coalman

Twang. Che clean through

Get in

COYR, let's get after this one early.

That midfield looks.... porous. Brooks isn't going to tackle back much either. On the plus side we've picked our strongest back 4. And Che's banjo is ready to continue its end of season feast. Good to see Dibling on the bench as well.

Because some combination of Wilcox / Martin would rather bring attacking midfielders on loan than trust him in the first team 😢

Leicester on course to be the first team to 90 points this season in the Championship.

There's no way Leicester, Leeds or Ipswich are going to drop points two weekends running. Even before we choke at Cardiff.

There are no guarantees but he's by far our 2nd best DM.

Cardiff will be the latest team to get banjoed. Che once again stranded one goal short of his hat-trick.

Charles hasn't looked out of place.

Player grabs players arm. Player spins round. Player falls over. Nothing to see here

Pros: Bednarek and THB. Aribo and Downes. Charles on the bench. Cons: Brooks. Plenty good enough to win this. COYR

I'm worried our team sheet isn't going to contain enough attacking midfield options. We need to feed Che's banjo and keep it fed.

I think it's fair to say we have a lot of potential to improve at both ends of the pitch.

I always read @trousersposts in my head in a Sid James voice.

True. I miss those days

Our scouts focus mostly on attacking midfielders.

Remember when we were being linked with players like Watkins? 😢

Madness.

Arsenal have started brightly

It's not just the result. It's hearing Carragher's one sided commentary sink into quiet despair.

When you put it like that - maybe we should stay in the Championship 😉

I would say a combination of squad too bloated with loans. Some poor recruitment and a lack of faith. So a bit of everything really. The problem is we've made much of our model to attract the academy stars from big clubs who haven't got a pathway into their first teams. And, our business model is based on buying, developing and selling these players for a profit. Not every player is going to be Lavia or Livramento but if they look at Saints and think "I'm not going there because they manager doesn't trust the likes of Charles, Dibling, Amo-Ameyaw and Meghoma" then they're just going to take the most lucrative offer on the table. Not every young player will work out. But, right now I'd be looking at that team and bench and thinking the manager doesn't trust younger players. When we look back at this season I think we'll have missed a real opportunity to nurture some really talented players. Irrespective of whether we are promoted our not. And, if we're not promoted we probably aren't going to have a choice but to throw those younger players onto the pitch, given the scale of the exodus we'll be facing. And, as you say, if not this season then when?

One could argue that, goals aside, Rothwell hasn't been exactly consistent in that role. He's looked suspect as a midfielder until he gets into the box where his finishing has been excellent. Same goes for Brooks who has had some nice touches but seems to have unsettled our system. Stu is also going through a bit of a rough patch at the moment. Manning was excellent yesterday but had previously been inconsistent. With our other loanees - THB has been immense at CB, Downes has been the same in DM and Fraser has given us a real direct cutting edge whenever he's come on. Whilst we don't know what's going through Martin's head or how hes' worked together with Wilcox in bringing in players. There does seem to be a focus on midfielders who can attack to the point of unbalancing the side. Whether that's Wilcox or Martin having gone to Wilcox and saying "I want more attacking midfielders" we'll never know. We do know Martin picks the side and the bench would indicate he's focused on attacking options to the exclusion of covering other positions.