Manager/Coach Robbo out. Thread number 2

[RyanioBirdio]

Last chance to dance.

 

[MalaysiaYellow]

We are a mid table side by attendance, finances (until our owners show the money) and we don't own our stadium.

Last 3 seasons we have averaged

79
74 and
75-78 points.

Well done for another good season.

 

[OxfordYankee]

Thinking the season over, with all the ups and downs it has brought, I’ve come to the following conclusion.

I don’t believe that we will ever get promotion with Karl as manager.

I see no proof of any improvement in him or his approach, from which I must conclude that the same flaws will show themselves ad nauseam. Close, but no cigar. Karl himself said during his RadOx interview, “always the bridesmaid, and that has to change”.

I’m not advocating for his removal. He brings a lot to the club and deserves another crack. However, it appears to me that the owners are deadly serious about promotion and loyal as Tiger has been, we’re no longer solely his catnip. We have successful, ambitious and expectant owners, whom it seems will provide him with copious resources. On that basis, I can’t believe that they will be happy to rewatch the entire length of Groundhog Day for our own Bill Murray to find the required self improvement to break the cycle, when they must, surely, already be questioning his ability to do so.

Gone by Christmas.

 

[uptheus]

His tactics to slow the game down costs us every time.

 

[yellowbow]

Thinking the season over, with all the ups and downs it has brought, I’ve come to the following conclusion.

I don’t believe that we will ever get promotion with Karl as manager.

I see no proof of any improvement in him or his approach, from which I must conclude that the same flaws will show themselves ad nauseam. Close, but no cigar. Karl himself said during his RadOx interview, “always the bridesmaid, and that has to change”.

I’m not advocating for his removal. He brings a lot to the club and deserves another crack. However, it appears to me that the owners are deadly serious about promotion and loyal as Tiger has been, we’re no longer solely his catnip. We have successful, ambitious and expectant owners, whom it seems will provide him with copious resources. On that basis, I can’t believe that they will be happy to rewatch the entire length of Groundhog Day for our own Bill Murray to find the required self improvement to break the cycle, when they must, surely, already be questioning his ability to do so.

Gone by Christmas.

Yeah I found his bridesmaids comments interesting. Hopefully he and his coaching staff will do some serious soul searching to finally change that.

The fact that we’re continuously so close and yet so far makes it all the more frustrating. I also wonder if Karl is the man to take us to the next step but, for me, he definitely deserves another crack at it. The league is going to be even tougher to get out of next year but if he can learn from his previous mistakes - be early and decisive with his transfer dealings and get the right type of players in, and fortune is with us, who knows...?

 

[38yearsofpain]

Thinking the season over, with all the ups and downs it has brought, I’ve come to the following conclusion.

I don’t believe that we will ever get promotion with Karl as manager.

I see no proof of any improvement in him or his approach, from which I must conclude that the same flaws will show themselves ad nauseam. Close, but no cigar. Karl himself said during his RadOx interview, “always the bridesmaid, and that has to change”.

I’m not advocating for his removal. He brings a lot to the club and deserves another crack. However, it appears to me that the owners are deadly serious about promotion and loyal as Tiger has been, we’re no longer solely his catnip. We have successful, ambitious and expectant owners, whom it seems will provide him with copious resources. On that basis, I can’t believe that they will be happy to rewatch the entire length of Groundhog Day for our own Bill Murray to find the required self improvement to break the cycle, when they must, surely, already be questioning his ability to do so.

Gone by Christmas.

Reflecting on this season, I felt from day one the squad was unbalanced and ultimately that and injuries was a major contributing factor to our failure to make the play offs.
In the past few seasons we have had Nelson, Dunkley, Dickie, Atkinson, Moore and McNally as defenders yet we have never had a solid defence. All possibly sold or lost in our League One days. I know the emphasis in football has changed but the majority of winning teams in most divisions have the best defence, they may have he best attack as well but they defend. They defend with discipline and structure even when they attack. That is certainly not our way. We are kamikazi denfensively especially when we attack. How many goals do we conceed from being caught attacking with too many bodies.
Our lack of balance pretty much defines that, we always lack enough proper full back cover, yet full backs touch the ball more than other players in the way teams play. In midfield we are very skillful and exciting and when it clicks yes we are as good as anybody. But when it doesn't or teams setup to stop us, we lose games in midfield because we are out powered. How many games do we start the best but by the end look overwhelmed.
All managers like to collect pets, Wilder liked strikers, Clotet was he knew them. Robinson's is obviously wingers. We appear to waste squad numbers on that collection and assortment of wide boys!!
Next season is a very big one for Karl Robinson, if we don't get promoted his CV becomes 15 seasons with one promotion and his contract ends. I sincerely like him, I think the way he deals with players and especially the pandemic was truly special. But football is a results orientated business. I sincerely hope he honestly reflects on why we failed and what he needs to change. In many ways the guy is too honest, too much like a fan and appears to have too many fingers in too many pies at the club. I suspect that is his personal DNA or lack of management structure at the club. He appears to be the mouthpiece on everything.
Ultimately he has to realise he will be judged on results and he needs to reflect on what needs to be changed in the style and culture of his teams otherwise he will always be the nearly man. His primary and perhaps only objective next season will be promotion everything else has to become noise, currently that doesn't appear to be the case looking in from afar.

 

[IsleofWightYellow]

I don’t think even KR’s most vociferous supporters would disagree that if we don’t at least make the playoffs next season, he has to go.

 

[OUFCwaffle]

It's a tricky one which I am sure the board will be pondering.

Trouble we have is that many of our players will leave this summer which means in effect we will be rebuilding from scratch yet again.

How many teams go up automatically right after a complete squad rebuild?

I worry that the damage may have already been done for next season too. Often promotion teams are just touching up in certain areas during the transfer window, as they will have already worked out their weaknesses and are just looking to address certain areas. If we are signing 10 odd new players, what is the chance that all of them will be what we were expecting and able to come in and smash it out of the park right from the off? I'd wager best case scenario maybe half?

Now, from past experience can we trust KR to spend board money wisely and prioritise stability, physicallity, and depth over flair and talent?

Personally I get the feeling that however much the board throws at KR we would never see the kind of team that is capable of battling out a season with consistently good performances.

The past 3 seasons, whilst we have been up there, we have been so inconsistent and incapable of putting in the kind of performances that promotion requires. (9 clean sheets all season, 3 after Christmas)

I can understand dips in form from players as that can be expected, but the major swings in tactical approach that we have seen this season have been criminal, e.g. MK Dons game vs Rotherham game. Can someone please add up the number of points we have missed out on from games that we have lead in?

It's a decision between sticking with KR and finishing probably between 9th and 5th next year, or gambling on someone new to come in and shake it up with a brand new approach, which could either work or fail miserably. Either way that decision needs to be made now and not in 7 months if we are underperforming.

 

[unification]

Yeah I found his bridesmaids comments interesting. Hopefully he and his coaching staff will do some serious soul searching to finally change that.

The fact that we’re continuously so close and yet so far makes it all the more frustrating. I also wonder if Karl is the man to take us to the next step but, for me, he definitely deserves another crack at it. The league is going to be even tougher to get out of next year but if he can learn from his previous mistakes - be early and decisive with his transfer dealings and get the right type of players in, and fortune is with us, who knows...?

Interesting that he acknowledged that himself too. 11 seasons as a manager and, despite his one promotion, he’s never managed to master a playoff campaign at five attempts.

This is my worry with KR. He’s evidently a fairly decent manager but lacks that edge or X-factor to make him one of the top two every season. His MK Dons side that did manage to up automatically was rammed with talent. To get us promoted, he needs that again, I feel. We’ve been more than decent this season but our gung-ho approach and (for a second season running) porous defence have cost us.

We don’t have to sacrifice attacking football to be successful but we do need to consider the whole picture. Who is protecting the defence? Is the defensive unit strong enough and are they making the right decisions? Start there and build up the rest from there.

 

[RyanioBirdio]

His MK Dons side that did manage to up automatically was rammed with talent.

And a defence containing depth and experience.

 

[Yellow River]

In my view Robinson is a good ‘Club’ Manager. He clearly enjoys a lot of the off field community stuff. He comes across as very supportive, and puts his heart and soul into it.

On the whole he dealt with the Covid issues well, and was excellent in his response to the death of Joey Beachamp.

However despite being well supported by the board and has come up short on the field. An unbalanced squad has been his undoing.

My inclination is to give him another season to try and get promotion. I suspect the board will think the same way.

Let’s hope Robinson will learn from his squad building mistakes. Time will tell.

 

[OxfordBoy]

I don’t think even KR’s most vociferous supporters would disagree that if we don’t at least make the playoffs next season, he has to go.

I don’t think you’ve read this forum enough then, there’s at least one person on this page alone who has said as much

 

[IsleofWightYellow]

I don’t think you’ve read this forum enough then, there’s at least one person on this page alone who has said as much

Where?

 

[oufc1991]

If Robinson got sacked tomorrow let's say who would people want to replace him who would you trust to come in have a summer of rebuilding the squad with a very good budget that could get us to the next level
BTW I'm.neither for or against KR getting the boot I think he's done a very good job but I think he will not learn from his transfer mistake which will probably mean we are nearly there but not quite come next may

 

[OX14]

If Robinson got sacked tomorrow let's say who would people want to replace him who would you trust to come in have a summer of rebuilding the squad with a very good budget that could get us to the next level
BTW I'm.neither for or against KR getting the boot I think he's done a very good job but I think he will not learn from his transfer mistake which will probably mean we are nearly there but not quite come next may

Off the top of my head
.

Lee Johnson or Darren Ferguson would be top of my list for available managers.

 

[m]

Thinking the season over, with all the ups and downs it has brought, I’ve come to the following conclusion.

I don’t believe that we will ever get promotion with Karl as manager.

I see no proof of any improvement in him or his approach, from which I must conclude that the same flaws will show themselves ad nauseam. Close, but no cigar. Karl himself said during his RadOx interview, “always the bridesmaid, and that has to change”.

I’m not advocating for his removal. He brings a lot to the club and deserves another crack. However, it appears to me that the owners are deadly serious about promotion and loyal as Tiger has been, we’re no longer solely his catnip. We have successful, ambitious and expectant owners, whom it seems will provide him with copious resources. On that basis, I can’t believe that they will be happy to rewatch the entire length of Groundhog Day for our own Bill Murray to find the required self improvement to break the cycle, when they must, surely, already be questioning his ability to do so.

Gone by Christmas.

Spot on.

Sacking him seems ludicrous and yet I can't see us ever gaining promotion under him. Difficult.

 

[Leysboy]

.

Lee Johnson or Darren Ferguson would be top of my list for available managers.

I’d add Mark Bonner too. He’s done a good job at Cambridge, and I think he’s got a bright future as a manager, and he speaks well in the media.

 

[OX14]

.


I’d add Mark Bonner too. He’s done a good job at Cambridge, and I think he’s got a bright future as a manager, and he speaks well in the media.

Yes if we were going to go down the route of already employed managers he would be near the top of the list

 

[OxfordBoy]

Where?

MalaysiaYellow saying well done on a good season because we finished where our budget/attendance would indicate

Neither of those things are going to be massively different next year so I can’t see why he’ll feel any different when we don’t improve next year

 

[IsleofWightYellow]

MalaysiaYellow saying well done on a good season because we finished where our budget/attendance would indicate

Neither of those things are going to be massively different next year so I can’t see why he’ll feel any different when we don’t improve next year

Right. I mean; I assumed that was a wind-up, or at least a purposefully provocative post, given that attendances mean nothing regarding final league position and most reliable sources on here claim that we currently have a budget much higher than mid table (I’ve seen around 6th claimed?)

But yes, there will be the odd screwball demanding that KR is sacked even if we go up, or kept on even if we go down. But, generally, I can’t see how any sensible person can argue that if next season we finish outside of the playoffs again, meaning then in his four full seasons we’ve gone Finalists, Semi Finalists, Missing Out, Missing Out, then he should stay… doesn’t make sense to me.