THE CONCRETE ROUNDABOUT (TCR)

Been saying this for months, everyone says I'm doom and gloom, glad you're seeing the light! We're spineless that's absolutely the truth.

So are worms - and they do alright as a species.
(I don't care any more this eve . I'm resigned to L2 and have had a fair bit of vodka)
Can I just say .....
WABLT
Burp belch

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Gimme Gimme Shock Treatment

Sorry - being a traditionally rose tinted spectacles kind of guy I will live in hope until it's mathematically certain we are down

I'm with this guy. There's always hope.

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And if a double-decker bus crashes into us, to die by your side is such a heavenly way to die

I believe that we can survive but not with DM in charge unless he learns to concentrate on substance rather than style and uses the best players he has available in a formation which is within their capacities . Starting matches with Tavernier and Nesbitt as wingers, playing two central strikers and keeping things simple in a basic 4-4-2. Our problems aren't defensive, we don't really leak goals but we can't put the ball in the net playing as we are with one up top. Tell those wingers to get to the byline and put crosses in and the strikers to get into the area. Would we really do much worse at least TRYING it? Leicester won the Premiership playing that way.

The problem is that I can't see DM stepping out of his stylistic straightjacket. That's what worries me.

Footballing straightjacket!

Did you not watch a game under Robbie Neilson?

They can at least go out and play football now. I suggest you give the Dan Micciche era a miss if you want meat & potato’s 4-4-2 and wingers bombing up the line. May I suggest a trip to Willen Road may be more your thing?

Rubbish.

Yes, Neilson was just as trapped in a straitjacket as Robinson was before him and as DM shows every indication of being after him. I'm not defending that for one second.

You talk about 'playing football' again. What in God's name do you mean by this? Is losing four on the trot including one at home to a League Two side and scoring a magnificent one goal in the process 'playing football'??? We 'played football' your way at Oldham. They had more than twice the number of shots we had and exactly twice the number of shots on target! Where are you coming from?

What I am suggesting isn't something boring or naive. 4-4-2 isn't a Neanderthal system. It's very suitable for many clubs and they can do extremely well with it! Were Leicester boring in their Premiership winning season? Are Eibar, a tiny club which gets gates of around 5,000 and have actually got a very realistic chance of getting into the Champions League by punching massively above their weight with what amounts to a squad of journeymen free transfers in Spain naive? Their fans would not agree. Are Burnley, who are enormously over achieving in the Premiership getting it wrong?

There is nothing stupid in adopting a system which makes the very best out of the players you have. If you have a really talented squad you play accordingly. If you have an average squad you should do the same. Fit your system to the players, don't try to fit your players to the system unless you have loads of talent and loads of money available, which we certainly don't.

Why discourage people from coming?

People are entitled to dispute tactics and preferred style of play, just like we all have different tastes in sandwich fillings.

It doesn’t make them any less of a fan - and nor does it mean they have to stop coming to matches, it’s a legitimate discussion.

We don’t have the key players to play the way DM would like.

Cisse and Upson go missing and can’t string two passes together - two decent DMs are crucial for any possession based style of play.

We need to go 4-4-2, become organised and difficult to beat. Get a 0-0, nick a goal and go from there.

It’s suicide trying to play our way out of Leage One relegation trouble.

DM said on Tuesday the pitch was unplayable.. I’m sorry but that’s the standard at this level.

We’re not at St George’s Park - we’re away at Boundary Park in February trying to play a style that doesn’t suit our personnel or the surfaces and this level.

If we get relegated, which seems highly likely, he won't need to discourage people from coming. They will absent themselves! At the very least, we need some evidence that DM is prepared to adapt and to try to change what is clearly not working at the moment. Changing wouldn't guarantee success, of course. But NOT changing will almost certainly ensure relegation.