derry

Derek Reeves or Chivers plus George O'Brien maybe but Syddy was part of the supply team along with Paine for all the strikers for years.

Didn't he come on at full back.

Potter had a long stint last night on Sky after the match where his career was discussed and he expounded his philosophies. He came over as extremely intelligent and clear.

He can shove his vegan football where the sun don't shine. Give me Bournemouth Meat and two veg football every time.

Last night showed us up for what we are. We knew how Bournemouth would play. We were sent out by the manager to demonstrate that our passing out from the back was far more sophistcated than their effort, high tempo and pressing. That went well. It is becoming evident that the players are being ground down by the straitjacket the manager has imposed on them playing out from the back or rather trying to. They don't believe in it but they have to do it. Years ago we had a saying pressure doesn't win matches only goals do that. Possession works in the same way. It is stopping the movement because players know even if they make penetrating runs the ball will go sideways or backwards so they spectate. The club isn't doomed, however carry on with this crass idea and we shortly will be. The team selection was a clusterfuck. Goalkeeper and back four ok. Midfield and forwards were totally out of shape. Worse there were incidents of unprofessionalism such as Ugochukwu turning his back and strolling away as Tavernier put the ball in. Firstly pick the ball up and secondly ask the referee where he wants it. That quick free kick couldn't have happened. Downes was all over the place not playing as a holding midfielder and for the second goal played Quattara onside as he was behind the defensive line and totally unaware. Only needed to step up a couple of yards and three were offside and no goal. I sense a lack of discipline and a play off the cuff mentality. Furthermore if we were going to try and get anything in the last half hour it was going to be "Hail Mary" football so sacrifice some of the football, stick Onuachu up with Stewart throw in BBD and go route one. Not sophisticated but a different problem for Bournemouth. Worst of all for me was apart from the back four there was no natural shape. Picking a side is an art not a science. It is the ten natural positions and the relationship between the players. Because of the unbalanced selection there was no team shape and blend. Personally, if Martin is still here on Saturday the club management is sitting on it's collective hands.

I can't remember but we were nowhere near the limit. I think it might be in the transfer 24 thread.

That was Kamikaze defending. Our defending on corners and free kicks is a nonsense. We don't need zonal marking, Use the best headers to attack the cross, leave three forwards out, That leaves four to mark up, If we left three up my bet is the opposition will keep four back together with one or two half way. that leaves four to mark four plus three best headers free to attack the ball. Sticking ten bodies in the box and allowing 8/9 attackers in there is just stupid. Together with the fact Morsey has grabbed late goals on more than one occasion last season.

There was an analysis done on our summer availability and we were nowhere near the limit. Discussed on here.

When we were going for the play offs under Burley we played Southend, they weren't very good and we won easily in the end. However they caused us all sorts of problems at our corners because they left three quick players up on the halfway line. Our panic was evident. If I was a defender our midfielders and forwards are the last people I'd want in our box. Far better to leave three of the quickest ones up on the halfway line. Personally I'd go with three but as we don't have one I suppose that is a bit much for this manager.. If say Archer, Dibling and one other depending who is playing up were put on the halfway line plus say Fernandez halfway I'd be very surprised if that didn't take half of the opponents team back into their own half. Managers would be terrified of a break. At that stage of the game tippy tappy is inappropriate time to put a boot through it, pure route one with players up. Then everybody out and fill the midfield.

RIP, I miss the Football Echo. I remember Bob well, Peter East was always ringing me up.

Not being picky but the goal came via Frasers run to the byeline then passing it back eventually to Lallana who found Dibling. I prefer a defender at full back on his natural side. KWP often leaves us wide open behind him. I prefer a strong back line and with Sugawara pushing forward Taylor was better defensively especially as we have no strong tackling midfielders.

I really don't get why we don't do something about that. What the management need to ask themselves is how many of our players in a similar situation are defensively sound. For me that excudes most of the midfielders and forwards. Fraser is good and Stewart is tall. The solution is simple stick a couple up on the halfway line, one on each touchline that will take at least three to cover. That'll take three attackers away, it'll also give a 9-6 numeric advantage in the area and disrupt who is in our box. It's no loss to our defence. Not only that it causes at least one or two to drop halfway increasing the advantage and giving the goalkeeper more space to get out and claim the cross. I've found over the years most attackers are a liability defensively because they don't mark properly, don't tackle or end up fouling and because they are there give the impression we are covering when in fact they are useless defensively so get them somewhere where thay could be some use. Bottom line is the goalkeeper or defender who wins the ball could hit a route one ball into the opponents half allowing everybody to get out quickly probably leaving a few offside.

No buy out clause would make more sense. We then sell him to wherever he wants to go for whatever fee we agree to accept. God only knows what he would be worth in a couple of years time.

I don't like what I'm seeing at the moment. We have a big squad and some decent players. On the other hand we have a manager who is dogmatic how we play. I always thought the way to get the best out of any eleven players was to allow them to complement each other and not shoehorn them into a specific formation, in Martin's case 5-3-2 or 4-3-3. Good managers set up their teams to get the best out of the players and always seem to get more out of the players than the sum of the parts. We're not doing that. Players have to be comfortable how they blend within the framework together with a lack of managers edicts on playing in a way they find uncomfortable. It's up to the manager to pick the best team which is not necessarily the ten best players and then find it's natural shape and balance and let it play. That doesn't mean 70% possession with 50% in our own final third because it allows the opposition to get back in numbers and block our attacks. The slowness of our buildups is making successful attacks very difficult. That more than anything will cause us to concede goals and lose matches. We need to play less in our own half and more in the oppositions half with a higher tempo.

Possibly doesn't pass back to the goalkeeper enough. Passing out from the back plays havoc with the meaningless possession percentage. Imagine the disaster of him passing forward to Dibling who goes on a run and scores, that's only one pass we don't want that.

I think last night proved conclusively that Adam Armstrong cannot play as a lone central striker. We now have a choice of Stewart, BBD and Onuachu. Archer also doesn't look like he performs well as a lone striker. Personally I feel we should play two strikers and tailor the shape with Dibling on the right, he is so unpredictable and a real threat.

Martin was in denial, he'd messed up and knew it and only made himself look like a bigger prat than he is. BBD should have taken it. Archer was frozen with nerves it wasn't Cardiff's second team in a nearly empty stadium it was MU in a sell out stadium and it was his first penalty FFS on his club debut.

I saw it live and the close up of his face before he took the penalty was full of tension. I've seen it many times during penalties and shoot outs and invariably resulted in a miss. It was a stupid decision with a experienced competent penalty taker on the field. Nobody could predict the outcome but it should have been more difficult for Utd unless we did our usual backing off once in front and gave up the game to Utd.

I was watching live, I couldn't understand why he was taking it. During the delay the camera panned into his face as he stood holding the ball. I've seen that face many times during shoot outs and it mostly meant a miss. I felt then there was going to be a doubt and sure enough he froze, his penalty was awful. I knew BBD was a competent penalty taker 7/7. It was a no brainer that he took the penalties if AA wasn't available. Archer wasn't even a good choice he was a gamble and we paid the price. It was a massive downer when he missed it. Maybe another example of RM's stupidity. The biggest moment in the game.

Archer looked full of tension and a rabbit in the headlights. In the event it was an awful penalty. He froze. Handing him the ball was a player with a perfect 100% 7 goals from 7 penalties. An awful decision for a player to take his first penalty at 0-0 against MU in his first start in the Premier League for us. BBD was a no brainer. A proper captain which Stephens isn't would have stepped in. With the delay so could the manager having ducked the decision in the first place. If this is an indication of our decision making we are in deep trouble.

I personally don't think we are a basket case yet. Martin has been here a year and looks wedded to 4-3-3 or 5-3-2. I think one of our problems is that we don't get strikers into the box. I thought that Archer was a peripheral figure yesterday, running up and down on his own doesn't cut it. We have to get two strikers close together into the box. If he doesn't want to play 4-4-2 then adjust the 4-3-3. Play Dibling on the right, then put two strikers into the middle. The left of the middle three could support and cover KWP on the left. Dibling looks really aware and looks to play on the 45 as he did with his shot yesterday. KWP or the Left midfielder could do the same. Defensively we should hold one full back to support the two centre backs with Downes curbing his forward play and playing more defensively. Yesterday KWP was drifting inside so his winger was causing us problems. Stephens moving into midfield was compounding KWP's problems. He was sent off for a tackle well up the field. The Centre Backs have to hold their positions and if one full back is attacking the other one has to hold. We then have four defenders if the line is broken with others looking to get back in numbers. All the while the tempo has to be high. It's not symmetrical but it gives us width and two strikers. We've now got Archer, Armstrong, BBD, Onuachu and Stewart to give us options. We have to find out what they can do and which is the best pair.

I've seen several lower ranking Premier teams. Everton, Palace, Bournemouth, Forest amongst others. In comparison they are all more dynamic with a high tempo whereas we play far too slowly with a low tempo. That needs to change if we are to stand any chance of survival. In addition now they are here at least until January we have to seriously look at whether ABK and Onuachu can do anything for us whether as substitutes or starters. Nice to see Ross Stewart back playing. If RM is awake he could put out an interesting alternative team on Tuesday giving chances to Onuachu, ABK, Stewart, Fraser and Cornet.

Watch his goals video. He takes penalties.

I don't trust Jack Stephens. Firstly he is a ball watcher to the exclusion of doing his job so loses his mark. He is prone to stupid passes dropping others in it. Today in a back four he left his position and pushed into midfield, that drew KWP out of position into the middle to try and cover Bednarek. The ball was lost and hit out to the right , Utd attacked. KWP was dragged out, luckily we got players back, Stephens tried but didn't make it, really poor judgement on his part. I really don't see that playing to that standard he can be captain.

Who takes the penalties is a management decision. Armstrong wasn't on the pitch so somebody should have been designated. BBD 7 from 7 was a no brainer. Archer taking his first penalty was a no no. RM needs reaming, if he left it to the players it's scandalous. The TV showed Archer's face before he took the penalty. The tension was obvious, he looked like a rabbit in the headlights. As soon as I saw it, I thought he was going to freeze. He did, the penalty was awful, that was his first now make it his last. The delay taking it got to him, not only were the MU players blatantly delaying it by arguing, Stuart Attwell was letting them. Sending a couple off would soon stop that. He waved enough yellow cards however he was right about that red. If I was Stephen's manager I'd have dropped him for that tackle. He missed, if he was going to get sent off he should have cleaned him out.