FDB came to a club being told we had great support and got booed after one game. He was appointed to change our style and give youth a chance knowing he would have the supporters behind him we have let him.

Good post.

I just listened again to that post match Q & A posted on here and nothing he said seemed unreasonable to me. We were allegledy playing 532 like swansea, hardly a formation that is alien to us. However, passing to another team mate seems to be...

He needs to sort his best X1 out quicly, hopefully with some dect reinforcements.

Exactly. We looked a different side after going 2 down but with basically the same team playing the same formation. It's amazing what a bit if urgency, a change in pace and the balls to actually have a go made.

Yes, the manager should be able to get them organised and playing but it's the 11 that are on the pitch that ultimately have the biggest influence.

The whole Punch situation isn't helping. I'm sure FdB was told he's Mr CPFC and that has influenced decisions based on his relationship with the players however, he doesn't fit in our best 11. I think he's been brilliant for the Club but now is not his time. If Cabaye had come for Punch rather than Luka yesterday I reckon we'd have been much more likely to claw something back.

Edited by Nobbybm (27 Aug 2017 7.46pm)

Will this be five? It's gonna be five! It IS five!

I've been watching this club for close to 60 years. I don't ever recall us being in the top flight long enough to establish ourselves as a top ten club. Always in a dog fight, always having less possession and consistently lurching from one crisis to another. I concur that BFS saw the writing on the wall and decided it was too much of a gamble for this season.

Something has to change if we want to remain a competitive outfit in the top flight and our so called DNA wouldn't appear to be the right strategy for building a competitive club imho. A change in strategy to make us competitive is required. Unfortunately, we probably do not have the right resources across the board to be that top ten club. Certainly our first team squad does not have the right balance, leadership, communication or desire.

We are South London, we need fighting spirit first and foremost with a balanced squad who can play as a team and leverage the strengths we have on the pitch. Defensively we are at sea, our midfield can't hold or distribute the ball properly and our forwards don't run into open space.

FDB has to be given a chance to make a strategic change and SP and the board has to provide him the resources. As fans, we have to be patient and accept that a rebuild is required to provide a strong foundation for the future if we want Premier League football at Selhurst Park . Survival is not a strategy; being competitive is. What makes us any different from QPR, or Fulham for example? Only quality, leadership and teamwork will differentiate us in the long term. That means a better development squad, stronger depth in the first team, PLF experience and the personalities on the pitch who have the brains, the heart and the guts to prevail. That's our DNA, not hoofing the ball up the field to WIlf and CB in the hope they can make something out of nothing. I miss Bolasie; he gave us the balance with Wilf to strike terror in the hearts of the opposition - these days we are cannon fodder.

I'm sorry for such a rant, its not that hard, we seem to making it hard though by not dealing with the brutal facts and trying to paper over the cracks every week. It was touch and go last season ...... something has to change in a substantive way and that might take quite a while to get it right.......

One of the acid tests for him in the next few weeks will be whether he has the bollocks to call Emperor's new clothes on this player. Hasn't performed for ages and hasn't performed in the matches he's played so far this season, will he see that others should be starting in front of him, or will he just go with the flow and keep picking him out of what amounts to tradition?

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The Ferret
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After listening to FDB's after game it's pretty obvious, to my way of thinking, that given he's speaking his second language he meant 'confidence on the ball' and that 'courage on the ball' was just an unfortunate choice of words. Hopefully the players got the true message when he talked to them.
Course he uses the word courage a bit much but I still think he means confidence.

Edited by redshift (27 Aug 2017 9.40pm)

Success will lie to you but failure always tells you the truth.