I'm looking forwards to seeing what the gaffer can do

Northampton_Loyalist

Northampton_Loyalist

Well-Known Member
I am pretty much convinced that most, if not all, of the decisions, formations, line ups and press conferences have been a direct result of the inherited mess, rather than any real intent from the manager.

He came in with us as a shambles, with half the first team injured and/or out of contract and with the club in a bad place on the park. He could have come in and given a few home truths to players, benched some, generally coming in and stamping himself on the squad but if he had, and it backfired, he would be in a very difficult position.

I think he has seen the task ahead of him and decided to do what was needed to see this season out, see the players who were leaving out the door and to try and salvage what he could from the situation. While we would all have loved him to come in and immediately lay down the law, it was just never something he could practicably do.

We have already seen a few hints that he has been dragging players along with him and that under the surface he is not happy with the application some are showing. While he has not outright said it, I think there are enough clues about how he feels some of this squad deserve to be treated and I am convinced that after the final we will see some carnage, with tough decisions being made on some players who have had it too easy for too long.

He has shown more than enough in the time he has been here to leave me genuinely looking forwards to him swinging the axe and bringing in some players willing and able to take us on a level.
 
Northampton_Loyalist said:
I am pretty much convinced that most, if not all, of the decisions, formations, line ups and press conferences have been a direct result of the inherited mess, rather than any real intent from the manager.

He came in with us as a shambles, with half the first team injured and/or out of contract and with the club in a bad place on the park. He could have come in and given a few home truths to players, benched some, generally coming in and stamping himself on the squad but if he had, and it backfired, he would be in a very difficult position.

I think he has seen the task ahead of him and decided to do what was needed to see this season out, see the players who were leaving out the door and to try and salvage what he could from the situation. While we would all have loved him to come in and immediately lay down the law, it was just never something he could practicably do.

We have already seen a few hints that he has been dragging players along with him and that under the surface he is not happy with the application some are showing. While he has not outright said it, I think there are enough clues about how he feels some of this squad deserve to be treated and I am convinced that after the final we will see some carnage, with tough decisions being made on some players who have had it too easy for too long.

He has shown more than enough in the time he has been here to leave me genuinely looking forwards to him swinging the axe and bringing in some players willing and able to take us on a level.
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In full agreement mate. Clements Rangers will be something much different to what we have seen.
 
Northampton_Loyalist said:
I am pretty much convinced that most, if not all, of the decisions, formations, line ups and press conferences have been a direct result of the inherited mess, rather than any real intent from the manager.

He came in with us as a shambles, with half the first team injured and/or out of contract and with the club in a bad place on the park. He could have come in and given a few home truths to players, benched some, generally coming in and stamping himself on the squad but if he had, and it backfired, he would be in a very difficult position.

I think he has seen the task ahead of him and decided to do what was needed to see this season out, see the players who were leaving out the door and to try and salvage what he could from the situation. While we would all have loved him to come in and immediately lay down the law, it was just never something he could practicably do.

We have already seen a few hints that he has been dragging players along with him and that under the surface he is not happy with the application some are showing. While he has not outright said it, I think there are enough clues about how he feels some of this squad deserve to be treated and I am convinced that after the final we will see some carnage, with tough decisions being made on some players who have had it too easy for too long.

He has shown more than enough in the time he has been here to leave me genuinely looking forwards to him swinging the axe and bringing in some players willing and able to take us on a level.
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Good points but I'm sceptical he can turn it around next season.

Win the Scottish and i will start to believe he can.

I hope he does make huge improvements next season but for me it hinges on nailing the signings spot on.
 
There will be clever loan deals in there this summer with the size of the job at hand. Get the spine of team done in summer then add to it gradually over next 2 windows whilst utilising loans to see us through.
 
We have no choice but to back him, but it shouldn’t be lost on any of us that this is the third summer in a row under our third different manager that we’re waiting to see how we look once the new guy has built his own team.

I can only tenuously get excited about that now and he did oversee a pretty horrific collapse that effectively gifted the title to Celtic.

Injuries, players who’ve checked out / been there too long and a legacy of poor quality options absolutely played the biggest part in that failure, but there are one or two red flags it would be foolish given our recent track record to pretend aren’t there.
 
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I'm with you & thinking along the same lines however, he's going to need a really good bit of financial backing to implement his vision.

It's hurts to say but the squad/team needs major surgery.

I'm encouraged by what PC has done with the sh1tshow he inherited despite the bottle crash from the usual suspects.

He managed to polish some turds & get a tune out of them for a few months unfortunately injuries & their default inferiority complex rose to the fore again.

Backing PC all the way. Here's hoping the board do the same.
 
Think we all want to see major changes across the board. But it may be he has to do a “turnaround” job on a few players through necessity. The ones worth the effort, perhaps some of the younger players. Take a player and improve him mentally, physically and find a way for them to contribute.
But we still need a large number of changes. The players who are comfortable not winning medals but are on big wages, and have continually failed us need replaced.
Good luck to the manager.
 
I remember his lightning quick and direct Brugge team. Loads of big black guys that were rapid and could run all day. I’m fully expecting to see this in some format from us next season. Can’t wait to be honest. Movement all over the front line, positive players not scared to shoot and interchanging movement that cause defenders all manner of problems.

I think to get that to work he needs a solid spine and should blow a big part of his budget on a number 8 who could potentially be captain.
 
I was fully bought into Big Phil but I'd be lying if I said the last few weeks - especially his team selections and tactics against the filth - haven't put some doubts into my mind.

Of course we need to back him though, and hope him and Kloppen know exactly who and what is required.
 
Sword & Shield said:
Good points but I'm sceptical he can turn it around next season.

Win the Scottish and i will start to believe he can.

I hope he does make huge improvements next season but for me it hinges on nailing the signings spot on.
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Win the Scottish Cup with Davies the only fit central defender (Goldson, Balogun, Souttar and King all currently out) who's played only a couple of games this season, no natural wide attacking players, relying on a half fit left back as the other has mentally checked out, zero pace and virtually zero bite back to front, a striker who does score but could never be described as clinical and it'll go down as one of the best and most unlikely trophy wins we've ever had.

As for next season, for 3 seasons in a row he had massive squad turnovers in Belgium and won the league each time with 2 different teams, one completely unfancied. The questions, for me, aren't around Clement or his abilities as a manager but more based upon him getting adequate enough backing financially to allow him to get players in of the calibre he wants and we need. He historically likes players with genuine pace, particularly in wide positions, he likes physicality, he likes hungry young players with a desire to improve he can develop and then sell on to fund the replacements, he likes fast, controlled, aggressive, high pressing, front foot football. I personally can't wait to see what we look like at the start of next if even three quarters of our starting 11 match his idea of a player.
 
Can't say I don't have my worries about Clement, mainly no discernible style of play, and his personnel decisions vs the paedophiles , but we have to back him, what else can we do. Its major major surgery we are going to require. In a short time frame.
 
I honestly believe that Clement has held himself back from having a right good go at this squad. He looked absolutely fuming after the Dens park draw. Go back to some of his earlier interviews & he mentions the contract situation mess, the balance of the squad etc. People say they can only see long balls but look at the difference in play from Borna to Yilmaz. Got a feeling he will go for more pace & physically in the team. Hopefully the majority of players are lined up & a proper preseason, we can hit the ground running
 
I think success under clement has a 50/50 chance. A huge part will be recruitment , Silve and Diomande worry me in that department. The jury is still out whether Diomande at £4.5m will have the impact we need but the fact he brought Silva in raises concerns
 
I've believed too many times that it's all going to be different next season, only to be let down every time. All I'll say now is that Clement needs to show the ruthlessness that is required to get the loser mentality out of this squad. Whether he gets the backing to do this is another story.
 
Kaybo said:
I really hope it’s the case, surely no more long ball, slow possession football.
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At Bruges he played high tempo and high press, whereas at Genk he adopted a more technical style and mixed fast build up play with long balls. Beveren fans still wax lyrical about his time there, he had their worst team in years playing fantastic football, despite only being with them for half a season.
 
I really thought this was a different kind of appointment tbh. The last while have thrown up a few red flags and normally I always give the benefit of the doubt but there are things he really needs to change if he's going to be successful. Things that the support can see but seemingly he can't?
 
Now and forever said:
I think success under clement has a 50/50 chance. A huge part will be recruitment , Silve and Diomande worry me in that department. The jury is still out whether Diomande at £4.5m will have the impact we need but the fact he brought Silva in raises concerns
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He was bought for £35m and is a player from an established EPL team. On paper it would have been a a no brainer.
 
He really needs to get his back room correct. Not just medical, either.

In Feb roughly, he said he’d offered the squad a day off during the hectic schedule. Instead, they all turned up to training. Our form went in March. It’s utterly bizarre.

Injuries played a huge role but PC did too - sides playing through our midfield with ease, game after game, and this wasn’t rectified.

The OF lineups we all saw and instantly knew they were wrong.

He deserves backing to time to build his own squad. But the 25th is massive, as are the CL qualifiers and the first OF of next season, which will be at Parkhead.
 
In the Motherwell defeat he started Raskin in midfield to be replaced by Lawrence at half time , Sterling right wing.In the Ross county defeat he started Dowell in midfield with Sterling on the bench replacing Barisic at left back.In the Dundee draw he started Lawrence in midfield, Sterling at left back.In the filth 3-3 draw he started Lawrence in midfield with Sterling at left back.In the filth 2-1 defeat he started Lawrence in midfield with Sterling right wing.
He needs to play Sterling in midfield in the cup final and win or he has learned fck all and will not last long.
 
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Agreed, he inherited a shit show and has returned a trophy amongst that garbage. SC is a tall order but it's a one off game and I think we can all trust he will be doing everything to prepare to win that match.

But it's a somewhat unfair weight of burden to say all of the success is in his hands now, time will tell if his abilities and the recruitment team can sufficiently undo the damage that has been done by our board for years.
 
I think that some really don't appreciate the quality of the manager we now have. We aren't suddenly going to out spend Celtic so his transfer market will be limited so we need to build on a solid foundation and that needs time and patience. I'm not saying we give the Board a free ride but we need to give Clement the time and space to build the team.
 
Coza said:
I remember his lightning quick and direct Brugge team. Loads of big black guys that were rapid and could run all day. I’m fully expecting to see this in some format from us next season. Can’t wait to be honest. Movement all over the front line, positive players not scared to shoot and interchanging movement that cause defenders all manner of problems.

I think to get that to work he needs a solid spine and should blow a big part of his budget on a number 8 who could potentially be captain.
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Please let this be the future
 
inigo said:
In the Motherwell defeat he started Raskin in midfield to be replaced by Lawrence at half time , Sterling right wing.In the Ross county defeat he started Dowell in midfield with Sterling on the bench replacing Barisic at left back.In the Dundee draw he started Lawrence in midfield, Sterling at left back.In the filth 3-3 draw he started Lawrence in midfield with Sterling at left back.In the filth 2-1 defeat he started Lawrence in midfield with Sterling right wing.
He needs to play Sterling in midfield in the cup final and win or he has learned fck all and will not last long.
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He needs to play Sterling in defence because that’s what he is, a defender. I can understand shoehorning him into midfield to cover our shortcoming there but it has to be a temporary fix and cannot continue beyond the cup final. He’s not a midfield player.
 
Coza said:
I remember his lightning quick and direct Brugge team. Loads of big black guys that were rapid and could run all day. I’m fully expecting to see this in some format from us next season. Can’t wait to be honest. Movement all over the front line, positive players not scared to shoot and interchanging movement that cause defenders all manner of problems.

I think to get that to work he needs a solid spine and should blow a big part of his budget on a number 8 who could potentially be captain.
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And a quick defence to play a high line, I think he tried this against benfica at Ibrox, it was risky with our slow defenders, I can see him doing this with quick defenders if he can get them in
 
Our squad will look vastly different to how it does just now, so it's impossible to predict how things will pan out next season.

However, If he learns how to beat Celtic next season, I'm confident we'll win the league.
 
Northampton_Loyalist said:
I am pretty much convinced that most, if not all, of the decisions, formations, line ups and press conferences have been a direct result of the inherited mess, rather than any real intent from the manager.

He came in with us as a shambles, with half the first team injured and/or out of contract and with the club in a bad place on the park. He could have come in and given a few home truths to players, benched some, generally coming in and stamping himself on the squad but if he had, and it backfired, he would be in a very difficult position.

I think he has seen the task ahead of him and decided to do what was needed to see this season out, see the players who were leaving out the door and to try and salvage what he could from the situation. While we would all have loved him to come in and immediately lay down the law, it was just never something he could practicably do.

We have already seen a few hints that he has been dragging players along with him and that under the surface he is not happy with the application some are showing. While he has not outright said it, I think there are enough clues about how he feels some of this squad deserve to be treated and I am convinced that after the final we will see some carnage, with tough decisions being made on some players who have had it too easy for too long.

He has shown more than enough in the time he has been here to leave me genuinely looking forwards to him swinging the axe and bringing in some players willing and able to take us on a level.
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I think you have to be encouraged by what he did in Belgium especially at Genk who had only won three league titles in their history. He went there in December 2017 they were ninth when he arrived finished the season in fifth place he won the Europa League playoff they have in Belgium and reached the final of the Belgian cup all in six months.

He did a big rebuild in the summer of 2018 I think it was thirteen new players. Eighteen months after he arrived Genk were League Champions for the fourth time in their history .He brought through youth players and bought low priced players that were sold on later for big money. He then went to Bruges and did the same thing including another rebuild at Bruges in his third season.

Having read about his time in Belgium it's impressive and you just hope he can replicate that success here.
 
Valley Bluenose said:
He needs to play Sterling in defence because that’s what he is, a defender. I can understand shoehorning him into midfield to cover our shortcoming there but it has to be a temporary fix and cannot continue beyond the cup final. He’s not a midfield player.
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He looked very comfortable anytime he played there.
 
Solmask said:
I think you have to be encouraged by what he did in Belgium especially at Genk who had only won three league titles in their history. He went there in December 2017 they were ninth when he arrived finished the season in fifth place he won the Europa League playoff they have in Belgium and reached the final of the Belgian cup all in six months.

He did a big rebuild in the summer of 2018 I think it was thirteen new players. Eighteen months after he arrived Genk were League Champions for the fourth time in their history .He brought through youth players and bought low priced players that were sold on later for big money. He then went to Bruges and did the same thing including another rebuild at Bruges in his third season.

Having read about his time in Belgium it's impressive and you just hope he can replicate that success here.
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%^*& Genk.

I'd have been encouraged more with anything he achieved at Rangers in the last two feckinfg months.

If he doesn't win the SC final we are looking a Beale like report card.
 
I am feeling quite down at the moment about the state we’re in. I can’t say I am looking forward to anything really because I believe we need a massive clear out and I don’t know if we’re going to get it? And if we do get it, can we trust the manager’s judgement on replacements? I’m sure there will be a lot of bears like myself feeling exasperated with it all and the season isn’t quite over just yet with a cup final to be played and speaking for myself I actually wish we weren’t in the final. What a shit way to feel about your team but I can’t help it, I’ve had enough of these guys!
 
wee bud's pit boots said:
%^*& Genk.

I'd have been encouraged more with anything he achieved at Rangers in the last two feckinfg months.

If he doesn't win the SC final we are looking a Beale like report card.
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I get that,just a opinion mate and I do agree that it's what he does here that's more important.
 
Solmask said:
I get that,just a opinion mate and I do agree that it's what he does here that's more important.
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We don't need to be arguing bud.

The last two months though has to have us wondering: what's going on?

Under no circumstances, despite any injuries, should we be losing to Ross County and drawing with Dundee.

But given that we did, which basically cost us the title, we need to get rid of a good deal of this squad.

Obviously, we can't do anything till after the potential upcoming debacle at Hampden.
 
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Rich Uncle Skeleton said:
As bad as the last few weeks have been, he's still got more points than Celtic since taking over - and they've been unbeaten for months
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And your point is?

They've just won the fecking league, which guaranteed CL monies, that are bigger than ever, and you think PC winning more points over the filth matters?

You must have been the Dux in Stupid School.
 
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