Why have we been getting worse in recent weeks?

[sonofmidnight]

I had hoped that Rooney would have learnt the lessons from Cocu's tenure. Changing the team and where players play is not helpful to the cohesion of the team. Yes losing Bielik is a huge blow but some of the players looked clueless today.

[Jourdan]

I wouldn’t hold out too much hope for next season either. The problems we have aren’t likely to be fixed in one summer. What exactly can we lean on for encouragement?

The academy? People are talking up Watson, as they were Knight, as they were Sibley, as they were Bird. It’s one thing playing well and showing quality in 5-10 games, but it takes much more to do it for 40-45 games and back it up again and again. They may be good but we are asking way too much of them and not giving them the platform to grow at their own pace.

The recruitment? We have made 12 first team signings this season, how many of them have been or are likely to be a genuine success? 3-4? Funds are so tight that we can’t afford such a low hit rate. We have spent £10 million plus on Bielik and Jozwiak for their potential but it has inadvertently left glaring holes elsewhere.

The identity and style of play? We have an identity crisis under Rooney. We are caught between the kind of team we want to be and the kind of team we have to be. Neither of which we are particularly equipped for at this moment in time.

Key people at the club? Rooney is still finding his feet and still learning and this is a job that could prove to be too much too soon. The ownership situation is also hindering his prospects - no certainty, no stability, no investment, no direction.

When you look at it in the cold light of day, we are primed to be languishing in the bottom half once again 12 months from now. It would be a turnaround for the ages for us not to be.

[JayRam1]

What on earth have these 5 loan signings contributed, they’ve been poo. I can remember Rooney saying he will only bring players in who are better, none of them can even hold down a starting position, some don’t even make the squad. I’ve said it time after time our recruitment is absolutely shocking, It needs a major shake up this summer! This club is a ducking mess from top to bottom, does it need a relegation to actually sort all this mess out? Start from scratch again

[Tyler Durden]

4 minutes ago, JayRam1 said:

What on earth have these 5 loan signings contributed, they’ve been poo. I can remember Rooney saying he will only bring players in who are better, none of them can even hold down a starting position, some don’t even make the squad. I’ve said it time after time our recruitment is absolutely shocking, It needs a major shake up this summer! This club is a ducking mess from top to bottom, does it need a relegation to actually sort all this mess out? Start from scratch again

Seeing as we were still being pissed around with the takeover and still are and just got the embargo lifted from the EFL I doubt very much that the 5 we brought in would be anywhere near the Top picks Rooney would have wanted more like stocking fillings.

[DCFC Kicks]

7 minutes ago, JayRam1 said:

What on earth have these 5 loan signings contributed, they’ve been poo. I can remember Rooney saying he will only bring players in who are better, none of them can even hold down a starting position, some don’t even make the squad. I’ve said it time after time our recruitment is absolutely shocking, It needs a major shake up this summer! This club is a ducking mess from top to bottom, does it need a relegation to actually sort all this mess out? Start from scratch again

I know recruitment has been bad in recent seasons, but what else could the club do in this January transfer window specifically? With all the uncertainty and lack of funds, permanent signings weren't an option, but we urgently needs players so the only option was loans. Who else was available for loan that we missed? and why would they join us over other Championship teams?

[JayRam1]

2 minutes ago, Tyler Durden said:

Seeing as we were still being pissed around with the takeover and still are and just got the embargo lifted from the EFL I doubt very much that the 5 we brought in would be anywhere near the Top picks Rooney would have wanted more like stocking fillings.

Why bring them in them? Wasting money and also unbalancing the team. 

[brady1993]

7 minutes ago, Jourdan said:

I wouldn’t hold out too much hope for next season either. The problems we have aren’t likely to be fixed in one summer. What exactly can we lean on for encouragement?

To go against the grain, I do think we have the answers to the problems we face in the squad and with the right management I think we could address them. 

7 minutes ago, Jourdan said:

The academy? People are talking up Watson, as they were Knight, as they were Sibley, as they were Bird. It’s one thing playing well and showing quality in 5-10 games, but it takes much more to do it for 40-45 games and back it up again and again. They may be good but we are asking way too much of them and not giving them the platform to grow at their own pace

I get your point but honestly ? they are the better players for the most part and I think we should be strongly considering how we get the best out of them. Part of me has seriously thought for a while that we should bite the bullet, stick more of them in the side and ride that wave. 

11 minutes ago, Jourdan said:

The recruitment? We have made 12 first team signings this season, how many of them have been or are likely to be a genuine success? 3-4? Funds are so tight that we can’t afford such a low hit rate. We have spent £10 million plus on Bielik and Jozwiak for their potential but it has inadvertently left glaring holes elsewhere.

I'd say most of the players signed in the summer have been successful and with the loans it was more a case of needing cover so I wouldn't begrudge that. I am wary of recruitment because we've been historically poor and have been edging backwards in terms of squad quality pretty much since 2015. What I am most worried about though is I think our hand is going to be forced on some of the academy players.

14 minutes ago, Jourdan said:

The identity and style of play? We have an identity crisis under Rooney. We are caught between the kind of team we want to be and the kind of team we have to be. Neither of which we are particularly equipped for at this moment in time.

Completely agree with this. I'd also add that we've tried to be cute a bit too often tactically and worried far more about opposition than we should have done.

 

15 minutes ago, Jourdan said:

Key people at the club? Rooney is still finding his feet and still learning and this is a job that could prove to be too much too soon. The ownership situation is also hindering his prospects - no certainty, no stability, no investment, no direction.

Again a fair point and I'm kinda with you in the camp of not been wholly convinced by Rooney.

16 minutes ago, Jourdan said:

When you look at it in the cold light of day, we are primed to be languishing in the bottom half once again 12 months from now. It would be a turnaround for the ages for us not to be.

I can definitely see why you've come to this conclusion on the flip side I do think the start of this season was an anomaly, one with which we've been playing catch up with ever since and it has been lingering as a shadow this entire season. I also think it's hard to gauge how big an effect the return of crowds will have on home form and I suspect we will get a reasonably big boost in that regard. There is talent in the squad in places and in the academy especially if someone can get that gelling I suspect we have got the bones of something for a reasonable season next year.  

[Tyler Durden]

1 minute ago, JayRam1 said:

Why bring them in them? Wasting money and also unbalancing the team. 

I told you they would probably serve as cover in some positions our squad is wafer thin. 

 

[JayRam1]

1 minute ago, brady1993 said:

To go against the grain, I do think we have the answers to the problems we face in the squad and with the right management I think we could address them. 

I get your point but honestly ? they are the better players for the most part and I think we should be strongly considering how we get the best out of them. Part of me has seriously thought for a while that we should bite the bullet, stick more of them in the side and ride that wave. 

I'd say most of the players signed in the summer have been successful and with the loans it was more a case of needing cover so I wouldn't begrudge that. I am wary of recruitment because we've been historically poor and have been edging backwards in terms of squad quality pretty much since 2015. What I am most worried about though is I think our hand is going to be forced on some of the academy players.

Completely agree with this. I'd also add that we've tried to be cute a bit too often tactically and worried far more about opposition than we should have done.

 

Again a fair point and I'm kinda with you in the camp of not been wholly convinced by Rooney.

I can definitely see why you've come to this conclusion on the flip side I do think the start of this season was an anomaly, one with which we've been playing catch up with ever since and it has been lingering as a shadow this entire season. I also think it's hard to gauge how big an effect the return of crowds will have on home form and I suspect we will get a reasonably big boost in that regard. There is talent in the squad in places and in the academy especially if someone can get that gelling I suspect we have got the bones of something for a reasonable season next year.  

How can you say the players we signed in the summer have been successful? Have you not seen the dire performances and our position in the table?

[brady1993]

Just now, JayRam1 said:

How can you say the players we signed in the summer have been successful? Have you not seen the dire performances and our position in the table?

Because they haven't been the problem............

Marshall, Byrne, Clarke and CKR have been pretty much our most consistent performers all season. Jozwiak has been decent if patchy. Other than who did we sign Te Wieirik ? Ok that one didn't work out.

[JayRam1]

1 minute ago, Tyler Durden said:

I told you they would probably serve as cover in some positions our squad is wafer thin. 

 

There no better than what we have in the u23‘s, you could argue that some of them have more experience, but they ain’t showing it. What has Roberts done that Lawson-Mitchell couldn’t? What has Mengi done that even Walsall couldnt? What has Gregory done that hector- Ingram couldn’t? And ask for Banningme he can’t even get in the squad when we’ve just lost one of defensive midfielders. Yes great loan signings them.

[JayRam1]

1 minute ago, brady1993 said:

Because they haven't been the problem............

Marshall, Byrne, Clarke and CKR have been pretty much our most consistent performers all season. Jozwiak has been decent if patchy. Other than who did we sign Te Wieirik ? Ok that one didn't work out.

I’m sorry mate but I disagree, we wouldn’t been in this position if they were successful that’s basically our main spine of our team

[JayRam1]

2 minutes ago, brady1993 said:

Because they haven't been the problem............

Marshall, Byrne, Clarke and CKR have been pretty much our most consistent performers all season. Jozwiak has been decent if patchy. Other than who did we sign Te Wieirik ? Ok that one didn't work out.

That successful you could argue that Marshall and Byrne have cost us 6pts in the last 2 matches

[Tyler Durden]

1 minute ago, JayRam1 said:

There no better than what we have in the u23‘s, you could argue that some of them have more experience, but they ain’t showing it. What has Roberts done that Lawson-Mitchell couldn’t? What has Mengi done that even Walsall couldnt? What has Gregory done that hector- Ingram couldn’t? And ask for Banningme he can’t even get in the squad when we’ve just lost one of defensive midfielders. Yes great loan signings them.

I can't answer that. If you were looking for Mount, Tomori and Wilson then you're off you're rocker.

This January transfer window was the quietest in recent years a lot of Championship sides got no-one in whatsoever. So 5 players for us was exceptional. 

Whether they were crap or not is a different conversation. We had about a week to start cultivating potential targets so were disadvantaged from the start. 

Did you really think that we would pick up world beaters? We got the dross that clubs like Stoke and Boro didn't find any use for.

[BondJovi]

27 minutes ago, DCFClks said:

I agree, Recent games having been reminding me more and more of Cocu.

• High defensive line with no press.
• Pointless, dangerous possession at the back.
• No movement in the final 3rd
• Opposition just waiting for our defenders to make an error and score from it. 

Except even worse than when Cocu was here.

A massive problem is a complete lack of link up play between our defense/midfield and our attack. No players able to find pockets around the opposition box, No player picking the ball off the defense, turning and playing a forward pass or running at the opposition. The only players remotely like that are Sibley, Lawrence and possibly now Watson. Lawrence is injured, I don't know what,s happened to Sibley. Watson hopefully might get a start soon.

 

Recent performances have been worse than anything served up by Cocu this season. Even in the 4-0 Blackburn we managed to look good for 15 mins! 

Rooney came in and made it clear he would do two things. Make us work harder and simplify our game. It worked. But it also coincided with Bielik back fit and CKR somewhere near match fit.

Now without Bielik we see the difference he makes. Our midfield is also suffering because we ask so much of Knight and Shinnie.

We didn't drop points under Cocu this season due to lack of effort for the most part, we dropped points through lack of creativity and failure to take chances. Where are we now? We have chosen not to address our main issue. 

 

 

 

[brady1993]

2 minutes ago, JayRam1 said:

That successful you could argue that Marshall and Byrne have cost us 6pts in the last 2 matches

I mean Marshall hasn't played in the last two for a start. But more importantly I don't you can see whether a player was a success or not of the back of one game. 

4 minutes ago, JayRam1 said:

I’m sorry mate but I disagree, we wouldn’t been in this position if they were successful that’s basically our main spine of our team

Fair enough if you don't agree but when I look at how we set up and look at the squad they are far from where the problem lies in my opinion. 

[JayRam1]

1 minute ago, Tyler Durden said:

I can't answer that. If you were looking for Mount, Tomori and Wilson then you're off you're rocker.

This January transfer window was the quietest in recent years a lot of Championship sides got no-one in whatsoever. So 5 players for us was exceptional. 

Whether they were crap or not is a different conversation. We had about a week to start cultivating potential targets so were disadvantaged from the start. 

Did you really think that we would pick up world beaters? We got the dross that clubs like Stoke and Boro didn't find any use for.

There’s players out there mate, you’ve just got to have the contacts and ability to scout them. No I wasn’t expecting the players like mount etc. but I was expecting players better then our under 23 players

[Tyler Durden]

Just now, JayRam1 said:

There’s players out there mate, you’ve just got to have the contacts and ability to scout them. No I wasn’t expecting the players like mount etc. but I was expecting players better then our under 23 players

Maybe I was too. Who knows. I know that we do have them now so no manner of whinging is going to alter that now. We're in a poo fight so we need to start rolling our sleeves up and confronting reality. 

If we start doing that again then am sure we'll stay up. 

[Inverurie Ram]

I think it all goes back to the club not employing the young journalist who was 24 years old that appeared on the TV programme "Who Wants To Be A Millionaire" who wrote to the club applying for the Managers job when we were bottom of the Premiership. He thought he was pretty good at Football Manager on the computer etc.

The club appointed someone else and wrote a letter to this bloke, basically saying they had employed someone else and that Richard should stop wasting the club's time, Richard framed the letter and stuck it up on the wall in his home, proud of such.

Richard won £125,000 on WWTBAM and we have languished in the Championship ever since!

I am watching a repeat of WWTBAM just now and Richard bowed out at the following question 13, after using a 50\50 and then selecting the correct answer, but was not confident to risk it to win £250,000 or more.

The question went along the lines of this........

Which foreign monarch worked incognito in the royal shipyards at Deptford?

a Augustus III

b Peter the Great

c Loise XIV

d Theuderic IV

Alternatively we need to get stuck into the opposition a lot more and stick the ball in their net more times than they stick it in our net!

 

 

 

[Pearl Ram]

In a nutshell, it appears to me we are worrying about the opposition too much and trying to adapt to their game instead of concentrating on our game and letting them worry about us.

What else can explain the dramatic change in our system, we never ducked about with the ball at the back and pressing was much more evident when Rooney first took charge.

Bloody sort it out because we’re lousy to watch at the moment.