Unwatchable

Interesting reading the thoughts of many on the subject. What I find difficult to accept is the apparent lack of concern to turn things around and make changes. I had a lot of success in my career by taking on things others wouldn't and getting results. There's also a personal pride issue in not wanting to be associated with failing or coming 2nd. OK it's obvious we could benefit from some new talent but it's not here yet if it comes at all. I feel really sorry for fans who have paid good money for season tickets only to see this. I have seen 2 games at the CCS this year namely QPR and Norwich. It's a lot of effort and cost for me to come down and the appeal is not there. I remember in the past at NP when we were in the lower leagues I saw all but 3-4 home games all season and felt the effort worth the return.

I am probably in the minority but I've always been suspicious of Bulut's ability and experience. Opposition defences probably relish playing us because they know there'll be very little to do. Yes the lack of a tower up front to take down the ball, shoot or distribute is an issue.

When the going gets tough the tough should get going but we seem to give up or start trying in the 80th minute when the game is already lost.

I don't think Bulut is 100% to blame and as has been pointed out his coaching team ought also to be under the cosh.

Not optimistic for QPR and still remember being there last season when we got beaten.

Guess it's going to be a long winter.

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Originally Posted by NYCBlue

This.

To call Liverpool a long-ball team just because they have excellent ball players and one of the best players in the world making runs on the right hand side is ridiculous. If we could do that I'd take "long ball" all day, every day. When we have played long ball in the past it was all about lumping it upfield and hoping for a decent outcome. I don't understand why people complain about playing out from the back. Why would you not do that? You pass to one of your own players and then have them do the same. OK, sometimes it breaks down but surely it's better than a 50/50 big boot which if it gets on the head of a defender ends up back at the halfway line anyway.

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I'd love it if we could do it with any conviction. But we can't along with half the championship. Its all a bit fake to me, we are pretending to be a "progressive" team. The question is I can see what Citeh and Liverpool are doing, what are we trying to do?
The championship is a heavily analyzed league, they all are, but it is system over individuality as it is so close.

After 10 games teams sussed us and thats it, no response. No need to press, just a low block and wait for us to pass it around the back 3 (no one trusts Coliins) and one of the sitters drops, just wait for them to get impatient and lose it.

We couldn't go route one properly if we wanted, maybe we'll have that option from tomorrow (fingers crossed) then the opposition have to defend deeper as the good old fashioned flick on is a weapon but so is the 9 holding onto it, and giving it to the 10 with a bit of space. Anyway, it will give the defenders a bit more space to do something with the ball as teams have to plan for the long kick or the short ball, at the moment we are so boringly predictable.

Alnwick kicked long a couple of times against Leicester, one led to a corner for us that Ralls took and failed to clear the first defender. It showed though that mixing it up a bit from the ‘keeper can work. It’s a pity Alnwick didn’t take the corner though:xmasthumbup:

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Originally Posted by llan bluebird

I get the impression that Bulut is here to expose himself to a larger and wealthier circle and I just can't see him being happy with us being a mid-table team as that is essentially obscurity.

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If that's the case, then Great!

I think he's doing a pretty decent job results wise. At times we've been great to watch and overall better than we've been for a few years.

My main gripe though is a lack of plan B. Okay we've got a paper thin squad but there's been no real change in tactics or formation when we're not winning. Maybe try playing with wingbacks, or two up front occasionally.

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Originally Posted by llan bluebird

I'd love it if we could do it with any conviction. But we can't along with half the championship. Its all a bit fake to me, we are pretending to be a "progressive" team. The question is I can see what Citeh and Liverpool are doing, what are we trying to do?
The championship is a heavily analyzed league, they all are, but it is system over individuality as it is so close.

After 10 games teams sussed us and thats it, no response. No need to press, just a low block and wait for us to pass it around the back 3 (no one trusts Coliins) and one of the sitters drops, just wait for them to get impatient and lose it.

We couldn't go route one properly if we wanted, maybe we'll have that option from tomorrow (fingers crossed) then the opposition have to defend deeper as the good old fashioned flick on is a weapon but so is the 9 holding onto it, and giving it to the 10 with a bit of space. Anyway, it will give the defenders a bit more space to do something with the ball as teams have to plan for the long kick or the short ball, at the moment we are so boringly predictable.

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The trouble with all of that is that virtually every side we play in this league are more comfortable on the ball than us. Clearly the table shows we aren’t the worst team in the league, but you only have to watch us play on a regular basis to realise that we are among the worst in the league when it comes to basic things like ball retention and the ability to give and receive passes.

People seem to think that there are two extreme ways of playing the game that you have to follow - something like Tiki taka and a form of Warnockball, but there’s a huge area in between that most other sides fall into. City should be doing that, but we don’t have enough players who are comfortable on the ball. Such players are available within the budget we’ve had to operate within, but the emphasis appears to be on other things - our budget should not dictate that we can only go for a certain type of player, other sides without great spending power (eg Plymouth) don’t.

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Originally Posted by the other bob wilson

The trouble with all of that is that virtually every side we play in this league are more comfortable on the ball than us. Clearly the table shows we aren’t the worst team in the league, but you only have to watch us play on a regular basis to realise that we are among the worst in the league when it comes to basic things like ball retention and the ability to give and receive passes.

People seem to think that there are two extreme ways of playing the game that you have to follow - something like Tiki taka and a form of Warnockball, but there’s a huge area in between that most other sides fall into. City should be doing that, but we don’t have enough players who are comfortable on the ball. Such players are available within the budget we’ve had to operate within, but the emphasis appears to be on other things - our budget should not dictate that we can only go for a certain type of player, other sides without great spending power (eg Plymouth) don’t.

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It just seems to me we handicap our last few managers with the mantra that it must be a "modern game" when the recruiters are signing players incapable of doing so, but we persevere with it anyway to the point where we would have been relegated last season until we got a manager in who went pretty direct.

NG and Wintle grew in the Crewe system of pass and move, but they are not great at it in the wider scheme of things or they would have been sold to teams genuinely committed to that system. The point I am making it's not that simple to sign players there needs to be more tactically

I know I am preaching to the choir but the need of a DoF has been paramount since Malky, but Vinny doesn't go for it, it's madness.

So I find myself in the all-in on Bulut camp because he is the first football man since Warnock and our preferred method is to hand the keys to the house over to the manager with little oversight

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Originally Posted by llan bluebird

It just seems to me we handicap our last few managers with the mantra that it must be a "modern game" when the recruiters are signing players incapable of doing so, but we persevere with it anyway to the point where we would have been relegated last season until we got a manager in who went pretty direct.

NG and Wintle grew in the Crewe system of pass and move, but they are not great at it in the wider scheme of things or they would have been sold to teams genuinely committed to that system. The point I am making it's not that simple to sign players there needs to be more tactically

I know I am preaching to the choir but the need of a DoF has been paramount since Malky, but Vinny doesn't go for it, it's madness.

So I find myself in the all-in on Bulut camp because he is the first football man since Warnock and our preferred method is to hand the keys to the house over to the manager with little oversight

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I certainly don’t want Bulut sacked or anything like that as I agree he’s a step up from recent managers and I believe he’s won games for us at times with some clever substitutions. However, I look at how Siopis is playing lately and wonder about his signing. Originally, I thought he was a good signing because he was a step up from our other central midfielders - I still think he is, but, essentially, he offers more of the same and, even with a fit Ramsey, we needed something different from that.

I’ve mentioned Colwill and, although he’s not set the world on fire, it seems to me that, with Robinson a shadow of the player he was, he should be in the starting line up for most games now - he has improved in the things Bulut criticised him about, but you get the feeling he’s still not trusted.

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Originally Posted by llan bluebird

It just seems to me we handicap our last few managers with the mantra that it must be a "modern game" when the recruiters are signing players incapable of doing so, but we persevere with it anyway to the point where we would have been relegated last season until we got a manager in who went pretty direct.

NG and Wintle grew in the Crewe system of pass and move, but they are not great at it in the wider scheme of things or they would have been sold to teams genuinely committed to that system. The point I am making it's not that simple to sign players there needs to be more tactically

I know I am preaching to the choir but the need of a DoF has been paramount since Malky, but Vinny doesn't go for it, it's madness.

So I find myself in the all-in on Bulut camp because he is the first football man since Warnock and our preferred method is to hand the keys to the house over to the manager with little oversight

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We do need to take risks if we are going to play a more passing style. The biggest problem is movement, for it to be affective, players need to create space by movement and leaving space, otherwise it's pretty futile. There's no way Bulut is going to allow midfield players and fullbacks the luxury of getting into advanced areas in order to capitalise on possession in attacking areas with an overload.

At the same time I don't advocate long ball. A more progressive style needs to start somewhere, it takes time, patience and plenty of mistakes along the way. Look at Swansea, I don't think that many of their fans would say that getting rid of Martin was a good idea now. They were three or four players off promotion when he was there.

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Originally Posted by the other bob wilson

I certainly don’t want Bulut sacked or anything like that as I agree he’s a step up from recent managers and I believe he’s won games for us at times with some clever substitutions. However, I look at how Siopis is playing lately and wonder about his signing. Originally, I thought he was a good signing because he was a step up from our other central midfielders - I still think he is, but, essentially, he offers more of the same and, even with a fit Ramsey, we needed something different from that.

I’ve mentioned Colwill and, although he’s not set the world on fire, it seems to me that, with Robinson a shadow of the player he was, he should be in the starting line up for most games now - he has improved in the things Bulut criticised him about, but you get the feeling he’s still not trusted.

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Siopis is a major upgrade on Wintle we just need to find Ralls replacement, because if Ralls and Wintle are squad players we are going in the right direction. Joe's best days were left side of an aggressive 3, not the top of the double pivot, we need to find someone who understands that position and has the skill and physicality to cope with the championship

Get that and a genuine 9 and Colwill will be a different player and i do believe Bulut sees him as the future

note: Joe Ralls is and has been an amazing player for this club, but father time is catching up with him. All those 40/60 tackles he's won take their toll