Gordon Strachan's Management (6 Mergered)

I think he's facing real managerial pressure for the first time (relegation hauntings and a FA Cup run to the final dont do it for me).

He's hitting out with stuff as if to back his own ideas of the way it should all be , tryn to smooth over the cracks .

I allways remember talking to a few southampton supporters ,they allways said he was a funny guy.....aslong as he wasnt managing your club .

Looks like he's went past the bottling out stage and we are all now facing unchartered strachan territory

 

Every interview gets worse.He said during the week that nobody could deny that we deserved to win the last 5 games!!!I would appreciate a wee bit more honesty from him.I dont expect him to come out slagging individual players,but a realistic assesment would be preferable to the frankly nonsensical guff he's come out with in the past month.

 

He's not happy, that's for sure.

 

I really hate him for the way he thinks the fans are all mindless muppets, that know nothing about football. He is so arrogant. He never fills you with confidence or rallies the supporters or makes us feel good.

He just makes derisory comments. His hatred of the media really annoys me too. Does he not realise that is the only medium the fans get to hear his opinion and tell us what is going on, yet he uses the time to make smart * comments or to be negative about something, i.e. Scotland, SPL, Fans, Media etc.

I want to go back to the days of Burns, O'Niell and McNeil. Days when the manager would inspire you as a fan and express themselves well.

Strachan is an Odd Ball. Whether you want him to stay or go, no-one can deny the man is odd.

 

i think the problem lies in the formation i personally would play a 3 5 2 again specially when we play the scum. that would give us more options in attack also they * play 1 up front so we can afford 2 drop a defender and match them in midfieild .we donne very well playing 3 5 2.

 

The old firm matches are key to winning the supporters hearts, he hasn't done well in them this season and the supporters didn't particularly take to him anyway

 

Quote from WGS in todays Synday Mail.

"I like to base the style of my team on that of Manchester United. That's my philosophy on the game."

Do you think someone should have a wee whisper in his ear to inform him that Man Utd don’t play 4-4-2.
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Ellboy, Sorry for the delay in replying, my internet at home was down. In reply to your question, I kind of agree will kennydal. Strachan does have the blinkers on. I think he actually beleives his tactics are spot on but it isnt happening at the moment cos we have been unlucky in front of goal! Also, I think he has lost faith in certain players (Riordan, Balde, Graveson, JJ) to carry out his tactical instructions, so is relying too heavily on guys who are off form or needing a rest but who follow his instructions e.g. Aiden, Naka, JVOH. Inevitably, our performance level dips drastically as these guys dont perform to their maximum. Hence, we lose points. Goes back to the old purchasing of players & coaching we were talking about earlier - he needs to buy players who can play the way he wants them to or who can be coached to play this way!


Where we disagree is that Man Utd do play 4-4-2, although they generally only stick to this system when defending. The reason it works for Man Utd is that their players are interchangeable in a way that ours are not. Ronaldo is given freedom to raom, as Rooney and Tevez are both willing and able to drop back when defending to cover for him.

 

No probs Spidey. I kind of agree with you and kennydal with regards to WGS wearing Blinkers this is obvious in his player selections (Sunday aside). However for me he is not flexible enough in terms of formation’s indeed he has stated on many occasions that tactics don’t win games. To me this is a silly outlook. Especially if you listen to some of the games elite managers as all they seem to do are talk tactics and formations for different games. <?xml:namespace prefix = o ns = "urn:schemas-microsoft-comfficeffice" /><o></o>
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Your point on carrying out instructions is something I have felt for a long time now and it seems to me the experienced players have not bought totally into WGS philosophy on how the game should be played. This is just my opinion but because WGS has had difficulty in getting the best out of experienced pros he has decided to go with inexperience so as to easily mould his ideas. As you say this is not great because when these younger players have an inevitable dip in form then the bottom line is results suffer.<o></o>
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Regards to Man Utd they are flexible in formation, set-up and player selection, from game to game hence they are tactically aware of their opponents. They usually play one up front with a withdrawn striker in behind. However they sometimes play with a designated sitting midfielder either Hargreaves or Carrick. You are quite correct though when you say their players are more flexible and interchangeable this is most evident when they defend as the players fill in for each other. Something we lack not to sure if this is by design or just solely down to lack of ability on our player’s part.<o></o>
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I've heard Man Uniteds formation described as a 4-6-0 but I'd be tempted to call it a 4-2-4 as they usually have 2 deeper lying midfielders at least (Carrick/Hargreaves) with the forward 4 interchanging at will.

Still ellboys correct in that we play NOTHING like that.

I also think 3-5-2 sucks. Name me one team in the last 5 years to successfully deploy this formation. The only one I know is Martin O'Neills first/second-ish Celtic season but thats ages ago now.

 

I agree I don’t like 3-5-2 either. I just feel the players we currently have would be more suited to that system though. As our full backs are better going forward than they are at defending and our midfielders are also more attack minded so the extra man in the middle of the park would offer some protection .<?xml:namespace prefix = o ns = "urn:schemas-microsoft-comfficeffice" /><o></o>
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To me we should be looking at the way a <?xml:namespace prefix = st1 ns = "urn:schemas-microsoft-comffice:smarttags" /><st1:City w:st="on"><st1lace w:st="on">Milan</st1lace></st1:City> play which has probably been the most successful model over the years these tactics have been replicated by other top teams. We should be looking to buy players who are capable of playing like these sides. They play with a Back 4 with two ball winners lying deep with one in the hole behind a sole front man and two wide players. You need real pace and skill to make this work but it aint half efective if you can do it.<o></o>
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Ellboy, you are right about Strachan's lack of flexibility or changing of games! I think the game against Man Utd at home proved this, when he changed the whole set up of the side and half time and we came back into the game! Also, watching the Man Utd game against Roma the other week (in Rome) and the Arsenal game yesterday, even SAF with the wonderful players they have changed the set up to grind out a result. They played Ronaldo off Roomey and had four hard working midfielders to keep things tight (Hargreaves, Carrick, Scholes & Park) rather than their usual attack minded outfit. Meanwhile, despite never having won a game away from home in the Champions League, we mindlessly put out our standard 4-4-2 with Naka and Aiden wide and two central midfielders.
The Milan way you refer to is the popular option on the continent, and allows for the opposition (Benfica, Shaktar, Milan) to dominate us when we play away!

 

Oh, and I hate 3-5-2 though it does work if the opposition dont have wingers or wide players who are gonna run at the defence! You also need two quick centre backs who can read the game well.

 

The Man Utd game highlights the point perfectly you would have thought WGS would have learnt from that game and continued with a successful system. However no he still prefers his 4-4-2 formation and only changes it when it is obvious it is not working. Both Spartak games this season, Benfica away and <?xml:namespace prefix = st1 ns = "urn:schemas-microsoft-comffice:smarttags" /><st1:City w:st="on"><st1lace w:st="on">Milan</st1lace></st1:City> at home are more examples of this (at least he changed it). The alarming thing to me is the fact he doesn’t seem to see the same problems at SPL level. Perhaps not as evident when playing against the big boys of <st1lace w:st="on">Europe</st1lace> but still all too evident at times.<?xml:namespace prefix = o ns = "urn:schemas-microsoft-comfficeffice" /><o></o>
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I think this is true and I think our full backs are crying out to be playing as wing backs as to me they are better going forward than defending their position.

 

Er, hate to remind you guys, but let's not defend that useless Strachan with excuses like the amount of money he's had to spend. How much has Smith spent? He's in the fecking semi final of Eufa cup, already won one trophy, probably getting two more and he's had less than ginger so i'm not buying that *. We spend over £7 Million on new central midfield pairing and they've been * all season. We didn't bring any decent central defender so how can Smith get them for * all?

We bring in strikers like Chris * Killen to our squad...was that a * joke or what? Is he related to Strachan? A family friend? He couldn't get into a championship squad and gets a contract with us. *, utter *.

Point i made about the evil ones is that THEY can get decent players for * all, Strachan can't, prof if ever it was needed. They go for Darcheville and we get Killen for a bigger fee!!

GTF Strachan.

 

So it wasn't Gordon Strachan who said Celtic fans are the most knowledgable fans he knows and the most passionate.?

 

I didn’t hear that quote and I may be wrong (shocker)but judging by his usual standards it sound like it might have had a tinge of sarcasm about it.<?xml:namespace prefix = o ns = "urn:schemas-microsoft-comfficeffice" /><o></o>
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I don’t think anyone could actually say that the wee man has installed great hope or enthusiasm amongst the fans. As when interviewed he is too interested in making the interviewer look like an * (of which he is quite good at BTW) than actually informing the fans of his thoughts. After all he shouldn’t really give two * about the press gang as it is the fans that pay his wages and IMO he should be directing his comments/thoughts at us.<o></o>
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<o>Give him a wee bit of credit though as I think his comments in recent weeks have been more honest and genuine. </o>