Where is stats boy Kline?

[The Rock]

It's his team, yet he is a phantom, nowhere to be heard or seen.

Slag SJ all you want, and he is the coach, but maybe the players don't fit his style of play. Maybe he has gotten it wrong, maybe the players aren't good enough. Maybe they are still gelling. Perhaps the combined is true. He did get Watford promoted though.

But just before halftime yesterday we had 71% possession and 12-5 shots on goal. Those are excellent stats! And we were losing. I was one of the first to bring up stats boy as a potential helper to the club in finding the right players early on. Now, I am thinking he fell short in not finding a proper striker, and the kinds of players that might fit SJ's style of play.

[Lighthouse]

But the stats guy didn't make the same mistake of playing a formation that has been caught out in the same way every game since the window closed. That is down to the coach as well.

[LittleErn]

It's his team, yet he is a phantom, nowhere to be heard or seen.

Slag SJ all you want, and he is the coach, but maybe the players don't fit his style of play. Maybe he has gotten it wrong, maybe the players aren't good enough. Maybe they are still gelling. Perhaps the combined is true. He did get Watford promoted though.

But just before halftime yesterday we had 71% possession and 12-5 shots on goal. Those are excellent stats! And we were losing. I was one of the first to bring up stats boy as a potential helper to the club in finding the right players early on. Now, I am thinking he fell short in not finding a proper striker, and the kinds of players that might fit SJ's style of play.

Yes the game stats on the offal look good - except that they had 10 shots on target and we had only two! Once again we had two thirds of the possession with nothing to show for it. Possession football is good if you have talented strikers who can get in a shot under pressure and are quick on their feet. Otherwise it just means that the opposition can get men behind the ball and crowd their penalty area. I'd prefer to see us draw the other team on to us and then get the ball forward quickly. For that we need people running into space and accurate quick passes out from the back.

[..FOF..]

One of the strongest reason that Joka kept playing the same formation is probably, in training or past matches, the players he have now could not adapt to any other formation or he don't have the right players to do so.

You can see Joka tried with 2 strikers after the half time recently.

Goes back to Stat Boy for making life hard for the one battling on the field.

Stat Boy needs to go.

He can be an advisor to Joka but definitely NOT THE TRANSFERS DECISION MAKER.

[H4usuallysitting]

It's his team, yet he is a phantom, nowhere to be heard or seen.

Slag SJ all you want, and he is the coach, but maybe the players don't fit his style of play. Maybe he has gotten it wrong, maybe the players aren't good enough. Maybe they are still gelling. Perhaps the combined is true. He did get Watford promoted though.

But just before halftime yesterday we had 71% possession and 12-5 shots on goal. Those are excellent stats! And we were losing. I was one of the first to bring up stats boy as a potential helper to the club in finding the right players early on. Now, I am thinking he fell short in not finding a proper striker, and the kinds of players that might fit SJ's style of play.

Not taking anything away from Joka, but when he took over Watford they were joint top with 8 points clear.....Mr Kline in my opinion is the fall guy.....he takes the flack...while the management team (accountant's) balance the books

[Snibbo]

Don't think you can lay it all at Kline's door. It's a "two ticks" system. i.e. both Kline and Joka need to agree. Yes, Kline could block Joka's suggestions, but vice-versa, Joka could block Kline's. So Joka must have agreed to the players we've brought in. I think that new system is entirely understandable given the disastrous transfers we've had since the Mitroglou debacle.

Most seem to think it was a good transfer window for us, barring one more striker. But only a few weeks ago, most were excited about the new players, and many thought that Smith and Cauley were moderate to adequate back up. Martin has a goal scoring record almost identical to Ross. Most thought our defence was looking good and was a huge improvement on last year.

The recent bad run seems as much down to tactics, team selection and motivation as anything. Joka has simply been out-thought by the opposition coach. And for that, the manager or head coach or whatever he's called, must take a large part of the responsibility.

A good coach can work with what he's got and at least achieve decent performances. Conceding 4 goals at home suggests he's struggling.

[..FOF..]

The "2 ticks" system went Ding Dong till almost the end of the transfer season.

Making it stressful to get a signing right.

Keep It Simple... KISS, mmmuuuaahhhh.... Stat Boy needs to go.

Yes, I expect Joka to still take the responsibility for the current debacle.

Nonetheless, if things need to be fixed in January, Stat Boy needs to LEAVE like RIGHT NOW.

Can't wait till December or January before going after his neck because he will Ding Dong again to keep his Stat Company in the picture as long as possible.