Manager/Coach Robinson. Stay or go?

[ZeroTheHero]

Stay. Build some foundation. Endlessly changing managers achieves nothing. Anyone remember the last recruiting processes. I still have nightmares about the 0-3 at Rochdale while reading Jake Wright’s endorsement of Mickey Lewis. Stand firm, Tiger, up your game Robinson.

The question that poses is what happens if Robinson doesn't/can't up his game?

 

[holdsteady]

I reckon he will get to Plymouth at home to prove himself, not the worst run of fixtures, if we are still in the relegation zone after them then he will go. By then he has been here about 6 months, his record isn’t up to much so it would be justifiable by modern standards.

 

[Deleted member 291]

I'm not sure about this maybe we would have picked up another few of points (its almost impossible to say). However we would still be at the wrong end of the table and we still would be struggling to score goals. I think we all agree our problems lie much deeper than just a keeper. Even the keeper issue KR has had a big hand in. He re-signed Shearer for what reason who knows and he has signed Eastwood's replacement.

I would argue irrespective of injuries we would be no where near a play off place, we could however been nearer lower mid table than we are.

It's that Fleetwood game that bugs me, if we didn't lose that and I don't think we would have with Eastwood then I think we would have picked up 6-9 points more by now.

I'm not directly comparing goals we have conceded this season to Eastwood would have saved them but I believe he would have brought much needed confidence to a very shaky defence in terms of form. I don't think any of our defenders are bad but in the first 5 or 6 games 3 out of 4 were having bad games regardless of selection because they were out of form. Eastwood would have protected them and saved them from their mistakes a few times and given them the time to sort their own form out.

It's all hypothetical on my part but I can't wait until he's back in the team.

 

[Shosho]

I reckon he will get to Plymouth at home to prove himself, not the worst run of fixtures, if we are still in the relegation zone after them then he will go. By then he has been here about 6 months, his record isn’t up to much so it would be justifiable by modern standards.

Plymouth seems sensible.

Between then we have Wimbledon, Luton, Southend and Northampton.

Along with this KR said last night Eastwood and Curruthers we’re back in training come Monday (I think!)

 

[Millman]

This season has echos of the Talbot season in so far as we failed to sign any decent strikers and then struggled massively. But then there is the element of the formation, which is a bit like MApp when he startedbefore he learned what it takes at a lower league level. What I am genuinely suprised at though is that KR used to be so good at this league, so what is different between now and back when he was at MK?

 

[Teddydee1980]

The impact of him being out has been catastrophic in my opinion. Not saying our young loanee is a bad keeper but that Eastwood is that good we would have picked up points against Accrington, Coventry and Walsall and all of a sudden our season looks very different.

Totally agree. Given the contract he signed and the talk from both Robbo and the man himself, Easty was key to the way Robbo wants to play. Whilst I admit Mitchell is a good shot stopper, his poor, slow and indecisive distribution has been a nightmare for our defenders.

It wouldnt have solved the goal drought at the other end, but it would have made us much harder to beat

 

[Shropshire U]

This season has echos of the Talbot season in so far as we failed to sign any decent strikers and then struggled massively. But then there is the element of the formation, which is a bit like MApp when he startedbefore he learned what it takes at a lower league level. What I am genuinely suprised at though is that KR used to be so good at this league, so what is different between now and back when he was at MK?

The answer to this question lies in the thread "Why We Are 23rd". We simply don't have the same quality of players that KR had at MKD. This is partly down to his own poor close season this year and to the knock-on effects of the picture that Mintyshoe outlines on that thread.

 

[Leysboy]

Totally agree. Given the contract he signed and the talk from both Robbo and the man himself, Easty was key to the way Robbo wants to play. Whilst I admit Mitchell is a good shot stopper, his poor, slow and indecisive distribution has been a nightmare for our defenders.

It wouldnt have solved the goal drought at the other end, but it would have made us much harder to beat

I agree Mitchell is a very good shot stopper, but what frustrates me most about him. He gathers the ball, runs all over the 18yard box, and never gets rid of it when he should. There have been numerous times when I’ve watched him, and he has an option to get us down the pitch. Instead he just dilly dallies, by the time he gets rid of the ball the opposing team are back in position. Eastwood has that quality in a keeper we’re desperately missing.

 

[ljs]

I agree Mitchell is a very good shot stopper, but what frustrates me most about him. He gathers the ball, runs all over the 18yard box, and never gets rid of it when he should. There have been numerous times when I’ve watched him, and he has an option to get us down the pitch. Instead he just dilly dallies, by the time he gets rid of the ball the opposing team are back in position. Eastwood has that quality in a keeper we’re desperately missing.

Not sure Eastwood is all that quick at moving the ball on either.

 

[Berliner]

I agree Mitchell is a very good shot stopper, but what frustrates me most about him. He gathers the ball, runs all over the 18yard box, and never gets rid of it when he should. There have been numerous times when I’ve watched him, and he has an option to get us down the pitch. Instead he just dilly dallies, by the time he gets rid of the ball the opposing team are back in position. Eastwood has that quality in a keeper we’re desperately missing.

The oppo keeper may have had a bit of a flap at that cross yesterday but his distribution was great. Helped by the quality and speed of the players in front of him of course, which isn't great on our side. That's the sort of thing a keeper should aspire to.​

 

[werthersoriginal]

Anyway, on quality of players. Had you heard of any of the Walsall guys? They had some handy forwards but the main thing was that they were a well drilled fit team with a plan, nothing really special but enough to beat us

 

[lodeyellow]

Anyway, on quality of players. Had you heard of any of the Walsall guys? They had some handy forwards but the main thing was that they were a well drilled fit team with a plan, nothing really special but enough to beat us

I’d heard of Zeli Ismael because we had him on loan three seasons ago.

 

[werthersoriginal]

Yes, I think that was the only one. Not that it means much but you get my point.

 

[Foley]

I’d heard of Zeli Ismael because we had him on loan three seasons ago.

He was very good on Saturday.
Like Tyler Roberts it was a loan we had a year too early.

 

[Millman]

The answer to this question lies in the thread "Why We Are 23rd". We simply don't have the same quality of players that KR had at MKD. This is partly down to his own poor close season this year and to the knock-on effects of the picture that Mintyshoe outlines on that thread.

I agree to an extent. However if you listen to KR it sounds like he had a fair say in this year's recruitment and he also seemed pretty happy at the start of the season with who he signed. I wonder did he have more or less say in recruitment at MK? Was he some part of the reason for the poor transfer window if so how much?

There are other issues to that are not just related to who we bought, more like certain positions we didn't buy for. A blind man could see we were weak up front for example yet we only bought in one untried player. What were the MK sides like KR built did they not rely on a decent striker.

Lastly there is the tactics or complete lack thereof. I think our formation is one of the main reasons (in addition to the transfer windows) we are where we are yet KR seems oblivious to this. Was he always this inflexible?

 

[Witney Wag]

I wonder sometimes if KR struggles with managing a big club. He struggled at Charlton and he is struggling here. The pressure to be successful at these two clubs are far greater than that at a club like MK Dons. Oxford United has a lot of press coverage and a successful YF where supporters give their views on an hourly basis, something that he would not have encountered at MK Dons.

 

[Foley]

I wonder sometimes if KR struggles with managing a big club. He struggled at Charlton and he is struggling here. The pressure to be successful at these two clubs are far greater than that at a club like MK Dons. Oxford United has a lot of press coverage and a successful YF where supporters give their views on an hourly basis, something that he would not have encountered at MK Dons.

You are joking right re the 'big club's comment?
Also I thought he took Charlton from near the bottom to near the top of the table?

 

[Witney Wag]

You are joking right re the 'big club's comment?
Also I thought he took Charlton from near the bottom to near the top of the table?

No I’m not joking and regards to Charlton, their fans were glad to see the back of him and the club started winning gamesafter he left.

 

[Ox4Eva]

You are joking right re the 'big club's comment?
Also I thought he took Charlton from near the bottom to near the top of the table?

Charlton are a big club, we are not...

 

[Oufcrealist]

He was very good on Saturday.
Like Tyler Roberts it was a loan we had a year too early.

Ismael was 22 when he came here and on his 5th loan in two years.
Roberts was 17 and we were his 1st loan.
So a big difference in terms of age and experience.