Hopper

Happy to see the Janny redemption arc play out. Thought he was outstanding last year and is probably our most consistent and complete CB. Good business to tie him down as he’s just hitting his prime at 28.

Forrest are a better side than Ipswich and Bournemouth should be a game we target to take something from. If we can’t take points from these games it leaves us very few realistic opportunities.

Fraser offered comparable attacking stats but provided a lot more cover defensively and brings more players into the game with a better range of passing and vision. Contributing more to the overall team dynamic. You only have to have a pair of working eyes to see that.

I think the Ipswich and Bournemouth games are pivotal. 4 points on the board by the end of these should be the minimum expectation. Anything less and I think the board need to take action.

Glad to see that a few days grace has brought at least some semblance of balance to this thread… Thought I was on an island for not calling for the man’s head after 3 games. He will need to adapt, I think he’s made it clear he will adapt and evidence suggests that he’s open to it. I don’t for a second think that means he’s going to bin off his philosophy and ways of working as some have suggested he needs to do but I do think the subs against Brentford were telling, they were early and they were reflective of the changes many of us had urged from the start. It’s encouraging at least that he didn’t wait and had the courage of his convictions to move early. Did it work? No... But how many times did we see Ralph, Nate et al. Not make those kind of decisions. He is an inexperienced manager at this level that much we know. But we’re going to find out if he’s a competent manager. Id suggest he’s probably learnt more in the last three games than he’s learnt in the last three seasons. Now the metal hits the road and we see what he’s made of. Im behind the team and I hope we find solutions. The potential is there, now we just need to realise it.

Was in the Championship mate. Doesn't count... 🙃

Definitely how I saw this signing too and I wonder if Ramsdale will get the opportunity to help shape the way we build up. His low driven drop kicks are absolutely a massive strength and something we should be leveraging.

I think you need to watch the goal again. It’s scored from play built from the back and passed about the back line then through the midfield.

He literally said that the setup and detail was wrong mate almost the first sentence from the man's mouth... Seriously a few of you on here just hearing what you want to hear...

But you weren't talking about his tactics you were questioning his character, saying he was deflecting blame... He isnt, that was pretty clear in his words he was full of praise for the payers and took responsibility that he did not set them up tatically and that lead to errors. Say what you want about the man; He's tactically out of his depth, he's naive, he's stubborn. and I would agree with all of that. What he isn't doing is shirking the responsibility of it and deflecting... that was Nathan Jones. There is clearly a lot to do but don't make stuff up just to suit your narrative.

https://bbc.co.uk/sport/football/live/cgl28xezy29t Listen to his interview instead of making assumptions. He says the payers are doing what he's asking them to do and he conceeds that the setup and the detail isn't right. You can be opinionated that's your right, but don't talk nonsence. He accepts responsibility and isn't deflecting in the slightest.

I'd wholey disagree with this most interviews he accepts full responsibility even when it's not directly his fault.

Smallbone is absolutely the biggest culprit for this but I actually thought KWP was doing this excessively against brentford. There were a lot of times he had a fairly safe ball on to Downes but instead went to Jack Janny or THB. Even better he could have played forward to BBD who had space on a number of occasions.

Bang on mate. I think this is exactly it. It's a result of the players either not implementing or not being capable of implementing at this level. We saw it work well last season (for the most part) but this level of opposition are asking different questions of the defence and currently we don't have the answers. Honestly fascinated to see what gives first; The players, the system or the coach.

For me at least it’s not the idea. It’s the execution. I think it’s safe to say he’s not getting what he’s asking them to do. Him pulling THB off in consecutive matches shows that. The question now is do the players start to implement it properly (I’ve got fears that we may not have the personnel to do it at this level) or does he try to mitigate it tactically. One of the two needs to give. I think a return to a back 4 would be a good start. THB and Janny B built a strong partnership last season and right now the balance feels way off with Jack jammed in there. That would free us up to bring in a few of the fresher faces (Matty F, Dibling, Archer) and provide a few more options for the defence when playing out. 3 at the back just isn’t working and it’s a contrast to how we played most of last season.

In what world did you infer that? I simply used that as an example of what Martin wants to achieve regularly. Evidently it’s not where we are now especially against current opposition. But that is the template of an ideal performance. He wants to aim for that in every game. Not this slow paced constant back passing. He was frustrated at Newcastle because we took our foot off and sent it back unnecessarily. The issue at the moment as many have pointed out is that the level of opposition is much higher and we are paying the price for not moving the ball quickly enough through the lines. I’m sure he would much rather we shift it faster and forwards but it’s not happening. Be it the players, the system or the opposition and he’s going to need to find solutions to make a difference there. The point I was making is that an ideal performance for him doesn’t look like the ponderous back passing we’ve been seeing. It’s just a by-product of him not adapting his tactics quickly enough to nullify it.

I agree with a great deal of this. I’m not some unrelenting Martin apologist. I think we do need to be more pragmatic, I do also think his stubbornness can be a detriment. At our best last season we did break the lines well, played with tempo and I think that is how he probably wants than to play. I think the performance against Swansea in the first 60 minutes is the ‘perfect’ Martin performance. If we played like that each week I think we would all be chuffed. As I mentioned in my first reply I hope that the penny has dropped for a few things based on that last match and we see an improved setup when we are back from the international break. I just get frustrated at those throwing their hand up and wanting him out after 3 games. I hope we adapt as we did when needed last season and build some momentum.

I don’t disagree at all but I also don’t recall us creating this much in our last PL outing. despite the scoreline we weren’t blown away by Brentford. We were neck and neck in a lot of key areas but we were undone by individual errors and poor finishing. On another day this match could have finished very differently.

No of course you can. But just saying we need to play with more tempo and disregard the work that’s been done and the success found last season after 3 games without any construction is just moaning isn’t it.

I’ve openly asked for suggestions on who should replace him and how we should play but it’s eerily quiet. Could it be some just like to moan and not think critically? 🤔

So no suggestions on who should replace him or how we should play? Russ isn’t changing the way he works. That’s WHY he was brought in. It’s why a number of players have bought in. You hear the term ‘earn the right to play’ in football a lot. I think Russ has more than earned the right to manage us this season win lose or draw and that knee jerking 3 games in is hyperbolic.

Let me ask this, those who are so discontent. How are you solving the issue? Who are you bringing in? How are they set up to play? Genuinely curious what you have in mind.

They aren’t though are they? They made individual errors. 🤷‍♂️

Ramsdale joined knowing the score and knowing the project. We are trying to build the long term stability of the club that’s the project. SR are clearly invested. The players who have joined are invested. It’s just sad that a section of our fan base aren’t invested. We’re 3 games into a first premier league season. We are ONE POINT off 15th and TWO POINTS off 12th. And I for one remember the constant pressure we put ourselves under with Ralph, Nathan Jones and Seles. Live short in the memory huh? At least now there is a measure of control. How many points did we drop because we conceded late in games too knackered to maintain the press?