Is the problem bigger than the manager?

[Rookie]

The squad is not that bad, lots of top flight experience with promising young players. Hyypia is not getting any where near the best from them and seems inept. He had a good squad in Germany and didn't get anything from them either.

 

[Skylar]

Fire him, and his friend. Poof! Gone!

Now you have enough money for roughly 2/3 of an average striker.

We'd buy an bang on non average striker but if Burke has anything to do with it then we could get a couple of loans from division two.

 

[Man of Harveys]

The problem is BARBER get rid now.

We could sack Hyypia tomorrow but we would not recruit another opinionated, dynamic, even outspoken manager until this happens. Something is rotten in the state of Denmark, as Quentin Tarantino said.

 

[Working class pride]

We could sack Hyypia tomorrow but we would not recruit another opinionated, dynamic, even outspoken manager until this happens. Something is rotten in the state of Denmark, as Quentin Tarantino said.

I think our own Shakespeare might have said it first..

 

[cirC]

Bournemouth, palace and Burnley.. yes it's poor, in fact very poor identification of players and very poor use of players we have. There should be no excuses for anyone who identified the players this summer or for the shambles on the field during this first half of the season.

Argus & Naylor quote
'Baldock, Albion's main summer striker target, and O'Grady were purchased from League One Bristol City and Barnsley respectively for a combined potential cost in the region of £6 million, taking into account transfer fees, wages and lengths of contract.'
Given that it is accepted that O'grady cost 500k then...........REALLY!
If so what a waste of money.Add the Stockdale signing fee and that is where the money has gone.

 

[Guy Fawkes]

I've just done a quick head-count, and I reckon 30 players have played for the Albion first team this season. That includes a couple of League Cup sub appearances for Toko and Maksimenko, but doesn't count Dale Stephens, who surely would've played some part by now had he been fit.

It's the first week of December and we've fielded almost three completely different teams. The recruitment is a mess.

I'd have put it down to the manager

He's ex-Liverpool, and would have played under managers using squad rotation and he seems to have decided that is the way to go here but we are suffering because of it because we are using so many players that we have very little cohesion in our play, there is little or no understanding between players (the Fulham free kick is a great example of this) and as a result the squad hasn't achieved the results that we probably should have and the league position we should be near or in with our squad.

We need a settled line up but i doubt many could pick our best XI as it's probably as unclear as it was pre-season and we are nearly at Christmas.

If i were Sami, i'd ditch the rotation and stick to a line up and try to get them to gel, develop an understanding and the fluidity in play that would bring and hopefully results will improve and we'd climb the table away from the relegation places.

 

[Big_Unit]

I'd have put it down to the manager

He's ex-Liverpool, and would have played under managers using squad rotation and he seems to have decided that is the way to go here but we are suffering because of it because we are using so many players that we have very little cohesion in our play, there is little or no understanding between players (the Fulham free kick is a great example of this) and as a result the squad hasn't achieved the results that we probably should have and the league position we should be near or in with our squad.

We need a settled line up but i doubt many could pick our best XI as it's probably as unclear as it was pre-season and we are nearly at Christmas.

If i were Sami, i'd ditch the rotation and stick to a line up and try to get them to gel, develop an understanding and the fluidity in play that would bring and hopefully results will improve and we'd climb the table away from the relegation places.

I agree. It might also mean we've spread our wage / transfer fee resources far too thinly. I think we'd all prefer a little bit of quality to a lot of 'meh'.

 

[Man of Harveys]

I think our own Shakespeare might have said it first..

Yes, he did. I was joking.

 

[Fountainhead]

Evidently Ipswichs net spend this season is 10k, then there's Bournemouth and Charlton and Brentford- hardly splashing the cash. Now I'm not saying we have necessarily bought badly, but we are either identifying the wrong players for system we are trying to play, the manager is not getting the message about the system across, the players aren't buying into the system or can't understand it or the management can't motivate them.

Interestingly, I recently did the AMEX tour, and the tactics for the Rotherham game were still on the board- now I'm not going to comment on our set piece stuff, it seemed to be detailed in terms of who went where etc but I was amazed by what appeared to pass as the analysis of the away side - a Panini sticker style thing on Revell and err.... That appeared to be it ( and he scored!)

I also take exception to this ' remember where we came from' train of thought,I was there for all of it - it was a great struggle and a exemplary reaction to the situation by hundreds of fans, including Tony Bloom, Dick Knight et al, but if we don't do something positive soon, my worry is we may be heading back in that direction.

 

[Working class pride]

Evidently Ipswichs net spend this season is 10k, then there's Bournemouth and Charlton and Brentford- hardly splashing the cash. Now I'm not saying we have necessarily bought badly, but we are either identifying the wrong players for system we are trying to play, the manager is not getting the message about the system across, the players aren't buying into the system or can't understand it or the management can't motivate them.

Interestingly, I recently did the AMEX tour, and the tactics for the Rotherham game were still on the board- now I'm not going to comment on our set piece stuff, it seemed to be detailed in terms of who went where etc but I was amazed by what appeared to pass as the analysis of the away side - a Panini sticker style thing on Revell and err.... That appeared to be it ( and he scored!)

I also take exception to this ' remember where we came from' train of thought,I was there for all of it - it was a great struggle and a exemplary reaction to the situation by hundreds of fans, including Tony Bloom, Dick Knight et al, but if we don't do something positive soon, my worry is we may be heading back in that direction.

Completely agree.

 

[Larry]

The problem is and always has been Barber,BARBER OUT NOW.

 

[GoldWithFalmer]

I'd have put it down to the manager

He's ex-Liverpool, and would have played under managers using squad rotation and he seems to have decided that is the way to go here but we are suffering because of it because we are using so many players that we have very little cohesion in our play, there is little or no understanding between players (the Fulham free kick is a great example of this) and as a result the squad hasn't achieved the results that we probably should have and the league position we should be near or in with our squad.

We need a settled line up but i doubt many could pick our best XI as it's probably as unclear as it was pre-season and we are nearly at Christmas.

If i were Sami, i'd ditch the rotation and stick to a line up and try to get them to gel, develop an understanding and the fluidity in play that would bring and hopefully results will improve and we'd climb the table away from the relegation places.

I totally agree with this,i will also add that once the players were signed it was going to take and perhaps is still taking Sami time to find his best eleven,the problem is time or lack of and what with another transfer window looming the problems will only be compounded.

It really does look grim at the moment.

 

[Nobby's Betamax Video]

Evidently Ipswichs net spend this season is 10k, then there's Bournemouth and Charlton and Brentford- hardly splashing the cash. Now I'm not saying we have necessarily bought badly, but we are either identifying the wrong players for system we are trying to play, the manager is not getting the message about the system across, the players aren't buying into the system or can't understand it or the management can't motivate them.

Interestingly, I recently did the AMEX tour, and the tactics for the Rotherham game were still on the board- now I'm not going to comment on our set piece stuff, it seemed to be detailed in terms of who went where etc but I was amazed by what appeared to pass as the analysis of the away side - a Panini sticker style thing on Revell and err.... That appeared to be it ( and he scored!)

I also take exception to this ' remember where we came from' train of thought,I was there for all of it - it was a great struggle and a exemplary reaction to the situation by hundreds of fans, including Tony Bloom, Dick Knight et al, but if we don't do something positive soon, my worry is we may be heading back in that direction.

This!

 

[Cloughie]

Recruitment is a huge concern. As soon as you're relying on 4-5+ loan deals you're almost admitting that you failed to adequately replace outgoing players. Signing forwards who clearly aren't suited to our style (CMS/Baldock primarily used in a front two for example) highlights this problem.

 

[Springal]

Or fan pressure making it a harder task? unrealistic expectations after 2 good seasons meaning that the first sign that this isn't likely to be repeated or better means people start questyioning all and sundry about the club and its future.

After years of being in the wilderness and very nearly losing the club completely, i'd have thought that our fans would be amongst those who would prefer the club to be run properly and that we don't spend untold millions chasing a dream without a guarentee of success and risk the clubs future. Yet the demands to spend, spend, spend is almost defeaning - sack X, Y and Z. Hire new people to replace then, buy a significant number of players to replace those we already have (and were often written off by our fans before a ball was kicked)

They seem to have decided we can't be an also ran side in the Championship any more as this is now considered a failurewhen just a couple of years ago we would have snapped the arm off anyone offering us this.

I'm sorry put it's Tony Bloom himself saying our playing budgets have gone up every year, so why would we spend more, to achieve less? It's also tony Bloom telling us that this squad is capable at getting in the play offs and that is what he expects. That isn't unrealistic fan expectations or pressure, that's what we are told

 

[Lower West Stander]

Its clearly more than just the playing side.

2 managers have left in successive seasons of their own volition. I know Gus is a bighead and handled it really badly but the fact remains he left because of the way the club was being operated, same with Oscar. Both left the club after leading it to the playoffs.

There is something about the club that managers don't like. I'm not an insider so do not profess to know what it is, but basic facts point to that. I'm thinking Hyppia is more of a yes man who does what he is told by Bloom, Barber, Burke etc - which is why we are in such a mess

 

[Bwian]

I totally agree with this,i will also add that once the players were signed it was going to take and perhaps is still taking Sami time to find his best eleven,the problem is time or lack of and what with another transfer window looming the problems will only be compounded.

It really does look grim at the moment.

It does look really grim at the moment.

We have a manager and an assistant manager who are taking us into League 1 and a Chairman who appears to be doing nothing to stop the slide.

We fans have been very forgiving until now. Hyypia and Jones have to be gone before Monday. Possibly most of the coaching staff along with them-especially the goalkeeping coach if Stockdale's performances are anything to go by.

Most of all though we need Tony Bloom to do something and be seen to be doing it.

 

[perseus]

cf: 3 years ago next week: http://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/0/football/16123505

Better or worse?

 

[GoldWithFalmer]

It does look really grim at the moment.

We have a manager and an assistant manager who are taking us into League 1 and a Chairman who appears to be doing nothing to stop the slide.

We fans have been very forgiving until now. Hyypia and Jones have to be gone before Monday. Possibly most of the coaching staff along with them-especially the goalkeeping coach if Stockdale's performances are anything to go by.

Most of all though we need Tony Bloom to do something and be seen to be doing it.

It cannot continue too much longer,it really cannot,i have been right on the fence and just about remain on it regarding Sami because i believe in managers and people getting time to adjust and make things work.

What i would really like to hear from the club now is an acceptance of where we are now(that is we are fully in a battle against relegation) and a declaration of how we intend to get out of it.

Therefore i wish to hear that funds are going to be made in January to strengthen the playing side or a decision is made on Sami.... "back or sack" in old money.

 

[Dick Knights Mumm]

I am not sure we can make a definitive statement about recruitment until we have a manager who can get the best of them. And is here long enough and has established his credentials sufficiently to get his own players in.

Left to their own devices the recruitment team brought in Agustein. And if we paid CoG anything approaching the reported figures serious questions need to be asked.