In fairness everyone thought we had a top 2 squad. Players, staff, fans. No one could have predicted the improvement in football through the league this year and so many of our players falling flat at the same time
Not sure that it's the improvement in the league that has seen us falling this far down. I feel the biggest problem we've encountered this season is that the senior players the club's relied on to turn us into perennial play-off contenders have hit a wall - which is not surprising given the age of most of those players. But there's also an element of bad luck - I guess you could anticipate 1 or 2 getting to that point, and a squad can absorb that, but when it's more than half your starting line-up, and you have a lot of donkey on the bench, things go pear-shaped really quickly.
I do think Ricki probably needs to go as a coach, not because he's terrible and, according to some, the root cause of all our problems, but because he and this group of players have basically gone as far as they could have, and have come to the end of their cycle. Bringing in a new coach won't change things immediately or dramatically (we'll still have lots of dead wood in the squad to get rid of over the next season or two), but will bring a new perspective and a more positive feel around the club, which is sorely needed at the moment.
Totally agree.
I don't think Ricki is terrible either - just not quite good enough.