I am sure I wasnāt the only one who sighed when I saw the line up at 7pm last night. So weāre at home to a team in 19th position, 5 points off safety and we set up with a flat back 5 and 3 defensive centre midfielders. It was even worse than that when we started, sit back deep and play long hopeful balls to Arnautovic who was up against 4 Stoke defenders. If he ever did get the ball he had to hold it up for about 2 minutes before another player ran the length of the field to join him! After a dour first half display, still no changes at half time. And to everyoneās surpriseā¦more of the same in the second half, Arnautovic isolated, long balls and very little threat. Mario showed some good touches but he needs the likes of Lanzini to link up with. 70 mins passed and finally an attacking changeā¦ Oh wait it is the opposition bringing a striker on! Quite unbelievable and you can see why Moyesās nickname is āDithering Daveā. 76 mins in and Hernandez finally comes on, with 15 minutes to go.. at home to Stoke, just thought Iād remind you that, Stoke City.. 19th in the Premier League table. Everyone saw it coming.. Crouch scores to put Stoke 1-0 up. We were warned too as Diouf missed a sitter about 5 mins before that goal. Moyes then has no option but to throw Andy Carroll on, his first appearance since 1996. So we played route one for 80 mins and then he finally brings a player on to suit that style of play! It looks like weāre going to be dragged back into the relegation fight until Moyes let off the hook by a great finish from Carroll. I am not Carrollās biggest fan but what a great finish. In all honesty a draw was probably a fair result, 2 dire teams not good enough to win it.
Now that point pretty much keeps us up in my opinion but it wasnāt good was it. You have Hernandez and Lanzini on the bench, with a flat back 5, although you could argue it was a back 8, with Mario attempting to play off Arnautovic in attack. From Moyes point of view heās thinking ādo not loseā, āanother point probably keeps us upā ā sorry just a reminder on last nightās opponentsā¦ Stoke City, 19th in the league. He should be thinking lets get at them from the first whistle like we did against Southampton, lets go out and win the game and get us away from trouble. But he was so worried about losing the game, we got a nervous, defensive display.
A lot of the talk coming out of the club is that the Board are looking to keep Moyes on, which I find baffling and truly worrying. We left Upton Park to move to this ānext levelā and weāve gone back to the Sam Allardyce days. What I really donāt like is Moyes claiming that he has saved us, when heās been in charge since.. November. This hasnāt been a āgreat escapeā like he makes out. When he took over we were 1 point off West Brom (who were 17th) and 4 points off Leicester (who were 12th).
We need a massive shake up at this club in the summer and if the owners are to stay (lets hope not..) then the first thing needs changing is the manager. We need to get out of this mindset where we think staying up is a good season and āoh well, no harm done, weāll try again next yearā (donāt get me wrong, I think this starts at the top with the owners and filters down to the manager + players). We need a top manager to come in and change that attitude. Moyes is not that man. Thank him for his work but move on.
By Jamie Norwood (jhammers)
If we do stay up, and yes it is possible after the dismal draw on Monday night, the likelihood is the three Stooges will keep Moyes on. They’ll use the excuse that we need to steady the ship, buy some new (cheap or old or both) players and therefore we’ll plod on as we’ve always done. I really can’t see anything changing while the same thinking remains.
Agree we need to aim higher. Stoke was not a point gained it was 2 dropped. Moyes is not the man, players need an organiser and motivator and somebody who attracts promising players, Moyes just doesnt tick any of those essential boxes. Unfortunately we will have to wait 2-3 years for the low life board to move on and take their profit. Bad boards attract and recruit poor managers so don’t expect too much while they are here. They are the root cause here. We need some players , keeper , midfield , etc but the key is getting the best possible manager until D’S and KB go. But a better manager will improve the attitude too many players thought that a point at home to Stoke was a result. Director of recruitment will have his hands tied by Sullivan and will probably be a yes man or pressured to taking DS miserly attitude to dealings and therefore toothless. Hope I am wrong.