leetufc wrote:Without wanting to be negative, I can't help but get that feeling more and more as the weeks go by.
I thought Knill did a good job when he came in last season under the circumstances, and was very positive after his summer transfers. On paper they looked like improvement on what we had let go, with the exception of possibly the loss of Howe. But on the whole it all looked good.
However as the season has gone on, there have been many niggles with the way Knill has operated
- Despite having an attack heavy squad, the football has been almost as dire this year as it was last season under Ling.
- Having no defensive cover despite the fact one of our two senior centre halves is known to have a history of injuries.
- The unwillingness to make any changes (personnel or system) despite the fact something didn't seem to be working.
- The decision to give certain players contracts (Yeoman and Benyon) but then not play them and choose to loan in players instead - an unnecessary waste of our playing budget.
- His substitutions. A couple of times now he has brought off one of better players, and he persists in making like for like substitutions that have no impact. However he did make a good decision against AFC Wimbledon in brining on Thompson at right back - I remember thinking what a change it made to have a manager willing to make a risky change to try and impact on the game, but since then he's played it too safe.
- The unwillingness to use our squad and youth players - just highlighted by today's transfer. Lathrope or Craig should have been given at least one game to make an impact and see what they're about. I thought Ball went back because we needed the budget for O'Connor, yet we've now signed McCourt. Sullivan had a very good pre-season but has barely had a look in during competitive matches, and why has Knill not put Hutchings on the bench recently? Our most defensive player on the bench at Newport was Nathan Craig. He may be young and inexperienced, but we should have at least one defensive option available.
Having said that, I'm still confident Knill can turn things around. I think we have a comparatively better first team than last season, but that we aren't playing anywhere near as well as we can or being set up in the right way to play. I'm not going to jump on the 'Knill out' bandwagon, but if the next ten games are anything like the first ten then I'll certainly be starting to worry.
On another note, I want to wish the new lad well and hope he has a storming game tomorrow. Knill's loan signings to date for us (with the possibly exception of Ball) have all been excellent additions, so here's hoping he's added another little gem.
thats a fantatic post, some good observations, and a fair few thoughts i have been having myself, well summed up.
