Whitey Grandad

Let's not kid ourselves that we were unlucky not to get a draw, or that Birmingham only beat us because of two scrappy goals. We ought to have scored another goal in the first half. There two good cutbacks from McGoldrick that Holmes should have connected with, Gillett(?) had a shot cleared off the line and John had an offside goal, but after 20 minutes Birmingham began to carve us open and also had a fluffed cutback and an offside goal. In the second half all that we had was the Stern John chance whereas Kelvin had a good one-on-one save and Birmingham had an offside goal and two real ones. At times we were being steamrollered. Bent & Jerome were pulling us all over the place. It was a classic case of men against boys and it was very depressing. Worst of all was that neither the management nor the players seemed to know what to do next and there are no real alternatives on the bench or in the treatment room.

That's the most accurate assessment that I've seen so far.

I was there as usual today and what I saw was exactly what I expected. A bright start with an even first half, although Quincy was skinning James at will, and a second half in which we were completely overpowered. We had the one good chance from John but apart from that we were steadily overrun and never looked like scoring again. Complete tactical ineptitude from the manager (sorry, coach) playing one up front at home and not changing it after Birmingham went ahead, although to be honest there was nobody on the bench to bring on. Where were BWP and Skacel and what is the point of paying them all this money to play golf? We have a desperately thin squad and I can see nothing positive to take out of the game. I can see absolutley no resons to be cheerful, but I shall be there every home game as usual. We are down to the bare bones, half a crowd, half a squad, half a football club.

I'm struggling to think of them. I think we'll be somewhere between 3rd and 7th from bottom. I can't see us keeping many clean sheets, mainly because of our chronic inability to defend set-pieces.

It's what Schadenfreude was invented for.

.... very good!

Agreed! Then all that we need is a keeper who doesn't flap at crosses (unflappable?) a midifeld dynamo/general and a couple of 20-goal-a-season forwards who can defend all over the pitch and we might get somewhere. It's easy this football management lark, isn't it?

Well I would like to think so, but I will reserve judgment on this until I have seen a few more games. I know that it won't get the crowds flocking back but all successful teams are based on a solid defence and it's a lot easier to keep the goals out than it is to score at the other end. For that you don't need skill or artistry but good, sound organisation coupled with strength and physical presence.

I'm struggling to think of many clubs to which this would apply. I understand that WBA did'nt want the money for Curtis Davis up front because they had already made a profit on sales that year so they let him go on loan for a season with the transfer fee paid a year later.

Not necessarily. It depends upon the loan agreement.

You are all concentrating on the goals scored and not on the defensive side of the game. It's one thing to try and play fast, 'attractive' 'total' football up at the top end of the park but what are the youngsters like at clearing a corner or defending a set-piece? How is D McG going to are against someone like Sh!ttu (yes, I know he's gone)? You can say what you like about Rasiak but at least he knew what to do at defending a free-kick.

Players' values are written down over the length of their contracts. If they had no value on the balance sheet then there would be a number of ways of hiding trading profits.

He was pushed.

In the week beginning the 25th August. There is an REM concert at the Rose Bowl on Wednesday 27th so I would expect Tuesday 26th.