THE CONCRETE ROUNDABOUT (TCR)

KR's problem was he didn't have a clue what to do when things weren't going very well. He didn't keep us in the Championship, and we started poorly the following season. KR's time was up - he had no plan B and showed his system only really works when he has good enough players to play to it. Charlton have a better squad than us, and have made some decent signings, hence why it's working for him. If KR had stayed in charge we would have finished lower than we did with Neilson last season I'm sure of it.

End of the day, Neilson improved us last season, but since then things just haven't been right. We've been very unconvincing this season and fans aren't satisifed. We aren't known as a hire and fire club, but that doesn't mean we can't have one occasion where we change things up within a short space of time. Managers are rewarded handsomely for their high risk jobs, no sympathy from me at all.

What's the point in waiting and hoping that things improve massively under Neilson? The players might be good enough on paper, but are they all suddenly going to improve enough to have us challenging? If not, then it's down to a manager's tactics, and so far Neilson hasn't shown himself to be a tactics master.

We're approaching a similar situation to what we had with KR almost the exact same time last year - do we risk keeping someone who may or may not improve over a season or two, or do we bring in a new manager with fresh ideas that may get the best out of our apparently high quality squad?

Don't know about you, but I don't have the patience to continue to watch this dull, soulless, underperforming football for the rest of the season in the hope that next season is better. What if things don't improve by next season, what if this isn't a 'transition' season? It will all be a waste, players will be coming out of contract and looking to jump ship etc.

Just read the Citizen article today post-match - reports of conflict in the dressing room, players having words with other players etc, the captain changes nearly every week.

Bring in a new manager, get things settled, bring in fresh ideas and try and push for promotion whilst we still have time instead of writing off the season. I have no faith in Neilson anymore, I used to.

Nah, not a chance. He’d have had the same bounce that Robbie had in Chuks returning. He’d have still got the same loanees that Bobby got right (Harvey Barnes) and we would have avoided Maecky Ngombo! The team that finished so strongly last season was a Robbo team not a Robbie one. A glib stament maybe, but all the things that make a team tick were dismantled and building again takes a bit of imagination. I’m not going to deny it needed doing at some point, but it requires a manager with a strong philosophy on how the game should be played. Has Robbie got that? I’ve not heard it from him so far.

I was taking the piss out of some on here but kk

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The most optimistic pessimistic person on this forum.

Apparently.

UTF

My favourite line in respect of Robbo...

“He had no plan B”

Today we have a manager with a plan A,B,C & D but not one of them are executed well enough to go and win games consistently. We’ll go and win the next two and so we should, but every time the question has been asked of Robbie’s team this season they’ve failed to answer it. That isn’t a top six team.

Too subtle..

Well, KR didn't have a plan B did he?

Saying that, neither does Neilson at the moment. His answer to going a couple of goals down is to send Aneke on, but we still play the same way, sitting back and inviting pressure.

He did, but he actually thought it funnier to tell our fans at forums “my plan b is making plan a work better” because he knew that wound them up something rotten, and for that alone, but applaud him.

I don't think he said that to wind people up, that's just how he is in front of a camera or microphone. One thing Neilson is far superior at.

KR had gone stale here, he needed to move on as much as the club did, he's done a great job at Charlton which is credit to him.

Maybe we should have appointed Cotterill when he was available, his knowledge at this level would have been a great asset.

PW took a gamble that may not pay off

Really? Neilson superior at talking to Robbo?

Basically, our fan base got bored of Robbo (familiarty breeds contempt an’ all that) but I know who I’d take more notice of if I was sat in a dressing room 2:0 down at half time and trying to work out a strategy to turn it round. Has there been a game this last year where we’ve gone “Neilson’s done a number on you there”?