Before kick-off I watched the Gallen PR interview about the conclusion of our Summer recruitment. Clearly they were out to tackle the widespread supporter dissatisfaction over our strategy of late additions and to a large extent he achieved that. However, I was really struck by a couple of things he said which shone a light on the dynamic between Sandgaard, Roddy, Himself and Adkins - that was that Adkins is very much on the end of who comes in. He said he was desperate to ensure that Adkins had the personnel he needed, two for every position and that they were here "before the start of the season" which he hastily adjusted. It also explains why Adkins has often been the last to comment on new signings.
The point that hit me was that the link between Adkins and these players under this model is nowhere near as close or personal as one where the manager determines wo he wants and negotiates their arrival. I am not judging here, simply acknowledging that this is the case now and that it comes with pros and cons over the traditional model. The most glaringly obvious pro is that sacking your manager needn't necessarily come with a need to deal with players loyal to the manager etc. There should be far less upheaval involved. It was a thought in my head throughout today's diabolical performance.
The acquisition this week of Soare and Henderson has given us all a false sense of security ahead of today's game against 'minnows' Cheltenham Town. Completing your Summer recruitment in September is only half the battle. You then need to find your best eleven, best formations and the players need games together. I will be very generous and say today came a month too early.
The first half was simply an embarrassment at the end of years of embarrassment. Cheltenham scored after six minutes and proceeded to pass and move around and through us with ease. They should have been two up before they got their second and deserved a third or fourth in the second half. As good as they were, we were awful. The back four were miles apart. Lavelle looked like a rabbit caught in the headlights and Famewo ran about trying to defend everything. Matthews was tidy enough on the right but why-oh-why were we still playing Chris Gunter at left-back? Why do we insist on playing it out to him when you know he panics and turns back at the sight of an advancing player and puts Famewo back under pressure? If it keeps happening, do something else - launch it upfield but don't let us sit suffering watching it.
A sudden abundance of midfielders, some with pedigree, and we start with Morgan and Watson in the middle. Honestly - why? Kirk and Jaiyesimi are probably our first choice wide players but Kirk did very little once again and Jaiyesimi was woeful.
Elliott Lee was nominally tucked in behind Stockley who as lone front player was marked out of the game again in the first half. I thought Adkins had learnt this lesson too but apparently not. A switch to 4-4-2 was good enough to get us our only win of the season at home to Crewe but today he reverted and so did we.
After the restart we were, once again, predictably much better for fifteen minutes. Suddenly you saw why the fans believe we should be murdering most sides in this division. Jonathan Leko, one of the very few positives of the day, scored soon after coming on and he looked lively but you knew our attacking momentum would fade and then become desperate before the game petered out, and that is just what happened. The ref should have booked their keeper and one or two others for time-wasting but I have always said that if you give opponents an incentive to do it, perhaps you shouldn't complain too much.
The one other big positive for me was MacGillivray who stopped Cheltenham from getting the four or five goals their attacking play and our defensive frailty deserved. Fair to say that MacGillivray has proven his value to the club and who should go on to become an important player for the club.
Finally, I am calming down a little, safe in the knowledge that we aren't stuck with Adkins if he can't pick the right side, sends them out with no game-plan, has no leaders on the pitch or otherwise can't motivate them to play to their potential. Too early to be sacking him but results and performances have to improve quickly. Four points from 18 is relegation, not promotion, form.
I'm glad I missed it. I'm beginning to take a bit of a dislike to Adkins and think he's not all he's cracked up to be. His post match conference, like many other interviews with him, was full of words but he said nothing. Reminds me of me.
ReplyDeleteYes, I know what you mean :)
DeleteYou make a very good point on Adkins involvement in recruiting players Dave.
ReplyDeleteYou'd like to think he'd want to be very hands on in respect of that. Very important to making a player feel wanted by the manager.
I'm sure it was a large part of why players came to us under Bowyer and Powell for example.
Would be good to question Gallen and Roddy on that next week!
Phil - yes it would but I can tell you what they will say now. That is that he is involved in the discussion as part of the team, whereas I heard Gallen say he had promised Adkins he would get two players for every position. Roddy appears to have the overall say and he is relying, like Duchatelet) on stats and data which should surely only ever be indicative or supportive of something they have watched perform a good number of times.
ReplyDelete