SHA Small Heath Alliance

Rasputin

Tom Brady's Statins

We didn't have a poor January.

We needed a better midfield to execute Mowbray's game plan. And actually, Dozzell and Paik did well.

A squad packed full of midfielders and we go out and sign three more when it was obvious to anyone that we needed a striker.


If Mowbray genuinely thought we'd get away with a 20 year old attacking midfielder as centre forward and pack it out with midfielders, then that just isn't good enough.

But his record suggests otherwise, doesn't it? He got the players HE wanted in January to play the way HE wanted and results/performances would have had us clear of relegation if he had not fallen ill. The midfielders he inherited were not good enough for what he wanted. We all know we needed a striker but they are not cheap (the decent 1s) and hard to come by. We could have raided Aberdeen again for the next Scottish sensation though😅

We were 'getting away with it'.

Maybe Mowbray should've broken out the crystal ball and left a balanced squad in case he got ill?

Bielik’s bullet header vs Preston.

Plenty of the clubs who finished above us managed to sign better than Hogan and Jutkiewicz though.


People at the club, whoever it was, made the decision to sign more midfielders than go for a striker. Their fault, no excuses.

Tom Brady's Statins

We were 'getting away with it'.

Maybe Mowbray should've broken out the crystal ball and left a balanced squad in case he got ill?

Not relevant to the point made.

Oh isn't it. OK.

A_n_E

Mowbray's health issues.

Had we not been unlucky enough to get him and then lose him just as we looked like we'd started to play well, we'd have stayed up comfortably.

Pure bad luck and no-one could have foreseen it.

Not the only reason. One of many, a very important one though.

It's THE most important reason because everything else is part of the vagaries of the game itself. Other clubs would have said similar things had they gone down instead. But has any other club lost a manager through illness this decade, let alone this season? That was something beyond any rational expectation and put the club in an impossible position.

Btw how did Cardiff end up with a -17 goal difference (worse than us) and finish 12th?

Haircut1000

Btw how did Cardiff end up with a -17 goal difference (worse than us) and finish 12th?

Almost phenomenal amounts of luck. 15 wins out of 19 were by 1 goal - while they only had 5 draws. In a normal season half a dozen of those wins would have been draws instead. Whenever a margin could go in their favour, it did.

Also suggests their luck will run out at some point. Worth a punt for relegation next season.

Got relegated because the players weren’t good enough.

Can’t wait till 80% of this lot are gone

We need a complete new slate and my guess

Wagner will be so much more into making us a success it will burn at him all summer

I think could so good for us sometimes you need to take a step back to go forward

Could be a blessing in disguise kro

Yes, we were pathetic away from home and unlike the other bottom teams, had no ability to pull off surprise results against top teams.

It was just our year, we'd been flirting with it for far too many seasons for it not to eventually happen. We'd stayed up before though a lot of luck, this year it ran out - who'd of thought Blackburn and Plymouth would both have won their very tough games as well?
Forwards, next season will be a good one

pridding

Yes, we were pathetic away from home and unlike the other bottom teams, had no ability to pull off surprise results against top teams.

Coventry and Leicester were wins.

I understand your finger pointing at the players, however in 25 games under 3 ‘proper’ managers we got 39 points, over a season thats 72 points and we’d have finished 7th. Despite the holes in the squad, lack of striker, physicality etc etc- the players are clearly capable. It’s Venus/Rooney period that has killed us. The players should certainly have done more but 5 different managers, 3 completely different playing styles and constant upheaval is not a recipe for success. There is a nucleus of very talented players there that we should keep and build a proper functioning team/squad around. No need to “get rid” of everyone.