08 Jan 2026 08:08:08
Why am i not seeing posts questioning playing 7 defensive players against Burnley? Why no questions on substituting a defender for another? Why o why did we not win the game? We had so many shots, xg and possession stats all in our favour. Oh yeah we are not supposed to look at those right. Sack Amorim for that again pls. We had the same 11 players on the pitch just standing in different positions at 2 times during the game, first whistle and second half whistle.
When are we going to learn that a mega project takes time to cover. We just started and some couldn't handle that we didn't get instant glory. We are back to where we always start and no doubt that it will be the same in a couple of years time.
08 Jan 2026 09:24:53
We again created lots of chances that we couldn't finish and got caught out with 2 stupid mistakes
Our midfield is poor and has been poor for over ten years and it doesn't matter whether you play 442 433 343 any team with an mobile midfield walks right through us ever week.
Casemiro really shouldn't be relied upon as much ugarte is poor in most cases
Mainoo is a good player but he's better in Bruno's position than further back that why amorim didn't play him.
Until we sort the midfield we will be nowhere with this team.
08 Jan 2026 09:38:32
No manager could work miracles with this awful squad. We literally have the slowest squad in the premier league. Midfield a joke no proper wingers 2 rubbish fullbacks and expecting kids to work miracles at centre half. Fergie wouldn’t of got a tune out of this lot.
08 Jan 2026 09:41:01
Probably because we didn’t play 7 defenders, we played a back 4 with 2 in front and when we needed a goal he took the 2 holding players off for a more attacking midfielder and a young winger.
We looked a lot more comfortable in the build up imo than we have under Amorim, and that’s still with some important players missing and others just coming back from injury.
I wasn’t really one for having a go at Amorim and didn’t really want him sacked but people aren’t going to come on and slag off Fletcher for one game that we should have won. With Amorim it became a pattern, until then surely ‘fans’ should get behind whoever the interim is?
08 Jan 2026 09:50:04
I enjoyed last night despite the performance. 30 shots, 10 on target, brace from Sesko, and a good goal chalked off IMO.
They had 1 on target and scored 2 goals.
Good post GDS.
08 Jan 2026 09:53:53
Yh don't really get this, if we are going to hark back to Amorim its going to get tedious.
At the end of the day, it wasnt really fan reaction or even results/performances that got him the sack. It was breakdown in relationships between the manager and the sporting director. Even ed001 said Amorim was winning the power struggle until his public outbursts which made his position untenable.
Did i prefer the way we played yesterday to how we played under Amorim, absolutely it was a very entertaining game and we should have won if not for a couple of awful defensive lapses.
08 Jan 2026 09:55:07
I think the OP pointed out the hypocrisy of fans who spent months saying those things whilst the underlying issue remains.
We didn’t look more comfortable for me, just more of the same. In fact our structure at Leeds looked better for me.
08 Jan 2026 10:06:16
There's a phrase that springs to mind. 'You can't polish a turd'.
08 Jan 2026 10:10:25
The result I meant.
They had one shot on target last night red man. I thought it was a lot better and Bruno stays on, we win IMO. Fingers crossed we can beat Brighton at the weekend.
08 Jan 2026 10:20:46
The OP threw his toys out of the pram.
After a slow start we battered them and should have won, great to see Sesko bag a couple and Lacey have an impact.
Banging on about Amorim gets us nowhere.
08 Jan 2026 10:22:47
Agreed Red Man. Our shape was poor. We were set up more defensively and yet were significantly more open. Selecting Cunha on the right for the first half, and taking him off when Bruno was already off was a catastrophic error. Burnley are the worst team we'll face in the premier league this year.
Despite league position they are much worse than Wolves. We exacerbated our issues last night by team selection and shape. A CM pairing of Casemiro and Ugarte is something I'm hoping to see no more of.
08 Jan 2026 11:24:58
Thank you Red Man. Atleast some on here can see through what's happening and not make ludicrous observations without even trying to look at the larger picture.
08 Jan 2026 11:28:11
Agreed GDS.
08 Jan 2026 12:13:53
I didn’t see a battering last night. I saw that maybe we were slightly better than a relegation threatened team. People want to see that it was Amorim holding the players back so they can justify his sacking.
See whatever you want but there was more to Amorim than just organising the team. Last night was Fletcher trying to do his best but a draw was all he could manage.
08 Jan 2026 13:09:53
Nobody is saying that red man. And you'll no doubt go banging on about Amorim for months at every opportunity. We could get top 5 this year and you'll still tell us how we are worse off without it.
Once your colours are pinned to the mast, you're not for changing.
You even suggested that we should sell Bruno in January ?.
08 Jan 2026 13:17:44
It’s like a cult. Implicit. Let’s not mention Amorim but the big issue is the ownership or we just going to toe the line and accept all the pr spin.
I’ve never known a fan base so silent. If this was happening at any other club it would be so different. Newcastle Sheffield weds anyone.
08 Jan 2026 13:41:38
Amorim is gone i see no point in talking about him in relation to last night's game or ones coming.
Im waiting for the thick one to say fletcher has a 0%win rate.
08 Jan 2026 13:43:00
We were joint 5th when he left so I've no doubt the interim will improve on that and finish in a cl spot.
08 Jan 2026 13:52:52
Angel
Top five maybe but the underlying issues are now not being dealt with. Who is going to fix the issues now? Want to win the league they need fixing. Having seen how we treat managers like Amorim and Rangnick what manager will feel they will be given the authority to deal with it?
In summer Luis Enrique will likely replace Pep. We need his level of manager but why would he come to us knowing the underlying issues?
08 Jan 2026 14:12:50
AJH, nothing is getting us anywhere and that's the point I am trying to make. We are stuck in a circle. Its just the timing that changes, we always reach the same point because we are not willing to break out of it.
08 Jan 2026 14:17:27
Whether you were a supporter of Amorim or not is irrelevant now. He's gone and he's part of our past.
That said the performance yesterday was pretty much identical to all our performances this season. Fletcher even moved to a back three in the second half. Ironically that is when we actually scored.
We for the most part limited the opposition to few chances, had a lot of shots, but failed to take out chances.
That's a copy and paste analysis of pretty much all our games this season and many of the them last season.
It's almost as if the problem is that the players aren't good enough, but surely if that was the case the club would have some sort of a plan to clear out the squad and bring in better players. Oh wait they do.
It doesn't really matter who the next manager is, until we see another dozen players get replaced in this squad they will struggle to get consistently good performances and results from this subpar squad.
08 Jan 2026 14:22:03
Burnley, 7 shots, 1 on target. United, 30shots, 10 on target, plus hitting the woodwork twice, but no, not a battering.
08 Jan 2026 14:44:22
Red man, it's their first managerial appointment, they got it wrong. I trust them to get it right. They tried something different, it can happen.
They are wading through the crap left by previous administrations. Recruitment, The Academy, The entire footballing structure is being changed. They tried with Amorim, they got it wrong, now it's very important to get the next one right. I believe they will as they are all competent operators.
08 Jan 2026 14:48:15
Wide open midfield, poor defending, poor finishing, and limited pressing. Normal service.
08 Jan 2026 15:07:22
Competent operators?
The man seemingly pulling the strings in terms of how we play is now Jason Wilcox, a man appointed by Omar Berrada (himself not a football guy) based on knowing him from their time at City together. So a guy with a few years as City under 18s coach and 9 months as DoF at Southampton is now calling the shots at the biggest club in the world.
Jason Wilcox, a fairly mediocre Blackburn Rovers winger with no first team management experience, who has admitted that he "always want (s) to interfere in what the managers are doing. ”
The Ashworth debacle. Aye proper competent.
08 Jan 2026 17:24:04
Jesus the team have been playing a completely different system for the past 14 months what do you expect.
The big plus was that in the formation we played last night we actually got the ball through to the centre forward (Sesko) and created chances for him. We also put in a few decent crosses as well.
08 Jan 2026 17:54:46
Simo, good post mate. Good to see you back on here too.
I thought, overall it was decent. Lots of chances, and that's not we have been seeing the last few performances.
The board are good strong people who know what they are at despite the poor appointment of amorim. Let's see how the next 12 months go.
08 Jan 2026 17:55:19
Fizz, personally I will always see things from the owners and management point of view.
I won't always agree with their decisions but I will try understand them from their perspective.
Management make mistakes. Owners make decisions that turn out to be wrong but those decisions and calls were made with the best if intentions. They may have been the right decision at 1 time but due to unforeseen events they look like or decisions. It happens everyday in every business.
Wilcox may be operating at a level he never has before so he will make mistakes.
Tolerance is required for him as much as any manager.
Can he step up and command his role? I don't know. I don't know enough about him but I hope he is given the chance same as the next manager.
We can't throw our toys out of the pram because they made a mistake or 2.
We won't always agree with their decisions.
We will get frustrated for sure but what they need to do is very complex and they are working with 1 hand tied behind their back too.
Amorim begged to be fired they didn't have a voice after his outburst that I saw for 1st time today. He will have had his reasons for acting like that. He knew the consequences.
Imo they need someone in the same mould he is ruthless. I suspect this season will be a write off from here in but there is always next season. Its only a game and hobby for us. Even buffoon ole coming back wouldn't stop me watching supporting and hoping.
08 Jan 2026 20:31:52
When did you change your mind on the board angel?
08 Jan 2026 21:20:36
Look at the situation anyway you like ken but, incompetence and naivety is writ large.