"You should never talk about tiredness"

[Tal]

"You should never talk about tiredness, you must not give your opponent any kind of encouragement by dropping points and you have to dredge something extra – fight, belief, grit – that will enable you to win games in the final 10 minutes when they are there to be won.

Roberto Mancini spoke of his players being tired after the defeat at Swansea earlier this month and that is something that you simply should never do.

If players are told that they are tired, then they will believe it. At Liverpool, Bob Paisley would have had us out of the dressing-room had we even floated the subject

In 1980, we played three FA Cup semi-final games against Arsenal and the two replays went to extra-time. Either side of those ties, we had league games to play to win the league, but nobody once suggested we were tired. You just do not say it."

I wonder what Alan thinks of his mate Kenny's comments about our Wigan performance.

 

[Gerry_A_Trick]

You're always more tired when you're losing.

 

[gkmacca]

What Alan says is always true when you're in a title race. Otherwise, frankly, I don't think it matters that much.

 

[Gary25]

You're always more tired when you're losing.

...and devoid of any sort of game plan, philosophy and direction.

 

[mark1975]

...and devoid of any sort of game plan, philosophy and direction.

I don't think that's particularly true, and it's been my gripe with alot of the critics over the last few months.

We've lacked a striker and gradually lost confidence and direction due to our inability to finish teams off, which in turn invites pressure and leads to us conceding goals. Some of our play throughout the season has been better than the oppositions, we've just lacked the firepower to capitalise on it.

It's still Kenny's fault, but it's not through an inability to have any kind of philosophy, our philosophy has clearly been to try and return to pass and move football, it hasn't always looked that way but it hasn't always been turgid and confidence battered either.

Alot of the results against us have been marginal, when Agger was in the side we were defending alot better as a side and when Bellamy was in there we were scoring more goals. Those two have been big absentees for us and it's cost us, along with some poor spending in the Summer.

The comparisons with Hodgson are bollocks and the assumption that we play nothing football is exaggerated. The results are shit but at times we haven't been that far off.

 

[Gary25]

I don't think that's particularly true, and it's been my gripe with alot of the critics over the last few months.

We've lacked a striker and gradually lost confidence and direction due to our inability to finish teams off, which in turn invites pressure and leads to us conceding goals. Some of our play throughout the season has been better than the oppositions, we've just lacked the firepower to capitalise on it.

It's still Kenny's fault, but it's not through an inability to have any kind of philosophy, our philosophy has clearly been to try and return to pass and move football, it hasn't always looked that way but it hasn't always been turgid and confidence battered either.

Alot of the results against us have been marginal, when Agger was in the side we were defending alot better as a side and when Bellamy was in there we were scoring more goals. Those two have been big absentees for us and it's cost us, along with some poor spending in the Summer.

The comparisons with Hodgson are bollocks and the assumption that we play nothing football is exaggerated. The results are shit but at times we haven't been that far off.

Firstly, we've lacked more than a striker, of course a goalscorer would have made a massive difference this season, but no-one could envisage the number of chances we've missed and it's not all down to the strikers either. Downing, Henderson, Adam, Gerrard the whole team tbh and has missed loads of chances this season. You have to wonder if enough is being done on the training ground to address this issue. It's not a one off either, it's been a regular occurrence in our league campaign.

I really don't think we have a pass and move philosophy this season, because to me our play seems very off the cuff and we don't appear to have a particular style of play. Yes we've played some nice football at times, but it's not on a consistent enough basis to sit back and think yeah we're seeing how Kenny and the Management team are trying to set us up. You don't know what to expect from one game to the next.

Agger isn't in the side though, Bellamy the same. Lucas the same. Injuries happen and they happen for every single team. They cannot be used as an excuse when you've pumped in the money we have in the last year. That's the whole point of building a squad, to cope with injuries, suspensions and all the rest. And something Kenny's continually said this season is that it's a squad game, now when we're in such a shit run of form, he says we don't have a big enough squad to cope? Funny that.

The Hodgson and Kenny comparisons in terms of results are perfectly fair and valid.

 

[Leo]

Yeah Northampton are right up there with Chelsea and City eh?

 

[Tal]

What Alan says is always true when you're in a title race. Otherwise, frankly, I don't think it matters that much.

I'd rather we considered ourselves in a vital race no matter where we are in the league; meaning we should adopt the same approach regardless of being in the actual title race or not. I don't think a genuinely winning attitude is developed by excusing your poor results in such a lazy fashion as tiredness [even if it is a contributory factor]. In fact, with all the facts and figures and stats and monitoring done on the players these days, with a squad size such as ours, it's a failure of management not to have had fresher players, with a point to prove, on the field from the start, or certainly longer than happened. It's not like we suddenly found ourselves with three games in seven days and got caught out.

 

[keniget]

I'd like to believe that internally the management are delivering a very different message. It's frustrating for us fans to hear excuses like tiredness though and speculate on the what they really think. Especially given the way the season has gone. The fans may be a dumb mob when taken as a collective but we're still the reason the club exists. I'd feel a lot better about things if now and again the manager let us know that he knows.

 

[LadyRed]

We've played less games this season than we have in years, to claim fatigue is embarrassing.

 

[Red Mullet]

We've played less games this season than we have in years, to claim fatigue is embarrassing.

But it's not about the total number of games but rather how many in a short space of time.

 

[gkmacca]

I'd rather we considered ourselves in a vital race no matter where we are in the league; meaning we should adopt the same approach regardless of being in the actual title race or not.

So do I, but that doesn't really fit with the 'we've got nothing to lose'/'season's dead' mantra that's prevalent on here these days, is it? People can't have it both ways just because they're eager to accumulate as many moans as possible.

 

[refugee]

We've played less games this season than we have in years, to claim fatigue is embarrassing.

He is just trying to not to lambast the team in public. This is a return to the old ways, where we keep everything behind closed doors. Public get one excuse, players get a bollocking.


(the next part is not directly targeted at Anita)
This forum has been crying out for years because Rafa brought a lot of things up in the media, and now we are trying to do things behind closed doors and this forum is crying out.

This is an utterly unfair stick to hit Kenny with especially with so many other non-hypocritical things that you could criticise him for.

 

[mark1975]

I think most people are just looking for balance. Rafa made excuses aswell, he blamed the grass, the refs (indirectly), the opposition... I think a public bollocking goes a long way to appeasing the fans every now and then, especially if the team deserves it. He doesn't even have to bollock 'them', an admission that things aren't good enough and that they're all responsible is a start.

That said, I agree, people are just looking for anything right now to pick holes in.

 

[Modo]

Kenny has complained about the referees.

 

[mark1975]

Errr... you missed the point, I wasn't saying he doesn't do it. Someone said Rafa used to slate the team, he made excuses alot too.

 

[refugee]

I think most people are just looking for balance. Rafa made excuses aswell, he blamed the grass, the refs (indirectly), the opposition... I think a public bollocking goes a long way to appeasing the fans every now and then, especially if the team deserves it. He doesn't even have to bollock 'them', an admission that things aren't good enough and that they're all responsible is a start.

His priority at the moment will / should be to ensure the players don't lose faith in him. Once the players stop playing for him he is a goner (c.f. Boas). Fans are fickle and will get behind him if the players start to perform so if it comes down to a choice between appeasing the fans or losing the players then the choice should be obvious.

 

[mark1975]

Which is why holding his hands up and saying they all play a part and need to work together to get out of it is a start..

 

[Gerry_A_Trick]

That said, I agree, people are just looking for anything right now to pick holes in.

Kenny has complained about the referees.

Ha