I never said
Blackwell should go anywhere....I simply pointed out that his signals were 'a
little different' to say the least. Going back to the semi-final, Leeds was unable to control themselves....two players
sent off. In the final, Derry could,
I didn't say should, have been sent packing. Going in for tackles
without control can get any team in trouble.....it just seemed every
tackle....every ball into touch....some Leeds
player was throwing their hand up as if to say...it's our ball, when clearly
it wasn't. Chatting too much with the ref.......I could go on......in a
final like that, it's time to play the game....get on with
it......pushing and shoving will get yet another yellow card....just what you
need to win.....having to play more careful unless you get another yellow,
which means a red. All of this adds up to discipline......lacking on
Sunday.
So, I've said my
piece.....now what do we expect next.......silence I guess until after the
World Cup....then what? You lot will know I'm sure...who goes....who
stays.....and where we will stand after next season. My guess,
considering the teams coming down to join us......and the improvements being
made with current C-ship teams......middle of the pack maybe?
Even being pedantic about league
position doesn’t alter the facts.. positions 3 to 6 were only 6pts
apart and then there was a big gap to 7th. Given a normal
last few games of the season (ie playoff positions weren’t completely
set) then we would have finished 3rd, and Watford 4th. That still
leaves 20 teams below them. The point was that their brand of football
is statistically proven and hard to play against, Im not saying Leeds Utd
couldn’t have played against it, they clearly did twice throughout the
season.. I said that playing against such a statistically effective system is
difficult at the best of times, ie had our players all performed as well as
they could, but as they didn’t it was no surprise we lost to it.
Look, you and others are using this
result, and Leeds
inability to beat it, as a reason that Blackwell should go. His team
took 4 from 6 points off that side and that system, so what is your point?
My point is that it doesn’t matter
who is manager of a football side, if the players either ignore direct
instructions, or have a collective off day, you cannot blame the manager for
that. If we had played to the best of our ability and been outclassed,
then you may have had a point because that would point to fundamentally
flawed systems and inferior players.
You also must have been watching a
different game to me, Derry
was probably our best player.. was effective all over the pitch. Gregan
also had a decent game. Do you really expect the bloke to pull the ball
down and play a nice simple pass when on the end of a long throw/long punt
forward? He made some timely blocks/interceptions, was good in the air
etc. Have you never heard the adage that if in doubt, get it out?
Row Z is better than a poncy infield pass that gets intercepted or leaves the
midfield isolated. His clearances, generally, went upfield before going
out, in other words he tried to get as much distance on the ball as possible.
I just wonder what you lot would have
reckoned on McKay had he been on our side all season. He is the same
sort of player as Gregan and Butler.
From: [EMAIL PROTECTED]
[mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] On
Behalf Of John Sykes
Sent: 22 May 2006 16:12
To: [email protected]
Subject: [LU] What next
Its not always
easy playing against teams like Watford,
if it was they
Wouldn't have
finished 3rd. Its almost impossible if half your players
Freeze/panic on
the big day.
Watford moved
into third place almost as the season ended......Leeds was in third place almost to the
end...so that argument doesn't cut it. As some of you have argued for
weeks about Gregan, I saw him yesterday at his worst.....and Derry wasn't much better. Seemingly
playing only one striker until virtually the game was over, just didn't cut
it either.
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