There are now so many threads about the aftermath of yesterday I’m not sure which is the best to post in.

There have been a lot of messages for and against Roy staying on. I personally would be over the moon if he strung a set of results together and come April we are already safe because we’ve done ok and others have not.

However as somebody wrote yesterday, doing the same thing and expecting a different outcome is the very definition of… well you know the rest.

Roy may well have been the best suited for the battle ahead in the past but I think his brand of football is done. Yes if he had Wilf, olise and An Eze firing on all cylinders with CD and Lerma holding the midfield we would be fine. Probably comfortable in mid table. But we haven’t.
Yesterday on one of the Arsenal goals, Hughes just sort of trotted back at the Arsenal break. He should have been busting a gut but he didn’t. After the first Arsenal goal a message should have come through loud and clear, stop Trossard blocking Anderson, or at least Anderson should have ‘managed’ him away but instead they score 2 goals and it’s game over.
Post match, Roy unbelievably said that at 3-0 down we were still in the game…what??? Do me a favour. At 2-0 down, tactically a switch should have been made, certainly a personnel change at home time. Ffs it couldn’t have been worse, we lost 5-0.

This to me is the problem with Roy and sits squarely on his shoulders and the infuriating thing is, if he is still here for the next game it will be exactly the same. We all know it and so do our opponents.

The Board.
There was an interview with SP at the start of the season. He said the money is there for the stadium upgrades and work would start this coming June. The new stand would be constructed in the same way as Anfield was with the old stand staying for as long as possible while the new one comes up.
With this in mind I can see why they are being so tight with funds. Bigger picture and all that. However there must surely be a needs must because the here and now is bang in trouble. As soon as Cheick Doucouré got injured that should have triggered a dip into funds and the search made for his stand in. The board also knew we would be losing Ayew who has become something of the heart beat of the team who never stops working. I fully expected as soon as the window opened a loan or a signing would be made to get us up and running in January and set for the big push to safety. But no. We scratch about and hold out and do NOTHING! the board have to take a massive part of the blame not just Roy.

The whole thing is a shambles. I just want to enjoy my football again. I’m not silly, I know we are never going to be city or Liverpool but we could do more than just make up the numbers. It’s so frustrating and joyless.

IMO the banner yesterday was not helpful and a knee jerk reaction from the HF.

Roy had us playing great football last year with Eze, Andre and Olise fit. This season they have not been (Wilf was injured you will remember a lot at the end of the season) and now Andre is away so Roy feels we have to be more pragmatic and that causes issues with the vocal support (social and at the club).

Franca, might be the future, but it seems to me. With hindsight! Because of the injuries he was not the right purchase for now, as he is so young and has to learn so much (English, how to bulk up etc). Great to have seen some of the youth step in, but again too early for them to compete week in week out.

Finance wise, a lot here forget that Harris and Blizer are paying for the new stand - to help us spend more with FFP and all that. Not new players as long as we still look like staying up (Which I think we do). Again the stand delay has worked against us, but we should not lose focus that the expanded stadium is the biggest opportunity we have to increase our income (which in turn allows us to increase our expenditure).

The beginning of this season the club kept Olise and we felt top 10 and sexy football -ala last season- was finely coming. Alas, the injuries as put a stop to that for the moment.

Our academy is starting to produce… but it’s still too soon

Happy happy JOY, JOY!