Roy (and I am not defending him) inherited a poor squad on the way down. Roy caught the falling knife thst was bequethed to him by Rafa to an extent, Roy has not helped himself. But we must apportion some of the blame where it belongs RAFA.
I'm really not buying into this "it's a poor squad" rubbish myself.
No, it's not the strongest squad in the world. But is it better than Blackburn's? Is it better than Blackpool's? Is it better than Wolves's, and Stoke's? 'Course it is.
We have the three-times winner of the Barclays Golden Glove in goal. All the defenders in front of him are internationals, all the ones in the squad Roy inherited represented their countries at the World Cup. The midfield is packed with international players, and we have the Spanish number 9 up front. That is not a poor squad.
The worst players in the squad are probably Konchesky and Poulsen. And they weren't in the squad Roy inherited.
It is a good squad - with room for improvement, no argument there - but a good squad nonetheless.
But it is, of course, a good squad that is performing poorly at the moment. When Rafa was in charge, he had to take the responsibility for that. Now Roy is in charge,
he has to take the responsibility for it.
Blaming the squad doesn't make sense. It's just not
that bad. Blaming the previous manager (while ignoring the rather large hand the club executives and owners have in building squads) makes even less sense.