This is the season...

[Des Little]

Excellent - and very accurate article. What a pitiful mess.

[Ormy Droid]

A fair summing up, though it's a bit harsh on Garde, considering the abject mess he came into. A Pulis or Allardyce may have been able to save us, and I for one was ready to sell my soul in the short term. We didn't, now we have to lick our wounds, regroup and rebuild, under someone who has the burning desire to bring us back up, playing good football, hopefully Remi Garde.

[olaftab]

Great article and very sobering.

[Ads]

Leeds and Newcastle are the only two clubs of remotely comparable size who have dropped, with Leeds being an absolutely financial basket case. I also think its a bit remiss to spend an article citing a poor playing squad and then shake your head at the prospect of a manager who has inherited a poor group being able to bring his own in.

[SoccerHQ]

In fairness when we go I will draw comparisons with West Ham when they went down in 2011, they had a decent squad and it slowly got worse until they went down (although amusingly they also went with the PFA player of the year).

Anyway they sold Scott Parker and Upson I think which got them money and then signed decent strikers at that level like Nicky Maynard and Vaz Te. They also got a manager well capable of getting them straight up and he did (just).

It will at least make a refreshing change to be in a division where you don't have to spend 50m just to be reasonably competitive, teams like SHA, Brighton, Cardiff, Ipswich and Hull are all in the top 10 with freebies and loan players in their teams.

[Pat McMahon]

Thanks for posting Dave. That is a very, very good article from Matt Stead - I must keep an eye out for him.

He makes one comment which concerns me - that Garde has made no discernible imprint on the team. That has been nagging at me for a couple of weeks now.

[joe_c]

Thanks for posting Dave. That is a very, very good article from Matt Stead - I must keep an eye out for him.

He makes one comment which concerns me - that Garde has made no discernible imprint on the team. That has been nagging at me for a couple of weeks now.

I'd disagree somewhat with that. There has at least been a consistency to his team selection and a game plan that involves retaining the ball and in some instances, a willingness to win it back when lost. I hope such an imprint would be more evident when (or if...) the team actually gets a win but we are still firmly in stemming the bleeding mode.

[Pat McMahon]

Thanks for posting Dave. That is a very, very good article from Matt Stead - I must keep an eye out for him.

He makes one comment which concerns me - that Garde has made no discernible imprint on the team. That has been nagging at me for a couple of weeks now.

I'd disagree somewhat with that. There has at least been a consistency to his team selection and a game plan that involves retaining the ball and in some instances, a willingness to win it back when lost. I hope such an imprint would be more evident when (or if...) the team actually gets a win but we are still firmly in stemming the bleeding mode.

The biggest consistency has been in our results, Joe. 4 points from 8 games compared to 4 in 11 under Sherwood. Under Garde we have scored 5 goals and conceded 14 - there is no discernible improvement in the team, though I think Ayew and Veretout are definitely improving.

Don't get me wrong, even thinking of sacking Garde this season would be madness, but we have had no tangible improvement since he arrived.

[joe_c]

Thanks for posting Dave. That is a very, very good article from Matt Stead - I must keep an eye out for him.

He makes one comment which concerns me - that Garde has made no discernible imprint on the team. That has been nagging at me for a couple of weeks now.

I'd disagree somewhat with that. There has at least been a consistency to his team selection and a game plan that involves retaining the ball and in some instances, a willingness to win it back when lost. I hope such an imprint would be more evident when (or if...) the team actually gets a win but we are still firmly in stemming the bleeding mode.

The biggest consistency has been in our results, Joe. 4 points from 8 games compared to 4 in 11 under Sherwood. Under Garde we have scored 5 goals and conceded 14 - there is no discernible improvement in the team, though I think Ayew and Veretout are definitely improving.

Don't get me wrong, even thinking of sacking Garde this season would be madness, but we have had no tangible improvement since he arrived.

You're quite right, in every meaningful regard, it's been as bad as it was under his predecessor but I'd rather Garde's approach than any more of Sherwood seemingly picking the team with the assistance of Guinevere and set of balls number three.

[Pat McMahon]

Thanks for posting Dave. That is a very, very good article from Matt Stead - I must keep an eye out for him.

He makes one comment which concerns me - that Garde has made no discernible imprint on the team. That has been nagging at me for a couple of weeks now.

I'd disagree somewhat with that. There has at least been a consistency to his team selection and a game plan that involves retaining the ball and in some instances, a willingness to win it back when lost. I hope such an imprint would be more evident when (or if...) the team actually gets a win but we are still firmly in stemming the bleeding mode.

The biggest consistency has been in our results, Joe. 4 points from 8 games compared to 4 in 11 under Sherwood. Under Garde we have scored 5 goals and conceded 14 - there is no discernible improvement in the team, though I think Ayew and Veretout are definitely improving.

Don't get me wrong, even thinking of sacking Garde this season would be madness, but we have had no tangible improvement since he arrived.

You're quite right, in every meaningful regard, it's been as bad as it was under his predecessor but I'd rather Garde's approach than any more of Sherwood seemingly picking the team with the assistance of Guinevere and set of balls number three.

Just re-read your previous post and agree re team selection. I like his demeanour, but just wish he would win a few games.

I have some French friends over this weekend so will be asking for some signs of encouragement. I'm not expecting too much, but optimism always comes with alcohol....

[Ads]

He might have had a better chance if Sherwood hadn't drained every last inch of confidence from them. We were the better side against Norwich, conceded and collapsed.

[Smirker]

I still don't think it's quite over yet. 11 points yes I know, but if we can beat Sunderland, we'll close the gap between us and them to a single point. It will be an 8 point swing required providing Swansea lose (they are away at Man. United) and Newcastle lose (away at Arsenal). Plus I think other clubs will drop down as well.

It only takes a couple of wins to put you right back in the mix.

I'm still hopeful (or deluded  ) but we need to beat Sunderland. Lose that and it will be all but over for sure.

[Villa in Denmark]

I still don't think it's quite over yet. 11 points yes I know, but if we can beat Sunderland, we'll close the gap between us and them to a single point. It will be an 8 point swing required providing Swansea lose (they are away at Man. United) and Newcastle lose (away at Arsenal). Plus I think other clubs will drop down as well.

It only takes a couple of wins to put you right back in the mix.

I'm still hopeful (or deluded  ) but we need to beat Sunderland. Lose that and it will be all but over for sure.

There's no denying that we're generally shit, but that's been with an inconsistent back 4 as the foundation for a team devoid of confidence.
I suspect that a some point we'll fluke a win and then go on a reasonable run. Unfortunately it will be too little too late and we'll be confirmed a couple of weeks before the season end, but end up missing out by 3-4 points.

[DaveD]

I see both Hutton and Richardson made the Daily Telegraph's worst XI of 2015, Gestede and Traore both made the top 20 worst summer signings, and Guzan was ranked 18th best keeper.

Oddly, none of our players features in the best XI.

[David_Nab]

Whats important is if we do go we salvage some respect and form.

To get back up we need to come out of the blocks firing next season so going down continuing our current record is going to leave us starting season still with losing mentality.

It will be very hard to get back up first time based on teams who have dropped down recently.