Jourdan

Who's coming on now and nicking my job.....

Hi Jim,
I know next to nothing about you, your group, what you represent or who your members are, but you better believe I’m going to complain about it all. 
Welcome to the forum. 

Well at least this American rams fan actually came over when he said he was.
??

The standard of officiating in the EFL is extremely variable and uneven which is probably the least divisive way of putting it.
I don't think we've been particularly subjected to more bad decisions than any other team in the division per se, it's nearly November now so putting the points deduction aside I think our "real" league position is a fair reflection of where we are as a team and manager.  

You know that £100m proof of funds Kirchner had, well, Only £10 million left now.

Kirchner with his latest offer...

Kirchner with his latest offer...

Kirchner with his latest offer...

Faster than any of our players..... ?

just seen Kirchner leaving the ground at half time 

Stopped reading at "I'm not a billionaire".
Trot on then youth. 
Next!

OK. Trying to be cool.
Not going to get carried away yet.
Breathe, be calm, it's only Nicko, and it's probably nothing.
 
 
 
 
EEEeeeeeIEIEIO.....

Personally, I would have kept the same settled team and perhaps added Stearman into the back line in the last 15 minutes. As little disruption as possible. We weren’t chasing the game.
Do Luton, Huddersfield and Coventry have better goalscorers than us really? Or is it that their teams function better as a unit and their coaching and tactics are better at getting more out of what they have?
Now I am not saying that we have top shelf options, but it’s not as if we have plucked Lawrence, Jozwiak, Baldock and Kazim from Dog and Deer FC either.
These free scoring teams you mention are almost exclusively reliant on unproven players coming up from League 1 and 2 and in some cases lower. Many players we would overlook and turn our nose up at if given the chance.
The only notable exception I can see is Coventry’s multi million signing of Gyokeres from Brighton.
Better players needed v better coach needed? It’s the eternal debate. I think at this moment all the evidence points to better coaching being needed which would lead to better decision making on the pitch. But let’s agree to disagree.

Personally, I would have kept the same settled team and perhaps added Stearman into the back line in the last 15 minutes. As little disruption as possible. We weren’t chasing the game.
Do Luton, Huddersfield and Coventry have better goalscorers than us really? Or is it that their teams function better as a unit and their coaching and tactics are better at getting more out of what they have?
Now I am not saying that we have top shelf options, but it’s not as if we have plucked Lawrence, Jozwiak, Baldock and Kazim from Dog and Deer FC either.
These free scoring teams you mention are almost exclusively reliant on unproven players coming up from League 1 and 2 and in some cases lower. Many players we would overlook and turn our nose up at if given the chance.
The only notable exception I can see is Coventry’s multi million signing of Gyokeres from Brighton.
Better players needed v better coach needed? It’s the eternal debate. I think at this moment all the evidence points to better coaching being needed which would lead to better decision making on the pitch. But let’s agree to disagree.

Personally, I would have kept the same settled team and perhaps added Stearman into the back line in the last 15 minutes. As little disruption as possible. We weren’t chasing the game.
Do Luton, Huddersfield and Coventry have better goalscorers than us really? Or is it that their teams function better as a unit and their coaching and tactics are better at getting more out of what they have?
Now I am not saying that we have top shelf options, but it’s not as if we have plucked Lawrence, Jozwiak, Baldock and Kazim from Dog and Deer FC either.
These free scoring teams you mention are almost exclusively reliant on unproven players coming up from League 1 and 2 and in some cases lower. Many players we would overlook and turn our nose up at if given the chance.
The only notable exception I can see is Coventry’s multi million signing of Gyokeres from Brighton.
Better players needed v better coach needed? It’s the eternal debate. I think at this moment all the evidence points to better coaching being needed which would lead to better decision making on the pitch. But let’s agree to disagree.

Because some tactical changes increase the likelihood of situations arising where these individual errors happen?
A change in shape at the wrong time, partnerships on the pitch being broken up, players coming onto the pitch taking time to get up to the speed of the game etc, all affect the flow of the game.
How many times have you seen a team under siege, but after their manager makes a couple of small tactical tweaks they start to take the initiative?
I don't have a list of games, tactical changes and subs, sorry.
More a distinct memory of a feeling after a few games where we've ended up chucking away points, that the subs didn't help matters. Specifics though, I couldn't tell you.
I don't think I'm alone in this though?

I don't think the answer is necessarily better players, but better coaching and tactics that would turn a few draws into wins and show evolution from previous games. When you look at the first quarter of the season and you can pinpoint a large majority of games where we didn't get what we deserve, that tells you it's a coaching problem. A good coach would be looking for and finding solutions.
No-one is saying that we should be showing the consistency of WBA, Fulham and Bournemouth. But look at the league table. Coventry, Luton, Huddersfield and Millwall all occupy places in the top 10 of this division. Do they have significantly better players than us? Why are they making fewer errors? Why are they winning more football matches?
Of course, individual errors can happen and of course, we are working hard, showing fighting spirit, and seeing improvement from last year. However last year was abysmal and the bar couldn't have been set any lower. The only way was only ever going to be up. But to say a coach cannot do anything about what happens on the pitch is practically absolving the likes of Rooney and Rosenior of any and all responsibility. What I would say is that Rooney is getting parts right - the players look motivated, the players (on the whole) look organised, but rarely do we seem to learn from or have worked on mistakes, and rarely do we seem to have tactical nous to change a game in our favour.
To say you don't think any manager could get more out of them seems unfounded and wildly assumptive to me. We've picked up 16 points from 39 (roughly 40% of all available points). It's less than half. There is always room for improvement. History shows a manager can and does tend to come in and get more out of a group of players.
We were 2-1 up with 10 minutes to go. I am not even sure it would have taken ingenuity to close out the game, but the kind of tweaks that experienced managers know to make because they have been in this position time and time again.

I don't think the answer is necessarily better players, but better coaching and tactics that would turn a few draws into wins and show evolution from previous games. When you look at the first quarter of the season and you can pinpoint a large majority of games where we didn't get what we deserve, that tells you it's a coaching problem. A good coach would be looking for and finding solutions.
No-one is saying that we should be showing the consistency of WBA, Fulham and Bournemouth. But look at the league table. Coventry, Luton, Huddersfield and Millwall all occupy places in the top 10 of this division. Do they have significantly better players than us? Why are they making fewer errors? Why are they winning more football matches?
Of course, individual errors can happen and of course, we are working hard, showing fighting spirit, and seeing improvement from last year. However last year was abysmal and the bar couldn't have been set any lower. The only way was only ever going to be up. But to say a coach cannot do anything about what happens on the pitch is practically absolving the likes of Rooney and Rosenior of any and all responsibility. What I would say is that Rooney is getting parts right - the players look motivated, the players (on the whole) look organised, but rarely do we seem to learn from or have worked on mistakes, and rarely do we seem to have tactical nous to change a game in our favour.
To say you don't think any manager could get more out of them seems unfounded and wildly assumptive to me. We've picked up 16 points from 39 (roughly 40% of all available points). It's less than half. There is always room for improvement. History shows a manager can and does tend to come in and get more out of a group of players.
We were 2-1 up with 10 minutes to go. I am not even sure it would have taken ingenuity to close out the game, but the kind of tweaks that experienced managers know to make because they have been in this position time and time again.

I don't think the answer is necessarily better players, but better coaching and tactics that would turn a few draws into wins and show evolution from previous games. When you look at the first quarter of the season and you can pinpoint a large majority of games where we didn't get what we deserve, that tells you it's a coaching problem. A good coach would be looking for and finding solutions.
No-one is saying that we should be showing the consistency of WBA, Fulham and Bournemouth. But look at the league table. Coventry, Luton, Huddersfield and Millwall all occupy places in the top 10 of this division. Do they have significantly better players than us? Why are they making fewer errors? Why are they winning more football matches?
Of course, individual errors can happen and of course, we are working hard, showing fighting spirit, and seeing improvement from last year. However last year was abysmal and the bar couldn't have been set any lower. The only way was only ever going to be up. But to say a coach cannot do anything about what happens on the pitch is practically absolving the likes of Rooney and Rosenior of any and all responsibility. What I would say is that Rooney is getting parts right - the players look motivated, the players (on the whole) look organised, but rarely do we seem to learn from or have worked on mistakes, and rarely do we seem to have tactical nous to change a game in our favour.
To say you don't think any manager could get more out of them seems unfounded and wildly assumptive to me. We've picked up 16 points from 39 (roughly 40% of all available points). It's less than half. There is always room for improvement. History shows a manager can and does tend to come in and get more out of a group of players.
We were 2-1 up with 10 minutes to go. I am not even sure it would have taken ingenuity to close out the game, but the kind of tweaks that experienced managers know to make because they have been in this position time and time again.

It's those minibars in the hotel rooms. That's how they get you.

What Rooney can also do is improve his tactical decisions when making subs, because despite all of the (excellent) hard work he's done in setting up and motivating the team his substitutions often have a habit of contributing to our undoing.
You could point out the limited options in the squad, but they are still options and mistakes were still made last season when we had more options; our only away win this season came at Hull when Stearman came on for the last 10 minutes and won everything in the air, could we not have taken a different tactical approach and got him on the pitch?
Yes it's all ifs, buts and maybes but perhaps Allsopp wouldn't have come for the punch if a fresh-legged Stearman had taken control of the situation? There are other variables of course, but was putting on an 18 year old LWB the best move? Another manager may have made a different call and we're sat here celebrating a victory.
To use another cliche though, it's swings and roundabouts - another manager may fail to beget the same team spirit and battling performances from this group so you'd be swapping some of that out for experience and tactical nous.
I suppose this is where having 'an experienced head' alongside him could have helped, rather than turning him around and getting the opinion of the even less experienced Rosenior on the best changes to make. Rooney has made it very clear that he's his own man and doesn't want that sort of arrangement.

Part of me wishes we were terrible and a long way from the rest of the division. It would make our situation easier to take.
Instead, I think the pride felt by many and the twice-weekly searching for crumbs of comfort will soon be replaced by genuine frustration.
Let’s be honest, if there was a year where a team could stay up even after having points deducted, I think this is the year.
This division is really poor and you look at Peterborough, Hull, Barnsley, Preston and Blackpool amongst others and can’t help but think there is more than a sliver of hope for us.
I think that’s what makes tonight feel worse. We have squandered points against genuinely beatable opposition, and not for the first time either this season.
Rooney, Rosenior and the coaching team deserve some credit, of course. They have done some good work. We are competitive, we are spirited, we are hard to beat. But how do we progress beyond that point?
For the season ahead, I felt we needed an experienced manager and even though Rooney has done a creditable job, I still harbour those feelings.
I do feel there are times where we fall into familiar traps that an experienced manager would more readily prevent. 
We concede poor goals, we waste a limited number of good chances, we rarely turn games, we squander points. Those are likely to be running themes throughout the season.
There’s no doubt that Rooney and the staff are showing heart and endeavour, but where is the little bit of know how, the little bit of ingenuity that can really impact a game? 
Maybe acceptance that this season will be a gallant effort and little more is the best medicine, but at the moment, every draw feels like a defeat.
I really do think we’ll be kicking ourselves come the end of the season at the number of missed opportunities and how close we could have actually come to pulling off the escape of all escapes.