Puel out

[Brown Nose]

As for stability, there is very limited evidence that stability breeds success. It’s more often the case that success breeds stability. If I’m good at my job I’ll get a long crack at it. If I’m shit then as soon as that is apparent somebody will be having a word and if I don’t sort it then conversations about an exit strategy for both parties will begin.

Completely agree with this. The days when a new manager got a couple of years to work things out before expectations are fully applied are long gone. And quite right too. Why should that be acceptable?

Clubs are not run in that way any more. Recruitment, youth policies, contracts, etc. are all decided pretty independently of the manager. He's just there to pick the team and select the tactical approach.

If Puel needs time, the owners quite rightly won't give him it.

 

[Blue Maniac]

Is entertainment not the whole point? Why are we watching football otherwise?

I don’t disagree that it’s nice when the game is entertaining, but I think football and many other sports are and have always been about more than simply entertainment.

I don’t care that much where we finish. I just want it to be fun.

I feel safe from contradiction when I say the owners probably feel otherwise.

It might just be that we are in shit form. Fine. But if it’s more than just form and the current style is going to stay then we’re all wasting our money, aren’t we?

Well, yes, but I’d argue that has little to do with what’s happening on the pitch.

As for stability, there is very limited evidence that stability breeds success. It’s more often the case that success breeds stability. If I’m good at my job I’ll get a long crack at it. If I’m shit then as soon as that is apparent somebody will be having a word and if I don’t sort it then conversations about an exit strategy for both parties will begin.

I’m always fascinated by people who compare their employment situations with those of football managers. I think there are very few professions from which meaningful analogies to the football industry can be constructed.

 

[LeeCovFox]

I realise that this was posted in the aftermath of the match when emotions can overcome judgement. However, BN I trust that in the cold light of a Sunday morning you are embarrassed by that sentence.

LeeCovFox criticism is not silly. He wants entertaining football even if that means losing games. It is a valid point of view but not one I share. More importantly I doubt if the Thais share it. I want to win fairly after a hard fought contest. For me the struggle is the point of sport and the entertainment comes from that struggle.

Under Pearson, Ranieri and Shakespeare we flirted with relegation to the Championship. I would guess that the Thais gave Puel the mandate of keeping us in the Premier League. In that he has been very successful.

Unlike BN I do not regard six months as a long time. I prefer decades. The 2010s are a great deal better than the previous decade. We are 8th in the Premier League and have for some time been the best team in the Midlands. Thank you Claude for your part in a golden period in the clubs history.

I think there’s a balance to be struck. There are numerous examples, some of which I cited yesterday, of middling clubs getting good results whilst playing entertaining football.

I’m finding myself bored at our matches at the moment. No doubt I’d have a moan about the defence if we were winning every game 4-3. I see the value of being a good defemsive side. I liked that about O’Neill’s sides. I also see the value in keeping possession. I’ve enjoyed watching Guardiola’s teams down the years.

There is merit in us trying to have those elements to our game but they shouldn’t be entirely to the detriment of our ability to create or play at pace. But that’s what it feels like at the moment and, when taking into account the complaints of Southampton supporters last season, it worries and annoys me.

 

[LeeCovFox]

I don’t disagree that it’s nice when the game is entertaining, but I think football and many other sports are and have always been about more than simply entertainment.[\QUOTE]

Of course. There are a number of reasons behind my being a football and a Leicester fan. But none would exist if the game were always dull.

I feel safe from contradiction when I say the owners probably feel otherwise.[\QUOTE]

There will always be some contradiction between the desires of owners and supporters. But I’d be surprised if the owners weren’t somewhat sensitive to the entertainment value of what’s displayed on the pitch. As I say in my response to David, there’s a balance.

Well, yes, but I’d argue that has little to do with what’s happening on the pitch.[\QUOTE]

We could take this to its logical conclusion and state that anything other than eating, drinking and breathing is a waste of time. It’s about the value you expect in return for your time. If we continue to play the way we are then I would feel that the value I’m getting in return for my time is pretty low. But I’ll still carry on going because I’m an idiot.

I’m always fascinated by people who compare their employment situations with those of football managers. I think there are very few professions from which meaningful analogies to the football industry can be constructed.

To a point. Every industry has its peculiarities but I agree that high level professional sport is a particulary good example of this because they are highly specialised and the talent pools are necessarily smaller. But I think the point about performance and time stands and I think the amount of time given to managers these days is evidence of that.

 

[LeeCovFox]

I don’t quite know how I’ve managed to bugger that up so spectacularly and expect a conversation about an exit strategy from my forumming career to begin forthwith.

 

[fitz]

You could excuse us ditching entertainment if it was to try and win. We're not trying to entertain or win. It's just dull football for the sake of it.

 

[Blue Maniac]

We could take this to its logical conclusion and state that anything other than eating, drinking and breathing is a waste of time. It’s about the value you expect in return for your time. If we continue to play the way we are then I would feel that the value I’m getting in return for my time is pretty low. But I’ll still carry on going because I’m an idiot.

This is part of the problem, really. People think nothing of dropping £35-50 on a Premier League ticket, ~£100 on a month of Sky. The game is saturated with money it simply hasn’t ‘earned’ in the traditional sense of the word, but only at the very top level, so the desperation to stay in the league is just good business. And thus, so is low-risk, unexciting football for anyone outside the top few.

The EPL is boring as shit and fans pissing silly money directly into the game’s increasingly giant pot is why.

 

[Skitzo]

 

[Blue Maniac]

How many crosses did we put in yesterday, and why?

 

[LeeCovFox]

The first Morgan chance was a bit behind him. It was a lovely ball in but probably quite difficult to score from. He needed to be a yard further back. The others, fair enough.

But it’s about our general play. We start creating chances from scrappy situations, normally from half cleared set pieces. And we don’t start attacking until we are already losing at home against shit teams. Even then it takes us half an hour after conceding to decide that’s what we ought to do.

That’s a big part of the frustration. We know we can create. We’ve shown it even in these recent crap matches. Perhaps if we tried doing so from the first minute we’d have six more points from the last three home games and be two points behind a struggling Arsenal side instead of eight.

 

[bloo]

Say what you want about Puel's tactics, but it's not his fault his players keep missing sitters.

And I'd agree, but it's not about missing sitters. If it were only that then I'd be relatively happy. Sometimes, it just won't go in (said the actress...) And we tend only to miss the sitters once we've become desperate and are chasing the game. For me, it's the game plan before we've become desperate that is confounding me.

 

[Skitzo]

Think his point is if the player actually scored those chances they style would seem better, and for all the talk of creating nothing we are missing a lot of fairly easy chances.

Lets face it we need an early goal, when we were flying under Puel we scored early and that made everything else click and easier

 

[bloo]

Point taken Skitzo.

Lets face it we need an early goal, when we were flying under Puel we scored early and that made everything else eclick and easier

 

[artic fox]

Erm.... nobody suggested that he is or that he should be. Not once. Ever.

Can l ask,do you feel he should have come straight back into the Team after his injury? Is it a case of the old dog (Wes) teaching the pup (Harry) all the tricks he has in his repitoire ? .Not having a go at Wes just trying to make sense of Puel's mindset!

 

[popillius]

Can l ask,do you feel he should have come straight back into the Team after his injury? Is it a case of the old dog (Wes) teaching the pup (Harry) all the tricks he has in his repitoire ? .Not having a go at Wes just trying to make sense of Puel's mindset!

Did you read my post? I said in it very clearly that I would have kept Dragovic in. That still doesn't mean that I think Morgan's return to the side has been disastrous, it hasn't. I'm far more concerned by the 'performances' of our midfielders than the return of Morgan.

 

[fitz]

Would be interesting to see if he will reverse his tactics. Try and score a few first then **** about with the ball for the rest of the match. More likely to win that way I reckon.

 

[Ike O'Noclassed]

I realise that this was posted in the aftermath of the match when emotions can overcome judgement. However, BN I trust that in the cold light of a Sunday morning you are embarrassed by that sentence.

LeeCovFox criticism is not silly. He wants entertaining football even if that means losing games. It is a valid point of view but not one I share. More importantly I doubt if the Thais share it. I want to win fairly after a hard fought contest. For me the struggle is the point of sport and the entertainment comes from that struggle.

Under Pearson, Ranieri and Shakespeare we flirted with relegation to the Championship. I would guess that the Thais gave Puel the mandate of keeping us in the Premier League. In that he has been very successful.

Unlike BN I do not regard six months as a long time. I prefer decades. The 2010s are a great deal better than the previous decade. We are 8th in the Premier League and have for some time been the best team in the Midlands. Thank you Claude for your part in a golden period in the clubs history.

Are you saying that Puel should have a preseason before we rush to a judgement?

 

[Brown Nose]

I realise that this was posted in the aftermath of the match when emotions can overcome judgement. However, BN I trust that in the cold light of a Sunday morning you are embarrassed by that sentence.

You'll probably take this as a compliment David, but you're living in the past.

Football has changed. Football management isn't the same any more. You improve the side quickly or you get the sack. It's that simple.

There have been multiple examples at our club where it has been obvious very early on that the manager wasn't the right man for the job. Almost always, we've given them more time than they've merited to prove their incompetence. This time is wasted. Half a season is plenty.

Our owners make a change pretty quickly and I have the utmost respect for their approach. The only issue I have is that they aren't then ready with a replacement.

 

[Blue Maniac]

You'll probably take this as a compliment David, but you're living in the past.

 

[alex]

The lot of you, get a ****ing grip.

Since when did we become Arsenal TV?

Some of you need to remember where we were not so long ago.