Can we actually win games with our squad now?

Whilst watching MOTD last night I was struck by the humble approach to coaching of Roy Hodgson. When questioned about Palace's recent run of just one defeat in twelve games, and was it down to him he said no it's always about the players. The coaches role is to bring the best out of the squad, so they can then play the way you want them to. Very simple and very true.

It's become increasingly obvious, even to an exiled observer licke myself, just reading Slade's post match interviews that he obviously thinks his tactics are alright, we just need patience. I then look at the league table and when you understand that 50 points is the usual target to reach safety, you wonder where the hell those points are actually going to come from. I'm not advocating Buckley's return, far from it, but ask yourself this question - would the Great Man get anything better out of the squad of players? If the answer is yes then Slade must surely understand that it is he who has to change in the first instance as his gameplan(?) simply doesn't work. If the answer is no, then Slade must ask himself why he himself has got Town into this most uncomfortable of positions. His signings mainly, his game plan....it's not working and even the most stubborn of egotistical employers would have taken their collective heads out of the sand by now and demanded improvement.

Do fans think this squad is capable of producing the goods on the pitch with our current squad - forget Slade for the moment - and if so how do they do it? Russell if you're reading this, please, please, take on board that whatever it is you're doing wrong please stop, think, and recalibrate whatever it is that needs doing so we don't suffer the ignominity of non league football again in 2018-19.

I think any new manager, even if they were a short term caretaker,  coming in could lift the squad enough to get to 50 points .
The club as a whole needs to get rid of the egg once and for all . He should never have been allowed back in the first place . Lazy recruitment from fenty has caused so much damage to gtfc and it’s about time once the seasons over he left as well .

I have no doubt in my mind there is enough in this squad to limp over the 50 point line. Will they do it, for me it depends  on how quickly we jetison Slade.

There is enough in this squad to avoid relegation. With Summerfield, Clarke, Davies, Mills, McKeown, Dembele, Collins, Rose, Jones, Matt, K.Osborne, DJ and seemingly the new lad all decent enough, mid-table L2 players. They need some fire in their belly, a bit of belief instilled into them and some tactics that play to the strengths of the group. Then we need a clear out of the deadwood in the summer. I am certain there are at least two teams who have got a worse set of players than we have, realistically there's probably at least 5/6 teams with worse squads than us. However, I'm also certain that it is past the point of no return with Slade and this group and as you can't sack an entire squad and replace them in January, that means Slade has to go.

The squad isn't that bad. There's a serious lack of pace and a few that shouldn't have been signed and barring a mass injury crisis probably won't be used again.

But wade through that and you can muster up a decent 14/15 which will be more than enough to finish mid-table, comfortably.

The problem is that the manager isn't picking his best 11, or even his best 18. He's sending his side out with a lack of attacking focus or understanding. The players aren't sure what they're supposed to do and to be totally honest don't look like they are playing for him anymore.

As Louth said “lazy recruitment “  get rid now

There's a decent defence in there, disregarding the 'age' thing. Just a poor, lacklustre front line with too much asked of young Siriki and a mostly functional though at times creative midfield (Summerfield) who disappear for long periods which piles on the pressure for the defence.

I'm in no doubt we can grind our way to comfortable safety, but fresh ideas and approach and a quick clearout are needed.

We also waste one of our most creative outlets in jones as an out and out striker.

We've got a reasonable nucleus of 11/12 players that could see us just about hold on to our league status, unfortunately it's the toothless attack that's the problem. Yesterday, and on the whole at home this season, the full backs and Dembele have whipped in several decent balls into the box, but we've nobody with that strikers instinct to get on the end of them. I kept a close eye on Amond yesterday, and whilst he didn't score, i was still impressed with his movement on and off the ball. This is going to be a big problem if it's not addressed quickly, because in recent seasons on average you need to score at least 45 goals to stay up, so we're going to need to average at least a goal a game, and at the moment we're finding that hard to achieve....UTM

For this level this squad is ok not promotion material but it has more ability than current results and performances suggest.

It needs another striker who can get in the right places in the box and a little more pace at the back so we don’t have to defend so deep.

The bigger need at the meeting moment is movement, belief, confidence the right selection and the right shape. So maybe the players aren’t the issue hint hint 😉

Feel for the players at the moment as Slade is setting them up to fail far to often.