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Author Topic: Why Are We Underachieving?  (Read 3798 times)
walrus

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« on: Monday, January 24, 2005, 20:37:28 »

I have just been down the gym so I've had time for contemplation on our season so far, and have to say that mulling it over is depressing stuff.  Admittedly, we are not far off last season's total at this stage, but at the beginning of last season we were up with the best of them, holding on to second spot at one stage and mixing with the best of them, before a typical Autumnal blip which has been an unwanted routine under King.

The loss of Mooney and Gurney could be highlighted by some as a big loss, with these being major leaders in the dressing room.  Sean O'Hanlon and Matthew Hewlett, the current captains are not big talkers, and Alan Reeves is reputedly not the biggest mouth in the squad.  We seem to be missing the talkers, the characters if you like, of the dressing room necessary in any squad.  Manchester United have Roy Keane coupled with a vociferous manager Sir Alex, Arsenal have Patrick Vieira and the ever-reliable Sol Campbell, whilst Chelsea have John Terry and Frank Lampard.

The feelings invoked by Mooney's departure last season, and the desire to "show him" makes this seasons failings even harder to take.

However, the capability of the squad is there in my opinion.  We seem to have one of the best squads in the league, and that includes depth.

Goalkeepers:
Rhys Evans
Steve Book
Right Backs:
Sean O'Hanlon
Steve Jenkins
Luke Garrard


Left Backs:
David Duke
Andy NicholasCentre Backs:
Matthew Heywood
Jerel Ifil
Alan Reeves


Right Wingers:
Sammy Igoe

Left Wingers:
Brian Howard
Lee Holmes


Central Midfielders:
Stefani Miglioranzi
Matthew Hewlett
Steve Robinson
Grant Smith
Michael Pook


Strikers:
Sam Parkin
Christian Roberts
Rory Fallon
Jamie Slabber
Andy Caton


With many players capable in more than one position, that is a more than adequate squad depth, with 23 squad members if you include Andy Caton and Michael Pook.

With King an inadequate, arrogant and short-sighted leader, and with the coaching staff seemingly being little better, we are lacking a true captain, a leader to direct Swindon out of the shit it is currently in and back onto the sunny shores of last season.  When the going is good, King is able to steer the ship, but the minute injuries or suspensions strike, or problems in the tactical system appear, he is seemingly unable to adapt.  Get him out, and get a true leader in.  Macari, Calderwood, Jones, Gregory - anyone, before we finish mid-table, lose even more fans and Sir Seton Wills loses patience with the club.  Stop the slide now.
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Simon Pieman
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« Reply #1 on: Monday, January 24, 2005, 20:41:28 »

what i reckoned:

http://thetownend.com/forum/viewtopic.php?t=1040&highlight=
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walrus

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« Reply #2 on: Monday, January 24, 2005, 20:44:14 »

Quote from: "simon pieman"
There are many things that are contributing to our downfall. These are some things concerning the management:

king spends a lot of time sat in the stand - obviously trying to read the game and such. However, with some of his tactics coming into question this doesn't exactly inspire confidence in king's analysis of the game. Also, with king up in the stand, somebody needs to shout instructions at players from the sideline. The man we currently have employed to do this is Mike Walsh, a stop-gap temporary assistant who has become a permanent fixture. Malcom Crosby was always fairly good at shouting instructions and working with the players. It is evident that Walsh's skills beyond cone gathering are questionable.
What I would like to see:
1) King maybe getting more involved when things aren't going so well.
2) King putting all that observation to better use.
3) Walsh actually working with the players, giving them instructions and observing things at ground level.
4) a proper warm up before the match. Proper drills, players getting a feel for the ball, interacting with each other. Walsh to get more involved. Hopefully this will allow players to find their touch from the very start and get them more fired up.
5) I would also like a system to be picked and stuck to (especially at home). Away from home it could be swapped around - especially to remain unbeaten.

I think more than anything, a familiarity in the system, routine and procedures will give the players more confidence, make them sure of themselves on the pitch and promote a strong team bond. I feel these are the main things missing at the moment.


To be honest, I only think points 2 and 5 are valid and fair.  King does get on the touchline and shout instructions to the players - whether or not these actually help is debatable.  Warm-ups and Walsh's ability are difficult to analyse and I do not think the problem lies with warmups here as we are not experiencing an abnormal number of injuries during matches.

I do agree with point 5, King's constant changing of the tactics must be frustrating for the players.
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Simon Pieman
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« Reply #3 on: Monday, January 24, 2005, 20:51:36 »

what we do both agree on is that there is a lack of a motivator. What i was trying to highlight is our lack of one. This has, in part, effected our form IMO.

Yes we do have as strong a squad as ever. However, Igoe is being labelled as a right winger. IMO Igoe is really an attacking midfielder NOT a winger - he would prefer to play a more central role (we see him drifting inside far too much). I think Duke should be tried on the right hand side of midfield. He was meant to be a winger after all.
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Dazzza

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« Reply #4 on: Monday, January 24, 2005, 22:07:45 »

King seems to cite concentration post match as the reason we seem to be losing points.

Part of that I would definitely attribute to a lack of experience.  

Take Luton.  Saturdays game the starting 11 averaged an age of 26 in comparison to the Town side which started Saturday had an average age of just 23.

3 years may not seem like a great deal but when you consider Luton started with only 4 players under the age of 25 it gives you an idea in just how young our squad is.

I can’t be bothered to work it out but I would say that both Hull and Tranmere are not far off a similar average to league leaders Luton.

To quote Hansen:

"You don't win anything with kids."

That turned out to be bollocks but then there were a few experienced heads in that United side and (I hate to say it) Ferguson was at the height of his managerial proficiency.

When you constantly change formation and players are moved in and of position on a weekly basis with such a young side it’s little wonder that we show such inconsistency.  

Given today’s events it’s a wake up call just to have a club to support let alone preach the need for more players.  I feel were not that far off with this side though.  A stable 4-4-2 with a consistent look and feel to the side should bring dividends.  Dropping a player immediately after a poor game shouldn’t always be the answer, true it’s often granted but rather than just drop a player for being out of sorts the emphasis should be on the reason why they were out of sorts and improving confidence and hopefully as a result performance.  Duke this season being a prime example of a player given a run in the team and improving 10 fold.

Couple of older heads with the right attitude and experience may just help keep that concentration when it counts.
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sonicyouth

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« Reply #5 on: Monday, January 24, 2005, 23:54:12 »

Without bothering to read this, let me give you the most important reason.

We're not good enough, the players and the manager are mostly substandard.
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janaage
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« Reply #6 on: Tuesday, January 25, 2005, 09:44:44 »

The players, management and supporters are all suffering from a huge bout of "Illusions of Grandeur".  Simple as that.  And I'm as guilty as the next man.
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« Reply #7 on: Tuesday, January 25, 2005, 10:55:14 »

I basically agree with Sonic.  

These are the main reasons why we are crap IMO:

First and foremost we have too many players who think they are far better than they are (Brian Howard being the biggest but by no means the only culprit) who are not prepared to roll their sleeves up and get stuck in.

We do not have a leader on the pitch who can shake up the Brian Howards of this world.

We have a manager who does not know his best eleven, his best system or how to get best out of the players at his disposal.  He has personal favourites and he allows this to cloud his decisions.

Footballers on the whole are simple souls who need to be motivated and need to know EXACTLY what they are supposed to be doing on the pitch.  Our current manager appears to be unable to carry out either of these basic functions.

Why people think (and there's plenty of them) that there is no one on this earth who could possibly do a better job than Andy King is totally beyond me.
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Reg Smeeton
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« Reply #8 on: Tuesday, January 25, 2005, 12:21:39 »

The point of the keep King brigade, is not that King is in any way great, just that given the incompetence of our Board, if they get rid we will just get worse......obviously there are a lot who could do a better job than King, likewise many who could do a lot worse.

   We've seen he can find players on the cheap and if  lucky can  get them to play at times........given the curent state of the club should we really expect anything much better than what we're getting?
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strooood
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« Reply #9 on: Tuesday, January 25, 2005, 12:37:02 »

better the devil you know i spose. but saying that, we're not the ONLY club in the land who has a manager who can find goodplayers. andif they were  that good surely we would be challenging for promotion?

denis smith at wrexham just signed an unknown player who scored 4 in his debut away at wrexham- king isnt the only manager with an eye for a player.
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janaage
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« Reply #10 on: Tuesday, January 25, 2005, 12:40:14 »

That "unknown striker" was on trial at Liverpool a couple of weeks ago.  So not that unknown eh?
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sonicyouth

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« Reply #11 on: Tuesday, January 25, 2005, 14:30:37 »

Ugarte signed for Wrexham in November, so it wasn't his debut but that's a good point nevertheless.

I think that this season proves just how much we overachieved last season, fair enough we've lost 20 goals a season in the form of Mooney but I doubt he'd have got into double figures this season, in the last few months of the season he looked well past it. Basically, we've got a bunch of players who overachieved last season and we've overrated them all. Parkin is the only truly superb player at this club, the rest of them are either lazy arrogant cocks, mediocre League One players or simply past it.

This doesn't explain our terribly inconsistent form this season, but King's constant tinkering with players, formations and God knows what else can't have helped. I don't think he's got anything left to offer this club, unfortunately in our newly discovered financial situation we'd probably end up appointing Terry Fenwick or something.
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