Cardiff 2 v Wolves 1 verdict thread

[Deutsch Wolf]

Maybe we should have kept Dubai Walt and sacked him on New Year's Eve. After all no-one could do any better.

 

[Parkins left foot]

We changed McCarthy for Connor, and Solbakken for Saunders. Neither of those changes equated to different results.

Given our current situation, maybe Jackett deserved more credit than he was given.

No we shouldn't have kept Jackett

Lambert has made mistakes & picked the wrong players/subs, but is trying to win games

Last season Jackett wasn't

 

[FrankMunro-371]

You're wrong, the results got worse!!

Chairman and CEO's don't change manager to get worse results as a rule do they?

So why did FOSUN get rid of Jackett?

 

[Johnny75]

So why did FOSUN get rid of Jackett?

Same reason.

 

[Deutsch Wolf]

So why did FOSUN get rid of Jackett?

Jackett post-Afobe sale: 24 points from 21 games (1.14 PPG)
Zenga: 16 points from 14 games (1.14 PPG)
Lambert: 5 points from 5 games (1.00 PPG)

I imagine they looked at Jackett's record in the second half of last season in particular, when we picked up four wins from our final 20 games (one of those wins being a dead rubber against a reserve team), and decided that was nothing like good enough. Zenga was brought in to improve on that and produced exactly the same return so he got binned as well before we completely wasted another season. We were told Lambert was thoroughly vetted and interviewed three times to do better than that pair, neither of whom will ever manage as big a club as Wolves ever again. And he's doing worse, albeit from a very small sample set, while changing practically nothing that Zenga was doing.

If you make a managerial change of your own volition it generally follows that performances and results under the old guy weren't good enough and you're making the change to effect an improvement on both fronts. It's what Dean Saunders has never grasped, if he goes to a club in a relegation fight who will inevitably be hovering around the 1PPG mark, then it isn't a good idea to go playing for 0-0s in eminently winnable games. If Lambert can't do any better than a man who'd lost all semblance of how to prepare a team to attack and a total journeyman with a CV that's more chequered than Frank Spencer's, then his own fate is inevitable eventually. He's not going to help those prospects by condemning us with joke tactics, discredited through our own joke results, and picking rubbish players when he doesn't have to.

 

[FrankMunro-371]

Same reason.

Well it hasn't worked so far, has it?

 

[Alan]

Well it hasn't worked so far, has it?

Basically, this.

If we sign some defenders who can keep positional discipline and know what a fucking clearance is, and things still don't improve, then we can break out the pitchforks.

 

[east-coast-wolves]

I think Lambert should be doing better for sure. He still makes some strange calls at times. We're a delicate unit at the moment, one loose cog and everything breaks. Unfortunately Lambert doesn't seem to have grasped which way to tighten the nuts yet...
Don't think Saville was a dreadful selection. Price was a better option admittedly, but Saville is no worse than Coady. He wasn't the reason why today was so much worse than Fulham.

Costa going off was when the cog loosened for us today I think. Unfortunately for us and Lambert, I'm not sure we own a spanner to tighten that nut at the moment. We need his pace and trickery, and without him, Cardiff weren't threatened much by us so could just play their own game. I think that's a pretty damning indictment of, in particular, Dicko at the moment. He doesn't seem capable of anything like what he used to, and he's now had long enough for me to find his feet. The speed that ball kept coming back in the second half I think was as much down to the front three failing to hold onto the ball as the players behind. Whenever we did do our job, won the ball at the back and cleared it, they won the ball back again straight away, so it barely mattered whether we had ball players in the middle or not, they never saw the ball.

First goal is dreadful defending. Clearly not a corner too, but we have still got to deal with it. Batth and I think Iorfa both completely misjudge the flight. Burgoyne should claim it really as it is about 2 yards out when it is headed in too. Apparently he was impeded but I didn't see much there.
Second goal was also woeful. Everyone was all over the place. And why were there no midfielders tracking back?

I think now Iorfa must be dropped, as must Dicko. The problem is, who do we replace them with? We're far from flush with options.
Ikeme will hopefully be fit too, and I think him returning might add a tiny bit of confidence. I know he's not wonderful but playing in front of a keeper making his second appearance, having conceded 4 on debut (even if he did nothing badly wrong) just wouldn't inspire me as a defender.
I do agree that attempting to keep possession in the midfield would help more too, so would pick Price to sit with Saiss.
Tactically Lambert should be doing more to improve us, but our implosion today was not down to his management.

 

[Deleted Cyber]

That was utterly depressing losing once again to a side that started in the bottom 3 , not that its a surprise anymore. Harsh but Burgoyne should be stronger on that cross. You dont score from 2 yards from a corner. You have to be stronger and come for those even if youre being blocked. Youre likely to get a foul given and get the free kick.

You cannot see this group of players doing anything,. If you do what youve always done you will get what you always got. Never has that been truer. This pile of shit has been dross for three managers and two seasons and have been backed up by some of the worst recruitment and coaching possible. Its the dictionary definition of a Clusterfuck.

None of the back five are championship standard. All must be replaced. Iorfa has had his head turned just like Afobe and started to believe the write ups. His form is awful. He has had 5 or 6 absolute stinkers this season. He needs dropping. Dont be surprised if Villa get him in January for a snip. Mr Gloves cant defend so needs replacing. Given his goal threat however he must be at least as good in midfield as Coady so try him there. Stearman can go back to Fulham. Bye in January to CBJ to. Dicko still cant hit a cows arse with a banjo so needs replacing. That means we4 should be looking like this

New
New New New New New
Saiss
Costa Edwards New Cavallerro
New

Edwards as the new Captain. This has been threatening to happen for 3 years. The fact that nothing has been done about that defence in that time is borderline criminal. Fucking idiots in recruitment. How ,Mason and Coady cost 5 mil between them is a fucking mystery.

If they do keep a lot of this squad then perhaps a 3-5-2 should be considered, especially if Saiss can sweep?

 

[slink]

Well that was a long fucking day and all for us to create one real chance that fell to George Fucking Saville. Honestly right now this is worse than anything under Zenga and i include Barnsley at home in that because at least we did create chances. There's still on tactics that i can see and we are still relying on Cav, Costa and Doherty to come up with something which is piss poor.

Burgoyne - Didn't have a lot to do despite Cardiff bombarding us with crosses and throw ins. Made one good save in the second half and got pinned by one of their players for the equaliser. Kicked like Lonergan tonight, at least 2 or 3 went straight out play.

Iorfa - Dreadful from the very first to the last minute. Slow to everything, can't control a simple 5 yard pass and didn't look that bothered to be honest. Needs to be taken out of the side and quick.

Batth - I'm the first to criticise him but i can't too much really tonight, he won countless headers and was pretty solid. Still poor on the ball but we know that by now.

Stearman - MOTM. Our best player by a long way imo, he missed nothing of note and like Batth won countless headers but won tackles and mopped up several times.

Doherty - Good strike but Amos really should have saved it. Didn't really get forward to good effect afterwards and backed off Noone constantly after he came on but we know he can't defend.

Saiss - One man midfield again and that's really not his game, sat in front of the centre backs and did pretty well and actually looked to get the ball down and play. 5 or 6 times in the second half alone he gestured to his team mates to give him an option but they were too busy standing still and hiding behind blue shirts.

Edwards - Awful. Looked tired and without being able to run around a lot has nothing. Missed the ball completely at least 4 times when trying to clear with both head and feet. How after 10 years is he still getting regular game time.

Saville - Nothing footballer who as that description says does nothing. I lie he did one thing and that was miss from 4 yards. It was a good save but he shouldn't have given Amos a chance. Ended on the left wing where we know he is even worse. Should be sold.

Costa - Got absolutely clattered early on and never recovered. Most would say it was a yellow but Costa's touch had taken him out of play and Peltier just absolutely hammered him from behind. These tackles should be red cards for me.

Cavaleiro - Always a threat but was restricted to counters by himself with only the hopeless Dicko to help. Was 2 on 2 at one point with Dicko but the latter gave it away after stumbling on the ball. Got scissor tackled by Noone in the second half which didn't even result in a yellow and was replaced by Bright which killed anything we had going forward.

Dicko - Honestly i don;t think he's going to be the same player he was before his injury. It might be too soon to judge him but he just doesn't move the same way he used to and you can tell he's not sure about his body anymore. Can't control the majority of balls that are played to him and it's horrible to watch him at the moment.

SUBS

Teixeira - Was awful for the first 25 minutes that he was on the pitch but it wasn't an easy game to come in to and then he clicked for around 5 minutes but in that time you could tell he's far too intelligent for the players we have and is on a different wavelength. He's not suited to our style of play and it's a shame really because he has ability.

Bright - He tried hard and got in good areas but he was pretty much on his own with Dicko in front of him and then Bod didn't help much. Maybe time to give him a few games in a row and see what he can actually do.

Bod - Did more than Dicko did in his short appearance but he's not the Bod we signed. Doesn't run the channels the same or look to be putting in the same effort and doesn't look as comfortable on the ball.

Referee was awful again. How he gave a corner to Cardiff which resulted in the equaliser baffled everyone in the ground as it was a clear goal kick and he gave every little decision to them. Every little pull and push on them was a foul but our players had to be mauled like Costa and Cav. Little things like their player was allowed to take throw ins from 10 yards further forward but he whistled at ours as soon as they went a yard forward of where it was, sounds petty but when every decision goes their way it's just bullshit.

I know it's really early to call for Lambert's head but honestly i'm worrying. We are worse now than under Zenga yet we are going to trust Lambert in January. His selection of Saville was poor and his substitutions even worse. We were crying out for someone to get hold of the ball with Saiss in central midfield but somehow the 2 lads playing hide and seek (Edwards and Saville) stayed on and he took Cav off who was our only threat. Seriously pissed off right now and especially for him to blame it on tiredness from Saturday, fuck off Paul.

 

[Tony Towner]

Tim II "2nd half was as bad as Wolves have been this year. Lost all control. Game management awful. Need to wise up or L1 will come closer into view"

 

[darlowolf64]

Well it hasn't worked so far, has it?

Basically, this.

If we sign some defenders who can keep positional discipline and know what a $#@!ing clearance is, and things still don't improve, then we can break out the pitchforks.

A major part of why it hasn't worked, for me, is we've kept exactly the same coaches that all the named managers have used...all 2 of them! A club of our size with a whole 3 coaches plus manager for the squad we have is madness.
Pat Mountain, a goalkeeper coach who has consistently failed to "coach" our keepers in the art of distributing the ball, commanding the area and commanding their defence.
Rob Edwards, promoted from the U18's to the first team while his U18's were absolutely garbage. (U18's isn't about winning games, it's about getting used to the system we play...RIGHT)
Err, that's it apart from that we have the manager and the assistant he brought in, Stuart Taylor only it seems that Edwards is more of the "lead coach" which is a huge mistake.
Lambert has come in and given his ear to the resident coaches because "they know the players". Did he watch no Championship football at all over the last year? We were on Sky often enough for a Sunday League parks manager to spot the problem yet he has persisted with the same people, making the same mistakes. A blind man who's had his guide dog stolen can see where the problems are!
Oh and add to this a DoF who has served up an endless stream of dogshit signings sprinkled with one or two (I feel I'm being generous) decent signings. Just get rid now!
Dan named a midfield/forward 6 and they would be miles better at controlling the game than a choice of two from three energiser bunnies/headless chickens that we currently go with.

Sack Mountain, sack Edwards (or put him back to his level of "expertise", U18's) and sack Thelwell. Bring in at least three coaches to work with Lambert and Taylor and either let the manager pick the players he wants to sign, using what used to be a half decent scouting network, or a PROPER DoF who has had success in the role before(I'm sure someone named a guy yesterday, ex Spurs?).

The ONLY bright spot in our coaching that I can see is Scott Sellars who seems to be doing a fantastic job with the U21's/U23's

 

[arklowolf]

Should have gone for Pearson. At least he would have 'knocked a few heads together' Ranieri might be available soon.

 

[FrankMunro-371]

Regarding the coaching staff. Very often new managers at clubs bring in their own coaching staff, people they have worked with and trust. So why hasn't Lambert done this?

The club seem to be sleep walking towards relegation, and far from making Wolves a force in the Premier League, FOSUN are steering us towards league one. Can they not see the trouble the club is in?

 

[Tredman]

Regarding the coaching staff. Very often new managers at clubs bring in their own coaching staff, people they have worked with and trust. So why hasn't Lambert done this?

The club seem to be sleep walking towards relegation, and far from making Wolves a force in the Premier League, FOSUN are steering us towards league one. Can they not see the trouble the club is in?

Of course they can, not really sure how (or why) you want to blame this on Fosun.

We have shit players, we had a threadbare squad when they took over and we all knew we had to get players in to sort it out asap - the majority are loanee stop gaps, plus the players who have done well this season are those brought in by Fosun.

As for wanting Jackett back you clearly didn't go to any of the 0-0s last season, I'd rather be relegated than watch that utter tripe ever again. Its rose tinted hogwash.

 

[Jamwolf]

Regarding the coaching staff. Very often new managers at clubs bring in their own coaching staff, people they have worked with and trust. So why hasn't Lambert done this?

The club seem to be sleep walking towards relegation, and far from making Wolves a force in the Premier League, FOSUN are steering us towards league one. Can they not see the trouble the club is in?

All these things will come. But we needed a period of stability after the mad rush in of Portugese players and Italian coaches. Once Lambert is ready, axes will fall.
Desperately disappointing, though, to get outplayed by Cardiff.
We have no choice but to stick with Lambert, at least until the end of the season.

 

[FrankMunro-371]

I didn't actually say I wanted Jackett back, I said that results do not appear to be any better than last season.

As for blaming FOSUN. Sorry if it came across like that, but they sacked Jackett, and hired Zenga and Lambert. So they have some responsibility. They ve allowed Thelwell, Mountain and Edwards to carry on, surely they can see that changes are needed, and very quickly, otherwise we are in big trouble.

 

[Boozad]

Losing to Colin fucking Wanker.

 

[Johnny75]

Well it hasn't worked so far, has it?

I gave you a reason why managers were sacked by CEO's and owners not a commentary on Wolves decisions.

You are so predictable David it makes me smile.

 

[FrankMunro-371]

I gave you a reason why managers were sacked by CEO's and owners not a commentary on Wolves decisions.

You are so predictable David it makes me smile.

You said chairmen and CEO's don't change managers to get worse results. But that is exactly what has happened at Wolves.