Dragan Skočić Appreciation Thread!

[persian_pooya]

Same. Also first half we were horrendous so I'm going to wait before passing full judgement.

[_Navid_]

Well, he proved me wrong for sure. I take back what I said earlier that we had no plan.

[rjafari]

typical PFDC. one guy creates an appreciation thread, another guy says Skocic produced one of the worst first halves of football ever....truth is, there isn't enough to judge him on yet. he's gotten results that any iran team should have gotten.

he's probably a class below what this team needs for the next round of wcq (and certainly same applies if we qualify to the wc...).

my hope is that CQ comes back for the final round of qualifying. i know people don't want to hear that, but we saw what happened in his absence. i doubt these moftkhor IR pieces of shit will let it happen but it makes a lot of sense. This is still CQ's team and he's only been gone for 1.5 years.

100% - survive the next two games - then bring him back!

[Hosseini]

Respectfully I don't agree, I think he got the result which was the #1 priority, and did come out with a gameplan. We defended conservatively at times in the first half while they had possession which was the right move in my opinion because allowing for an early Bahrain goal, at the time where they are most fresh, would've been completely demoralizing for the team. I think Bahrain came out with - one? - major opportunity, and calling it that is being gracious. The transitional defense was shaky at times but I don't think Skokic can really be blamed for that.

The starting XI was obviously not our strongest team, which is why he brought on some of our best core players in the 2nd half. There are some things to majorly disagree with, like Hajsafi on the pitch, but other than that I don't think he did a bad job.

Bringing on Ghoddos, Ezza, Torabi, totally caught the Bahraini's off guard second half, adding on to their wear and giving us a second wind.
Most importantly, a 3-0 win considering the extremely difficult position the team is in, with little preparation, no friendlies, and major stress on everyone's shoulders is a big, big deal. We all know AFC designed this system to rig it against us. Especially in Manama where we've NEVER won before.

Obviously, individual talent is going to carry this team far, no one denies that. But a bad coach can bring down a squad big time like we saw with Wilmots and for Skokic to reverse that bad energy and reinstall discipline and a united front for the team is an accomplishment and he should certainly be lauded for that

Still, can't jump the gun - we still haven't beat Iraq yet. Still work to do and that game will determine a lot about Skokic

BORO BABA
The guy started the worst xi possible that produced probably one of our most suicidual halves of football ever.
Only when forced to introduce ghoddos did game change (a player who should have started the game) and then when he brought in saeid for an injured vahid (another who should have started game) did we shit on bahrain like we should have done from minute 1.
And still he didnt sub the worst player on the pitch, hajsafi...
The guy is gone after this round. He is a moron in charge of one of the most talented generations ever
I do give him credit for at least recognizing how badly he fucked up and putting in ghoddos at half. Also whatever they spoke about with the players overall was solid bc they did not panic in second half.
Only if he drops the worst midfield combination in the history of TM for Iraq game will there be some evidence for appreciation thread.

[Hosseini]

Good points, he's not amazing, but definitely not atrocious. I don't think he can get the full potential out of the team so like you said still not sure if he should stay in the second round should we make it there.

That also depends on our options. We could also let him go and have another coach making the team worse knowing our federation, so important to be careful what we wish for. CQ for the second round would truly be ideal.

typical PFDC. one guy creates an appreciation thread, another guy says Skocic produced one of the worst first halves of football ever....truth is, there isn't enough to judge him on yet. he's gotten results that any iran team should have gotten.

he's probably a class below what this team needs for the next round of wcq (and certainly same applies if we qualify to the wc...).

my hope is that CQ comes back for the final round of qualifying. i know people don't want to hear that, but we saw what happened in his absence. i doubt these moftkhor IR pieces of shit will let it happen but it makes a lot of sense. This is still CQ's team and he's only been gone for 1.5 years.

[Nokhodi]

too early. If he drops hajisafi then ill post here

If we make it to the WC - I will post here

[Medzdidz]

Hajsafi will probably be player - coach when we get through so he can take all the set-pieces , throw ins and shout instructions from the side

[BacheLot]

a realistic look at the current lousy situation of our federation as a whole ...being broke as fk & ran and influenced by a bunch of beesavaad n biorzeh goozoos ..... he is just about as good we can hope to get for finishing off our WCQs run, although im not all too hopeful of qualifying to WC22 with him at helm..!!

like i said when everyone was on the case of CQ for playing defensively and wanting a coaching change...!! NO COACH is above criticism ..... but Can you Realistically Improve upon the situation at hand by dumping one coach for another ??? if not then besooz n besaazi behtareh..! than to compound our problems by firing eskoochie ... only to be getting some coach like ghalemorghi ? or some other even more hapless clown who isnt even committed to the job ..!!

i'd gladly have CQ back for next round but we dont have the money for him and that ship unfortunately has sailed already...!!? and unless you show a viable, more quality replacement, id rather stick it out with eskoocher ... although its evident that he still doesnt have a good grasp of his squad's strengths and weaknesses and yet to see his TM play with a clearly evident game-plan or identifiable tactics..!!?

[zereshk-ali]

Sadly we’re back to the days where we’re relying on individual performances.

You can blame lack of prep for a lot, but the gaps exploitable between that midfield and defence in the 1st half were sub professional level. Almost as bad as Wilmots.

[arasradio]

Skocic is the BEST
THANKS MAN 🙏🏼🙏🏼🙏🏼

[Prowess]

Some of the harsh criticisms of Skocic are unwarranted.

Badbakht the guy just started—he not only got the crucial victory against a team we had lost against, but against a team we had never won against away in resounding fashion: 3-0

I was upset at the starting lineup too, but maybe he wanted to play less offensive, then make adjustments in the 2nd half to be more offensive—which he did.

Part of the reason of our poor 1st half display was nerves, and understandably lack of chemistry.

I saw nothing wrong with our team’s tendency to pass back and playing it from the back. That’s posession football, you just need good chemistry to execute it. Also, none of our goals were from set pieces, and the build up to our goals were aesthetically pleasing to watch—especially the first 2.

Also, some people are conflating “ziresh bezan tactics” with our lack of chemistry. The coach did have a gameplan, and he executed it well to get the result, plus some change.

Let’s see how he performs in the remaining games, then drop the anvil if necessary. Damesh garm for getting us the result. On to Iraq.

[Futbaldoost]

I will talk about our coach after these four matches. I appreciate the fact that we have won the first two, specially the one today.

Go TM!

[Keano]

I always try to be as neutral and fair as I can when judging others. I detested our first half performance, particularly the first 20 minutes. However maybe that was part of Skocic's tactic? Maybe he tried to fool Bahrain by making them think we are penetrable and easy to beat, hence encouraging them to attack and press, rather than parking the bus and defend with 11 players inside their own half. Then in the second, he suddenly changed the flow of the game, by bringing on Ghoddos. What matters at the end of the day is the results. And he won the result with a very convincing scoreline of 3-0 in Bahrain's own home (I believe TM had never beaten them in Bahrain. Correct me if I am wrong please)

So rather than being negative Nancy, I'd much rather to reserve my judgement, wait till the first round of the qualifier is over and then release the final verdict!

[Keano]

I remember soooo many members behaved the same way in the first year of CQ's coaching

[Essi]

Sorry to spoil but he definitely doesnt deserve such a thread, at least not yet. The guy jeopardised our chances in a must win game by starting with worst ever lineup (Nourollahi, Hajsafi) among lot of other mistakes. I will thank him when he make sure we have qualified for the World Cup.