warsash saint Posted 5 November, 2012 Share Posted 5 November, 2012 Nige sounded quite determined to me. Fair play to him - I don't want him to get sacked. This ... rather go down with NA than get HR in! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
S-Clarke Posted 5 November, 2012 Share Posted 5 November, 2012 Could have been a different game. I would keep Nigel regardless, think he's the man to take us back up if/when we go down. At least give him January to make some signings - we all saw what QPR did last season. Yeah, that didn't do them a great deal of good in all honesty. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SuperMikey Posted 5 November, 2012 Share Posted 5 November, 2012 Yeah, that didn't do them a great deal of good in all honesty. Well they plugged gaps in their team and stayed up. I'd take that right now. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Thedelldays Posted 5 November, 2012 Share Posted 5 November, 2012 Could have been a different game. I would keep Nigel regardless, think he's the man to take us back up if/when we go down. At least give him January to make some signings - we all saw what QPR did last season. It never works that way...... Going down and being an immediate success Huge player turn over. Cost cutting all over. Having a huge losing habit I think you like in dream world if you think we would go down and Nigel would weave his magic Bolton are doing far worse than the other two that went down last season... The kept coyle It very rarely ever works and to think so is living in some romantic dream world Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chez Posted 5 November, 2012 Share Posted 5 November, 2012 (edited) The fear factor is coming into play. Last season we were confident, positive and, to quote WGS, brave with the ball which is critical if you've going to put teams under pressure. Because we're defending breakaways so badly, there's a fear of losing the ball, no pace, no movement. Everything's in slow motion and mainly sideways. Even the long ball to Ricky option wasn't an option tonight. He won very little, and when he did there was no movement off him or anticipation. Yes it's team with weaknesses but the sapping confidence is a bigger worry. IF they could put a couple of wins together, I believe they would climb the table. But it's where those couple of wins are going to come from. This is exactly how I read it. We have lost our bottle to take possession of the ball in tight spaces and keep it. We play safe, Rory Delap style balls away from danger that don't lead directly to goals but by giving the ball away cheaply pressure builds and we eventually fall. Davis and Morgan had shockers. Confidence has gone and that spells big trouble. At the start of the season I didn't see three sides weaker than us and my opinion hasn't changed. Maybe that's why I am more forgiving of NA. I knew it would be tough and therefore its no surprise we're finding it so. The question is can Adkins ride out the storm and find a winning formula? It's looking desperate. Edited 5 November, 2012 by Chez Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Saint Fan CaM Posted 5 November, 2012 Share Posted 5 November, 2012 Had something else on and didn't listen to the game - glad I didn't to be honest as it sounds awful. While in one respect I would be surprised if NC sacked NA, I think Nigel has some pride about him and will offer to walk. Perhaps it's come to this. But I tell you this - Reed should go with him. Benitez is the only available manager I can think of who might sort this squad out and hopefully spend wisely in January without interference. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ericofarabia Posted 5 November, 2012 Share Posted 5 November, 2012 Shocking. At least I had the distraction of loads of babes to look at. WBA weren't all that good yet won at a canter. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mr Saints Posted 5 November, 2012 Share Posted 5 November, 2012 Big well done to the fans, superb effort. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
notnowcato Posted 5 November, 2012 Share Posted 5 November, 2012 It never works that way...... Going down and being an immediate success Huge player turn over. Cost cutting all over. Having a huge losing habit I think you like in dream world if you think we would go down and Nigel would weave his magic Bolton are doing far worse than the other two that went down last season... The kept coyle It very rarely ever works and to think so is living in some romantic dream world Worked alright for West Brom. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bucks Saint Posted 5 November, 2012 Share Posted 5 November, 2012 just watching the highlights of the west ham v city game...west hame made it very hard for city that day...pilled men behind the ball and had a goal disallowed Goal disallowed correctly. Spot on decision per GN on Sky tonight Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Graffito Posted 5 November, 2012 Share Posted 5 November, 2012 This is exactly how I read it. We have lost our bottle to take possession of the ball in tight spaces and keep it. We play safe, Rory Delap style balls away from danger that don't lead directly to goals but by giving the ball away cheaply pressure builds and we eventually fall. Davis and Morgan had shockers. Confidence has gone and that spells big trouble. At the start of the season I didn't see three sides weaker than us and my opinion hasn't changed. Maybe that's why I am more forgiving of NA. I knew it would be tough and therefore its no surprise we're finding it so. The question is can Adkins ride out the storm and find a winning formula? It's looking desperate. Yes and in the previous two seasons I would say if asked to describe Adkins in a nutshell I would have said team builder and confidence builder. It's a real concern. There comes a point where you would expect to see the players say sod it if we are going to lose then we do it by playing the way we have played to get to PL. But there doesn't seem to be that leadership or character on the pitch. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Leicestersaint Posted 5 November, 2012 Share Posted 5 November, 2012 Several of our players are simply not good enough - Fox, Maya, Fonte, Davis, Gassinga, etc. I woudlkeep NA and see if things get better - we are currently very unlucky and not getting the breaks. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Under Weststand Posted 5 November, 2012 Share Posted 5 November, 2012 Well that was poor, midfield was awful tonight. Schneiderlin was AWOL and guilty of throwing the towel in never did he bust a gut to get back. Davis was just dreadful pure and simple. This is the main problem for me, whilst the defence is poor they are getting little or no protection from a powder puff midfield. The full backs are being overloaded time and time again. Confidence is waning fast and very fragile at present. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
T.REX Posted 5 November, 2012 Share Posted 5 November, 2012 We just cannot seem to find the right balance: the wide players are too attacking leaving the full backs exposed. Davis and Schneiderlin are good ball-players but nowhere near physical enough. But we just don't have the personnel to come in and fix the problems. What's inexcusable though is the lack of fight we showed today. We've got to start playing every game like its a cup tie (and not the kind at Elland Road last week). Where's the spirit we showed in League 1 and the Championship? Personally i'd like to see Nige given a bit longer to turn it around, I still believe he's a good manager and a top bloke, but if he does go i can think of one person i'd happily see back (but can't see him getting on with Cortese somehow and he might just fancy the Scotland job). Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sour Mash Posted 5 November, 2012 Share Posted 5 November, 2012 Been saying it for a while now. We're good enough, but the confidence has completely gone. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rebel Posted 5 November, 2012 Share Posted 5 November, 2012 I tell you what I want someone sacked - someone's head on a stick for this almighty mess we are up in - Les Reed, Cortese, Adkins - some if the players. Whoever was in charge of our transfer strategy over the summer should go first - then whoever is in charge of out team selection and tactics. Then we need someone with a plan for getting us back up again once we've been relegated - and we need to start working on it now! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
captainchris Posted 5 November, 2012 Share Posted 5 November, 2012 We have the skill, we lack the confidence. WBA played well - Mulumbu was immense and we could do with Morgan beefing up like him but in a number of games this season we have not been outclassed. Confidence will come when we get that lucky goal off someone's arse - we can stay up - I can't believe the wet surrender monkeys on this board at times, I listened to our support tonight (redundancy has stopped me going as much as I'd like but back for Swansea) and they f ucking supported the team. I'm a supporter - we've been in worse sh it than this. I don't think for a very long time have we played so badly having spent so Much money ! This is the point-we really are very poor not just a little unlucky but really very poor indeed. Not only this but the players are no longer playing for the manager... I think the game is up and no use pretending we might get better..... If anything we are getting worse so what is the point in continuing to just hope for an improvement if we don't change the man conducting the orchestra.... We have three home games now in four matches this is the critical Moment right now... We need to change the whole rut we are in and this can only be achieved by new thinking and new strategy - I really do not believe that NA can change the lack of belief now- the tipping point has been reached..... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
corky morris Posted 5 November, 2012 Share Posted 5 November, 2012 Just back from the game. We were not great, but I don't think that was down to Adkins. I lost count f the amount of time we gave the ball away. The worst for it was Ramirez with Davis not far behind. Then Rickie started doing it. Ended up with Lallana giving it away. Baggies midfield was better than ours. I thought Morgan would thrive in the PL, but he is struggling against better quality. Time to drop Davis. Ramirez needs to stop falling over. Shane Long showed how mobile you need to be. Rickie & JayRod should take a note. JayRod showed a good turn of pace. Defence is just rubbish! At least we kept 2 up for their corners & broke a couple of times very well. Garza needs to come off his line & claim the ball. He's 6ft 5in for Christ sake. When we sign 3 new defenders can we also get some pace please. Not good, but better than Leeds & West Ham!! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
captainchris Posted 5 November, 2012 Share Posted 5 November, 2012 Several of our players are simply not good enough - Fox, Maya, Fonte, Davis, Gassinga, etc. I woudlkeep NA and see if things get better - we are currently very unlucky and not getting the breaks. 'Unlucky' yep that's it - it's just unlucky, football is a game of luck and we are not getting any!!! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cosmic Posted 5 November, 2012 Share Posted 5 November, 2012 Sacking Adkins won't change the fact that three of our back four are simply not good enough. We need Cork back, three new defenders in January and some confidence. Adkins said at beginning of window he wanted defenders. Not his fault we didn't get them. Next month is huge, but it's pathetic how many on here keep calling for the manager's head. The players need support and encouragement more than ever, not the utter mongs who moan and boo Guly before he's kicked a ball. Thankfully, the large majority of fans who actually go to games are a lot more supportive than the majority on here, though there are still a few who I'd swap for an empty seat. Our fans were terrific tonight. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dig Dig Posted 5 November, 2012 Share Posted 5 November, 2012 Been saying it for a while now. We're good enough, but the confidence has completely gone. Agree. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
S-Clarke Posted 5 November, 2012 Share Posted 5 November, 2012 Sacking Adkins won't change the fact that three of our back four are simply not good enough. We need Cork back, three new defenders in January and some confidence. Adkins said at beginning of window he wanted defenders. Not his fault we didn't get them. Next month is huge, but it's pathetic how many on here keep calling for the manager's head. The players need support and encouragement more than ever, not the utter mongs who moan and boo Guly before he's kicked a ball. Thankfully, the large majority of fans who actually go to games are a lot more supportive than the majority on here, though there are still a few who I'd swap for an empty seat. Our fans were terrific tonight. I like Cork, but why is he suddenly the massaih? He's not that good. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cosmic Posted 5 November, 2012 Share Posted 5 November, 2012 I like Cork, but why is he suddenly the massaih? He's not that good. Agreed, but we could use his energy when we don't have the ball. He snaps at heels a lot more than the others we have. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Kraken Posted 5 November, 2012 Share Posted 5 November, 2012 I like Cork, but why is he suddenly the massaih? He's not that good. He's certainly gone up in a lot of people's estimations! During the summer I stated that I thought cork was a better and more important player for us than Schneiderlin is; lets just say it was a very minority view and I was assured we wouldn't miss him with MS and Davis in the middle. Times, they are a changing. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
corky morris Posted 5 November, 2012 Share Posted 5 November, 2012 We don't retain the ball. Simple really! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ringwood Posted 5 November, 2012 Share Posted 5 November, 2012 Well AL isn't skipper material, and currently I think he's part of the problem, Fox ball watches but often , too often hes left two on one because AL hasn't tracked back, He's a great player but we seldom get an end product, time to drop him, personally i'd have JWP in his place. Davis, no better than Hammond would've been, too often we pass to a guy with his back to the opposition, or we delay the pass so the space is closed down. When RL comes deeper and deeper to try and influence the game then youknow the midfield isn't right. maybe MS needs to play sweeper then push the fullbacks forward, make the famous bus we 're all supposed to be on, just park it in the middle, Employ Gary Neville as defensive coach, hated him as a player but he'd get the respect and seems to talk sense everytime i've seen him on TV Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Saint Billy Posted 5 November, 2012 Share Posted 5 November, 2012 The only player who stood out for me tonight was Clyne, everyone else was dire. Ramirez was obviously not fit yet but brought back out of panic. For me the problem is twofold, a combination of poor tactics and player choice by NA and some of our hopefuls being found out in the prem. It is easier to list our players that are still looking reasonably comfortable in this league. There's Clyne and Lambert in some games, Ramirez when fit and then....................................................................oh! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rasiak-9- Posted 5 November, 2012 Share Posted 5 November, 2012 The worrying thing for me is that its hard to single out individual players for not being good enough. I honestly don't think for a second West Brom's first XI is that special, but the problem is that it all it takes from opponents is a very basic and simple game for them to win. Tackle hard and counterattack quickly, get the ball wide, snap shots off when possible at a young keeper and a panicky defence liable to deflect the ball or fail to react to rebounds and run at defenders who you'll know will panic whenever possible. Thats all it takes to beat us. West Brom aren't that brilliant, they just did all the simple stuff and fundamentals well. The sad thing is thats all it takes. Both goals were just so awful to concede from a team point of view I don't really see much point in blaming individual players. ...hence why I think Adkins really should go. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rasiak-9- Posted 5 November, 2012 Share Posted 5 November, 2012 Having said that I thought Morgan was ****ing dreadful today. Where's the spirit and toughness he showed against United (regardless of his goal btw). Davis just isn't a Premiership player and wouldn't start for any team in the top flight. I think the people who believed in Steven Davis as a solution to our midfield tough-guy vacancy have just realised just how poor the SPL has become and how little playing for either of the Old Firm actually means nowadays. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mulletsaint Posted 6 November, 2012 Share Posted 6 November, 2012 I like Cork, but why is he suddenly the massaih? He's not that good. I'd imagine at least his confidence won't be shot to bits. Should be bloody hungry to make up for lost time too. May not be world class but could provide just the boost we need. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
adrian lord Posted 6 November, 2012 Share Posted 6 November, 2012 Only good performance was Clyne, and Lambert behind him. Fans superb. Midfield like stripling boys and gave the ball away all the time, no power, no passion. Ramirez was dreadful, even allowing for being unfit. Schneiderlin should be sacked. Yoshida is a liabilty. Endless, relentless mistakes after mistakes after mistakes. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ExSt Peter Saint Posted 6 November, 2012 Share Posted 6 November, 2012 Back from the game and was really shocked at how lifeless and clueless we were. I was also disappointed by some of the fans really getting on players backs. Ok, Fox isn't good enough, but shouting at him that he's sh1t all the time isn't going to help. I thought Gazzaniga's distribution was really good at times, but he wasn't given many options to get moves going quickly. Clyne was disappointing, but not as bad as the other defenders Fonte and Yoshida both looked an accident waiting to happen and made a few mistakes that led to chances, so we could have lost by more if they could have finished. Strangely, I though Yoshida looked better against the physical presence of Lukaku than against the smaller faster players. Fox was dire. He was at fault almost every time the ball came down his side of the pitch. I actually thought without Lallana getting back and covering things would have been a lot worse. Shaw looked far more assured in the few minutes he was on the pitch. Didn't think MS was so bad, but saw nothing in S Davis to make me understand why he'd be a first choice premier league midfielder. Lallana had his moments, but lost the ball a lot more than I'm used to seeing. Ramirez lost the ball frequently and looked very rusty. Rodriguez was a waste of space out of position and the cross he overhit so much it nearly went out for a throw without bouncing summed it up. Lambert was not his normal self. Poor control, unable to keep posession, passes astray and no real threat. Subs came on too late to affect much. Guly looked the brightest of them and I was really p1ssed off that people were booing him before he'd even touched the ball. A bad night out in West Bromwich all in all. Wonder why I bother sometimes. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
S-Clarke Posted 6 November, 2012 Share Posted 6 November, 2012 Back from the game and was really shocked at how lifeless and clueless we were. I was also disappointed by some of the fans really getting on players backs. Ok, Fox isn't good enough, but shouting at him that he's sh1t all the time isn't going to help. I thought Gazzaniga's distribution was really good at times, but he wasn't given many options to get moves going quickly. Clyne was disappointing, but not as bad as the other defenders Fonte and Yoshida both looked an accident waiting to happen and made a few mistakes that led to chances, so we could have lost by more if they could have finished. Strangely, I though Yoshida looked better against the physical presence of Lukaku than against the smaller faster players. Fox was dire. He was at fault almost every time the ball came down his side of the pitch. I actually thought without Lallana getting back and covering things would have been a lot worse. Shaw looked far more assured in the few minutes he was on the pitch. Didn't think MS was so bad, but saw nothing in S Davis to make me understand why he'd be a first choice premier league midfielder. Lallana had his moments, but lost the ball a lot more than I'm used to seeing. Ramirez lost the ball frequently and looked very rusty. Rodriguez was a waste of space out of position and the cross he overhit so much it nearly went out for a throw without bouncing summed it up. Lambert was not his normal self. Poor control, unable to keep posession, passes astray and no real threat. Subs came on too late to affect much. Guly looked the brightest of them and I was really p1ssed off that people were booing him before he'd even touched the ball. A bad night out in West Bromwich all in all. Wonder why I bother sometimes. Fair play to you for making the effort, thought our fans sounded superb on the TV. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Huffton Posted 6 November, 2012 Share Posted 6 November, 2012 Just got back. We are not good enough, and we will go down with a record low points total. Meh. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Huffton Posted 6 November, 2012 Share Posted 6 November, 2012 Oh, and to all those pr1cks who booed Guly when he came on and Fox when he went off, well done, why don't you all **** off and support QPR where booing is positively encouraged Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
the saint in winchester Posted 6 November, 2012 Share Posted 6 November, 2012 That Nigel Adkins did really well in the NPC last season, maybe we should try and get him? And that's the problem we face. Do we twist, get in a more experienced Prem manager who MAY (only may, note) be able to get more out of our players? Or do we stick with Adkins who MAY (admittedly looking unlikely) be able to get more out of our players and keep us up? If we stick with Adkins, and we do go down, we have the BEST manager for the Championship there is. Is this a possibility? Would Adkins consider taking a DoF role until the end of the season, allowing us to hire an experienced manager (im gonna say Redknapp, sorry for the language) on a 9 month contract? Could they work together? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Colinjb Posted 6 November, 2012 Share Posted 6 November, 2012 Two avoidable goals, that is all. Story of our season, (But Guly, bloody Guly, League 1? Yes, Championship? Why not, Premier League? Out. Of. Depth.) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
the saint in winchester Posted 6 November, 2012 Share Posted 6 November, 2012 Been saying it for a while now. We're good enough, but the confidence has completely gone. Yeah, agree. It's pretty much the same players but not playing to anything like the level of last year. What happened? Was it having to face Man City, Arsenal and Man Utd before they were ready? Yep, confidence is gone and I don't know why. Some say it's that they have lost confidence in Adkins. I doubt that. But - in the words of Louis Walsh - "I don't know what it is, but there's something missing." Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
warsash saint Posted 6 November, 2012 Share Posted 6 November, 2012 Obvious that Jrod & lambert can not play in the same team - Lambert needs a smaller attacker to feed off him....I hear Forest have just such a player ! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
doggface Posted 6 November, 2012 Share Posted 6 November, 2012 You were doing quite well there until you quoted Louis Walsh. Fail. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Red Posted 6 November, 2012 Share Posted 6 November, 2012 Thought AL was really poor – particularly for a captain! In fact I think he has been poor for a few games, and about time he was dropped at least for a game or two. You have to feel sorry for Fox – one mistake and they score. Overall I thought he had a good game, but was left exposed too many times, particularly by AL – who incidentally made at least 6 major mistakes and got away with it! No excuse for the 2nd goal, but it was really well over by then anyway. Ramirez was clearly not ready/fit enough and consequently very poor, and should have been substituted at half time. Rodriguez was played supposedly in his favoured position and was rubbish – did he withstand a single challenge? Lambert was very average. Most of the rest were very average as well, apart from Clyne who I thought was our MOM – superb in attack and defense, and Gazza was solid and assured. Have to agree with previous posters in that Gary N was spot on with our analysis (including comments about sticking with NA) – can we get him in as a “special consultant” for a few weeks? League positions seldom lie and right now we are the poorest team in the PL by a country mile – just hope and pray that changes soon! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sour Mash Posted 6 November, 2012 Share Posted 6 November, 2012 (edited) Two avoidable goals, that is all. Story of our season, (But Guly, bloody Guly, League 1? Yes, Championship? Why not, Premier League? Out. Of. Depth.) That's what worries me about tonight - it wasn't "the story of our season" - yes, we still look shaky at the back, but suddenly any kind of cutting edge has disappeared. We played all of our football in front of WBA. We never had their defenders facing their own goal, never got them worried or made them panic. For a side containing Lallana, Lambert, Rodriguez and Ramirez, that is a worry, regardless of formation, fitness etc, a forward line like that has got to offer more threat than we did tonight. Schneirderlin is a massive player for us and when he doesn't perform we struggle, but as a partnership is he and Davis dynamic enough? I know they're not necessarily meant to be box to box, but they just don't drive us forward. Thought Adkins should have made the subs as soon as we went 2 down, other than that, I'm not too sure what more he could have done, aprt from the most important thing of all - confidence - last season we were all about our momentum and over-achieving, this year it is now the complete opposite and our belief looks like its gone. Not sure how many genuine leaders and big characters are in that team at the moment? Edited 6 November, 2012 by Sour Mash Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Godfather Posted 6 November, 2012 Share Posted 6 November, 2012 The continued formation and tactics lost us the game again, not individual players!! We are completely open at the back with no protection to the full backs or centre backs, our midfield are so deep they give our forward line no creativity at all. This formation doesn't suit the players we have and god knows what our coaching staff do at training all week!! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dickyhale Posted 6 November, 2012 Share Posted 6 November, 2012 296-8 miles round trip highlight of the game was Lambert hitting cross bar.....SHOCKING...unlucky with first goal (handball) second goal way too soft.... still COYR Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pingwing Posted 6 November, 2012 Share Posted 6 November, 2012 Well I'm just home after finding the M1 to be a bit of a mess around Luton. Not sure why everyone is doom and gloom about this, we were never going to take all 3 points (getting a bit above our station here) against a team who haven't lost at home in ages. We gave it a pretty good go but just looked lost when they stuck 10 men behind the ball and let us pass it about the last half an hour. Positives, Clyne has a great tackle, nice and quick and when he pushes forward properly with some confidence can pick out a pass. Lambert for 90 mins as a complete striker (and being 2 strikers for most the game) worked so hard it cruel he didn't put away that chance at the start of the second half. Gaston looks good even when not 100% fit. Gazza has more going for him than Davis and Boruc at the moment. Yoshida coped well with a poor Lukaku for the most part. We only conceded 2 and neither were nonsense rubbish goals. Negatives, Fonte and Maya need more confidence that they will win the ball when they press, too much just showing them onto the weaker side and then a chance being created. Lallana has way to much pressure to over play the ball and we are expecting too much from him. Fox is poor, we all know he's poor and theres nothing that can be done till 9am 1/1/13 when someone to replace him will be announced. Morg bottled it after about 5 mins and never got back into it, shame as he can be great. Steven Davis had the same game as Morg and isn't a deep lying midfielder to sit with Morg in front of the back 4, but without them there we concede. Myuka just didn't seem confident which was a shame and Gazza needs to talk more with his back line (and fast) as there were a few moments for calamity thankfully avoided. Jay Rodriguez gets his own special mention for the one of the most inept performances of the season from any player in the premier league. Was like watching us play with 10 men till he was subbed, as bad as Puncheon (insert one of about 5 games). He isn't good enough on the left, he's utterly useless on the right and isn't confident/good enough in the middle for the formation to work. Wanted to cry seeing him come out of the tunnel for the second half. We were robbed with him as he isn't ready, which everyone else knew. Only option left is to start Mayuka on saturday and hope that works. Overall though Adkins can't be sacked for that game, we were in it, playing good proper football, just missing the luck, a little bit of movement and Calamity-Foster to actually much it up like he looked as if he was about too. The main problem away from home is we do the 4-2-3-1 where the 2 sit too deep and the middle of the 3 should drop deep to compensate, Rodriguez just can't do that so it has to be Lambert, Gaston or Lallana. When we do that we loose the width and shape and get stuck looking for Rodriguez, who is a terrible target man. The other one we did was 4-3-3 with 3 sitting in front of the back 4 and 3 up top, though this requires a higher work rate and leaves us with a lot less attacking options, we should really be reverting to that even when cashing the game (as we did at city) because it generally better suits our players. It leaves Lallana out wide as well as Myuka/Guly/Gaston with Lambert up front, just don't seem to have the confidence to play it and get goals sadly. I feel both formations can work, we just need to have more confidence in our back 4 and not over protect/nanny them as much to play penetrating football as today the midfield was all Mulumbu and we couldn't deal with that. Either way keep Adkins till after QPR, loose to QPR then we have to seriously work out what to do. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mitch01 Posted 6 November, 2012 Share Posted 6 November, 2012 Still right behind Adkins, I want him at the club long-term. That was a poor display though. I am not convinced by Davis or Yoshida at all. Fox's lack of quality at this level has been evident since the opening day. But there are bright sparks in Lambert, Lallana, Ramirez, Morgan and Clyne, who all look like they can perform well at this level. We have what it takes to win games when we play as we can, but the confidence seems to be draining. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
shurlock Posted 6 November, 2012 Share Posted 6 November, 2012 (edited) Just got back - thankfully, the ticket conductor took mercy on us for jumping trains. Nothing to add except that we started with a 4-4-2 (Jrod/Lambert upfront and Ramirez on the right and Lallana on the left). Punters got what they wanted and it made no difference to us offensively or defensively - indeed we were better (once again) after we switched things in the 2nd half. The personnel didn't help either - couldn't understand why Ramirez was stuck out on the right for the first half rather than in the middle- he's our play maker and we want to get him on the ball as much as possible - not have him isolated. There are scapegoats in the team but there are also sacred cows. Lambert and Lallana -esp Lambert- have been poor in recent games but they are virtual shoe-ins. With Ramirez back, maybe there's dsome flex to experiment. IMO the defense wasn't too bad - can't remember them creating too many clear-cut chances or Gazza having much to do. Thought Maya and Fox's distribution was confident and incisive and should have encouraged our CMs to push forward more. Many of the problems on display aren't new - exposed fullbacks was a recurrent problem last season (under the diamond) and so was a lack of pace. People bang on about our failure to recruit defenders but, just as importantly, we still haven't found a half-decent replacement for Oxo. We play in front of teams and sideways, illustrated by the bizarre sight of Lallana picking up the ball in space and running away from goal/defenders towards the sideline. I've lost faith in our CMs- one reason why Ramirez's directness is so refreshing, even if he was rusty tonight. The few times we got behind defenses or created a 2-on-1, the results were predictable- Lallana and Lambert both pulling off to the side, supported by one of the fullbacks, though this usually meant Lambert was a position to inflict any damage. Their second goal demonstrated perfectly the benefits of pace - a quick, blink-of-an eye ball down the channel punished our high line as we had been pressing - it was especially fitting that it resulted from a spell of significant, if toothless possession by us. Btw, West Ham away was our last goal from open play - not quite six games. Edited 6 November, 2012 by shurlock Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sandwichsaint Posted 6 November, 2012 Share Posted 6 November, 2012 Just back from the game. Decent support but you could see tonight how low confidence/belief is. Gazza and Clyne both had decent games but hard to see a positive beyond that (obviously Ramirez coming back too but he looked well off full match fitness, hopefully he will be stronger/sharper for Saturday). Really weak in centre-mid, whats happened to Schneiderlin? Started the season really well but is his head turning towards January now? Davis yipped and yapped but to little effect, constantly gave the ball away, another that started well but is now fading. Lallana another very poor performance, he was great in the first two or three games but has offered little since, **** poor tonight offensively and defensively. TBF let's not play him wide-left anymore, he is 10 times better in field than out wide. I've seen some improvement in JRod but he was poor tonight, lightweight and lacking in any real ideas how to create scoring chances for himself or create anything for anyone else either. RL had one as well, looked slow, cumbersome, disinterested, another one for the January club? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Griffo Posted 6 November, 2012 Share Posted 6 November, 2012 (edited) ... Edited 6 November, 2012 by Griffo Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AlfredKo Posted 6 November, 2012 Share Posted 6 November, 2012 Having said that I thought Morgan was ****ing dreadful today. Where's the spirit and toughness he showed against United (regardless of his goal btw). Davis just isn't a Premiership player and wouldn't start for any team in the top flight. I think the people who believed in Steven Davis as a solution to our midfield tough-guy vacancy have just realised just how poor the SPL has become and how little playing for either of the Old Firm actually means nowadays. Steven Davis is not that good but is he the skipper of Northern Ireland? He isn't better than any of the Northern Ireland international Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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