Can all of City’s problems really be solved by just sacking the manager?

[the other bob wilson]

http://mauveandyellowarmy.net/

[Des Parrot]

Whilst it will not solve all of the problems, it may offer a different direction and focus on the pitch.

I don't think we played particularly badly yesterday but there is obviously a lack of belief. There was a lot of effort & passion from most players but the fundamentals like moving the ball quickly, pace & simple defending was lacking again.

[the other bob wilson]

Whilst it will not solve all of the problems, it may offer a different direction and focus on the pitch.

I don't think we played particularly badly yesterday but there is obviously a lack of belief. There was a lot of effort & passion from most players but the fundamentals like moving the ball quickly, pace & simple defending was lacking again.

I still don't think there is a problem in terms of players going through the motions or anything - I believe they are playing for Trollope, but there is this dreadful lack of confidence which is there when it's 0-0 and takes over completely as soon as we go a goal behind - except for when Shane Duffy helped us out, we've yet to score the first goal in a game this season.

[insider]

I don't think any manager can turn this squad around . We have some ageing players that are coming to the end at this level and a stack of younger ones that are not good enough at this level.
We have no pace throughout the side and we don't create enough chances.
The youth policy has become neglected under a succession of managers kids have n't even been given time on the bench with cameo appearances to get experience. It's one sorry mess and Vincent Tan takes all the blame for me.
He has ruined the club and must go before we can move on. The debt has to be dealt with at some point the sooner the better. I realise we have to go backwards before we can go forwards again.
Anything else is papering over the cracks.

[AfricanBluebird]

http://mauveandyellowarmy.net/

Great piece.

So many issues touched upon there with some nice references to previous, similar, seasons that the club should hire you as a footballing consultant. I hope someone at the club reads this and sticks it under directors noses.

All in all I agree wholeheartedly with your points. We cannot get out of this if Trollope is sticking with the same players and seems to have no clue that the team is crying out for some pace... I think he is more conservative in his approach to the game than Slade.

Trollope does seem to have an odd theory that pace and expansive football leaves a team vulnerable and less disciplined. That is why Trollope continues to leave Harris out. In fact earlier in the season he admitted that he wanted to be 'tight' away from home and Harris was duly dropped to the bench.

That kind of attitude I find completely counter productive, as results have proved, and to me is 'anti-football'. Having constantly dropped who is probably our only pacey and flair player in the side highlights to me the Trollope is always thinking defensively and that he equates flair and pace with being less disciplined... Trollope, it isn't working! We are shipping goals with more-or-less the same defense and midfield as last season, and we aren't scoring... and yet he persists with the old football cliches but refuses to inject any pace or positiveness into the team, subsequently the team is being drained of hope and confidence.

You are also right to mention Theo Wharton. A player whom is very well respected around the club and yet has played little football. It is interesting that Ralls, who has under-performed for so long, continues to get picked while Theo, and some other players, gets overlooked. Theo is only a little younger than Ralls and it does show the travesty of our former academy players unable to get a look-in while the first team continues to under perform.

Trollope is probably the least brave manager I have seen.

I would rather be in the position we find ourselves in but at least having a go, being brave and bringing in youngsters that what Trollope is serving up.

I also think Trollope dropped a huge bollock in the Summer by believing he could do things the Welsh-way but without really analyzing his playing squad and the potential recruitment opportunities. As soon as the system didn't work it exposed a ridiculously inadequate summer recruitment campaign... are we the only team in the league who has no one who can play on the left wing / forward position?

These glaring mistakes could be forgiven if Trollope was new to the squad so it makes it even worse knowing that he has been a part of the set-up for so long. It's actually inexcusable that he has made an already 'slow' team even slower.

[billy.ronson]

I still don't think there is a problem in terms of players going through the motions or anything - I believe they are playing for Trollope, but there is this dreadful lack of confidence which is there when it's 0-0 and takes over completely as soon as we go a goal behind - except for when Shane Duffy helped us out, we've yet to score the first goal in a game this season.
Not surprising when we have failed to score in 7 of those games (8 if I was to be pedantic and include Blackburn) so there is no belief we can comeback !
I am dreading the televised Severnside derby against an in-form Brizzle City with an eighteen year old loanee scoring for fun !! Something our club seems incapable of doing !! Having trust in youngsters and scoring goals !!

Then on Wednesday we have Wednesday, a team capable of scoring late goals .....

[THE DON]

With regards to the manager one question we have to ask is whether we think the current squad is capable of competing in this division. If the answer is yes then in simplistic terms there has to be a problem with the management. I personally think we have a fairly decent squad. It's not perfect, aside from Lambert we still lack a decent striker, we could do with more pace in the team and some extra bite in midfield. We are in my opinion not a team that, on paper, should be in a relegation battle.

I feel sympathy for Trollope as I like him and genuinely feel he is trying his best but let's face it, it's not working. The whole situation is frustrating because at the beginning of the season I really liked the look of the new coaching set up. It looked like for once we had a plan and a coaching team that could deliver a real footballing philosophy. Alas that now does not look like it's going to materialise. I hate the idea of scrapping this vision and starting again but it appears we are going to have to.

So who could come in? Warnock appears to be the name everyone wants and he'd be good a choice. Thing is he has made it clear he does not want a long term plan. So what happens in twelve months time when he moves on? It's a difficult one. Short term we need to address the current issues but there has to be some longer term plan if we decide to make the change. Appointing Warnock would give us some breathing space but it's not a perfect solution.

[surge]

If Trollope believed that a switch to 3-5-2 would cure all ills then he's been badly misguided, however we should also recognise that Gary Rowett's first year was a relegation scrap that had Brum survive on the final day and now they're in a far more enviable position. Brum sold out their away end that day, when Bundersliga clubs are relegated their fans continue to support in great number and positivity, when our days get difficult it's apparently time to turn away or compete to be most negative.

[Hilts]

If Trollope believed that a switch to 3-5-2 would cure all ills then he's been badly misguided, however we should also recognise that Gary Rowett's first year was a relegation scrap that had Brum survive on the final day and now they're in a far more enviable position. Brum sold out their away end that day, when Bundersliga clubs are relegated their fans continue to support in great number and positivity, when our days get difficult it's apparently time to turn away or compete to be most negative.

No.

The Rowett situation is more or less the situation we are in now.

Rowett took over at a similar time as now. Birmingham were in the relegation zone under Lee Clark I believe. They took action and Rowett had the climbing up the table to the middle of the league.

Exactly the action we need now.

It was the season before Birmingham survived on the final day.

Trollope has taken us from 8th to looking like relegation certainties. Birmingham were crap the season before.

Trollope Out!

[bluemoon]

no same outcome if mr blobby and alex fergusson was in charge...

[surge]

No.

The Rowett situation is more or less the situation we are in now.

Rowett took over at a similar time as now. Birmingham were in the relegation zone under Lee Clark I believe. They took action and Rowett had the climbing up the table to the middle of the league.

Exactly the action we need now.

It was the season before Birmingham survived on the final day.

Trollope has taken us from 8th to looking like relegation certainties. Birmingham were crap the season before.

Trollope Out!

I seemed to have got my timeline confused. I don't think every situation will be the same as their's where a younger manager creates instant positivity and change in results so we either stick with it hoping that our situation changes or change the manager hoping the next one will be more Rowett than Trollope. We do have less good odds though if we don't also address other areas that are lacking.

[the other bob wilson]

Great piece.

So many issues touched upon there with some nice references to previous, similar, seasons that the club should hire you as a footballing consultant. I hope someone at the club reads this and sticks it under directors noses.

All in all I agree wholeheartedly with your points. We cannot get out of this if Trollope is sticking with the same players and seems to have no clue that the team is crying out for some pace... I think he is more conservative in his approach to the game than Slade.

Trollope does seem to have an odd theory that pace and expansive football leaves a team vulnerable and less disciplined. That is why Trollope continues to leave Harris out. In fact earlier in the season he admitted that he wanted to be 'tight' away from home and Harris was duly dropped to the bench.

That kind of attitude I find completely counter productive, as results have proved, and to me is 'anti-football'. Having constantly dropped who is probably our only pacey and flair player in the side highlights to me the Trollope is always thinking defensively and that he equates flair and pace with being less disciplined... Trollope, it isn't working! We are shipping goals with more-or-less the same defense and midfield as last season, and we aren't scoring... and yet he persists with the old football cliches but refuses to inject any pace or positiveness into the team, subsequently the team is being drained of hope and confidence.

You are also right to mention Theo Wharton. A player whom is very well respected around the club and yet has played little football. It is interesting that Ralls, who has under-performed for so long, continues to get picked while Theo, and some other players, gets overlooked. Theo is only a little younger than Ralls and it does show the travesty of our former academy players unable to get a look-in while the first team continues to under perform.

Trollope is probably the least brave manager I have seen.

I would rather be in the position we find ourselves in but at least having a go, being brave and bringing in youngsters that what Trollope is serving up.

I also think Trollope dropped a huge bollock in the Summer by believing he could do things the Welsh-way but without really analyzing his playing squad and the potential recruitment opportunities. As soon as the system didn't work it exposed a ridiculously inadequate summer recruitment campaign... are we the only team in the league who has no one who can play on the left wing / forward position?

These glaring mistakes could be forgiven if Trollope was new to the squad so it makes it even worse knowing that he has been a part of the set-up for so long. It's actually inexcusable that he has made an already 'slow' team even slower.

The continued ignoring of Harris when it comes to a starting place is truly baffling when he has the very quality that we so obviously lack. If we played a speedster up alongside Lambert every week, it would mean he could have someone close by who he could direct his flick ons to and it would also give our deeper lying players (i.e. the other ten at the moment!) the option of knocking long balls into the channels - one thing Harris does is win a lot of free kicks and, even if he did nothing else when playing as a forward, we should get more attacking dead all opportunities.

It's the same with Emyr Huws. He's being treated like a player a new manager has inherited and doesn't rate, it's as if Trollope gave him that forty five minutes at Preston so he could tell us "see, I told you he was crap" and yet he was the bloke who signed him little over a month ago!

[WJ99mobile]

I have seen absolutely nothing to suggest that Trollope is the long term answer and not sacking him is just prolonging this awful transitional phase.

He's brought Huws to the club and hasn't barely played him and his tactics clearly do not work with the players at his disposal.

He continues to play Immers, the slowest person at our club as a attacking midfielder.

He continues to encourage the team to pass around the back even when we're behind [what opposition is honestly going to try and press the ball when they're in front]

He continues to have the motivational skills of a slug.

Things are just not working and it's frightful.

[Bluebirdman Of Alcathays]

Short term we need to address the current issues but there has to be some longer term plan if we decide to make the change. Appointing Warnock would give us some breathing space but it's not a perfect solution.[/QUOTE]

Perhaps a way around that would be to ask Warnock to choose or recommend a successor.

[life on mars]

Always the best read in town thanks Paul

[A Quiet Monkfish]

It's an old football cliché, but when the manager 'loses the dressing room' - ie the manager loses credibility in the players eyes, then he must go. Footballers aren't stupid, [well they are, but not in footballing terms], and I suspect they have long ago given up any hope that the style of football they're playing under Trollope will get them anywhere but relegation.

[NYCBlue]

It's an old football cliché, but when the manager 'loses the dressing room' - ie the manager loses credibility in the players eyes, then he must go. Footballers aren't stupid, [well they are, but not in footballing terms], and I suspect they have long ago given up any hope that the style of football they're playing under Trollope will get them anywhere but relegation.

I've been wondering about this. Has Trollope lost the dressing room? In this day and age it's something that I expect someone (someone that someone on here knows or someone that knows that knows someone someone on here knows - you get what I mean) to have some knowledge about, so why haven't we heard?

[Bobby Dandruff]

http://mauveandyellowarmy.net/

I have never been one for just sacking the manager, however with people like Neil Warnock (Yes! EVEN him!), Steve Bruce and others on the market, with a proven track records of getting teams out of trouble, then surely the club must be considering a change?

I still think that Trollope has potential but how much longer will the club give him before making a change?