Apparently he's not going to change it.... According to the Mail.
He seems to have become very distant and determined to make his system work, regardless. Hmmmm.

I read that he wasn't going to change the team's attacking style. Doesn't mean he's not going to change various things within that.

Maybe he's employing that famous line that went along the lines of in an infinite amount of time an infinite number of Steve Howard's will eventually play like Barcelona. Think that was it anyway.

The old monkeys on typewriters eventually banging out a masterpiece of literature by chance line comes to mind, even though it was never gonna work.
I'm having my doubts.

Monday - some of the players were coasting. Tuesday some of the players looked lethargic ( they had played three games in fourteen days and must have been shattered) Wednesday I have faith in the present players. Which ones the ones coasting or the ones who look lathargic?

That is a very fair reflection on 'The Manger', Hit the nail on the head, he must be on Google , (other search Engines available), looking up things to say when a football team loses.
I posted this elsewhere (Winding up Post) but I reckon more apt here.

His comments early in the week about it not being the defences fault we are shipping daft goals was interesting.

Look at the video for the goals on Saturday. Their lad skins the fullback and crosses from by line to striker on the penalty spot. There are 7 Pools players between him and the goal, with Featherstone wrong side who doesn't attempt a tackle. Too bloody easy.

As for the second........pub football.

We have an ex international defender as assistant manager and 2 other coaches who had careers as central defenders. Yet shipped 2nd most goals in division.

I wouldn't say we play an attacking style either. Not now Thomas isn't playing.
Against Accrington we had 5 defenders and Featherstone playing just infront of them. It was like having Walton back. For a home game against a poor side, yet despite all those defenders we only didn't concede cos Carson was excellent and their striker had a mare.

I went to watch the reserves play Gateshead at Maiden castle this afternoon, Higgy turned up 10 minutes after it started with his puppy and spent the whole of the first half engrossed in conversation with some coach type person, he took dog for stroll and missed first 10 minutes of second half.

We have a really decent winger in Jack Blackford, 2 footed and not afraid to take a man on, crosses a great ball in, tracks back and creative, I bet you he didn`t even notice him working his bollocks off!

Right back on trial from Curzon Ashton looked decent and a lanky winger on left wing who was gash.

Plenty of teams have been stubborned into relegation by Manager's afraid of losing face. Let's hope we're not another one.

He seems like someone who wants his three legged greyhound to win races and if he keeps pushing it long enough it will.
Well it won't. Find out what it can do and work on that.

With it being his first job as a manager, you would think he would put in maximum effort to make his mark, whereas he looks laid back and arrogant when I have seen him close to, more concerned with bigging himself up by berating a linesman, leave that to premiership managers and concentrate on developing a team that is not fatigued after 2 games in a week

I've got nothing against a bit of arrogance in a manager. Sticking to his beliefs and building a team that plays the way he wants it to is the only way to get long term success. I'd urge all clubs to give it a chance to work because the only other route upwards is to chuck cash at your problem areas. No longer a realistic option for us although it worked well in the early years of IOR.

Problem is they have to be good enough to justify the arrogance. The plan doesn't always work fast enough and at some point you have to stop the experiment and do whatever it takes to stay up. If Hignett doesn't make that decision somebody else will do it for him.

I'm not concerned in the slightest about relegation. Hopefully we can get a couple of wins on the trot soon though

If ever a manager needed someone like Mick Wadsworth to show him how to play to a teams strengths it's Hignett.

His style of play is making the club lose lots of fans even hundreds who have paid in advance.
Im sure the few who think we not in a relegation battle will change there mind when they look at the league table in March.
Blind faith can only last for so long then reality overtakes the faith

We will finish 21/22nd IMHO.

There's nothing wrong with his style of play I have no problem with a manager who wants to try and play football I would rather watch that than fourth division hoofball that bizarrely some of our fans seem to crave. We're just missing a couple of key elements that make teams successful at this level.

We only lost all those fans on Tuesday night because it was a shit midweek game against a shit team and it was fucking freezing. We won by the way which people seem to forget.

I think we'll finish mid-table. I think we're playing some really good attractive football, we're scoring plenty of goals it's just we're struggling to keep them out.

Missing a couple of key elements like about four players.

We are as close to the play offs as we are to relegation in what is a very close and even division. Barring a couple of games we've matched most teams in the division on the pitch including those at the top in terms of play/performance. We've lost some stupid games down to stupid goals/mistakes/decisions but we are much closer to being competitive than we have been in years and I don't understand the people wanting a less patient way of playing and keeping the ball.

I am not saying we should be complacent about relegation basically because the division is so tight but if we can get a settled back four for a run of games that will make a massive difference.

Most fans simply want to see winning football and if given a choice would opt for scrapping champions rather than talented runners up.
Success on the pitch allows fans the luxury of ignoring a teams flaws and most consider it an excusable trade off.
Kick and rush champions or over talented relegation Dodgers, you know what they'd grab. It's all very laudable to sing the praises of the play on the pitch but in the harsh light of day it's all about winning.
I feel it's about time our manager found a style to suit his players ability, as his present persistence with apparently unsuccessful results is starting to look a bit pointless .... Just how long do you persist ?

Last time I looked we'd won the last 3 home games without conceding a goal. If we can concede even a quarter less stupid goals than we have been we'll finish in the top half.

I'm not going again until hignett puts his puppy down


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i`m not going again until you start wearing a coat when you go to Morrisons for lunch.

His style of play for me isn't the problem.

I would personally rather watch a team trying to play football. When we've done well previously at this level in recent history anyway have been teams who largely try to play a bit of football but you have to find a balance. Maybe right now we don't quite have the leaders and winners in dressing room that we've had previously, maybe we have a bit of a soft centre. That's what's missing for me a couple of leaders who can do the ugly unseen side of the game well at this level.

This season has been massively frustrating so far but we do have better players than we've had in recent seasons. It's a mixture of factors to why we're under performing. You have to start with defence really. In the summer maybe it's fair to say we could have retained and recruited better. Harrison and Jones are looking like mistakes. We have had a bit of bad luck as well with injuries and suspensions. We just can't see to go a run of games with a settled back four. I think Donnelly, Bates, Nsiala, Carroll has the potential to do alright at this level. It would be nice to be able to keep them all on the pitch for a period of time.

The manager has been stubborn with his system at home which again was massively frustrating. Amond needed some help he's worked his nuts off but he's not suited to playing up front on his own, I think we've massively underused Paynter and they haven't have enough time playing together to build any sort of understanding. Hopefully though after three home wins to nil in row the home form has turned a corner. I didn't understand Saturday though we've competed well (apart from one disaster) away from home all season playing the 4-5-1, 4-3-3 and everyone I've spoken to about last Tuesday really didn't fancy us away from home playing the wing back system. To be fair to Hignett he was sort of forced into that for the Accrington game with no fit right back and the team he sent out got a result by hook or by crook. But when people are the stands are saying this system will get torn apart away from home why can't the manager see that?

But I still like the fact we try and play the right way and still think we have some decent players, we are capable of going on a run and I don't think team are as bad and the situation is a bad as a few strange individuals seemingly want it to be. We need to start proving that though and Hignett we needs to find a way to get better more consistent results.

I feel he sets off on a course and rather than adapt to suit he sticks to his guns and ploughs on. A bit more flexibility helps. I wish he'd adapt his tactics to match what his squad is capable of doing on the field.

To be fair he has adapted, changing to a back three successfully and also changing back to a back four when it didn't work against Wycombe.

Hes trying to copy premier league tactics with league two and vanarama players.
And our results prove it isent working nothing to do with injuries and dodgy refs.

Every football fan says they want there team to play nice football and not kick and rush but you have to be realistic it dose not happen. Who cares as long as you win. Yes you want them to play nice football but if you are top of the league will you honestly stop going? As Kevin says we have very average league two and Vanarama league players and can not expect anything else but lower league standards.

It's still summer!

Didn't I have me cardigan on?


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Spot on Chip. We have one or two good players and a host of very average or poor players.

You did, grey if I recall

There you go. Goes with anything that n takes the edge off


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I should be coxalls fashion guru


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Agree completely. I just don't see our defence as anything other than erratic.
It's no good people playing up the two clean sheets, it was despite the defence not because of it. The games could easily have went either way.
We haven't turned a corner yet, just got the breaks, a definitive sign of progress is still awaited.

It could be a long wait SNOWY.

Trouble is, we can't afford to wait. It's a new era of banality, another new dawn that falls flat on it face. Oh dear.

An apology

Can I take this opportunity to apologise profusely for my title for this topic, namely ' The Higgy style'.
May I point out in particular my use of the word 'style' ..... as I now realise there is no obvious sign of the said word and it's loosest meaning in evidence.

Hignett has built this team and failed miserably. He can't keep blaming others, after all he signed the majority of this squad. I want a manager who after a game looks at himself instead of blaming others for his mistakes.

Apart from Carson what excellent players have we got. We have a few average players and a lot of below average players. Thomas on a good day but he is inconsistent.

I would only rate Carson as excellent....the others could come good with the right Coaching/Management!!!!

The saying silk purse and pigs ear come to my mind

Agree that there's half a decent team (when fit) which is unfortunately not the same as a half decent team. The best we can look forward to is getting Donnelly then Thomas back from injury.

There's nothing in the way of defensive cover. With Magnay out for the season, the back four picks itself and if Toto and Carroll are out of form, too bad!

It's the same in midfield - all much of a muchness, no pace or ability to beat a man with Thomas missing. May as well give Jack Blackford a try.

And, thanks to FIFA scrapping the Emergency Loan System, another month of this before anyone, Higgy or otherwise, can start to ring the changes.

Assuming there's anything left in the kitty for the next transfer/loan window.

Just on the point of Blackford he hardly seems to play either for the reserves or youth team. Why?

He is on loan at Whitby

No he isn`t, came back last monday, played for the reserves and was excellent, if only Hignett had watched the game, despite being there

He bounded into the club like a bog roll puppy full of himself.
Now he looks like a bored Easter Island statue wondering about a new challenge somewhere else.

That's a bit worrying Snowy. No matter how much wondering they've done the Easter Island statues have never moved. Higgy could be at the controls until we're all dead and buried. I'm not one for fast sackings but the owners shouldn't have given him an eternal contract.

I don't think he looks bored. Shellshocked, yes. Haggard, definitely.

He's got the look of a man who once thought the management lark was easy and who for several months (till the away win at Grimsby) could rally the players by the force of his own self-confidence.

Now he looks and sounds like a man who doesn't know where the next decent performance is coming from.

Pretty much all it took to burst his bubble was Nathan Thomas getting injured.

I believe the contract was for this life and the next.