01 Feb 2026 11:45:49
For me, Moyes' use of O'Brien yesterday perfectly summed up why I, and so many others, cannot stand him.
Selecting a centre back at right back, who has shown himself to be completely ineffective in both attack and defence in the position, despite having 2 recognised right backs on the bench, is one thing - but for me, it's the way he used him:
Any other manager could look at that situation and think 'he can't dribble, run or cross, but he's huge' - let's stick him high and wide, ping balls to him in the air, and have him knock them down for KDH (moved to the right of the midfield 3) to run onto and break between their CB and LB. Almost an old fashioned little-and-large striker partnership, but wider and driving into the channels.
Obviously I'm not saying that would immediately work and we'd have won 3-0, but the point is, even when you're dealing with a bad hand, there are ways to look at what you've got and try and mix things up to suit the cards you've been dealt. Moyes Does Not Do This. He has his colossal centre back at right back, and he is asking him to do the exact same role he would if it was Patterson: overlapping runs, drive into space and whip in crosses - none of which he can do.
There are so many managers who would have looked at out available players yesterday and done something with them to try and get something out the game. Even if we go with the back 5 again, even if we put Dwight at left wing back, or we put Rohl at right back and have him sit narrower - there is countless things the manager Could try, but we have the only manager in the league who just thinks "eh, stick the big lads in, they're defenders, aren't they? "
This is why Moyes is a dinosaur - it's the same mentality as a Sunday league manager - and i'm afraid his understanding of the modern game grows more and more distant with each match we absolutely slog our way through.
01 Feb 2026 13:57:46
We did get something out of the game.
01 Feb 2026 14:37:24
We didn't deserve to. We were better in the second half, but first half we had 0 shots, 0 shots on target, 0 chances and 0 corners - the first half is the tactical result of how the manager has spent the entire week preparing the team, and this isn't the first time it has gone like that.
{Ed025's Note - it was awful Alex..