At the risk of labouring the point, (but it is a point that some don’t seem to get), we lost this game not through being out played, out fought or the manager being out thought. We did not lose because the tactics or the formation was wrong. We lost because the players missed chance, after chance after chance. Presumably it was the manager’s tactics and the way that he set the team up that allowed us to make those chances. Conversely, it could be argued that the Rochdale manager was a tactical buffoon as he set up his team in such a way as to allow them to be outplayed and to concede 6 or 7 presentable chances in the first half alone. In truth, I think it was just at that stage of the game, our players were playing much better than theirs.
Against Scunthorpe, we were on top, leading and had hit the woodwork three times before they scored. (As with yesterday we should have been out of sight before they got back into it. Yes, I know they hit the post twice themselves, but we were completely dominating the game). Errors from Bayliss, Sterling and O’Brien all contributed to their equaliser, their winner was what we are lacking at the moment, a great finish. Wrong tactics costing us or individual player errors?
At Gillingham, their manager was forced to change the team due to injury. One of the subs coming on, List, was the player who caused us problems and scored their goal. If their manager is so astute, why didn’t he play him from the start rather than having to bring him on as another player was hurt? In truth, we dominated that game from start to finish and as with the Scunthorpe and Rochdale games, didn’t win because of player error, (mainly missing chances but also failing to take the many chances our players had to stop their goal), nothing to do with tactics.
Finally, winning or losing games is not the only indicator of how a team is doing.If we had played in every game this season the way we did at Blackpool I think that there would be genuine cause for concern. However, that is not the case. In the games against Scunthorpe, Gillingham and Rochdale and in the first half against Plymouth the team has played well, created chances and you can see what the manager is trying to do. The big fault has been sticking the ball in the back of the net, something everyone can see. The manager obviously knows this and has waited to get the man he thinks can solve this problem. Not good enough for the tactical experts on here who boldly state that they want Robins out now or others, who through their sniping, negative comments are virtually saying the same thing.
It just goes to show that managers, whatever they do or achieve, are given no grace whatsoever by some. For them the manager has to keep on achieving now, this game, instantly or they should be shown the door. If a manager like Raneri can win the PL with a club like Leicester and still be given the boot the following season, I don’t suppose we should be surprised that a manager like Robins, who achieves promotion with a club like ours, considering the state it was in when he took over, should be the victim of abuse from a few on here. Perhaps the surprise should be that it took until the second league game at Wimbledon before the whinging started (look at that match thread).
The message these people are giving is; we want to win games now, instantly, right this minute, irrespective of circumstances (ignoring all of the evidence of what a manager is clearly trying to do and how well the team are playing). Anything else is failure and the manager needs to go. A managerial merry go round that got us to the low point we were at a year ago and which is a proven way to ensure failure, but that is the way that some on here want us to go. Unbelievable!
