Welcome Ange: To Dare is to Didgeridoo

[Finney Is Back]

He's earned the right to start next season. But if we keep losing, by october he'll be gone.

Indeed. That would be the wrong thing to do but we all know it is what our chairman will do. I suspect we’ll then lurch to a new manager with a completely different principle, rendering a bunch of recent signings unsuitable and then rinse and repeat 12 to 18 months later.

 

[Finney Is Back]

So instead of 11 months we’ll give him 16? That extra 5 months is going to make all the difference eh?

What position in the table in October is acceptable?

For Levy? I’d say anything below about 8th and the manager would be let go.

 

[braineclipse]

Think Ange is looking forward to starting again with preseason with a significantly changed squad. Understandably so.

 

[DeanoAustin]

Context is everything. Whilst I understand some of the reactionary negativety towards Ange just look at the 4 games we've just lost.

3 very tough away games at grounds where we traditionally lose and 1 home game against the league leaders. If these 4 games and results were mixed throughout the season with other wins, draws and losses nobody would be losing their brick over it, regardless of the performance level. It's just that 4 in a row sounds terrible.

So, I for one am quite relaxed about it, as ive been all season. Mind you, if we get tonked by Burnley....

You've got to throw in Fulham as well. That was a dreadful performance. What about Brighton where we were 4 down before we knew it. There have been a fair few poor performances and we've conceded a lot of goals. That's a worry. It's not a case that we can play badly and maybe dig in and eek out a result. We ship goals and sometimes to pretty ordinary teams.

 

[billyiddo]

Why though? The fans at the stadium gave the team a standing ovation after we lost 4-1 to Chelsea. Why can’t we all have the same sort of perspective? We’re not becoming one of the top 3 teams within 16 months for Christ sake.

Despite losing to Chelsea we showed our identity and something to get behind, the same cannot be said for what we have seen on the pitch since, for the most part. Supporters will get behind things if they can see signs of progression - there simply is no sign of that at the moment. That's not to say it won't come next season and we need to call it a day, but supporters (as a hive mind) need something to cling on to, some green shoots to show what is potentially on the horizon.

 

[tommysvr]

The Chelsea game was an anomaly. We had 2 players sent off, played in a surprising and aggressive way despite that and could have snatched a result. And we were top of the table or second at the time.

If this form continues into next season, we'll be about 10th. No one really expects top 3. But they do expect to be challenging for top 5 or 6. If we're mid table and losing games, I'm not sure Ange has enough credit in the bank to withstand that.

Personally, I'd still keep him in those circumstances but history tells me fans and the chairman won't see it that way.

And the reason will be simple. Ange won't have done enough to convince them that his way will work. A purple patch at the start of this season followed by 12 months of average to poor results won't be good enough for him to keep his job IMO.

Sorry mate, that's truly pathetic. Give it a fudging chance. I've just about had it with this board...all you negative arseholes are bringing me down too much.

 

[Baleforce]

Sorry mate, that's truly pathetic. Give it a fudging chance. I've just about had it with this board...all you negative arseholes are bringing me down too much.

How far through next season would you let this form continue, in the belief it will turn around?

 

[braineclipse]

Despite losing to Chelsea we showed our identity and something to get behind, the same cannot be said for what we have seen on the pitch since, for the most part. Supporters will get behind things if they can see signs of progression - there simply is no sign of that at the moment. That's not to say it won't come next season and we need to call it a day, but supporters (as a hive mind) need something to cling on to, some green shoots to show what is potentially on the horizon.

I agree that there isn't progression overall. And most of the positives that are there now were also there earlier on the season.

Most of the good stuff we're seeing now is only there in phases, not consistently. But we are showing both what we can do defensively in open play, high pressing, playing through pressure from the back and with chance creation. All in periods, but still. A lot there to build on from here. A lot of the basic principles are there most of the time, but there's an inconsistency in execution.

Unfortunately we're also seeing poor defending from set pieces way too often and too many moments of poor defending in open play (though mostly individual errors/poor performances). Sort those over the summer and add a touch of consistency and I think we'll be flying again.

 

[DeanoAustin]

Sorry mate, that's truly pathetic. Give it a fudging chance. I've just about had it with this board...all you negative arseholes are bringing me down too much.

Didn’t think I was being that negative. Critical maybe but that’s pretty standard on a discussion board as you need differing viewpoints to have a discussion.

Would be a shame to see you leave but might be best for you because if it was to turn nasty, I can’t imagine you’d enjoy it much.

 

[Bedfordspurs]

Context is everything. Whilst I understand some of the reactionary negativety towards Ange just look at the 4 games we've just lost.

3 very tough away games at grounds where we traditionally lose and 1 home game against the league leaders. If these 4 games and results were mixed throughout the season with other wins, draws and losses nobody would be losing their brick over it, regardless of the performance level. It's just that 4 in a row sounds terrible.

So, I for one am quite relaxed about it, as ive been all season. Mind you, if we get tonked by Burnley....

Context goes out the window with football fans
I read earlier that arteta change things over arsenal so quickly and so did klopp at pool
When I challenged the comment with the results I was told I wrong
Clearly then the results don’t matter to form an opinion…

 

[Bedfordspurs]

I agree that there isn't progression overall. And most of the positives that are there now were also there earlier on the season.

Most of the good stuff we're seeing now is only there in phases, not consistently. But we are showing both what we can do defensively in open play, high pressing, playing through pressure from the back and with chance creation. All in periods, but still. A lot there to build on from here. A lot of the basic principles are there most of the time, but there's an inconsistency in execution.

Unfortunately we're also seeing poor defending from set pieces way too often and too many moments of poor defending in open play (though mostly individual errors/poor performances). Sort those over the summer and add a touch of consistency and I think we'll be flying again.

You ain’t getting consistency unless you have players who can this football
But seeing the making of it is key

 

[spurspinter1]

Sorry mate, that's truly pathetic. Give it a fudging chance. I've just about had it with this board...all you negative arseholes are bringing me down too much.

I'm not sure I'll help by wading in here but I haven't seen outrageous OTT negativity, perhaps one or two noobs who may potentially be wums anyways. The league position is what people were hoping for leading in to the season, nearly every post I'm seeing displays that context.

People are entitled to see things differently. You are undoubtedly knowledgeable about Ange and have faith that we are going to be a lot better next season. For people who aren't so sure on that it's fair that if this current form continues to speculate that there'll be a lot of pressure on the manager leading up to Christmas. For right or wrong it's the way of a football club that wants to be seen as a top club

You can tell me to tinkle off on this point but I wonder if you're finding it easier to get annoyed at fans rather than the actual football / results we're getting due to you possibly setting out your stall on Ange himself? Hypothetically what would it take for you to go "Actually as it turns it he probably wasn't good enough / the right person for the job", if and when it comes to an end is it fair to predict that it'll be because of the board or the fans not holding the same level of belief as you do in him? I've been mainly positive throughout the season and do hope you're right btw, I hope that goes without saying.

The good news that was mentioned on the pod is that at least we'll hopefully be buying young technically able players who will work with managers that actually want to play football so that bodes well for the mid / long term future of the club whatever happens but I'd rather it goes well with Ange..

 

[Lilbaz]

Contact goes out the window with football fans
I read earlier that arteta Timor over arsenal so quickly and so did klopp at pool
When I challenged the comment with the results I was told I wrong
Clearly then the results don’t matter to form an opinion…

No idea what any of that meant.

 

[Bedfordspurs]

No idea what any of that meant.

I’ll edit for you

 

[Jurgen the German]

Not entirely. The recent form is just our results catching up to our performances - we haven't performed well in a whole game since 2023. I think the recent rise in doubts about Postecoglou is because what is happening is the inverse of what instinctively should be happening - you would expect players to get more comfortable in a system as time goes on, mad results to improve, but instead things are continually getting worse.

I think @Bedfordspurs made the point that if the season were reversed and the first 10 games had happened now, people would be giddy. True, but that's because that's what *should be happening* if a manager's system is genuinely good - we improve as it is implemented. The reverse is, imo, a legitimate cause for concern, because it feeds the idea that he's been found out in a tougher league than Scotland, Japan or Australia.

None of that implies he shouldn't be here at the start of next season. But it does mean this season isn't quite the roaring success some people seem to see it as, imo. It's a roughly above average job.

Interesting point about the results being reversed and people getting excited if we finished the season in the way we started it. Having said that, if we had started the season like this, would anyone have been surprised if Ange had been let go?

 

[Jurgen the German]

You've got to throw in Fulham as well. That was a dreadful performance. What about Brighton where we were 4 down before we knew it. There have been a fair few poor performances and we've conceded a lot of goals. That's a worry. It's not a case that we can play badly and maybe dig in and eek out a result. We ship goals and sometimes to pretty ordinary teams.

Very true. And how hard is it to make a team mean and hard to beat? Redknapp managed it in about half a dozen games when he became our manager. We ended up with the best defensive record in the league at home.

 

[Baleforce]

Very true. And how hard is it to make a team mean and hard to beat? Redknapp managed it in about half a dozen games when he became our manager. We ended up with the best defensive record in the league at home.

That’s the thing for me, step one, don’t lose, reduce the number of goals conceded, then build from there.

 

[Jurgen the German]

That’s the thing for me, step one, don’t lose, reduce the number of goals conceded, then build from there.

Yes. It shows a certain stubbornness to see things going wrong and not do anything to fix it, like how we constantly concede from set pieces. Look how many goals and points Arsenal have accumulated from getting a set piece coach. We weren’t easy to beat under Poch and Redknapp.

 

[Bedfordspurs]

Yes. It shows a certain stubbornness to see things going wrong and not do anything to fix it, like how we constantly concede from set pieces. Look how many goals and points Arsenal have accumulated from getting a set piece coach. We weren’t easy to beat under Poch and Redknapp.

We were at points
Poch couldn’t win a game away from home for a period and also had spell with set pieces
With Redknapp there wasn’t perfection either
But they both fixed things

 

[Chrissivad]

I think we have seen what we can achieve when we have a team committed to playing the way Ange wants.

I feel, what we are seeing now is players who haven't recovered their form after injuries, players not getting a break due to no back up, and players knowing they won't or don't want to be here next season.

It will be open at the back, I can't see that changing