What do people expect from a football team and manager

[morganb]

Just like Richardson's interviews there are lots of buzz words and phrases flying around on here and Twitter

So what do people expect from a football team and the manager?

Results leading to promotion and steering clear of relegation
Entertainment
Effort
Passion
A connection between the players and the fans
Honesty and not delusion/ gibberish in interviews
Value for money

There are probably others...

Are we getting any of the above and if not how easy is it to fix?

[Brogue]

Football is an entertainment industry. I, like many others, spend a lot of money to go watch my football team to have some fun. Meet with my friends, have a couple of drinks, sing some songs, shout at the ref, and celebrate goals.

I don’t expect to win every week. I don’t expect us to play well every week. What I do expect is effort from the players and to play well more often than not. And a manager to not constantly make excuses and chat shit after games. It’s pretty simple really, turn up play your best and to try and entertain.

When attending games becomes a chore and not something I look forward to, you know something’s gone wrong. Yes results are part of it, but it’s only one spoke of a wheel which makes a matchday enjoyable. People say it’s a results based business - I don’t agree with that, it’s an entertainment business first and foremost.

I don’t expect to watch Pep Guardiola free flowing tippy tappy stuff. I’m quite happy to watch ugly long ball football if it has a purpose and it works and get’s me out my seat. What we have at the moment is anti-football. Tippy tappy sideways and backwards and then hopeless, aimless, hoof ball. Get a goal and then sit back and defend for the next 70 minutes. That’s not what I pay for. There is no enjoyment in that.

And the fact that we are on course for our second lowest average home attendance since 1998 would suggest that a lot of other fans feel the same.

[Snowflake Royal]

Over 10 years of disappointment and anger is hard to get out of your system, especially when all you've known for about 20 years is higher tier football, and you've got the expectation that now Dai is gone it's all sunlit uplands, easy promotion and winning every match. Society is generally much more broken angry and unhappy than the last time we were here or doing ok as well.

[WestYorksRoyal]

Over 10 years of disappointment and anger is hard to get out of your system, especially when all you've known for about 20 years is higher tier football, and you've got the expectation that now Dai is gone it's all sunlit uplands, easy promotion and winning every match. Society is generally much more broken angry and unhappy than the last time we were here or doing ok as well.

I think you'd have seen similar anger under Burns. My earliest memories are the Pardew era where supporting us was generous enjoyable, but when he started it felt pretty similar to now in terms of attendances and atmosphere.

I'll be honest and say I'm greedy. I want a team with character and a connection with a fans who try to play entertaining football, and I want to see that in the Championship. But if I had to compromise on one of them, it would be Championship football. I'm moving closer to home this summer so will be going more next season. I'd rather see entertainment in L1 than a rehash of Ince ball in the Championship.

I can see a path there. Ward and Roberts look like good signings, Nyambe too if we keep him. The gap is on the wings, where ideally you'd have players like Young and Kyerewaa bedded in, fit and willing to run at players take risks and get balls into the box. And then clearly midfield, where we need more athleticism and also control in possession (is there an outstanding Erhahon style player in L2 we can sign?)

Add all that in, you can see a pacy, direct team capable of getting balls into the box for Marriott to attack. Similar to McDermott ball, which people are offending when they compare current performances to it.

[Sutekh]

At the end of the day it’s a results business. If the side is turgid, but wins every game then people will moan a bit but they’ll put up with it and attendances wills still increase. If the team wins and also entertains then no-one moans and attendances go up quicker and likely stay up if you get a rocky patch. Same with the management, if he’s rarely seen and is seldom in the media but gets results who really cares, if he’s like Klopp and has that rapport then brilliant but it’s not necessarily top of a list of priorities for him.

Worst is what we’re verging on currently, bad results & zero entertainment - so not much by way of crowds - and silly defensive practices which are generating lot of disinterest and complaints. Yes there are issues still, the squad is a “work in progress” and needs 3 or 4 more added in the summer, but that will generally be overlooked as the small “points winning” parts of the season will spread a bit of hope and raise expectations a bit which increases the fallout when the club appears to do stupid things in games.

Management need that bit of time to sort things, generally it’s been upward progression so I don’t see much point in just changing things now. If I was Leam I’d be trying to pinpoint exactly what causes this stupid mindset of sitting back. It’s either a mental weakness in the players, in which case you need to some vocal strength and leadership from the captain and others during a game, or it’s a deliberate tactical move, in which case it needs to change with immediate effect. If it’s the former we might be short of that sort of player or two, not a surprise for a “work in progress” squad, if it’s the latter then that’s more straight forward for the management to fix.

The only other “excuse” for it really is a lack of fitness, which is generally dictated by the events of pre-season and therefore isn’t really Leam’s fault but he has to find a solution in some way with the resources available.

There is a fan’s forum coming up soon, I believe, which I’m sure will see him facing rather blunter questions than the media give him, good for him to agree to that, and give himself a chance to start building a better understanding between sides.

[Snowflake Royal]

Over 10 years of disappointment and anger is hard to get out of your system, especially when all you've known for about 20 years is higher tier football, and you've got the expectation that now Dai is gone it's all sunlit uplands, easy promotion and winning every match. Society is generally much more broken angry and unhappy than the last time we were here or doing ok as well.

I think you'd have seen similar anger under Burns. My earliest memories are the Pardew era where supporting us was generous enjoyable, but when he started it felt pretty similar to now in terms of attendances and atmosphere.

I'll be honest and say I'm greedy. I want a team with character and a connection with a fans who try to play entertaining football, and I want to see that in the Championship. But if I had to compromise on one of them, it would be Championship football. I'm moving closer to home this summer so will be going more next season. I'd rather see entertainment in L1 than a rehash of Ince ball in the Championship.

I was there under Burns. There was certainly anger and frustration when we were spending big at this level and looking like getting relegated.

There certainly wouldn't have been if we were sitting pretty in 7th

[Snowflake Royal]

At the end of the day it’s a results business. If the side is turgid, but wins every game then people will moan a bit but they’ll put up with it and attendances wills still increase. If the team wins and also entertains then no-one moans and attendances go up quicker and likely stay up if you get a rocky patch.

Worst is what we’re verging on currently, bad results & zero entertainment - so not much by way of crowds - and silly defensive practices which are generating lot of disinterest and complaints. Yes there are issues still, the squad is a “work in progress” and needs 3 or 4 more added in the summer, but that will generally be overlooked as the small “points winning” parts of the season will spread a bit of hope and raise expectations a bit which increases the fallout when the club appears to do stupid things in games.

Management need that bit of time to sort things, generally it’s been upward progression so I don’t see much point in just changing things now. If I was Leam I’d be trying to pinpoint exactly what causes this stupid mindset of sitting back. It’s either a mental weakness in the players, in which case you need to some vocal strength and leadership from the captain and others during a game, or it’s a deliberate tactical move, in which case it needs to change with immediate effect. If it’s the former we might be short of that sort of player or two, not a surprise for a “work in progress” squad, if it’s the latter then that’s more straight forward for the management to fix.

The only other “excuse” for it really is a lack of fitness, which is generally dictated by the events of pre-season and therefore isn’t really Leam’s fault but he has to find a solution in some way with the resources available.

WLWWDD = 1.8 pg.

oxf*rd hell.

[Sutekh]

At the end of the day it’s a results business. If the side is turgid, but wins every game then people will moan a bit but they’ll put up with it and attendances wills still increase. If the team wins and also entertains then no-one moans and attendances go up quicker and likely stay up if you get a rocky patch.

Worst is what we’re verging on currently, bad results & zero entertainment - so not much by way of crowds - and silly defensive practices which are generating lot of disinterest and complaints. Yes there are issues still, the squad is a “work in progress” and needs 3 or 4 more added in the summer, but that will generally be overlooked as the small “points winning” parts of the season will spread a bit of hope and raise expectations a bit which increases the fallout when the club appears to do stupid things in games.

Management need that bit of time to sort things, generally it’s been upward progression so I don’t see much point in just changing things now. If I was Leam I’d be trying to pinpoint exactly what causes this stupid mindset of sitting back. It’s either a mental weakness in the players, in which case you need to some vocal strength and leadership from the captain and others during a game, or it’s a deliberate tactical move, in which case it needs to change with immediate effect. If it’s the former we might be short of that sort of player or two, not a surprise for a “work in progress” squad, if it’s the latter then that’s more straight forward for the management to fix.

The only other “excuse” for it really is a lack of fitness, which is generally dictated by the events of pre-season and therefore isn’t really Leam’s fault but he has to find a solution in some way with the resources available.

WLWWDD = 1.8 pg.

oxf*rd hell.

I know, it is good isn’t it? But it should be so much better, the manner in which points have been dropped in the last two, not to mention the failed attempt to drop points v Wycombe, is rather frustrating for all fans and that’s why there’s rumblings of discontent on here and from others on the call-ins after games.

[OLLIE KEARNS]

After a lifetime of watching and playing the game I’ve never been so bored watching games as I am now and the problems are not exclusive to our team. Risk adverse football with cheating, feigning injury and time wasting added into the poisonous mix. Our own goalkeeper drives me round the bend with his weekly nonsense.
Two things need to happen.
1. The LMA and PFA need to come together and recognise that their members are collectively killing the joy of the game. Agree upon a code of conduct that sees everyone cut out the time wasting nonsense that goes on every week.
2. Change the rules of the game to reward risk takers. Extra point for 4 goals regardless of the result, no points at all for a 0-0, change offside to be final third only to create space on the pitch. I’m sure there are numerous other options.

Sadly, I think our manager is hugely risk adverse but he’s not alone. It’s a wider football problem that needs addressing for the good of the game.

[Hound]

It’s a good question what we want to see. For me we stumbled across it last year half by luck and half by judgement I think. Basically had a couple of real characters, a manager who was generally popular, academy players coming through, half decent football, good results and hard working side. Probably enjoyed the football last year more than I have for a decade

Just brought in too many signings and moved others on who we had connection with

The football isn’t a good watch but I think we’d forgive it if was young lads we’d brought through a lot more

I do feel a bit for LR who seems a decent enough sort to me and has definitely improved some areas

100% influence of crappy social media on the stupid over reactions to everything though. Every player is either shit or the best in the league. The manager should be sacked despite moving us up 13 places. We’re either getting promoted or sold be relegated if Jack Marriott hadn’t signed or JP got injured. All a complete nonsense

[Sutekh]

After a lifetime of watching and playing the game I’ve never been so bored watching games as I am now and the problems are not exclusive to our team. Risk adverse football with cheating, feigning injury and time wasting added into the poisonous mix. Our own goalkeeper drives me round the bend with his weekly nonsense.
Two things need to happen.
1. The LMA and PFA need to come together and recognise that their members are collectively killing the joy of the game. Agree upon a code of conduct that sees everyone cut out the time wasting nonsense that goes on every week.
2. Change the rules of the game to reward risk takers. Extra point for 4 goals regardless of the result, no points at all for a 0-0, change offside to be final third only to create space on the pitch. I’m sure there are numerous other options.

Sadly, I think our manager is hugely risk adverse but he’s not alone. It’s a wider football problem that needs addressing for the good of the game.

No points for a 0-0 is bit extreme, battling lower division outfit working hard to earn a valuable point at the division’s leaders should not be penalised. One of the poor parts of the game thanks to the law fiddling from FIFA/IFAB is the devaluing of defending and the apparent discouragement of tackling and utterly stupid handball guidelines that make a total nonsense of the game. Defending is part of the game and it should be encouraged as such and needs to be coached properly.

Otherwise would agree to bonus points for scoring 4 or more (though technically that would mean no promotion/relegation could ever be mathematically settled until the end of the final game of the season) and maybe add a line across each pitch half to limit the offside range.

[Linden Jones' Tash]

I believe short attention spans and the desire for instant gratification are to blame for how we feel when we don't have results + performance + effort + team connection...

Some ppl are saying they would swap results for a young team with 'connection'...

I don't buy that - ppl forget how quickly bad results got toxic in the recent past..

I am not completely bowled over by the football, but given the explicit remit of the manager is to improve on last season's 7th place, he's hardly missing his KPIs at the moment...

I also remember the Championship winning season under Brian McD being one of grinding results out of very little against better 'footballing' teams...

My one issue is with the 'media training' word salad business mumbo jumbo interviews he gives that generally add nothing to the sum of human knowledge...

But Noel was no better...

[WestYorksRoyal]

I think it's quite insulting to compare this team to McD's team, but I think that team is probably closest to what LR would ideally emulate.

But it had Kebe and McAnuff which we don't have anything close to. Kyerewaa is an early day raw Kebe, but still a long way off what he was by 11/12, and he's injured anyway. That team had the energy of Karacan and the presence of Leigertwood in the middle. Leigertwood in particular brought a composure that's desperately missing now. We had Hunt up front who could scrap for anything and turn a clearance into a platform to attack.

At the moment we have some good players who don't seem to fit in with what we're trying to do like Lane, Ritchie and Doyle, a midfield conundrum we haven't solved and an exceptional striker who could be doing even better if we found a way to support him more.

We prioritised defence this past window; Ward and Roberts look like excellent signings, and I also hope we sign Nyambe when his Derby contract expires. But we need to do more to fill in gaps as outlined above in the summer.

If LR succeeds, it'll probably look like McDermott's team, but at the moment we are light years off that. And even with what we currently have, we're capable of much much better than current second half showings.

[Greatwesternline]

It's a results business for Leam to justify his methods to the owner.

For fans who attend to be entertained, it's not a results business. If all you care about is points accumulated, is football really for you? Rugby has more points in a game.

Football is and has always been about being excited and entertained. There is no other reason to turn up and watch OTHER people play sport. Because you want to be impressed.

There is nothing impressive about playing 10 men behind the ball against bottom of the division whilst winning, 4 days after having done the same tactic and been found out.

Couhig has commented that attendances are not as high as they expected. Perhaps he needs to work out he is in the entertainment business, and Leam is not an entertainer.