All quiet on the Preston front - 31/10/15

[Dave Sutton's barnet]

It wasn't really a diamond, more a 4-3-1-2

When Danns came on for Spearing, he went over to Vela gesturing to his left, and Vela dropped 10 yards deeper.

All systems are merely starting points though, and it's academic when they don't play well anyway.

[Jugs]

It isn't even about the rather crude notations of a system. There are lots of ways to play.

But yesterday we had a system that offered no width, had a right winger up front, a centre half out at full back and a lack of discernible shape to our play.

Now playing a narrow midfield might be ok, away from home, IF you have two full backs who offer natural width. We had one in Casado yesterday but didn't use it enough. And then Osede was all at sea being a centre half. Which made the system even narrower. The plan might be to lump it to Ameobi and get players around him. But then surely you want Clayton and Feeney behind him coming from each side rather than Feeney essentially out of the game in a position he is basically useless in.

If that is the system then fine, keep going with it. But make it look like there is a plan to develop some attacking play. I don't care if plan is as rudimentary as hoping Ameobi wins it and play off knock downs, but make sure we have the right players in the right areas to exploit it.

Frankly I don't think there is a coherent plan beyond a shape in paper and fitting names into it. We have no discernible style or tempo or really anything that you could say gives us something to build around. The lack of a clear plan is the most disappointing. Even a basic plan of getting big lads up front and winning knock downs, or working on winning set pieces and making maximum use of them. It is totally unstructured. Freedman wanted us sitting behind the ball and breaking with pace. It may have been one dimensional and not suitable for the players we had at times, but at least a style existed. Coyle persisted with his two wingers and two strikers, again it might have been wrong given the weak midfield we had but you could see the plan.

What we are aiming for now, I literally have no idea. I don't know how Lennon sees us playing. What sort of shape and style we are trying. And I genuinely don't believe Lennon knows either. I feel it is just name a team write them on the board and best of luck with it.

I concede some of your points, but what is the solution? Sack Lennon now?

'Strewth. It was abysmal. The fact PNE were equally abysmal is neither here nor there. The players do not operate as a team. Neil Lennon couldn't manage my haemorrhoids. We may well survive relegation this season, by the skin of somebody's teeth, but that's because Rotherham shouldn't be here, Charlton have been sacrificed on some satanic altar and either Bristol or MK Fxckheads or Leeds will outperform us in the shitstakes. Not because we have players 'that are good enough', but because we'll be bloody lucky.

[Worthy4England]

I concede some of your points, but what is the solution? Sack Lennon now?

Tsk - not just before an international break....during....maybe on the first Monday.

[BWFC_Insane]

I concede some of your points, but what is the solution? Sack Lennon now?

I doubt that is an option.

I honestly don't know. I don't think we are any better than we were last year. That is disappointing. It is a hard job but I feel we've massively missed out by not getting an experienced manager for this division. Not get Mick McCarthy seems like in hindsight possibly the worst mistake we've made in the past five years.

That is gone and I think we just have to grit through it and hope. i suppose if things don't improve in the coming month or so there is a case for change but whether we could afford it and whether anyone with the ability to make a difference is available are both highly doubtful things.

I don't actively want him sacked, I just want him to stop dicking about and start behaving like a manager trying to eek out results in this division. I've only ever actively wanted one manager sacked in my time supporting Bolton and that was Owen Coyle.

[Devon White]

The most worrying thing is how tactically clueless we are. It's like 11 people who have never met before. Lennon fine at Celtic when most games are a gimme. No good at working with this lot. Good day out ruined by an awful display AGAIN

I've been saying this for a while now, and even more worrying is that apparently Lennon was actually pleased with that performance tonight and said something along the lines of 'people can see that we are moving in the right direction'.

It was a dreadful performance - a decent point though, but a truly awful performance that was passionless, clueless, shambolic, lethargic, with a lack of any organisation, tempo, pace, movement, creativity and attacking intent - many of the players looked like they didn't want to be there and couldn't give a shit....and it was like playing with 10 men with Pratley, who had a shocking game and he is our captain - there are so many things wrong with this side, and for Lennon to think that it was an acceptable performance tells me that he's managing with his 'head up his arse'....he'll lose the fans quickly if continues to come out with bollocks comments like that.

Thanks PT you've saved my little fingers, I am ok with lennon at the moment,

[thebish]

Not that long ago folk were reckoning that all Lennon needed was for pratley to come back - he was that vital missing cog that would make the whole venture click into gear...

[LeverEnd]

Not that long ago folk were reckoning that all Lennon needed was for pratley to come back - he was that vital missing cog that would make the whole venture click into gear...

Exactly! And we're still waiting.

[Jugs]

Come on, admit it, some of you want him out

[malcd1]

Come on, admit it, some of you want him out

I remember some on here either wanting Big Sam out or glad when he had gone because we were boring.

[TANGODANCER]

Come on, admit it, some of you want him out

I don't. All too easy to keep blaming the manager for everything. I watched him put his head in his hands a couple of times yesterday at the pathetic cosses that went out for throws and goal kicks. Jose Moreno is a totally proven manager at any level yet because his overpaid star players aren't performing there's talk of him getting sacked. Ridiculous. The players want kicking up the asses, not the managers. Horses to water etc.....

[Prufrock]

Tango, and this is slightly off-topic I grant you, but it's "Mourinho". It's been driving me mad for years, that!

As you were .

[Prufrock]

It wasn't really a diamond, more a 4-3-1-2

This sentence was brought to you by, The Internet.

[Dave Sutton's barnet]

Come on, admit it, some of you want him out

I don't. I wanted the last three managers out by the time they left, but not in this instance. I want the turnaround in performances and results that will save him - and us. But I am beginning to worry that it won't happen, and I'm more loyal to the badge than I am to any manager or player.

[Dave Sutton's barnet]

I concede some of your points, but what is the solution? Sack Lennon now?

Tsk - not just before an international break....during....maybe on the first Monday.

Truth in there, but it's not always the case.

Sammy Lee was sacked in the October international break, but 10 days into it.
Gary Megson was sacked over Christmas, two days before an FA Cup tie.
Owen Coyle was sacked two days into the October international break.
Freedman was sacked two days before the Bournemouth game which was the last one before the October international break.

Scores on the doors at that point:

Lee 17/10/07 - 5pts from 9 games (19th/20)
Megson 30/12/09 - 18 from 18 (18/20)
Coyle 09/10/12 - 11 from 10 (18/24)
Freedman 03/10/14 - 5 from 10 (24/24)
Lennon now - 10 from 14 (22/24)

[BWFC_Insane]

^^I do have a general rule that things start to get really worrying once you are more than a win away from being on a point a game. That was my premiership rule, but in this division even more so. We definitely don't want to fall any further off the pace than we are now.

[jetsetwilly]

Why are people so keen to back Lennon? Nonsense interviews, poor signings, crazy tactics, negative football, bizarre team selections, negative outlook.

All the ingredients that got the previous folk sacked. Yes we have money problems but so do others. Our wage bill is not the lowest. Which of his signings look good?

I think it is all part of the decline. Fans don't seem to care about the plight and have just accepted the next relegation.

[Dave Sutton's barnet]

Why are people so keen to back Lennon? Nonsense interviews, poor signings, crazy tactics, negative football, bizarre team selections, negative outlook.

All the ingredients that got the previous folk sacked. Yes we have money problems but so do others. Our wage bill is not the lowest. Which of his signings look good?

I think it is all part of the decline. Fans don't seem to care about the plight and have just accepted the next relegation.

I don't think it's fair to say Lennon has a negative outlook (if that's what you mean) – he's always looking for the positives. But then again, so were Sammy Lee (famously), Gary Megson (argumentatively), Owen Coyle (naively) and Dougie Freedman (mostly).

I honestly don't think Lennon is as unlikeable as some of our previous gaffers - personally or professionally.

I also think there's more of an acceptance, as you say. Had we been here three years ago, there'd have been more fervour.

Perhaps the indicator of that is this: every previous time there's been an underperforming manager, the cry has gone up that There Must Be Someone, Anyone, Who Could Do This Better. That has been conspicuously absent. I made a comparison with Rowett, I daresay Mick McCarthy will be mentioned, I'm surprised that nobody said it about Simon Grayson – but there's no massive clamour to get Manager So-and-so, because we honestly don't know what we need. I have a hunch that, if this continues, we'd be better getting a gaffer with strong lower-league knowledge - partly for scouting, partly because we might well end up there. But I'm aware that he might then prove himself inexperienced at this level...

[BWFC_Insane]

Why are people so keen to back Lennon? Nonsense interviews, poor signings, crazy tactics, negative football, bizarre team selections, negative outlook.

All the ingredients that got the previous folk sacked. Yes we have money problems but so do others. Our wage bill is not the lowest. Which of his signings look good?

I think it is all part of the decline. Fans don't seem to care about the plight and have just accepted the next relegation.

I don't think it's fair to say Lennon has a negative outlook (if that's what you mean) – he's always looking for the positives. But then again, so were Sammy Lee (famously), Gary Megson (argumentatively), Owen Coyle (naively) and Dougie Freedman (mostly).

I honestly don't think Lennon is as unlikeable as some of our previous gaffers - personally or professionally.

I also think there's more of an acceptance, as you say. Had we been here three years ago, there'd have been more fervour.

Perhaps the indicator of that is this: every previous time there's been an underperforming manager, the cry has gone up that There Must Be Someone, Anyone, Who Could Do This Better. That has been conspicuously absent. I made a comparison with Rowett, I daresay Mick McCarthy will be mentioned, I'm surprised that nobody said it about Simon Grayson – but there's no massive clamour to get Manager So-and-so, because we honestly don't know what we need. I have a hunch that, if this continues, we'd be better getting a gaffer with strong lower-league knowledge - partly for scouting, partly because we might well end up there. But I'm aware that he might then prove himself inexperienced at this level...

I think the last paragraph is right. We haven't had anyone with proper experience over the past few seasons and given they have been difficult experience is what we needed most likely.

But now it is hard to see where we would go if Lennon went.

However, I think that as well many people pinned all of our problems on managers when in fact the job was very difficult and only a very experienced and steady pair of hands would have made any sort of difference. I might be like a broken record but the damage was done in the season we fell out of the top flight. Since then it was always going to be incredibly difficult.

[Enoch]

There Must Be Someone, Anyone, Who Could Do This Better.

YHIHF.

[Harry Genshaw]

Shows how much of this managerial malarkey is a lottery - right club, wrong bloke etc

When we went for Freedman the other names mentioned on here and in the hat were - Michael Appleton, Darren Ferguson, Ole Gunner Solskjaer and Malky Mackay

It's possible that any of em might have done a better job than Freedman (would any of them have signed Trotter to a 3 year deal for example?), but it's just as possible they would all have been worse. We could be playing in the FA cup this weekend