mulletsaint

Dunno about desperation, realism maybe. I'll admit I was one of those who believed that due to what he has done for the club Davis deserved his chance at the big time but I also felt we needed to get in some quality cover. While a lot of good things have been said about Gazzaniga whether he is ready to step in is obviously open to question. Whether we couldn't get the targets we were after or whether we were initially happy with what we've got is also open to conjecture. What is not is that a fit and on form Craig Gordon would be a great signing for many teams. You'd have to say that there has to be some pretty serious doubts over his future ability to stay fit doing the rounds. Either that or he is simply demanding too big a wage for anyone to be prepared to take the risk.

Possibly. As I said I thought the defensive coaching needed work. However if Mr. Neville is to be believed it's less about coaching and shape and more about individual errors. Kinda feel I'm chasing my tail on this one.

I don't disagree with what is relevant and was is not. On the subject of histrionics I'm not speaking about any one specific person or thread just the way in which some feel the need to be sensationalist in getting their points across. If you need me to go searching for specific posts then you are as blinkered as some others on here.

Now now Shurlock. It's easier to believe that Adkins stepped on the tail of Cortese's white Persian cat and as a result he decided to teach the naughty boy a lesson and not purchase any more of his defensive transfer targets.

For the same reason some are willing to slate the club at every turn. There are relentlessly positive idiots and relentlessly negative idiots. The reality is probably somewhere in between. As you and Turkish say, something failed but who or what it was is unknown and any thoughts we put on here are merely guesses. It could be other clubs fault, NC's fault, someone else within the club, targets not wanting to come, not agreeing on any one of a multitude terms of a potential deal with either the player or the selling club, other clubs being unwilling to sell. Who knows? I'll happily debate it all day long but it would be nice of we could have a bit less of the histrionics.

I think a couple of you have kinda answered your own questions. In my opinion we have on the whole bought players that the managers, both Pardew and Adkins, thought could make the step up. Players like Lambert, Fox and Fonte from what i remember of quotes at the time were brought in because it was thought they would be a success in all divisions. While others like Hammond, Barnard and Harding are examples of players who were probably seen as a means to an end, namely to get us where we wanted to be but not necessarily to keep us there. I'd imagine on the whole the players we have in the squad are those that it was felt could make the step up. Of course managers make errors of judgement all the time but this could explain why players that are getting a slating on here are actually still very much in Adkins' plans. It could also explain why NC could have felt justified in not purchasing as many of Nigel's defensive targets and going for the exciting signings instead (conjecture). I'll admit that NC meddling does seem a plausible reason but this is far from being the proven fact that some on here seem to think.

Bloody hope not. Also not sure he fits in with the new club philosophy.

Ignore him he's obviously trying for an image change.

On Saturday we may have, against Man U it was the opposite.

I was worried before the fixture list came out, even more worried when it did, even more worried when the window shut without more defensive cover coming in. Still hopeful though. Especially if DPS's enquiry has sorted out the club's transfer dealings in time for January.

I'd wager that it'll come a few years before you manage it.

My worry about the defense at this stage is less about the personnel and more about the coaching. If you look at Arsenal's defence it is the same players as last season but they are defending much better this time around. Most observers and 'experts' would say that this is down to new defensive coach Steve Bould. Having seen their disarray at times last season this would suggest that contrary to what some on here would have us believe, decent coaching can and does make a difference no matter the players. Now yes I am aware that Arsenal have a couple of experienced international players at the heart of their defence but you get my point. They also have a right back who was playing in League 1 just over a year ago. The fact is that our defence looked shaky at times last season and playing up a level is compounding this. Individually I don't think our defence is bad but I think we are lacking something in how they and the team are coached to defend. I'm not saying I want Adkins out but I think he needs to improve here. At times last season I felt it was as much about how the midfield defends as the back four and Saturday's performance would seem to bear this out. The promising thing here is that against Man U the midfield did their defensive jobs superbly on the whole. There have been too many individual errors as well and this could be for a number of reasons but I'd suggest the pressure on the players this season has ramped up significantly and this is something they need to deal with ASAP. I think we have the players to keep us up, even in the weaker area of defense, but they need some real hard work on the training pitch to tighten things up. One thing that will really lead to more mistakes will be pressure from the fanbase and a nervous atmosphere in the ground. Maybe the fact that we believe we belong at this level brings problems here. We're desperate to survive and relegation seems unthinkable. Fans of teams like Blackpool stick with their team no matter what when they're in the Prem because for them it's an adventure. I think we as fans need to look back on the dark days and our subsequent rise out of it and get behind the team no matter what. Relegation may put dent in our plans with players leaving but as long as we still have the financing and support of the Liebherr family there is no reason we can't bounce straight back like WH and achieve our long term goals.

Great post FC. Couldn't have said it better myself.

Dunno about far worse but definitely worse than this year. Lots of clubs in turmoil but few this year, barring possibly Liverpool. Whatever you think about the amount of players QPR have bought, once they start to gel they'll do much better this season. Arsenal are a much better team this year. No panic buys, quality players bought early and a new defensive coach. No way they'd have thumped us 6-1 last season. We definitely have a more shaky rearguard but also I believe a more potent attack than the teams mentioned.

Well, glad that run of games is over! Unfortunately if we don't get the win next week we've got Everton away the following week which will be tough. In fact our first run of winnable games seems to start the back end of October. I guess what I'm saying is stick behind the team and the manager. We need to keep up last week's level of performance week in week out then we should be ok, weak defence or not. Any more starts like today and we're really gonna struggle.

Much like you mate I'd imagine. Very few well informed on here just many with differing opinions.

Yup, how long til Giroud comes on. Seem to remember both Bergkamp and Henry scoring after a drought against us.

Sure Guly didn't have something to do with it?

Right, hard hat well and truly in place. We obviously didn't ignore it due to the fact that we had bids for Butland turned down and had Buttner fall through due to the infamous third party. Maybe we felt that those we could get were no better than what we have. Due to the way we conduct our business we'll never know half the players we tried for so to claim that we weren't aware of where we need to strengthen is a flawed argument. I won't argue that we are incredibly short at the back. Unfortunately the opening fixtures we've been handed have left little room for error and errors are definitely something we seem to be specializing in at the moment.

5 Live

Looks like this and the Man U games may have came along the wrong way around. Looks like Wigan may have got lucky with Kagawa and RVP requiring a late fitness test before this weekend's matches.

A family that I know through my eldest son has boys at Chelsea and Fulham. Not seen the latter's complex but went down to watch the youngest training at Chelsea on the way to picking up our older boys from the airport. Gotta say I was really impressed. They seem to have two large buildings, one for the first team and one for the other teams. Not sure of how the total indoor space and facilities compares to our plans. Could work out having all the teams including first team rubbing shoulders in the same place but not sure how the 'stars' will react. The chap that took me along had been to Spurs a week or so back with his older boy and he said that their complex was the best he'd ever seen. If it's better than Chelsea's it must be the dog's.

Still, we could be Welsh.

Thought we might push on and win this but down to ten wouldn't surprise me if we **** it up again.