Burnley had it right. Good blend of young talent and fit experienced Championship players plus giving their manager time after a "slow start"
Great point. Louza clearly prefers to play in the deep ‘quarterback’ role that Will Hughes did so well two years ago but Choudhury just gets in the way.
Yes, many have supported him. It is not his inability to deal with any cross. He had too many faults. These were pointed during his time at Kilmarnock. If you think Bachmann is bad, Okoye will have you tearing you hair out. He is also awful on crosses and the ball at his feet is a joy to behold. Think giraffe on ice...
I would look forward to a Pozzo “change your ways campaign”. if only we could go back to those halcyon days when our owners were bringing in quality players that made a difference, Abdi, Forestierri, Vydra et al. If only he would learn not to change managers but pick the right one and give him time and the right players to work with if only he had a decent UK based board who would work with the fans
Let's not forget that the majority of our seasons under the Pozzos have ended with us limping over the line. It's a mark of how much the squad, managers and associates are just passing through. They know half of them are off every summer and have no reason to try in the last few games. We have been devoid of passion or attachment to the shirt for the bulk of the Pozzo reign, even the halycon days in the Premier League left me feeling demoralised and unable to truly feel passionate about our team because we have consisted of mercenaries for the best part of a decade. We are absolutely destined for league 1 under this regime, and I'm not sure even then 100% of our fans would dare say Pozzo out.
Wouldn't surprise me if you're right, and Pozzo may well have been right 5 years ago re: no value in defenders, but if so, he needs to realise that's no longer the case. Even in the Championship, all it takes is a good season or two from a young (or even not that young) defender and they can go for big money. Bristol City bought Webster for £4m, sold for £22m a season later. Harry Souttar signed for £3.5m, few loans and a bit of development later, sold for £17m
All part of his "I know best and I'm not changing how I operate" attitude which has taken us to the abysmal point we are now in.
It's true we were never like Brighton or Brentford have been in the Premier league save for one season but think it's harsh to say even that spell was bad or meant nothing. Certainly were were very solid and had a lot of highlights but obviously didn't have that consistency and I agree seemed to fall away close to the end - maybe because they knew the manager was going or the squad would be chagning. I think people would take mid table with a sticky end of the season in the top flight now! If you really just want to feel connected to the team in terms of a load of young players or British ones then yes it's probably not a good time to be a fan.
TBH, I am sure some of the longest-standing anti-Pozzo posters on here were expressing concerns even during the Cup Final season.
I understand your sentiment but I think it masks the problem. Frustration at the time,a misplaced pass although there are so many one could hardly draw breath then another arrives,a funeral march build up or another lame set piece yes all understandable. However a calculated and prolonged " you're not fit to make the tea" is useless as it absolves the real culprits from blame. However I do agree it's very difficult to be dispassionate in such woeful times.
But it’s certainly the theme trotted out by those wanting to go to the supporters meeting. It’s the players and the fans, not the owners to blame. Create the wedge between the fans and the players to protect the ones at the top. It’s certainly been bubbling under for a long time, with fans accused of having short memories/being spoilt. Now it’s out in the open.
Totally agree. At home over the last 3 seasons we have been able to watch what has unfolded before us- there has been two relegation "performances" and this season. From starting in August 2019 losing at home to BHA with GD, Doucoure, Capoue and Hughes playing in the middle and a target man TD up front there was a nucleaus of a team (RP was sub). A record number of home defeats on the trot last season numbed most of us but the dam has now broken. So i think its a culmination of three seasons of poor recruitment -both players and coaches (bar Munoz) that has finally tipped us over the edge. We can only sit/stand in apathy or booing/hold banners up. Those players are generally not good enough for many of the reasons quoted on here but the buck stops with the owner and his front man SD. Turning up the volume of the music post final whistle to drown out the booing/chants won't work during the game. As for Manga and Costa-they arrived in December so are they responsible for January recruitment and under what rules from Gino/SD? OK Porteous and Hoedt have a championship quality about them (and are cheap) but Arujo, Martins, Ferreria (perma injured) and even Kone ( has promise maybe) and Britt-IMHO they were never going to play a part in the Championship-all too lightweight (not Britt !) -i reckon Bilic saw that and gave up-Wilder now is saying the right things I am told as I won't read what he says unless I see it on the pitch first-words are easy -we want to see that demonstrated and now we have no belief it can be.
All I would say is new owners won't suddenly mean for certain we play better, every signing turns out to be good and a manager stays for a long time. The Pozzos need to sort themselves out off the pitch but the manager and players need to take some responsibility for on the pitch performances. Maybe that is the problem - they all blame each other and think well it's not my fault?
Agreed. I think some just need to grow up a bit. Yes it was shambolic on the pitch but resorting to childish bickering is just the icing on the cake
What is inescapable and I hope gets through are two facts: 6 managers in 2 seasons and relegation followed by what is likely to be a bottom half championship finish. These must surely tell all fans that Pozzo is, to quote Lana del Rey, "f**king up big time". Anyone who will argue against that on the face of those two facts is, quite frankly, a deluded idiot.
It never sat well with me when we got promoted under Slav and we binned off half our team who were fantastic and replaced them with absolute dross. I will caveat we stayed up yes, but it left such a sour taste in my mouth it was the beginning of my ill feelings towards the way we operate. The annual overhauls of manager, staff and 12 new players has only compounded this often papered over by survival as that was considered success. But really what is success when you are left with a shambolic set up who you can't identify with, have no plan, you don't know who the manager will be in 3 months let alone next season and are in 12 times more debt than when this all began?
I suppose I would have liked to have seen Forestieri and Vydra get a chance in the Prem, although I don't know if they'd have been a success at that time. They both would have been far more successful than Oulare mind you, for all the weird signings we made in the initial Championship years under the Pozzos, I don't know how many, if any, of those were backhanders to Bayat
Fair point although I think we got some good players in when we first got promoted like Capoue and not sure too many were sad to see the managers go like QSF/Walter after one season but I agree it has got rather farcical and the past 2/3 seasons we've actually got worse after each management change which says a lot. I accept we've always made some very random and strange signings even when things were more positive on the pitch. The trouble is of course none of the players we do sign seem to be any better to improve the team or even play - apart from Porteous have the Janauary signings had any positive impact? Less said about the ones last summer the better!
We cannot fully judge the players until they’ve had time to work with a manager, knowing that manager is there to stay, plus that manager has been involved in deciding which of them he wants and has brought in other players he also wants. And we can’t judge the manager until that process has happened. And in the current set up none of that is happening. Sell all the players and buy 25 new ones and it won’t make any difference if the manager can’t use them, and then 12 games later they’ve got a new manager with new formations and tactics etc The process (and so probably the owner) has to go first. Then choose a manager. Then assess the squad. Then sell those not useful to that manager. Then buy some new ones. And then we can judge how much these players care, or try, or want to be here etc etc
After a great deal of thought, (about 12 seconds), you can pinpoint exactly where the rot started. It was the moment the club reneged on bonus payments. We literally fell off the side of a cliff from that moment. Then this season you hear about charging players for food and it does make you wonder what other pathetic little nitpicking things the club are doing to the playing staff, (and likely the staff in general). Maybe it's not the players, maybe it's not the coaching staff and perhaps the whole place is being managed so poorly that the atmosphere is toxic. It would explain a lot. I've worked in places where a single person can bring down productivity single handedly, is this now happening at our club?
Pure guess but I think GP gambled big time for a few years and spent way too much + always worried first about player profitability.. Then cup final year the wheels came off as the season wore on, players wanted to leave, and incoming player targets suddenly became cheap gambles.... And it has stayed that way. The club is on the edge of insolvency and we won't come back from this until something very big happens....
Well, a loyal long term member of staff got her flowers on the pitch yesterday as she’s decided to move on.
Good question - we have been saying something similar for 3 years now on and off, and as players leave and new ones join we still seem no closer to an answer.? There's like a sultry arrogance around our squad where each player agrees they can do better etc, but I firmly believe that when each player says something they actually mean "the other players" and don't include themselves.. I'd love to hear the truth from players who have left....
I know this is a glib comment, but there was uproar when they bought the club with its own money, but they had enough wherewithal to know that their new asset wasn't worth nearly as much in the Championship and so backed their man handsomely. Kompany certainly seems to know a player when he sees one, I don't know what their recruitment team looks like though
Has Fuxbury been allowed to say anything in public since his speech about backing Edwards was shown to be utter tripe?
TBH I don’t think he gives any sort of opinion . Just writes about what the club have done in the community generally.
Players outside WFC know the club is (lets say run differently) from other clubs, they probably only sign because they are offered larger wages than elsewhere so are happy sitting getting paid and know they wont suffer financially if performances aren't great or they aren't in the team! The contracts should be normal basic with large incentives, which would see a decent effort a bit more often!
