Clement

[Mike Hunt]

Quality from McNulty. Missing that pen for a good cause. Hopefully he'll be gone tomorrow

[Snowflake Royal]

Quality from McNulty. Missing that pen for a good cause. Hopefully he'll be gone tomorrow

Bell end.

He'll still be in the dugout on Saturday and rightfully so.

[Hound]

He's taken a horrible awful team with an dismal playing style, brought in a couple of Academy lads and made us good to watch again

Its a start. We need to pick up a few wins in a row, but we should stick with him. AS long as he doesn't pick Aluko again that is

[Snowflake Royal]

He's taken a horrible awful team with an dismal playing style, brought in a couple of Academy lads and made us good to watch again

Its a start. We need to pick up a few wins in a row, but we should stick with him. AS long as he doesn't pick Aluko again that is

I can stomach the odd appearance.

I think we should avoid falling into the pressuring 'must win trap'. There are no must win games at this point in the season. We just need to stay in contact with safety and keep our heads up. Even if we go on another little poor run, we can turn it around.

Obviously we could really use some wins, but just avoiding any extended losing run like three or four on the trot is key for me.

[Hound]

Yep, not so much a must win, as I think if we managed to drag ourselves 5 or 6 points clear, u think the team could flourish and have a strong second half to the season

There’s a lot of pressure on now to win at least one of those 3 home games, none of which will be easy

[Snowflake Royal]

Yep, not so much a must win, as I think if we managed to drag ourselves 5 or 6 points clear, u think the team could flourish and have a strong second half to the season

There’s a lot of pressure on now to win at least one of those 3 home games, none of which will be easy

I do wonder sometimes about this side's mental state, that a few wins to pull away isn't necessarily good for them, because they have a tendency to not believe they're in trouble and get casual. So I could easily see them pulling 7/8/9 points clear, relaxing into a 10 game winless streak and then being unable to turn it around again...

I'm hopeful Clement wouldn't allow it, but it was the sort of mentality they had under Stam.

[Stranded]

He's taken a horrible awful team with an dismal playing style, brought in a couple of Academy lads and made us good to watch again

Its a start. We need to pick up a few wins in a row, but we should stick with him. AS long as he doesn't pick Aluko again that is

I can stomach the odd appearance.

I think we should avoid falling into the pressuring 'must win trap'. There are no must win games at this point in the season. We just need to stay in contact with safety and keep our heads up. Even if we go on another little poor run, we can turn it around.

Obviously we could really use some wins, but just avoiding any extended losing run like three or four on the trot is key for me.

Agreed "must win" is a bit much at this stage especially as we are only 2 wins behind 13th, our home form is picking up and the team have just put in a decent, though losing, performance at one of this season's top teams.

Something positive slowly seems to be happening, younger players being trusted and repaying that faith (Rinomhota and Loader to a lesser extent) and we are looking more solid.

The run up to Christmas is huge though, 3 home games and a trip to Rotherham - would probably want a return of 7 points from that just to stay in touch with those above and possibly move away from the bottom 3 - anything less than 6 points and the pressure will mount again.

[Hound]

Possibly. It’s quite a different side now tbf

[Stranded]

Yep, not so much a must win, as I think if we managed to drag ourselves 5 or 6 points clear, u think the team could flourish and have a strong second half to the season

There’s a lot of pressure on now to win at least one of those 3 home games, none of which will be easy

I do wonder sometimes about this side's mental state, that a few wins to pull away isn't necessarily good for them, because they have a tendency to not believe they're in trouble and get casual. So I could easily see them pulling 7/8/9 points clear, relaxing into a 10 game winless streak and then being unable to turn it around again...

I'm hopeful Clement wouldn't allow it, but it was the sort of mentality they had under Stam.

Whilst I think you are right at the moment, the team seem to relax after any positive result meaning they are completely unable to follow it up. See the 1st half against Ipswich following the decent Bristol win as an obvious example.

[Snowflake Royal]

Yep, not so much a must win, as I think if we managed to drag ourselves 5 or 6 points clear, u think the team could flourish and have a strong second half to the season

There’s a lot of pressure on now to win at least one of those 3 home games, none of which will be easy

I do wonder sometimes about this side's mental state, that a few wins to pull away isn't necessarily good for them, because they have a tendency to not believe they're in trouble and get casual. So I could easily see them pulling 7/8/9 points clear, relaxing into a 10 game winless streak and then being unable to turn it around again...

I'm hopeful Clement wouldn't allow it, but it was the sort of mentality they had under Stam.

Whilst I think you are right at the moment, the team seem to relax after any positive result meaning they are completely unable to follow it up. See the 1st half against Ipswich following the decent Bristol win as an obvious example.

Yes, this is certainly on my mind.

So many corners turned 360. So many players who follow a good game with a terrible.

[NewCorkSeth]

Did he say "fine margins" in his post match last night?

[alfie9]

Starts Swift and Gunter on the same side of a 4-4-2 again with Sims on the bench.

This guy is more tactically inept than late stage Jaap. Defend this

[Snowflake Royal]

Starts Swift and Gunter on the same side of a 4-4-2 again with Sims on the bench.

This guy is more tactically inept than late stage Jaap. Defend this

It wasn't a 4-4-2, it was the usual 4-5-1 /4-3-3. Although messier tHan usual because Swift and Loader didn't really impose themselves or hold position.

[From Despair To Where?]

So lets rip it all up, bring in a new manager and he can try to impose his style on a squad that isn't his and is short of confidence because that's worked for the past fcuking 4 years, hasn't it?

How about giving the manger a bit of time to sort it out before going back to square one because I don't see anyone out there with a magic wand who can do any better at the moment. Hopefully with Nigel Howe standing in as CEO, we may see a return of the philosophy of stability from the top down and that includes the coaching and medical staff,

[URZZZZ]

Starts Swift and Gunter on the same side of a 4-4-2 again with Sims on the bench.

This guy is more tactically inept than late stage Jaap. Defend this

McShane injured, Moore injured, O'Shea injured, you provide a solution then without Gunter? Swift shoudn't be playing, I agree but it wasn't 4-4-2, it was 4-3-2-1, so who else do you want to play in CM considering Kelly and Eza were injured?

[windermereROYAL]

Starts Swift and Gunter on the same side of a 4-4-2 again with Sims on the bench.

This guy is more tactically inept than late stage Jaap. Defend this

McShane injured, Moore injured, O'Shea injured, you provide a solution then without Gunter? Swift shoudn't be playing, I agree but it wasn't 4-4-2, it was 4-3-2-1, so who else do you want to play in CM considering Kelly and Eza were injured?

How dare you talk sense on here.

[AthleticoSpizz]

So lets rip it all up, bring in a new manager and he can try to impose his style on a squad that isn't his and is short of confidence because that's worked for the past fcuking 4 years, hasn't it?

How about giving the manger a bit of time to sort it out before going back to square one because I don't see anyone out there with a magic wand who can do any better at the moment. Hopefully with Nigel Howe standing in as CEO, we may see a return of the philosophy of stability from the top down and that includes the coaching and medical staff,

100% this

[Snowflake Royal]

Fyi Alfie, not a good idea to think that the RFC social media team get a tactical briefing before posting the team sheet.

[Sutekh]

Generally though are not the performances improving, albeit very slowly?

And when you consider the continual horrendous injury list that has bedevilled the club since the summer of 2017 that makes it difficult to establish a settled first team in the first place it’s no wonder the club is where it is.

Not saying that having everyone fit would suddenly turn the club into division beaters but it might be enough to steady the club in lower mid table while the rebuild continues.

Trouble is though it’s a results business so would you accept the overall underlying improvement even though it maybe too slow to escape relegation or do you chance it and seek a more down to earth experienced manager such as a Bruce or a Pardew or a more “cultural” foreign type such as a Jokanovic or a Carvalhal?

[Snowflake Royal]

I think there's a lot to be pleased with. I come back to what Clement inherited:

A team with no fight, who couldn't create chances and put themselves under pressure by playing in their own half.

We now have fight.
We now create and score chances. We no longer play stupid tippy happy keep ball.

Yes, defensive frailties and midfield softness are still huge issues, if
possibly worse in the case of defence. But as I see it he's improved three of our five problem areas in one transfer window and despite an injury list longer than a whale's cock. I reckon he can do a bit about the other two in January and if we can ever keep key players like Ezatolahi, Bod and co fit.

And if we go down, well now we're seeing what potential we have in the Academy with Loader, Rino and co.