mishtergrolsch

First half of last season I'd have paid an extra fiver to have him in charge of the team.

I agree with this. Maybe bring Pawlett on after an hour to see if he can make an impact when they are tiring. Get the ball in the box at every opportunity. I haven't seen Brown play but if he's available I'd chuck him in so Butcher can move up and allow Harkes to just get forward.

So we're moving on from the actual point of your questions to you telling me that not only am I upset but I boo at football matches. Are you 12? FWIW I have never booed once in my life. I've cheered a 6-2 victory though. Twice. Oh, and I'm most definitely not getting upset over some tube on a football forum - but thanks for playing. You tried harder than your team did at Tannadice. Maybe you'll get a game next time. And worry because by then, maybe Neilson WILL be playing his attacking team.

He changed tactics and the performance was shite. I'm happy we won but it was not fun to watch. That's my point - I just see football as something that should be entertaining. Yes his record is good but so it should be. He's got a massive budget and a big squad in a league where most clubs haven't got a pot to pish in. I have no idea if I no more than Neilson, maybe he nos more than I know he nos. I don't know. I'm just wondering where I'm going wrong in asking why he always ends up reverting to boring or awful football when to me, it would be easier to keep the momentum of attacking football going. I'd far rather you didn't imagine me, thanks. Quick question though. What the f**k does all this have to do with you?

I'm not talking nonsense. He used the same tactics for 4 out of 6 matches. 442. He has clearly won 5 games you muppet.

No - you're incorrect.

For me it would be the team and formation v Dundee after Butcher was moved into defence. 442. 2 proper strikers and two wide players that can take a man on.

Imagine playing his best team and formation AND winning games? Madness, I know.

Basically, this.

I've been following United for over 30 years. I've seen some dire stuff. The last two season in particular. When Neilson sets his team up like he did on Saturday, which was the norm last season too, and seems to be his go to system, Its crap. When he sets up with two up front, like the Dundee game, we scored 6. They were so worried about Shankland everyone else had tons of space. On results, 0-5 loss to Ayr at home under Neilson is one of the worst I've seen. There were a few others around then too. Neilson is just really really stubborn and seems he would rather try to fit his favourites into a system that they do not suit rather than play a way which compliments the squad at his disposal. We are clearly not going to agree, I would rather enjoy watching a team set up to utilise its best players in their best positions and attack opposition teams. If you are content with the same out of position, slow, huff and puff style stuff that Neilson always reverts to then that is also your right. I have found teams who play well tend to win more often than teams that put in terrible performances.

Generally speaking, a team that plays positive football will gain more points over the long run than a team that plays negative football. More specifically, a team with players like Shankland, Mcmullan, Pawlett, Harkes, Cammy Smith and Mark Reynolds shouldn't be set up to sit back against part time or even full time championship teams. Especially at home. The manager has already proven that himself this season strangely enough. I guess some people don't seem to think fans should want to be entertained for paying into a football game. The odd shite game or two are fine but I'd honestly say over two thirds of the games under Neilson have been poor to watch. Crap games lead to crap atmospheres which are all too regular these days. Theres nothing to get excited about watching Benji pass to Butcher pass to Reynolds pass to Harkes pass to Butcher pass to Robson pass to Reynolds pass to Stanton pass to Benji pass to Butcher then FUCKING HOOF! to Shankland who's fallen into a boredom induced coma. Throw in some of the worst performances and results seen in the club's history and you should understand why fans get pissed off quicker now than ever!

This is the key factor that is splitting fans imo. Some will tolerate eye bleedingly bad football and some won't. I have found the vast majority of Neilsons time here awful to watch. Yes, points win prizes but it's not entertaining. The way he set up against Arbroath was unbelievable. 1 striker at home to a part time team who were in the league below us last season. (No disrespect intended to Arbroath who could argue they were worth a point at the very least) If we get promoted would anyone expect Celtic to play slowly across the back and play1 isolated forward against us next season at Celtic Park? They probably could do and still beat us 8-0 anyway but you get the point.

That's too simple, Granny. He tried it earlier in the season and it worked well. We've got to make it really difficult for ourselves.

Agree entirely. Especially about the high press / intensity. Its disappeared and it shows. If you hassle teams higher up the park, especially in this league, you will cause chaos.

That was pish. With 5 minutes to go I would have expected Neilsons job to be under threat. That team selection and setup was a joke. Why shunt the ball about the back with two centre halfs that cannot pass a ball unless its 50 feet in the air when they finally pass forwards? Not many pass marks other than Shankland for his two goals and Harkes did ok in fits and starts. Sporle surprised me too, wasn't as terrible as I expected. Chalmers did well too. Other than that...meh. Neilson gets a 4 / 10. Must start doing better from the get go. Felt sorry for the interloping smokie fiddlers, that shot that rattled the post could have finished the game. They weren't very good to watch but they were well drilled and effective. Exactly the type of team we struggle against. A guy in front of me nearly had a seizure every time their keeper was wasting time. That's exactly what any team in their position would do. Plus, even if they did waste 5, even 10 minutes, we would have had 80 minutes to score against a part time team at home with players like Shankland, Pawlett, McMullan, Smith etc. All well paid pros. 2 up front please.