How long are we giving Arbeloa?

[Citizen Smith]

I think a point from Utd at home is perfectly feasible, as is 6 pts out of the following 3 games against the newly promoted clubs. With the new players bedded in and the confidence that a couple of wins brings, a mid-table finish is well within the bounds of possibility. Let's not go all Corporal Jones!

[FFCBadger]

The other thing that hasn't really been touched on so far is Arbeloa and how he's choosing to manage this situation.
In the post match press conference last week he tore into players which to many was a suprise, then this week a totally different approach praising the players. Has someone had a word?

It seems to me that the pressure cooker of the Premier League is a different beast to life at La Fabrica  where he has the best academy and can afford to press all game as he had the best players. I've seen some signs he's making that adaptation.

I'm sure we've all now seen Kevin's 'see no, hear no, say no' Insta post and Iwobi archiving all his Fulham related posts. Player power is a new dynamic for him and one he needs to handle before it handles him.

I voted six plus but if Arbeloa's naivety continues he'll go in six IMO

[spikey norman]

A thread on TIFF saying (according to Green Pole podcast) that there was an emergency meeting at Motspur Park yesterday.
One poster saying Khans swung by,not alls well at Fulham and Ali Mac was against AA appointment.

Anyone on here listen to Green Pole podcast and can shed anymore light on this?

[alfie]

The other thing that hasn't really been touched on so far is Arbeloa and how he's choosing to manage this situation.
In the post match press conference last week he tore into players which to many was a suprise, then this week a totally different approach praising the players. Has someone had a word?

It seems to me that the pressure cooker of the Premier League is a different beast to life at La Fabrica  where he has the best academy and can afford to press all game as he had the best players. I've seen some signs he's making that adaptation.

I'm sure we've all now seen Kevin's 'see no, hear no, say no' Insta post and Iwobi archiving all his Fulham related posts. Player power is a new dynamic for him and one he needs to handle before it handles him.

I voted six plus but if Arbeloa's naivety continues he'll go in six IMO

I think that deleting FFC related accounts is due to online abuse, not necessarily player discontent.

[john dempsey]

I really do not think he tore into the players
After the terrible game at Sunderland.
Saturdays game was much better and he said so.
As for player power, ESR and kevin have, under 2 managers
failed to nail a regular starting place.
They maybe need to take a long hard look at themselves
as to why that is.

[The Cravenette]

A thread on TIFF saying (according to Green Pole podcast) that there was an emergency meeting at Motspur Park yesterday.
One poster saying Khans swung by,not alls well at Fulham and Ali Mac was against AA appointment.

Anyone on here listen to Green Pole podcast and can shed anymore light on this?

I saw this on X. More stirring the pot which I don't like.  I would imagine it is not unusual for a meeting on a Monday. I am also sure the current situation will not be the one the powers that be expected but, do we really need to keep speculating on whether our manager of 3 matches should be fired?

Let's have some patience and stop with the "this player said this" "this player did that" nonsense. The media will have a field day reading our forums and the socials. Nobody needs it.

[Count Flapula]

Have to say I've always leaned towards giving a new manager a chance to build and get their style across.

The thing that concerns me this time around though is all of the rumours of squad disharmony coming out now when we have clearly had a very happy and strong dressing room for years. Think of all the points we won from behind in the last few years - that is not a team without fight and belief in each other. I wouldn't say any seem to be big time Charlies or trouble makers the likes of Darren Bent or Taraabt in that awful 2014 season, they all seem to be decent, level headed pros and none have had reputations otherwise before they came here. It's the speed at which things have seemingly gone so toxic that concerns me this time around, and really only points in one direction sadly.

A mini alarm bell starting ringing after Arbeloa called out our players' fight and attitude publicly on TV in only his second game. For me, if you think that then by all means pull them up on it in the privacy of the dressing room - but to do it on cam in the second game? No good was ever going to come from that in this day and age. It showed not only a remarkable lack of emotional intelligence or regard for his players. He effectually threw a grenade into that dressing room. This is the era of the head coach and not the all-powerful Manager: these days you need to win over the dressing room and earn their respect before you can dig them out. He patently has not done the former before attempting the latter, which shows an alarming lack of self awareness and of how to use the media - a key tool as a head coach. Is he hoping that being a former Real Madrid player and (interim) manager means he garners instant respect and means he can treat people however he sees fit? It's just not how it works.

I am also worried that he is married to a system which works for the likes of Man City as they have the best players and can play high/press high/dominate the ball and afford to take more risks as you have the best players all over the park. While we look like we will score quite a few, we don't yet have the best defenders for this system as puts so much pressure on the CBs, who need to be all rounders and on the way to being world class (fast, strong, good in the air, good readers/positionally, comfortable on the ball and can play passes between the lines). If we have any weakness there at all then we can have lots of possession and chances but will inevitably give up easy goals like the ones conceded on Saturday just due to how much pressure is put on by the system we play. We will need to score 3-4 goals a game to get anything at that rate. Even though I actually thought Andersen had an overall very good first half, Palace clearly targeted his and Timmy's side when they had the ball in defence and all 3 goals came from the LB position after turning over the ball in dangerous spots and very, very poor defending. Not digging out the players, that is the system they are playing in. We are SO easy to score against.

That he seems very wedded to this system gives me very Russell Martin vibes. I hope he proves me wrong as it could be the end of him very quickly.

If the players were clearly bought in to what he was trying to do then I'd say give him a chance - the noises coming out are indicate does not have a sizeable number of that dressing room on his side. I cannot hear anyone coming out and defending his system either which is telling.


He should definitely be given the next 2 games to turn it around - they can be seen as almost free hits. If we get absolute hidings in those then what are we holding on for? He needs to go. I sincerely hope he turns it around though and proves he can adapt/learn quickly.

[Bassey the warrior]

Happy to see the silent (or at least quiet) majority agree with me. The loud negativity has been very depressng

I mean, nearly 50% of voters would have him gone after 6 games if we see no improvement in the next two. Those 2 are Liverpool and United. Not great, is it?

58% don't agree

[Surlyc]

Happy to see the silent (or at least quiet) majority agree with me. The loud negativity has been very depressng

I mean, nearly 50% of voters would have him gone after 6 games if we see no improvement in the next two. Those 2 are Liverpool and United. Not great, is it?

If we see no improvement that would suggest we will have conceded minimum 3 goals to Liverpool & Man Utd. Conceding 13 goals (or more) after 5 games is not a team that is staying up. I think at that point a lot of the middle-of-the-roaders like me would lose confidence.

However, there is no reason that we can't see that improvement. Adjusting the team to play tough games against top opposition is the heart of a lower PL team manager job; I look forward to seeing the adaptations Arbeloa makes.

[alfie]

The BIG difference nowadays is the internet, someone says something down the pub and maybe 4/5 people in the conversation, one person says something on the internet and thousands of people are in, then of course all rumours whether true or not suddenly become fact in peoples heads.

[Twig]

How long are we giving you lot of moaners,,

What a constructive contribution to this thread.

[Twig]

I think a point from Utd at home is perfectly feasible, as is 6 pts out of the following 3 games against the newly promoted clubs. With the new players bedded in and the confidence that a couple of wins brings, a mid-table finish is well within the bounds of possibility. Let's not go all Corporal Jones!

I agree that a mid table finish is within the bounds of possibility. However, just to point out that 1 pt off the Man U and Liverpool games plus 6pts from the next three games would be a total of 7 pts from 8 games. That's relegation form.

[Lordedmundo]

I think a point from Utd at home is perfectly feasible, as is 6 pts out of the following 3 games against the newly promoted clubs. With the new players bedded in and the confidence that a couple of wins brings, a mid-table finish is well within the bounds of possibility. Let's not go all Corporal Jones!

I agree that a mid table finish is within the bounds of possibility. However, just to point out that 1 pt off the Man U and Liverpool games plus 6pts from the next three games would be a total of 7 pts from 8 games. That's relegation form.

As Little Dave someone points out in another thread - under Silva we went through bad runs where we gained (for example) 1 point from 18 or 3 points from 18.  Over the season you obviously need to compensate for the bad runs by having good runs where you get (say) 10+ points from 18.  You can't sack a manager based on the fact he is not gaining points at a specific rate over the course of every 5-6 games. It just so happens that it has happened now at the beginning of the season; A new manager in place, getting to know the strengths and weaknesses of his players and with three new signings who have been at the club for less than a week.

[Hatch007]

If we get 7 points from Man U and the three promoted teams that's 1.75 points per game for those four matches.

Continue that over the remaining 30 fixtures and you have yourselves 59/60 points.

I'm not making a bold prediction nor defending our very concerning front-foot tactics, just merely pointing out how stats can be skewed to support varying narratives.

[FFC007]

Could this manager be worse than Magath or Sanchez?

[WindyCity]

I think a point from Utd at home is perfectly feasible

So do I, but I haven't written off some sort of result v Liverpool either.  There are good players in this team, and we haven't even seen some of the new arrivals yet on the pitch.  Fingers crossed things get straightened out.

[v]

Could this manager be worse than Magath or Sanchez?

No-one was as bad as Felix.

[LittleErn]

I have gone for 5 games not I think that it really matters. If somebody else takes over we still have the same squad until the next transfer window and how much more are we allowed to spend within the rules, not much I suspect. Wouldnt say we should be written off yet but the future this season does not look bright.

I don't think it is the squad. I think it is the lack of organisation, particularly in defence. I saw no defensive lines, either 3,4, or 5 across the back. Were we zonal marking or man marking? of course it might be the shortcomings of our central defenders who aren't mobile enough to cope with a high press and still cover the space behind them. We must hope that the new signings will solve that problem. Castagne, in particular, seems to have been told to press forward but we have failed to defend the space that leaves. So I live in hope that the new boys will solve the problems and we will understand what AAs system is.

[C Block]

A thread on TIFF saying (according to Green Pole podcast) that there was an emergency meeting at Motspur Park yesterday.
One poster saying Khans swung by,not alls well at Fulham and Ali Mac was against AA appointment.

Anyone on here listen to Green Pole podcast and can shed anymore light on this?

That was posted by a character called Mickey, who is quite literally the village idiot, so I wouldn't take any notice.

[Twig]

I think a point from Utd at home is perfectly feasible, as is 6 pts out of the following 3 games against the newly promoted clubs. With the new players bedded in and the confidence that a couple of wins brings, a mid-table finish is well within the bounds of possibility. Let's not go all Corporal Jones!

I agree that a mid table finish is within the bounds of possibility. However, just to point out that 1 pt off the Man U and Liverpool games plus 6pts from the next three games would be a total of 7 pts from 8 games. That's relegation form.

As Little Dave someone points out in another thread - under Silva we went through bad runs where we gained (for example) 1 point from 18 or 3 points from 18.  Over the season you obviously need to compensate for the bad runs by having good runs where you get (say) 10+ points from 18.  You can't sack a manager based on the fact he is not gaining points at a specific rate over the course of every 5-6 games. It just so happens that it has happened now at the beginning of the season; A new manager in place, getting to know the strengths and weaknesses of his players and with three new signings who have been at the club for less than a week.

I'm not suggesting we should sack anyone, sorry if I somehow gave that impression. I was just pointing out that whilst I agree that a mid table finish is possible the form that you have predicted would be relegation form. That's all, nothing more.