The Blame Game.

[JimmyConway]

Some will argue the start of the season was where the damage was done - Some might argue failure to address forward position in January window was key - I would argue having got back to within striking distance of team/s above us these last three games will be the ones we look back on as pivotal this season.

Three games where we have offered very little and showed a distinct lack of quality on the pitch and a managers tactics and leadership that have all but condemned us to championship football.
The three teams we have just played were probably the three teams you would want to play knowing how they set up and how their form was and we have failed miserably. Hardly laid a glove on any of the three for a team who are battling survival. I want to say it's the lack of quality especially from a forward prospective that has been the issue but manager is the biggest culprit.

[Nero]

The issue is the lack of quality in the manager and his tactics and his inability to beat teams around us that is what is going to send us down

[abfg]

I don't know - it's hard to cut with a blunt knife. SP isn't a swashbuckler by any means, but with the squad we have, what chnace did he have to play more attacking. No new centre forwards from the start of last year, until the last day of January window. Maybe that's why.

[Dodger53]

I don't know - it's hard to cut with a blunt knife. SP isn't a swashbuckler by any means, but with the squad we have, what chnace did he have to play more attacking. No new centre forwards from the start of last year, until the last day of January window. Maybe that's why.

I agree but Scott said he asked them to leave everything on the pitch and he thinks they did that for him. If that was leaving it all on the pitch then they just haven't got it. Scott says he sees it on the practice pitch and believes in them - loads of players have it on the practice pitch, its doing it when the pressure is on that matters and too many of this team don't do it when it matters.

[bill taylors apprentice]

All the energy seems to have gone into making the team hard to score against and this has been largely successful, considering where we were.
But Goals will always be scored against you so even if you are looking solid most of the time but not scoring you just can't win games.
Simple really!

[RaySmith]

I think going for the win has been our undoing in the last two games - btter  set up to be sound at the back and hit the opponent on the break.

We need to do this, with the players we have.
WE accrued points  like this, and were unbeaten, though kept worrying rightly that we needed wins, though did get a couple.

Better to get 1 point than none though.
Look at Newcastle,  steadily getting  draws, and  now looking as if they can escape the drop.

[filham]

Agree that our performances in the last three games against mid table opponents has been dismal with only 2 goals scored and six conceded.
In each game we have been toothless in attack and have had no goal threat from midfield, these problems have been apparent all season and should have been addressed with some vigour in the January window and by adjusting tactics.

We are deservedly relegated, the blame cannot be laid at the feet of any individual player, manager or even the DOF, it was  real team effort and they should all stand upto be counted.

[Dunstable Fulham]

I don't think the offensive options have been strong enough. Having said that we seemed to have found a way of playing that suited us and was collecting points. This has been abandoned with the return of Mitro. I think SP must take some responsibility for this having no done a good job in the previous three months.

[Denver Fulham]

I don't think the offensive options have been strong enough. Having said that we seemed to have found a way of playing that suited us and was collecting points. This has been abandoned with the return of Mitro. I think SP must take some responsibility for this having no done a good job in the previous three months.

Scott's switch to three DMs against City and Leeds will be looked back upon unfavorably. He changed what was working really well out of panic, it blew up on us in a hailstorm of defensive mistakes, and we've completely lost our mojo since that decision. Any attacking threat we've had has vanished, and we've started shipping terrible goals each week.

[WindyCity]

Mostly agree with OP.  These last three straight losses pretty much summarizes why FFC is not Prem quality and undeserving of being in this league.  But absolutely, the poor start had a big impact on how this season played out.  I posted often about the opportunities after the opening game for FFC to establish a nice base.  There were points to be had in those next 6-7 games, and FFC got very very little out of those chances.  Too bad the defense had not been sorted from the get-go.  Might have given FFC some breathing room as the season played out.

[Andy S]

Sadly all above is correct and human nature being what it is presents problems of their own. It may or may not be over now but we haven't covered ourselves in glory and we won't now either. It has also been very unreal not playing in front of a crowd. Some players thrive on it and others don't

[ALG01]

I am not sure i agree with the general weight of opinion in this thread.
Sounds like scott is being blamed for the seasons malaise.

He doesn't have a proper squad, neither did slav, despite the money.

We do not have a proper forward line or sensible midfield. Scott is trying to make the proverbial silk puse from the pigs ear.

A lifetime of watching and supporting makes that abunantly clear. From day one we have been toothless.

Last season it was clear the reliance on one player was way to great. Scott is definitely not the problem. Maybe there are better managers but with this squad we have very little chance because we have no cutting edge.

[ffcne]

Very frustrating as looking back some of those draws and a few losses that should have or could have been wins.
Even against the top teams .
Too many to mention .

But agree the last 3 games have killed us off.
And the lack of getting a decent striker in January 

[Stevieboy]

                    WE ARE NOT RELEGATED, WHERE'S THE BULLDOG SPIRIT !!

                          6 points adrift with 5 games to play in 2008....
                                      European Final in 2010.


           049:gif 049:gif 049:gif ALWAYS BELIEVING  049:gif 049:gif 049:gif

[ScalleysDad]

Sadly all above is correct and human nature being what it is presents problems of their own. It may or may not be over now but we haven't covered ourselves in glory and we won't now either. It has also been very unreal not playing in front of a crowd. Some players thrive on it and others don't

You touch on the complex topic of human nature. We have had a safely distanced chat on the massive gamble of loan deals. Recovering from injury, surplus to requirements in a squad set up and just not being good enough for a managers battle plan were all thrown in the mix. All our loan players are here because they were not considered good enough by their parent Clubs for this season. I think RLC was recovering from injury but the others are just here for game time to improve elements of their game and quite possibly their mindset. One of the opinions regarding the catch all of 'not quite good enough' is mental strength in which we included the ability to concentrate and see a number of options at once but choose one of the correct ones and mental toughness. We are Loans United at the moment so all the shortfalls linked to a player needing development, match time and to a degree nurturing are multiplied. Add the sacrificial offerings of Robinson and Tosin to Premiership football and the likes of Maja plucked from obscurity to lead the line and we have barely touched on the problems we have. Come to think of it our loans out do not seem to grabbing any headlines.

Parker out is too easy. The umpteenth rebuild requires much deeper foundations.

All in my humble opinion with no stats or graphs. If you disagree take it up with Scouser Paul two doors down.

[FFC1987]

I'll be honest and say outright, I love to discuss what went wrong with things. Sometimes i'll be wrong, but I still love discussing it. What I've seen creep into too many threads of late is, someone wanting to openly discuss it, you get a Parker almost zealot like, can do no wrong group shift the blame TK. Then you have almost rabid, frothing at the mouth haters of TK come back agreeing, then with a 'TK appreciation' society jump to his defence and suggest its not him, its all Parker which ultimately turns into a watered down version of no worth that people actually wanted to discuss. So for those guys who want to discuss where we think we went wrong, here's my take in short. Poor squad depth and badly timed by TK albeit for probably fair enough reasons ie pandemic market and general nature of transfer windows. Parker being inexperienced and probably not managing to get to grips with both the squad, or the league quick enough at start of season. Followed by some form and consistently, followed by complete capitulation recently and some serious drops in form.

So who's fault is it? Everyone's. Parkers not faultless, TK isn't faultless and the players aren't faultless. That said, its not a bad thing to look inwards and explore weaknesses, and that doesn't make you any less of a fan for doing so.

[itombomb]

You're right, there is a lot of 'blame' to go around, and the circumstances of our promotion meant the season was always going to be very difficult (though it was a failure not to get automatic last year imo).

But even though I'll never be able to prove it I do sincerely believe that if our manager this year was Roy (or Dyche or Benitez for that matter) we would definitely have survived.

[toshes mate]

You're right, there is a lot of 'blame' to go around, and the circumstances of our promotion meant the season was always going to be very difficult (though it was a failure not to get automatic last year imo).

But even though I'll never be able to prove it I do sincerely believe that if our manager this year was Roy (or Dyche or Benitez for that matter) we would definitely have survived.

I'll second all that with another rider or two: Had Parker the chance to play this season out again from the beginning we might just finish in the top half of the table.   Had TK concentrated on a given game plan for FFC from Summer 2016 we would be riding high in the PL with Jokanovic constantly winning manager of the month awards.

It really is all about how people respond in real time to life as they see it, and all of it is valid at some level.  There is no one way.

[Bill2]

Some will argue the start of the season was where the damage was done - Some might argue failure to address forward position in January window was key - I would argue having got back to within striking distance of team/s above us these last three games will be the ones we look back on as pivotal this season.

Three games where we have offered very little and showed a distinct lack of quality on the pitch and a managers tactics and leadership that have all but condemned us to championship football.
The three teams we have just played were probably the three teams you would want to play knowing how they set up and how their form was and we have failed miserably. Hardly laid a glove on any of the three for a team who are battling survival. I want to say it's the lack of quality especially from a forward prospective that has been the issue but manager is the biggest culprit.

Have to agree, our attacking threat has been rubbish if you look at the Wolves game not a shot of significance and never troubled their keeper. Could have been anyone in goal and they would have saved any shots on target as they were pathetic.

[Bill2]

I'll be honest and say outright, I love to discuss what went wrong with things. Sometimes i'll be wrong, but I still love discussing it. What I've seen creep into too many threads of late is, someone wanting to openly discuss it, you get a Parker almost zealot like, can do no wrong group shift the blame TK. Then you have almost rabid, frothing at the mouth haters of TK come back agreeing, then with a 'TK appreciation' society jump to his defence and suggest its not him, its all Parker which ultimately turns into a watered down version of no worth that people actually wanted to discuss. So for those guys who want to discuss where we think we went wrong, here's my take in short. Poor squad depth and badly timed by TK albeit for probably fair enough reasons ie pandemic market and general nature of transfer windows. Parker being inexperienced and probably not managing to get to grips with both the squad, or the league quick enough at start of season. Followed by some form and consistently, followed by complete capitulation recently and some serious drops in form.

So who's fault is it? Everyone's. Parkers not faultless, TK isn't faultless and the players aren't faultless. That said, its not a bad thing to look inwards and explore weaknesses, and that doesn't make you any less of a fan for doing so.

Very philosophical.  We need to blame someone so take your pick owner, manager or players or any combination of the 3. For myself I would stick with Parker purely as he is the only person who could change things but he has stuck to the same failed routine all season. As the saying goes "insanity is doing the same thing over and over and expecting different results". Well Scotty you must be insane as it has never gone right all season so for the last few games try something different.