Maybe.....

...Maybe attack isnt always the best form of defence.
...Maybe stopping your opponents scoring is the best foundation to getting a result away from home.
...Maybe its time to pick your strongest side and formation and stick with it for a foundation for next season.
...And maybe doing some homework on your opponent is for the best before the game. "Plymouth better than i realised".

Annoyed!

2nd game running IH admits he has made mistakes.

I agree with the above, time to stop fannying about with team selection for the Scunny game and pick what he thinks are his best players.

Another poor game and being well beaten on Saturday and I believe his honeymoon will be over.

I get the feeling that IH is taking it on the chin a bit here to protect the players

Quoted from denni266

I get the feeling that IH is taking it on the chin a bit here to protect the players

Exactly how I see it. He’s shouldering the blame to protect the players. I think the players are trying but simply nowhere near good enough. You can tell on his interview he’s fuming and embarrassed but trying his best to hide it. Let’s not forget it’s squad that went FIFTEEN games without a win (and barely scoring) only a few months ago. IHs recruitment has addressed things a little but a summer rebuild is vital. The last 2 games have really highlighted our lack of quality, especially without 2 of our best players in Hanson + Hess. It’s hard to slate our lads as I do think we have a good set of people on the whole but very limited footballers. Roll on the summer

Remember when people used to complain about large clear pits in the summer every year yet that’s exactly what’s gonna happen here (not saying it isn’t necessary).

Are we gonna fall in the trap of paying people off again though?

I get that he’s protecting the players but equally some of it does fall at his feet. He’s the one that’s chopped and changed the side and it’s added to confusion. I guess players have a good game but then don’t know if they’re gonna play next time. I don’t care what anyone says, that would confuse someone...

Equally, he seems to be persevering with players that are blatantly not good enough...

Think Ollie will know by now who he must keep and who must leave.

Perhaps a few still uncertain and their fate will be determined by who else he thinks he can bring in.

Disappointing but we move on

He can't say I was left with a load of dross which is basically the truth.

We have still got some games to go so he has to tread carefully and he has done well to get a better tune out of some of them.

Next season's team will be very different no matter what he says in public about helping these players to improve.

We have been so used to rubbish we think Hess is a good player cos he can pass the ball 5 yards backwards or sideways.

Quoted from Superdan147

Exactly how I see it. He’s shouldering the blame to protect the players. I think the players are trying but simply nowhere near good enough. You can tell on his interview he’s fuming and embarrassed but trying his best to hide it. Let’s not forget it’s squad that went FIFTEEN games without a win (and barely scoring) only a few months ago. IHs recruitment has addressed things a little but a summer rebuild is vital. The last 2 games have really highlighted our lack of quality, especially without 2 of our best players in Hanson + Hess. It’s hard to slate our lads as I do think we have a good set of people on the whole but very limited footballers. Roll on the summer

Good post .I feel though players largely will still  go where they get the best deal.Hence in this short career in the lower leagues 1 or 2 year deals and then you could be out of the trapdoor and playing non league especially for youngsters or young players .Hence if you get offered  £2,000 a week or £ 1,300 a week your going to choose the former.Point being as much as this club has a good history and is one of the oldest clubs in the football league hence older than Liverpool  money is primarily whats it all about now. Hence we cant compete now with some of the other clubs in comparison to years gone by when the minimum wage was still in place.

Quoted from lew chaterleys lover

He can't say I was left with a load of dross which is basically the truth.

We have still got some games to go so he has to tread carefully and he has done well to get a better tune out of some of them.

Next season's team will be very different no matter what he says in public about helping these players to improve.

We have been so used to rubbish we think Hess is a good player cos he can pass the ball 5 yards backwards or sideways.

The last sentence....it didn’t do Ray Wilkins any harm..

Quoted from lew chaterleys lover

He can't say I was left with a load of dross which is basically the truth.

I think as long as players try and sacrifice I wouldnt call them dross though.Hence its all relative. Theres always people going to be better than you not just in football but in life.Hence without variety things dont continue.

I think IH should decide on his best 2 centre backs and stick with them for the rest of the season, to try to get some understanding between them.
Last night you could have driven a bus through our defence.
Where was man to man marking?

I think most people think Hess is decent because he protects the back 4, wins a lot of tackles, picks up a lot of second ball and is disciplined positionally. If people don't want one player like that in our league 2 midfield because he can't play a defence splitting pass then they should be prepared to concede plenty of goals.

After the game played last weekend IH admitted that the season probably was over. He also said that he believed we were safe from relegation. So we are a mid-table team and he wants to try different players and combinations of them to look at next season. That`s why we get some poor results. All is probably done so he can make the best decisions for next season.
This don`t get me down one bit, and you shouldn`t either...

UTMM

I think what IH said on the post-match interview from last night says it all

"I'm having to find tactics to help my team, they're staying with the same"

Clearly he knows his team is not good enough and wants some stability after the summer

Quoted from marinerjase

The last sentence....it didn’t do Ray Wilkins any harm..

I think surrounded by international standard players helped with that. Hess is passing sideways and backwards to poor standard league 2 players so is not achieving owt.

In a much better team he might be ok.

Hess is a great player at this level. Good engine, disciplined and wins important interceptions. He is consistently top of the tackling statistics for the league.

As IH famously said, every team needs a piano player and a piano carrier in the middle. IH was a piano carrier and Hess is no different.

Quoted from aldi_01

Equally, he seems to be persevering with players that are blatantly not good enough...

He doesn't have a lot of choice atm, seeing as the transfer window is closed.

I think its more about opinion of who he is starting currently and who he is leaving out - rather than the issue of the window being closed

Be nice now with 10 games to go that more of a consistent side can be played and we can end the season with a decent finish - but who flipping knows what Ollie will do!

Quoted from 123614

He doesn't have a lot of choice atm, seeing as the transfer window is closed.

Bloody hell don't give him any more to choose from - he'll be making 11 changes every week!

Pick a team and stick with it for the rest of the season, bearing in mind 1) that loanees probably won't be here next year so don't look to build on them for next year and 2) he must have a good idea who is staying and who is going by now.

We are going to struggle to score without Hanson but at least we can try to steady things up at the back especially at CB so we don't concede too many

The problem is that we all probably got a little bit excited with a good run of form and started to believe we might sneak into the play-offs.

With that, it's frustrating that Holloway has then tweaked the team and made changes galore in consecutive weeks to do what he feels is the priority and get the side ready for next season, as part of that he needs to assess everyone.  We've all got opinions on the likes of Green, but Holloway is still forming them. I was frustrated that he didn't play Clarke down the middle but I suppose if Holloway is seeing him in another position for next season, he wants to play him there now.

As fans it's getting harder to be patient because we were very patient in the Conference.  We had year on year failure and coming up short before we fell over the line.  Once we got promotion, we then realised that we needed to break that team up to move forward, we then had Bignot and had a period of transition again, we then had Slade who was brought in with a remit to tighten the ship both on and off the field, then we had Jolley who was supposed to be bringing about complete change across the club.  Her inherited a poor team so we knew patience was needed, I think the acceptance was for 3 transfer windows....

None of the above is Holloway's fault.  He's largely inherited a poor squad that's imbalanced, lacks pace, lacks goals and lacks creativity.  There's no arguing that it needs overhauling (again!).  Holloway has papered over the cracks a bit and his personality as much as his style of play has probably masked our problems a little bit.  He's brought in players who've improved us but it's still not enough.  

This summer will be another one of change.  Holloway wants to play a very, very different way to Jolley.  Of the current squad there's only a handful who are probably capable of playing that way.  

I'm hoping that Holloway has made up his mind about the majority of players and if he wants to keep or bin them. Then we can start to get a glimpse of what next season will look like.  I don't expect us to win all of our remaining games but Holloway probably needs to realise the expectations of fans is high and needs to keep that.  It's partly about managing those expectations but it's about indulging them a little too to maintain interest.  

Quoted from Ipswin

Bloody hell don't give him any more to choose from - he'll be making 11 changes every week!

Pick a team and stick with it for the rest of the season, bearing in mind 1) that loanees probably won't be here next year so don't look to build on them for next year and 2) he must have a good idea who is staying and who is going by now.

We are going to struggle to score without Hanson but at least we can try to steady things up at the back especially at CB so we don't concede too many

But this is the problem isn't it?

We might not have Benson next season, we might not have Glennon....but how they play is how Holloway wants to set the side up.  If they're not here, he'll be looking to bring others in with a similar style.

Quoted from Superdan147

Exactly how I see it. He’s shouldering the blame to protect the players. I think the players are trying but simply nowhere near good enough. You can tell on his interview he’s fuming and embarrassed but trying his best to hide it. Let’s not forget it’s squad that went FIFTEEN games without a win (and barely scoring) only a few months ago. IHs recruitment has addressed things a little but a summer rebuild is vital. The last 2 games have really highlighted our lack of quality, especially without 2 of our best players in Hanson + Hess. It’s hard to slate our lads as I do think we have a good set of people on the whole but very limited footballers. Roll on the summer

As far as I know, no one is slating players as people but that they are limited footballers at the level.

13 games managed now and I'm sure he has watched many more from this season and he must have seen enough of the players now , , ,enough to play a consistentish 11 , , ,apart from injuries and suspensions  , , , , ,

Interesting he has said some very positive words in his interviews about Vernam , Clarke , Tilley , , the big man Hanson and even Rose but not heard him say anything about Green at all , , , , but I may be wrong

Quoted from Mariner Timsky

13 games managed now and I'm sure he has watched many more from this season and he must have seen enough of the players now , , ,enough to play a consistentish 11 , , ,apart from injuries and suspensions  , , , , ,

Interesting he has said some very positive words in his interviews about Vernam , Clarke , Tilley , , the big man Hanson and even Rose but not heard him say anything about Green at all , , , , but I may be wrong

He kept making to reference to the injured players being lame, lazy or stupid and he wasn't sure which one they were.

We definitely need another big man who offers a threat up front to take the pressure off Hanson.

Quoted from Mariner Timsky

13 games managed now and I'm sure he has watched many more from this season and he must have seen enough of the players now , , ,enough to play a consistentish 11 , , ,apart from injuries and suspensions  , , , , ,

Interesting he has said some very positive words in his interviews about Vernam , Clarke , Tilley , , the big man Hanson and even Rose but not heard him say anything about Green at all , , , , but I may be wrong

There’s a reason for that. He’s done nothing positive under IH at all.

Ollie came in when all the players were at a low ebb and confused by what different things Jolley was asking them to do each game.

He needed to see who is capable of what so he can plan for next season.

Well sadly most of them have confirmed they are not good enough to get us promoted.

So Ollie will now try and play his best team  every week imo but that is hard with some players that have injuries and some  may be suspended.

Give the man a break he is not a miracle worker getting our club sorted out from top to bottom it can not be done  overnight or even one season.

We will get there under Ollie and he deserves our support not the over the top moaning when we lose.

Yes we have had 2 poor games this week but so have Liverpool who have lost twice this week  having gone a year without losing a single game.

Quoted from PoutonStepover

There’s a reason for that. He’s done nothing positive under IH at all.

He did say he has a lovely smile.

Not many opportunities to flash it when you're 23 league games without a goal!

He has two very basic problems that he can’t do much about ...... 1. Hanson has no direct replacement and without him we are toothless up front ...... 2. whichever pair of centre backs he chooses, they will be too slow and prone to dropping far too deep just to compensate.

Really, he has to have a different set up for when Hanson is injured, maybe more use of a front 2 rather than just leaving Green in a job he is completely unsuited for. But what he does now matters a lot less than what he does in May. I expect to see very few of the players from August 2019 in his first line up next season.

Strange post.  IH has so much experience and we are unbelievably lucky to have him. At least at the end of the season he can rebuild having given everyone the opportunity. Remain in the division was his aim and he has smashed that. People need to be realistic in what this current squad can achieve. I honestly believe we will be absolutely electric next season with a full pre season under his belt.

Quoted from Lewis111

Strange post.  IH has so much experience and we are unbelievably lucky to have him. At least at the end of the season he can rebuild having given everyone the opportunity. Remain in the division was his aim and he has smashed that. People need to be realistic in what this current squad can achieve. I honestly believe we will be absolutely electric next season with a full pre season under his belt.

Wasn't too strange Lewis - certainly had stranger on this board! Welcome along

Easy to forget how dire we were until IH arrived. We had been bottom of the form table for months. Three months without a win, and seven games without a goal. That was what he had to work with.  The truth is that the squad he inherited were performing at relegation standard.

We have had some good results since then, but the we have been found out by the likes of Swindon, Northampton and Plymouth, which is to be expected when a top side meets a poor team.

He has brought in players like Clarke, Benson, Glennon and Gironden who are certainly of better quality, and that is how we have managed to pull off a few good results. Plus revitalising Vernam.

But the sad fact is that we are sloppy in defence and routinely gift goals to the opposition. That makes it difficult to get a consistent string of good results together even if we are banging a few goals in the other end. The problem we have been complaining about for years, lack of creativity in midfield and service to the front line, remains.  

It's clear that IH will need to make substantial changes to the playing staff in the summer. More reliable defenders, more creative midfielders, and sharper forwards. We have some talented players he will want to keep, like Hendrie, Vernam, Clarke and Wright. But I agree with other posters. The starting 11 in August will contain a large number of new faces.  

Quoted from RonMariner

Easy to forget how dire we were until IH arrived. We had been bottom of the form table for months. Three months without a win, and seven games without a goal. That was what he had to work with.  The truth is that the squad he inherited were performing at relegation standard.

We have had some good results since then, but the we have been found out by the likes of Swindon, Northampton and Plymouth, which is to be expected when a top side meets a poor team.

He has brought in players like Clarke, Benson, Glennon and Gironden who are certainly of better quality, and that is how we have managed to pull off a few good results. Plus revitalising Vernam.

But the sad fact is that we are sloppy in defence and routinely gift goals to the opposition. That makes it difficult to get a consistent string of good results together even if we are banging a few goals in the other end. The problem we have been complaining about for years, lack of creativity in midfield and service to the front line, remains.  

It's clear that IH will need to make substantial changes to the playing staff in the summer. More reliable defenders, more creative midfielders, and sharper forwards. We have some talented players he will want to keep, like Hendrie, Vernam, Clarke and Wright. But I agree with other posters. The starting 11 in August will contain a large number of new faces.  

Since Max Wright waltzed through the Macclesfield team 5 months ago, what has he done to justify being classed as a talented player? He's shown flashes of potential here and there, but a long way to go until he is considered good enough for starting in a team wanting to be in the playoffs.

We've been playing catch up with games in hand, leading to Sat, Tues, Sat fixtures for a while on heavy pitches. Also a certain amount of experimenting going on leading to inconsistency. Just cast your mind back to how bad we were before he came in. We even lost to Stevenage, who haven't  wone a game since I don't think. Ollie took us from bottom end of the form table to top 4. The players still have an ingrained defence mechanism and drop deep as soon as they get behind. Ollie is here for the long haul and will change that mentality, but it will take time and several new players yet.

Nobody complained when he rotated the team at Colchester, or at home to Newport  both of which we won. Just let him get on with it, decide who is not up to it and have some patience in the process. I know we keep saying it's all about next season with every manager change we go through, but this time I think there is a long term structure taking place with Ollie at the heart of it. If it goes mammaries up again, I think we can all pack up and forget it.

I agree with an earlier poster who highlighted that we too many players in the same who duplicate each other, rather than complementing each other.   CBs and midfield.

For Hanson being out we have the opposite problem:  no plan B or plan C.

Jolley must take responsibility for this waste of money and player-resources.  All history and academic now.  

Ollie will have seen enough (good and bad play) by the end of the season to know who he wants and who he doesn’t.  I trust his judgement.  Whether we can improve sufficiently to challenge for promotion next season will be an intriguing prospect to watch.

Quoted from Mariner Timsky

Wasn't too strange Lewis - certainly had stranger on this board! Welcome along

Thanks mate. Old poster but lost my account details so just resigned up. I really like the fact IH is honest in his interviews. It shows what a great manager he is. I would rather he be open and explain what he got wrong and how he can learn from it with this particular squad, rather than brush over it when it is clear to see anyway.

Quoted from pen penfras

Since Max Wright waltzed through the Macclesfield team 5 months ago, what has he done to justify being classed as a talented player? He's shown flashes of potential here and there, but a long way to go until he is considered good enough for starting in a team wanting to be in the playoffs.

Have to agree with this.

I like Max and want him to succeed, but he had a good run of starts around the time Limbrick was in charge and was very quiet.

Bringing the likes of Clarke and Tilley in has shown the quality we need to play in the front 3. And Max, at the moment, is only going to realistically have a role from the bench. Hopefully he can start to make an impact when he gets his opportunities to come on.

As Ollie said, “we’re not going up or down this season now” and after the games he’s been manager and what he’s seen in training I would assume he basically already knows who he keeps for next season, so he probably wishes this season was over so that he can get on with his summers work.

Quoted from 123614

He doesn't have a lot of choice atm, seeing as the transfer window is closed.

Green has been pretty hopeless of late, absolutely no point in him playing last night. He could have played Clarke down the middle as he is a bit lightweight in the middle of the park.

If it's a case of experimenting why not try one of the reserves / juniors, they couldn't have done any worse.

I don't think it's a team full of dross at all.  We have proved that we can play. But you have to stick to a group of players so that they gel.  Making one or two changes may be necessary but five at a time clearly doesn't work.

Quoted from Mayaman

I don't think it's a team full of dross at all.  We have proved that we can play. But you have to stick to a group of players so that they gel.  Making one or two changes may be necessary but five at a time clearly doesn't work.

Playing devil's advocate, it did work at Colchester and against Newport.  

Quoted from Tommy

Playing devil's advocate, it did work at Colchester and against Newport.  

It might be better to day it doesn't work, except when it does. Ultimately after any individual defeat people will, with the benefit of hindsight, look to blame it on something. Even if the exact same thing was done 2 weeks before resulting in a win.