For me at couple of points that are interlinked

The first was not strengthening the defence adequately in the summer after we went up. We ended up with inconsistent defenders making lots of errors plus also an out of form Ruddy. This in turn meant we couldn't keep clean sheets even though we were playing pretty well at the start of that season.

Then came the Newcastle moment where Neil showed himself to be tactically inept.

After that, rather than realise that most of our problems were due to the fact we just didn't have any good defenders he freaked out and started chopping and changing the team all the time. At the same time the players had seen that he does not have the tactical nous/ability to back up the tub thumping. Being uber confident and shouting and bawling at your players can work initially, especially with an underperforming team, but once the players realized he does not have the other coaching or tactical skills to back up the bluster I think that things started to unravel a bit and they have just stopped responding to a man they deep down they don't respect very much. That has continued into this season (again with the defence not being addressed) and has now spiraled out of control somewhat following a couple of initial morale sapping defeats to Newcastle and Brighton.

Meanwhile off the pitch the horrendous timing of the Times article from the Stowmarket Two has opened fans eyes to the very real prospect of an extended and depressing stay in the championship which has not helped the mood of the fans.

Posted By: Jim, Nov 28, 12:16:46