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adam cool dude said:
It is away to Newcastle at St James' park. It was never going to be easy and despite their injuries they still got that spine which we haven't at the moment . If it wasn't for Maguire getting in the way it would have been a 1-1 draw.

Luke Shaw was playing left centre back and Dalot as left back. It was never going to be pretty.

Listening to the press makes it sound a lot worse than it really is.

Yes there are a huge magnitude of problems at the club but getting rid of ETH would be the worst thing to do.

Getting rid of problem players despite the financial implications is a must or the club will never move forward on the pitch.
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It doesn't matter what the press say - watch the games. Also remember that in terms of our league position, most of our recent games have been against weaker opponents. Any game against a side in the top half is almost certainly going to end in defeat - that is ETH's record, and it's a disturbing one.

Ignore the opposition, the performances are poor in pretty much every game. We would have no doubt struggled against Everton if it wasn't for a wondergoal to put them on the back foot.

I am not blaming ETH alone or asking for him to go - it won't make any difference at the moment. All I would say is that if you put absolutely everything else to one side, ETH is a relatively untested manager (compared to someone like Klopp). His signings haven't been great and he has not been able to improve the squad, either in style of play or quality. There is still a huge question mark over him.

Gary Neville summed it up quite well on his podcast, the club is just horrible to watch, and that isn't because of a few injuries - they are not a factor right now.
 
I think the club do look a bit desperate here. Had they been approached, they would have just denied the stories or refused to comment - the press wouldn't have disclosed their sources.

In his article yesterday, Simon Stone at the BBC said he had been told similar things too.
 
Thekwango said:
not sure how it relates to the managers authority? some players made the request for a day off and it was refused without even involving ETH from what i understand.
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It's mainly the players, but given the dire performance on Saturday, they've got some serious nerve.
 
adam cool dude said:
Gutter press. ETH will still be here come the summer regardless of where we finish.
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I wouldn't be so sure. Champions League is considered critically important, Ratcliffe himself said so in his interviews after the takeover.

INEOS won't be looking at it from an emotional angle, they'll evaluate whether he plays the sort of football they want, etc.

That Liverpool game has got to be a springboard for him now, Spurs look wobbly so we need to at least finish 5th (we should get the extra CL spot), or the season will still be considered a big failure.
 
adam cool dude said:
I really hope not. People have short term memories and wonder why Klopp is playing Europa League football and the club he manages is in a much better state than hours. Our squad has good points but is so reliant on players staying fit. ETH has been shocking unlucky with keeping players fit this season.
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If we can kick on from the Liverpool game (we've said this before) then I think ETH has a good chance of staying. The FA Cup will be a tall order - unless Chelsea beat City - but 5th is more than achievable.

I'm still not convinced but I'd be happy to give him another chance if we can end the season strongly.
 
Can we have a threadban on the word Southgate?

BaZ87 said:
As I said, I think it's very likely that ETH will be gone sooner rather than later - he's generally done a pretty poor job and Ashworth, Brailsford and co will have their own plans and ideas, and will likely want their own man to implement them.
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Exactly. I think INEOS would only consider keeping him if he was performing very well, and realistically it's been a struggle, whatever the statistics may say, this season has been dire at times.
 
I didn't think there was much chance of ETH being sacked overnight, although it would have been well deserved.

Putting everything else to one side, the question we have to ask is, over the past 2 seasons, what has he shown? A couple of good cup runs? The performances have just been beyond woeful, it's like the dark days of Moyes/Rangnick/Mourinho all rolled into one terrible package, and the longer he's here, the worse it gets. We all know the players aren't up to scratch either, but a good manager would get more out of them, and show something on the tactical side of things.

It genuinely looks like the players are not coached. That is absolutely damning. Maybe they don't understand what he wants? But that is his fault.

The players he's brought in have not improved the team as a whole, Martinez being the only exception. And yes, before anyone says it, he wanted the likes of Antony and we wouldn't have signed him without ETH's intervention.

I am shocked this is even a discussion, he's toast, surely.
 
fez said:
I'm almost certain he is already gone. FA cup or not. He won a trophy last season, spend silly money and we have gone backwards in every way. The defensive issues can only give you so much leeway and I think hes spent that twice over.
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In addition to that, new owners often like to bring in their own man. INEOS are cleaning house in every other area, the manager is just a bit further down the list.
 
Shami, you are asking lots of questions but ignoring the fact we are watching performances that are so dire, they are scarcely believable.

It's clear that nothing is working, debating the fine details is just a waste of time. I think a decision can be made without the entire football structure in place.

Maybe ETH himself wants to go? He'd probably prefer to be back at Ajax.
 
Shamikebab said:
I'm not ignoring it at all, I've mentioned it many times on here. We've been in this exact place multiple times before with different managers and hiring a new one has never fixed anything. We've just spent more money and returned to the exact same place. Now we're actually seeing some actual change in the place where anyone with half a brain cell knows we need changes and people don't seem to have the patience to see if it makes a difference? It's just baffling to me. Everyone always wants the quick fix even if they have no idea who they want next, they just want a new toy. Not a single person here calling for his head has come up with a single option to replace him, let alone a temp to hire for the rest of the season that would be better than him (well Steedie wants some unnamed coach)

Every time we sack a manager people talk about giving the new guy time to fix the squad and the culture and then within a few years they want him fired for not having fixed it immediately. Would you have wanted him fired last year if we'd had this season last season?
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I totally get that and agree that just firing managers is not the answer, but the manager has to do his part and show there is something being worked towards. There is no sign of that here.

ETH is failing, what big changes are going to be made in the summer that will suddenly allow him to turn everything around? We aren't going to sign 10 new players.

In terms of firing him now, we're too close to the end of the season for it to matter, although I think you could make a legitimate argument some sort of caretaker manager would give us a better chance in the FA Cup Final.

I think we have a very different view of how he's performed this season, I don't accept the injury problems as a valid excuse for the garbage being churned out every single week. If it was Rangnick and not ETH in post, would you be advocating he gets another season under the new structure? I'm not so sure.
 
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