Armadillo Roadkill Stam’s post match interviews seems to revolve around the fact that nothing he does or can do will have any real impact upon the performance of the team. He’s doing a brilliant job at standing on the touchline and turning up for interviews – what happens on the pitch has nothing to do with him – he’s seemingly powerless to intervene.
In which case I’ll do it. Anyone can do it. We don’t actually need a manager because there is nothing a manager can do. It’s all down to the players, the owners, and the fans. The manager is just some convenient and ineffectual figurehead with no ability to influence the team’s performance.
Yesterday's post-match interview was lengthy with no particular deeper insight other than that Richards had a slight hamstring problem.
This time he said that the defenders and keeper can go long if they feel like it and they are told to do things quicker.
The thing is the players can't be listening so where does the fault lie?
I have been banging on for ages about there being nothing wrong with playing the ball out from the back but you don't do it at walking pace.
For the system to work it has to be pass and move-our players just don't do the move bit especially in central midfield.
Joey?
It is just a sick joke and with Evans there is a player in there somewhere but we don't see enough of it.
Gunter.
At long last he is at times getting forward and putting crosses in, which is what we have wanted for years.
He has also won over some fans for his tweet about players and fans being together.
However his most important job is to defend and from the moment Canas came on he was his usual rabbit in the headlights backing off and not knowing what to do.
Canas is clearly right-footed so basic defending is to push him onto his left-side where he is less comfortable but no, our brave hero stands off and lets him cut in on his right giving him plenty of room to shoot which he did on at least 4 occasions in the short period he was on the pitch.
Fortunately for us Canas didn't have his shooting boots on this week.
Stam supposedly talks to the players about the opposition but again I wonder whether they listen and if not, why not?
Amazingly in his interview Stam said he didn't know if the Chinese were in the country and he wasn't sure about finances and if new signings could be brought in.
The Chinese might not be his immediate bosses but you would think that at his coach/manager level he would know whether or not they were around.
It feels like a shambles both on and off the pitch with decision-making and leadership sadly lacking and with 10 days of the transfer window to go (Do Gourlay and/or the Chinese know about the transfer window closing?) it seems as though our manager (just like Joey on the pitch) is unsackable whereas with most clubs having a record like ours, after the transfer spend of this season, wouldn't hesitate in showing the manager the door before it is too late.
Also we are a side that makes so few chances in games and are incredibly dull to watch.
Some might make a case for sticking with the manager on the basis that it worked for Bristol City in similar circumstances-IMHO that is a rarity and in many other cases a change has brought about an upturn (Palace, West Ham,Everton, Middlesborough etc.) and although such changes might not succeed in the longer term ours has become a shorter term plight, i.e. to not get relegated so surely the time has come for his departure.
