Davy Vandenbroucke

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Davy Vandenbroucke.

Wouldn’t surprise me, he’s playing like he knows he’s leaving. He did the same at Sheffield United btw, in his final season there he didn’t bother his arse in the slightest which pissed off their supporters - can’t say I’m shocked at him doing the same thing again.

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Could stomach it if it was just Tavernier, but if the likes of Goldson and Lundstram are still here as well then I can see a lot of the support voting with their feet. I’m pretty confident that Clement knows they’ll get him the sack if he keeps them.

Agreed, I’m just sick of the sight of them.

With Goldson it came across as him trying to deflect blame off himself. Also, he had been vice-captain for years at that point and one of the leaders in the dressing room, so if players had lost their hunger he took at least some responsibility for that - Sterling has literally been here for less than a season.

I said similar, not the same. It feels worse because of how close together the poor results have been, but the end result is the same. And it’s not just last season, but every other season preceding it bar 55. My point is that regardless of who the manager is, this keeps happening.

Respect Sterling’s honesty, but it says it all about this squad.

Even if it were true, he still won three titles with two different clubs, and was on his way to a fourth with Brugge when he left to go to Monaco. I see it more as a positive - his teams were so far ahead that they could afford to drop points and still win the league.

1 win in our last 5. 9 scored and 9 conceded. 10 points dropped. Similar to the 22/23 collapse under Gio where we dropped 12 points from 15 games. Similar to the 21/22 post winter collapse under Gio where we got 3 wins from 8. Similar to the 19/20 post winter collapse under Gerrard where we got 3 wins from 8. Similar to the 18/19 post winter collapse under Gerrard where we got 5 wins from 10. Wonder when the penny will finally drop?

That sounds like the opposite of what Genk and Brugge fans say about him, they seem to love him and say how he overhauled their underachieving squads and replaced them with young, hungry players. Even Beveren fans say he got them playing the best football they can remember, and he was only there for 6 months. Just checked and the average age of his signings in first summer window at Genk was 22, same in his first summer window at Brugge. We desperately need younger players with something to prove so that is music to my ears.

It’s not just that they’ve let us down season after season, though that is a major factor. Almost every player has a shelf life at a club - how many players other than McGregor do Celtic still have from when Lennon was in charge? Taylor and Forrest are the only ones that spring to mind, and it’s not a coincidence that they’re Scottish. After a while, players (especially ones who aren’t from here) need a change of scenery or they lose their desire and hunger, and that is extremely apparent with our team. It’s too far gone with the fans as well now, we’re just sick of the sight of them. Our squad management since we won 55 has been a joke tbh. Gerrard started this mentality of “keeping the band together”, Wilson and Beale continued it and it has held us back for years now. We just can’t seem to let go of players, which is mystifying considering how little they’ve won. Morelos and Kent going for nothing were the most egregious examples of that mentality. What gives me some optimism is that Clement signed plenty of young, hungry players and got rid of plenty at Genk and Brugge, which won him leagues there, Postecoglou did the same and it won him leagues here. If the board don’t give Clement the opportunity to do the same thing here, then I give up.

Like I said in another thread, the summer will show how he really feels about this team. The trouble is no matter what team he selects, none of them seem to be trying or working, so I don’t really blame him for throwing shit at the wall and seeing what sticks. Managers generally always praise in public, criticise in private - it’s something Mourinho is brilliant at. The ones that don’t, like Derek Adams, rarely last long. As much as supporters don’t like it, I understand why it’s done. Like I say, summer will show if he truly believes what he said after tonight’s game.

That’s fair, but I try to look at it another way - if Postecoglou had joined us in November, would we be ahead or still be in a title race with this squad? I doubt it, because even though his style of play hoovered up trophies in Scotland, our players would never be able to execute it. Every Belgian football fan I’ve read online has said that Clement’s football is attacking and great to watch - unless he’s suddenly decided to chuck the style that won him several leagues there, he simply doesn’t have the players to play it. Clement should get a chance in the summer to sign the players that fit his system, then we can better judge how he is as a manager.