| Julian 12:52 - Nov 4 with 1967 views | Stainrod |
He has had a lot of praise lately (deserved) so haven’t come on here to dis the bloke as he has done a lot well.
But a couple of issues:
1. He seems very rigid within games rather than changing what isn’t working. It’s not just his “no subs until 60 mins” rule (tho that is annoying) but he often doesn’t change what obviously isn’t working. For example, the game was crying out for a winger to take them on round the outside at pace. Smyth clearly wasn’t getting any change out of the big CBs so why didn’t Julian shift him out wide? We know how effective he can be at that and had been in hot form. Lots of us could see it watching the match, but he stood their sphinx-like.
2. Half time team talks. Does he get into the players enough? A pattern has emerged of coming out (and often conceding) in the 2nd half. Last night we came out brighter admittedly but this lasted until precisely the 49th min, when we actually grew worse.
3. In interviews he has shrugged off the issue of not being able to beat teams when we dominate possession. But along with injuries this is what is de-railing our play off chances. You see when teams sit back we can get three quarters of the way up the pitch pretty easily, but once there we look clueless. This is not helped by 2 CMs who are better defensively, but the Vales, Saitos, Pokus etc are not daring to take players on. Lack of pace? Power? Confidence? What?
He is up against teams with often huge budgets and we have Burrell and Maders to come back who could be game changers. But plenty to ponder me thinks. |  | | |  |
| Julian on 13:16 - Nov 4 with 295 views | TheChef |
Not entirely his fault if his players can't make their domination count.
Re subs last night I'd much rather Poku came on than Dembele - but I suppose there's a need to manage Dembele's minutes and get him back up to speed after injury. |  |
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| Julian on 14:12 - Nov 4 with 130 views | Wegerles_Stairs |
20 months since we won a game with more possession, which is wild (although I do think that will change on Saturday). Clearly a big failing though.
I know he is limited in terms of who is available but I agree he does seem rigid in terms of his approach - i.e. the way we are set up at home against teams we dominate and fail to beat, losing the midfield contest at both Birmingham and Southampton. It's all a bit Groundhog Day. | | | |
| Julian on 14:27 - Nov 4 with 101 views | Northernr |
He's working with what he's got.
His best striker, his only striker with any pace, hasn't been fit and available at all in 2026, basically.
His best and only progressive ball playing midfielder is now also injured. Glen Kamara, who'd played very little football for a good year before getting here, is being asked to do 90 on 90 on 90 with predictable results, and isn't a progressive midfielder in any case.
His best left sided defender has now disappeared again, which in turn means he can't move Edwards into the midfield instead of the rather hopeless Varane.
Both his first choice right full backs are injured and teams are starting to go after the third choice who he has to play there and has possibly been getting through the initial games on Kieran Morgan-style adrenalin but a long winter lies ahead.
The majority of his substitutions, and their timings, are dictated to him because of injury, managing minutes etc. I'd be very, very surprised if he didn't think we needed to change earlier than 60 mins last night.
I'm not saying he's faultless. I think he could potentially do himself a favour with some occasional use of people like Morrison and Alemayehu. But the underlying issue in all of this is obvious, and it isn't the manager. |  | | |
| Julian on 14:41 - Nov 4 with 63 views | TheChef |
| Julian on 14:27 - Nov 4 by Northernr |
He's working with what he's got.
His best striker, his only striker with any pace, hasn't been fit and available at all in 2026, basically.
His best and only progressive ball playing midfielder is now also injured. Glen Kamara, who'd played very little football for a good year before getting here, is being asked to do 90 on 90 on 90 with predictable results, and isn't a progressive midfielder in any case.
His best left sided defender has now disappeared again, which in turn means he can't move Edwards into the midfield instead of the rather hopeless Varane.
Both his first choice right full backs are injured and teams are starting to go after the third choice who he has to play there and has possibly been getting through the initial games on Kieran Morgan-style adrenalin but a long winter lies ahead.
The majority of his substitutions, and their timings, are dictated to him because of injury, managing minutes etc. I'd be very, very surprised if he didn't think we needed to change earlier than 60 mins last night.
I'm not saying he's faultless. I think he could potentially do himself a favour with some occasional use of people like Morrison and Alemayehu. But the underlying issue in all of this is obvious, and it isn't the manager. |
Well yeah.
But apart from that?
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| Julian on 15:29 - Nov 4 with 0 views | daveB |
It did frustrate me last night that we didn't try and keep the wingers staying wide for 5 mins and try and stretch the play, we kept coming inside and getting nowhere, needed to vary our play a bit more but part of that has to be the players as well, I don't think our set up is that rigid that they couldn't take it upon themselves to try something different for a few mins. |  | | |
| Julian on 16:21 - Nov 4 with 0 views | Stainrod |
| Julian on 14:27 - Nov 4 by Northernr |
He's working with what he's got.
His best striker, his only striker with any pace, hasn't been fit and available at all in 2026, basically.
His best and only progressive ball playing midfielder is now also injured. Glen Kamara, who'd played very little football for a good year before getting here, is being asked to do 90 on 90 on 90 with predictable results, and isn't a progressive midfielder in any case.
His best left sided defender has now disappeared again, which in turn means he can't move Edwards into the midfield instead of the rather hopeless Varane.
Both his first choice right full backs are injured and teams are starting to go after the third choice who he has to play there and has possibly been getting through the initial games on Kieran Morgan-style adrenalin but a long winter lies ahead.
The majority of his substitutions, and their timings, are dictated to him because of injury, managing minutes etc. I'd be very, very surprised if he didn't think we needed to change earlier than 60 mins last night.
I'm not saying he's faultless. I think he could potentially do himself a favour with some occasional use of people like Morrison and Alemayehu. But the underlying issue in all of this is obvious, and it isn't the manager. |
You make a cogent defence and totally appreciate the injuries but don’t think it entirely explains why he doesn’t mix it up in play - eg Smyth as striker could have carried on for another 90 mins and it wouldn’t have worked. I don’t see much evidence that he changes what isn’t working during a match. | | | |
| Julian on 16:27 - Nov 4 with 0 views | gazza1 |
| Julian on 14:27 - Nov 4 by Northernr |
He's working with what he's got.
His best striker, his only striker with any pace, hasn't been fit and available at all in 2026, basically.
His best and only progressive ball playing midfielder is now also injured. Glen Kamara, who'd played very little football for a good year before getting here, is being asked to do 90 on 90 on 90 with predictable results, and isn't a progressive midfielder in any case.
His best left sided defender has now disappeared again, which in turn means he can't move Edwards into the midfield instead of the rather hopeless Varane.
Both his first choice right full backs are injured and teams are starting to go after the third choice who he has to play there and has possibly been getting through the initial games on Kieran Morgan-style adrenalin but a long winter lies ahead.
The majority of his substitutions, and their timings, are dictated to him because of injury, managing minutes etc. I'd be very, very surprised if he didn't think we needed to change earlier than 60 mins last night.
I'm not saying he's faultless. I think he could potentially do himself a favour with some occasional use of people like Morrison and Alemayehu. But the underlying issue in all of this is obvious, and it isn't the manager. |
You are right Norf, his hands are tied with the injury situation but he is making team selection/tactic errors........Saints for example, & I know it is not easy, he fully knows that they are a top team, he knows it is difficult to change a winning 5-0 team, so just change the formation slightly to protect the full backs instead of playing 2 up top. Minor but could be very beneficial. Yes we are short, but why continually start Vale who is not performing. Not easy for him but that is why our bank balance falls into insignificant compared with hus. I forget so much nowadays, but there have been some poor team selections & substitutions, West Ham being one of them.
It is not easy for him but I think he is good enough to stop these, to what I think, are basics. He is also doing some proper things for this Club as well.
PS - Dont get me started about these 3 games a week & player tiredness - its mostly bollxxx [Post edited 4 Nov 16:33]
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| Julian on 16:35 - Nov 4 with 0 views | Northernr |
| Julian on 16:21 - Nov 4 by Stainrod |
You make a cogent defence and totally appreciate the injuries but don’t think it entirely explains why he doesn’t mix it up in play - eg Smyth as striker could have carried on for another 90 mins and it wouldn’t have worked. I don’t see much evidence that he changes what isn’t working during a match. |
Look at his alternatives... Kolli came on last night, did something good straight away, but was mostly miles off it I thought - looked heavy, sluggish, kept giving the ball away. Obikwu comes on, gets put through on goal, his shot just about managed to make it out for a goal kick. He tried Saito last night, may as well not have been there.
I'm sure he'd love to change it up. | | | |
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| Julian on 16:39 - Nov 4 with 0 views | Northernr |
| Julian on 16:27 - Nov 4 by gazza1 |
You are right Norf, his hands are tied with the injury situation but he is making team selection/tactic errors........Saints for example, & I know it is not easy, he fully knows that they are a top team, he knows it is difficult to change a winning 5-0 team, so just change the formation slightly to protect the full backs instead of playing 2 up top. Minor but could be very beneficial. Yes we are short, but why continually start Vale who is not performing. Not easy for him but that is why our bank balance falls into insignificant compared with hus. I forget so much nowadays, but there have been some poor team selections & substitutions, West Ham being one of them.
It is not easy for him but I think he is good enough to stop these, to what I think, are basics. He is also doing some proper things for this Club as well.
PS - Dont get me started about these 3 games a week & player tiredness - its mostly bollxxx [Post edited 4 Nov 16:33]
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Nobody's perfect mate, no manager is going to get everything right and I'm certainly not going to sit here and pretend that he has or is. You know my thoughts on Vale's performance last night, I thought he was pathetic. Playing Poku and Adamson down a side against Scienza and Manning at the weekend was asking for trouble and trouble it duly got.
But I suspect Stephan's as frustrated as we are at a lot of this. He's not putting that team out last night thinking it's anywhere close to our best. I bet it's driving him insane. | | | |
| Julian on 16:43 - Nov 4 with 0 views | nick_hammersmith |
| Julian on 16:35 - Nov 4 by Northernr |
Look at his alternatives... Kolli came on last night, did something good straight away, but was mostly miles off it I thought - looked heavy, sluggish, kept giving the ball away. Obikwu comes on, gets put through on goal, his shot just about managed to make it out for a goal kick. He tried Saito last night, may as well not have been there.
I'm sure he'd love to change it up. |
I think Smyth through the middle can work, but the ref last night was not going to award fouls to Smyth or Saito, which to me ruled out using him on the wings.
On paper at least Burnley have decent fullbacks, so I didn't see too much wrong with the original plan.
I thought out problems were through the middle again. We need some magic to happen with Varane and Kamara needs to be more consistent.
Great to avoid back to back defeats, but I think that was two points dropped on reflection |  | | |
| Julian on 16:43 - Nov 4 with 0 views | lassel |
| Julian on 16:35 - Nov 4 by Northernr |
Look at his alternatives... Kolli came on last night, did something good straight away, but was mostly miles off it I thought - looked heavy, sluggish, kept giving the ball away. Obikwu comes on, gets put through on goal, his shot just about managed to make it out for a goal kick. He tried Saito last night, may as well not have been there.
I'm sure he'd love to change it up. |
If only he hadn’t gone along with Nourry demanding Kolli be frozen out, maybe we would have a match fit option there… | | | |
| Julian on 16:48 - Nov 4 with 0 views | bosh67 |
I think considering what he has to work with and the level of continuous injuries throughout his tenure, plus a lack of funds and free agent players who are excellent but only have one leg, he's doing remarkably well. |  |
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| Julian on 17:00 - Nov 4 with 0 views | ViewFrom165 |
Whilst I have every sympathy for him having to work with one hand behind his back because of the ongoing Williams/Nourry/injury denial farce, we had 20 players available last night that should have beaten Burnley, and his starting XI against Southampton more than competed in the first 45 minutes. In my opinion he has fallen short two games in a row with failing to make tweaks in real time that could have helped us win last night, and potentially getting a draw or at least minimising the margin of defeat Saturday.
I've really warmed to him this season, and think he's got plenty more right than he has wrong, but as much as the players are culpable for poor displays his job doesn't stop at picking the team and just making like for like subs when it's the set up that isn't working, or opposition managers have adapted to it. Maybe he needs more from his analysts during the game but when they are tight or not going in our favour he has to do more.
Lamptey, Madsen, Burrell, JCS, Mbengue are big misses for the depth of our matchday squad but I think only one was a huge miss last night and that was Madsen as we didn't have any other CM options that he seems willing to use. He has to start trusting others like Alemayehu and Kolli when he favourites like Kone and Vale atm are underperforming. [Post edited 4 Nov 17:05]
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| Julian on 10:42 - Nov 5 with 0 views | CamberleyR |
| Julian on 17:00 - Nov 4 by ViewFrom165 |
Whilst I have every sympathy for him having to work with one hand behind his back because of the ongoing Williams/Nourry/injury denial farce, we had 20 players available last night that should have beaten Burnley, and his starting XI against Southampton more than competed in the first 45 minutes. In my opinion he has fallen short two games in a row with failing to make tweaks in real time that could have helped us win last night, and potentially getting a draw or at least minimising the margin of defeat Saturday.
I've really warmed to him this season, and think he's got plenty more right than he has wrong, but as much as the players are culpable for poor displays his job doesn't stop at picking the team and just making like for like subs when it's the set up that isn't working, or opposition managers have adapted to it. Maybe he needs more from his analysts during the game but when they are tight or not going in our favour he has to do more.
Lamptey, Madsen, Burrell, JCS, Mbengue are big misses for the depth of our matchday squad but I think only one was a huge miss last night and that was Madsen as we didn't have any other CM options that he seems willing to use. He has to start trusting others like Alemayehu and Kolli when he favourites like Kone and Vale atm are underperforming. [Post edited 4 Nov 17:05]
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I would start Alemayehu this weekend. |  |
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| Julian on 12:04 - Nov 5 with 0 views | Lblock |
In big agreement with OP
I'm not 100% sure I'm right here but it's now over a calendar year that we've turned around being behind at HT into a win at FT - stress that - "a win".
Last one that jumped at me was Brizzle City away start of October 2025.
Grinds my gears that you know, all things being equal, we will change two players on the hour mark of every game - no matter the scoreline, pattern of play etc.
How can that be right?
I see above chat of sticking with a winning team after a 5-0 win which you can't argue against. What I would agree with though is change the system to suit and don't just expect that 4-4-2 you happened across / planned worked for a specific fixture will continue to do so.
Loads of football managers seem to suffer from intransigence and I just don't get it.
The best of them are flexible whilst also balancing the proactive with the reactive.
In game management and tactical flexability is key.
The continual selection of Vale is a mystery to me no matter what the injury situation and smacks again of intransigence.
Sadly I can see the season petering out now and the focus and shouts will all be about fitness and injuries. That is totally right but lets not also forget some absolute howlers along the way by the laptop lovers on the bench.
I'm absolutely NOT saying pitchforks and burning effigies are needed as I do still think the coaching staff are doing okay to have us top half against the backdrop of player availability. However, we've dropped (at least) 8 points and even if we'd nabbed 4 of them things would be much, much rosier - I think that 4 were achieveable with a bit more in game activity and tactical switches.
Really, really hope we can get that possession + win stat off of our backs on Saturday. [Post edited 5 Nov 12:10]
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| Cherish and enjoy life.... this ain't no dress rehearsal |
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| Julian on 12:08 - Nov 5 with 0 views | Lblock |
| Julian on 10:42 - Nov 5 by CamberleyR |
I would start Alemayehu this weekend. |
Bless you | |
| Cherish and enjoy life.... this ain't no dress rehearsal |
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| Julian on 12:41 - Nov 5 with 0 views | cyprusmel |
| Julian on 10:42 - Nov 5 by CamberleyR |
I would start Alemayehu this weekend. |
Instead of Vale for sure. | | | |
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