Riza.

[jeepster]

Re: Riza.

Well said Bob. Don't expect TLG to say anything positive about Riza.

Do not hold your breath

[rich munn]

Re: Riza.

Well said Bob. Don't expect TLG to say anything positive.

Fixed.

[The Lone Gunman]

Re: Riza.

Fixed.

I’m positive that you’re utterly clueless when it comes to football. That’s 100% certain.

[BlueArmy 86]

Re: Riza.

I like him. He’s not afraid to change things and that’s been frustrating in previous managers. I think he’ll get better and better. Every manager starts somewhere, and he’s not doing a bad job in my opinion. Few mistakes but **** me I’ve seen pep make mistakes. No comparison but the way

[North Cardiff Blue]

Re: Riza.

Stacks of people, myself included, piled into Riza after the away game at Bristol City when he made defensive substitutions with close to a third of the match left at a time when we were on top and leading. I can also remember him getting stick for his selection and substitutions at Luton and the home match v Preston and, as I said earlier, I think some of the criticism was justified.

Hull away was Riza’s first game in charge and we were a lot more attacking there in our outlook than we were on Tuesday - we kept attacking after taking the lead early on, but Hull picked us off and were well worth their win in the end, even if 4-1 flattered them. Hull have lost their two wingers that day to injury and, in their absence, their scoring stats have been mediocre - I make it nineteen in twenty two games in all competitions.

So Hull are hardly prolific scorers and while City aren’t either, a stat I wasn’t aware of until just now is that the 7-0 at Leeds is the only time we haven’t scored in our last 15 matches in all competitions. So, despite Hull’s good defensive record in recent away matches, there was always a decent chance we’d score on Tuesday and then it became a question of getting a rare clean sheet from our defence.

Another stat I wasn’t aware of is that Leeds and Portsmouth are the only matches we’ve lost in our last fourteen in all competitions. The fact that we’ve won so few league games since early November tells you there’s been too many draws over the last three months or so, but one goalless game in fifteen and two defeats in fourteen are stats you’d associate with a team higher up the table than us and Id say they show Riza is getting a few things right when you consider our record when he took over from Bulut.

I appreciate that we’re likely to lose our next three games and so both the stats Ive mentioned will probably not look as impressive in ten days time, but I must say if we can stay up, Im quite optimistic about next season if we can tighten up a bit at the back.

Yes we've got a much better squad than last year, with more goals, a better midfield, if he can sort the defence into the best four, and get some continuity and understanding we will be a decent team.

[North Cardiff Blue]

Re: Riza.

I like him. He’s not afraid to change things and that’s been frustrating in previous managers. I think he’ll get better and better. Every manager starts somewhere, and he’s not doing a bad job in my opinion. Few mistakes but **** me I’ve seen pep make mistakes. No comparison but the way

I didn't want him, and he was a massive risk, but he's doing well and is a likable bloke, I hope he can keep on improving and concentrate on not leaking goals, and we'll be fine, and he will have a fair chance of being retained.

[Eric the Half a Bee]

Re: Riza.

I like him. He’s not afraid to change things and that’s been frustrating in previous managers. I think he’ll get better and better. Every manager starts somewhere, and he’s not doing a bad job in my opinion. Few mistakes but **** me I’ve seen pep make mistakes. No comparison but the way

One issue that has cropped up with every manager in recent times has been whether the board could be trusted to make a better appointment than the person in the hotseat at the time. Judging by the number of poor appointments made, this argument has got stronger and stronger.

It also has to be argued that we can't keep having crap managers time and time again. Another point of debate has been to calculate how good our side actually is. Some will say we're a couple of good players from the playoffs, some will argue very differently. I think there has to be some element of truth in us having a pretty poor squad given that successive managers keep struggling.

All sacked managers since we were relegated from the Premier League have ended up going on a dismal run of form prior to their dismissal. Whether Uncle Vinnie has been a bit trigger happy is another side to the debate, but there has been a feeling among some/many/fewer supporters at the time of firing that manager x needs to go. The run Riza's side went on in November/December (3 points from 9 winless games) would have seen other managers sacked in the past, plus there are rumours he would have gone, hadn't it been for the win at Watford. However, 2 defeats in 14 games in all competitions has to be seen as a decent turnaround from those days.


I'm on the fence a bit here. I'm not convinced Riza is the right manager to take us forward. His appointment smacks of little ambition and hoping for the best, like a number of managerial appointments Tan has made. However, this is the first time where I've thought the board could actually make things worse by getting rid of him, not because of Riza's abilities as a manager, but by whoever they would subsequently appoint. Under previous managers, there was a clear feeling that things were getting worse and change was needed. I've said on many occasions I'd rather a season that starts badly but improves and shows some progress, to a season that starts really well and fades away badly.

[jon1959]

Re: Riza.

I like Riza as a person, and his honesty and avoidance of tired cliches in interviews is welcome. He appears to be tactically flexible, to be a good man-manager, and to genuinely want to promote younger players (from the Academy and via transfers/loans). He has made mistakes with selections and substitutions, but seems to have learned from them, and quickly.

I would have preferred the board to appoint a more experienced manager with a profile that matches the strategy of the club (ha!) and to have done it quickly, but as they didn't the Riza option has turned out to be much more positive than I expected.

80% of Riza's league management experience is with us. He is a far more experienced and tested manager now than when he was first given the job, but still green. I think he has coped and evolved well.

But we are in a relegation fight and haven't got clear. Is that down to Riza and his (still underpowered) coaching team? Is it down to a weak squad (or probably more an unbalanced squad with some clear talent but a patched up and misfiring defence)? Did the start derail the whole season?

Maybe we could have done a Coventry (though I doubt it the way we have leaked goals) but we could also have done a Luton.

For me Riza is in credit this season. If we get out of trouble and he is given a longer contract I won't be jumping with excitement, but I won't be too concerned either. He could turn out to be very good - especially if he is allowed to reshape the squad and the coaching team over the summer. If he does succeed it won't be down to smart planning by the club, but because every so often Vincent gets lucky.

[Eric the Half a Bee]

Re: Riza.

I would have preferred the board to appoint a more experienced manager with a profile that matches the strategy of the club (ha!)

..

[Michael Morris]

Re: Riza.

Will Riza become the first manager in the league to see his side score against Burnley since Tom Cleverley's Watford in the 80th minute on December 21st.

1,090 mintues of football (excl injury/added time)

12 full games since they last let one in.

In the same time period of 12 full games we've only failed to score once, the game - as Bob mentions - at Leeds.

[Grangenders]

Re: Riza.

Will Riza become the first manager in the league to see his side score against Burnley since Tom Cleverley's Watford in the 80th minute on December 21st.

1,090 mintues of football (excl injury/added time)

12 full games since they last let one in.

In the same time period of 12 full games we've only failed to score once, the game - as Bob mentions - at Leeds.

If the roles were reversed and we were the team near the top with 12 clean sheets in a row and Burnley were the team near the bottom, I would be convinced that this would be the game where the run would end. And not just the clean sheet record with a goal conceded in a comfortable win, no, I’d be thinking that we’d also lose the unbeaten run in a miserable, scrappy 1-0 defeat.

Didn’t we lose at home to Peterborough years ago when they were bottom of the league and we were going for some sort of club record of consecutive wins?

Anyway, City are 8-1 to win 1-0. Worth 25p in my book!

[Canton Kev]

Re: Riza.

If the roles were reversed and we were the team near the top with 12 clean sheets in a row and Burnley were the team near the bottom, I would be convinced that this would be the game where the run would end. And not just the clean sheet record with a goal conceded in a comfortable win, no, I’d be thinking that we’d also lose the unbeaten run in a miserable, scrappy 1-0 defeat.

Didn’t we lose at home to Peterborough years ago when they were bottom of the league and we were going for some sort of club record of consecutive wins?

Anyway, City are 8-1 to win 1-0. Worth 25p in my book!

The first promotion season under Malky I’m pretty sure 24th place Peterborough did the double over us