's great but if in Owen's case he wasn't, the sooner you do something about it the better."This is from a chairman who has been very patient with managers in the past, even to the point of relegation. There are some similarities in the appointments of Coyle and Adkins, and we will have to see whether Wigan now manage to rise above us or not. But if Whelan went only by a manager's record, rather than what he saw in front of his own eyes, he would not have sacked Coyle. I think I know what he means about Coyle not being part and parcel of the football club--the Wigan way, as it were.
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People have quoted examples of managers who went on to do well after they were given time; but there are also examples when persisting with managers did not pay off. Both Derby and Ipswich persisted for a long time with Paul Jewell because of his previous record, but he was plainly not able to repeat his past success. Middlesbrough persisted to no avail with Mowbray, who had got West Brom promoted. My point is just that there should come a time when a successful record no longer outweighs present difficulties: after that, persisting with the same set up becomes obtuse.
We should maybe cut Adkins some slack for not being able to buy more players and for the injury rate, but these do not explain selections and tactics that often seem unhelpful to the task of winning games.
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I am not with those who say that we are a work in progress and therefore will need to consolidate in the championship. You don't buy players like Bridge, Drenthe, and Williams to consolidate in the championship. The aim was specifically to get promoted this season. Sometimes the first season after relegation offers the best opportunity to return (Newcastle, West Brom, West Ham) because you still have prem players--or, at least, players on prem wages. You need to use them to help you get back quickly, before they start to disperse. We tried to do it last time we got relegated, when we still had the likes of Hunt, Doyle, and co in the team. After that failed, it then became necessary to rebuild as a more modest outfit, in less of a hurry.
Last edited by
facaldaqui on 08 Dec 2013 15:06, edited 2 times in total.