Maybe I should just make my life easier and stop reading social media. There are too many knee jerk reactions for my liking, and everybody is looking for somebody to blame. I am in no way defending the club, the players or the manager for our less than inspiring first half of the season, but there has to be a little rationality, rather than us all turning on our beloved club.
Maybe we should try and analyse this, calmly-
THE KHANS
Ever since Al Fayed left, the club seems, at times, like a headless chicken. I have never been impressed by Americans owning English football clubs, as they want the American model of becoming too involved in the playing side of things. You only have to look at what Lerner did to Villa, and the Glaziers at Man Utd. The stand out instance, is the appointment of Magath, who was apparently recruited by an American sports promotion company. I may be wrong on what type of company it was, but he was definitely recruited under a stats style system, and we all know what a disaster that was. Thankfully, the Khans seem to have realised that knee jerk sackings don't always work (see Rene Mulensteen's short tenure). Their insistence on sticking with the crazy transfer policy of Kline and Tony Khan is another prime example of their ineptness at running football clubs. Whether you are for the stats system or not, it is clear that making the stats system as the sole criteria for signing players has not worked.
Even the new Riverside development looks like a joke. I would not pay to sit in a stand that looks like it is open to the elements. Why they did not stick with the original p;an is beyond me, but this is a side issue.
Where I will criticise them is for the "moneyballs" policy of not signing players over 28. Selling Aluko was an absolute joke leaving the team unbalanced and losing one of our more maverick players who can do the unpredictable. Because Aluko was 28, the board would not give him the contract length he wanted and they decided to cash in when they could. Slavisa also wanted Glen Murray, but wasn't allowed to look at him, because he was too old. I accept the idea of making FFC a sustainable business, but the "moneyballs" policy is sheer madness. The reason? We are in the Championship.....FFS, not the Premier league. If we are turning down players because they have no resale value, players who may just give us the extra to reach the Prem., then we may as well resign ourselves to Championship football for the foreseeable future. Promotion to the Prem. is worth £100 million plus, and even though I am not a business expert, even I can do the maths. Get Murray on loan, keep Aluko and lose 7 million, and maybe have a shot at promotion. Even I can see that we would still be way in profit if we reached the promised land that is the Prem. We as fans have a choice, accept we will always be a selling club, bringing through youth to sell and staying in the Championship, or we can ditch the rigid "moneyballs" policy and sign some players who have the nous to take us up.
Whatever the Khans are planning, and whatever their philosophy is, it doesn't seem to be working.
SLAVISA
I have always been a fan of Slavisa, and I still think he is the right man for the job. But, even I start to question some of his decisions, and Slavisa lovers can only defend him for so long. Slav made no secret that he wanted to keep Aluko, and it is clear that he had little, or no, say over signings. He obviously doesn't fancy Kamara or Djallo, and even Fonte doesn't seem to be too high on Slav's guest list. For me, Kline was the man who has made Slav's team selection so difficult, but Slav must also start to step up now that the Yankee clown has left. I would like to see Slav given more say in January, and if we can get who he wants, then we can start to scrutinise his selections. And, in reality, who else is out there, who would be tempted to come to the Cottage if we are mid table come February? People can argue that there are good coaches out there, but we cannot force them to come to the Cottage. For the Slav knockers, "be careful for what you wish for", or "better the devil you know".
In my, very humble, opinion, I would keep Slav and see who we can sign in January and next summer, and allow the unsmiling Serb a full season with HIS team, not Kline's team.
OUR DEFENCE
A debate that could rage forever. For too long we have had a porous defence, long before Slav, or Kit. I do not know if it the coaching staff, the manager, or our style of play, but something is amiss. Maybe it is just the mentality surrounding the whole club, maybe it is something deeper. Gus Poyet, said there was something deeply wrong with Sunderland, but he couldn't put his finger on what was wrong, and maybe it is the same with our defensive problems. It just may take some time to fix. Nobody can say Kalas is a bad player, even though he has not shone this season, and Ream and Odoi have improved. There is a definitely a problem, but if the professionals can't fix it, then I doubt us armchair coaches can fix it.
STRONGER DIVISION
We, as a team, overachieved last year, and rightly our expectations were greater, but it is clear this is a much stronger league than last year. The three defeated play-off teams, all sit mid table, us included. Wolves and Middlesbrough both spent big, even though the latter only sit 3 points clear of FFC. Villa spent money and already had a Premier league squad that wasn't dismantled. Virtually every club invested incoming money on players suited to the Championship. The big surprises at the top are Bristol City and Sheff Utd, but I don't expect either of them to maintain their high positions. FFC also spent some money on players like Fonte, but the majority of our signings do not know the Championship, let alone English football. Fonte is a flop, totally unsuited to English football, and Djallo looks out of his depth, not to mention some others like Kamara. We should have kept our squad (Aluko) intact, and strengthened with players who know English football, not players who tick the right boxes in the stats column. For this the blame lies firmly at Kline, and the Khan's door. Murray, or Abrahams, both wanted by Slavisa, should have been brought in to give us goals, but they weren't for various reasons. Blame Slav all you want, but he can only work with what he is given.
IN SUMMARY
Since the international break, we have won 2, drawn 1 and lost 1. Defeat at Brentford is hard to take, but it is not the end of the world. A good little run will put us on the edge of the play-offs, and remember it was this time last year we started our season. We may all be getting a little jittery, but it is not all doom and gloom just yet. I for one will be 100% behind Slavisa and the lads come Saturday.
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IN SLAVISA WE TRUST
FTID
COYWs
© Nic Smith
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