We are part way through a major squad rebuild with no money

[Jubbs]

15 hours ago, Tyler Durden said:

Our captain being sacked and season ending injury were the same incident

No, they weren't. I forgot Bielik was involved in the car crash, oh wait, that's right, he wasn't. 

[Truckle]

Some thought provoking stuff from the bloke with an odd name.

https://ramsreviewpodcast.wixsite.com/home/post/10-games-minimum

[cannable]

2 hours ago, RoyMac5 said:

Our Alex Ferguson was Paul Clement, need another vague analogy.

Christ, I’d forgotten he’d said that 

[Coneheadjohn]

2 hours ago, RoyMac5 said:

Our Alex Ferguson was Paul Clement, need another vague analogy.

[Wolfie]

1 hour ago, Tyler Durden said:

Have you heard of the concept of paragraphs they're a wonderful thing. 

I believe you're missing a full stop with following capital, after "paragraphs" and a question mark.

 

Well, you started it....?

[Tyler Durden]

7 minutes ago, Van Wolfie said:

I believe you're missing a full stop with following capital, after "paragraphs" and a question mark.

 

Well, you started it....?

It was more of a statement then a question. But fair comment. Think the word "accessibility" covers my point ?

[TheresOnlyWanChope]

On 20/10/2020 at 23:08, Marriott Ram99 said:

Loosing Martin and Bogle was massive, people can chat poo about Martin all they want but he was our key player in attack, with Bogle our 2nd most creative player. He couldn't defend well but going forward he always was positive and could create space for other players with his dribbling. 

Realistically we will lose players like Bogle being in this league. Byrne seems like a good replacement though. 

[TheresOnlyWanChope]

Cocu gets until around December for me. And as long as we are clear of relegation, he should be allowed to continue. Relegation would be disastrous for us though. If we are in the bottom three then, it will be evident the players aren't playing for him. His long term project won't work if we go down as we will lose all our promising youngsters and may get stuck down there for a decade! I will be supporting Cocu for now. Things will pick up when missing players get a good run in the team.

[Alph]

I knew this squad would look crap after an injury or two. The senior players aren't that good. Lawrence, Shinnie, Waghorn, Marriott, Wisdom, Holmes, Davies, Forsyth... they're just not that good. 

The young players shouldn't be under so much pressure. Bird is getting hammered on here and yes, his performances deserve it. But he shouldn't be under this pressure. 

We talked about the return of Lawrence and Waghorn like they're something special. I agree they're big players for us. But that makes me groan. They're not that good. These are players I'd expect to see fighting for a place not owning one. 

I didn't expect much from this season

But still. His 35% win and -13 GD over his time is poor

Our stats for possession + possession in the final third + shots pg + goals pg is poor (last season was rubbish). 

It supports what my eyes see which is negative, hope to nick a goal football. And we don't nick a goal. And we do this against Scunthorpe, Northampton, Barrow. We threw out a garbage team v Forest too. 

Apparently we don't care about the cups but it looked like we cared under Lampard. It didn't hold our league campaign back and I'd argue the wins contributed to the good feeling and team spirit. 

It's not a case of is Cocu doing bad OR is he getting piles of bad luck. It's both

And there's no way on earth we are too big or good to be relegated. I know it's not worth talking about yet but if Cocu needs time and transfer windows then he'll have to earn them

The proof that Cocu is going to come good isn't "i believe he'll come good, give it time". No more than last season when it was "look at Farke's first season and Norwich". 

The PSV record gives me zero comfort. All you bloody heard under Pearson was "but at Leicester..." 

His PSV record is as relevant as his Fenerbahce one. 

I still don't want him out. But I'm fed up of hearing excuses for him. Keep hearing "he'll come good because I have faith" doesn't really make me feel better about what I'm  seeing on the pitch. 

I'm trying not to be a dick and trying to call it as I see it. I'm trying to take on board the injuries, the squad ability etc. Too many games though I feel like we didn't do everything we could to win it. 

Thankfully Mel is giving him time. But I hope not too much more time. These players returning to fitness are Cocu's rope. He will either climb it or hang himself with it. 

I wouldn't give him until Christmas or the full season. I'd give him until he has a few of our better injured players back. They're already creeping back to fitness. Having them all fit at once is fantasy for most teams. 

It sounds demanding to expect an instant impact from them but that's the position he's in by, I think even his biggest supporters would admit, has been a very/slightly disappointing job so far?

[OohMartWright]

To keep things in balance, I thought the first half at Huddersfield was the best 45 minutes of football we've played for a while. We were potentially an absurd offside decision away from winning that game, even without a recognised striker on the pitch.

Lawrence and Waghorn will get fitter and sharper, hopefully Rooney will continue his improvement in fitness and Jozwiak will develop his understanding with Byrne and Knight. With luck, Knight will return to his best CM role and Bielik as CDM can release us from the need for three-at-the-back.

Then we will see Cocu-ball as it was intended for the next few games. If it works, he stays; if it doesn't, he goes; but at least he will have been given a fair chance to prove himself with "his" team.

[Nuwtfly]

18 minutes ago, Alpha said:

It's not a case of is Cocu doing bad OR is he getting piles of bad luck. It's both

And there's no way on earth we are too big or good to be relegated. I know it's not worth talking about yet but if Cocu needs time and transfer windows then he'll have to earn them

The proof that Cocu is going to come good isn't "i believe he'll come good, give it time". No more than last season when it was "look at Farke's first season and Norwich". 

I still don't want him out. But I'm fed up of hearing excuses for him. Keep hearing "he'll come good because I have faith" doesn't really make me feel better about what I'm  seeing on the pitch. 

This really sums up where I'm at with it all at the moment. Nice one, @Alpha!

[Jubbs]

21 minutes ago, Alpha said:

His PSV record is as relevant as his Fenerbahce one. 

I think it's very wrong to say that. His time at Fenerbahce was never going to be successful because of people within the club purposely setting him up to fail.  

[Tyler Durden]

Nail on the head post @Alpha. Most relevant part for me was the rope he's been given when the injured players are available again. Absolutely spot on when you say it's down to Cocu ultimately whether he uses this to lift himself up to a level of respectability accordingly or hangs himself with it. 

[Andicis]

37 minutes ago, Alpha said:

I still don't want him out. But I'm fed up of hearing excuses for him. Keep hearing "he'll come good because I have faith" doesn't really make me feel better about what I'm  seeing on the pitch. 

I'm trying not to be a dick and trying to call it as I see it. I'm trying to take on board the injuries, the squad ability etc. Too many games though I feel like we didn't do everything we could to win it. 

The whole post was absolutely excellent and sums up my feelings on the situation quite well too. 

The quoted bit is exactly how I feel. I don't at the end of most games with Cocu feel like the squad gave everything they had to give and the opponent was just better, and that's why I can't get behind what I'm seeing. 

[RamNut]

37 minutes ago, Alpha said:

The senior players aren't that good. Lawrence, Shinnie, Waghorn, Marriott, Wisdom, Holmes, Davies, Forsyth... they're just not that good. 

You missed the big one......Rooney.

It’s a difficult situation to manage.

 

[Warwick Ram]

I am slighting bemused why people think Lawrence and Waghorn will be our saviours. Lawrence has plenty of ability but shows it about once in 10 games, that isn’t good enough. Waghorn needs about four chances to score once, this is not a good ratio for a striker. Both of whom are usually hammered on here after most games are now our saviours.

 

For me Bielik is an unknown entity and the fact most cannot even decide his best position is concerning. He was looking decent apart from a couple of rash challenges but has had a big injury. Ibe as well is an unknown entity. He has not played regularly for a while and the fact he needs a few weeks to regain fitness, not match fitness, shows he probably won’t hit the ground running (although I hope I am wrong).

 

I keep hearing about Marriott being the best thing since Kevin Hector. However, both Lampard and Cocu dropped him or kept him at arms length for some reason. Personally Marriott is one dimensional. He needs to play off someone to be effective or run in behind. He doesn’t suit our preferred style and never will unless we make a formation change. He either adapts his game or moves on after his loan has ended. I personally think we should play 3 - 5 - 2, which would enable Marriott, but we haven’t. We have gone to 3 - 4 - 3 temporarily in my opinion until players are back fit.

 

Cocu has until Christmas. If we are bottom three then he is in real trouble and if we are not then carry on. People are praising Byrne, Marshall and Jozwiak signings but let’s face it we stole Byrne and Marshall because of Wigan’s plight. This isn’t good scouting it is seizing an opportunity. Jozwiak looks a good player but what happens in the summer if his performances are brilliant? We will cash in and move on.

 

Cocu brought through youngsters at PSV and sold them on. They estimate about £100 million in player sales. I think this is what Mel likes. We have already done it with Bogle and Lowe. Sibley, Knight, Bird, Buchanan and Jozwiak will all be sold on for the right price if they play well. If we get promoted Mel is happy, if we don’t but make millions from selling our best players then it is a win for Mel.

[OohMartWright]

3 minutes ago, Warwick Ram said:

People are praising Byrne, Marshall and Jozwiak signings but let’s face it we stole Byrne and Marshall because of Wigan’s plight.

Indeed we did, but surely the key thing here is that WE did before ANOTHER CLUB did. Spotting an opportunity to buy good players at bargain prices is the very essence of good recruitment.

[Warwick Ram]

1 minute ago, OohMartWright said:

Indeed we did, but surely the key thing here is that WE did before ANOTHER CLUB did. Spotting an opportunity to buy good players at bargain prices is the very essence of good recruitment.

So what about Moore who is exactly when we needed. Good recruitment is what Brentford do. Byrne and Marshall are good signings but it didn’t take much effort. The bigger fish was Moore.

[Alph]

22 minutes ago, Jubbs said:

I think it's very wrong to say that. His time at Fenerbahce was never going to be successful because of people within the club purposely setting him up to fail.  

I didn't know that. I just thought they didn't give him time. 

I just think you choose a coach based on what he's done and where he's done it. But the minute they take the job then they're judged on what they do and how they do it. 

The Fenerbahce job doesn't put me off him but the PSV job doesn't give me hope. 

What would be nice is if some of the performances we've seen it bits this season were there last season and we looked like a team that he had improved over a year. Rather than still squeezing out the odd good half here and there. Still not looking like a team full of menace when coming forward. A team that can attack from different positions. 

That's where the "has he got the players?" debate comes in and we all bicker. 

But soon he will have the players to make something. Not a promotion push because a fully fit squad doesn't look that good to me. But definitely a comfortable midtable side who can put up more of a fight than last season. Otherwise he's taken us backwards? 

I don't think he'll come good tbh. There are a lot of basic things we don't do. It's like we're trying to run before we can walk. But the answers should come before Christmas and (i know everyone says it) I hope I'm wrong because at the end of the day he seems like a nice bloke. 

[Jubbs]

22 minutes ago, Alpha said:

I didn't know that. I just thought they didn't give him time. 

https://www.tellerreport.com/sports/--fenerbahçe-preses-dismisses-assistants-because-of--bizarre-conspiracy--against-cocu-.BkUFsCoq7.html here's an interesting read.