In patches, perhaps. That wasn’t my point, though.
I just find it remarkable that so many people seem to look back on the previous manager’s time as some sort of gilded utopia, and have forgotten the largely awful and naive football, the endless spats with fans, the embarrassingly rude and grumpy press conferences, the lack of an alternative plan….
It was dreadful, it was a continuation of the downward spiral this club has been in for many years, and the board allowed it to go on for far too long, hence the toxic mess that our home games have become. (Lest we forget, that toxicity in the stadium first developed through the course of last season).
Frank walked into a mess (let’s not kid ourselves that the EL win was anything other than papering over the cracks - and, as VDV recently told us, it was achieved by the senior players taking control). Unfortunately, it’s increasingly looking like he doesn’t have the support of enough fans, or perhaps the strength of personality, to turn things around. For me, that largely lands at the feet of the board yet again (due diligence and proper strategy was lacking, as on so many previous occasions); but it is also a reflection of a club which has turned itself into an absolute basket case.