‘The fans, players and manager are all frustrated and disconnected’

That’s another month of the season down, and it hasn’t improved from last month, has it? As a fan, I’ve generally been one who is on the side of the manager – I don’t see the point in manager bashing. 

It doesn’t help the players, it makes for a negative atmosphere and let’s face it, football is for enjoyment, so why make it negative? But this is not making me happy at all. 

I commented last month on how Lopetegui was trying to communicate with players during games and it was just falling flat. That’s still happening. The players look lost, and these are players that we know can perform. 

I’m not seeing anyone play with a spring in their step, a smile on their face or a clear understanding of what their job is. Equally, the boss is standing there shouting, looking frustrated, shrugging his shoulders and huffing. 

There’s a big disconnect here and it’s not showing signs of speedy improvement. It would be so interesting to find out where the communication is getting lost. Normally, an international break is greeted with a dull sigh, but this time it’s nice to get a break from the effort of watching domestic football.

There was a glimmer of hope going 1-0 up against Spurs, but as expected, it fell apart. We beat Man United, which is great and all, but means very little seeing as we didn’t use it as a springboard for anything else.

Losing to Forest isn’t shameful these days, but it was the manner of the defeat that was disappointing. I normally think fans shouldn’t leave games early, but watching this I really didn’t blame them.

Then the 0-0 with Everton was – well honestly, it’s already slipped so far back in my football filing cabinet, it had nothing to offer. Believe me when I say that if this season turns on its head, I will be totally happy to look back at this time and admit ‘I was wrong about Lopetegui, he’s great’. I hope that happens.

We now don’t play at 3 o’clock on a Saturday until 21st December. Maybe that’s a good thing. Maybe we’ll get some ‘under the lights’ atmospheres to pep up the squad. 

Although the Christmas schedule is busy, it can help to build some momentum and gain focus. That could be what we need. Or I could just be clutching at straws.