Latest Opinion

I’m not a sailor, by any stretch of the imagination.

When anyone suggests a boat trip, my ‘go to’ choice is the ferry from Portsmouth to the Isle of Wight. A journey I’ve loved ever since spending wonderful family holidays in Sandown just a few miles across the Solent, originally with my own parents, and later with my own family.




Right now the race for the oldest international sporting trophy in the world – the America’s Cup – dating back to 1851 – is taking place off the coast of Spain! So why this nautical analogy with our beloved football club you might ask?

Because at this point in time I’d compare our journey on the football field with that of a yacht on the Mediterranean. Weaving left and right, desperately trying to catch a fair and favourable wind to propel us forward, but only succeeding in being becalmed and getting nowhere fast!

When we set sail on a new season against Aston Vila we had a new captain on the pitch in Jarrod Bowen and a new ‘admiral’ on the bridge in Julen Lopetegui – although this season we must call him a Head Coach rather than a Manager – because that job description is now effectively a job share with a modern day Director of Football – in our case Tim Steidten.

Much was made about the lack of depth in our previous Manager’s squad. The lack of options available to – or choices made by - David Moyes frustrated and angered some in equal measure. Although for his part Moyes never made any secret of the fact he had a preference to working with a smaller, tighter group of players, believing the continuity and togetherness that offered in a team sense was more to his liking.

Julen Lopetegui, on the other hand, had let it be known it was his intention to have two choices for every position on the pitch. That’s fine when injuries come along and replacements have to be found, but when injuries aren’t an issue choices have to be made anyway and it’s down to the coach to make the right ones.

There is a suggestion that right now Lopetegui has too many options and is finding it difficult to settle on what is his best a favoured starting 11. It’s not only personnel issues he’s struggling with either it appears, he’s also seemingly finding it difficult to settle on tactics and formations for his preferred team.

Back four, back three, inverted full backs, wing backs, midfield triangle, midfield diamond, target man, withdrawn striker... There are a myriad of options to choose from, but flip-flopping from one to another, then back again, is leaving supporters just as baffled as it appears to be leaving the players.




Not everyone liked Moyes’ style of play – but his players knew their jobs and what their manager wanted from them. The amount of head scratching, shoulder shrugging and finger pointing we saw on Saturday seems to suggest the same cannot be said of this team and this coach right now.

Of course it’s still early days yet, and Rome wasn’t built in a day as some are keen to tell us. But at least the Romans had firm foundations on which to do their building. I’m not convinced what we have at the London Stadium right now fills many of us with genuine confidence.

There was great optimism following our activity in the transfer market that this season we could build and even improve on the respectability the Moyes years had given back to our club. Already that narrative is being tempered by some suggesting it’s a ‘project’ we should be looking at and not an instant fix.

The problem there is the vocal podcasters and lairy YouTubers who vilified Moyes for so long aren’t known for their patience. Already the opening shots of a new verbal assault have been fired. It might not be long before those easily influenced in their thinking begin to be led in a certain direction once again. Then the open warfare which tore our fanbase apart last season starts all over again.

A smiling Tim Steidten told TNT Sport in an interview prior to Saturday's game he had made the right choice for the right reasons in selecting the coach and we as a team and a club were on the right track. Safe to say it was Lopetegui who was left to talk to the cameras after the game and offer up his apologise for another inept and frankly hugely disappointing display.

It is still early doors. They say time flies when you’re having fun. But it goes just as quickly when you’re not – and unless things change soon, we could find ourselves with a battle none of us envisaged.

* Like to share your thoughts on this article? Please visit the KUMB Forum to leave a comment.

* Disclaimer: The views and opinions expressed in this article are those of the highlighted author/s and do not necessarily represent or reflect the official policy or position of KUMB.com.