Often Partisan

Oblivion? – Leeds Match Reflections

Here are my reflections on the FA Cup 3rd Round Replay between Blues and Leeds United.

A Really Poor Performance

Regular readers will know that I try to be positive but once again it’s incredibly hard to be so. It wasn’t just the fact that we lost – we lost to a team that were pretty shocking themselves. We contrived to beat ourselves really – it was as if the players didn’t fancy Spurs in the next round and were trying their best to gift Leeds opportunities and breaks forwards.

It doesn’t help when the manager picks the wrong team and the wrong formation. You’ve got a bloke, fully fit, who scored five times against Leeds last year who they’re terrified of. So what does Clark do – leaves him on the bench until it’s too late for Zigic to affect the game. Even so, we could have been okay with the team that was picked – but again, Clark opted for Redmond off the front man leaving us with the lightest midfield combination ever of Gomis and Morrison and they got taken apart. Playing Redmond wide left with Gomis just behind, like a 4-1-4-1 or even a 4-5-1 would have given Blues an extra man in the middle and maybe a bit more bite but instead Clark contrived a formation that meant Blues struggled to get the ball and struggled to hold on to it.

The midfield

I know that there has been a lot of clamour for Morgaro Gomis to play but on this performance you can see why he hasn’t been – he was bundled off the ball continually, he couldn’t win it, couldn’t pass it and Morrison next to him wasn’t at the races at all. It didn’t help that Blues didn’t have a single other central midfielder they could have picked without dipping into the Academy but still – it was powderpuff. They weren’t helped by Chris Burke playing on the right in what looked like ice skates because he kept falling over and Wade Elliott on the left who contrived to give the ball away continually because like Derek Zoolander, he can’t turn left. Giving the ball away with one silly backheel is bad, to do it twice in quick succession is just rank bad playing.

The defence

The only player who started who came out with any credit for me is Paul Caddis – he looked like a proper full back and it was his tenacity to clear the ball rather than let it bobble out for a throw that started the move for the Blues goal. Curtis Davies was struggling all night with the Leeds front line whilst I have to agree with my good friend Jim who reckons Caldwell should be fined for every pass he tries to make over five yards – the Scot kept needlessly hoofing the ball into touch when a simple pass would have been the better option.

The Ref

I’m not going to blame the defeat on the ref – Blues lost it without his help – but I have to pass comment because he was abject. Fussy on the wrong things, missed too many bad challenges and allowed birthday boy El Hadji Diouf to boss him around. Mr Woolmer doesn’t often ref games above League One and it showed today.

All in all it’s another game that leaves a bitter taste in the mouth and another game where I felt like I’ve wasted my time and money on something that is just making me unhappy. Like a good masochist, I’ll be back there on Saturday (as well as Friday for the FA Youth Cup and Monday for the reserves) but when I hear people around me saying that they’ve had enough I can really understand why. At half time the Blues TV crew played a song I requested on twitter and I think it sums up where Blues are going – Oblivion. Or League One at least.

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91 Responses to “Oblivion? – Leeds Match Reflections”

  • Mortonsblue says:

    Difficult to disagree with that summary. It felt that we were a bunch of individuals rather than a team, totally lacking in organisation, players being pulled all over the place, so that no one was sure where their colleagues were or where they should be, the biggest culprit was Elliot who played anywhere but the left wing/side of midfileld. There was no leadership, the whole game game littered with mistakes and unforced errors – and Leeds were no better, although they looked more likely to score, particularly in the second half.
    We are totally one paced (very slow) which explains why everyone plays so deep and takes 6 passes to move forward a yard, the only player with any pace is Redmond who is wrongly playing out of position and constantly behind the play, his best moment was when he sprinted down the wing and picked out Elliot with a wonderful cross for our goal, leave him on the wing.
    I am totally baffled why LC left it until the last 10 mins to bring on Zigic, we had offered no real threat until that point, he should have come on for King (who had a very poor game by his standards) early in the second half, we actually won some aerial ball and the Leeds defence visibly withdrew, the first time in the game we were on the front foot.
    Playing at Home cannot be any excuse, barely 7500 turned up and were mostly silent so no pressure there. The real reason we continually under perform at home must be our manager, who sets up the team and decides the tactics, calls the plays, makes the changes and substitutions. Clearly the players have no idea whats going on as we leak goals for fun, offer no threat going forward, seem like a bunch of strangers, make basic schoolboy errors and cannot seem to stick to whatever plan he has chosen.
    Oh and the Ref was shocking, inconsistent, poor decisions for both teams and totally out of his depth at this level.

  • Julian Glass says:

    A League 1 ref? No surprise as the FA we have a League 1 team and a League 1 manager

  • Dan Brazier says:

    I mentioned on your match preview that some of us wouldn’t half mind a win and a form of cup run & from the atmosphere I picked up pre-game thats the sense I got heading into the ground, just a pity as you say in your analysis that the team didn’t seem to key in on that idea, Granted it’s only the fa cup (how sad is it that we’re classing this as a competition as a distraction nowadays) but that doesn’t hide the fact that we put in a woefully inept performance, personally I’m extremely disappointed in what I saw @ St Andrews last night but I’ll reserve my judgement until after the BHA game @ the weekend, I seriously hope that was just a case of the players and seemingly the management staff not paying due respect to the fa cup as many more performances like that and we’ll be deeper into a relegation battle than I feel a club with half the players we have @ our disposal should be in, for now I feel it really is a case of role out the usual clichy assosiated with an early round cup exit and ‘focus on the league’

  • Letsby Avenue says:

    Dear God man…

    This is probably the worst and most juvenile post you have ever made.

    Now!!!

    Come on AJ…the only criticism I can have is that we showed too much…way too much, respect for a dinosuar club.

    Warnock is hated for his tactics, more so than Clark, but we bowed down again because of “experienced” players.

    Bad luck and a lack of “youthfull belief” cost us.

    I was there…I saw our “old hands” show respect, or ‘nous’ or whatever they want to call inertia these days.

    You obviously saw a different match

    :-)

    Now, GET UP and GIVE.

    OK ?

    • almajir says:

      I’m sorry Letsby, but I must take issue with this.

      Last night was an embarassment. It felt like a pre-season friendly on the pitch – players pulled out of tackles and didn’t seem bothered. Fans were apathetic on the terraces.

      Leeds were dreadful. Really, really poor. A Blues team that had been at least a little up for it would have buried them. I can accept when we’re bested by a team who are on the top of their game, but to beaten by a team as bad as that – because in effect we threw it away ourselves has rankled deeply.

      I’m sorry if you think that’s juvenile but last night just demonstrated how bad things are. I’m not even convinced players are as injured as they say they are – if we’d won a few on the bounce I’d bet a few would be playing through it.

    • Kaje says:

      Almajir doesn’t make juvenile posts, Letsby, and this is nowhere close to being one.

      You can see it has been written by a man who dearly loves the club we all do, and is often so very positive, but is struggling with having to be negative to describe such an (to steak a word from below comments) abject performance with so many mistakes made by the manager (yet again) and the players (yet again).

      It’s not Almajir, or anyone else here, that needs to ‘get up and give’, it’s Lee Clark and those who felt happy with their performances on the field last night. Though for the former, I’d rather he ‘got up and went’.

      • NooBloo says:

        I agree……..Almajir has stuck on side with LC a lot longer than most of us have and that is the worrying part. When you see people like Almajir starting to defect from the LC camp then you really know we are in trouble because nature has a propensity for us to stick to our loyalties a lot longer than we perhaps in some cases should do

  • Mark says:

    I have to agree with the article which I think is very level headed ” letsby”. This was an anjest performance.. Ravel hardly looked bothered.. Leeds are a tuff team.. Their defenders are no nonsense as you would expect from warnock, and Redmond wasnt panning out.. Zigic sat on the bench… We pay man utd. Wages to him… Make him earn them for gods sake!!! He came on for 10 and we had 2 or 3 chances to score… Apathy, lethargy and ineptitude were prominent last night and with those 3 in our team, it’s hard to be positive!!

  • Mark says:

    Sorry should read abject performance.. Not anjest whatever that means??!

  • jassyblue80 says:

    Agree with the original post. Sat there watching, it felt like the players just couldn’t be bothered! No real desire or effort was shown, we just went through the motions, badly!

    We needed someone to get hold of diouf, put a tackle in, and he wouldnt have dominated the game the way he did, but as pointed out above, our midfield wasn’t good enough!!

    Marlon king wasn’t interested last night. He might has well not played.

    Walking away we said we didn’t blame those who didn’t go last night, and can see why crowds are down.

    I’m not going to get on the managers back as he has a tough job…. But what I will say is he has to get it right when he has a squad to choose from last night, and he just didn’t do that last night!!

  • Chris Smith says:

    Didn’t go due to skint but looking at the team sheet I’m not surprised blues lost. Blues play a lot better with more youth in the team.

  • david says:

    It was a more experienced team v Leeds and they were abject. It does seem that the youngsters are our best option.

  • dcp says:

    every time i go to st andrews, the atmosphere amongst the fans seems to be worse
    the players aren’t playing for the manager
    the fans don’t believe in the manager
    the manager hides behind his assistant too much
    the assistant hides behind the players in his post match
    i know it’s not going to happen anytime soon but the first step towards putting things right on the pitch is getting rid of the shambles of a coaching staff we have in place
    he’s taking us down fellas, then who’s going to buy us when we’re in league one?

    • chris says:

      This is what Pannu needs to realise, if he thinks Paladini’s £17 million is too low, wait till we’re in League One and he will be lucky to get £5 million.

  • Support your club - Don't go down he says:

    Think the cold got to some of you last night.

    It wasn’t as bad as all that and it took 2 world class saves to stop us progressing.

    1st half we played quite well and tested Leeds. Agree re Gomis he gave the ball away all night long, far more than I’ve seen Mullins do, which had the effect of making us pushovers down the middle and pressurising our defence. In defence I thought Caldwell did alright and won a good deal of challenges but agree re his final ball and only half agree with you re Caddis. he had a great first half but a quiet second rarely in their half. Although we we’ve all missed a forward in the line up in the last few games our top goal scorer looked disinterested to me.

    A lot of good wing play but not much in the way of a decent final ball from any of the midfield or wide men save the one for the goal. Ziggy showed glimpses when he came on as he does but had he started and had a quiet game as he sometimes does Clark would have got slated for that as well. I’m sorry but I just can’t blame any of this on Clark, whatever line up he picks, formation he tries just aint working at the moment but the facts are it’s fine margins that are stopping us winning. Same as tonight, we were close and a lot closer than this report suggests. However it is gonna get worse as anyone who can command a fee will be offski, so a long hard winter to come with plenty of moaning for the internet boys to get their teeth into.

    No point in mentioning the crowd cos it will only result in loads of posts about reasons for not going…I’m Blues through and through but I aint going no more cos blah blah blah posts but the 2 pensioner ladies who sit by me with their blankets over their knees were there bless em. Shivering all night but shouting the lads on and I was proud of them and told them so as I left.

  • GoodyBlueShoes says:

    Well we had better get used to this standard of refereeing because on this performance we ain’t long for the higher tiers of the game. One of the worst games I have seen Blues play. Abject is the right word for many elements of the game last night. I honestly do not know what the manager was thinking about with his team selection and positioning. KROers please do not vilify me. This standard of football from a team with our history and from the second largest City in the UK is totally unacceptable.

  • johnners says:

    Let’s not get carried away. I’d rather lose the cup game than the league games and I suspect that attitude filtered through to the players last night. It gets me all this over-emotional stuff which just about sums up the difference between hughton’s measured, calm style and clark’s volatile, hysterical influence. We need a steady hand now not a headless chicken. So my recommendation to Clark is clam down, take a deep breath, start treating your players like adults rather than naughty children and BELIEVE. There is no reason why this squad is not plenty good enough to stay in the championship and I, for one, am confident we will. In the meantime there is no need for anyone to jump off a cliff in despair….

  • andy says:

    Good old Jake Jervis stated the obvious saying the club is in a mess and if he feels that then so do the rest of the squad. This mess is keeping Lee Clark in a job because under any other circumstances i think he would have been shown the door. Having said that i feel the best opportunity for Clark is to build a new team around youngsters and it could be we have to go down to League One to do this, and lets face it would we be surprised to find ourselves there next season?

    • chris says:

      Trouble is, in League One it will depend on who is manager.
      Portsmouth look like dropping another division, playing kids and Free’s and Cov were going the same way till they got Robin’s in as manager.
      We will struggle, as we have 15 or 23 (depending on who you listen to) out of contract and will lose £16 million in parachute payments. Next season we are due to get £8 million but if we go down we get nothing i believe.

  • Ian B says:

    It was an awful performance. I am sorry and ashamed to admit, for the last ten minutes I didn’t want an equaliser and extra-time, I couldn’t have stomached any more of that clueless football.

    The only silver lining… We don’t have to face Spurs on live TV.

  • bazablue says:

    even for a prectice match i cannot understand why your strongest team isnt out ie zigics presence terrifies teams and along with burke/redmonds pace the opposition wouldnt risk coming so far forward,King and ziggy would have done well….butland not being cup tied???you think that would stop his sale??No,he should play while we pay!the more your strongest team play together the better!

  • Kaje says:

    Don’t panic, people!

    Terry McDermott said in the post-match interview that Lee Clark is determined to get it right!

    Seriously, how many times has that phrase been used this season? That he will get it right? I mean, we’re in January now – you’d think he’d have got used to the standard of team he needs to put out at this level by now, regardless of injuries.

    • chas says:

      McDermott is actually alive ??? He spoke ?? Amazing, I thought they carried his body out and propped it in the Dugout..What is his during a game, as far as I have seen , he just looks at the Grass in front of him.

      • John says:

        Quite right Chas, McDermot and Fazackerly have shown no passion at any game this season. How can anyone, at any football game, sit in the dugout for 90 minutes without moving. They appear to be coaches well past their sell by date,who offer no help whatsoever to the team,because they are not intouch with modern football.

      • Mortonsblue says:

        Lol ……but so true!

  • James says:

    I know you have said this a million times before Alamjir and I understand that we are broke… but when we sell Butland et al could we not use some of the money to pay off Clark and get someone (anyone) who at least has half a clue???

    Appreciate most of our previous shortlst has now gone and people like O Driscoll have been snapped up BUT I would rather have an ex player ( Jonno) or a kid who knows Champ Manager than this – it’s desperate. How can you not play a striker who has scored 5 times against the opposition???!!!

    KRO

  • swissjonny says:

    Sky Sports news saying that the club has refused Blackpool permission to speak to LC! If this is true I am astonished.It also poses an interesting dilemma for PP.Let LC go with some compensation or back him to deliver us from relegation.

    • almajir says:

      Key phrase, IF it’s true.

      IF it was true it would have been interesting – letting go of a manager who seems unpopular for compo would appear to be in Craig Gardner parlance a “no-brainer”.

      However, I don’t trust Sky to get anything right.

      • swissjonny says:

        IF indeed.They have a history of lax journalism and contrived reporting.Mind you of all the bizarre things to conjure up on a cold Wednesday morning.Very odd.

    • John says:

      Sky sports actually showed that we had beaten Huddersfield 2 nil and that Gomis had scored the 2nd goal on Saturday !

  • Bob Kilsby says:

    I have been a Blues fan for more years than I care to remember, there have been good times but more bad ones. The situation at our club means we are only going one way…..downwards. The mix of players we have in theory should be good enough to hold their own in this division but unfortunately I don’t see Lee Clark being able to pull us round, the players don’t seem with him, combine that with some questionable tactics and the probable outcome is be all to obvious, this perfect storm of dodgy owners, financial constraint and a mediocre manager leads me to conclude that even under the Kumars which I considered to be the worst time in our history we played better than we are now. But being a long suffering fan I will still be there even if we end up in the conference. KRO.

  • nicko says:

    i agree with most of the comments but nobody mentioned the penalty that never was a yard out of the box free kick the first goal ball out for a throw in before it was crossed at half time warnock and douf had a right go at the ref to say the least i think he messed his pants because the 2nd half he gave leeds all the decisions anybody agree

    • TR7 says:

      Diouf ‘ bossed ‘ the whole game . He intimidated EVERYONE , us , all of the officials and several members of his own team. ( Remember when Roger Johnson and Barry Fergusson used to do that ? ) And then after scoring his inevitable and unbelievably cool winner he was taken off and he waved to the incandescant Tilton and Kop with a massive smile , job done !
      We don’t have that ! ( amongst other things , of course ………. )

  • Nichollspj says:

    I do not blame the team set out last night but I do blame the team selection !!!
    How long does it take an ex-professional footballer to see that we have a a right sided player playing down the left side of the pitch.
    As a consequence we rarely get a left sided cross coming into the box.
    It also means we are playing a lop-sided team with only one outlet so if this is blocked or the right sided player has a bad game we offer nothing.
    Our midfield is light weight & we have not kept a clean sheet all season and as a consequence the forwards know we have to score 2-3 goals to stand a chance.

  • Masaccio says:

    LC and his team have been in charge for 31 games (League and cups), their record is one of abject failure to get a good squad of players working. Terry-the-tea-man-McDermot reckons the players should take a look in the mirror and ask some question.
    Maybe it should be the other way round?

    Rough estimate:
    31 games
    8 wins
    13 defeats
    10 draws
    Goals for 43
    Goals against 50
    Clean sheets 4 (Peterborough, Brighton, Leeds, Bristol)

    Even Barnet managed a goal against us.

    So Terry, whilst you’re drinking your cuppa at the training ground, pass the mirror to Lee and the other coaches…..

  • Rusky says:

    Have to agree with your blog here almajir. I think Blues have now reached a tipping point after last night – attendance, performance, result all terrible. And not least because mssing out on a lucrative televised clash against Spurs will probably mean either an additional player out or at best just ensures that one of jewels will now have to go.

  • James says:

    I was thinking the same thing about the potential Spurs game. 15000 @ £20 a pop plus television money; half a mill +???

    It’s so dissapointing as recent weeks have seen performances improve.

    If we don’t get 3 points on Saturday Clarke should do the decent thing and walk away

    KRO

  • garconsavage says:

    It’s strange that according to the MIB website Blues have rejected Blackpool’s approach for LC.

    I wouldn’t blame him if he insisted on speaking to them.

    I wonder who else would be daft enough to to pick up the poison chalice!!!!!

  • eil says:

    I was at the game last night and the thing that struck me above all else was the silence. For the first time ever, we left when added on time was announced and as we were walking to the car we couldn’t tell whether the game had finished because of the eerie silence. There is a very strange atmosphere at St Andrews – almost as if the club has died, it’s so depressing.

  • Evesham Blue says:

    It’s only a cup game and not the end of the world when we have more important games to worry about in our situation. Spurs would maul us. I dont know where the next win is coming from but the mood will change with a win.

    It’s just a cocktail of disaster at the mo- manager, owners, financial situation, injuries beyond belief, not getting the rub of the green on the pitch, players wanting out, a player who doesnt

    These things usually end up in relegation when everything is conspiring against you BUT we have a 50/50 chance of staying up with a chance to gut the squad in the summer and re-build IF we can make it through to the summer.

    One thing for sure is you either give up now OR you remain positive we can still do it.

    Griping and negativity will achieve nothing.I am tired of the stuck record that is LC but I am not going to get wound up about it anymore.

    • Chris Smith says:

      Spurs would sodomise the blues over a barrel, never mind maul. It’s also extra match revenue from a possibly near sold out stadium. Lets say we got 25000 in, with 2000 Spurs fans at £30 a pop. Most that could be hoped for would be;

      //In matches played in the Third, Fourth, Fifth and Sixth Rounds of the Competition
      Proper, the net gate receipts of each match shall be divided as follows:
      45% to each Club competing in the match.
      10% to the Pool.//

      So 25,000 x £30 = £750,000
      £750,000 x 0.9 = £675,000
      £675,000 % 2 = £337,500

      Third round proper winners get £67,500 (based on 2010/2011) so had blues won last night then £67,500 + £337,500 = £405,000. This club could have done with that money, consider the rumoured £200,000 for the TV match accordingly. A possible £605,000 for getting to play in one televised match. What were Pannu’s expenses and wages combined again? £80,000 higher than that mark? You’d almost wipe out his expenses! You could pay 10 weeks worth of Zig’s wages!

      Hate to say it eve but if you think Blues can ignore that sort of money you are an idiot!

  • DoctorD says:

    Well it looks like we should all get used to LEAGUE ONE next season because that is precisely where we’re heading. I think it will be a miracle if we survive. The other clubs in and around us all have new managers and, come the summer, we’ll be offloading a string of players whose contracts run out. And don’t anyone say we’re too big to go down – we’re not.

  • Ali Duncan says:

    A few points on last night

    a) Give or take one or two that was our best XI – worrying
    b) Gomis at Huddersfield = awesome. Last night = absolute pony. What happened?
    c) Redmond – for the second game running totally ineffective. He needs to be dropped (admittedly he was out of his best position)
    d) Can’t understand why Zigic was brought on so late. He caused untold panic in their box.
    e) Would have been a different tale if it wasn’t for those saves
    f) There were periods of good play and it was nice to see Marlon back and another excellent performance from Paul Caddis
    g) I don’t think Wade gets the credit he deserves – industrious and as comfortable on the ball as any player in the side. I felt be brought others into the game and his first touch was excellent.

  • Blues1875 says:

    Its a sad fact that after supporting my beloved Birmingham for many years and seeing the bad times roll by we are now at a crossroads we really did not believe we’d see again
    Like most of you the reason we are all so upset/fed up/disappointed is because we dared to dream our team was actually going places……and now we find ourselves in a place where most clubs would dread to be….fighting relagtion, fighting the board and now it seems fighting each other with comments that really do not help anyone

    KRO is a phrase I keep dearly to the team I love – my family always end texts etc KRO…as we each know without this phrase we would just roll over and give up I for one will not give up I love my team I love the city I love all the blue noses who support either by going to the ground or just by being a fan its important we stick together win lose or draw the players sense it and I’m sure the manager does but for me more importantly the fans sense it too – KRO please

  • Tony says:

    There is a report Blackpool are interested in Clark, can anyone shed any light on this? if it is true its a god given chance to get rid of this useless, utter waste of time of a manager, get shut of him now.

  • daddybluenose79 says:

    KRO – Blues1875

  • Art Watson says:

    Sadly my relegation prediction in October looks more and more likely

    Should of dumped Clark before Xmas -too late now he’s done the damage.

    Hopefully he will resign!

    • TR7 says:

      The Team Clark ‘ ineptness ‘ was evident right from the very, very start ! never mind October. It really is not even worth mentioning now. I ranted on and on about him for the first month or so and was told by most to “Give him a chance” I didn’t , and I sure as hell still stick by that , but since then ( apart from this post ) I don’t bother now. The current regime’s damage is well and truly done.
      You’ll find me in the air raid shelter ( under the Main Stand ) waiting for the sirens to stop , and then we’ll see where we are ! League 1 I expect , you can only drop one division at a time can’t you ?

  • BLACKPOOL WILL TAKE HIM BUT WE WILL NOT LISTEN……GOD HELP US ! ! ! !

    Blackpool’s Clark approach rejected3
    January 16, 2013

    Manager-less Blackpool have had an approach for Blues boss Lee Clark rejected by the club, according to Sky Sports. The 40 year-old was short-listed by the Seasiders board, but their approach was dismissed today.

    Many Birmingham City fans want Clark out as last season’ play-off semi finalists languish in the lower reaches of the Championship, with relegation to League One a real possibility. But Blackpool are said to be keen on the job Clark has done under tight financial parameters.

    • almajir says:

      John, you’re making the huge assumption Sky are accurate…

      • Ali Duncan says:

        Last night aside performances of late have been encouraging, especially considering the injures. Is it possible that last night was just a freak result and we’re on the road to recovery?

        By letting LC go (if it’s true) which Wolf would we be opening the door to? I can’t think of anyone who would want the gig or anyone who is obviously an excellent replacement. I’m being positive – I think stick with the devil you know, (for now) Lee Clarke will get us out of this!

  • Dave says:

    Surely on last night’s (and the whole season’s!) display, Peter Pannu would’ve snapped Blackpool’s hand off when they approached us for LC??? I haven’t been this ‘meh’ about Blues in a long, long time. I’d urge Pannu to thrash out a deal with Blackpool this week then we can look at getting someone in who knows how to pick a team capable of putting up a fight.

    By the way, as an aside, looking at Terry MacDermott and Derek Fazackerly’s coaching record, we may as well call the season off now. Look it up it’s pretty shocking (bar Huddersfield but then they drew a hell of a lot)

  • Tony says:

    Is there anyone on here who still supports this Manager? with the players he has had available this year we should not be in this position, we are a mid table side at the very least.
    We have a striker who frightens Leeds to death, has scored four goals in one match against them and what does clark do ? leave him on the bench prefering to play a lightweight midfielder up front.He really does not have a clue and it is bordering on the criminal that he should be allowed to carry on.

    • Chris Smith says:

      I still support the manager, and to be honest I can see why he stuck out the older players last night but to be honest they had a chance to do a job and blew it. In retrospect he should have stuck the kids out, thrown ziggy and someone up front and subbed for king and someone else. Everything is great with hindsight.

      We’ve seen the kids put in a shift and do a job. If clark was inept then he wouldn’t have got those lads performing, but I don’t think that the kids would have managed with a cup match so soon after a league match. Fact of the matter is there are seasoned pro’s not performing.

  • Tony says:

    Chris this guy is worse than Gary Pendrey, if you remember him for gods sake, if he had an ounce of decency and honour he would walk and take that comic scouse character ( thay do tho dont thay) with him

  • Bluenosesol says:

    Sky reporting Blackpool want Lee Calrke and Pannu has refused permission!! One minute we cant afford to get rid, the next we are turning down compensation?????

    • Evesham Blue says:

      If it were true and Blackpool offered compo then that might change PP’s mind. Only one small problem – who can you get for nothing now in our predicament? Give the academy manager the job! He knows most of our players now! :)

  • AR says:

    Another good article, almajir. How Clark couldn’t see after 10 minutes of the second half that something needed to change is indicative that he doesn’t read the game. When Leeds equalised, any good manager would have brought on a striker (he had a choice of 2). IF it’s true that we have refused Blackpool permission to talk to him, it is a big mistake; to be able to get rid of him plus compensation would be a dream situation. Incidentally, the only thing I disagree with you, almajir is in the performance of Caddis. Leeds were pumping balls up to their left-winger, who towered above Caddis like a Peter McParland. He then often rounded him with Davies having to come to the rescue. Where was Caddis for their first goal; there were 2 Leeds players unmarked in our right-back position.

  • Louise says:

    Refuse permission for Clark to speak to Blackpool, but we hand Hughton to Norwich on a plate.
    I’d have swapped Holloway months ago for Clark if Blackpool wanted him!

    Says it all really!

  • DoctorD says:

    Terry Mac on the official site:

    “The manager here works hard. I’ve worked for a lot of managers over the years and this manager here works 24/7 – and I mean 24/7 – and, dear god, he’ll get it right because he didn’t deserve what went on today. He wears his heart on his sleeve and he cares about this football club. There is no one who will work harder to put it right and he’ll do it. It is a good club, we enjoy being here and we want to be here for a long time and that will only happen if we’re successful. It is a difficult time at the minute but if hard work is going to get you out of it we’ve certainly got the right manager.”

  • Louise says:

    Almajir, please can you delete my comment, posted in the wrong thread, sorry!

  • garconsavage says:

    All the anti Clark brigade conveniently forget that it was the kids who earned us a replay and were just seconds away from winning the tie.

    But then that doesn’t suit the agenda does it?!!

    • Kaje says:

      But they were FORCED changes, it’s not like Clark thought “Oh, I’ll drop the under-performing seniors and stick some kids in.” It wasn’t a tactical master-stroke, it was necessity.

      • garconsavage says:

        LC is in a “no win” situation if the senior pros. under-perform it’s because he can’t motivate them. When he gets the “kids” playing out of their skins “they’re only playing because LC has no choice”!

        It’s a self perpetuating prophecy. Before a ball was kicked some folks had made up their minds that LC was going to take us down and they will do everything in their power to maintain an atmosphere of doom and gloom around St. Andrews.

        • It isn’t a case of doing everything in our power to ensure he succeeds. It is just that some of us are judging him by his previous and current performance that he isn’t good enough.

          I think Lee Clark seems like an honest, committed bloke. I’d like him to succeed. I don’t want Blues in League One. But he doesn’t know what he’s doing. Last night was bad but the problems were clear a long time before that.

        • That should be “It isn’t a case of doing everything in our power to ensure he fails” obviously……..

        • Kaje says:

          If you’re suggesting that the doom and gloom around St. Andrew’s is affecting a professional from doing their job then it’s confirmation he’s not good enough.

  • Paulo says:

    It was a tactical shambles, against a side that wasnt afraid to play dirty and try to influence the ref at any stage, who showed briefly enough composure to be considered ‘a very good side’. Leeds weren’t that good all round but neither were we. We had a fantastic period where we had good possesion and attack during a good portion of the game, but certain players either misjudged or mis-timed things ..at crucial moments. It was painful to watch us fight for an equaliser …again. Which to me is the biggest problem this season ..fighting for a draw. I don’t know what to expect really from our team, other than inconsistency, but it’s not good to see half the team giving their all, when placed in positions that aren’t helping, and we are struggling off the field as well. It all connects and LC simply flaps his arms and offers no solution.
    I just don’t know what to say really, but I’m sure many others are feeling the same as well.

  • Tonytiler says:

    For the first time in ages Im not looking forward to the game Saturday. It feels more of an effort than a day out with mates having some banter and a few beers. I was there again last night. We done alright for 50 mins then fell apart. Personally I thought Morrison wasn’t at the races just like against Huddersfield Saturday ( I was there as well ). I like Robinson at left back as he always gives 100 percent. However of late a lot of the goals are being conceded on the left side. I’m not sure if this is the left backs fault or maybe it’s that we haven’t replaced a left midfielder that we have been crying out for all season.

  • TILTONTANK says:

    It was obvious last night that the team are poorly coached. Players made many poor decisions, were often moving into inappropriate areas of the park. When they were overrun in the middle of the park , they were unable to counter the problems themselves. You could say, that is the managers role – And mostly it is. HOWEVER, the players know themselves that the manager is inept, and should have walked a month or two ago. Therefore, it is going to be upto the players themselves -young or old – to get us out of this mess. An unfair responsibility maybe, BUT If they continue to be led by this manager, we will be relegated before the end of the season.

  • Dave says:

    Anyone mentioned Mark Yates as potential replacement for Clark? Done a great job at Cheltenham and is a Bluenose through and through.

  • jazzzy786 says:

    I can’t be bothered to go anymore I’d rather watch a live internet stream of the villa losing. At least that cheers me up. We will be relegated as there is no fight in this team. Relegation and administration is the only way we’ll get rid of this clueless manager and get new owners. So bring on relegation.


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