saintwbu

I think the Northam has been pretty underwhelming, even from the first few games of the season when there was a small bit of hope. The move of the away fans has definitely quietened them though, so that’s good - hopefully a good season in the championship will breathe life into the Northam.

Reality is we have no idea who RM was responsible for recruiting. He’d be one of very few managers to have complete control of recruitment these days, if he’s responsible for all the signings of his tenure. I think it’s fair to suggest he was probably responsible for all of the ones who had played with or for him before; Downes, Manning, Fraser, Lumley, Wood - but the total outlay there is pretty small and almost all of it is for Downes, and the success rate of those signings - particularly last season - is pretty high i’d say. I find it hard to believe he identified Ugochukwu, Cornet, BBD, Taylor, Edwards all himself, and I find it especially hard to believe that he was pursuing Delap (who we’ve been after for years by all accounts) and then decided that upon missing out on him we would go for Archer, who is not remotely similar in style.

Started great first couple of games but has been so poor for a few months now - but i’m still really surprised he hasn’t been the wing back of choice under Juric because I don’t see the intention with Bree out there. If you play 5 at the back you surely need the wing backs to provide the width and attacking support, Bree won’t be doing that. I also think THB is just as culpable for the header to the Brentford player on Saturday, why does he always get so close to our players with the ball - same issue for the Villa goal a few weeks back, follows the ball like a 10 year old.

Did anybody else see him jog up the pitch towards Aribo to tell him to follow the Brentford player, whilst Brentford broke straight down the middle with both our midfielders now stuck out on the right wing? Absolutely bizarre, sunday league type stuff.

People see what they want to see - in the West Ham game he was the next big thing after evil Russ had left him out in the cold because they weren’t mates. Reality is, he’s crap, he’s been crap in every game he’s played this season with the possible exception of United at home which we still lost 3-0. Bournemouth he was dire; slow, weak, lack of concentration. Brentford he was dire; slow, weak, lack of concentration. What an enormous disappointment this loan has turned out to be, I was really excited about him after the struggle to cover Downes last season.

This was the worst defeat of the season imo, and people have seen why some were completely bombed from the squad under RM. Les absolutely dire in particular. Can’t understand why a manager who wants 5 at the back is playing with a defensive minded RWB and a right footed LWB, really concerning.

At least he’s good at something, as opposed to Les who is good at nothing.

Exactly

Graham Potter Championship achievements: 10th place with Swansea. Russell Martin Championship achievements: 10th place with Swansea. Promotion with Southampton. I stand corrected, Graham Potter achieved exactly half of what Russell Martin achieved.

Sorry I didn’t realise i’d have to specify ‘what he had achieved in the Championship’ when referring to why taking a manager out of the Championship wasn’t necessarily a bad thing…

Graham Potter was a Championship manager who hadn’t achieved half of what Russell Martin has, but he did alright at Brighton and people would wet themselves if he got appointed here. Getting a Championship manager in is not a problem, getting a shit one is. Jones was never ever going to work, we still had something to play for and that appointment killed us. This time it’s different, most know we’re done, the expectations are very low and so is the pressure - Danny Rohl for me, personally, I like Corberan a lot but i’m not sure i’d want to watch his teams every week.

It’s not comparing him to Downes, it’s just pointing out that when Downes was missing and he played instead the drop off was enormous. But numerous people on here are suggesting Russ was stupid to let him go on loan. Given that he wasn’t good enough in the Championship, i’m not sure why people think he’d have been good in the Premier League.

Does that mean we should’ve kept him and played him? It’s exactly why he needed loaning out, he’s nowhere near ready to play in the Premier League, last year he wasn’t ready to play in the Championship.

Shea Charles has become Kante since he got loaned out according to most on here. The drop in quality from Downes to him last season was astronomical. Loaning him out was absolutely the right thing to do, bringing in Les to replace him was not.

Sulemana came after Ralph had gone. Ralph got Edozie and Mara as attacking options that summer if I remember rightly. SR have picked up some great talent since their arrival, but they’ve got a complete blind spot when it comes to forwards it seems - Mara, Edozie, Sulemana, Tall Paul, Brereton-Diaz, Ross Stewart, Cameron Archer all making little to no impact since their arrival. Also to add Alcaraz was replaced by Fernandes really, which I think most would agree is a substantial upgrade.