Players on the pitch lose Managers their jobs. They absolve themselves of all responsibility and let the fans and press go after the manager simply to keep attention away from their individual failings.
The balance of power has changed - it isn’t the manager any more; it’s not a Ferguson, Wenger or even a Moyes dictatorship where the Manager handled the contracts, had the power to bin players off and earned the most money.
Silva is the coach, responsible for preparing and picking the team. Brands does the deals these days, it’s more convenient to lay the blame at the manager and the indulged millionaires know this. I bet most of the players slept more soundly than Silva did last night - they know and we know who is most likely to take the blame for that (and recent) displays.
Of course he has a responsibility, but so do the players. Time for the Board (Brands) to say how it is - either back him and do it now publicly so the players who are playing up and getting away with a casual arrogance of its not their fault know the spotlight is coming their way - or sack him and start the circus again.
Doing nothing creates a vacuum of uncertainty and when that happens the malaise lingers on. I actually don’t know if Silva’s good enough. What I do know is that our first team haven’t been good enough for years.
So, punting him after six months suggests we have an alternative and better option. We don’t. Back him and take stock in the summer.