wellfan

It was a tongue in cheek comment to match the ridiculously disappointing situation we find ourselves in.

He’s had enough time already. And in that time he’s overseen our cup exit and a consistent decline in the league. What next? Relegation. Not true. Football is a fickle business. You and I could do a better job than Alfred.

A good manager wouldn’t allow it and would help them progress.

The reduced home attendances will see it happen.

Correct.

Max Rogers. Probably.

We’re getting pumped, but I’ll still be there, hoping for the best.

We’re absolutely shite and getting worse with every game. The buck stops with the manager and, as I’ve said before, I think we’re witnessing the beginning of the end for him. He’s either completely dismantled everything that was good about us or simply isn’t good enough to get the best out of what he’s got. And let’s not forget the significant financial backing he’s received. He’s taking us backwards.

The only thing that’s changed since this team was putting in good performances in Europe and at the start of the season is that Alfred has had more time to work with them and turn them to shite.

True, but do the players trust him? I'm sure several are pissed off after Saturday.

I wouldn't be surprised to see him start again on Saturday, with Sparrow dropped to the bench instead. "Don't back down, double down"

There’s a world of difference between writing someone off as a lost cause and taking them off at half-time after a shocking performance. He’s clearly a project player and should be treated as such. Probably not, but that’s on the manager for starting him in the first place. Regardless, I’d argue that the overall wellbeing of the team on the pitch takes precedence over any one player’s feelings about being hooked after a shite performance. At the end of the day, we lost to Celtic for a variety of reasons, one of which was shockingly bad player management.

The manager’s decisions before, during and after the game very much have the feel of stubbornness to the point of personal failure. That, in turn, impacts on individual players and the team as a whole. There’s a difference between sticking to a philosophy and refusing to adapt when the evidence is staring you in the face. The latter is stupidity, likely borne out of inexperience.

From about 13-25 mins. A good analysis of the current situation and Celtic debacle.

I hope the conclusions I’ve drawn on Alfred are also wrong, as I can’t be bothered with more managerial turmoil, but the evidence so far leads me to believe what I’ve been consistently posting recently.

You’re not mistaken. It’s his MO on here at times. Just look at my recent ‘debate’ with him.

Your point about wanting to see an improved performance over a victory is pretty much what I said ahead of the Dundee defeat. And that gets to the heart of the issue here. Most of us aren’t complaining simply because of the results; we’re complaining because the performances have been awful and are getting progressively worse.

You’re doing it again. Your attempts to deconstruct my opinions don’t make your own interpretation of the evidence any less subjective, or mine any less valid. Reframing what I said to suit your own narrative doesn’t make your argument any more convincing, either. I’ll continue to call out your verbose word soup for what it is. You talk a good game, though. A bit like Alfred.

A win would be nice on their new grass pitch.

Absolute bollocks. You’re twisting things now. Recasting my observation about your apparent need to police my opinions as an issue with how I’m “allowed” to express myself is a disingenuous misrepresentation of what I actually said. I said you seemed overly interested in policing my opinions, given the lengthy response you wrote picking apart my original post. We can debate and disagree all day long, but misrepresenting what someone said isn’t debate.

You seem overly interested in policing how I express my opinions on here. You’ve decided the evidence doesn’t justify my conclusions, but that’s your interpretation, not some objective threshold I’ve failed to meet. I think Alfred’s out of his depth, and I’ve explained why. You don’t agree and think it’s too early to reach that conclusion. Fine. Who cares? We’ll soon find out, won’t we?

You’re confusing having a strong opinion with presenting it as fact. I’ve explained why I’ve reached my conclusions about Alfred, and I stand by them. The points tally is a fact, but it doesn’t tell the whole story. My argument is about the performances, the lack of identity and the apparent regression. You can argue that eight games is too small a sample, but that doesn’t make those concerns any less legitimate. I’m not claiming to know with certainty how this ends, but I don’t need to wait until the season’s over to say what I think I’m seeing.

Accusing me of presenting hindsight as objective analysis is ironic when your entire response is largely subjective analysis presented as objective fact.