Possible.
Personally I think the slide started before he even came in and that the problems are more deeply routed than blaming Keates making one signing.
Like this being an average league one side that performed above expectations at the start of the season and is still in a pretty good position considering what we expected on the whole.
Keates has signed 13 players. Keates isn’t squeaky clean in all of this. Fact.
I do however recognise his hands are tied. Needs 2 more transfer windows for me, but so far I’m not that impressed. Willing to give him time.
As I’ve said on another thread,the problem seems to be the order things are happening. If we’d started like we’ve been playing recently, and then started improving,I think people would be less worried, even if we currently had fewer points. It’s all in the apparent direction.
Keates deserves alot more time to sort this mess out but lets not pretend he’s done alot in the times he’s had so far.
Still no real way of playing, still awful in defence, still no cutting edge, players not improving, signings made largely suspect…
Doesn’t that start and the fact we are still above expectations mean Keates deserves a little more faith?
Absolutely no tactics abd every substitution is 1 for 1. Same players used when fit and same formation. Said it before, but we must be the easiest team to play against and plan for.
He is player-coach. I would argue that as a player he has added nothing and presuming he is coaching the defence, I’d also argue we have got worse. We’ve played two sides who have struggled to score all season in the last few weeks and conceded seven.
And Shrews is right. I’d also say that Keates did neither Martin nor the team any favours in the way he built him up.
Sorry, the squad he was left with in the summer - in alluding to the wages and balance of the squad.
Where have I suggested we don’t keep faith with him? I said “worried,” not " panicked."
You haven’t. I just find the reactions of certain fans absolutely ridiculous.
This team has been defensively poor for two and a half years.
There’s more to this than the Martin signing.
Exactly. I’ve seen a couple of people on the funbus known as Facebook suggest “Keates out” but everyone else is having a pretty reasoned debate about our progress since Keates joined us nine months ago. No panic. Just nine months in and some mixed reviews.
We’re still in the cup too.
Keates is a million miles from the really rotten things at the club just now. In fact, by comparison, he is doing an absolutely outstanding job.
In between " Keates out, he useless"and seeing him when he was appointed as a messiah who can do no wrong, he’s turned out to be a fallible human being who can’t just turn around like that the mess he’s inherited. He’s made mistakes,and you’d expect that given he’s two leagues higher than his previous experience.
Doesn’t make him a bad manager, or the wrong man,just one who’s learning on the job.
Equally, that doesn’t mean we shouldn’t have some worries about our current trend.Or that it’s not legitimate to discuss those mistakes. If DK is the person he comes over as,he’ll be well aware of them and more.
We actually paid real money for Ferrier, that’s the only headache he gives me.
Yep - a decent wedge for Gordon too. Cook and Zeli haven’t come for nowt and Martin won’t be cheap. Plus the loans.
Effectictively, it looks like he’s had Oztumer, Jackson’s and Bakayoko’s wages plus some of the Bakayoko fee and spent it as he has seen fit. It won’t be a fortune by any stretch but the fact he spent actual cash on two transfer fees as well as some decentish wages suggests to me his hands are about as tied as every other poor bugger who comes to manage us. The depiction of a completely bare cupboard is false.