O'Neil In, Out and Shaking it all about

[Tony Towner]

The idea that we brought Lage in to play better/more expansive football is for the birds, especially as Lage plays abysmal football.

Go back and read the propaganda from the time and the over reaction to those first 3 games. Aside from the patsy element, that's what they wanted from him

 

[Deutsch Wolf]

He was cheap and pliable and they reckoned the quality of the squad would run itself.

Nothing to do with style of play.

 

[Kenny]

He was cheap and pliable and they reckoned the quality of the squad would run itself.

Nothing to do with style of play.

Are you saying Scott wasted his time reading the dossier he was given?

 

[Lupo]

It does seem like the players like and respect him and he's certainly getting a tune out of them right now. The turnaround since Luton and Ipswich has been very good and his in-game management has improved considerably.

I was pleased for him yesterday going back to Bournemouth and showing them what they are missing. Hopefully the additions to his backroom staff are helping too and we do actually have a decent coaching staff building.

After the run of fixtures we've had its very encouraging to be 12th in the table with a healthy gap between us and the dross.

 

[1986]

On the whole......' Who should be given credit for our recent improvements ' thing .

Well , when O' Neil first arrived he had almost no one with him . Extra members of the backroom staff have arrived slowly but surely .

Look at Nuno and the large team of people he brought with him , same with Lopetegui . These Managers recognise that it takes a decent sized team that covers a plethora of disciplines to make a football team operate successfully . No one person can do it by themselves , it's impossible .
The Manager needs to be as good a Man Manager as possible and then needs to delegate effectively and manage that team effectively as well .

Therefore , as to who should be given credit - let's give it to the Management Team .

 

[AndyWolves]

A good manager recognises their own deficiencies

 

[Deutsch Wolf]

A good manager recognises their own deficiencies

Lage's fatal flaw. Never accepted any blame for anything, never changed anything if we went behind, set up the exact same way every single time even when we were on a dismal run of form.

I mean he's a wanker as well but he manifestly has no idea how to pull a team out of a spin. McCarthy, Jackett and Nuno were all good at that in general.

 

[HanDoJin]

Played Neves at CB. Isn't that changing it up enough for you?

Some fans, never satisfied

 

[ROVERT47]

Haven’t mad my up quite yet as to whether he’ll become a Kenny Jackett type coach and have a decent career albeit in the lower leagues, or Hobbs is right and this could be the start of a glittering career.

 

[Wolvensam]

https://x.com/skysportspl/status/1716520321321144662?s=46&t=HPWbt3s6CqVlcKya9hmF_A

 

[ROVERT47]

That’s what I’m saying he might turn out to be an English Guardiola.

 

[Wolvensam]

You do have to wonder how sustainable this may be game-by-game when the fixtures pile up. Could be me being naive and we’re definitely getting defined patterns of play and tactics now, but it also sounds quite opposition dependent.

 

[ROVERT47]

Reckon we’ll have some idea as we go into 2024.

 

[Wolftone]

Doing a great job so far. Long may it continue.

 

[Quirkafleeg]

GON at the end of a long campaign.

 

[Elephant Pyjamas]

GON at the end of a long campaign.

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I wonder if it was a nervous thing, he doesn't do that during match interviews.

 

[Boozad]

You do have to wonder how sustainable this may be game-by-game when the fixtures pile up. Could be me being naive and we’re definitely getting defined patterns of play and tactics now, but it also sounds quite opposition dependent.

Every game should be opposition dependent!

 

[The Dude]

My 2 bobs worth, we had 3 straight games Palace, Liverpool and Luton where he thought too much about the opposition and either set us up poorly pre game or the in game changes were negative. From City onwards he's focused more on what we can do and we look a better side for it. I think that change in mentality is more important than the change in formation which it coincides with.

Do you still think his tactics of late have not been mindful of the opposition after seeing him on MNF last night?

I think it's more a case of getting those tactics right than not considering the opposition to be fair.

 

[The Dude]

Every game should be opposition dependent!

We're not good enough to take the game to most of our opposition...

In fact I've no problem with being tactically conservative against the relegation candidates as long as it garners results.

The issue v Luton was never the result. A point away in the PL is a point gained, with ten men it was a decent point...

The issue v Luton was the performance whilst playing with eleven men.

 

[Tony Towner]

Do you still think his tactics of late have not been mindful of the opposition after seeing him on MNF last night?

I think it's more a case of getting those tactics right than not considering the opposition to be fair.

That's not what I said, which was too focused on the opposition and not on our strengths. The game management at Palace being a prime example