My ,my I was commenting on the performance not the appointment of the Manager. This is the match thread you know. If you go back to his appointment you will see I was lukewarm to say the least. He was too inexperienced for the job and so it has proved. No the point I was making and I stick to it is that DK has been well backed by the Board in terms of bringing in players. He has just brought in some poorer players than we already had. That is not the fault of the board. As for all this stuff about budgets we just don’t know do we? The same goes for wages. As for your other points I have posted on numerous occasions agreeing with you about tickets and facilities etc.
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I mean this is just one of many but I’m fairly sure you’re suggesting Crewe conceding goals was purely down to Guthrie. And while making this point illuding to the fact that form has transferred over to Walsall. I might be wrong but I’ve not seen mentioned anywhere that Crewe played mostly their youth team that season or any other variables that may have effected the end result. You’ve certainly not made clear the fact that you believe perhaps the whole team at Crewe and Walsall may have helped contribute to the conceding of the goals, at least not anyone beyond the 4 players directly in front of our keeper.
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Not felt this despondent watching a game since the 5-0 horror show at Brentford before Merson got his P45.
I can give some leeway for lack of confidence and nerves if there is at least enough up for the battle but only Kinsella and Cook had that. A couple of bright runs from Zeli and some decent saves from Roberts. Everything else was truly awful.
Norman and Scarr are very poor. Guthrie seems to be curiously undroppable. Osbourne was woeful but special mention to Gordon who seemed to forget he is supposed to be a footballer. Ex Prem league too!! Waste of a shirt.
Sorry Dean, I can’t see you turning this around and your WM interview indicated you dont know how to. Time to go, regrettably.
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Spot on .
Can’t remember being this disgusted with a performance.
Norman and Gordon shouldn’t play again this season .
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Hold on. Ignore all that nonsense.
Are telling me Guthrie has performed well ? That’s all this boils down to. He’s been crap for crewe, crap for us, and is a non league player.
The make up of a team is like the mechanism inside a watch. All have to work together in order to achieve an orderly passage of time - it’s objective.
However, some of the cogs might be faulty and need replacing, some of the cogs might be made of paper.
The point is, yes, of course, the shape and set up of the side contributes to the performance - but so do the individual parts. This is Gestalten.
I think we are worlds apart in our opinion of what being backed equates to in modern football. The Solihull Moors chairman is evidence of a modern club being ‘backed’.
A new coat of paint on the corrugated iron stand and a bunch of kids and crocks is not a club transformed in 2019.
Well that was bad. Genuinely thought there was no chance we would lose that. I thought even this lot had the balls, guts and ability to beat a side who are basically relegated. How wrong was I.
We were lucky to only concede one. Worse than any performance under Whitney. Wanted it to work for Keates but it isn’t and it won’t. Expecting him to be sacked tomorrow. Sad really, but thanks for keeping us up last season Deano.
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This just reminds me of the Chris hutchings era
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The crux of it is yes.
I think Guthrie is a good player. In fact he is high on the list of players with the most pass interceptions in the entire league. Not at all bad for non league. He doesn’t miss headers, he doesn’t miss interceptions as proven. All I see that he is blamed for is for being a constant fixture in defence. What troubles me is that the blame quickly shifted to him once Leahy and Devlin were taken out the back 4 almost like a process of elimination. And this constant scapegoating has culminated in the signing of Scarr and Norman who are terrible players.
As it happens, I also think Fitzwater is a good player. He will play this level or higher.
I also think Johnson is a good player. He will play this level or higher.
On the flip side, I don’t rate Cook as an overall, I think he epitomises the way we play. We look to hit long to him every time and teams are wise to it. I think he is detrimental to the poor attacking ability of the side as a whole. And because of him, we have abandoned any of the free flowing football that I have become accustomed to. Other than Oteh, I just don’t think we have anything better to prove the point im making. He certainly wouldn’t have been played in Smiths side. That was build around the mobility of Grigg and then Bradshaw and the fact they drag players all over the place and create space for the midfield.
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Good post
Where do you start with that?
Put simply, Keates has to go. He was appointed for the wrong reasons in the first place (sentimentality), and he has managed to take us backwards from Whitney, which is some achievement.
Why do I say that?
It’s Keates’ job to:
- Pick the right team
- Pick the right formation
- Pick the right tactics
On all three counts, he has failed, and it is not a one off. It has been failing now for a long time. I first noticed our inadequacies back in earlier November when we limply surrendered to Pompey. Tonight, he’s:
- Picked Norman ahead of Devlin… Why?
- Chosen to play a 4-3-1-2 with Gordon in the hole?
- Dropped Jarvis, why? If he can’t handle 3 games in a week, rest him v Blackpool and use him tonight
- Brought back Leahy
- Continued with Guthrie despite signing Fitz, and despite Johnson impressing
- Playing Kinsella in a weird left-midfield, not quite a winger, not quite central role
- Changed the approach completely from Saturday v Blackpool
It’s a must win game, why are you not playing your best attacking players? We’re ■■■■ at keeping clean sheets, you might as well go for broke and try and score the 2 or 3 we will ultimately need for the three points.
It’s just not good enough. We’re a professional football club FFS, these are basic mistakes that we can’t continue making. Keates is clearly so far out of his depth, he has no idea how to address the issues in the team, he’s just throwing ideas at this group of players, and they simply aren’t responding. We can’t go on like this.
I’ve now fully accepted that we’re going down - a performance like this tonight, against (lets not forget) a very poor Wimbledon side) is abysmal. We will go down because this team has absolutely nothing. No fight, no guile, no skill, no pace, no clue, nothing.
Worryingly, I see none of the traits I want to see from a manager, I see no organisation, I see no problems being solved, I see no shape to the team, no clear instructions, no players that have any idea - just lacklustre, idiotic, directionless hoof-ball.
Every single 2nd ball we lose, EVERY SINGLE ONE. Wimbledon pump it forward, Guthrie or Scarr would win the header…but the possession would immediately turn back over to Wimbledon because we were statuesque in the middle of the park. This is a major problem, it results in us being completely unable to dictate the flow of the game, without the ball, we are useless.
With the ball, we aren’t much better. No body wants it, they’re all scared. They all want to be elsewhere, except Leahy, who is happy to bark out orders left right and centre, then the next minute get rolled by a Wimbledon reserve, before resuming his gesticulating and lambasting of other players.
In summary, that was about as dreadful as it gets. Losing limply at home to a bottom of the league team, and not showing anything in response. I’ve seen some ■■■■ Walsall teams in my time (Merson & Mullen 05-07, Hutchings 09-10), but this one takes the biscuit - there’s just NOTHING there. No experience, no guts, no hurt, no grit, no determination, no honour. Just a bunch of thrown-together cheap as you can get footballers, cobbled together with a few desperate loan signings and a manager without a ■■■■■■■ scooby.
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Guthrie is abysmal.
You rate Guthrie and don’t rate Cook
I. Am. Staggered.
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Like cookie and in the right team with a good supply (as shown with 16goals for us with a lack of service) could score a lot of goals at this level . He gets so ■■■■■■ off and frustrated with the lack of service to him.
Oh ok then, you’ve put this point so eloquently that I have no choice but to agree.
It’s probably the most perplexing post I’ve ever read on UTS.
Tbh, I read until you rated Guthrie and then thought this can’t go any further. Must be a severe lack of football knowledge, trolling, or you went to a Woody guthrie tribute concert tonight.
He was the wrong appointment from day 1.
In business, never ever ever ever ever ever ever ever ever ever use sentimentality/emotion as a reason for anything.
Gordon needs to learn how to make a challenge cuz every time he does its looks like he is going to give a free kick away . And his first touch is terrible.
Rating someone partly responsible for one of the leakiest defence I’ve ever seen and not rating a 16 goal striker who’s had to do it in a ■■■■ poor team, whilst also being nominated for player of the month awards is staggering.
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