Are we asking too much?

[Chorlton_Latic]

Ah, so the glorious revisionism of Uncle Ronaldo's spell continues unabaited. Yawn....

 

I will always be thankful he kept us up in the short term. The run in included some tough fixtures, Hull & Sheff Weds at home, which he galvanised us for. However, due to those utterly woeful performances v an awful Torquay side & Chesterfield away, the latter being a precursor for many of our performances under the Scouse one, we survived by the skin of our teeth on the last day. The bare minimum was achieved, but you could clearly see mixed signs of what was to come.

 

Fair is fair however, as that was not his team. The vast squad he assembled ahead of 05-06 was his project & as we all know, some very impressive signings were made. It was soon to be realised on the pitch that this new hope was offset by some questionable tactics & man management. Ronaldo deciding the way to go in an ever changing landscape was 3-4-3. I mean, come on, who even back in 2005 played 3-4-:censored:ing-3 as their preferred formation?! In the process, we had undefined roles, scatty football & he smashed the confidence of a talented youngster in an out of position Tierney. What was our best formation that year? 3-4-3? 4-4-2? 3-5-2? Surely a manager of such experience should know what players suit what formation & how to regularly get the best out of it?!

 

Ostensibly not, as we flitted through regular changes until around March. Throw into the mix the heinous error of having a competent, ball playing midfield 3 of Hughes, Butcher & Wellens, and subsequently ordering Guy Branston & pals to :censored: it 60 yards over their heads to the bonce of a frequently rotated front 1/2/3, & you had a recipe for discord. These are the type of rudimentary errors I expect from someone cutting their teeth a la Dickov, but not a much lauded experienced manager.

 

Of course, we had the impressive purple patch, for which he deserves credit, but as soon as we caught up with Barnsley, we bottled it big time, &, as was apparent earlier in the season Ronnie would have to go through the motions of deflecting blame onto his charges to re-assure his fragile ego before actually bothering to sort it out. His old school authoritarian approach to "motivating" players may have appeased his mates, but had already humiliated & forced Pogliacomi out, & it was clear there was a certain amount of fear in the ranks. Beckett's perplexion at constantly being in and out of the team, despite regularly scoring, constant shuffling of sides/formations, younger players seemingly scared sh*tless to get on the ball when given a chance. It was shambolic stuff, to say the least.

 

We rightly talk about how lifeless some of our performances are under Dickov, yet Ronnie, with a team far more talented & squad far more plentiful than the current one, presided over some of the most insipid, wet blanket performances I can recall (pre Penney, of course) in recent memory. The surrendering of 6 points to his loved ones at Rotherham, performances devoid of spirit in abominable, home defeats (which wouldn't look out of place right now) to Doncaster, Brentford, Port Vale & Huddersfield. Being utterly smashed out of the park in 20 minutes in THAT game at Barnsley?? There were so many to choose from! How about character?? If memory serves correctly, the only game we won after coming from a goal down was against a Blackpool team in disarray, whilst we also contrived to blow healthy leads in key games away at Brentford, Scunthorpe & Huddersfield. And Chasetown. Bloody Chasetown!!!!

 

There's no shame in being defeated with the right attitude, but when more often and not, we were served up such limp, feckless performances so lacking in direction, fight & desire, especially after the aforementioned mass changing of the guard, can you honestly blame Corney for pulling the trigger? We're barely accepting of these same shortcomings now, even though the current set up is a lot worse off, but we've seemingly swept this & other negative aspects of his reign under the carpet to adjust to the ol' paraphernalia clamour of seasons past once again.

 

Taking this hefty retrofit into consideration, I don't buy for one minute that 05-06 was massive progress from the year before. Funnily enough, Ronnie circa August 05 agreed. His programme notes v Yeovil, (and I'm paraphrasing, but only slightly) went - "this is my team. Anything less than play offs is a failure". So for the same man to have the bare arse cheek to revise this stance to suit his own personal failings & say "the board should be comin' to me with a new contract, ders no doubt abarh da" frankly highlights his warped integrity when it comes to all things Ronnie.

 

Comparing records with the current set up is completely moot, as budgetary differences are completely off the scale. Perhaps years of this perpetual, seemingly never-ending banality has made us pine for what was, even if "what was" was seemingly not good enough for many at the time, especially at such a base level as enjoyment. I'm just glad Big Ron & the Sky cameras turned up at Peterborough that year, as the thought of Ronnie getting centre stage in front of a camera trying to assert who's boss.... oh lord.

 

I, for one, backed Ronnie to the hilt whilst in charge, but there are several factors why our parting made sense at the time. The whole situ smacked of Ronnie assuming the role of jilted lover after being sacked at Milmoor, & rushing into a relationship to show he was over it. In hindsight, he never seemed truly comfortable here. I'm not sure he was particularly ready to come back straight away. The contrast Shez showed what you can do with a fresh, simple approach & a more relaxed demeanor with your players was huge (mind you, Ronnie tried to claim that one as well, with his "Shez is one of mine..." shtick) & was a joy to watch for 3/4's of 06-07, so very nearly bringing us the success we crave. On a personal level, 06/07 helped re-ignited my waning passion for the aesthetic of simply watching football. (Could do with some more of that now please!!!)

 

I've always wished him well - he's obviously a great fit for the Trannies & is a decent enough character to have in the game, but we just did not suit each other at all, and I'll personally never be convinced we would have bettered our finishes in 06/07 or even 07/08, should he have still been in charge.

[oafc1955]

 

 

You mean the thing that's grinding on you the most is that those people were right?

 

Entertaining football doesn't get you out of this division the right way. Results do.

[deyres42]

Ah, so the glorious revisionism of Uncle Ronaldo's spell continues unabaited. Yawn....

 

I will always be thankful he kept us up in the short term. The run in included some tough fixtures, Hull & Sheff Weds at home, which he galvanised us for. However, due to those utterly woeful performances v an awful Torquay side & Chesterfield away, the latter being a precursor for many of our performances under the Scouse one, we survived by the skin of our teeth on the last day. The bare minimum was achieved, but you could clearly see mixed signs of what was to come.

 

Fair is fair however, as that was not his team. The vast squad he assembled ahead of 05-06 was his project & as we all know, some very impressive signings were made. It was soon to be realised on the pitch that this new hope was offset by some questionable tactics & man management. Ronaldo deciding the way to go in an ever changing landscape was 3-4-3. I mean, come on, who even back in 2005 played 3-4-:censored:ing-3 as their preferred formation?! In the process, we had undefined roles, scatty football & he smashed the confidence of a talented youngster in an out of position Tierney. What was our best formation that year? 3-4-3? 4-4-2? 3-5-2? Surely a manager of such experience should know what players suit what formation & how to regularly get the best out of it?!

 

Ostensibly not, as we flitted through regular changes until around March. Throw into the mix the heinous error of having a competent, ball playing midfield 3 of Hughes, Butcher & Wellens, and subsequently ordering Guy Branston & pals to :censored: it 60 yards over their heads to the bonce of a frequently rotated front 1/2/3, & you had a recipe for discord. These are the type of rudimentary errors I expect from someone cutting their teeth a la Dickov, but not a much lauded experienced manager.

 

Of course, we had the impressive purple patch, for which he deserves credit, but as soon as we caught up with Barnsley, we bottled it big time, &, as was apparent earlier in the season Ronnie would have to go through the motions of deflecting blame onto his charges to re-assure his fragile ego before actually bothering to sort it out. His old school authoritarian approach to "motivating" players may have appeased his mates, but had already humiliated & forced Pogliacomi out, & it was clear there was a certain amount of fear in the ranks. Beckett's perplexion at constantly being in and out of the team, despite regularly scoring, constant shuffling of sides/formations, younger players seemingly scared sh*tless to get on the ball when given a chance. It was shambolic stuff, to say the least.

 

We rightly talk about how lifeless some of our performances are under Dickov, yet Ronnie, with a team far more talented & squad far more plentiful than the current one, presided over some of the most insipid, wet blanket performances I can recall (pre Penney, of course) in recent memory. The surrendering of 6 points to his loved ones at Rotherham, performances devoid of spirit in abominable, home defeats (which wouldn't look out of place right now) to Doncaster, Brentford, Port Vale & Huddersfield. Being utterly smashed out of the park in 20 minutes in THAT game at Barnsley?? There were so many to choose from! How about character?? If memory serves correctly, the only game we won after coming from a goal down was against a Blackpool team in disarray, whilst we also contrived to blow healthy leads in key games away at Brentford, Scunthorpe & Huddersfield. And Chasetown. Bloody Chasetown!!!!

 

There's no shame in being defeated with the right attitude, but when more often and not, we were served up such limp, feckless performances so lacking in direction, fight & desire, especially after the aforementioned mass changing of the guard, can you honestly blame Corney for pulling the trigger? We're barely accepting of these same shortcomings now, even though the current set up is a lot worse off, but we've seemingly swept this & other negative aspects of his reign under the carpet to adjust to the ol' paraphernalia clamour of seasons past once again.

 

Taking this hefty retrofit into consideration, I don't buy for one minute that 05-06 was massive progress from the year before. Funnily enough, Ronnie circa August 05 agreed. His programme notes v Yeovil, (and I'm paraphrasing, but only slightly) went - "this is my team. Anything less than play offs is a failure". So for the same man to have the bare arse cheek to revise this stance to suit his own personal failings & say "the board should be comin' to me with a new contract, ders no doubt abarh da" frankly highlights his warped integrity when it comes to all things Ronnie.

 

Comparing records with the current set up is completely moot, as budgetary differences are completely off the scale. Perhaps years of this perpetual, seemingly never-ending banality has made us pine for what was, even if "what was" was seemingly not good enough for many at the time, especially at such a base level as enjoyment. I'm just glad Big Ron & the Sky cameras turned up at Peterborough that year, as the thought of Ronnie getting centre stage in front of a camera trying to assert who's boss.... oh lord.

 

I, for one, backed Ronnie to the hilt whilst in charge, but there are several factors why our parting made sense at the time. The whole situ smacked of Ronnie assuming the role of jilted lover after being sacked at Milmoor, & rushing into a relationship to show he was over it. In hindsight, he never seemed truly comfortable here. I'm not sure he was particularly ready to come back straight away. The contrast Shez showed what you can do with a fresh, simple approach & a more relaxed demeanor with your players was huge (mind you, Ronnie tried to claim that one as well, with his "Shez is one of mine..." shtick) & was a joy to watch for 3/4's of 06-07, so very nearly bringing us the success we crave. On a personal level, 06/07 helped re-ignited my waning passion for the aesthetic of simply watching football. (Could do with some more of that now please!!!)

 

I've always wished him well - he's obviously a great fit for the Trannies & is a decent enough character to have in the game, but we just did not suit each other at all, and I'll personally never be convinced we would have bettered our finishes in 06/07 or even 07/08, should he have still been in charge.

 

Great post sir, brought back some shuddering memories, the Chesterfield away and Brentford home would rank in my all time worst ever Latics performances that I have witnessed.