T&S..... sacked

No, applause. What is this? What we have to clap for everything now?

We can't wait about to give them a clap. Get rid!

 

'I thought we performed well and were the better team for long periods of the game'

Oh dear.

'We have played like we did today in the past and won matches'.

Thats true. And therein lies the problem. I think that statement is very telling....

 

As is the statement 'the remit was to keep us in this league and we've done that'.

 

Yep. That was sorted weeks ago. The chance to really go for the top 7 was there and they never went for it.

 

The xG tells its own story. Our winning run was never going to be sustainable.

credit to them for producing an instant turnaround and galvanizing the group.

things were going well until all the abandonments and postponements.

we’ve had some bad results though. Capitulating late in Cardiff. Gubbed on that windy day in Cumbria. Now three defeats in a row.

their safety first approach was superb in stopping the rot but it leaves us vulnerable if we ever slip behind, which is becoming all too frequent an event now the defensive solidness has gone.

we do need a new GK and RB badly but, at the same time, I think we also need a new manager

 

We need half a team because half of that lot aren't good enough. I'd guess Rowe will be on his way and most of the January transfer signings have offered little to nothing bar Cook and Canavan. Watt has gone alarmingly backwards and Vernam looks way off the mark.

 

And that's the mindset I just don't get. Whether you are a manager or a player, if the opportunity is there to achieve something, even if that opportunity is completely unexpected, why the hell wouldn't you give it absolutely everything you've got to try and succeed?

 

I must admit to calling for them to be given the job after their great start. I am now doubting my own sanity having seen the dross served up recently.

 

It was a turn of phrase. How the feck are we going to clap them when we can't even get in the stadium.

 

Anyone who still thinks they should be in charge next season should listen to the post match interview on radio Leeds. I was pretty shocked at Truemans comments. When asked about the difference in the second half performance (why were we worse) he didn't even get what the interviewer meant! When asked why we didn't bring Rowe on with 10 minutes left given we were losing he said well we brought Clayts on. Donaldson came on after 91 minutes!

 

Said that a few times after games recently.

 

Truemans after game interview demonstrated why they must not be in charge next season,

 

I'm not a habitual 'sack the manager' type but my patience finally snapped last night. I appreciate these guys are rookies (and didn't have a problem with them replacing Stuart) but the sight of them stood there with their arms folded in 'job done, we avoided relegation' mode made me glad I didn't have an old-fashioned TV screen. With less than half a game to save our season, it needed action. Instead we got the same inaction as recent games. except this time it really was last chance saloon, nothing less than 3 points could keep our faint chances alive. To a man/woman, the fans would have preferred to see us go for it - a 0-3 defeat would have been no worse than a draw: absolutely nothing to lose. But our attacking threat was increased by bringing on a striker in stoppage time, wowza. I care little how much of a sulker Rowe may be, we bought him (yes, bought, with money) to score goals, something he can't do when he's getting splinters in his arse.

T&S did a good job when they took over, maybe there was some luck, and to be fair I would imagine most people could have improved on the mess that Stuart had us in. To their great credit they changed the formation and found us a 'new' player in Cooke. And yes that was our best January in living memory, though in Stuart's defence he'd got Rowe as a target too. We successfully cleared out some dead wood and there's no denying we were all pleased with the incomings, though really only Cook and Canavan (and Crankshaw to a degree) improved things. Presumably much of this activity was in any case behind the scenes work rather than T&S's, which is fair enough, increasingly that's how it seems to work these days.

Truth is we were safe from relegation many weeks ago, and that is the point where things seemed to change for the worse. We could see the play-offs as a realistic hope, given we were within one win of them and the general poor standard of the league. Yet, worryingly, various post-match interviews gleaned no apparent interest in such a possibility. Again, it smacked of 'job done'. Ryan Sparks appears a well-motivated, well-balanced guy, and whilst I wouldn't want him to turn into a Rahic, presumably he too must see that T&S's refusal to consider alternative tactics (rash things like playing two strikers at home to a poor team, for example) was crippling our hopes - maybe a quiet word would have helped?

Overall City are a lower leagues club with no right to expect top-end football, and unlike a lot of the 'yoof' on social media I don't have unrealistic expectations for us, but for me the experiment has failed - the mess we're in in the bottom half of the fourth division means we're in no position to nursemaid two rookies. These guys need replacing by a proper manager, today, ideally. And although Jose (!!) or even Wilder might be beyond us, maybe a Wellens type might be the answer. In fact if available they can start today and get a feel of things for the last four games of a dead season.

 

Worryingly McCall-esque interview post match last night. While their record is still very impressive overall it is a worry that their approach has remained safety first when we basically had a free hit at chasing a play-off place. Even if we ultimately fell short it would have been more encouraging if we'd actually looked like we were going for it, and would have given more confidence that they were the right people to be in charge longer term.

 

They'll be given the summer, I cant imagine Sparks or Rupp are even thinking about getting rid already. Trueman with delusional comments like after last nights game doesn't help though. If we did cut in the summer that would be 6 managers gone inside 3 years, 2 sackings in 6 months under Sparks, would surely put off some potential bosses.

It's surely a mentality thing why we didn't jump on the chance to challenge? Been 10 games since the Newport match, after that we were 7 points off with a few in hand, we've only gained 11 points out of 30 available since, and we are still 7 points off. None of the pack pulled away from us but we never got out of 2nd gear and pushed for it. I fear the reaction those performances would have had in front of a crowd. Needs some people with experience of winning.

But that spine, ROD has spent his time at City facing nothing but relegation and poor results, same with AOC and Paudie who had inconsistent moments under McCall but since Canavan came in have looked much sharper, maybe needed that experience? Watt and Sutton hadn't started 30 league games between them in their careers before this season, yet had been expected to start and play 90 mins, every game in a relegation scrap that turned into a play off push, because we didn't bring anyone else in to cover. In front of them since Cooke went down it's been Evans, Clarke or Donaldson playing at 10, Don doing the best of a bad bunch but at 37 he isn't the answer. Cook up top has been the best of the spine and offers a lot to the team but given Mansfield have an option on his contract, might not be back. Big summer ahead.

 

Has the who can write the longest post competition started already?

 

Like many, I think the last few weeks have raised a lot of questions regarding T&S. Unfortunately they are probably the questions that Sparks / fans had flying around during that "interim" period and whether it was time to give them a permanent deal. That said, I think we should stick with them. For the basic fact that they have proved they can deliver improvement and that the best alternate candidate we could attract a few months ago was Paul Hurst.

They are also still working with a squad that has gaping issues due to years of poor recruitment culminating in last summer's sh*tshow. No right back, question marks at centre back (without Canavan), someone prepared to do the dirty work in midfield, cover for Cooke, variety up front. I can kind of understand the pragmatic style T&S have adopted given how tame this team can be. Allowing easy crosses into the box, panicking when the ball is in the box, key players going missing under a simple press are regular themes. The latter was so evident last night with Watt almost dropping to a sweeper role given his struggles with Tranmere's simple press.

It will be interesting to see what route they go down with the players that are out of contract as it will be the biggest indicator of what they are aiming for in the summer. The likes of O'Connor, Donaldson, Clarke are decent and can do a job at this level but are they enough to get you promoted? Can we use the loan market better as well? These are clear areas where we can and need to improve the squad.

 

Good point about the loan market. Cook aside, we have failed miserably this season.

 

No you are totally sane bantam65 - it WAS the RIGHT decision at the TIME it was made (and that is the key here)
God knows I try to be positive on here but have to be honest last nights 'performance' and MTs after-match interview left me very puzzled and perplexed. Bar all the other nonsense about how pleased he was and how we dominated (we dominated where Tranmere were totally happy for us to dominate!) the comment about 'we achieved our remit' can be taken two ways - 1) that we have since just gone to sleep when there was a massive opportunity there or 2) achieving safety was all that is possible with this group of players i.e. they just aint good enough.
I still think T&S have done enough to be given this summer to rebuild but for the first time I am having some doubts - and wonder what RS is thinking this lunchtime?

 

He must have shut his eyes to imagine their goalie making save after save. Any team in the div can dominate the ball in their own half.