| Russell Martin 13:58 - Jul 21 with 7850 views | huwrichards57 |
Should be next Swans manager to restore our playing style. |  | | |  |
| Russell Martin on 14:06 - Jul 21 with 5453 views | raynor94 |
Excellent shout, if Cooper finally goes |  |
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| Russell Martin on 14:08 - Jul 21 with 5439 views | Thornburyswan |
| Russell Martin on 14:06 - Jul 21 by raynor94 |
Excellent shout, if Cooper finally goes |
Think you mean ‘when’ Raynor | | | |
| Russell Martin on 14:29 - Jul 21 with 5376 views | Thrasher6 |
Thanks Russell... |  |
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| Russell Martin on 14:33 - Jul 21 with 5362 views | builthjack |
A vegan and member of the Green party.
No more burgers at half time. |  |
| Swansea Indepenent Poster Of The Year 2021. Dr P / Mart66 / Roathie / Parlay / E20/ Duffle was 2nd, but he is deluded and thinks in his little twisted brain that he won. Poor sod. We let him win this year, as he has cried for a whole year. His 14 usernames, bless his cotton socks.
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| Russell Martin on 14:56 - Jul 21 with 5307 views | monmouth |
| Russell Martin on 14:33 - Jul 21 by builthjack |
A vegan and member of the Green party.
No more burgers at half time. |
Halloumi burgers yum yum. Sign him up. How’s things Builthy? I hear you’re me. |  |
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| Russell Martin on 15:13 - Jul 21 with 5245 views | builthjack |
| Russell Martin on 14:56 - Jul 21 by monmouth |
Halloumi burgers yum yum. Sign him up. How’s things Builthy? I hear you’re me. |
Things are good thanks Monny.
Yes, Perch thinks that I am you.
But he doesnt know that you are me. lol. | |
| Swansea Indepenent Poster Of The Year 2021. Dr P / Mart66 / Roathie / Parlay / E20/ Duffle was 2nd, but he is deluded and thinks in his little twisted brain that he won. Poor sod. We let him win this year, as he has cried for a whole year. His 14 usernames, bless his cotton socks.
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| Russell Martin on 17:50 - Jul 21 with 5025 views | onehunglow |
| Russell Martin on 15:13 - Jul 21 by builthjack |
Things are good thanks Monny.
Yes, Perch thinks that I am you.
But he doesnt know that you are me. lol. |
I know you miss him more than words can say.You address comments to a dead username.
Have the guts to wipe the slate clean and take it as it comes.,other opinions to your own. | |
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| Russell Martin on 21:09 - Jul 21 with 4820 views | Rock |
Behind the scenes with MK Dons, the team with the third highest possession in Europe
https://theathletic.com/2486603/2021/04/01/behind-the-scenes-with-mk-dons-the-te
Simon Johnson
It’s 9.45am on a Wednesday morning and a group of more than 20 men are gathered in a large room. Jokes are being exchanged and the mood is clearly upbeat. Then, MK Dons coach Russell Martin walks in and everyone falls silent instantly.
The fun is over. Martin finished off his 14-hour day on the Tuesday by preparing the speech he is about to give and wants everyone to know what he has planned for the forthcoming training session.
MK Dons are mid-table in League One but on a three-game winning run. Next up are Doncaster Rovers, who sit six points above them in the play-offs positions. Martin has studied them intensely and is keen to take advantage of their weaknesses.
“Let’s go, Benji,” he says loudly to first-team performance analyst Ben Parker after a brief introduction and clips of Doncaster’s recent performances begin playing on a large projection screen.
The team meeting in the week leading up to Doncaster
“They are different to a lot of teams in this division,” he explains. “They want to play. But you will regain the ball a lot in the final third. We are going to work on that today but also some clean build-up as well, which will help us stay in that part of the pitch. They will have to use athleticism to stop us. If you keep knocking on the door, you will get chances, no doubt about it.”
He repeats that “no doubt about it” phrase on several occasions, clearly determined to inject belief and confidence into the squad that they will come out on top at the weekend.
Martin continues: “What we are going to do is the same as what we do when we have the ball: we are hurting them, taking their energy, their soul away. Physically, it is f*ing tough to play us, it’s frightening. We need to keep doing it.”
One image after another is played and Martin points out gaps in Doncaster’s line-up to exploit, particularly their weaknesses in transition and passing the ball out from the back. The players are transfixed.
Now MK Dons’ own play comes into focus, with examples of them creating chances from pressing opponents into making an error.
Martin, who uses a 3-4-2-1 system, continues: “Look, you did it against the team at the top of the league (referring to Hull, who they beat 1-0 in February). There were big chances for us. Look at this: you lose the ball, there is a brilliant reaction to win it back and another chance. You guys do this better than anyone in the league. It’s not just how we feel, the stats show it. We press harder, and more often, than anyone.”
The Doncaster contest is three days away and yet it feels like the game is more imminent than that. Just to show how Martin wants everybody to start mentally preparing, he has already named the starting XI. Veterans Dean Lewington and Cameron Jerome, as well as Manchester United’s promising young loanee Ethan Laird, were informed beforehand they weren’t in the team.
Finally, there is a brief montage of what they are going to work on defensively and more examples of how it was perfectly executed in previous games as well as during in-house sessions. “We have to reinforce this, outstanding! Look at him – completely f*ed,” he says highlighting an exhausted centre-forward, who has been man-marked and failed to find any space. “Physically and mentally gone! Out of the game. Do that with the ball too and you will become impossible to beat.
“OK, the guys who have been told they’re not playing, the mentality is outstanding. We train hard today and have a day off tomorrow. Then another session Friday. All right, let’s go men!”
And with that, everyone heads out to prepare for training. In all, it took 14 minutes for Martin to get his points across. The respect he’s held in is palpable.
This is an emerging coach with a growing reputation.
It is why The Athletic has accepted an invitation to go behind the scenes and see just how much substance there is behind the hype.
Mention MK Dons to the majority of football fans in the UK and you rarely get a positive response.
They are widely regarded as “the franchise club” because after making their name as Wimbledon, including memorably winning the FA Cup final against double-chasing, star-studded Liverpool in 1988, the owners relocated them to Milton Keynes in 2003 and sold out to a consortium led by Pete Winkelman a year later. They have been known as MK Dons ever since.
Even though nearly two decades have passed, so much time they now share League One with the AFC Wimbledon phoenix club founded in the far reaches of non-League after their move north, MK Dons are still trying to earn popularity and recognition from outside the town they now call home. But Martin’s methodology is giving them a chance of winning some friends.
How? Well, it’s their style of play. A lot of people dismiss the quality of football outside the Premier League. Even more so in the third and fourth divisions, where teams are seen as relying on the physical rather than the technical.
However, statistics showed that before facing Doncaster, MK Dons boasted the third-highest average possession share in Europe at 63.82 per cent, with only Barcelona (65.11 per cent) and Manchester City (63.84 per cent) ahead of them. In early March, they set a British record of scoring a goal against Gillingham to cap a move which comprised of 56 consecutive passes. They are the antithesis of what Wimbledon and their Cup-winning “Crazy Gang”, containing battlers like John Fashanu, Dennis Wise and Vinnie Jones, were famous for.
Martin tells The Athletic: “I have had opposition fans write to me saying, ‘We like the way you play football’. We have had opposition managers praising us, too. Hopefully rather than the negative stuff, people will start associating MK Dons with a style of football and maybe success as well.
“This club has been different from the start. A lot of people have an opinion about the club and how it came about. That makes it tougher (to be liked). Is it something I want to bring to MK Dons? One hundred per cent.
“It’s carved into the British psyche that if you’re playing outside the top two leagues that the players aren’t good enough. I get told that all the time. I had it when I took the job (in November 2019). People I really respect, including friends of mine, were saying, ‘Russ, the players might not be good enough. Maybe you better tone it down a bit’.
“But I want to stand on the sidelines and really enjoy watching my team play. I want my players to enjoy it too. In the lower leagues, there is so much fear about where the next contract is coming from – if they don’t do this or that then they’re out of the team. I try to give them as much belief and security as possible.”
It was a bold call by Winkelman to give Martin the job. The former Norwich City and Scotland defender hadn’t managed before. Indeed, he went straight from his role as a member of the club’s playing staff to being in charge following Paul Tisdale’s dismissal.
But Martin was ready for it. He began studying for his coaching badges at age 25 and set a target, which was accomplished, to complete them all within 10 years. While doing so, he paid Pep Guardiola’s Barcelona and Manchester City sides great attention.
Understandably, Winkelman voices concerns when results go awry, as they did when MK Dons picked up only one point from five games during a bad spell from late February to early March. It sparked relegation fears and whether this type of football works in the lower tiers of English football.
“He has a duty, as the owner and chairman, to question everything, to make sure we are on the right path,” Martin admits. “But he asked me to bring back an identity and I think he’s got one.
“He loved the 56-pass goal. We should still be talking about that goal, but we lost the game (3-2). It took all the gloss off that achievement. But he tells me that he feels really connected again to his team. He said he felt he lost that for a bit.
“It’s really, really easy to get emotional about your team if you’re the owner or a fan. After we have lost, I try to take the emotion out of it for him and say, ‘We lost but look at the stuff we did which will ensure we won’t lose very often like that’.
Martin puts his MK Dons team through their paces
“If the team only has the ball for 25-30 per cent of the game, it limits the chance of scoring. But because we have so much possession, we have more chances of scoring and wearing teams down. The process has to be consistent.
“Do I get cross if someone just hits a long ball? Yes, loads of times. But in meetings we show them on the video what options they had instead. It’s not a case of never playing a long ball. We just don’t just hit it deep to one guy in their half and hope he does something unbelievable to win it, flick it on or hold it up. It’s controlled. We are doing it to someone running into an area. Everyone on the pitch goes out there knowing the structure. So the guys can hit it long. It’s when they do it crossing their fingers that there’s a problem.
“I played my best football when I knew what the team was doing, our approach. The players feel secure knowing what’s coming, how their performance is going to be measured. I hated it when you came in on a Monday after a defeat, told you’re not allowed to smile and that would be for the rest of the week until you won again. I really didn’t enjoy that. I will never be like that. I can’t say who it was but it was under more than one coach.”
Martin has books full of notes detailing things he learnt under coaches he played for.
For example, with Chris Hughton he liked his “organisation and structure of training sessions”; Paul Lambert shone as a man-manager; another ex-Norwich boss he liked was Alex Neil, because of the way he interacted with him regularly as the captain and handled others too. Even Daniel Farke, who brought Martin’s eight-year spell at Norwich to an end in 2018, is spoken of positively because he was up front about not wanting him in his team.
“I didn’t like it very much but I had to respect it,” Martin says. “I’d rather that honesty. With older players especially, you have to treat them a little differently to the younger guys. I have a real respect for the ones we have at MK Dons, for the intensity they give us. I learnt how to speak to them from Daniel.”
The reason he left Lewington, Jerome and Laird out of the Doncaster game is that he has begun planning for next season and wants to look at other personnel in their positions. It’s not the only thing on his mind, or that of assistant Luke Williams.
“Just this week, I have sent an email to the chairman and the CEO about how we can improve next season off the pitch as well as on it,” he adds. “The small tweaks we can make that will help our physical environment, the culture and the professionalism. It’s about the feel of the place, players feeling really comfortable here and wanted. Those details are important. Things like the training pitch, and the one at the stadium.”
The surface at Stadium MK is not conducive to passing football. It wasn’t relaid in the summer, and it shows. Winkelman has bought land to develop a new training ground at the former concert venue The National Bowl (also known as the MK Bowl) where artists such as Queen, David Bowie, Michael Jackson and Simple Minds have performed. But those plans are yet to bear fruit.
Martin’s players have been using an astroTurf pitch to train for the last five months, leased by the sport education trust, because a grass one they rent from the council is too wet.
“Short term, I have to focus on the next game but long term I am in charge of the strategy,” he says. “I have to keep an eye on both. I need to treat this job as if I’m going to be here for the next five to 10 years. One day I will get sacked, I know that. But I have to have a helicopter view of everything.”
The squad has seen an incredible amount of change this season alone. Martin has brought in 11 players on cheap deals, free transfers or on loan, while 18 have left. The wage bill has been cut by a third and over £2 million has been received in transfer fees.
A measure of the revolution is that Daniel Harvie and Warren O’Hara are the only members of the team who started the first league game of the season, also against Doncaster, to keep their starting place for this rematch.
The training session on a chilly March morning lasts only 90 minutes but is full of variety. After traditional warm-up exercises, Williams takes a group of players to run through drills on one side of the pitch and Martin oversees the other.
Martin has taken the five men who will be in the most advanced positions for Doncaster’s visit and put them up against two centre-backs and a holding midfielder. The drill that follows is designed to replicate what might happen if they win the ball high up the pitch and find themselves with a numerical advantage. The passing is neat and intricate, there is no panic.
If that sounds easy, then the sprints exercise which followed certainly wasn’t. The task is to run up the whole pitch and back again in the space of 35 seconds. For those that weren’t in the first XI, they are ordered to do it three times in quick succession. There is a lot of heavy breathing by the end.
Finally, there is an 11 vs 11, involving starters against squad members. One flowing move for the former ends with forward Will Grigg striking the ball into the top corner. It was the kind of move Martin had been telling his players he wanted to see at the team meeting hours earlier.
“What a f*ing goal!” he shouts with glee, clapping his hands.
McEachran says he is enjoying his football for the first time in a long time
Strutting around midfield with aplomb was former Chelsea midfielder Josh McEachran. “This is the most I’ve enjoyed playing football for a long, long time,” McEachran tells The Athletic afterwards. “A lot of people were saying, ‘League One? Why are you going down to that level?’ But I’ve not been this happy playing football for years. I am so glad I came here.”
The 28-year-old has been hampered by various injuries and was released by Birmingham City of the Championship in January. Joining MK Dons as a free agent on March 1 has provided a vital opportunity to get things back on track.
“I’m not going to lie, I didn’t know how they played before I came,” McEachran says. “My agent told me. Obviously I believed him, but I’d never heard of any League One team playing like this. I didn’t think any League One team would do.
“I feel as good as I did when I was at Chelsea at 17, 18. We have a lot of the ball. There is also a lot of running without the ball to make options, for the back three, the midfield, wing-backs. You have to be super-super fit to play in this system.
“Their attention to detail is a lot better than most of the coaches I have worked with. They do like the smallest detail – for example, how to stop a cross on the pitch. It’s the little things that make a difference.
“If we did have an old-school manager and we started losing a few games, they might go back to the basics of just getting it in the box. League One teams don’t give you that respect that they would automatically give a Man City and Chelsea playing this way. We have to impose our game on them, earn that respect. After a while, they can’t keep pressing us.”
Lewington, who has played 800 times for MK Dons and has spent his entire career with them having started out when they were still Wimbledon, is better equipped than anyone to notice what is different about Martin to all the predecessors.
He says: “The biggest thing with him is this idea of the process. You can lose a game but did you do the right things? What was worked on? It’s almost going back to when you were younger, when results aren’t so important because it’s all about developing players.
“That is not to say he doesn’t want results either but, compared to other managers, the process is the same every week. We never come in after a win and it’s a case of five-a-sides, high fives, do what you want. And when we lose it’s never, ‘You’re a disgrace, you’re all terrible, now you have to go and run’. Every week it’s process driven, where we are trying to get to.
“Other managers, the week would depend on the result. With Russ, you couldn’t tell on the Monday if we had won or lost. We go through it exactly the same way.”
Lewington turns 37 next month and is coming towards the end of his career. He was given a one-year contract recently, a sign that Martin values what his vast experience brings to the camp.
“I just wish I’d been playing under him 10 years ago,” Lewington says. “In the past, I’d been asked to hit longer balls or channel balls. Now I’m asked to shrink the play. People think you stand as far away as possible and make the team run, but we go closer and have smaller passes, suck them in to give other people space.
“When it goes wrong and people are talking about things like a lack of a Plan B, the coach just tells us to ignore the noise. You have to buy into what he wants. If there is just one person that doesn’t, we can’t carry them. It causes us massive problems. You need everyone to do it.”
It’s the 28th minute of the Doncaster match, the score is still 0-0 and Martin has seen enough.
Showing his ruthless streak, he brings off Scott Fraser and replaces him with Louis Thompson.
Not only was Fraser struggling to make an impact and do what was expected tactically, it is understood he also said something derogatory toward the home dugout as his frustration built.
“The group get treated really well,” Martin explains to The Athletic afterwards. “We treat them like human beings with real care from the group. All we ask back is that we get treated with the same respect and care that we give them.
“It doesn’t change my opinion of him at all. We have to have a discussion and make him aware of the reasons he was taken off. I’m still learning, I’m new to this job, but sometimes there is stuff I need to make sure doesn’t happen again.”
The game is a close one but, just as Martin predicted, MK Dons are winning possession back on a regular basis and looking dangerous on the counter-attack. Their opponents look bewildered and register just one shot on target in the 90 minutes.
Martin, who regularly applauds throughout even when a pass is hit out of play, is rewarded for his week’s work when Harvie fires a shot into the top corner in the 76th minute to finish off a fine move and secure the three points. The stats show MK Dons kept up with their possession average too, having had 63 per cent of the ball.
There is still plenty of room for improvement and people will continue to question whether there should be more variety in the tactics regardless of Martin’s principles.
One observer, who attended the Doncaster match as a steward but is also an MK Dons fan, is yet to be convinced.
“The passing is great and all,” he says from his vantage point before the kick-off, “but it gets a bit… ‘Oh here we go again!’ They lose it and the passing count starts from scratch – one, two, three…” he said with an element of exasperation. “Some talk about the possibility of promotion, but I think it’s too early for that. There is a lot more work to do.”
When Lewington is not playing in defence, the inexperience in the back line can sometimes show. There is an acknowledgement that a lot of the goals they’ve conceded have come from sloppy mistakes. Only six clubs have let in more than their 52 goals against – not exactly an indication of a promotion-winning outfit.
Their league record of won 15, drawn nine, lost 14 is that of a team who have found prolonged consistency hard to come by. Will Winkelman be as content if the win-loss ratio is similar in 12 months’ time?
One obstacle Martin didn’t anticipate stopping their momentum was COVID-19. Positive tests in the Lincoln City camp means their match this Saturday has had to be postponed.
That could give Winkelman the time he needs to agree a contract extension with Martin. His current deal expires next year and what he’s doing at MK Dons is earning admirers.
“We are talking at the moment,” Martin confirms. “It’s going slowly. There have been a few other jobs that my name has been linked with that the club, the chairman, has been aware of.
“I’m happy here. I’m really committed and I think the club want to show a commitment to me and the staff as well. I have a year left but it’s all about my thinking of the long term. If you’re going to play this way, you want to know you have the time to make it work.”
It’s early days in his reign there, but it looks like it’s working pretty well to me. [Post edited 21 Jul 2021 21:10]
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| Russell Martin on 21:59 - Jul 21 with 4728 views | AndyCole |
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Fab copy from The Athletic, thx. Looks the business, especially how McEachran is loving it so much.
Maybe an Exec Summary at the top would be a good thing. E.g., Is he destined for here ?
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| Pro free speech and alternative opinions -
Anti gang-bullying and poor modding thereof -
Will always make a stand against those who consistently choose to turn a blind eye |
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| Russell Martin on 22:16 - Jul 21 with 4684 views | KeithHaynes |
| Russell Martin on 21:59 - Jul 21 by AndyCole |
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Fab copy from The Athletic, thx. Looks the business, especially how McEachran is loving it so much.
Maybe an Exec Summary at the top would be a good thing. E.g., Is he destined for here ?
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I like the staff writers there, David Cornish has done some work with them.
McEachran though needs to take a step back and look at what he has before he rues the day he started not enjoying his life’s ambition. |  |
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| Russell Martin on 04:51 - Jul 22 with 4504 views | Rock |
| Russell Martin on 22:16 - Jul 21 by KeithHaynes |
I like the staff writers there, David Cornish has done some work with them.
McEachran though needs to take a step back and look at what he has before he rues the day he started not enjoying his life’s ambition. |
A lot of really good journalists working there now, quality work being done.
Definitely agree with the sentiment regards McEachran, not a good look or mentality for a guy getting paid very good money to play a game. He hasn’t exactly held up his end of the bargain, either. Not much room to talk.
I am sure he has taken quite a bit of stick over time, which doesn’t feel great, but these guys know the score very clearly before they sign their first contracts. Always condescending when they speak about “enjoying” playing, given the lavish lifestyles they are afforded simply by being present.
Having said that, I’d rather they be honest in interviews, even if it reflects poorly on them. | | | |
| Russell Martin on 09:54 - Jul 22 with 4370 views | howenjack |
I think we should go for a mix of Steve Cooper and Russell Martin ......
Steve Martin . Training would be that entertaining we would never have any absences ! | | | |
| Russell Martin on 10:34 - Jul 22 with 4318 views | jack247 |
The problem Russell Martin, or anyone would have, is we’d need an overhaul of the playing squad to play that kind of football. Midfield especially.
I’m not saying he couldn’t play more attractive football than we’ve been used to, but at the moment, I don’t think Martinez or Rodgers could play Martinez or Rodgers football with the players we have.
Grimes staying would be key to any attempt to play more incisive, possession based football IMO. | | | |
| Russell Martin on 10:10 - Jul 27 with 4018 views | Rock |
| Russell Martin on 10:34 - Jul 22 by jack247 |
The problem Russell Martin, or anyone would have, is we’d need an overhaul of the playing squad to play that kind of football. Midfield especially.
I’m not saying he couldn’t play more attractive football than we’ve been used to, but at the moment, I don’t think Martinez or Rodgers could play Martinez or Rodgers football with the players we have.
Grimes staying would be key to any attempt to play more incisive, possession based football IMO. |
While I mostly agree with your sentiments, 247, I think we have enough talented footballers at the club to implement a much more attractive style of football, and with the right manager it could happen pretty quickly. Our signings this summer have been major steps in the right direction for our club, and it appears we are learning from past mistakes.
Potter came in with a squad that had been accustomed to negative tactics for a few years and almost instantly had us playing a completely different kind of football. It was not easy, there is a lot of intelligent work that went in to that, and it will be difficult to replicate the work given the short period of time our new manager will have before the season starts and with certain Covid restrictions still lingering. That will probably continue for some time, so there are definitely extenuating circumstances. But with the right man at the helm it can be done.
I agree our midfield isn’t stocked full of the most skilled footballers, Walsh aside. But Potter had the same players, bar Fer on one leg for half the season. His most played midfield trio was Grimes, Fulton and Byers, all still here as of right now, and he was able to have us looking a completely different team on the pitch.
Crisp passing, one-twos, triangles, possession with a clear plan, off-ball movement and spacing, line-breaking, overloads and exploiting the pockets those tactics open up at the right time were all very clear to see under Potter. All noticeably absent under Cooper and that was by design. Personnel played a minor role, as always with football, but it’s obvious Cooper had little interest in the finer details. Supposedly he knows his tactics and can talk a big game, so it was more out of a willingness to play safe, percentage football in hopes of minimizing the risks and gunning for promotion above all else. We didn’t get our promotion and neither did he, and now we’re back at square one. Results-only football is just not the way to go for a club like ours, and it isn’t sustainable in the modern game. The decisionmakers at our club can see that clearly now, as well.
Potter is on a different level tactically to most and he was a seasoned coach before coming, but he was able to pull different qualities from players that many might think impossible. Unfortunately, bigger clubs can see that and it wasn’t meant to be for us. Our club is faced with a major decision now and it’s best to make the right call, even if that means a little more patience. | | | |
| Russell Martin on 10:13 - Jul 27 with 4000 views | PBJ |
| Russell Martin on 10:10 - Jul 27 by Rock |
While I mostly agree with your sentiments, 247, I think we have enough talented footballers at the club to implement a much more attractive style of football, and with the right manager it could happen pretty quickly. Our signings this summer have been major steps in the right direction for our club, and it appears we are learning from past mistakes.
Potter came in with a squad that had been accustomed to negative tactics for a few years and almost instantly had us playing a completely different kind of football. It was not easy, there is a lot of intelligent work that went in to that, and it will be difficult to replicate the work given the short period of time our new manager will have before the season starts and with certain Covid restrictions still lingering. That will probably continue for some time, so there are definitely extenuating circumstances. But with the right man at the helm it can be done.
I agree our midfield isn’t stocked full of the most skilled footballers, Walsh aside. But Potter had the same players, bar Fer on one leg for half the season. His most played midfield trio was Grimes, Fulton and Byers, all still here as of right now, and he was able to have us looking a completely different team on the pitch.
Crisp passing, one-twos, triangles, possession with a clear plan, off-ball movement and spacing, line-breaking, overloads and exploiting the pockets those tactics open up at the right time were all very clear to see under Potter. All noticeably absent under Cooper and that was by design. Personnel played a minor role, as always with football, but it’s obvious Cooper had little interest in the finer details. Supposedly he knows his tactics and can talk a big game, so it was more out of a willingness to play safe, percentage football in hopes of minimizing the risks and gunning for promotion above all else. We didn’t get our promotion and neither did he, and now we’re back at square one. Results-only football is just not the way to go for a club like ours, and it isn’t sustainable in the modern game. The decisionmakers at our club can see that clearly now, as well.
Potter is on a different level tactically to most and he was a seasoned coach before coming, but he was able to pull different qualities from players that many might think impossible. Unfortunately, bigger clubs can see that and it wasn’t meant to be for us. Our club is faced with a major decision now and it’s best to make the right call, even if that means a little more patience. |
Not sure if we have the fees for him though. |  |
| Always go with the Facts. |
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| Russell Martin on 20:40 - Jul 27 with 3310 views | AndyCole |
| Russell Martin on 10:34 - Jul 22 by jack247 |
The problem Russell Martin, or anyone would have, is we’d need an overhaul of the playing squad to play that kind of football. Midfield especially.
I’m not saying he couldn’t play more attractive football than we’ve been used to, but at the moment, I don’t think Martinez or Rodgers could play Martinez or Rodgers football with the players we have.
Grimes staying would be key to any attempt to play more incisive, possession based football IMO. |
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Completely disagree. No problem whatsoever with the likes of a clever Martin.
You're completely undermining our squad, with that level of footballing immaturity.
E.g., Walsh is precisely the type who would flourish as is Fulton as our Busquets. All we need is an Iniesta, familiar story, the missing link.
And, Grimes doesn't play incisive. He plays measured.
Must try harder, 247.......
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| Pro free speech and alternative opinions -
Anti gang-bullying and poor modding thereof -
Will always make a stand against those who consistently choose to turn a blind eye |
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| Russell Martin on 21:12 - Jul 27 with 3223 views | jack247 |
| Russell Martin on 20:40 - Jul 27 by AndyCole |
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Completely disagree. No problem whatsoever with the likes of a clever Martin.
You're completely undermining our squad, with that level of footballing immaturity.
E.g., Walsh is precisely the type who would flourish as is Fulton as our Busquets. All we need is an Iniesta, familiar story, the missing link.
And, Grimes doesn't play incisive. He plays measured.
Must try harder, 247.......
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At least you’re having a go at expressing an opinion there. Bravo Andy.
We’ll see. I’ve absolutely no doubt that if Martin comes in, he’ll play more attractive football than we’ve been used to recently. It’s a big ask to match Coopers points tally and play off finishes, but I’m sure we’d be more entertaining.
I’d be amazed if we played football as attractive as the Rodgers or Martinez sides. It’s not an easy transition.
Grimes can thread a pass, he hasn’t had a lot of movement ahead of him lately. Maybe Piroe will facilitate that. Moot point if he goes to Fulham anyway.
Fulton has been here 6 or 7 years, I think a lot of people underestimate him, Busquets is stretching it a bit though.
‘All we need is an Iniesta’ is one of the best lines I’ve read on here. | | | |
| Russell Martin on 21:57 - Jul 27 with 3069 views | AndyCole |
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This cements him as a proper contender, fair play.
He seems to tick all the right boxes of making a decent fist of building upon Cooper's solid foundations and unrivalled achievements in this league .
The benchmark is set high. Let's hope he gets the support we need to surpass those levels.
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| Pro free speech and alternative opinions -
Anti gang-bullying and poor modding thereof -
Will always make a stand against those who consistently choose to turn a blind eye |
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| Russell Martin on 22:24 - Jul 27 with 2958 views | jasper_T |
"Fulton as our Busquets" lmao | | | |
| Russell Martin on 10:17 - Jul 28 with 2643 views | onehunglow |
Who is this Rock poster.
He/She has come into the fray and simply taken over the mantle of best poster ,surely.
Brilliant read  | |
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| Russell Martin on 13:44 - Jul 28 with 2501 views | union_jack |
| Russell Martin on 10:17 - Jul 28 by onehunglow |
Who is this Rock poster.
He/She has come into the fray and simply taken over the mantle of best poster ,surely.
Brilliant read |
I think it's Darran. |  |
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| Russell Martin on 13:48 - Jul 28 with 2472 views | onehunglow |
| Russell Martin on 13:44 - Jul 28 by union_jack |
I think it's Darran. |
I 'll just say,
"who".
I have yet to find out from Builty who dwight really is. I hope I live long enough to find out.  | |
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| Russell Martin on 14:21 - Jul 28 with 2364 views | PBJ |
| Russell Martin on 13:44 - Jul 28 by union_jack |
I think it's Darran. |
If it was him he would spell some of it wrong
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| Always go with the Facts. |
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