I am never late for anything. Tardiness has never been in my book from the day I began a paper round.
Seemingly countless years of working to deadlines and a spell in the police continues to ensure that commitment level and old habits die hard. However, unforeseen circumstances (the small of my back simply and inexplicably turning to jelly as I was traversing Anglia Square) led to my missing a habitual meet-up at the Wig and Pen and arriving at the ground too close to kick-off for comfort.
I spoke with a steward mate as I always do. After he had stopped laughing at my all-too-transparent misfortune and making the obligatory “I thought you were nearly 60, not 80” remarks he advised me to hobble to the Upper Barclay via the service lift. A slow process, but I was grateful.
Ten or so flights of steep stairs were not an option on Tuesday night. The omens, I felt, were not good. Having made a monumental effort to eventually take my seat I hoped the team would do the same on the pitch.
Many of us feared the worst. There was no toxicity, apart from a few boos from The Pit when it was announced that Seb Bassong was once more being deployed instead of Timm Klose but the atmosphere in the Barclay was as flat as the proverbial pancake, certainly through a largely uneventful first half.
But we were at least playing like a team. There seemed to be a game-plan, albeit one that reeked of containment of the opposition on our own turf.
The game itself has been reported elsewhere. I will only add that Youssouf Mulumbu was a real influence and seemed to allow Graham Dorrans a little more freedom. Both had their best games in yellow that I have seen. And special praise for our Portuguese duo. Superb stuff from both Nelson and his compatriot Ivo Pinto.
So, where does this leave us?
Three points better off, obviously. The ultra-pessimists who see League One on the horizon can certainly button it as that will not come to pass. But what of onwards and upwards? A win over Huddersfield and things will truly be going in the right direction.
Many of us thought last night’s team selection appeared too defensive on paper. I don’t care – it worked. Winning ugly? To an extent, but I would settle for this level of performance in every game right now. We need those points and it really doesn’t matter how we get them.
I have seen on other message boards that some people believe our results pattern constitutes a nightmare scenario in that Alex Neil is achieving just enough to stay in situ but nowhere near what is required to get us promoted.
Some compare it to the protracted last days of the tenure of Chris Hughton. But there is a difference. While the players on the pitch care enough to grind out results, Neil has a chance. It is up to him to build on this – Villa were by no means as poor as Brentford, whatever Steve Bruce might have said about his own outfit afterwards.
I firmly believe the January window is more important in terms of who we can offload, rather than recruit. Rumours abound about who wants out.
I only know of one player who is going to attempt to force a move if possible. Under the auspices of his agent, of course. A shame to lose him, but it could prove to be for the greater good. There may well be others – I have no idea.
As for the oft-mentioned cull of the dead wood, that is easier said than done. They have to want (or at least agree) to go, and clubs who want them have to be able to afford their wages. Once more, easier said than done. Especially in these agent-dominated times.
Interestingly the sale of the player I refer to would pay for the purchase and wages of two decent current Championship centre-backs. Yes, I feel we will need two – younger guys with the ability to do the job now and also with the capability to further improve. They are out there.
James Maddison can be recalled from Aberdeen. Louis Thompson has signed a new contract (my back incident meant I missed the live announcement but I was delighted to be told of it) and we have a few waiting in the wings – Canos, Godfrey, McGrandles, etc.
While I do not have too much faith in Neil and would prefer an experienced manager I believe he has earned himself a further opportunity with Tuesday night’s performance. We are not in a particularly good place, but are in a reasonable one.
Hopefully my back and I will make it for Huddersfield. If I can turn up, the team can too. And on the basis of the Villa performance I am beginning to believe that they will.
It’s over to you Alex. You’ve done it before, so show us you can do it again. If I can make it up the steps, so can you.
Dead wood is a personal pet hate of mine, largely because it implies a failed recruitment. In reality it’s usually a matter of other players being better, at least in the eyes of the manager, than the individual in question.
One issue we do seem to have though, as Martin touches upon, is an inherent wages structure which pays well in comparison to many other Championship teams. It was mentioned by Moxey as the primary reason why they struggled to move on certain fringe squad players last summer. Hence the “sell before we buy” comments subsequently mentioned.
Perhaps the biggest challenge we have therefore is moving on the players deemed surplus to requirements, rather than those we’d prefer to keep, in order to move the squad forwards.
Over to you Jez!
#1 Gary: “Dead wood” is a much over-employed term and I don’t particularly like using it myself.
I understand several players “of that ilk” are out of contract at the end of the season, when we can say goodbye. Moving a few on before then to save on the wage bill is a challenge indeed.
Over to Jez it is!
Commiserations on the back trouble Martin, having slipped a couple of discs a few years ago as the culmination of many years of weigh training, martial arts and Sunday football wear and tear I know what it’s like. Best advice I can give is keep it moving no take plenty of exercise. I still managed to take my seat at carrow road so all is not lost!
Regarding the individual forcing a move, his performances this season have largely told that story and as this season appears to have more floundering strugglers than usual there will be no shortage of takers to help him add to his burgeoning relegation CV.
I was astounded by the paucity of Aston villa, their recent upsurge and the look of the side on paper promised a hard match. It would be churlish not to afford credit where due, namely the Portuguese boys and mulumbu amongst several others and kudos for bassong putting the ball into the stand on several occasions ( and over it on one).
I’m hopeful that the size of huddersfields player pool, the three games in six days factor and the miles they clock up this week, allied to improved confidence and effort from city will give us a much needed victory over a top ten side at last, after which a real test awaits at reading. Positive results (wins) from both and Neil will have recovered to around the 15’/, approval rating with me. The league position and points tally and current form table are still too ugly to read at the moment.
Chris (3): You’ve been a harsh critic and sceptic, not without reason.
So credit to you for acknowledging some positives while (again, understandably) reserving judgement. If you’re prepared to let your approval rating rise with evidence, good for you.
As someone said:”what’s the point of having a mind, if you can’t change it?”
Thank you Stewart, absolutely agree with you.
One of the problems with commenting on what is going on is that games come thick and fast. So a lot of what’s posted on here, and indeed on less well-informed forums, tends to be driven only by the last couple of results.
But progress in terms of reshaping the squad is so much more gradual. Moving on the overpaid is a slow process and it takes a while to bring young talented recruits up to speed. Even experienced travellers like Pinto and Oliveira have taken a while to really settle in.
Yes, it seems very unlikely that we can now grab an automatic promotion spot. I do believe though that we will be fighting to make the play-offs again. In fact I think history shows that the play-off winners are often the “form team” from the final third of the season and simply to finish in the top 6 that’s likely to have to be us. And with Alex Neil’s experience in play-off campaigns we must have a good chance of winning them.
If we don’t go up I personally will not see it as the disaster many do, provided we are in that play-off mix and building strongly for the future.
For me a month of poor results does not mean we are in a Worthington/Grant/Roeder style downward spiral. We are not, as far as I can see, bringing journeymen like Peter Thorne, Andy Hughes, Carl Robinson, Jason Jarrett and Mark Fotheringham to the club.
Instead Neil is developing younger talent to replace those who are on their way out. There are already some signs that this is bearing fruit. But it won’t happen overnight, it has to be seen as at least a medium-term approach.
#3 Chris: thanks mate. Old tennis injury caused by over-reliance on service action reactivated I guess – I was pretty much carp on ground strokes, so had to put everything into the serve. And, O Lordy, am I suffering just now:-(
#6 Keith B: you make some sound points I find it hard to disagree with. Nobody would welcome a Jarrett or a Fotheringham and that’s for sure. But is Alex Neil the right man to lead us into the future?
Possibly. Let’s wait and see.
I said at the start of the season that I’d rather stay down and have a vastly different squad we’re building on than go straight back up with the same duds, most of whom saw us relegated twice.
While Keith is right, there are signs of a revamp, we are predominantly playing the same folks. Some even saw contract extensions at the start of the season and our new players have rarely first team Championship football.
As a result we’re closer to relegation than we are automatic places (in terms of points) and it’s going to be many years before we have a fresh and hungry team.
Sadly, I’m not optimistic, but happy to be proven wrong.
Dave B (8): As we know, AN wanted to make more changes in the summer than materialised. A good test of Jez Moxey will be whether he can make things happen in Jan.
With your unvarying record of pessimism, no-one will be in the least surprised to find you “not optimistic”. As for “happy to be proven wrong”, that would be nice.
I find the discussion around Alex Neil interesting. He’s obviously got stuff wrong this season, and has had some questionable selections at times, and not had the team playing the way he would like as frequently as they should be…. BUT does this make him a manager incapable of getting us promoted, having done so once already.
For me, compared with the impatience constantly shown towards today’s managers, I find I’m constantly drawn back to the example of another Alex, this time Sir Alex, who based on the way decisions are made today, would have been fired from Man U way before he had a chance to leave the magnificent legacy which he eventually did.
Why do I see any similarities between our Alex with Sir Alex/ Because Alex Neil learns. He is not a Chris Hughton, stuck in a particular way of playing, and he is not a Paul Lambert, so prickly it is hard to approach him. AN is thoughtful, intelligent… and he doesn’t like losing and he doesn’t like failure. He’s taken longer to sort out the defence than any of us would like, in part because he is a new CB light.. but he is slowly finding round pegs for round holes, and bringing a few of the younger players through.
It was probably necessary for a recalibration to occur this season. We have been down from the PL, back up, and down again, with largely the same squad. We can’t go back up with that squad… That recalibration seems to be occurring now… even if defensively it doesn’t quite seem that way yet… but my point overall is that I think AN has a little more credit in the bank than he is often been given, and needs more time too to see where he can get us. The play offs are certainly a target we should be aiming to hit, playing more confidently by the season’s end.
10 Michael – Alex Neil learns? I don’t see much evidence of that. He has taken two years to realise Russell Martin is not our best centre back and that Howson is best suited to centre of the midfield.
Not stuck in particular way of playing? I don’t agree with you there either.
we have played 4-5-1 ever since he arrived – no deviation. We play a very rigid system every single game and very rarely change it during a game – even if is not going well.
Michael (10) your view is well made and I respect it but please give me details of the EVIDENCE of learning taking place. If I could see any I would be happy to support your views. Sir Alex had already proved his ability by winning in Scotland with Aberdeen which sort of puts the ex Hamilton player manager in a different class. Let’s hope you are right and I am wrong because whatever happens in the next games, starting tonight, I can see no change on the horizon.
(9) Stewart – I don’t think I’m a pessimist. More a realist. For the last four years I’ve been saying we’re going in the wrong direction in terms of results, managers, MD, playing style, bank balance, and off-the-pitch activities.
The reality is we’ve dropped nearly 20 places in four (and a bit) years, our bank balance is headed back into the red, our MD showed his true colours, our managers have left us floundering mid table Championship, and our backroom and board have been comical (e.g. no recruitment staff).
Alex has a lot of work to escape the reality of our current situation, which is that he has a group of players who have (mostly) been relegated twice, and aren’t showing they’re up for Championship life. On the off-chance we are promoted through the play-offs he has to revamp the squad, make it gel, and avoid relegation in his first season back up.
I believe he’s got the heart for it. I’m not sure he’s got the experience or players to get back up again and stay there on heart alone.
I don’t buy this ‘we’ll only make the play offs now’ malarkey. This is the Championship people! Anything can happen! Brighton blew it last season and they’ll bottle it again. Newcastle can have their promotion on a plate and their lovely but mostly deluded fans can look forward to another year of Ashley-induced misery in the Premier League. Trim the squad and get some consistency in team selection and there’s no reason we can’t finish second.
14) We have yet to beat a top 10 side in nearly half a season. Know of a side that won automatic promotion with that sort of form?
Bassong up front says it all for me.
Cautious optimism misplaced it would seem. Villa must have been bad. Last nights performance was a disgrace.