Victoria Swan
Key Player
Lost it when Brentford got their passing rhythm (and we didn't) about fifteen minutes in.
I think the Cooper finger must point at Birch, with Britton & Curtis agreeing with their new chairman. Birch held the purse strings, and finance was the prime factor in this apointment. Cooper would have come for peanuts to be able to get a foot in the door at this level and leapfrog the lower leagues where he needs to be.The Birch appointment to me has been a disappointment, I feel we are just another financial string to his bow,being he has his fingers in quite a few business transactions apart from ours. Dedication to SCFC doesn't seem to be one of his stronger points,as he's almost non existant. He obviously isn't going to be in any hurry to remove Cooper and lose face on his first appointment, maybe the ideal solution is that they both go, and get in a forward thinking chairman.Some stats from this miserable performance:
POSSESSION: 53-47 SHOTS: 19-16 OT: 4-4 CORNERS: 7-2 FOULS: 8-12 GOALS: 3-1
At first glance those figures don't seem so bad....... unless you watched the game! Our first half performance was abysmal and the real hiding that seemed inevitable was only averted by a decent 25 minutes or so in the second half when we remembered that we were a football team and not lambs there to be slaughtered. And when Andre Ayew, almost single-handedly, dragged the rest of 'em almost kicking and screaming back into the game.
I still say the talent is there but the leadership is NOT. The three wise men who appointed Cooper must by now realise that they dropped an almighty bollock in choosing him above other more experienced candidates. Falling for an impressive presentation at interview was naive beyond words. Fine words butter no parsnips and Cooper patently did NOT have a CV to demonstrate his ability to manage a team of ADULT players in possibly the toughest league in the world. In footballing terms, they handed the reins to a child; or at least to a wannabee manager whose only previous experience had been managing/coaching children.
We all see the things that are going wrong. Roberts can't defend against a tricky winger to save his life but if Ayew is dragged back to help him then his effectiveness elsewhere in the game is reduced and his goals will dry up (a goal a game in his last 4) I shudder to think where we might be without his contribution. Roberts must be coached to do his own job properly or dropped for Naughton when the situation demands.
Then there is our marshmallow midfield. This league DEMANDS at least one ball winner there to allow the footballers to play. The prevailing attitude seems to be that we can play our football, retain possession and dictate the game that way. Well that used to be the case but not now. Grimes, Byers, Carroll and the like are too lightweight to compete but neither can they keep the ball and pass it CONSISTENTLY well. Fulton, our most abrasive midfielder, does his best but he is also lacking that 10% which would make him a truly effective player.
I could be on here all day talking about what we are doing wrong; about us NOT doing the things we SHOULD be doing be but you all know this as well as I do. Point is, does Cooper know? If he does then why the hell are we seeing what we do and why isn't he getting far more out of the squad than he is? I have my opinion and I know you will have yours.