BFTG - Forest (h)

[LoyalRoyal22]

Jaap Stam is currently exceeding all expectations, whilst building a platform for us to build & improve on ( all on a minimal budget) He has done a terrific job so far

This squad of players is over-achieving. Last couple of seasons bottom half finish, and then in the summer sell two of our best players (Norwood, Tish)


Wake up you c****

[genome]

Yeah, Stam is the limitation, it's obvious.

It's not like Stam is getting better success from the players who were here under previous managers, or has brought in many players to contribute to a good run. It's not like he's already halfway to equaling our most home league wins in five seasons with just 8 out of 24 home games gone. It's not like he's currently got a win rate on a par, if not better than, McDermott or Coppell. It's not like we're in 5th having been consistently in the top 10 after finished 17th and 19th in the preceding two seasons, with Stam in charge for just six months.

Of course, Stam is holding us back.

2 factors have got us to 5th and it aint Stam. Its Al Habsi and Yanns defensive qualities. i agree about the Team to be left off the leash as
it is painfully obvious that some of the players are not comfortable with the rigid way we play and flair play is not the order of the day. we will probably end up in the playoffs as we will bore the hell out of the oppostion as we have done with SKY not being interested in showing our games. Sure we will be sucessful but at what cost. no fans watching ( near the bottem of average attendances)
any of our games live.

how is it rigid

weve got CBs running with the ball and playing out from the back, weve got midfielders dropping into the defensive line, weve got full backs, turning into wing backs, weve got midfielders playing as a 10, weve got wingers swapping sides and supporting the front man.

rigid. my arse.

It's not rigid at all. A bit ponderous at times, yeah, and I can understand some fans getting a bit frustrated with that, but it doesn't seem to be affecting results that much so I can make my peace with it. I just think the team could do with another gear, and then we'd really be a force

He's doing a cracking job but after last year I'm not counting any chickens

[Victor Meldrew]

Yeah, Stam is the limitation, it's obvious.

It's not like Stam is getting better success from the players who were here under previous managers, or has brought in many players to contribute to a good run. It's not like he's already halfway to equaling our most home league wins in five seasons with just 8 out of 24 home games gone. It's not like he's currently got a win rate on a par, if not better than, McDermott or Coppell. It's not like we're in 5th having been consistently in the top 10 after finished 17th and 19th in the preceding two seasons, with Stam in charge for just six months.

Of course, Stam is holding us back.

2 factors have got us to 5th and it aint Stam. Its Al Habsi and Yanns defensive qualities. i agree about the Team to be left off the leash as
it is painfully obvious that some of the players are not comfortable with the rigid way we play and flair play is not the order of the day. we will probably end up in the playoffs as we will bore the hell out of the oppostion as we have done with SKY not being interested in showing our games. Sure we will be sucessful but at what cost. no fans watching ( near the bottem of average attendances)
any of our games live.

how is it rigid

weve got CBs running with the ball and playing out from the back, weve got midfielders dropping into the defensive line, weve got full backs, turning into wing backs, weve got midfielders playing as a 10, weve got wingers swapping sides and supporting the front man.

rigid. my arse.

I agree with brendy apart from the bit about "CBs running with the ball" when in fact they are usually walking.
Can't knock the results and our league position for which Stam has to claim much credit.
Watching Southampton yesterday they played much the same way with midfielders often passing back to the centre-backs.

It's not very exciting to watch but, from what has been said often on here, fans don't care about performance or style and results are everything.
Who knows whether Stam will adopt a more expansive style post January but he has done the first part of his job which probably was to avoid relegation.
With a Lewis Grabban up front instead of Yann we might see a more dynamic attacking style but for the moment I think we have to accept being a rather dull side to watch as a forerunner to something better.
BTW Swift looks even better than he did for Brentford last season and it was a bit of a coup getting him-like all good players he has time and awareness, something that one day Danny Williams might learn from him..

[Lower West]

Making us hard to beat was top of our list when Stam came in. Stam has done that so far.

At guess something he learnt from playing under Alex Ferguson. First aim is not to lose the game. From there add the flair players to win the game.

[3points]

I quite like the fact that everyone knows how we are going to play and they have to adapt to counter our style. For the past three years since Adkins took charge you never knew who was going to play or what system we would be playing. At least players coming into the team have to slot into the 4-3-3 system of play and know what their roles are supposed to be. This hasn't been the case and has been a problem for the past three seasons.

[maffff]

Jaap Stam is currently exceeding all expectations, whilst building a platform for us to build & improve on ( all on a minimal budget) He has done a terrific job so far

This squad of players is over-achieving. Last couple of seasons bottom half finish, and then in the summer sell two of our best players (Norwood, Tish)


Wake up you c****

Based on how heavily we've underperformed in recent seasons, are we over-performing or are we performing closer to our mean?

It's not like we have a bad side, on paper at least. We haven't in the last few years, it's just not clicked.

[Nameless]

Ady Williams "It's not a big attendance today. Perhaps it's because it's half term and families are away".

Excuse #13214234234235235454

Why would excuses be needed ?
Why would you excuse Williams ?
It was 17k+, nothing wrong with that !
But glad you care, although no idea why you would....

[NewCorkSeth]

Jaap Stam is currently exceeding all expectations, whilst building a platform for us to build & improve on ( all on a minimal budget) He has done a terrific job so far

This squad of players is over-achieving. Last couple of seasons bottom half finish, and then in the summer sell two of our best players (Norwood, Tish)


Wake up you c****

Based on how heavily we've underperformed in recent seasons, are we over-performing or are we performing closer to our mean?

It's not like we have a bad side, on paper at least. We haven't in the last few years, it's just not clicked.

I think we are performing very close to our "mean", slightly above or below depending on the game.
I guess the real question to ask fans is which is more important to them. Style or results?
We may not look pretty but Tony Pulis is carving out a respectable career by not playing pretty. LVG was crucified by the media and united fans for his "philosophy" but they won a trophy..
IMO Stam has improved the side. Moore and Swift are both excellent players at this level and in the end I dont think you can argue with the results. Still early days but I dont think hes done much wrong yet.

[sandman]

Pulis isn't trying to play pretty, we supposedly are.

[Lower West]

Pulis isn't trying to play pretty, we supposedly are.

Don't think that's the case. Stam and the rest of the management team are transforming the whole club from top to bottom. With a playing philosophy. We aren't able to compete with money. So it's all about player development. Promotion from within. The addition of Blackett, Moore and Swift. Is a clear illustration that there are players more interested in playing rather than just collecting a wage cheque. Hungry players with drive and ambition. What Stam is doing reminds me of Terry Venables era at Palace. When he took a group of unknowns to the very top.

[NewCorkSeth]

Pulis isn't trying to play pretty, we supposedly are.

Depends what you think is pretty. Some find tiki taka pretty, some find Arsenal passing the ball 100 times just to blast it wide pretty, some find booting it up the pitch to Andy Carroll pretty. What do you think of when you say "play pretty"?

Besides. Pulisball is beautiful in its uniqueness.

[bobby1413]

Jaap Stam is currently exceeding all expectations, whilst building a platform for us to build & improve on ( all on a minimal budget) He has done a terrific job so far

This squad of players is over-achieving. Last couple of seasons bottom half finish, and then in the summer sell two of our best players (Norwood, Tish)


Wake up you c****

I agree with most of your tweet but your description of Tish as one of our best players baffles me.

People said similar when he was sold yet I struggle to remember more than a handful of games where he looked good and decent then got injured.

He barely proved himself and now he's sat on a bench at Villa.

Norwood too - didn't most slate him? 1-2 excellent goals but most corners and crosses woefully wasted.

[Nameless]

The reason you can only remember a handful of Tish games is because he only played a handful of games.
But in those games (plus u21 games) he looked very good, mature despite his youth and full of potential. To say he was one of our best players is probably pushing it, but he had the potential in the same way Gylfi did at a very early age.
His move to Villa never looked very smart, although again it's early days. I do fear he will be swallowed at and lost there whereas if he had stay d with us he would have started every game.