Will Slavisa's arrogance cost this squad automatic promotion?

Rotation is a mugs game. If Slavisa is going to go down the mug route, like Zola did against Bristol City that time, then we may as well settle for playoffs now.

There is only 46 games a season, and a season is nearly 10 months long, so why can't the manager/coach play his best 11 for every game?

This makes me so angry.

 

No, I think he's learned something tonight.

 

You're pathetic.

 

Well, Hornet23, explain why?
Don't just get personal, like a 5 year old, without backing it up with something substantial.

 

This thread title is like a Mail Online headline.

 

I hope so, Hornetgags. Would be a complete waste of an experiment if he hasn't.

 

It's a bit knee-jerk to go on about Joka's perceived arrogance. Tonight was one game. He's got everything spot on until now.

 

I still believe. It'll also show Gino that there are some players who are dead wood and not willing to grasp an opportunity when handed to them.

The old adage 'you learn more from defeat than victory'...

 

**** me, these threads pop up quicker than a Holiday Inn

 

How is it arrogance when the manager uses the squad to put out a team that should be more than a match for Birmingham but didn't turn up? Pudil - looked ****ed against Millwall. Munari - injured. Vydra - was hobbling around after the Millwall game. Anya, McGugan and Forestieri came in today (I'm excluding Lloyd because he sounded alright), those three would get into most teams in this league and the first two in particular sounded like they were ****e. How is that Jokanovic's fault? At worst he will learn from this and won't play that team again, to call him arrogant is bizarre and makes you sound like the 5 year old.

 

It's one game.

He made a decision and we ended up losing. If he's worth his salt as a manager, he'll learn from this and onwards and upwards we will go. There's really nothing more to say.

 

We lost one game. One Freaking game.*

*With Adbi, Munari, Angella and Bassong out.

 

It may be one game but it's one game against a **** side who have won one home game in the last 13 months. I don't care if we drop two points away to the likes of Middesbrough but there is no way that any Watford side shouldn't be picking up three points at Birmingham - a side who conceded eight goals a week ago.

 

Joka said he learnt his lesson from Middlesbrough, that not rotating seriously affected our team and that we were dreadful first half. After subs we were good again.

We don't know what would have happened if he had played an exhausted starting 11. Maybe we would have a few crucial injuries, maybe we would have lost today and Saturday. How many away midweek games have we won over the last few years?

Two things are for sure though. Anya is not a centre midfielder good enough for a Championship promotion team.

Neither is McGugan.

 

Who had a new manager, who drew with Wolves away on Saturday and had the crowd right behind them.

Let's not pretend that Birmingham are always the mugs of last week. They aren't. Gary Rowett is a good manager as well.

Get some perspective.

 

Yeah let's sack him for arrogance.

 

That's precisely why I was worried about this game.

We don't have a divine right to beat teams, and every Championship season is littered with results like this.

 

We may as well all pack up and go home now. I mean, we are now 1 whole point behind the leaders and dropping like a stone!!
Ok so tonight was a bad day at the office and yes we need our injured players back ASAP as I agree with others on here that some of our squad players are not up to the job. Tonight is over and we can't change it but can learn from it. Very tough game Saturday and we need to show some bouncebackability.

 

Shameless plagerism of Quasimodo Dowie...love it.

 

This thread :dismay:

 

It's alright, he didn't save the game when he hit exit so he won't make the mistake again

 

If you care this much, I feel bad for you.

But it sounds like you know exactly what it takes to manage a professional football team (to promotion nonetheless), so who am I to judge?

 

I don't think he did. Anya and Mcgugan are a joke of a midfield.

 

Five changes against a backdrop of an injury-hit squad? What a ****.

I want someone to pay my match ticket and the train increase I had to pay on my way home.

 

I want people to grow up and stop throwing a hissy fit when the team lose.

 

I don't mind losing. I mind losing and doing nothing at all to try and win the game. If you were there you'd have witnessed a performance that's beyond embarrassing.

 

This is just one game out of 46. I think that had it been the same birmingham as last week and the same manager then i may be a bit more annoyed about this result. But let's be honest, how many times in the past have we come up against a team playing poorly, but then we get them just after a manager change and gives them a resurgence? Loads!! It's just one of those things. Players need to rest and would be more prone to injury otherwise. Plus you have to think that joka and the other back room team would have found it incredibly hard to do much opposition prep for this match because of all the changes. At best they had Saturday's match against wolves which probably wouldn't have help a huge amount. We aren't going to be unbeaten throughout the season so let's stay calm and move onto ipswich and bounce back!!

 

Did Birmingham make wholesale changes or was it just us?

 

This is the point. It's not about arrrogance. Will he learn from the mistake? He strikes me as exactly the sort of guy that will.

 

Just an unfortunate combination of injuries, and having to play a team who've had their first sniff of hope for about four years, in the new manager's first home game. Frankly a banana skin from start to finish.

Things to note.

1. We can't just control every game.
2. We can't just win every game.
3. If we do lose games, they're just as likely to be against lower teams as 'top' teams.
4. We shouldn't get upset about those results in isolation.

There's your cut out and keep guide to this season.

 

Let's hope jakonovic learns where our other managers have failed.

Reading the opposition managers post match Interviews, they all say the same thing...' We knew their defence struggles against high balls crosses etc ' . Either the team spends a lot of time training on this in future or come January we go out and buy defenders that can handle these crosses. It's our Achilles heel.

 

Derby lost to Brentford last week didn't they?

Norwich just lost 4-0 to Boro.

Sometimes the players just don't turn up or it don't work. Today was one of them days, it wasn't rotation issue and it isn't Slavs fault, the players only have themselves to blame.

 

Admittedly I've just looked up the past 2 birmingham team sheets and they were both the same. But my point was that even as fans, leading up to Jokas second match, no one really had any idea of what his team selection would have been and it would have been the same for birmingham this match. I'm not saying that was the main issue last night. I just think that certainly didn't help.

 

For quite a few different reasons, we lost. If we are going to lose a match, it's definitely better to do it against a team like Brum who will not be challenging us for promotion.

 

I get the feeling that all the head coaches have been "instructed" from above to rotate the squad as Zola, Sannino and now Jokanovic have all done it with similar results.

The rationale is that as we probably have on paper the best depth of squad in the Division, this purported advantage has to be exercised. Actually this is working to our disadvantage in that players like Dyer and McGugan who are not playing throw their toys out of the pram and unsettle the whole squad. When these players are given an occasional run out as last night, they are not match fit and probably not in the right frame of mind to play. Most of the experienced players have a big ego and lose motivation when not picked.

I am convinced that having a smaller and tight squad would improve matters. OK you would have to play some of the youngsters at times but at least they would be hungry and motivated. Would the likes of Ikpeazu, Mensah, Doherty, Smith etc have been worse than Mcgugan and playing Anya totally out of Position?