THE CONCRETE ROUNDABOUT (TCR)

I think that the argument of "he hasn't been able to play his strongest XI yet" isn't valid as that applies to any club - how many clubs have every single first choice player fit and available? It's very rare, usually you have at least one or two first choice player missing at any club, that's just how it is.

Good post Bertie and a view I support. I am disappointed we did not secure other attacking players. It is concerning the number of injuries so early in the season. However I think we do need to persevere with Tisdale for now.

A few stats re: where we stand after the first 11 league games compared to other seasons.....

- 7 defeats (worst ever start)
- 18 goals conceded (joint-worst ever start)
- 12 points (joint 3rd-worst)
- 12 goals scored (joint 3rd-worst)
- 4 wins (joint 4th-worst)


We've actually started the season worse than the last time we were relegated from L1 in 2017/18. By this point after 11 games we'd won 1 more game, had 5 more points on the board, had lost 3 fewer matches and conceded 7 fewer goals. We were 10th and 2 points off play-offs, 8 points off relegation zone. This time we're 17th, 7 points off play-offs and 6 points off relegation zone.

The only 'improvement' is we've scored 1 more goal than we did at this point 2 years ago.

Interesting stats filthy that proves what we are saying about being shite. Truth is you don’t really need the stats to see it, you can see it just by watching yet tisdale says “we’ve been playing well but just haven’t got the results “ really? Apart from Liverpool when was this? It’s dull turgid shit!

Even if he digs deeper, the stats still don't back his "we've been playing well but just haven't got the results" claim....

Averaging just over 2 shots on target and just over 50% possession per home game. In the seven home games we've played, we've only scored once in the second half and that was that dodgy deflection off EEL in the first game. Away we perform better (more shots on target, more goals scored) but we've still only won 1 out of 4 and still conceding an average of nearly 2 per game.

Our avg. possession, shots, shots on target, goals scored/conceded etc are very similar to how we were playing under Neilson at the start of the 17/18 season.

The shadow of the performances under Nielsen looms large and arguably they are similar managers in their approach so I guess that is no surprise, the biggest negative I see is that our best and most consistent players remain the ones who were here before Tisdale arrived for example Gilbey, McGrandles, Williams, Brittain, Nicholls , Walsh and even those struggling such as Agard, Lewington are the equal of Bowery, Boateng etc.

If I was Pete I wouldn’t sack him yet but as and when a proven managing with more attacking mindset becomes available I would have a very itchy trigger finger (would we appoint a certain ex-Luton manager who looks like he may be available before Xmas?)

I'm not sure about Nathan Jones either. It seems to me that the success at Luton has been based on terrific recruitment, which we have lacked for a long time. Only this time it also includes a lack of loan recruitment. If the club had the money I would suggest a technical director with experience of league 1 and the championship.

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Disclaimer: All my comments are my opinions unless stated otherwise. I'm just a fan following my club.

Fair enough I don’t know that much about Nathan Jones just remember Luton regularly hitting 4+ goals past teams, I just hope our next manager is attacking and progressive - more Klopp/ Guardiola than Mourinho/ Pochettino but at a League One Level!

A director of football is what most clubs now require, while simultaneously not wanting one.

Our general recruitment has been poor. Bowery being the outstanding flop so far. Perhaps a director of football would've mentioned how shit he was to Tis. But we don't have one, and now we're stuck with playing him, and a child, up front.

The more worrying aspect of the situation we currently face is why we're getting so many injuries in training. We've always been prone to it, but not on this scale. So what's changed? It can't just be down to Woughton, we've been there since the club moved. So are they being pushed too hard? Because if so it certainly doesn't show on the pitch.

Getting back to the thread, it would be madness to sack Tis', but if I were the board I'd be asking serious questions first thing Monday morning. On the podcast we've been asking if Tis is out of his depth for a couple of weeks. We've been making excuses by saying that his unpredictable lineups are one of his plus points, but, injuries aside, no one can make an excuse for yesterday. I genuinely don't want watch that again.

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When you make your music, do you think about the man in the street? No, I've met the man in the street. He's a Ladybit.

Isn’t Steve Perryman’s role pretty much as DoF? That was certainly the case at Exeter.

One thing that many Exeter fans said with Tis’ when he first joined (they’ve been pretty much spot on with everything else about his team selections, subs and tactical outlook) was that we’d go one runs like this where absolutely nothing seemed to be going right and then he’d switch something and find a way. In fact a few even said “you’ll lose five on the spin then inexplicably go and win the next five”.

Given the current injuries I’m not sure that he’ll find the right formula until we get bodies back and available for selection, but one thing I’ve definitely noticed during his time here is that we do seem to see a marked improvement when he actually has a full week on the training ground with the players. Issues that we saw the previous Saturday seem to get sorted and a much more cohesive performance follows. He often alludes to it himself when doing the Thursday interviews. The schedule is now a lot lighter for the period up until Christmas. Let’s see where we are then...