Thorn got three league games, then he was sacked. Was that the wrong timing? Should he have had 10 more games to show what great squad he had assembled?
Or should he have gone at the end of the season and let another manager assemble his own team?
Nothing is ever 100% right or 100% wrong. So there's no definete answer to those questions. Except for those who live in a black and white world. In their head there's always a 100% right answer.
The main reason Thorn was sacked after three games was that there was no real evidence this season would be any different from last season. We couldn't buy three points for our life.
That's a habbit. It's in the head of the players and the management team. They knew there was no way they would ever win a match. Because it has been like that forever.
They knew they would concede a soft goal due to an individual error - and when it happened, their expectations were met.
So Shaw/Carsley got to recitify this. But in their heads they had the same expectations, so they didn't really change anything. The same players, the same linup ... more or less, the same play style, the same training sessions, the same pre match pep talk.
And players low on confidence make mistakes. Passes to an opponent. Overhits his shot. Concede a penalty because he just won't lose his man again. Do the complicated thing to show he's not a bad player but gives the ball away.
They try, but in their heads they know it wont be good enough, and so it's not good enough.
Should they have just a tiny little bit of confidence from the prematch pep talk, it evaporate as soon as the crowd starts booing.
You see, it's also in your head. And in my head.
We just know we can't win. We are used to losing. So we help the players to meet our expectation. Boo them, intimidate them, abuse them, scare them.
And we do it everywhere. At the game, on twitter, on facebook and on this forum. Most players read what we think about them, and that's not easy reading.
We justify our abuse by pointing to their pay check. They're much richer that most of us.
So they should deliver nothing less than a spotless performance everytime they show up.
Which nobody can. But first time they mess up, we're all over them telling them exactly what we think of them.
And we think they're a bunch of loses. It's in our heads.
But we can't really lay all the blame on the players, so we turn against Fischer & Waggot. Afterall they are appointed by Sisu, so they can't be any good. And as Waggot himself has admitted he signed the new players - from a list drafted by Thorn, Shaw, Carsley and Oggy - he must surely be the master crook.
And Fischer who refuses to pay £1.2m rent out of a <£5m income, he really is Don Corleone reincarnated using mafia methods to balance the finances. A few appreciate the need for balancing the books, but does it have to be today?
It's in our head. We are used to hear the club is bleeding money every year. So surely we can bleed a few years more.
Sisu, who have been our owners for so many years, are surely responsible for the decline of our once proud club. They were following in the footsteps of Richardson, Robinson and other failed owners. In our heads we expected them to just keep pouring money in. Spend milions on new exciting players and more milions on the paychecks. Forget about balancing the books - that's not something we're used to. It's not in our heads, so we can't understand it.
Anyway.
In comes Robins. Immidiately we are excited. Well, some are. Actually most would have preferred Thorn or Wise or Ince or Black or Nielsson or Wenger or Money. But a handful were excited Robins got the job.
He holds one training session looking at the players. Let them do what they are used to and in training they perform well and with confidence. They want to impress the new manager.
Then he picks the team, do some pre match peptalk and off to the pitch they go.
Expecting to win. To finally show that they actually are good players.
One stray pass later and some heavy swearing from the stands, the confindence starts to evaporate. A questionable pen to the opponents and it's all back to business as usual.
We were always going to lose.
It's in the players heads.
It's in our heads.
But it's not in Robins head.
Now it will show if he really is the manager we need. If he's someone who can address the clubs losing mentality.
If he is to succeed his first and most important task is to brainwash the players and the fans into believing we can win.
Afterall, the players really are good enough for this level (and most even for the next). Unfortunately they don't know it. Don't believe it.
A year ago many fans put in much effort in creating a sisu-out-campaign.
Could those people put in just a tiny fraction of that energy and start a 'yes, we can' campaign?
I have a feeling Robins will need some help erasing the losing mentality.
A lot of help!
