Really do feel our fans are impossible to please. It doesn't matter who is in charge or what style we play, whenever we have a few bad results, the knives are our for the manager. Some of our fans just don't seem to have learned anything from the past and are so short-term in their mindsets that it's unbelievable.
Every period of success we've had post war has come from having a manager who was given a good bit of time to get a squad together and get things the way they liked. How many people would have kept Howard Kendall in charge in 1983, I wonder?
As it is - we keep chasing managers away (I'm not saying I've wanted to keep every manager we've sacked, just for clarity):
Moyes - "took us as far as he could" - most were happy to see once he left
Martinez - too soft. The football was lovely but we threw games away and couldn't defend. Results mattered more than style! GET OUT!
Koeman - Decent footy in patches but no real identity or plan - and started losing games. Results mattered most. GET OUT!
Allardyce - Terrible footy but results were a bit better. But style mattered more than results. GET OUT!
Silva - too soft. The football was decent but we threw games away and couldnt defend. Results mattered more than style! GET OUT!
Ancelotti - Terrible footy but results a bit better. But style matters more than results. GET OUT!
It's laughable really.
The thing I'm most concerned with - over and above short term results - is can I see a long term vision and plan. I felt like I could with Moyes - and results were good enough to keep faith with it.
I also felt like I could with Martinez - but results were too poor for way too long.
Then came the Koeman/Allardyce bit where we were listless and massively damaged ourselves with no real vision or plan, blowing wads of cash on players that didn't fit. 2017-18 set us on a path that would take 2-3 years to fix.
Silva I could see a bit more of a plan again but I was not quite convinced by him and the and again like Martinez, results were poor for a significantly long enough time that the plan became undermined.
Ancelotti? I think we can all see the plan - but it's one we've got to be patient with. He wants to build a very solid defence, he wants to add world class technicians, and he wants to build around some quality young attacking players. Ultimately we will play more attacking football than we are now.
Key thing for me too - the players clearly love Carlo and are right behind him. They talk about him in such a glowing way that none of our last few managers have been talked about. They're united behind him and they trust him. That's massive.
But let's face it, we just haven't got a coherent and consistent midfield.
Liverpool's awful run of form - whilst everyone blames Van Dijk's absence, was much more about the midfield. Before Van Dijk arrived, Liverpool scored goals for fun but couldn't defend. You'd expect the same to happen when they lost their centre backs. But instead, they stopped scoring as well as starting to concede. Why? Because their two best midfielders ended up at centre back or being injured. The front three lost their key lines of supply. They still haven't got their CBs back but they're starting to look better now Fabinho is suddenly back in the middle.
It's similar for us. At our best this season, we had Allan, Doucoure and Rodriguez all on the pitch and going forward we clicked. Take one of them out and there's an instant drop off. Take two of them out and we're an absolute shadow of what we could be. This summer I think we really need another boss CM.
Anyway...progress with the plan has been heavily undermined by lots of niggly injuries and the fact we're still processing out the players who were so poorly recruited in that awful 2017-18 period. But the crucial thing is this for me - whilst it's not all gelling just yet, results haven't been awful. We're in no danger of relegation (unlike certain periods under Martinez/Koeman/Silva), we find ways to win games and pinch points even when we're not at our best, we compete in games against the best teams, and we're still even in with a shout of Europe. Yes - there have been some shockingly poor results - but they've then often been followed up with good results we'd not expect.
Can you imagine where we'd be right now, with these injuries, if Silva or Koeman was in charge? With them you felt like a 6-10 game losing streak was definitely a risk. With Carlo, you know that your next win is round the corner as he finds a way.
We've just got to trust Carlo here. Accept that it's not all how we want it yet, and make sure we don't hound out a guy who actually genuinely knows what he's doing, has a clear vision, and who - crucially for me - the players are absolutely unanimously behind for once.
Those who don't like the footy. I get it - but please...PLEASE - be careful what you wish for. If we chase away Carlo flipping Ancelotti then to be honest we deserve EVERYTHING bad that will happen to us as a result.
