Bernie wrote:I really do not think that there is any point in wasting anymore time demolishing the absurd notion that our performance against Oldham was a "blip".
What is amusing is that even the usual suspects who like to come up with "Great post Geordie" after your strained arguments are conspicuous by their absence. Where is your fan club to back you up? Don't tell me that even they are finding the latest dose of tripe hard to swallow? Geordiesaddler wrote:I havn't seen you post any stats lately regarding Ishy's starts last season and how this will prevent him being a regular starter at this level under DD?? What's happened? Did the argument/stats just disappear to be replaced by this latest fog of mumbo-jumbo?? Why can't you just have an opinion and describe it as "opinion" rather than present it as fact?
Why do you want me to go over that old ground again?
As someone who wanted Ishmel to be given a run in the side last season and was disappointed when he was absent from the first 49 teams that Richard Money sent out I am of course very pleased that this is happening this season. Since the Oldham match he has started four times in a row and it has coincided with the change in our fortunes. So I am not really sure what your problem is. I do wonder if he would have made more progress and been better at decision making if he had been able to play from the start more often last season, but we will never know about that.
With Ishy in the side I am no longer complaining about him being left out. I wish he had been included more last season, and could argue that the results we had when he was in the side every week two years ago coupled with the results in our last four matches with him in the side support that argument. However I was not going to mention it because that really is pretty pointless now that he is included. I would rather praise Richard Money for the good results after bringing in Ishmel, Bradley and Deeney and getting rid of Sonner and Butler and dropping Hall.
I think you'll find the term is "Top post" 8)
Obviously Bernie you are relatively new to this environment, and your arrival has coincided with one of the rare occasions when my views are in sync with the prevailing tide, for whatever that's worth. I find it mildly amusing myself, although its not as important to me as it appears to be to you.
The reason I mentioned Ishy was because pre-season you refused to believe that he would have a part to play in a more open attacking style this season, where the youngsters were always going to play a significant role. That is important, because I believe that there is a medium term strategy for success at Walsall FC, or which last season's promotion was a part, or which this season's up turn is another part etc. I don't concur that this football club is being managed by knee-jerk reactions to singular results or performances, or moaning supporters. I do however believe that instances like Oldham at home are inevitable parts of the learning curve of our manager and players.
DD says things that you choose to ignore because it doesn't fit your mantra. He said countless times pre-season that the team and the tactics would remain in flux throughout the early part of the season as the club sought to re-establish itself and asked supporters to be patient. last night he re-iterated that he has always wanted to play an attacking style, and had considered the switch to 4-5-1 throughout pre-season.
Of course this doesn't fit your profile of DD, backed up with little snippets of information from his previous career around the globe. Granted you, unlike some, do give him credit, albeit with the inevitable rider "it would have been better if he'd done this when Bernie said".
If you could lose the prejudice for a moment Bernie, take a step back and have a look at the bigger picture of a football club trying to emerge from the pit that was the Merson era, an inexperienced manager learning his trade with little resources, a crop of youngsters, a few old heads and a few unproven foreigners you might actually come to understand that the upward curve this football club is currently on began not at Oldham, but a few miles down the road - Rochdale August 2006.
