I think we're at the crossroads...

[Charnwood]

I think our FC is now at a crossroads and ME has to decide what it is he wants for the club. Mick McCarthy has done a brilliant job halting the slide into League One which we were clearly heading for before he arrived. He's also won over the dressing room and assembled a group of freebies and loanees into a workmanlike squad, albeit boring and unexciting.
In my opinion if McCarthy stays the club will continue be in safe hands but will win nothing, ME has to decide if he's happy with this or wants to gamble on going for promotion, however the later will require risky investment and probably a different manager.

Who would want to be the owner of a football club in the Championship.

Is this an over reaction to another shitty result or could I be on the right track?

[Bluemike]

In some ways Andy it is a bit of both. I think you are on the right track to a point, in as much as the crossroads has been reached because MM has to adopt a different approach in the remaining games. Strange as it may sound yesterday was so bad it may actually do us a favour, the boos and anti MM feel will not have gone unnoticed, add to that his admittance that he f*cked it up yesterday will almost certainly see changes for the trip to Wolves which in turn would surely see a change in tactics etc.

Funnily enough when I was looking at the run in and trying to predict how we would finish up I had us winning all the home games and picking up a solitary point away, that scenario had us sneaking in the sixth spot so an away win however unlikely at Wolves, Sheff Wed, Middlesbrough or derby would see us back on track, it's that tight for me BUT performances HAVE to improve and fast if that is even a remote possibility, it is all in the hands of MM now.

[barmy billy]

I think our FC is now at a crossroads and ME has to decide what it is he wants for the club. Mick McCarthy has done a brilliant job halting the slide into League One which we were clearly heading for before he arrived. He's also won over the dressing room and assembled a group of freebies and loanees into a workmanlike squad, albeit boring and unexciting.
In my opinion if McCarthy stays the club will continue be in safe hands but will win nothing, ME has to decide if he's happy with this or wants to gamble on going for promotion, however the later will require risky investment and probably a different manager.

Who would want to be the owner of a football club in the Championship.

Is this an over reaction to another shitty result or could I be on the right track?

I agree with you Charnwood and certainly don't think you are overreacting. All managers reach their peak and I think MM is past his. Tactics, etc move on and it is inevitable that one becomes resistant to change.

I see Bluemike thinks MM will change things for the Wolves game: I hope he's right.

[marko69]

[goldandblack]

I think our FC is now at a crossroads and ME has to decide what it is he wants for the club. Mick McCarthy has done a brilliant job halting the slide into League One which we were clearly heading for before he arrived. He's also won over the dressing room and assembled a group of freebies and loanees into a workmanlike squad, albeit boring and unexciting.
In my opinion if McCarthy stays the club will continue be in safe hands but will win nothing, ME has to decide if he's happy with this or wants to gamble on going for promotion, however the later will require risky investment and probably a different manager.

Who would want to be the owner of a football club in the Championship.

Is this an over reaction to another shitty result or could I be on the right track?

The answer is there in your post mate, Micks budget dictates the quality of squad he can assemble. at the Wolves he had a bit more money available to get us up, so if the money was to be available at the Town there's only one management team I can think of to spend it wisely and that's MM and ol Clipboard.

keep the faith or you could go the way we did.

[arana peligrosa]

I think our FC is now at a crossroads and ME has to decide what it is he wants for the club. Mick McCarthy has done a brilliant job halting the slide into League One which we were clearly heading for before he arrived. He's also won over the dressing room and assembled a group of freebies and loanees into a workmanlike squad, albeit boring and unexciting.
In my opinion if McCarthy stays the club will continue be in safe hands but will win nothing, ME has to decide if he's happy with this or wants to gamble on going for promotion, however the later will require risky investment and probably a different manager.

Who would want to be the owner of a football club in the Championship.

Is this an over reaction to another shitty result or could I be on the right track?

Evans would seem satisfied with McCarthy's 'progress' as he's provided him with another two or three years at the club. (?)

Say again, while the manager offers a certain sense of stability in terms of actual progress we're some distance behind other clubs the league can offer. And no it's not an over-reaction, I'm as fed up as the next watching the team invariably struggle from week to week playing garbage and making little impression on the season. We say before the owner is unlikely to terminate McCarthy at any time (at least in the immediate future) and as much as I want to believe sometimes the manager would decide to resign and step down, if he's stubborn in team selection, then he's going to be damn obstinate also in terms of leaving the club of his own free will.

As for McCarthy making an admission that his team selection and tactics were wrong after the game, he should have damn well realized this before time and made the necessary amendments. I'm not at a stage where I can flat out say I want rid of his services here but needless to say (also) I'm in no way in favor of his presence here.

[Bluemike]

I will bet anyone that MM goes nowhere in the forseeable future either by sacking or quitting, nowhere.

[Tangfastic]

I think our FC is now at a crossroads and ME has to decide what it is he wants for the club. Mick McCarthy has done a brilliant job halting the slide into League One which we were clearly heading for before he arrived. He's also won over the dressing room and assembled a group of freebies and loanees into a workmanlike squad, albeit boring and unexciting.
In my opinion if McCarthy stays the club will continue be in safe hands but will win nothing, ME has to decide if he's happy with this or wants to gamble on going for promotion, however the later will require risky investment and probably a different manager.

Who would want to be the owner of a football club in the Championship.

Is this an over reaction to another shitty result or could I be on the right track?

Much of this I completely agree with.

The bit about the risky investment - more investment and different manager- yes, it's a gamble, but the club actually is not in a bad way. Far more stable on/off the pitch ( much due to Mick) and so what do you do as an owner ..... wait for a critically bad time where you have no choice to gamble on a new manager with a decision within a week or two with limited candidates OR look for a successor ( maybe younger, more dynamic, more initiative) over a longer period of time and gently bring in to add to what's there.

It's Micks contract that is the big problem... too long ( hindsight, yes) and I can't see Marcus Evans sacking Mick. Mick will do enough to get good enough results to avoid the sack, but I can't see him doing enough to take this up a gear or two.

[Charnwood]

I will bet anyone that MM goes nowhere in the forseeable future either by sacking or quitting, nowhere.

I'd go along with that Mike, which means we're in safe hands but will win nothing, get knocked out of both cup competitions in the first or second round and dish up more boring football than exciting stuff, but at least we won't be going into administration or suffer any transfer embargoes.

More of the same I guess so we'd better get used to it.

[Dubai Blue]

We already had a crossroads, and that was the day that Ryan Fraser got injured. It's a shame that Feeney wasn't brought in right after that but I guess Bolton's fate has also been developing in the meantime.

I don't expect any changes in the Summer to our management but there is a slow progress in putting together a team and the style of play reflects in my opinion the personnel that we have available week to week. Feeney, if he does well for the rest of the season and stays with us, may be another cog in this painfully slow process.

[Bluemike]

Next season could see Feeney, Pringle, Bishop, McGoldrick to name but Four creative players in our line up so the creativity may well be there next time around !!

[Charnwood]

Next season could see Feeney, Pringle, Bishop, McGoldrick to name but Four creative players in our line up so the creativity may well be there next time around !!

Let's just hope you're right. If we could keep Feeney & Pringle, they alone could make a massive difference although we also need to almost half the number of goals we concede if we're ever going to mount a serious promotion challenge, which means we would need to improve our defence too.

[number 9]

Feeney and Pringle won't be here next season if MM keeps benching them.

[arana peligrosa]

Next season could see Feeney, Pringle, Bishop, McGoldrick to name but Four creative players in our line up so the creativity may well be there next time around !!

Let's just hope you're right. If we could keep Feeney & Pringle, they alone could make a massive difference although we also need to almost half the number of goals we concede if we're ever going to mount a serious promotion challenge, which means we would need to improve our defence too.

Stats show Town have conceded the most goals thus far this season (44) than any other team that resides right now in the top ten positions. Seems like familiar ground, but the tendency to let in stupid goals and defensive lapses late in games needs to be eradicated and has cost the club valuable points going back over enough time.

Feeney and Pringle alone could prove to be a useful addition as stated, but McCarthy doesn't always utilize players to the best of their abilities. I've said it before but while we possess a wealth of attacking options, the productivity rate of certain players has been disappointing this time. Murphy did well to find goal again very recently but he's been a pale imitation from last season.

Perhaps it's stating the obvious but whatever the manager would hope to achieve, he's handicapped by his own shortcomings and selection. Fielding a defensive line-up in our most recent game was bizarre given the venue and opposition.

[hallamblue]

I think our FC is now at a crossroads and ME has to decide what it is he wants for the club. Mick McCarthy has done a brilliant job halting the slide into League One which we were clearly heading for before he arrived. He's also won over the dressing room and assembled a group of freebies and loanees into a workmanlike squad, albeit boring and unexciting.
In my opinion if McCarthy stays the club will continue be in safe hands but will win nothing, ME has to decide if he's happy with this or wants to gamble on going for promotion, however the later will require risky investment and probably a different manager.

Who would want to be the owner of a football club in the Championship.

Is this an over reaction to another shitty result or could I be on the right track?

The answer is there in your post mate, Micks budget dictates the quality of squad he can assemble. at the Wolves he had a bit more money available to get us up, so if the money was to be available at the Town there's only one management team I can think of to spend it wisely and that's MM and ol Clipboard.

keep the faith or you could go the way we did.

did Mick play the same dire tactics though G&B? I seem to recall Wolves ripping up the Championship using two speedy wingers, one of them being Kightley ?

[hallamblue]

Next season could see Feeney, Pringle, Bishop, McGoldrick to name but Four creative players in our line up so the creativity may well be there next time around !!

Frankly if Town continue with the current tactics I doubt we'd see the liked of Pringle, Feeney, Bishop or McGoldrick even remaining at the Club. The first 2 I doubt would want to sign. Bishop may be tempted away by the bright lights of a bigger Club whilst Didsy will be off as soon as a Midlands Club come calling.....some have even mentioned Villa.

[Bluemike]

I think they will all be here, Bishop will have a lot to prove with his injury setbacks and nobody will be touching him yet with a barge pole, much the same with Didsy who will have fallen off the radar of every other club out there. Pringle has played since he came here, which he wasn't doing at Fulham and I expect him to play most games on the run in. Feeney will feel like a Syrian arriving in the UK after being in such a difficult enviroment as Bolton find themselves in and will be well happy. Lets be honest we haven't exactly "benched" Feeney have we, he arrived a couple of days before the rotherham and as disappointed as we all were to see him on the bench it was his first game here and always likely to be the case so I really don't think he would be that shallow in not wanting to stay here. I also think the quality of our play will change dramatically with these two coming into the side which they now will.

[hallamblue]

historically and through most of this season Mick McCarthy will choose defensive cloggers in his team above creativity I think. When we bring in a player like Feeney who ripped us apart only 2 weeks earlier, why in God's name would you not put him in from the start against a bottom 3 opposition?

If I was a creative player at Town and I was watching the likes of Douglas, Hyam and Skuse doing sod all in MF I'd be wondering whether it was worth while signing permanently.

[marko69]

VERY strong words, Hallam. Skuse and Douglas doing "sod all"?

Personally can't say if Jonathan Douglas should be a regular starter or not, but I can definitely say that on at least two televised ITFC games, he was the best player on the park. Can't remember which game it was, but in one of them, his first half was outstanding. Is it a bit sad to read that his season, (in attending fans opinions) has turned a tad poor.

[Bluemike]

I like jonny Douglas marko and prior to his unfortunate sending off at Birmingham and suspension he was doing very well, however since his return he has not been quite so effective to say the least but I do wonder if Hyam coming into the team too has unsettled JD as he is being asked to perform slightly differently I don't know. What I do know is that for me Hyam is the biggest problem and historically whenever he has been a first team regular he has more often than not been crap.

[hallamblue]

Once again , I think its more a matter of HOW McCarthy is deploying Douglas.

At Brentford he was a very effective scoring midfielder.......bug not at Ipswich, where he is all too often asked to perform a defensive, spoiling role.

Its very frustrating for us fans, but what the hell do the players REALLY feel about being asked to play , out of position or asked to perform roles which is not their natural role? How long before Feeney / Pringle are asked to defend first, attack occassional?

I suppose, whilst I do like McCarthy for his honesty ànd integrity, I think Ive lost thag "Trust in Mick" stance thag I once had. He needs to change his approach, but in truth it'd go so against the grain of the man, I just cannot see it happening.

[Bluemike]

That is very true, Douglas was something like the 15th highest goalscorer in the Championship last season.