Hard To Be Here

Perhaps the fans that moan see us getting caught out time and time again by the same mistakes and wonder why Pep doesn't change things. The long ball over the top is the obvious example.
How many matches have the opposition scored with their first and perhaps only attack in the game ?
How many brain farts have the fans seen Pep have, Champs League final being the obvious one but there are many more.
But more importantly how many fans watched that yesterday and were totally and utterly bored?
Stuart Pearce is the only other manager that has played football where I have been bored.
It has nothing to do with entitlement, it's about frustration and, I never thought I'd type this under Pep, it's about boredom, boring sideways football.
 
Stoned Rose said:
I was 8 and it was the greatest thing ever!
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Like I’m trying to think of the great Maine Road days after that, until the Kippax was rebuilt.

Liverpool later that year, the 10-1, The 5-1, Liverpool in 1991.

Think that’s probably it, and one of them, next to no **** was there!*

*I was, obvs.
 
Blue Mist said:
Perhaps the fans that moan see us getting caught out time and time again by the same mistakes and wonder why Pep doesn't change things. The long ball over the top is the obvious example.
How many matches have the opposition scored with their first and perhaps only attack in the game ?
How many brain farts have the fans seen Pep have, Champs League final being the obvious one but there are many more.
But more importantly how many fans watched that yesterday and were totally and utterly bored?
Stuart Pearce is the only other manager that has played football where I have been bored.
It has nothing to do with entitlement, it's about frustration and, I never thought I'd type this under Pep, it's about boredom, boring sideways football.
Click to expand...
Defensive low blocks are making football much more dull to watch. No one has come up with the way to beat this version of it, which is why goals scored is down.

There’s also a huge dearth of creativity in football in general at the moment.
 
gordondaviesmoustache said:
Does that mean you feel this group of players should be doing better
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Not just the players the whole team. Unless it is promotion 2nd is normally a missed opportunity, like in 1977, 2013, 2015 and 2020. In one we just missed out the others we underperformed after winning the league.

77 was worst followed by 2nd in the 81 final, they are just missed opportunities. Even though you do better than almost everyone else it is hard to celebrate.
 
gordondaviesmoustache said:
Like I’m trying to think of the great Maine Road days after that, until the Kippax was rebuilt.

Liverpool later that year, the 10-1, The 5-1, Liverpool in 1991.

Think that’s probably it, and one of them, next to no **** was there!*

*I was, obvs.
Click to expand...
I loved every minute at Maine Road mate. I remember getting my first season ticket aged 12 (89) and singing that hard at every game I’d get home with a banging headache and be that full of adrenaline I couldn’t sleep that night. I’ll never get that buzz back but I’m glad I experienced it. What a club :)
 
I do an awful lot of muting and stay away from most of the player threads. Also match day threads.

It is incomprehensible to me that people slag Pep off I mean wtf.
 
Alan Harper's Tash said:
Defensive low blocks are making football much more dull to watch. No one has come up with the way to beat this version of it, which is why goals scored is down.

There’s also a huge dearth of creativity in football in general at the moment.
Click to expand...
I was unlucky enough to watch Casimiros headed goal today.
We do not score that kind of goal. It sadly had creativity written all over it.
We have teams playing the low block because they know how we play, sideways to the wing, back, 5 yards forward and repeat.
Arsenal have found a way around low blocks, go at them and get a corner.

Our tactics have not evolved. We are boring.
 
Alan Harper's Tash said:
Defensive low blocks are making football much more dull to watch. No one has come up with the way to beat this version of it, which is why goals scored is down.

There’s also a huge dearth of creativity in football in general at the moment.
Click to expand...
Deep lying defences have always existed, and it is hardly exclusively done just to us, it is becoming a poor excuse when we have seen us carve through such when we decide to play quick passing forward attacks to keep using it as an excuse for our own failings

playing 10 behind the ball is easy when we are slowing down play and passing it sideways and back all the time, giving the opposition time to regroup and park the bus
 
Corky said:
Not just the players the whole team. Unless it is promotion 2nd is normally a missed opportunity, like in 1977, 2013, 2015 and 2020. In one we just missed out the others we underperformed after winning the league.

77 was worst followed by 2nd in the 81 final, they are just missed opportunities. Even though you do better than almost everyone else it is hard to celebrate.
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I have a different perspective on those seasons than you, but I was barely a City fan in 1977.

I would say that was the one of those four I look at most fondly.

2013 was shite, I agree, because the rags won the league, so nothing to celebrate there.

2020 didn’t really matter imo.
 
youngbob said:
Becoming a little disillusioned with this place again. The lack of patience and the level of anger that comes whenever we don't win a game these days is very disheartening. I don't recognise our fanbase much these days.
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I completely get what you're saying, and in a lot of ways I agree. The constant anger and impatience every time we don't win can be draining, and sometimes it does feel like the fanbase has changed a bit.

At the same time though, I think a lot of the frustration is about how we are performing, not just the result. Fans are always going to question decisions and tactics when things aren't clicking - that's part of football.

Disagreeing with the manager or the setup doesn't automatically mean people are being toxic, it just means they're trying to understand what's going wrong.

Take the Semenyo situation for example. Why buy a winger to effectively replace Oscar Bobb and then end up using him as a number 10? Especially when we've got two of the best number 10's in world football sitting on the bench when we're chasing a goal for our number 9 - who happens to be the best goalscorer in world football.

And that's where the debate gets frustrating. When people question why Haaland isn't scoring, the usual response is "well we don’t play to Haaland’s strengths." But when you ask why, or what the actual problem is, no one will say it's the tactics or the team selection from Pep.
So what is it then?

If people are going to criticise fans for questioning decisions, at least offer a constructive opinion on what the issue actually is. Otherwise it just shuts down the conversation rather than explaining anything.
 
LangleyBlue1970 said:
I think in our case you can be ok with poor performances, unless you’re around 18 and know nothing other than success. I can almost get that if that’s the case.

But to call for Peps head, which I’ve seen plenty of, is as rag like entitlement as it gets. Went gone from nothing to everything in a relative blink of an eye. A few or more poor performances and unsuccessful seasons should be given tolerance.
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With all due respect, that's bollocks mate!

Pep has been on a downhill slope since 2023. Our football is increasingly boring and predictable, and bar the odd game, this and las season have been the worst since he arrived.

Thinking it's time for a change is perfectly reasonable in such circumstances. Your suggestion that "calling for Pep's head" is rag like entitlement, is ridiculous and disrespectful. People are allowed to have and express opinions and we're not always going to agree.

Pep will leave soon and that will be that. He and our superb record will be confined to history. We shouldn't be sitting on laurels, we should be planning for the future.

Personally, I believe that Pep should have quit after we won the CL in 2023... when he achieved what he was appointed for. He's not been the same man since then. Even when we won 'four in a row', cracks could be seen all over the ageing squad, and it's been downhill since in terms of performance, entertainment, etc.
 
Blue Since 76 said:
I didn't say you said anything and you didn't say it represents a good season, at least not to me. You asked about celebrations previously, so not sure what you're choosing to misunderstand.
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I was responding to this post from you.
When did first loser become something to celebrate?
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I never mentioned celebrating, so not sure why you’d ask that question. No, I don’t think it’s something to celebrate per se.
 
Blue Mist said:
Perhaps the fans that moan see us getting caught out time and time again by the same mistakes and wonder why Pep doesn't change things. The long ball over the top is the obvious example.
How many matches have the opposition scored with their first and perhaps only attack in the game ?
How many brain farts have the fans seen Pep have, Champs League final being the obvious one but there are many more.
But more importantly how many fans watched that yesterday and were totally and utterly bored?
Stuart Pearce is the only other manager that has played football where I have been bored.
It has nothing to do with entitlement, it's about frustration and, I never thought I'd type this under Pep, it's about boredom, boring sideways football.
Click to expand...
With your tactical genius and all-round knowledge of the game, I am amazed that you are not employed as a coach by a top PL club.
 
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