belaguttman

Hanlon's Razor applies

I think that there was some recognition that we were going to require a good shot stopper, at least in the early part of the season.

Hopefully, you are correct. Matt Leckie did say that our football would be ugly until Xmas, I hope that he's right too.

It's good to get an away win, but hard to know what to take from that game beyond the 3 points. Newcastle were very poor.

The presence of a fit Leckie won't solve our problems, but it would help

It will be a big chance for Max Caputo, but he's a different type of striker. Let's see how Vidmar can use him. Hopefully, Reis isn't starting on the wing in place of Behich without a change in tactics; we need to find a way to play more compactly & close down the spaces between our lines and improve our cohesion. What I'm expecting is that we'll score less and concede more.

Imagine our team during the Asian Cup early next year: no JMac, no Aziz, likely no Leckie😱

I think that the problem is that he never managed to get the dressing room to buy into the vision

Impotent... and ejaculatory failure. We can't get the supporters to come.

This is going to be a very long season. I doubt that we'll get much joy from the remaining three games, and I'd expect a good flogging in the derby on that performance. This is a case of the team's ability being well below the sum of the parts. Yes, we still have a team of apparent strangers, but after pre-season, four games and a week of training during the break, there is no sign of progression. If we are going to push up with our FBs, then we either need to invert one or play two decent DMs, as we are leaving acres of space between midfield and the backline that even NPL teams carved through like a hot knife through butter. This is compounded by both Souprayen and Reis being slow, although Souprayen surprised me with better positioning today. Our forward play is dull and predictable; our crosses seem to either be overhit, not get past the first defender, or go to the keeper. We look aimless in set pieces, a far cry from a few seasons ago, and our conversion efficiency must surely be one of the worst in the League. Natel is a passenger. Vidmar seems to have us playing more directly; for once our completed passes weren't double our opponents, but our turnover rate is still way too high.

I wonder how many of them could bring themselves to cheer the current and former City players. It's just a shame that Aziz didn't score right in front of them

Let them enjoy their brief moment in the sun

I share your doubts about PK at this level, however, Irles was not doing well, so he was replaced.

I'm not PK's greatest fan, but, to be fair, Troyes was in trouble and had gone through a number of coaches before he arrived. It may well have been a talented group of individuals but it wasn't a high-performing team

Once you've lost the dressing room, it's only going to end one way

He should resign immediately; we haven't won a single game since his appointment.

I agree, it isn't black and white, though, there was much better consumer engagement in the Heart days, but neither Heart nor City are community, member-owned clubs, or clubs where members are stakeholders in any meaningful way beyond being 'consumers of the product provided'.

We weren't a real club then; we were a franchise owned by a consortium of rich guys who chose to minimally invest. It was a good business decision as they made a profit selling the franchise to another even richer guy.

I agree, both for the organisation and for both coaches

He'll be gone if the media reports are correct and he has lost the dressing room. Of course, that affects the women's team as well

I was wondering this during the second half of last season as it became apparent that we were going to have a significant player turnover. Why weren't we playing our bench and academy players, particularly after it was clear that we would win the Premiership? It seemed to be poor planning.

I think that we are one starting CB snd a DM short of doing it. Souprayen and Reis are too slow and Ugarkovic may or may not be able to do it, but certainly isn't able to play at the necessary level at the moment to do it

Our For-Against is 1-8, the last few seasons it was almost the opposite; as you've identified, our problem is in all three lines, and all we can successfully manage are low-pressure/low-value possession passes. Half our passes last night were back passes

The defensive pivot is the most crucial player in our style of play, both offensively and defensively. Ugarkovic is well below the level required

Twice: the Grand Final, and this game. Same coach.