COLUMNIST JIM HOURIGAN
Where Are the Positives?
Comments (15) : Our manager is sat there refusing to sign what (in everybody?s book) is a fantastic offer. His body language and manner look like a dead man walking. The players brought in have not settled yet and look off the pace of the Premier League. The established / senior players are playing poorly and showing little enthusiasm for the fight.
Our European adventure looks doomed to fail at the first hurdle. Our tactics and style of play leave us looking second rate and downright rank, and worst of all we have no leadership at the top, no direction and no honesty. Second-rate clubs are being talked about in terms of investment yet we seem to be some form of pariah with no interest and little likelihood of new money.
Initially the only positives I can find are that we are not Newcastle (or Spurs) but, should we lose on Thursday, how fragile will our confidence be next Sunday?
So can things be turned around? Can the negatives be turned into positives? I?m no Svengali but surely even BK can see the obvious!!! Moyes has lost his enthusiasm for the job and in all honesty it was his commitment and drive that got him and us where we are from the Walter Smith days. DM has never been tactically astute or innovative, he has only ever had one style of play and one formation, and the players ? with the notable exception of Arteta ? are all about graft and energy and team spirit. The players no longer look as committed to him or his ideals; perhaps even they are getting fed up of hoofball!!! When the manager loses the plot and the will to compete, surely it's time to part company. But has BK got the balls to screw up the new contract and demand improvement?
Another positive is that the squad is not rubbish, it lacks balance and has little creativity but nonetheless has a number of decent Premier League footballers. What it now needs is a different leader, someone who can release the players to play with some freedom and positivity, something DM will never be able to do.
At the top BK also needs to go, not just to a mythical billionaire ? because that will never happen and talking about the need for one is a smoke screen to keep control ? but to a businessman with the ability and desire to take us forward. Sadly I see little chance of Billy Liar departing despite his apparent willingness to relinquish control. In my opinion, he as no intention of leaving, what he really wants is some muppet to come in with a shed load of money who is willing to allow BK to carry on as the man in charge with the moneyman being a figurehead, and we all know how likely that is.
So how do we stay positive? Well, unless you're Doddy, I can see little chance of improvement under the present structure and find it hard to be positive. We do have some decent players and there are some clubs in deeper shit but that doesn?t help one bit. Change is the only answer and without change there is little chance that things will become more positive in either the short or long term.
Reader Comments
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He has stomped on our school of science mouse and there is no gentle giant John Coffee to bring it back to life.
We need redemption, Shawshank or otherwise.
If not John Coffee, maybe John Collins.
However it is wrong to say that there has been no creativity going forward this season. Currently we are joint 6th top scorers in the table which underlines the fact our leaky defence has been the issue thus far.
I’ll be castigated for being in the "Moyes can do no wrong" camp, but without a natural holder (Carsley) in midfield we were always going to play 451. We need someone desperatley to fill that thankless role and PN clearly isn’t up to the task. Until we get one of the new boys settled in that position then it’s going to 451 against the Sky four.
I can’t wait till we get The Yak and Saha forming a regular partnership, but in all honesty if Moyes had gone 442 last Sat and we still got beaten 2-0, people would be on here saying we should have tried harder to keep a clean sheet and shore up the back.
It’s hard for us all to remain up beat at the moment but I still think we have the makings of a good squad.
1) Moyes hasn?t signed his £60,000 per week contract.
2) Saha has looked promising
3) There?s still time to change a manager.
How about Kevin Keegan for starters?
So that leaves winning the FA Cup as our route back into Europe for next season. Apart from needing a little luck along the way to win any trophy do you really think David Moyes has the skill to win anything? Ten years in management and only a promotion from Division 2 to Division 1 with Preston to show for all that potential that is always mentioned....
Just a bit of a different tact here, how can anyone not want to sign the contract which by all account DM is being offered. Just get yourself a calculator and type in £17million, that?s 6 0s, just look at it, divide this by 5 gives £3,500,000 per year... divide again by 52, gives £65,000 per week, now take off 40% for tax leaves £39,000 per week take home pay. He will take home £39,000 per week or £2,028,000 per year. The mind boggles, I don?t know whether to laugh or cry.
I’m crying as my take home pay for TWO YEARS is the same as the weekly amount that David Moyes is being offered.......
Maybe his contract talks, lack of clarity on the transfer funds and the DK issues have weighed him down. It is also very possible he is still somewhat down after his Mother?s death (yes, I know it was over a year ago, but when times get tough that sort of thing does return to torment you).
In short, I now believe he needs a new challenge and that a more attack-minded, creative coach could take this talented group of players further. They are NOT all workmanlike players (Arteta, Yak, Saha, Pienaar, Osman are creative sorts).
Moyes has worked a lot of good for our club. Thank you David, for everyone?s sake maybe it is time to move on.
Replacement? Hoddle or Venables perhaps? (Yep - ready for the brickbats!) :-)
I see that you like your S King films but you have mixed up two of them in your post. No doubt you could do with John Coffee, he would be great on the end of our relentless hoofball.
As for Shawshank, the only redemption came after years of the kind of treatment none of us would like to endure, although again this hoofball is a form of torture to the majority of us.
Nice line though!!!!
- Hibbert returning made us look more defensively sound than all season.
- Piennar is close to returning to first-team duty, and that will hopefully aid us defensively. Piennar tracks back - it’s rare you see Osman and Arteta (when he’s playing on the left) giving the likes of Lescott a hand.
- Despite defensive problems, we’re still banging goals in
- Saha looks quality
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1 Posted 29/09/2008 at 06:44:40
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