I kind of feel a bit sorry for Ernie. Correct me if I'm wrong but out of the squad last week there were only two players...Hicks and Kenny that were Ernie's signings.
And Riera.... your points still stand though.
And Italiano. But he also signed Caira, Brindell-South, Rufer, Ridenton, I don't see the relevance of whether they made the squad or not. But yeah, it is always going to be difficult for a manager to come in and take over an existing team, especially one that didn't perform well in the previous season. He would have been aware of that coming in, no reason to feel sorry for him. If there is any reason to feel sorry I think it would be the number of close games with vital things just not going our way. I think people are largely prepared to be patient and give him a decent go because despite the lack of results there have been encouraging signs.