Quote:
Originally Posted by davewilli
If you recall back to the early Keates era, the plan was to stop us being pushovers particularly a soft touch on our travels. He prioritised a strong, consistent and proven back 4 and it was working as all successful teams have to get that right first before trying to play expansive football. The plan, having listened to Darlingtom was then to build on that solid platform with better attacking players and that is where Ricketts tried take the next step, but even he had to concede it wasnt an easy task and had to shore things up a bit with a defensive mid (Walker). When Keates left for Walsall, Davies tried to change it and a couple of games in, we heard he was a breath of fresh air, but again the wheels came off, similar to Bryan Hughes bringing in 2 defenders this season, who were more attacking than Roberts and Manny but unfortunately both couldn't defend at NL level.
Give Keates a bit of time to bring in some solid professionals, get a solid spine to the team then the likes of Jarvis, Hooper (if he stays) and Keilor-Dunn can express themselves. Jay Harris was the first cog and a right back who can get up and down but above all, can defend and we will see a massive difference.
|
Or another way of looking at it - Keates brought in 3 decent defenders and we defended for our lives and got on a run of nicking some results with absolutely dire football.
After 3 months he was found out and then won just 4 from his last 15 games. He realised it was all going south and jumped ship before it fully collapsed. Went to Walsall and failed massively and now he's back here and doing poorly.
The game is about balance, chucking all your resources into defence doesn't deserve credit. Playing 7 defensive players in a game, being camped in your own half and just playing Keatesball doesn't show a good defensive team. It shows a scared manager that has no clue how get a team functioning as one
The majority of Keates' signings have been poor and him remaining at the club means a huge chunk of budget is gone for next season, it's a vicious circle of continuous failure.
Get rid of him.