A Hard Day's Night by Lennon & McCarthy (A) Ipswich 3/11/15

[Sponge]

Prince injured. Non RB Derek replaces.

Eh? I misspelled Derik, but he's no right-back either? He came on to replace the injured Prince.

Sorry HMX, the confusion was directed at Lennon, not you.

[Peter Thompson]

He'll be gone Saturday if we don't get 3 points, the fans will turn because it is simmering and he won't be able to handle the fans turning on him.

Its a shame as he's a likeable character who's been let down by the owner & joke of a chairman - but he's managing like an inexperienced novice, the team looks & plays like a pub team.

[HMX]

Prince injured. Non RB Derek replaces.

Eh? I misspelled Derik, but he's no right-back either? He came on to replace the injured Prince.

Sorry HMX, the confusion was directed at Lennon, not you.

Aha, no probs. Should've sussed!

[BWFC_Insane]

Sorry but Lennon is at fault for a lot of this. I called his right backs madness in the summer. We needed others elsewhere. But to not even be playing them? Craziness to a whole new level.

He's effectively thrown our meagre resources down the toilet. Giving his mate Heskey a deal. Dobbie. Wilson, Pisartist, Madine. Fecking pointless. Then we have Derik and Casado, decent enough but not what we really needed. Then the one that looked relatively useful in Prince isn't even being played in position.

He's fecked away the small amount of funds on shite. Which may be slightly excusable under the circumstances, but then it turns out half of it not even shite he's prepared to play.

Tactically he's hopeless. Dreadful. Players aren't motivated and the spirit seems crushed again.

We are now cut adrift because one win doesn't take us out. I fear it is too late to do much about this, but by feck this summer must go down as one of the biggest disasters going. He'd have been better off signing nobody. Would have been cheaper and doubt we'd be that much worse off. Certainly I hope he doesn't ask for more because they'd have to be mad to let him waste yet more money.

And before it comes up, none of these players are here for free.

If I were Gartside I'd tell Lennon that he's here for the foreseeable and that he'd better turn things round and start using the players he's chosen and signed appropriately. And if I were him I'd get that message out in the local media, rather than let Lennon carry on parading round like some sort of martyr to the cause.

[jmjhb]

It doesn't matter we are going down....

We have an owner who doesn't give a fcuk, an invisible 'gone missing' chairman who doesn't give a fcuk, a manager who does give a fcuk but is absolutely clueless and a squad of players who don't give a fcuk but its not surprising because they are absolutely shit.

Yeah, pretty much sums up my feelings at the moment.

[Dave Sutton's barnet]

We are now cut adrift because one win doesn't take us out. I fear it is too late to do much about this, but by feck this summer must go down as one of the biggest disasters going. He'd have been better off signing nobody. Would have been cheaper and doubt we'd be that much worse off.

Interesting, this "Better off signing nobody" idea. At first I thought it might be hyperbole, but these are the signings since summer:

Ben Amos
Gary Madine
Derik Osede
Jon Ceberio
Jordan Lussey
Stephen Dobbie
Lawrie Wilson
Prince-Desir Gouano (loan)
Wellington Silva (loan)
Francesco Pisano
Jose Manuel Casado
Paul Rachubka
Shola Ameobi
Luke Brattan (loan)

Amos aside, there's not a lot there that we couldn't do without. Might have been a bit short up top, but it's not like we've been bothering the scorers much is it?

[TANGODANCER]

When he turns it round and we start playing and scoring panfuls...Then we will remember, the things we said today....

[jonnycooper]

Blind Optimism!!! I like it.

[jetsetwilly]

Sad thing is, we won't sack him as the chairman and owner have long given up. We are going down with a manager who is clueless. Maybe Lennon is trying to do the 92 club

[norm the jedi]

No doubt Lennon has brought in a lot of , thus far, apparent dross. Or definite dross in the case of Madine!
But If player turnover is motivated more or as much by bargain bucket, reduce the overhead, as by seeking to improve you will end up where we are.
As a recently retired public servant I fully embrace more for less.. up to the point where you've cut so much that you can not sustain the service.
That's where we are at.
keep sounding as positive as you like out the front but results will indicate the true position much more eloquently.

You can dress it up as much as you want with positive noises and pitch shirt grin. What else can you do? Come out and say ' we've got no money and the only players we can attract are a bit shit, nearly finished or damaged but this lad is a bit less damaged than the last one.
If you're left shopping off the pikey shelf for the slight seconds, damaged and near or just past its sell by date it isn't a recipe for improvement or success.. Feck me! Shoala Amiobe is an upgrade! excuse me while I let that sink in...

Recent history suggests that it makes no difference who manages us. Unless the level of investment and outlook of the board/owner changes the direction of travel will continue to be downward... Which seems an odd approach to trying to get your money back.. I understand good money after bad.. but that generally precedes a sale or scrapping.
We seem to be engaged in a systematic undermining of the foundations in preparatin for a knock down fire sale some time in the future.

Seems to me, they've given up and to be honest I think may be so have I. I'm increasingly happier paying £10 to watch 7th tier crap at Chesham United 'come on you generals' with 200 other fools than investing another penny in this lot. Low expectation is its own reward.. and generally ruins less weekends!

[Lost Leopard Spot]

There's a hotel near me that used to be top class and then it started going downhill a bit. The owner stopped investing in it and the decline accelerated: seedy carpets, the big public rooms smelling of damp, buddleia growing out of the chimney stacks, surly staff under a clueless maitre d, beer like piss and terrible food. It closed down briefly but reopened soon after with a new owner. He invested in the place, not vast amounts (just under a fifth of its annual turnover at its height, slightly more than the profit margin in its best year under the old management) and its now doing well, making money. Football clubs and hotels aren't that dissimilar in their business models. They are definitely similar enough that Eddie should know that if he ever wants to turn this around he needs to invest, why the fxck he's given up I've no idea, but it's hurting him as well as us.
Football clubs can make a profit. Having a reliable useful manager is an indicator of good business sense.

[Prufrock]

Having no money doesn't explain signing two right backs and then playing any old centre-back there, or setting up the front six so narrow they haven't touched it outside the width of the penalty box in a year.

It's starting to look like not only does he not know what he's doing, but he's got that Owen Coyle sureness that he does.

[officer_dibble]

I wonder what winning a game is like. Imagine winning two! Or three!

[Dave Sutton's barnet]

Having no money doesn't explain signing two right backs and then playing any old centre-back there, or setting up the front six so narrow they haven't touched it outside the width of the penalty box in a year.

It's starting to look like not only does he not know what he's doing, but he's got that Owen Coyle sureness that he does.

Allied (judging by the right-backs being frozen out) to a Freedmanesque policy of excluding players.

[Lost Leopard Spot]

So he's got Coylesque tendencies, with Freedmanesque policies. And ginger hair. It's a no brainer, I've put the tar on to boil...

[Dave Sutton's barnet]

From the BN:

I will never quit. People say about managers losing the dressing room but they have got to worry about them losing me because I am here to fight it out.

If the people at the club or the fans want to make a change, that’s something I can’t control so we will have to wait and see.

I don’t feel under any pressure but with performances like that, people are going to look at you and say, are you doing well enough? That’s the question I ask myself after every game.

We created good chances but if we are not going to score and we are not going to keep clean sheets, it’s going to be a tough season.

Second half was totally unacceptable. We got out muscled and out thought by Ipswich who weren’t on the best of form themselves. And we let the game get away from us. We weren’t anywhere near competitive enough for my liking.

How I get the players motivated - we will work on it but they have got to be better. They have got to show more mental strength. We had a big team out in terms of physicality and size.

We started well and were in the game at half-time. But second half never had a go and that’s what I have said to them. It wasn’t good enough.

[On Knudsen tripping Clayton]
It’s a red card! I spoke to [PGMOL refereeing co-ordinator] David Allison yesterday about the one Max didn’t get on Saturday and he agreed with me that it was a clear red card. Now the referee is saying his touch took him away from goal but if he hadn’t had the contact, he’d have been in.

Knudsen knew exactly what he was doing, he just took him out, there was no inclination to play the ball. And it’s another massive decision at an important stage of the game that hasn’t gone our way.

I am bewildered by the decision, I may speak to David again but I’ll get the same answer: It’s not good enough.

From the post-match presser, via official Twitter:

We had some good chances in the first half, but our second half performance was unacceptable. We didn't compete and we never laid a glove on Ipswich. We lacked a physicality, which is disappointing given the size we had. We are doing everything we can to improve our situation. We have to take responsibility - as a team we haven't done that.

From the official site:

We had some good chances in the first half, but our second half performance was unacceptable.

I was pleased with the way we played in the first half. Yes, we conceded a sloppy goal, but we were doing well and were very much in the game. We just didn’t show up in the second half.

We didn’t compete at all and we never really laid a glove on Ipswich. We lacked a physicality, which is disappointing given the size we had in the team tonight.

Their first goal has come from one of our mistakes in possession and Ben will admit himself that he should do better with the shot. Then, for their second, we’ve failed to deal with the counter.

I wasn’t happy with so much of our play in the second half and if you’re not going to score goals we’re going to struggle.

We go from playing well defensively on Saturday to not playing well tonight and that is difficult to understand. We lack consistency from game to game and this is something we’ve talked about.

We are endeavouring and doing everything we can to improve our situation. Some of us have to stand up and take responsibility and as a team we haven’t done that enough. When the going gets tough we have to grab the game by the scruff of the neck.

We have an important game against Bristol City at the weekend and we’ll do all we can to win. I still believe we can turn this situation around.

[Enoch]

A football manager's lot is not a happy one.

A lot of the time.

A lot to ponder.

[BWFC_Insane]

No doubt Lennon has brought in a lot of , thus far, apparent dross. Or definite dross in the case of Madine!
But If player turnover is motivated more or as much by bargain bucket, reduce the overhead, as by seeking to improve you will end up where we are.
As a recently retired public servant I fully embrace more for less.. up to the point where you've cut so much that you can not sustain the service.
That's where we are at.
keep sounding as positive as you like out the front but results will indicate the true position much more eloquently.

You can dress it up as much as you want with positive noises and pitch shirt grin. What else can you do? Come out and say ' we've got no money and the only players we can attract are a bit shit, nearly finished or damaged but this lad is a bit less damaged than the last one.
If you're left shopping off the pikey shelf for the slight seconds, damaged and near or just past its sell by date it isn't a recipe for improvement or success.. Feck me! Shoala Amiobe is an upgrade! excuse me while I let that sink in...

Recent history suggests that it makes no difference who manages us. Unless the level of investment and outlook of the board/owner changes the direction of travel will continue to be downward... Which seems an odd approach to trying to get your money back.. I understand good money after bad.. but that generally precedes a sale or scrapping.
We seem to be engaged in a systematic undermining of the foundations in preparatin for a knock down fire sale some time in the future.

Seems to me, they've given up and to be honest I think may be so have I. I'm increasingly happier paying £10 to watch 7th tier crap at Chesham United 'come on you generals' with 200 other fools than investing another penny in this lot. Low expectation is its own reward.. and generally ruins less weekends!

Whilst diminishing investment is a massive problem. The ownership of the club really difficult given he no longer wants to invest the argument that it is impossible to be better than we are simply isn't true.

Plenty of times managers have come in and been right up against it in terms of funding and turned things round. Allardyce did it here for example, half the squad sold and freebies in the main to replace them took us up.

Nobody has an expectation anywhere near as high as claiming a play-off spot. But our budget is not bottom 6 in this division, let alone bottom 3. Lennon has a lot of difficult things to balance. But you could see in the summer he was making some very odd moves. I said it at the time. When you've not got much to spend you've absolutely got to maximise every penny, but that hasn't happened. We are a long way from that being even half achieved. Salaries have been flung around to players who aren't going to make any difference to our season. What we needed was to establish as strong a core as possible first then add the remainder if money allowed. Instead he's signed back up strikers, 395 full backs and foreign centre backs. Heskey was only ever going to be a half hour a week man. Can we afford that? I don't think so. Dobbie was only ever going to be a half hour a season man. These players are just sitting on the wage bill. They aren't going to make a blind bit of difference to us.

And you can go down the list of all the signings and pretty much most of them are in that boat. Instead of wasting money on two right backs, we could have just played Vela there. He did fine on our winning run last season. But no Lennon goes out to sign not one, but two right backs then plays a centre half there.

None of that is down to a lack of money. It is down to a poor use of the resource available.

[TonyDomingos]

I don't get this "we're skint" argument. We've saved a small fortune in win bonuses over the last six months.

[norm the jedi]

Whilst diminishing investment is a massive problem. The ownership of the club really difficult given he no longer wants to invest the argument that it is impossible to be better than we are simply isn't true.

Plenty of times managers have come in and been right up against it in terms of funding and turned things round. Allardyce did it here for example, half the squad sold and freebies in the main to replace them took us up.

Plenty ? Name 6 - Dyche and Eddie Howe not included. Allerdyce brought in Frees and loans initially but generally from a higher level O'Kane etc . And his turning us around and developing us was typified by investment if not in fees then in Back room staff, technology and wages. The situation pre Allerdyce is not analogous to now other than for revisionist purposes.

Nobody has an expectation anywhere near as high as claiming a play-off spot. But our budget is not bottom 6 in this division, let alone bottom 3. Lennon has a lot of difficult things to balance. But you could see in the summer he was making some very odd moves. I said it at the time. When you've not got much to spend you've absolutely got to maximise every penny, but that hasn't happened. We are a long way from that being even half achieved. Salaries have been flung around to players who aren't going to make any difference to our season. What we needed was to establish as strong a core as possible first then add the remainder if money allowed. Instead he's signed back up strikers, 395 full backs and foreign centre backs. Heskey was only ever going to be a half hour a week man. Can we afford that? I don't think so. Dobbie was only ever going to be a half hour a season man. These players are just sitting on the wage bill. They aren't going to make a blind bit of difference to us.

There's a lot in there much of which pre-supposes that there was anyone else available at our price range who would come who was better than what we have.

And you can go down the list of all the signings and pretty much most of them are in that boat. Instead of wasting money on two right backs, we could have just played Vela there. He did fine on our winning run last season. But no Lennon goes out to sign not one, but two right backs then plays a centre half there.

[/quote]

what like buying a centre half from Spain with the turning circle of Ark Royal and the speed of fermentation... and playing him in Midfield..
I was assuming that the manager believes he's a better footballer than the two blokes who have right back in their passport but not better for what ever reason than the first choice centre back options.. may be communication yarder yarder any number of things we don't see or know because we aren't on the training ground? Oh wait some bloke on the internet says they fell out over the last fruit corner and now he won't pick either of them?

either way it doesn't seem to work? and it's all window dressing..

We won't stay up without scoring goals - if a Goal Scorer is available cheap he's probably wrongly labelled, see. ex Goal Scorer - Formerly Goal scorer..
We've created enough chances to win most of the games we've been in this season, we've got no one to score goals. May be that's the managers fault because he hasn't bought one.. Or may be he's bought the best he can get with what's on offer and is prepared to come. Whilst divesting himself not necessarily willingly of those deemed too expensive to keep.

We're going to league one with or without Lennon and if the current administration can't divest themselves of the club we'll carry on all the way to league 2 Like most of the similar ex premiership basket cases before us.. Some of whom have made it back.. under new administrations, with new boards and new investment..