The Alfred Johansson Thread

[Kmcalpin]

59 minutes ago, mfc said:

The drop of from the dundee Utd game until now is pretty staggering,we have looked a really poorly coached team the last couple of games to the point were seeing none of the basics being done.i get the manager is under the spotlight but there's to many players that have switched off all of a sudden that need to buck there ideas up, cut out the idiotic mistakes and give the manager a fighting chance.ive questioned his team selection a couple of times this season but at the same time,it was the players on the park that couldn't put a dent in stenhousmuir over 120 minutes and to lose heavily to that aberdeen side was embarrassing.im not saying alfred isn't blameless,it's his job to find the answers to the current problems and get the best out his players.the lack of experience in the team is a concern for me but it's been a hectic start to the season and hopefully things will settle and we will soon be out of this sticky patch were in. 

I think thats fair comment. The team does look devoid of confidence just now and that usually only occurs after a sustained run of poor results. Thats down to the management team to motivate them.  Why are the players not fulfilling their potential? Maybe there's a range of reasons including new lads still settling in; players being asked to play differently from how they've done in the past; lack of onfield leadership; some individuals not being team players; and yet others not being as good as expected. Its up to the manager to man manage them. 

The comparison with last season is quite stark. Last year the mixed bag of players inherited by JBA surprisingly bought into his system quickly and you could see what quite clearly they were trying to do, albeit not very successfully in the early stages.  This year, even with some continuity of personnel, we're struggling to see quite what they're trying to do. What exactly is our Plan A?  

[grizzlyg]

We have played 15 games under AJ. 2 bad defeats and suddenly its talk of not picking senior players, not listening to coaching staff, etc etc. 

I certainly don't see signs of a team not playing for him.   Against Aberdeen we were absolutely fine for the first 35 mins, we just fell apart after 2nd goal.  Against St mirren we wwre great at start then had a crazy 9 minute spell.

As for not picking senior players, mcginn is out with long-term injury.  I would have SOD in asap but he was out injured at start of season. Maybe not fully ready yet. 3 week break so hopefully ready for sellik game as we can all see that Sparrow is struggling there and also not captain material.

I am as frustrated as everyone else but the idea of replacing a manager after a few bad results is crazy.  As for Rosenborg he was there 2 1/2 years so was given plenty of time before they decided to part with him.

Last season we would never have envisaged 4th and with an outstanding manager and also lets remember we have lost Welsh, Just, Watt, Slattery and Ward.   What other SPFL side lost such a core of their side?

And as said before AJ is manager and responsibility ends with him but a good few players need a hard look at themselves also.  Maswanhise needs dropped and also maybe coincidence but Longelo been off form since transfer window closed.

I look at that squad and I think there is a lot of quality but we are not using them properly.  Paulsen is a concern and I am not convinced Matty is any better.  Up top we need to get good deliveries into either Seb or Thor.

Last thing we need is negativity in the stands, that solves nothing.   It's not great just now but jeez lets not forget the shit show we were experiencing under Kettlewell and the 16 game run without a win.  We are nowhere near that stage.

Heid up Folks and COYW

[wellsince75]

Results are important but so are performances . 

out the gates our performances were very good in Europe.

our cup performance was abysmal .

our league performances have been mixed - progressively worse .  

so it’s not 2 bad defeats that concern me - it’s the performance and lack there of . 

The manager of course needs time and will get it - but we can all see the regression and that’s ok to call it out 

[wellfan]

I don’t think anyone here is calling for Alfred to be sacked. People are rightly calling out what they see, and the reality is that performances have fallen off a cliff.

If he can’t arrest the decline and deliver the continuity of style he’s talked about, then the writing will be on the wall soon enough, if it isn’t already.

The early signs are increasingly suggesting to me that he talks a good game but can’t implement it.

[Great Balls of Shire]

13 hours ago, smiddy said:

Nope

Give him a chance,  hes saving thr 2nd yesterday 

[grizzlyg]

Poor Alfred got pressure on him now as if he can't beat that sellik team in 3 weeks then that peg is mega shoogily! 🤣🤣🤣

[FirParkCornerExile]

Had the keeper not basically thrown the ball into the net for Dundee's second the worst we were getting yesterday was a point against a team everyone has been saying are excellent.

Sure there were issues with our set up and team selection but the only way a good Dundee team were beating us was if we shot ourselves in the foot and we duly obliged. Said it yesterday I don't think we were as bad as everyone was making out. We should have had a penalty and dare I say had we waltzed away with a draw the reaction would be more muted. I'm as frustrated as everyone but we have a squad that should allow refresh changes , particularly up front , the manager needs to start doing it.

Dundee got lucky, we won the game for them. We made them look very ordinary whilst not playing anything like we have in the past. Right now I don't think we are a million miles away from better outcomes. Will we be as good as last season? definitely not we don't have the players for that yet.  

 

We are a good way away from thinking about the managers position. Christ everyone and their granny had Steven Pressley for the high jump for most of last season. 

[FirParkCornerExile]

1 minute ago, grizzlyg said:

Poor Alfred got pressure on him now as if he can't beat that sellik team in 3 weeks then that peg is mega shoogily! 🤣🤣🤣

Just sent a txt to my mate saying the same. Celtic are pish but sadly we are facing them at the wrong time.... 

[MJC]

2 minutes ago, grizzlyg said:

Poor Alfred got pressure on him now as if he can't beat that sellik team in 3 weeks then that peg is mega shoogily! 🤣🤣🤣

As much as it was thoroughly enjoyable watching Del rattle auld Martin’s specky baws for the second week running, Celtic will be under huge pressure by the time they play us…and that never ends well.

[stv]

European results - played well opposition played a style that suited us and our style made us look good . Passing thru the middle.

Scottish results - played neat stuff at the start. Then from the Falkirk game on the opposition tactics to stiffled our style , man mark and let us pass it about in our half never giving us space at all. Then take the chance we present to them . Is what the opposition are doing . 

He needs a plan for the Scottish game. Hopefully learns from his mistakes, Hammel never did .

Still think we have good mix of players to play some decent stuff. In the right system once we settle down.

[grizzlyg]

6 minutes ago, MJC said:

As much as it was thoroughly enjoyable watching Del rattle auld Martin’s specky baws for the second week running, Celtic will be under huge pressure by the time they play us…and that never ends well.

First time for everything pal.  I think whole of Scottish fitba will be behind us...apart from sellik fans

[grizzlyg]

8 minutes ago, FirParkCornerExile said:

Just sent a txt to my mate saying the same. Celtic are pish but sadly we are facing them at the wrong time.... 

Just heard Dallas on VAR for the game........baws! 🤣🤣

[FirParkCornerExile]

8 minutes ago, stv said:

European results - played well opposition played a style that suited us and our style made us look good . Passing thru the middle.

Scottish results - played neat stuff at the start. Then from the Falkirk game on the opposition tactics to stiffled our style , man mark and let us pass it about in our half never giving us space at all. Then take the chance we present to them . Is what the opposition are doing . 

He needs a plan for the Scottish game. Hopefully learns from his mistakes, Hammel never did .

Still think we have good mix of players to play some decent stuff. In the right system once we settle down.

Teams can stifle us because we are too slow to move the ball forward. Look at the difference between the first and second half yesterday. Second half we played with more pace , still not pacy as last year but better than the first half. The improved pace in the second half got us into good positions whereas in the first half being slow and pedestrian allowed Dundee to settle and stifle us. Hodge , for me, slows the game down too often  and wants a second touch and is often unaware of options around him.  However all that said our efforts in the final third were utter shite until we got Ethyor on.

[mio]

It’s a shame we don’t have Celtic next week, they look worse than us.

i have a feeling that every single team in this league will go weeks playing poorly and losing. General standard is pretty poor. It’s going to be a bit of a lottery season I think.

[texanwellfan]

7 minutes ago, grizzlyg said:

Poor Alfred got pressure on him now as if he can't beat that sellik team in 3 weeks then that peg is mega shoogily! 🤣🤣🤣

I see your emoji’s but wouldn’t surprise me if some people would have him in that position. i do think we have some over reaction to recent performances but then again, everyone entitled to their opinion. Yes, there are issues, which probably seem worse after some of the nice stuff we played earlier this season. Hopefully AJ can sort our lack of threat up front. We’ve shown we can keep possession which is our best form of defense but we have to stop going behind in games to take that approach. 

[FirParkCornerExile]

9 minutes ago, mio said:

It’s a shame we don’t have Celtic next week, they look worse than us.

i have a feeling that every single team in this league will go weeks playing poorly and losing. General standard is pretty poor. It’s going to be a bit of a lottery season I think.

I still stand by that I don't think our standard is particularly poor in large parts of then game, however it comes to fuck all because 

1. We have fuck all up front. Maswanhise is a waste of a Jersey right now and RCC aint much better.

2. We play the press far too slowly allowing teams to counter our movement

3. The engine in the midfield is under powered so far , we need Priestman back or those in position to up their standard and pace of play. 

4. We are gifting some comical goals right now, not through anything other than our own bad judgement.  

 

These 4 issues do not require a full fundemental reset, which Id be more worried about.

[Kmcalpin]

We've spent a fair wedge on players over the summer and AJ has had our largest war chest ever. Its not unreasonable to expect some return on that. I get though that new players take time to settle. 

[FirParkCornerExile]

23 minutes ago, Kmcalpin said:

We've spent a fair wedge on players over the summer and AJ has had our largest war chest ever. Its not unreasonable to expect some return on that. I get though that new players take time to settle. 

Yes but has he used the squad to its full extent? He has a squad that he can mix up a bit and needs to start doing it. I do think we have persevered with Maswanhise to protect his saleability for January but he is nowhere near good enough to keep being an automatic first choice , same for RCC (although he is now rightly on the bench)  . He needs to try some different picks / formations cos 2 or 3 others either cant do what we need or just ain't up to speed with it yet. 

[stv]

1 hour ago, FirParkCornerExile said:

Teams can stifle us because we are too slow to move the ball forward. Look at the difference between the first and second half yesterday. Second half we played with more pace , still not pacy as last year but better than the first half. The improved pace in the second half got us into good positions whereas in the first half being slow and pedestrian allowed Dundee to settle and stifle us. Hodge , for me, slows the game down too often  and wants a second touch and is often unaware of options around him.  However all that said our efforts in the final third were utter shite until we got Ethyor on.

Maybe wind affected both half's yesterday . Sparrow was guilty of passing backwards from a forward position more than anyone in the second half. Thor should get a proper run out he rumbles up defences in the box and can hold up play should long ball be required. A windy day playing with the wind , as the second half yesterday,  should have been perfect for him. Also maybe the team will be moving  forward faster more once Preistman is back.

[FirParkCornerExile]

1 minute ago, stv said:

Maybe wind affected both half's yesterday . Sparrow was guilty of passing backwards from a forward position more than anyone in the second half. Thor should get a proper run out he rumbles up defences in the box and can hold up play should long ball be required. A windy day playing with the wind , as the second half yesterday,  should have been perfect for him. Also maybe the team will be moving  forward faster more once Preistman is back.

Couldn't agree more. 

[grizzlyg]

Got 3 weeks till our next game so hopefully a lot of analysing from AJ and coaching team.   It would be absolutely awesome if we bounce back with a win v sellik but I think we definitely insist on  a performance to give us confidence and also personnel changes

[smiddy]

21 minutes ago, stv said:

Maybe wind affected both half's yesterday . Sparrow was guilty of passing backwards from a forward position more than anyone in the second half. Thor should get a proper run out he rumbles up defences in the box and can hold up play should long ball be required. A windy day playing with the wind , as the second half yesterday,  should have been perfect for him. Also maybe the team will be moving  forward faster more once Preistman is back.

Shouldv took him off n put sod on

at least he whips a decent ball inn 

[Yoshi-1991]

I will be honest, wasn't convinced when he joined, felt the lack of playing experience and age combined made for a combination that players may find difficult to get behind. Someone close to your own age that has never done your job telling you what to do, how to do it and that they know better can be a difficult pill to swallow. I know it can be done and has been done before, but I just get the impression AJ doesn't have the right personality to back it, he doesn't come across as someone that has a lot of presence about him. I don't think (just from observation) that the players have baught in and there are several operating right now way below their usual standard. Not all on the manager, the players need to sort themselves out. He will be given time, but I hope that we don't do our usual and cling on too long before pressing the button on it. We've seen it before with the drop off in attendance etc and after all the good work we have done getting numbers up I'd hate to see it all be undone. 

[star sail]

1 hour ago, FirParkCornerExile said:

Had the keeper not basically thrown the ball into the net for Dundee's second the worst we were getting yesterday was a point against a team everyone has been saying are excellent.

Sure there were issues with our set up and team selection but the only way a good Dundee team were beating us was if we shot ourselves in the foot and we duly obliged. Said it yesterday I don't think we were as bad as everyone was making out. We should have had a penalty and dare I say had we waltzed away with a draw the reaction would be more muted. I'm as frustrated as everyone but we have a squad that should allow refresh changes , particularly up front , the manager needs to start doing it.

Dundee got lucky, we won the game for them. We made them look very ordinary whilst not playing anything like we have in the past. Right now I don't think we are a million miles away from better outcomes. Will we be as good as last season? definitely not we don't have the players for that yet.  

 

We are a good way away from thinking about the managers position. Christ everyone and their granny had Steven Pressley for the high jump for most of last season. 

Nice to see you fighting the good fight. I think this is a really good summary of where we are.

We are giving Dundee no credit for their performance. The assumption is that Dundee are shite when in actual fact they have made a very solid start to the season.

The reaction to the last three games has been eye opening to say the least. 

The good will of the last 18 months has been wiped out in 15days. Is that really any display of a commitment to the cause?

15 days ago Rangers fans were calling for Derek McIness to be sacked. Look at the goodwill at Ibrox now.

Having saved Celtic's season last term, MON was booed at Parkhead today. A football fans support is very fleeting and transient and based almost purely on emotion. 

There was a BBC article during the week discussing if Hibs should follow the Motherwell blueprint for manager recruitment. Is that blueprint now redundant because we are on a run of three bad games? Remember JBA lost to Dundee back in April will a not too dissimilar performance. 

We need some perspective . 

 

[FirParkCornerExile]

3 minutes ago, star sail said:

Nice to see you fighting the good fight. I think this is a really good summary of where we are.

We are giving Dundee no credit for their performance. The assumption is that Dundee are shite when in actual fact they have made a very solid start to the season.

The reaction to the last three games has been eye opening to say the least. 

The good will of the last 18 months has been wiped out in 15days. Is that really any display of a commitment to the cause?

15 days ago Rangers fans were calling for Derek McIness to be sacked. Look at the goodwill at Ibrox now.

Having saved Celtic's season last term, MON was booed at Parkhead today. A football fans support is very fleeting and transient and based almost purely on emotion. 

There was a BBC article during the week discussing if Hibs should follow the Motherwell blueprint for manager recruitment. Is that blueprint now redundant because we are on a run of three bad games? Remember JBA lost to Dundee back in April will a not too dissimilar performance. 

We need some perspective . 

 

again I'm not sure Id put the Dundee game into the bad game category as the Aberdeen and to a lesser extent the Rangers game. Sure it was a hard loss and it being the 3rd on the trot I think it altered the perception of how we actually played. Had we gone up there unbeaten and got a point I don't think people would have said we were pish yesterday. Sure there were things we could have done better, esp in the final 3rd, but Dundee wouldn't have beat us if we hadn't beat ourselves. Dundee were very lucky to get that win.