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You are full of yourself, aren't you? As if.Originally Posted by J R Hartley
I'll let you boys reflect later on how childish some of your posts are, but this is what Wycombe thinks of us
Dave Coaches, your boys took one hell of a beating.
— Wycombe Wanderers (@wwfcofficial) December 29, 2020
Here's how it happened.#WYCvCAR https://t.co/EIDMbZZX45
You nailed it the other evening when you said it would take a few changes of manager to get back on track. We both clearly agree that the club has bigger problems than Harris.
What I fail to understand is that we've gone from a playoff side to a bottom half side in the space of 6 months, despite improving the side up front and out wide in signings Harris has made. Mendez-Laing has been a big miss, but Paterson and Ward much less so.
Yes, the club is hamstrung in terms of not being able to spend much, yet Warnock's initial successes were signing out of contract players. He got a few of those wrong as well, but he saw what was wrong with Trollope's side and made a success of it.
In many ways, Harris has been most successful with us when he's copied Warnock's blueprint in how to play. Up and at them, direct. When we try to play football we look dire. I appreciate change doesn't happen overnight.
What I can't excuse is the lethargy, the lack of energy, players not looking interested. That is concerning. I don't subscribe to the view that players raise themselves for games all the time, sometimes yes, but not always. Our approach against teams near the bottom all season has been pathetic.
I don't think now is the time for Harris to go, especially as Pulis is now free. But this hasn't been a good season at all, from players and management, not after the near miss in the playoffs. In business, the buck usually stops with management. I want better for my football club. The club need to decide what they want and get the manager that suits the job. Sadly that won't happen. I don't think Harris is getting the best out of the players he has at his disposal, either, not by a long chalk.
Sad, as I thought we'd turned a big corner with those 4 wins. Then we have luckily won 1 game and deservedly lost 4. I think it'll take a Warnock like character to turn things around, someone with experience who will tell the board how things need to be done. I don't think Harris has that strength, either, but I'd happily be proved wrong there.
He rates himself. I'm not sure why, but he does.
About a third of our fans want a Pearson or Mark Hughes like character, about a third want a more progressive manager and about a third want something in-between. The first is unlikely to see us build for the medium-longer term and we've just created the need for this "stepping stone" period further down the line.
Lots of teams look not up for it this season including, at times, Everton, Manchester City, Manchester United. Not going to say Harris isn't part of the reason but you're ignoring how hectic the schedule is and how hard our fixtures run. Again, has he managed those factors well enough?
Lots of the criticism/frustration this year is actually because we (the board and us fans) are acknowledging we cannot be run as we have been over the past 10 years. Harris' tactics might be sticky-plaster tactics until Tomlin, Moore, Osei-Tutu come back but we're at least acknowledging the folly of short-termism.
We're a midtable side, the previous manager is mostly responsible for that. It appears that some people are now seeing that this is what we are, and they don't like it. Perhaps Eric can do another stat about the number of times we lost to a bottom side on a Tuesday.
When we resumed from lockdown the schedule and tough fixtures didn't seem to be a problem - we arguably got stronger the more often we played. When we thought things had caught up with the players in that playoff first leg, we gave a tremendous performance at the Cottage and were unlucky in the end.
Do we miss crowds? Originally I thought so, but again we were better after lockdown than before.
Do we miss Moore? Of course. We didn't miss him after lockdown as he wasn't here, though.
We'll miss Morrison and Moore but the loss of both temporarily shouldn't mean we plummet further down the table. There might be a case for recalling Flint if Morrison is out for a while.
Patterson and Ward less so?
We couldnt afford a new deal for Ward and needed cash for Patterson.
Last night we had Glatzel and Harris up front.
Neither are anywhere near good enough for this level. Harris id give him a chance. Glatzel sadly needs replacing.
Weve also missed the big attacking threat of Tomlin.
Harris hasnt had the backing he needs and should be judged when he has had at least the time to clear out and bring his players in.
They should be sitting around working out how to clear out the squad. That wont go down well with Tan. Flint Glatzel Cunningham your looking at around 25m written off. But we need to free up wages. Whyte another one.
Are we saying Ward and Paterson cost more in wages than Ojo and Wilson? Do we know what wages Moore is on? I have difficulty in believing that Harris hasn't been backed. Were there loan fees for the 3 PL players? I don't know the answers to those questions
I'm on the verge of thinking Glatzel needs to go, even though I think most want him to do well. Harris can't rate him that highly, despite his comments about him being one of the best finishers he's known. He's one of several players who seems to have gone backwards this season.
Can Flint be recalled?
After lockdown, I thought Harris was one of the few coaches who made use of the new substitutes rule really well. But, as JRH points out, we have replaced Ward with Harris.
We were lucky to get to the play-offs last season, and I think part of that is because the team adapted to post-lockdown life much better than other clubs.
Look at that subs bench last night, it had nothing that offered a chance to change the game. Is that Harris' fault, that the club had limited funds and they were spent on the striker we also needed? Just as Harris had the benefit of good luck in the summer, he's now experiencing a bit of bad luck too. The team has lost their way, but we can't go around sacking managers whenever we hit a sticky patch. We're in no danger of going down, we're in no danger of going up. Let's just make it a watershed season, even easier when you don't have to travel the country watching it, and give Harris the space to show what he is trying to achieve. Pressure off, let's give him a chance.
There are teams like Spurs who have played League Cup, Europa League, FA Cup and Premier League games already this year following on from their hectic schedule last year. There are teams like Manchester United who were lower half and struggling when having to play bother Premier League and Champions League games then shot up the league table when latter paused.
Should Harris have been more cautious about changing things this year and asked to keep players like Patterson and Flint as well we had a larger squad to rotate from? Who knows how much that is to do with budget, how much it is to do with wish to change playing style.
Ward left because he wanted to. If you don't bring in Ojo and Wilson you become more reliant on Whyte and Murphy. These decisions aren't taken in isolation.
The squad needs major changes. Harris has confirmed we have no money and players have to leave.
The likes of Flint and Glatzel are not going to get better contracts elsewhere. Its not their fault and its not the current managers either.
Harris has a really difficult job.
Isn't Flint back at Cardiff doing his rehab.... with doubts about whether the loan to Sheffield Wednesday will be continued from January (they may have avoided a transfer embargo by paying their players, but the Pulis sacking may make them less likely to want to keep Flint).... but isn't he also unlikely to play again this side of late February?
Flint is not the answer to Mozzer's absence - in the short term anyway.
Will Harris keep faith with Benkovic after that horror show, or will we see Sol back alongside Nelson for the Rotherham game? None of the options fill me with joy.
Flint can’t play with Morrison but he’s not absolutely awful, which Benkovic was last night. Flint was keeping Morrison out of the team on merit at the start of Harris’ reign. I’d play Sol against Rotherham. Ideally we can get someone else in and keep Flint and Sheff Wed but a straight choice between Flint and Benkovic, Flint every time.
Yes, and let's keep thumping long balls up to our centre forward for the foreseeable future..
A centre halves job is to defend first and foremost. Benkovic can't defend, I don't give a shit if he can pass if he can't stop the ball going in our own net. Last night was the worst performance I've seen from a City centre back in a long time. There's a reason Rodgers has been digging him out, and not asking Harris why he's not in the side.
Seen a couple of interviews with Rodgers and he doesn’t rate him one bit.
Did you have to?
Looked worse second time around
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