The squad of players is decent and that is proven by what Eustace achieved with them. Rooney needs to demonstrate he can achieve results with the players because we will not have the resources to bring in lots of players in January. I hope he can turn it round but I think unless he is able to stop this run of defeats we will need to go unfortunately. On the pitch we look incredibly easy to play against and likely to concede. We need to go back to winning ugly if only to stop the run of defeats and get some confidence back, now is the time for pragmatism. I hope Rooney can turn this round but my head tells me he hasn’t got what it takes unfortunately. Clearly I will support the team whatever.
RagsAnother weekend, another defeat. Saturday saw Blues lose 3-1 away to Sunderland, pushing the club down to the familiar situation of 18th place in the table. As to be expected, the reaction online has become ever more toxic with more fans insisting that Wayne Rooney and even Blues CEO Garry Cook must
[almajir.net]
Sorry Daniel, but i don't think you should have written this piece.
What you are trying to do is to rationalise the irrational and apply logic to a situation that is illogical.
All your piece does is POTENTIALLY create further division
You need to have FAITH in Rooney.
You need to start disbelieving your own eyes, and learn to ignore stats, overlook logic, write off your own life experiences and just rely purely on faith.
I wrote more about it here ....
[www.smallheathalliance.com]
You expect people to read that again😁?
The squad of players is decent and that is proven by what Eustace achieved with them. Rooney needs to demonstrate he can achieve results with the players because we will not have the resources to bring in lots of players in January. I hope he can turn it round but I think unless he is able to stop this run of defeats we will need to go unfortunately. On the pitch we look incredibly easy to play against and likely to concede. We need to go back to winning ugly if only to stop the run of defeats and get some confidence back, now is the time for pragmatism. I hope Rooney can turn this round but my head tells me he hasn’t got what it takes unfortunately. Clearly I will support the team whatever.
You need to stop worrying Andy .... stop applying logic to the situation and just rely on faith.
Besides .... easy peasy gimme freebie 3 points coming up against Sheffield Wednesday
RagsAnother weekend, another defeat. Saturday saw Blues lose 3-1 away to Sunderland, pushing the club down to the familiar situation of 18th place in the table. As to be expected, the reaction online has become ever more toxic with more fans insisting that Wayne Rooney and even Blues CEO Garry Cook must
[almajir.net]
Sorry Daniel, but i don't think you should have written this piece.
What you are trying to do is to rationalise the irrational and apply logic to a situation that is illogical.
All your piece does is POTENTIALLY create further division
You need to have FAITH in Rooney.
You need to start disbelieving your own eyes, and learn to ignore stats, overlook logic, write off your own life experiences and just rely purely on faith.
I wrote more about it here ....
[www.smallheathalliance.com]
You expect people to read that again😁?
On no ... not read it "again" ... if people have read it once then there's no point in reading it "again". I mean, i thought people would find it powerful, but based on the PMs i've had many have actually found it "life saving".
"Inspirational" is a word that is getting repeated a lot in the mail i'm receiving
and it's true ..... when there's absolutely nothing on which to base belief, you have to turn to faith - and "have faith in Rooney"
I think it’s a good article, because it sets out both sides of the conundrum thoughtfully. I always think that, generally, it’s not the sacking of the manager that’s the issue, it’s the replacement, and if (indulge me) Bielsa or Potter had been announced, then I think that it would have bred a greater level of understanding as to the clubs thinking.
Rooney, it’s fair to say, is a divisive figure anyway, and - at least in terms of a win percentage - hasn’t demonstrated that he can be much of an improvement. Coupled with some decent results and a pleasing and improving, at times, style of football plus some unfortunate statements surrounding the departure and appointment, and a sense of anger amongst some of the fan base isn’t a surprise.
Added to that, the sense of history repeating itself (Zola) and the feeling of the applecart being upset at probably the best moment in the club’s last twelve years has frustrated many.
It sounds ridiculous to suggest that a club should sack its manager after five games, and it really is ridiculous, so no, don’t do that. Of course not.
Rooney has to be given time, but it does seem a curious appointment given that we apparently can’t spend in January and bring in Rooney’s types of players, which means that Rooney has to more or less make the most of what he has. Which Eustace was. That will be frustrating.
If he can’t turn it around with this group of players, I have no doubt that he’ll go, but then..... here we are again. Another appointment, but with the doubt that the appointment will be automatically correct next time because, if Rooney fails, this will have been a horrendous appointment which will have done nothing but harm.
But that’s ‘if’ - so if we can click this season, given that his first five games have been pretty tough as a group of fixtures, free up wages next summer and bring in players that can play in the style demanded, it could just be the long-term success that we all want, or at least a stepping stone towards it.
My concern is the toxicity that his arrival stirred up, which means that we do need results pretty quickly to prevent the situation from being untenable. Yes, we should stick, of course, but I do think that the lack of goodwill that a managerial appointment normally brings will mean that the pressure will be more intense to get results quickly.
I think it’s a good article, because it sets out both sides of the conundrum thoughtfully. I always think that, generally, it’s not the sacking of the manager that’s the issue, it’s the replacement, and if (indulge me) Bielsa or Potter had been announced, then I think that it would have bred a greater level of understanding as to the clubs thinking.
Rooney, it’s fair to say, is a divisive figure anyway, and - at least in terms of a win percentage - hasn’t demonstrated that he can be much of an improvement. Coupled with some decent results and a pleasing and improving, at times, style of football plus some unfortunate statements surrounding the departure and appointment, and a sense of anger amongst some of the fan base isn’t a surprise.
Added to that, the sense of history repeating itself (Zola) and the feeling of the applecart being upset at probably the best moment in the club’s last twelve years has frustrated many.
It sounds ridiculous to suggest that a club should sack its manager after five games, and it really is ridiculous, so no, don’t do that. Of course not.
Rooney has to be given time, but it does seem a curious appointment given that we apparently can’t spend in January and bring in Rooney’s types of players, which means that Rooney has to more or less make the most of what he has. Which Eustace was. That will be frustrating.
If he can’t turn it around with this group of players, I have no doubt that he’ll go, but then..... here we are again. Another appointment, but with the doubt that the appointment will be automatically correct next time because, if Rooney fails, this will have been a horrendous appointment which will have done nothing but harm.
But that’s ‘if’ - so if we can click this season, given that his first five games have been pretty tough as a group of fixtures, free up wages next summer and bring in players that can play in the style demanded, it could just be the long-term success that we all want, or at least a stepping stone towards it.
My concern is the toxicity that his arrival stirred up, which means that we do need results pretty quickly to prevent the situation from being untenable. Yes, we should stick, of course, but I do think that the lack of goodwill that a managerial appointment normally brings will mean that the pressure will be more intense to get results quickly.
Tam ... you're a lovely guy - but look at all those words you've used to try and rationalise the situation.
No need for it - just have faith
Thanks! 😀
Faith is the one thing that I’m struggling with - I wish that I had a bit more of it. ‘Support’ trumps ‘faith’ at the moment, so that’ll have to do.
Interesting that you still promote the positives, but not the negatives, saying in this article "The table is still very tight, with just three points separating us with 11th placed Bristol City while 22nd placed Rotherham are eight points behind us"
& Your Cook Report Article Just over a month ago, for a reason to justify sacking Eustace and Rooney arriving
"Fans also might point to the fact that Blues are two points off third place in the Championship currently. However, by using the same logic it’s also factually correct that Blues only three points from dropping to 15th".
Well we maybe 3 points of 11th but were also 3 points off 20th at this moment in time.
You should expect a new managerial appointment, from a team that was previously performing at least OK, some may say well, to at least maintain if not improve those levels of results already attained, so the fans at least think there is something to be positive about the appointment.
Well he has had 5 games, 4 of those teams were below us before he arrived, managed 1 point and slipped to 18th, just not good enough. Although both your statements are correct. I for one, am looking down the table not up the table as I was before this appointment.
So far it's been a shitshow for me since he arrived except for 30 minutes against Ipswich in the first half, the team has lacked cohesiveness and forgot how to defend at times.
The big test is the run in of games up till Xmas, on paper he has some easy games to turn around this freefall in points and form, against teams that even if he doesn't sort us out, will likely be relegated at this moment in time (Sheff Wed, Rotherham and Plymouth) But still all 6 pointers none the same, with our current form and position. I for one certainly wasn't thinking that 5 weeks ago
The way he has got some (maybe the majority) of the fanbase at the moment, if Sheff Wed or Rotherham score first the atmosphere is going to turn toxic and if we lose after 90 minutes, well it I can only imagine how it will be,
.
Good article Dan.
Like you say, binning Eustace was more of an inevitability than anything else. Hard to see what more he could've done with this squad in eleven games (within the scope of realism) but there you go, I guess Rooney is being judged on a different set of standards.
I do worry that the online toxicity will trickle into the stands of a matchday but it really is inevitable if we continue to perform so poorly. Problem is, it's difficult to see the bigger picture sometimes when you're so emotionally engaged with what happens when the players cross the white line of a Saturday. The owners have been incredible so far and we're in safe hands no question but the performances under Rooney have inevitably quelled some of that optimism. It's a results buisness after all.
almajir.netAnother weekend, another defeat. Saturday saw Blues lose 3-1 away to Sunderland, pushing the club down to the familiar situation of 18th place in the table. As to be expected, the reaction online has become ever more toxic with more fans insisting that Wayne Rooney and even Blues CEO Garry Cook must
[almajir.net]
As you touch on in your piece, if this Marsch, Potter, Bielsa then of course they will get time - but it’s Rooney, who has done nothing in his managerial career apart from fail, and the performance in the 5th game was arguably the worst of the lot which doesn’t fill you with hope that progress is being made
It’s clearly going to fail - it was obvious it was going to fail the moment it happened - Wayne Rooney will never be a top manager and anyone who thinks otherwise is sadly kidding themselves
On a positive note, it seems that our recruitment operations are far more professional than in the past, so as long as we don’t let Rooney dictate signings in January (if we can make any) then the next fella should be okay
And for Cooke, I hope he learns his lesson that there’s nothing “world class” about anointing his mates client and goes about undertaking a proper recruitment process for his replacement, or Wagner finds someone else who is capable of doing so
The performance against Sunderland wasn’t arguably the ‘worst of the lot’ unless you are mischievously using it to make the case that Rooney is an incapable idiot less equipped to manage a football team than yourself. I don’t think you’d ever make a point mischievously though, so I guess astounding as it sounds, you might be misreading the game.
How can people expect us to change to a new style of play in 5 games?
Things take time.
It'll be this time next year before we see the rewards.
People need to calm down. It's not like we're cut adrift at the bottom. I'm sure if it looked that way then Rooney would be gone. I fully expect him to be here at the start of next season.
You and others contributing on this thread say just about what I think.
Football is like everything else; it’s not what you know, it’s who you know.
Is that not though cart before horse? If it's signing up Olly Lee, then plainly it's who you know, and it it's signing up Zola to get his autograph, ditto. But in other circumstances it's a CEO seeing how X operates and works, going on from that to thinking X has the right idea, and wanting to work with them again. I don't know which category Cook/Rooney falls into.
I think part of the concern is we've played 5 games and seen no progress. Saturday was yet another style, this time direct football. It will take time but you need some points too.
Sheff Wed is huge, he needs a win to give himself some room and breathing space.