Yeah, here’s what I said in last season’s matchday thread in the aftermath of the Bolton game, and yes, I’m purely sharing it to show just how correct I was :D
I think there’s more chance of him walking than them paying off a 3 year contract.
I don’t think there’s a single root cause to the current issues. I have similar fears about the players not buying into him as a person or his approach, though I’m not sure that’s consistent with the high quality performance vs Pompey, nor is the idea that he’s just not capable, so I think there’s more to it than just those two things… though I do suspect there’s an element of both. I’m at a loss as to what else is going on though.
On the bigger picture, fans are fickle and easily won back over. If we lost on Saturday and then won all of our remaining games this season and made it into the playoffs (this is a hypothetical, I’m not suggesting it’s likely) then the vast majority of fans will come back onside very quickly.
I’m less worried about the fans than I am the players. If they’re not buying into him and his game, then we’re pretty screwed all ends up.
You can win without the fans on side (albeit it’s more difficult). You cannot win without the players on side.
I would say that freakish scorelines like last night happen all the time, and in isolation are not an indicator of a great deal (I know there’s more to it than just last night, but hear me out). I would also say that football is replete with examples of managers who have severely struggled to adjust and adapt and win people over in their first season and then gone on to do really well. People are drawing parallels with MApp and Cambridge and with Pep and Wigan. Another example (albeit without the extreme scoreline) was KR and Luton. There didn’t look like there was any way he could win fans back over after that, and then we had another 3 and a half years of him, complete with a feverish sect of devotees.
I guess what I’m saying is that I don’t think all hope is completely lost. I currently can’t see where any level of success would come from, but it felt just like that after the Luton game too.
