Is it really so black and white?

There are no simple answers to the situation we are in. Yes, we would all like to be doing better - yes, we all expected to do better. But there are plenty of things to weigh up.

Firstly, a pretty arrogant attitude from some supporters "We're far too good for this league, we ought to be thrashing teams like X" etc etc. To be honest, some people are sounding like the Wolves supporters we've despised and I for one don't like it. It's also manifesting itself in the ludicrous reactions to every statement from the club this season, when things HAVEN'T gone well and there's no denying it. The Leon McKenzie situation - Jesus H Christ, was that any way to treat one of the most whole-hearted and committed players we've had in years? When the club was finally forced to dignify the total and utter bulls**t with a comment, the conspiracy theorists just tap their noses and say "Well they would say that, wouldn't they?". And they have the gall to take the piss when Worthy made his comment about scans in the Ashton situation. Why did he say it? Probably because he is sick and f**king tired of fans making up fairy-stories to justify their latest conspiracy theory about how the manager or board or whoever are trying to fail. Some people are acting like 3 year olds deprived of their favourite toy and need to have a word with themselves.

Secondly, I don't think anyone can be happy with the signings made this year. We've just come down from the top flight and people expected players of a certain stature to join us. Aside from the shafting of Marc Edworthy and possibly the release of Danny Crow, I can almost see a logic to most of the signings, bar Matthieu Louis-Jean and Peter Thorne. Colin, a promising young right-back to learn from an experienced colleague and adjust to the English game. Hughes, a new Gary Holt. Jarrett, a new Francis (er, yeah?). Etuhu, young, shown early promise, maybe Worthy thinks he can get the best out of him. Robinson, the new Gary Holt Mk II (Where does this leave Hughes?). Matthieu Louis-Jean; over 30, done sod-all, and just relegated with one of the worst defenses in the league...what the f**k was Worthy thinking? Ditto Peter Thorne, why not use Ryan Jarvis as our backup and groom him for the future? Why not find someone under 30, on a much smaller wage packet, and likely to provide 5-6 years of service? Hughes and Jarrett, squad players to fill in with a quality signing(s) who never arrived? Who knows? The end result however is not good enough, and the responsibility for that lies with Worthy. And we still don't have a right winger. We are always and always will be partially hamstrung by our image - little ol' Norwich, full of hicks and out in the sticks. They pass well though, don't they?

The tactics have been heavily criticised. Early on, people were criticising the 4-4-2 formation. The main problem there was the lack of passing and work off the ball. The only player actually showing for the ball, continually, was Leon McKenzie - everyone else was just happy to stand around and watch, resulting in hoofball. Since moving to the 4-3-3, I'm still not convinced it's too much of an improvement. Paul McVeigh has been great on the ball, but doesn't get close enough to Deano to work off him effectively. Darren Huckerby seems to spend most of his time "tea-potting" on the halfway line. Jurgen Colin has no help at all down the right and is having a shocker - every single club we play knows we're skinny down the flanks and can be outnumbered in the middle. Put 4 or 5 in the middle, close us down quickly and attack down the flanks and we're dead easy to play against. You need to be pretty dynamic in the middle to pull 4-3-3 off, and we simply don't have it. In the end, I'm not sure we can do better with the players we have at the moment - again, it comes down to signings.

Set pieces have generally been dire - you only have to watch a corner or free kick fail to beat a man 20 or 30 times before you start asking questions? Just what DO they do in training? Again, passing and work off the ball. Get some f**king drills going on the training field!

Most of the youngsters are a bit young (16-17) to be regulars in the first team. The likes of Ryan Jarvis and Ian Henderson, however, are at the stage where if they aren't our first choice replacements and in their proper positions, they ought to be sold. I have no problem at all with a few youngsters learning their trade and maybe becoming better players. The board don't seem to realise that these blokes are cheaper than 2nd-rate journeymen, on less wages, and may actually turn into first-rate journeymen themselves given the chance. Bonus all round. If we're not going to go for quality journeyman players (In the context of football as a whole), we ought to be utilising our available resources, not as a last resort. Will we see Rossi Jarvis, Micky Spillane and Andrew Cave-Brown again this season? I hope so, but I wouldn't hold my breath.

So, does this amount to Worthy out? Before the 5-match unbeaten run I was in the "yes" camp, simply because if the rot wasn't stopped, we were going down, simple as that. And no-one fancies being the biggest club in League 1. But having sacked him, can we find and entice a suitable replacement? This is little ol' Norwich, remember, full of hicks and out in the sticks. Maybe I should wait for that job closer to home. They pass well though, don't they?

Is there a guarantee of sucess if he is replaced? No, absolutely not. We'll end up with another fallible human being with strengths, weaknesses, blind spots, and peccadillos. Could we do worse? Yup. Peter Reid, anyone?

He's not perfect, the board have invested massively in him, and if nothing else I respect his dignity. Like it or not, we'll muddle on in mid-table with him for quite some time, failing a catastrophic melt-down which looked perilously close a couple of months ago.

Posted By: Iwan Husarmi on January 15th 2006 at 18:08:16

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