Pep Out! Very Very Much Tongue In Cheek ;-)

[Douglas Higginbottom]

I don't get the bit about being stubborn with his system! He doesn't play just one system he plays all sorts albeit all based around control of the ball. Anyway it's Pep for me and we will come out of this slump soon I am sure and hopefully at the Baggies on Saturday.

Just a question of scoring the first goal again in a game.

[Niall Quinns Discopants]

As much as the derby loss hurts, Pep treated Carling Cup/Coca Cola Cup/Zenith Data System Cup/ Rumbelows Cup/Capital One Cup/ Littlewoods Challenge Cup for what it is for us right now this season: extra hassle. As a squad we simply aren't right now in position where we have depth to challenge in all fronts. We are also going through quite of an change in the average age of the squad. We had pretty solid backbone of the team for about five years or so but now they want to change it and to be fair it's time to do it as well. So there were lot of players who just needed run out. It was terrible luck to draw rags, probably only team alongside Liverpool who really REALLY are in it to win it, this early at the competition.

So all things considered I will give Pep a pass on this one.

Furthermore Pep's pedigree is such that we are not going to find better coach anywhere. And I call him coach, not manager, in purpose because his role is more of a head coach rather than traditional manager and he should be judged as such.

My only critism for him at this stage is his Mancinisque stubborness with his system. I think some tweaks should be made to make players more comfortable until they fully learn it. To some extent I respectm stubborness but maybe he shouodn't be such puritan right now.

Comparing him to some utter clown like Hughes in the opening post is nothing short of herecy. Guardiola is football brain through and through and resultsmsprak for themselves. Hughes was tactically brainless fool whose ideas were about 50 years outdated and certainly not suitable for team aiming to be one of the best in the world.

Anyway, I'm in team Pep regardless of how this season goes. If this time next year we are still struggling to be consistent we should start thinking what is going wrong. And I still would never suggest sacking him at that stage. Having said all that, we have some people who are simply unable to understand that saying out loud what is wrong and what needs to be corrected is the only way we can move on from current, or any other, poor form. Blindly worshipping someone should be reserved only for kids under 15.

Also, comparisons with Alan fucking Ball is out of order, joke or not.

If we as a club or as a manager treating a cup competition as 'an extra hassle ' then something is fundamentally wrong. You set out each season to win silverware and we have a squad big enough to compete on all fronts, may I remind you we've won this competition twice in the last 3 seasons.

Sounds to me like you are trying to make excuses for the manager. Pep isn't likely to make excuses himself and this thread was started as tongue in cheek by th op btw.

See, that is where we disagree.
We still have core of experienced players BUT we are trying to achieve (much needed) youth revolution. We got lads like Sterling, Iheanacho, Sané, Maffeo, Aleix Garcia and even Johnny Stones who are all in and around first team squad who barely shave yet. Now in few years those will form core of team that might well be all-conquering but right now they are too young to be consistent performers and their performances will go up and down as with all the youngsters. They DO need first team football though to progress.

We are very good team but to go for quadruple, which we are obviously talking about here since League Cup would be first one to be left out if we didn't, you need to have players in their absolute prime both in starting XI as well as in reserves and on the bench.

And this topic was bullshit from the get go.

[Spurge]

As much as the derby loss hurts, Pep treated Carling Cup/Coca Cola Cup/Zenith Data System Cup/ Rumbelows Cup/Capital One Cup/ Littlewoods Challenge Cup for what it is for us right now this season: extra hassle. As a squad we simply aren't right now in position where we have depth to challenge in all fronts. We are also going through quite of an change in the average age of the squad. We had pretty solid backbone of the team for about five years or so but now they want to change it and to be fair it's time to do it as well. So there were lot of players who just needed run out. It was terrible luck to draw rags, probably only team alongside Liverpool who really REALLY are in it to win it, this early at the competition.

So all things considered I will give Pep a pass on this one.

Furthermore Pep's pedigree is such that we are not going to find better coach anywhere. And I call him coach, not manager, in purpose because his role is more of a head coach rather than traditional manager and he should be judged as such.

My only critism for him at this stage is his Mancinisque stubborness with his system. I think some tweaks should be made to make players more comfortable until they fully learn it. To some extent I respectm stubborness but maybe he shouodn't be such puritan right now.

Comparing him to some utter clown like Hughes in the opening post is nothing short of herecy. Guardiola is football brain through and through and resultsmsprak for themselves. Hughes was tactically brainless fool whose ideas were about 50 years outdated and certainly not suitable for team aiming to be one of the best in the world.

Anyway, I'm in team Pep regardless of how this season goes. If this time next year we are still struggling to be consistent we should start thinking what is going wrong. And I still would never suggest sacking him at that stage. Having said all that, we have some people who are simply unable to understand that saying out loud what is wrong and what needs to be corrected is the only way we can move on from current, or any other, poor form. Blindly worshipping someone should be reserved only for kids under 15.

Also, comparisons with Alan fucking Ball is out of order, joke or not.

If we as a club or as a manager treating a cup competition as 'an extra hassle ' then something is fundamentally wrong. You set out each season to win silverware and we have a squad big enough to compete on all fronts, may I remind you we've won this competition twice in the last 3 seasons.

Sounds to me like you are trying to make excuses for the manager. Pep isn't likely to make excuses himself and this thread was started as tongue in cheek by th op btw.

See, that is where we disagree.
We still have core of experienced players BUT we are trying to achieve (much needed) youth revolution. We got lads like Sterling, Iheanacho, Sané, Maffeo, Aleix Garcia and even Johnny Stones who are all in and around first team squad who barely shave yet. Now in few years those will form core of team that might well be all-conquering but right now they are too young to be consistent performers and their performances will go up and down as with all the youngsters. They DO need first team football though to progress.

We are very good team but to go for quadruple, which we are obviously talking about here since League Cup would be first one to be left out if we didn't, you need to have players in their absolute prime both in starting XI as well as in reserves and on the bench.

And this topic was bullshit from the get go.

You do raise some good points, I agree we are now in a transitional phase as the ageing squad is being complimented by youth be it those promoted from the youth set up or purchased by pep - sane, Jesus, stones and sterling etc (I know the latter joined in pellers final season but it's clear he and kdb were actually for pep).
With transition time is required but what I'm not clear on is how much time is being afforded to pep by the owners (it could be that I've missed it).
Pellers targets were clear from the get go 5 trophies in 5 seasons (he got 3 in 3), what are peps?
Going back to last night we could have put a team out strong enough to beat the rags, though there are no guarantees of course, I always feel beating the rags in any competition is top priority and most fans probably feel the same, but the owners from whom pep takes direction from may see it differently (pep may see it differently!).
So anyone know what our targets are for this season officially?

[Justified logic]

Quite glad to be out of this EFL Cup competition although not ever happy to lose to that odious club - just hope they get tied up in it but sure hope they don't win it.

Positives are that Maffeo and Garcia performed well.

Getting a bit concerned that we have been toothless up front - 2 goals in the last 2 home games and none in the last 3 away games. Not Pep Out! from me, but the game away at West Brom is vital now.

[Sideshow Bob]

ffs delete this thread this thread before some hack at the mirror finds it! embarrassing in the extreme. and no, calling it a "joke" after the fact does not make it all ok.

[Hazy2]

Mooorons out FFS, look beyond the instanf fix, listen to what Pep has been saying in almost every interview, It will take time, we have time.

[johnny crossan]

ffs delete this thread this thread before some hack at the mirror finds it! embarrassing in the extreme. and no, calling it a "joke" after the fact does not make it all ok.

it's inviting nemesis if we lose the next two games ....... then

Watch on youtube.com

[phips]

if im reading squawka's stats correctly here's the shots on target from the last 6:

United: 0 (not on squawka but i dont remember any)
Soton: 3 (incl 1 goal)
Everton 7 (incl 1 goal, not incl pens)
Spurs: 6 (0 goals)
Barca: 4 (0 goals)
Celtic: 8 (incl 3 goals)

(and i cannot tell which of these shots on target are weak ones straight at the keeper and which actually force the keeper into a good save)


28 shots on taget incl 5 goals in 6 winless matches. thats an avg of 4.67 shots on goal per match and less than 1 goal per match. pretty poor.

[Foreverinbluedreams]

if im reading squawka's stats correctly here's the shots on target from the last 6:

United: 0 (not on squawka but i dont remember any)
Soton: 3 (incl 1 goal)
Everton 7 (incl 1 goal, not incl pens)
Spurs: 6 (0 goals)
Barca: 4 (0 goals)
Celtic: 8 (incl 3 goals)

(and i cannot tell which of these shots on target are weak ones straight at the keeper and which actually force the keeper into a good save)


18 shots on taget incl 5 goals in 6 winless matches. thats an avg of 3 shots on goal per match and less than 1 goal per match.
pretty poor.

Get your calculator back out.

Also, why not including penalties?

[phips]

hah! that math is fantastic.

fixed

[Foreverinbluedreams]

Not that poor Phips, room for improvement no doubt but

https://www.whoscored.com/Regions/252/T ... -2014-2015

Having 0 shots on target last night was poor, there's no getting away from that but when you consider they only had 2 it doesn't look as bad.

So when you take away last night's performance by our second string and include the penalties against Everton ( still wondering why they're not included ) our average is 6 per game.

[DoomMerchant]

You are allowed to criticise the team without wanting someone sacked, you know?

Or does having a negative opinion instantly mean that you want the worse thing imaginable to happen?

Weird.

Calm liam pal... i just think it would be interesting to see.

If you're right, the poll will reflect it no?

Anyone that actually would want Pep gone right now is a massive fucking turd.

We've had the shittiest of Octobers, and i think he needs some more players in his vein, but he's got nowt from Gundowen or Sane thus far tbf.

We've got some mightily average performances in the last month from Kun, the Turk, Aleks, and some others...and Pep's style has zero room for passengers. And we've had a couple every match the last half dozen.

No matter what he does this season unless the fucking massively spit the bit and did a Jose there's no way on earth we'd jettison Pep. Silly talk and i don't believe that anyone actually wants that either.

cheers

[halnone]

Don't worry, we'll win our next ten

[Moonchesteri]

I don't get the bit about being stubborn with his system! He doesn't play just one system he plays all sorts albeit all based around control of the ball. Anyway it's Pep for me and we will come out of this slump soon I am sure and hopefully at the Baggies on Saturday.

Just a question of scoring the first goal again in a game.

Yes and no. During the last home game I saw a stat about our results after we have fallen behind and it was very poor. We Must find a way to win games even if we fall behind.

[nottsblue]

I am very much in the Pep camp. Even if this season we finish fourth and get nowhere in the cups I will still be a fan. What he is trying to achieve will not happen overnight and it may even be his replacement who reaps the rewards in years to come. But already we have a style and identity that you can see is only going to improve and get better. Much better.

[johnny crossan]

I am very much in the Pep camp. Even if this season we finish fourth and get nowhere in the cups I will still be a fan. What he is trying to achieve will not happen overnight and it may even be his replacement who reaps the rewards in years to come. But already we have a style and identity that you can see is only going to improve and get better. Much better.

There is a grave danger that those of us entranced in the cult will even interpret relegation is a necessary stage in our Peptic samsara.

[nottsblue]

I am very much in the Pep camp. Even if this season we finish fourth and get nowhere in the cups I will still be a fan. What he is trying to achieve will not happen overnight and it may even be his replacement who reaps the rewards in years to come. But already we have a style and identity that you can see is only going to improve and get better. Much better.

There is a grave danger that those of us entranced in the cult will even interpret relegation is a necessary stage in our Peptic samsara.

A tad extreme. I do think fourth is the minimum PL requirement though. Fifth at an absolute push if we've had a successful CL campaign and I think a semi final would be the barest minimum requirement there.

[Beefymcfc]

ffs delete this thread this thread before some hack at the mirror finds it! embarrassing in the extreme. and no, calling it a "joke" after the fact does not make it all ok.

You don't think this was tongue in cheek?

Interesting.

[johnny crossan]

ffs delete this thread this thread before some hack at the mirror finds it! embarrassing in the extreme. and no, calling it a "joke" after the fact does not make it all ok.

You don't think this was tongue in cheek?

Interesting.

you shouldn't cave in so easy Beefy, it's your thread you call the shots

[Tony P]

I am very much in the Pep camp. Even if this season we finish fourth and get nowhere in the cups I will still be a fan. What he is trying to achieve will not happen overnight and it may even be his replacement who reaps the rewards in years to come. But already we have a style and identity that you can see is only going to improve and get better. Much better.

There is a grave danger that those of us entranced in the cult will even interpret relegation is a necessary stage in our Peptic samsara.

God I love your posts.