[Albion] Rumours of Unrest - received wisdom, or a reality?

[Harry Wilson's tackle]

These days, if you dare criticize the club, you get thrown into jail.
If so-called supporters had accepted everything Archer had promised, like all the toadying to the pathetic Bloom,
Reinelt would never of scored.

(etc. etc.)

 

[Lifelong Supporter]

They used to put Steve Foster up front in the good old days. Norman Gall even played centre forward for one game in the 60s but only one game as it didn't work.

Such rubbish idle gossip. It is a known tactic which too often does not work but we were so toothless up front that he move was understandable. Those around me in the ground didn't have a problem with it.

Our manager is brave with his tactics and sometimes found out to be foolish. It's been and up and down season but be careful what you wish for. Our league position is decent and much better than West Ham's. GP has got a job on there. When will his honeymoon period end?

 

[jackalbion]

There’s several , perhaps plenty of valid things to raise an eyebrow about when it comes to FAB’s tactics and selections. Adam Webster spending a few injury time minutes trying to win a few headers at Everton, or Verbruggen going up for the corner to earn a point is not one of em. And it’s a total red herring. All last roll of the dice stuff. Most coaches have done similar. Sometimes it pays off.
But enough jokes about poor old Adam Webster…

Just think it’s symbolic of his poor tactics, instead of trying something different, the problem wasn’t the height in the box, it was that they had three units and that quite clearly wasn’t adding anything to our attack. The chance creation wasn’t happening and the ball wasn’t being moved quick enough, he had no idea how to rectify that. But I’ll accept it’s just the tip of the iceberg, and we shouldn’t get bogged down by it.

 

[LazDee]

These days, if you dare criticize the club, you get thrown into jail.
If so-called supporters had accepted everything Archer had promised, like all the toadying to the pathetic Bloom,
Reinelt would never of scored.

(etc. etc.)

You get thrown in actual jail for criticizing the club? When did this come in?

 

[Talby]

This, the fact some worry we aren’t towing the club line on here is nauseating.

Something that you shouldn't be posting here. For two reasons, you cannot verify it yourself or the nature of the actual conversation. And also that this rumour gets spread and manipulated by those who cannot help themselves. You could also alert the club to a leak. Remember the team sheet thing ?

Rumours will always spread. This isn’t a ‘leak’ of sensitive information.

The team sheet thing resulted in people losing their jobs and the matter was allegedly settled between the GMB and the Club before it went to tribunal. According to my sources - People lost the livelihoods, were put through an investigation process which involved their phones being taken away and visits to employee homes.

The end result - diddly squat.

Towing the party line suggests an unquestioning attitude toward everything the club does. Sod that, I don’t live my life like that and I’m certainly not going to for my football club.

Is it damaging? Based on the ground staff I’d suggest the damage was considerable, as it has highlighted (amongst other contentious issues) that a corporate football beast will do as it wishes. And that is driven from way up high.

 

[Happy Exile]

I get that gut feel too. The videos are actually quite insightful.
The one that made me cringe the most was the dressing room one after the Old Trafford win.
‘Guys, what I want now is consistency, guys and togetherness’.

What worries me about this apart from the “minor muscle injuries” possibly being from an excess of cringe-spasm, is that it implies consistency and togetherness have been missing. Also that a win, and his desires as a manager, should be a catalyst for those things rather than, say, being a team and fighting for each other.

It’s not exactly a rallying call or pointing to tactics and team dynamics and player character and bravery that have worked and saying “more of this” is it? It’s saying “this has been missing, now I want it”".

Fun fact: our brains feel failure twice as strongly as we feel success. I wouldn’t be surprised if this moment was interpreted by some players as calling out their success as being despite their failures, rather than recognising what they’d achieved in the game first and foremost.

 

[Mancgull]

What worries me about this apart from the “minor muscle injuries” possibly being from an excess of cringe-spasm, is that it implies consistency and togetherness have been missing. Also that a win, and his desires as a manager, should be a catalyst for those things rather than, say, being a team and fighting for each other.

It’s not exactly a rallying call or pointing to tactics and team dynamics and player character and bravery that have worked and saying “more of this” is it? It’s saying “this has been missing, now I want it”".

Fun fact: our brains feel failure twice as strongly as we feel success. I wouldn’t be surprised if this moment was interpreted by some players as calling out their success as being despite their failures, rather than recognising what they’d achieved in the game first and foremost.

In fairness he was spouting this ‘togetherness guys, consistency guys’ stuff on the pre season tour.
Fair enough at this point as I can see he wanted to ensure his main principles were communicated. However, if this is all the players have been hearing for the past 7 months then it must be pretty annoying and not very inspiring.
I’d love to have see a RDZ post game dressing room video after a defeat and win. To go from a 1-5 loss to Everton to a 0-3 win at Arsenal says that the players were given one hell of a pep talk.

 

[dazzer6666]

In fairness he was spouting this ‘togetherness guys, consistency guys’ stuff on the pre season tour.
Fair enough at this point as I can see he wanted to ensure his main principles were communicated. However, if this is all the players have been hearing for the past 7 months then it must be pretty annoying and not very inspiring.
I’d love to have see a RDZ post game dressing room video after a defeat and win. To go from a 1-5 loss to Everton to a 0-3 win at Arsenal says that the players were given one hell of a pep talk.

…..but we only see a tiny snippet of what he says to them

 

[Springal]

I’d love to have see a RDZ post game dressing room video after a defeat and win. To go from a 1-5 loss to Everton to a 0-3 win at Arsenal says that the players were given one hell of a pep talk.

Equally after the much talked about 3-0 loss at Fulham where Lallana seemed ‘shocked’ coming out of the dressing room, we then lost 4-0 to Roma

 

[Silverhatch]

f***ing hell. Which players do you think are happy or satisfied by the season so far!! They’ve all fired and misfired. GPott took two years to hit any target; RDZ blew multiple fuses after Rome and the intricate circuits melted. Hurzeler is clearly struggling to work it out.

After getting ironed out by Forest 7-0 there will be difficult and challenging conversations happening from Tony downwards.

 

[Hiheidi]

…..but we only see a tiny snippet of what he says to them

I did find this interesting though - in the post match Tottenham interview, whereby it was assumed that Hürzeler must have really fired them up at half time to come out fighting and win the game, Danny Welbeck says (of half time)....

"We've got to give credit to some of the senior boys who weren't on the pitch - the likes of Steely and James Milner. They pretty much told us it's the bare minimum, you've got to fight and to compete."

Maybe it's nothing, but were the injured Milner and Steele at Forest? Just wonder if Hürzeler can fire them up on his own.

 

[One Teddy Maybank]

RDZ did that last season v Fulham (a).
Lost 3-0.

Sure, but he did okay, and it’s not like we had any better choices for 90 mins.

Unless you are saying that the defeat is down to one player which is nonsensical.

 

[One Teddy Maybank]

Chris Wood is a player who is trained to be a striker, Adam Webster is a centre back.

Coaches do reverse rules in training, to help players understand positioning.
Bruno coached the offensive elements of the team for example?

 

[The Fits]

I’d be unhappy if I had absolutely no idea what my new manager offers the club too.
Not many NSCers towing the club line have really offered any examples of Fabs positives beyond the league position and occasional decent 45 minutes. No mention of obvious leadership skills, no mention of tactical nous. No mention of an obvious desire, an obvious intelligence. He’s literally just a bloke. A kind of half American in a theme park, half angry bloke. In fact I can imagine him as a tour guide.
That’s not manager material. He must have interviewed very bloody well.
I’d say the growing evidence points to players not being hugely impressed by him.

 

[Moshe Gariani]

Far too much towing lines about. Always going to slow you down.

 

[The Antikythera Mechanism]

Going to be interesting, on here, after the next two games against Chelsea. The frothing at the mouth will either turn rabid or there will be calls for a Knighthood *

* I think I know what it will be.

 

[JBizzle]

Far too much towing lines about. Always going to slow you down.

Depends what's attached, I suppose.

 

[schmunk]

I did find this interesting though - in the post match Tottenham interview, whereby it was assumed that Hürzeler must have really fired them up at half time to come out fighting and win the game, Danny Welbeck says (of half time)....

"We've got to give credit to some of the senior boys who weren't on the pitch - the likes of Steely and James Milner. They pretty much told us it's the bare minimum, you've got to fight and to compete."

Maybe it's nothing, but were the injured Milner and Steele at Forest? Just wonder if Hürzeler can fire them up on his own.

In reality it's a bit much to expect a single person, whatever their age, background and experience to be simultaneously:

i) Master tactician
ii) Hypeman
iii) Disciplinarian
iv) Nurturing carer
v) Medical expert
vi) Public speaker
vii) etc.
viii) etc.

Just like the wheel of attributes we see for players, all managers will be more- or less-skilled in each of these areas, and sensible clubs (hopefully including Albion) gather a team around the manager to bolster any weaknesses.

 

[Flounce]

Far too much towing lines about. Always going to slow you down.

The new “should of”

 

[goldstone]

Where’s Enrest when you need him? Big Hilda would know all the details.