" Our circus of a club/Give him a break "

So it's been a while since I've really had something to post about. There have been a few ups and downs for the club over the past few weeks, but not much explanation as to why they've occurred.

Russell Slade came to us as a step up to the next level, we must have been a bright prospect for him: recently relegated from the highest tier of football leagues, arguably one of the strongest squads in the league, a rich owner, parachute payments, a rich (however crazy) owner, and a fan base famous for its passion for its home town club.
What he ended up with was very different.

The squad was a set of individuals - not a team. Unfit and poorly coached with no togetherness on the pitch,
The rich owner wants to cut costs and raise cash for players through sales and contract terminations,
Fan base is dwindling and quiet - giving the away team the "12th Man" advantage at CCS

First of all - do I think RS is the right man to get us into the premier league? No, I dont. Managing a championship team at the bottom of the league would suit his experience and abilities a lot more than being at a club who want to return to top flight football. His style is quite an old school 442.

The defenders stop the strikers, pump the ball into row Z and breathe easy. If there's time to think, pump the ball into the other teams half - get rid of the immediate danger.
The midfielders seem to go missing during RS's games, Noone (as we know) can beat a man, cut inside and shoot, or spread out wide and deliver a half decent cross for the target men in the box. However he seems to just be running back and forth in a straight line. Gunnar works hard, but ultimately gets (or wins) the ball and either passes sideways or to the feet of the striker who has nowhere to go... I could go on and on, but we've all seen the games. There's no excitement, no creativity or tactical flexibility in his book. To take us up, he would have been able to utilise the talents of Daehli and Ravel in a more complex system to really keep the opposition guessing.

However this is where I come to RS's defence. He saw an opportunity for a job promotion - more money, more exposure, and performing at a higher level - who can honestly tell me they would turn that down?
Also - who TRUELY knows what goes on at our club? We get rumours and Chinese whispers, but ultimately, we don't know if the players who have left were because the manager couldn't/wouldn't use them, or if the crazy owner just wanted rid asap. We have educated guesses, but we just don't know.

My view is that RS is dictated too regularly; IE he gets a telephone call saying "Cala, Daehli, kimbo, Guerra and Burgstaller are all going to leave the club in the near future. Use them as you see fit in the short term, but they will be gone"
Now Slade is representing the club, and that means it's owners as well as his players, and you don't go bad mouthing the man who pays your bills. I think that he knew certain players were going, so he tried his best to use the ones he knew were staying to create a core group, and a solid championship squad. You have to admire that not ONCE has this man moaned or complained, he has conducted himself professionally throughout his stay so far, and made the best of his situation. He clearly
Didn't want SY as an assistant, but again, told that's how it's going to be, so he got on with it.

Russell gets a hard time on here, because the fans are frustrated, and rightly so, but I can't blame him at all. It's down to the club ownership. Cutting costs too quickly and keeping us in the dark. How exactly are we meant to be passionate about our club anymore? My fear is that there's no going back for CCFC now. We have a quiet fanbase, where it's a good afternoon out for the family, the songs are dying out, the 1927 "we'll always be blue" is near silent, nobody boo's when the away team is called out pre-match... It's been killed off, and there needs to be a new injection of passion into the younger fans to get a fraction of what we had before. Maybe league one will show the loyal fans, and bring some old British culture back? Who knows.

I don't think Russell will take us down, but I don't see us as promotion candidates now for a very long time. Long after VT has gone, we've paid him off and we've re-built everything again.

Thoughts?

Slade gets far too much abuse.
I work in construction and my analogy is..... If someone asked me to get rid of all the highest earners from the firm which are likely to be my most talented workers, then replace them with people with a lower wage (in this case an apprentice) would I still be able to promise clients the same standard of work??? No!

Slade gets far too much abuse.
I work in construction and my analogy is..... If someone asked me to get rid of all the highest earners from the firm which are likely to be my most talented workers, then replace them with people with a lower wage (in this case an apprentice) would I still be able to promise clients the same standard of work??? No!

Couldn't sum up the situation any better than that

Ive never heard of a club having a major rebuild of the squad in mid season. Clearly any progress is going to be a long way off now, and probably long after Slade is gone.

Totally agree with this post . Slade was told who to get rid of before he was signed . Other managers would have said no . Slade is hoping he can still turn things around with what he has left . I hope too

I said from the start that Slade seems a nice guy...but we don't need a nice guy.....I think you are totally right...Tan is the one that everyone dislikes and wants gone...Slade is just not up to it and Scott Young is even further beyond his skill base.

We just have to grin and except the circus TAN RUNS....The only way to hit him is with your feet if you don't like whats being served up don't go.

I think a lot of fans are torn with supporting the club they love and not going to games to get the message to Tan ...we want you gone...if he had been more prudent with his spending from the start and installed a CEO who knew about football we may have been better off. But we lurch from LIM to Choo and DALMAN who talks a good game but is just another TAN PUPPET.

We have to except our club for what it is at the moment...an UTTER SHAMBLES

I dont think well go down and id give slade next years aswell to have a decent go at it.

We are turning into one of those clubs that are continually looking to sack people.

Big deal. We are in the lower leagues for a few years. Cry me a river.

The club have a plan now, that is obvious. Changing managers now helps no one.

Also, I like the look of our new midfielder, and being linked with players like Jarvis isn't bad at all! I still think we should've taken Eagles on too, but that's in the past.

He won't set the world alight , but I'm willing to give him the chance to build his team and try to take us forward..

At least we're back in blue

So it's been a while since I've really had something to post about. There have been a few ups and downs for the club over the past few weeks, but not much explanation as to why they've occurred.

Russell Slade came to us as a step up to the next level, we must have been a bright prospect for him: recently relegated from the highest tier of football leagues, arguably one of the strongest squads in the league, a rich owner, parachute payments, a rich (however crazy) owner, and a fan base famous for its passion for its home town club.
What he ended up with was very different.

The squad was a set of individuals - not a team. Unfit and poorly coached with no togetherness on the pitch,
The rich owner wants to cut costs and raise cash for players through sales and contract terminations,
Fan base is dwindling and quiet - giving the away team the "12th Man" advantage at CCS

First of all - do I think RS is the right man to get us into the premier league? No, I dont. Managing a championship team at the bottom of the league would suit his experience and abilities a lot more than being at a club who want to return to top flight football. His style is quite an old school 442.

The defenders stop the strikers, pump the ball into row Z and breathe easy. If there's time to think, pump the ball into the other teams half - get rid of the immediate danger.
The midfielders seem to go missing during RS's games, Noone (as we know) can beat a man, cut inside and shoot, or spread out wide and deliver a half decent cross for the target men in the box. However he seems to just be running back and forth in a straight line. Gunnar works hard, but ultimately gets (or wins) the ball and either passes sideways or to the feet of the striker who has nowhere to go... I could go on and on, but we've all seen the games. There's no excitement, no creativity or tactical flexibility in his book. To take us up, he would have been able to utilise the talents of Daehli and Ravel in a more complex system to really keep the opposition guessing.

However this is where I come to RS's defence. He saw an opportunity for a job promotion - more money, more exposure, and performing at a higher level - who can honestly tell me they would turn that down?
Also - who TRUELY knows what goes on at our club? We get rumours and Chinese whispers, but ultimately, we don't know if the players who have left were because the manager couldn't/wouldn't use them, or if the crazy owner just wanted rid asap. We have educated guesses, but we just don't know.

My view is that RS is dictated too regularly; IE he gets a telephone call saying "Cala, Daehli, kimbo, Guerra and Burgstaller are all going to leave the club in the near future. Use them as you see fit in the short term, but they will be gone"
Now Slade is representing the club, and that means it's owners as well as his players, and you don't go bad mouthing the man who pays your bills. I think that he knew certain players were going, so he tried his best to use the ones he knew were staying to create a core group, and a solid championship squad. You have to admire that not ONCE has this man moaned or complained, he has conducted himself professionally throughout his stay so far, and made the best of his situation. He clearly
Didn't want SY as an assistant, but again, told that's how it's going to be, so he got on with it.

Russell gets a hard time on here, because the fans are frustrated, and rightly so, but I can't blame him at all. It's down to the club ownership. Cutting costs too quickly and keeping us in the dark. How exactly are we meant to be passionate about our club anymore? My fear is that there's no going back for CCFC now. We have a quiet fanbase, where it's a good afternoon out for the family, the songs are dying out, the 1927 "we'll always be blue" is near silent, nobody boo's when the away team is called out pre-match... It's been killed off, and there needs to be a new injection of passion into the younger fans to get a fraction of what we had before. Maybe league one will show the loyal fans, and bring some old British culture back? Who knows.

I don't think Russell will take us down, but I don't see us as promotion candidates now for a very long time. Long after VT has gone, we've paid him off and we've re-built everything again.

Thoughts?

What a depressing post im just off to slit my wrists

The sad thing for Slade is that Tan should front up and be here in person to answer questions. The Club is in chaos and Tan hasn't been seen for 10 months at CCS. Cirque du Soleil has become Gerry Cottles.

StT

slade is a lightning rod for all the issues the fans have (and have had) and thats a little unfair. in the position the club was in, the last thing the fans wanted was a lower league manager largely unknown to us.

in my opinion he should be judged on his results. yes they've been poor on the whole, but even when he got 20 points from his first 10, people were giving him stick, because as mentioned before he is the scapegoat for all problems at the club. bad traffic on the way home? its slade's fault! clarks pie at half time cold? blame slade!