Swindon v Plymouth pre match chat and matchday thread

[river monster]

That was nothing short of a disgrace last night. You could see the hurt on Mildys face as well at times. My real pet hate though in football is when players hide behind the manager being shit. They need to appreciate they are going to have to be better than this and play for the club not the manager. Apart from Lyden and Travers they were awful last night, good players doing the basics wrong and just jogging back is equally as bad as Sheridan being shit at his job in my opinion

I agree with this.

[REDBUCK]

Players at this level are a manifestation of what they're being asked to do and how they're being asked to do it.

Would you do your best at work if your manager was a twat, constantly bollocked you, was useless and leading your team to record bad results? I wouldn't.

So players at this level can't pass or cross a ball without detailed instruction, they're professional so should be able to do the basics.

To be honest If i was a team mate and some one was downing tools I'd think that was pretty shit.

He may not be showing much nouse with the set up or tactics but to down tools and not do the basics like passing and crossing, taking free kicks and defending solidly from your own corners is pretty shit.

[Shrivvy Road]

Players at this level are a manifestation of what they're being asked to do and how they're being asked to do it.

Would you do your best at work if your manager was a twat, constantly bollocked you, was useless and leading your team to record bad results? I wouldn't.

I kind of agree but at the end of the day they are professional players. Running back and tackling is a given no matter what, i don't care whether they like him or not. We can't sit here and say Curran replying to DMS is wrong but say we can understand players not giving everything for a manager they don't like.

[Shrivvy Road]

All true but the real kicker is - all the players will find other clubs and Sheridan will get another management gig. They can all go & wash their hands of this season.

It’s us that are stuck with the ramifications

Spot on DV

[theakston2k]

So players at this level can't pass or cross a ball without detailed instruction, they're professional so should be able to do the basics.

To be honest If i was a team mate and some one was downing tools I'd think that was pretty shit.

He may not be showing much nouse with the set up or tactics but to down tools and not do the basics like passing and crossing, taking free kicks and defending solidly from your own corners is pretty shit.

Confused minds lead to confused decisions!

If the players don't know what they are being asked to do and are only finding out the starting XI an hour before kick-off they are well within their rights to look lost to be honest. Blame lays firmly with the 'management'.

[Batch]

Don't under-estimate the importance of confidence either, especially if there's a blame culture.

[Flashheart]

I'm with PP.

I think a lot of the time players playing poorly just don't know what they are supposed to be doing. They don't suddenly lose their skills. But they can lose their confidence and conviction in what they do and I think we all know there's a lot of psychologically in sports.

Players jogging back doesn't look good, but what have they been told to do? For all we know some might have been told to stay forward a little and/or instructions might be confusing to them. I don't think it's true that players don't care or don't try hard enough - with some exceptions. I think the manager's tactics and instructions, for want of better words, are making them look bad.

Some of them could barely make simple passes lat night. There's something other than ability and effort going on there.

[Panda Paws]

I kind of agree but at the end of the day they are professional players. Running back and tackling is a given no matter what, i don't care whether they like him or not. We can't sit here and say Curran replying to DMS is wrong but say we can understand players not giving everything for a manager they don't like.

This is when you have to remember we're fans, and they're professionals. Why on earth would they give everything for that man?

It's the finest of margins and mostly between the ears. Why has Rob Hunt gone from being one of the best fullbacks in the lower leagues to a lost little boy? He hasn't changed physically.

There is no man-management, no togetherness, no plan, no detailed thinking... "go out there and express yourself" and then constantly bollocking them doesn't work. If it did, being a manager would be easy. It's about detailed instructions, nuanced thinking, specific planning and the ability to manage lots of different personalities among a group of young men. Sheridan can't do any of those things.

[Shrivvy Road]

I am not saying he is good, he is a fucking walking disaster. I understand your points but i feel it's too easy to hide behind that sometimes as a player. I am not having that players will not track back and tackle based on poor instructions, it's just lazy. If it were the case they were lost all the time then we would not see the individual performances that we do from some at times

Charlie Austin on Talksport covered this quite well the other day actually when he said that when players lose faith in a manager they literally just down tools and start doing what they want. It's that i do not agree with

[Frigby Daser]

All of our better managers have a very clear imprint of how the team plays. Sturrock, two sit deep, diagonals to the wingers, defensive game. Di Canio, rigid and narrow, wingers cutting in, pressing. Wellens - Wellensball, press all over, Doughty controls the game!

Sheridan has nothing. Not even a preferred formation.

I’d genuinely give it to Caddis for the season, or literally anybody else. Someone determined. We’ve zero chance with Sheridan. We need to roll the dice.

[theakston2k]

I am not saying he is good, he is a fucking walking disaster. I understand your points but i feel it's too easy to hide behind that sometimes as a player. I am not having that players will not track back and tackle based on poor instructions, it's just lazy. If it were the case they were lost all the time then we would not see the individual performances that we do from some at times

Charlie Austin on Talksport covered this quite well the other day actually when he said that when players lose faith in a manager they literally just down tools and start doing what they want. It's that i do not agree with

Again I disagree, Sheridan has seemingly told the players not to 'overcomplicate things' and when they do something he doesn't like he just bollocks them from the side lines.  He's pretty much told them to just lump the ball out from the back so the players are just interpreting his instructions to avoid getting moaned at.
Other than the fraud that was brought on as a sub none of these players are designed for long ball football so its hardly surprising they look lost and devoid of any ability to do it!

[ronnie21]

Disgraceful is the only word I can think of to describe last night's performance - I actually turned it off when the second goal went in.  Been reading some of the comments from Plymouth fans, very interesting.  "Worst team we have played this season" and "what a difference a year makes, they were really good last season" seems to be the way they saw it.

It seems obvious Sheridan has lost the dressing room and the greater majority of the fans as well!  Perhaps it is as well that there are no fans in the ground, a mini riot could well have been on the cards after that excuse for a footy team last night.

Where do we go from here?  Without a change of coaching staff all I can see is Harrogate, Barrow and Torquay - if we still have a club to support.  I will not be renewing my ST for next season as things stand at the present time

[DiV]

Even if the players don’t have a clue what the tactics / game plan are they should still be able to the basics.

Defending is still keeping the ball out of your net
Attacking is still putting the ball in the oppositions net.

Even if everything in between is completely lost on everyone

[pauld]

So players at this level can't pass or cross a ball without detailed instruction, they're professional so should be able to do the basics.

To be honest If i was a team mate and some one was downing tools I'd think that was pretty shit.

He may not be showing much nouse with the set up or tactics but to down tools and not do the basics like passing and crossing, taking free kicks and defending solidly from your own corners is pretty shit.

Spot on. For personal pride if nothing else, even if the team is a shambles, you can still put in a shift and leave the pitch with your head held high

[theakston2k]

Even if the players don’t have a clue what the tactics / game plan are they should still be able to the basics.

Defending is still keeping the ball out of your net
Attacking is still putting the ball in the oppositions net.

Even if everything in between is completely lost on everyone

But again if you don't know where you are playing your positional sense is going to be all over the place. If you don't know what the tactics are for build up play are then you are going to have players with completely different ideas, I mean we had a striker playing last night who none of the players had ever trained with yet alone seen play.

Also I can't imagine they ever envisaged a situation where they had a ball boy playing in the centre of a back 3.