The Voice - Match preview Morecambe vs Bradford City Saturday 19th August 2023 3:00pm

The thing for me is although probably I'm wrong as I've never played for Man Utd or Barcelona or ever been payed a full time weekly wage to study players and tactics etc, but is how I see it with my little football knowledge from just a fan is football is a simple game especially the lower down you go, now L2 is a grind without doubt, but to me the main things are hard work, basic but organised set ups as lower end players often struggle with complicated tactics and formations that we see in the Premier League, a few high end L2 players in key positions and the rest filled out with average grafters.
Now this season it appears MH has set out to drastically change our defence, which going by stats wasn't our problem, yes I know many will say the games moved on from 4 at the back etc. But not at the average L2 defender who struggle with change. All we needed to do in my eyes this season was improve our midfield and get competition for up front.

 

Fans fault get in

 

He come in and we start winning then watch how quickly people's attitudes change towards him .............Still we spent be even talking about him.it only takes Hughes to just wake up and see what's happen and we should be fine and that's the frustaing thing ..........

 

Thats not what I said at all. Awful performance that needs sorting. What I absolutely cant be doing with is the vitriol thats being spewed out after every mistake during the game.

 

I would concentrate on why these basic mistakes are being made rather than the odd comment ............ that yesterday was shocking and had fook all to do with any City fan .............amazed that the majority took such a shocking performance so well

 

It was mote than the odd comment but we will have to agree to differ on that one.
As for the performance yes it was as bad as anything served up under Adams. I"m not calling for MHs head yet but we massively need a reaction over the next coiple of games. If that doesnt happen I can see him walking anyway.

 

My issue with the current squad is central mid. We need a leader. Someone vocal. Pulling the strings. Showing passion. Like what Gary Jones did. Like what McCall did - I always remember before he retired Stuart in the middle of the park shouting, directing, getting stuck in… there is no leader out on the field,, no one pushing play forward. Instead we have wet lettuces who think the role of midfield is to pass sideways or backwards and don’t take responsibility when they lose the ball - meaning the painfully slow defence then is easily carved open.

 

It should be clearly evident by now that MH DOS'NT know from week to week which players to select,or what system to use. THE MAN IS CLUELESS. And i fail to see anything changing soon.

 

I really hope Kevin McDonsld can be that man. He looks to have that in him but we just need to get him fit enough to do 90 minutes.

 

So maybe it was more than the odd comment but based on what went off especially the first then I don't blame anyone to be peed off ..........2 hours stood up on a train more money thrown away and for what ????
90 minutes of that and I have been critical of our fans but after that ......... they deserve all they get ................not one of us would have cared had we lost and actually gave them a game but my word Morecambe won't get an easier 3 points this season

 

The criticism of our fans is a nonsense. The biggest home and away following week after week, despite a turgid and ineffective playing style that continues to get served up. Fans don't crave mistakes, they crave a bit of excitement and intensity to our games. They want to see a bit of action. Parky understood perfectly what connected our fan base to the team. The likes of Adams and Hughes, simply don't.

For the garbage we continually get served up, the mixture of disinterest and incompetence at the very top of the club, our fans are a marvel for what they put up with and the commitment they continue to show. Look at where the problems really are. It's a much more uncomfortable truth.

 

If the club was a restaurant it would be losing customers in large numbers and eventually close down.
The offerings served up right now hardly promote a five star rating.
Perhaps it's a case of too many Cooks in the kitchen and only one on the plate.
The Starters are mediocre.
The Mains flat cold and as for the desert the proof is in the pudding,in the case the end result.

 

We had such hopes when MH was appointed, possibly hero worship due to his previous history as a striker at top clubs. Now we are faced with a squad of players who have lost confidence, don’t seem to know how to play whatever system they are told to play; this has resulted in the chaos we saw yesterday. We rallied for about 20 minutes when Hughes made the changes, but it couldn’t hide the mess we are in. What is worse is that I have no confidence that MH can rebuild confidence and build a team.

None of us were satisfied with last years efforts despite being in the playoffs, we invested enough in the players for auto’s. There has been lots of posts about recruitment and our failure to bring enough quality into our squad. Smallwood is a failure, he has had the odd good match, but mediocre is his normal operandi. If you were to sum our whole season it was only mediocre. Yes I could go through all of them but I won’t bore you. Here is the question for Rupp, Sparks and the rest of the board, you were watching like the rest of us, why in all honesty were you not more assertive in making sure our Season Ticket money was better spent this year? If the player we brought in are good enough then it must be the training/lack thereof or general management of the team that is at fault. If MH cannot inspire a squad lacking in confidence now then we can’t mess about he must be replaced. However, I think we need a football director who takes charge of the football side of our club. Divide the CEO role Ryan to continue and we recruit immediately a good man/woman to take charge of everything football related. Look around but don’t take too long and see how other clubs operate under a FD.

Unless MH orchestrates a miraculous change, then I think we are set for a truly miserable season. We have been supporting this club more years than we can remember, but despite have a season ticket I will physically not watch more of what happened yesterday, at least I can turn the TV/Radio off. It still affects our household when we lose, but yesterday I honestly don’t think I have seen my husband so angry and upset. Obviously he never wants to lose, but the manner in which we lost yesterday was just awful. He appears ok today but getting him to his seat next week might be more of a mission.

 

Second goal yesterday is a perfect example of what you have said.

 

Had it watch it twice. Always quite sympathetic to a misplaced pass or a poor decision but that is scandalous. I had to watch again to check if he was winded / been caught or something but that is unforgivable.

 

Just to add to your extended metaphor, the service is shite as well.

 

Baffling that folk are actually pulling the fans up on what's going on out there ............how many there yesterday 1600 ????? Could have easily put another 3k on top had we been given the tickets ...........my only criticism of the fans is we must be all loons to actually put with that shit ............ Still whatever happens against Crewe our next two away games will sell our and that should embarrass Hughes that despite the shite he produces thousands are still willing to back them

 

I think there is still a lot of emotion from the way Hughes approached the playoffs which detracts away from his achievement of getting to the playoffs in the first place. And this feeling has carried through to this season. We never went all out for it, testimony to the way Hughes had us playing throughout the majority of games.
And with us not really playing well yet so far this season in any competition it's easy to see why the natives are restless.
That's not to say he can't turn it around. Football is a pretty simple game that can look a mess if you try to over complicate it, especially in the lower leagues.
He has some big questions to answer regarding personnel and formation. The quicker he gets that right the quicker this result will be forgotten.

 

I've just posted this in the other thread but I'll post it here too, as it relates to achievement of getting in the playoffs. If you take out the first 2 games he had in charge when he arrived, the points per game average for the remainder of that season and last, are identical. We qualified for the playoffs in spite of Hughes, not because of him. It was down to the individual excellence of Cook. I've had a quick look, and over the last 5 years the top scorer in this league has always been promoted, and has generally won the league. Its because they're usually succeeding within a framework that's succeeding too. Hughes had the gift of the best goalscorer in the league but we failed because Hughes couldn't put the other pieces of the jigsaw into place. Whispers that the players think he's arrogant and I've heard the same from elsewhere too, and there's a touch of it in his interviews. I'm done with him.

 

And that's before his obnoxious sidekick gets a mention .....