Quote Originally Posted by SLUDGE FACTORY View Post
I have always felt old school manager type tactics ....well drilled , fitness , direct , moving the ball quickly .......together with a bit of skill and flair when needed ......is the way to win

I think at various points both warnock and mad mick had that but that bad spell we had wax shocking 🤯
I would say the vast majority of managers have their sides well drilled, are on top of fitness and look for a bit of flair and skill.

Most sides can be direct at times and look to move the ball quickly if possible, but there's a world of difference between being direct like Liverpool or Man City and being direct like sides are under McCarthy or Warnock. That difference is that better sides don't tend to lump aimless balls upfield hoping for a flick on. Such tactics have largely been consigned to the dustbin of crap football tactics. Percentage football it isn't.

You missed a point about being up for a battle, which was a strength of the likes of McCarthy. Players were expected to win their own battles. Who can forget McCarthy yelling instructions all game long when he first came to the club?

I think that's why those managers can come in and have some success, by getting a bit more out of the players, but eventually that extra few percent disappears and the tactics are easy to combat.