Saints 1-4 Leicester - Match Thread

[Sunglasses Ron]

11 hours ago, CB Fry said:

No one else gives a toss. Arsenal and West Brom and Middlesbrough and Cardiff and Blackpool and Port Vale and Wycombe fans are not thinking about us, at all.

I’ll just leave this here…

 

[OldNick]

10 hours ago, Lone ranger said:

What was wrong with 2-3-5 anyway? Two hard tackling backs, a dominant centre half , wingers who excited as they tore up and down and crossed to land on the head of big Ron or whoever was CF. Bring back those ‘60s tactics and get rid of this faffing around nonsense at the back. 

All this sexy play of defenders slick on the ball and passing it around and then back to Baz (played very well) who then takes on a 40 yard pass, why not just get the defenders to pass the ball to a creative player up the pitch makes the passes? If Pep decided not to play a keeper half the frigging league would follow, it is madness. 

The profile of player the club looks at is nonsense. We have no what you would call athletic running players, all one paced and midgets. A centre forward who is so one footed that when he gets a chance of an open goal he had do full circle to make a shot.

I had hoped these days and feeling sick after a game would have relented in this league but sadly not.

I did warn that we were not physically strong for this league and we are going to learn some harsh lessons.

SR are our worst owners ever IMO, at least Gao left the club to run, not these clowns

[Saint Fan CaM]

Only managed to catch a few brief glimpses and then gave up at 1-3. One word review - shambles. Losing the love again and my prediction of lower table finish looks about right.

[CB Fry]

8 minutes ago, Sunglasses Ron said:

I’ll just leave this here…

 

We just got done 1-4 at home. Whatever that account is (I'm sure it's hilarious) it is not solely focusing on Southampton because the whole world is laughing at us. No one gives a shit.

[Kenilworthy]

To add to a terrible game, had a horrendous journey home. WTF is going on with the M3 that was meant to be finished this summer? The geniuses responsible for roadworks forced all traffic into a single lane on the right, then within a mile or so of getting out of that the traffic was forced into a single lane on the left before being diverted off the motorway completely to crawl through Winchester. Didn't actually get on the A34 until 11.30. Its nonsense.

[Smirking_Saint]

9 hours ago, Lee On Solent Saint said:

Would one of those players have been Winks by any chance? Lot of posters scoffed when Leicester got him, exactly the sort of player we need.

Winks and Smallbone are one and the same really, very good players technically but like Smallbone I don’t remember seeing Winks win many duel’s yesterday, just nice and neat passing options

[John Boy Saint]

3 minutes ago, Kenilworthy said:

To add to a terrible game, had a horrendous journey home. WTF is going on with the M3 that was meant to be finished this summer? The geniuses responsible for roadworks forced all traffic into a single lane on the right, then within a mile or so of getting out of that the traffic was forced into a single lane on the left before being diverted off the motorway completely to crawl through Winchester. Didn't actually get on the A34 until 11.30. Its nonsense.

If you can be bothered to come down for an evening game again, have a look at Hampshire live online and when you’ve got past all the adverts they have a post showing the various road work restrictions on the M3 and M27 for the week.

if you need to get to the A34 the back way, getting off the M3 at Eastleigh and heading to Chandlers Ford then head out into to country and Hursley then into the bottom of Winchester then skirt round the western edge of the city. Route we have used many times when the M3 is stuffed to get onto the A33 for Blazingsmoke.

[Lord Duckhunter]

That was fucking shite, as bad as anything under Ralph, Jonesy & RS. Horrendous and utterly predictable once we set up the way we did. We played to their strengths, unbelievable. 
 

The midfield is fucking horrendously set up, if we’re going to play like Manchester City where’s our Rodri? Cue ball head can’t cut it and Downes is as weak as piss, and as for KWP playing the inverted full back, that’s laughable. He’s a get down the wing overlapping FB, you know the old fashioned type pre pep. If we’re going to play him like Manning, we might as well play Bree because at least he’ll give us some physical presence in their & he can’t be any worse. Personally, I think Mannings a good footballer, but not in the role he’s performing, in the old days his abilities would be used in midfield, with a full back flying down the wing. Defensively, he’s not good enough. 
 

Fuck me 2 of the goals reminded me of my under 11 days, everyone going up front leaving some poor sap defending against 3. It’s entirely down to the coaching staff. I maybe old fashioned but even the dog & duck used to have a spare man. They leave 2 up, we have 3 back. Now it’s all 1 on 1 defending, which is ok if you’ve got Kyle Walker or VvD but not if it’s some of our weak as piss son in laws. 
 

I didn’t think Che Adams looked interested, was disappointed with Frazier, thought AA gave his all again (but isn’t great) and thought Edozie was having his best game for us (I hope to god it wasn’t a tactical decision to bin him at half time). As for Sully, bloke can fuck off as far as I’m concerned. Flattered to deceive yet again, gave a goal away and then got sent off. Cooking man……

[Kenilworthy]

9 minutes ago, John Boy Saint said:

If you can be bothered to come down for an evening game again, have a look at Hampshire live online and when you’ve got past all the adverts they have a post showing the various road work restrictions on the M3 and M27 for the week.

if you need to get to the A34 the back way, getting off the M3 at Eastleigh and heading to Chandlers Ford then head out into to country and Hursley then into the bottom of Winchester then skirt round the western edge of the city. Route we have used many times when the M3 is stuffed to get onto the A33 for Blazingsmoke.

I don't think we could have got off at Eastleigh last night as the junction was shut. Have in the first taken a completely circuitous route via Romsey and Stockbridge. That would have been far quicker 

[S-Clarke]

5 minutes ago, Kenilworthy said:

I don't think we could have got off at Eastleigh last night as the junction was shut. Have in the first taken a completely circuitous route via Romsey and Stockbridge. That would have been far quicker 

There was an accident on that junction, they shut Allbrook way all afternoon and night - so that prob added to the traffic as I was caught in that on the way back south earlier in the day.

[Lee On Solent Saint]

40 minutes ago, Smirking_Saint said:

Winks and Smallbone are one and the same really, very good players technically but like Smallbone I don’t remember seeing Winks win many duel’s yesterday, just nice and neat passing options

Matter of opinion, but I think Winks is a far better player than Smallbone. 

[david in sweden]

I stopped ploughing through all the criticisms above before reminding myself of the 1990's TV pundit 

who said .." you don't win things with kids ".   In our case that even means Championship games.

Whilst many of those on show may have looked good prospects at U21 level, (where you 're not allowed to tackle )

too many have almost zero first team experience, and had no support because of the absent Stephens and Bednarek,

whilst It was almost written in the sand that Vardy would get a goal , but no-one thought quite so quickly.

He had a field day and was  laughing his way throughout the game when coming up against our new season's young debutants

who looked like rabbits caught in the headlights in the first 20 minutes. 

They passed back to Bazunu more times than looked safe, and that clearly scared him a lot ... as well as the rest of us.   

 

Leicester may have been relegated, but they have the bulk of their squad intact and have already highlighted the difference between

the Prem. and mediocre Championship sides - even before yesterdays game.   Leicester looked a class above everything and had it

not been for some poor Leicester finishing (and Bazunu's acrobatics)  we might have been looking at another 9 goal thrashing. 

The shots tally was 19-15 ( which included 8 shots each on target ), but the final scoreline showed the real difference.

 

It seems like an awful long way to the next window, and the return of JS and JB can't come quickly enough and having signed

Ross Stewart  we can only hope that he regains the scoring form he once had AND stays fit for the rest of the season. 

It's easy to blame Russell Martin, but looking at the bench yesterday there weren't many obvious alternatives to turn to.

 

[Sheaf Saint]

31 minutes ago, Lord Duckhunter said:

As for Sully, bloke can fuck off as far as I’m concerned. Flattered to deceive yet again, gave a goal away and then got sent off. 

Harsh to single him out. He was the only attacking player who looked like he was going to make something happen in the second half, he misplaced a pass in the attacking third that led to a goal because our entire defence was over-committed so you can't blame him for that, and the red card was a travesty.

[gurru991]

17 minutes ago, Sheaf Saint said:

Harsh to single him out. He was the only attacking player who looked like he was going to make something happen in the second half, he misplaced a pass in the attacking third that led to a goal because our entire defence was over-committed so you can't blame him for that, and the red card was a travesty.

Even Leicester player James Justin said it wasn't a red. I hope it gets rescinded. 

[Chez]

21 minutes ago, Sheaf Saint said:

Harsh to single him out. He was the only attacking player who looked like he was going to make something happen in the second half, he misplaced a pass in the attacking third that led to a goal because our entire defence was over-committed so you can't blame him for that, and the red card was a travesty.

He started really brightly, and showed his electric pace, but he seemed to run out of steam quite quickly.

Also, I got the slight feeling that he might be more interested in putting a highlight reel together than get this team promoted. That might be as harsh as the red card he got. 

[CB Fry]

30 minutes ago, david in sweden said:

It's easy to blame Russell Martin, but looking at the bench yesterday there weren't many obvious alternatives to turn to.

Apart from his Leicester and Leeds counterparts, there won't be any other Championship managers with the squad options we have.

It's easy to blame Russell Martin because it is his fault. 

Edited 16 September, 2023 by CB Fry

[badgerx16]

8 minutes ago, CB Fry said:

Apart from his Leicester and Leeds counterparts, there won't be any other Championship managers with the squad options we have.

It's easy to blame Russell Martin because it is his fault. 

On the commentary last night they said that we were watching the 2 strongest squads in the division.

[Window Cleaner]

3 minutes ago, badgerx16 said:

On the commentary last night they said that we were watching the 2 strongest squads in the division.

Really ?   The other 22 can't be much cop then.

[S-Clarke]

16 minutes ago, CB Fry said:

Apart from his Leicester and Leeds counterparts, there won't be any other Championship managers with the squad options we have.

It's easy to blame Russell Martin because it is his fault. 

Yeah, I'm seeing this creeping into arguments now ''We don't have the quality'' - ummm, we do. We have stacks of quality at this level and it should be enough if the structure is right.

Not sure how David can say we didn't have enough options on the bench - Sulemana, Aribo, Stuart Armstrong, Alcaraz, Holgate etc - there are very few, if any, who can have that level of experience and quality on a bench at this level. There are no excuses to failing to win games with these players, the failing will be on the coaching if it does fail.

[badgerx16]

5 minutes ago, Window Cleaner said:

Really ?   The other 22 can't be much cop then.

Particularly Sunderland ;-(

[davefizzy14]

34 minutes ago, gurru991 said:

Even Leicester player James Justin said it wasn't a red. I hope it gets rescinded. 

Yes it should be rescinded. 

[Midfield_General]

13 hours ago, AlexLaw76 said:

Martin.....post match

• Everyones responsibility tonight -> Yep, can't disagree with that
• we made it difficult -> No we didn't 3rd goal was the killer -> No it wasn't, if they weren't so shit at finishing they could have had eight
• we were on top in the 2nd half -> For the first 21 seconds they were clinical -> No they weren't we were not -> Agreed
• people will talk about the score -> Don't you just hate that when you're paid to get a football team to win games but if we were more clinical, it would be different -> Well, obviously
• we cannot concede 2 early goals -> Can see why you're a professional manager, this analysis is gold
• we went toe to toe, and you have to accept they will get through us at times -> When we have all ten players in their area, yes I suppose you do
• I am proud of the players -> Sorry, what as this is different to Sunderland -> Conceding four at home instead of five away, yes OK I suppose you could say that is different, in a way, they did what we asked them -> Going to need clarity on what exactly that was then please mate
• Leicester lost the ball more than we did -> No they didn't but no one will criticise their manager -> That's because they won 4-1 away, have won almost all their games and are top
• we will continue to work on what we do -> Good to know, there was I thinking they'd get a week off
• if anyone expects to not experience pain now, they are naive -> There's 'pain' and there's that
• This was much better than sunderland -> Jesus Christ and not a huge amount in it tonight -> Are you blind
• the first goal was ridiculous -> Yes 2nd goal we know why as players were out of position -> Who is it who sets those positions then 3rd goal was about poor transition -> That is one way to describe it, yes
• we will make more mistakes -> Terrific, good to know and we will see more bumps in the road -> Don't fancy fixing it then? 
• how people react is up to them -> OK, I think you're shit 
• If we play like we did tonight, move the ball like that, we will be more than OK -> No we won't, if we play like that we'll concede within 22 seconds and concede between four to eight goals every week, playing like that is exactly why that just happened
• All will want a reaction on Tuesday. If we play like we did tonight, sure it will come -> See above 
• James Justin said it was not a red card, I do not believe it was a red card, we will see -> Oh that's OK then, if James Justin said that, it's rescinded 

Thanks for your time Russell, good to know you're on top of it, have a good one 👍 

 

Still fuming, so let's have a proper deep dive into that interview 👆

Edited 16 September, 2023 by Midfield_General

[Lee On Solent Saint]

15 minutes ago, S-Clarke said:

Yeah, I'm seeing this creeping into arguments now ''We don't have the quality'' - ummm, we do. We have stacks of quality at this level and it should be enough if the structure is right.

Not sure how David can say we didn't have enough options on the bench - Sulemana, Aribo, Stuart Armstrong, Alcaraz, Holgate etc - there are very few, if any, who can have that level of experience and quality on a bench at this level. There are no excuses to failing to win games with these players, the failing will be on the coaching if it does fail.

This squad should be challenging for top 2, no question. If we don't get promoted it will be absolutely on Martin and SR's fanatical obsession with trying to make us Manchester City.

[Lord Duckhunter]

Had we won 1-0 & Sully hadn’t been sent off, I bet James Justin would have said it was a red. 

[trousers]

3 minutes ago, Lord Duckhunter said:

Had we won 1-0 & Sully hadn’t been sent off, I bet James Justin would have said it was a red. 

 

[AlexLaw76]

Smallbone was our deepest player (and only option for Sully).  Shortly after this picture, it was 3-on-1 against Bazunu 25 yards inside the Leicester half.  Yoy can see Manning and KwP in/around the 18 yard line, well within the width of the box...fucking mental

This was on 66 mins, not 86. This was not a mistake, or players not following instructions. This is what our idiot manager is proud of.

Edited 16 September, 2023 by AlexLaw76

[egg]

4 minutes ago, AlexLaw76 said:

Smallbone was our deepest player (and only option for Sully).  Shortly after this picture, it was 3-on-1 against Bazunu 25 yards inside the Leicester half.  Yoy can see Manning and KwP in/around the 18 yard line, well within the width of the box...fucking mental

This was on 66 mins, not 86. This was not a mistake, or players not following instructions. This is what our idiot manager is proud of.

Thanks...as damning as that looks, is it players doing as they're told, or is it players going rogue? Absolutely mental either way. 

[Viking Saint]

13 hours ago, 6ft8saint said:

Also could st marys turn up thr singing. We were so quiet tonight. It doesn't inspire them to play better. Kameldeen tried to spur us back on after hr came on but nothing. If anything it is slightly embarrassing. Wheres the noise from the Dell gone????

Maybe cos there was absolutely fuck all to sing about. When you concede after 23 seconds, it does tend to take the wind out of your sails somewhat 

[OldNick]

6 minutes ago, AlexLaw76 said:

Smallbone was our deepest player (and only option for Sully).  Shortly after this picture, it was 3-on-1 against Bazunu 25 yards inside the Leicester half.  Yoy can see Manning and KwP in/around the 18 yard line, well within the width of the box...fucking mental

This was on 66 mins, not 86. This was not a mistake, or players not following instructions. This is what our idiot manager is proud of.

Our players all in a bunch, Che offside. I read about 20 years ago that you should always have a player on the D as the percentage of balls that fall in that area, and so you either stop an attack and can recycle or have a shot.

[Dman]

5 minutes ago, egg said:

Thanks...as damning as that looks, is it players doing as they're told, or is it players going rogue? Absolutely mental either way. 

I'd suggest its defo tactical. His tactics are far to high risk, little reward to be successful. It happened a few times in the first half, but we are too dense to spot the risk and change. 

PArt of me wonders why a senior player doesn't think, this is fucking stupid - Lets drop another man back. 

It borders on arrogance to be honest - "we've got the best players, we can do what we want and take the piss" mentality. 

Edited 16 September, 2023 by Dman

[AlexLaw76]

2 minutes ago, OldNick said:

Our players all in a bunch, Che offside. I read about 20 years ago that you should always have a player on the D as the percentage of balls that fall in that area, and so you either stop an attack and can recycle or have a shot.

You would think (i know easy for us in the chair) to have Manning (or A N Other) in line with Smallbone, but supporting the side the ball is on (Manning in this case), with Alcaraz 25 yards out for the situation as you say. 

This cannot be a 1-off as we are WIDE OPEN from our own corners.

What the hell is going on in that picture, no idea. just absolutely comical.

Edited 16 September, 2023 by AlexLaw76

[OldNick]

If KWP was back at the distance with Small bone and Alcarez on the D a much better situation, especially as Alcaraz can shot

[Miltonaggro]

You have to say for play to Maresca as his side were everything Saints were supposed to be last night. Positioning, nous, pace, and desire. If ever you want a textbook illustration of men versus boys this was it, watching the rat faced fuck Vardy bullying Taylor-Bellis and laughing at our defenders and fans off the ball was the icing on the cake. Every time we threatened there were two ranks of defenders and a keeper in Hermandsen who looked like a brick shithouse, organising and resetting what was in front of him. Last night we looked like a league one team who had drawn a Premier League side in the cup. Another point was that it seems that Leicester have managed to galvanise their remaining‘prem quality’ players post transfer window whereas ours, Adams, KWP, Alcaraz and Sulemana (aside from his 20 min showreel) looked like they’d rather be anywhere else than at st Mary’s. Martin should be able to get a tune out of this lot in this league, and a genuine rocket and reaction against Ipswich is a minimum to indicate competence and signal hope! 
 

 

Edited 16 September, 2023 by Miltonaggro

[Rebel]

57 minutes ago, CB Fry said:

Apart from his Leicester and Leeds counterparts, there won't be any other Championship managers with the squad options we have.

It's easy to blame Russell Martin because it is his fault. 

I am not sure that is true.  I think both Leicester and Leeds ended up having better transfer windows than us and have ended up with better squads.

And I would say Norwich also look like they still have a good squad despite this being their second year in the Championship. Watford too maybe. Probably both as good as ours if not better.

And I think you are ignoring the teams like Ipswich and Sunderland that have quietly been building good squads - and are on a upwards curve.

Sunderland just beat us 5-0 by the way.

I don’t think our squad is that good in reality - and it looks like our manager isn’t that good either.

 

 

[Smirking_Saint]

1 hour ago, Lee On Solent Saint said:

Matter of opinion, but I think Winks is a far better player than Smallbone. 

I think he’s better but not by much, like I said they’re both just ball movers really

[AlexLaw76]

1 minute ago, Rebel said:

I am not sure that is true.  I think both Leicester and Leeds ended up having better transfer windows than us and have ended up with better squads.

And I would say Norwich also look like they still have a good squad despite this being their second year in the Championship. Watford too maybe. Probably both as good as ours if not better.

And I think you are ignoring the teams like Ipswich and Sunderland that have quietly been building good squads - and are on a upwards curve.

Sunderland just beat us 5-0 by the way.

I don’t think our squad is that good in reality - and it looks like our manager isn’t that good either.

 

 

we just bought Sunderlands version of Rickie Lambert.  

Sorry mate, I just cannot agree what so ever. We have a top 3 squad in terms of strength and depth.

[Baz Fl]

1 hour ago, Midfield_General said:

Still fuming, so let's have a proper deep dive into that interview 👆

Oh mate, thanks for that good laugh this morning, needed it after last night, You’ve nailed every detail 😂 . Last season we struggled against several League One sides and now we’re in the Championship conceding goals at an alarming rate, 6 more than bottom of the league. How tough is it to see that winning a corner shouldn’t be a bad thing and that maybe something should change in that regard? 

[Whitey Grandad]

1 hour ago, AlexLaw76 said:

Smallbone was our deepest player (and only option for Sully).  Shortly after this picture, it was 3-on-1 against Bazunu 25 yards inside the Leicester half.  Yoy can see Manning and KwP in/around the 18 yard line, well within the width of the box...fucking mental

This was on 66 mins, not 86. This was not a mistake, or players not following instructions. This is what our idiot manager is proud of.

And who does Sulemana have available that he can pass to? No wonder it was intercepted.

[Saint Fan CaM]

I think it’s debatable whether the individual players are of top 2 Championship level. There are 2 or 3 definite contenders. What is abundantly clear is that…

(a) they are not drilled or playing as a cohesive team - that’s on Martin and his coaches.
And, (b) they are not of a level to play the style of football being demanded of them to enable positive results.

Whether Martin and Wilcox are living in cloud cuckoo land by thinking they can reproduce Man City in the Championship is questionable, but they’re going to break the club by trying.

[LFox99]

1 hour ago, Miltonaggro said:

and a keeper in Danny Ward who looked like a brick shithouse

Just popped in here to say we don't speak that name anymore. He's been banished from the team, it was our new signing Mads Hermansen who's continued his great form

[OttawaSaint]

Wonder what happens in training and tactics talks.

Are the players just doing what they are told or asking "hey boss, but if I run into that pitch area is it not a bit risky, one bad pass and we're wide open!".

Are they ignored or what?

 

[Sheaf Saint]

2 hours ago, Chez said:

He started really brightly, and showed his electric pace, but he seemed to run out of steam quite quickly.

Unsurprising, given that he's only just returned from injury and missed all of pre-season.

[No Saint David]

15 hours ago, Golac's Cunning Stunts said:

He will learn from it and it won't ever happen again

Hello, the "Jack" is back and reading this thread brings back memories.

Russell Martin is a great self publicist. He's convinced people he is the Holy Grail of football management and that pointless possession is football's raison d'etre. As a lot of us Swansea fans would tell you (and did tell you) he is a false prophet.  Many of you have realised that and any still sticking up for him need to open their eyes.

Allegedly in his time at Swansea he said he'd rather lose his way than win playing a different way.  If you are to have a good season he needs to change his approach and I wouldn't hold my breath.

Last season we had a squad capable of being top 6 in what was admittedly a poorer division, we failed because of Martin, because he didn't have the tactical nous or intelligence to play to our strengths, with that in mind, good luck guys.

From a Swansea point of view, I hope he's in post ALL season!

[Miltonaggro]

12 minutes ago, LFox99 said:

Just popped in here to say we don't speak that name anymore. He's been banished from the team, it was our new signing Mads Hermansen who's continued his great form

Thanks for that, was going from the programme. Your keeper looked a fucking unit last night. 

[Lee On Solent Saint]

1 minute ago, Miltonaggro said:

Thanks for that, was going from the programme. Your keeper looked a fucking unit last night. 

Most of the shots we had on target were straight  at him. Don't really recall him having to make too many difficult saves.

[Sheaf Saint]

Just now, Lee On Solent Saint said:

Most of the shots we had on target were straight  at him. Don't really recall him having to make too many difficult saves.

He didn't. The most spectacular one was from Che's curling effort early in the first half, but I would still expect any competent keeper to save that.

Other than that he had very little to do.

[Smirking_Saint]

21 minutes ago, Whitey Grandad said:

And who does Sulemana have available that he can pass to? No wonder it was intercepted.

That was my take… the whole scenario around that corner was awful

- Poor options around Sully

- Terrible pass under pressure from him

- Smallbone effectively the only man back and should have backed off or brought him down

[Miltonaggro]

Just now, Lee On Solent Saint said:

Most of the shots we had on target were straight  at him. Don't really recall him having to make too many difficult saves.

Were you watching his positioning and the way he was marshalling defenders at set pieces, also presence when Saints were attacking? I thought he looked like a solid all round pro. Our ‘forwards’ seemed to get fuck all change out of him! 

[adrian lord]

15 hours ago, AlexLaw76 said:

Martin.....post match

• Everyones responsibility tonight
• we made it difficult, 3rd goal was the killer
• we were on top in the 2nd half, they were clinical, we were not
• people will talk about the score, but if we were more clinical, it would be different
• we cannot concede 2 early goals
• we went toe to toe, and you have to accept they will get through us at times
• I am proud of the players, as this is different to Sunderland, they did what we asked them
• Leicester lost the ball more than we did, but no one will criticise their manager
• we will continue to work on what we do
• if anyone expects to not experience pain now, they are naive
• This was much better than sunderland, and not a huge amount in it tonight
• the first goal was ridiculous, 2nd goal we know why as players were out of position, 3rd goal was about poor transition
• we will make more mistakes and we will see more bumps in the road
• how people react is up to them
• If we play like we did tonight, move the ball like that, we will be more than OK
• All will want a reaction on Tuesday. If we play like we did tonight, sure it will come
• James Justin said it was not a red card, I do not believe it was a red card, we will see.

Comical Ali School of press conferences 

[Smirking_Saint]

1 hour ago, Rebel said:

I am not sure that is true.  I think both Leicester and Leeds ended up having better transfer windows than us and have ended up with better squads.

And I would say Norwich also look like they still have a good squad despite this being their second year in the Championship. Watford too maybe. Probably both as good as ours if not better.

And I think you are ignoring the teams like Ipswich and Sunderland that have quietly been building good squads - and are on a upwards curve.

Sunderland just beat us 5-0 by the way.

I don’t think our squad is that good in reality - and it looks like our manager isn’t that good either.

 

 

In fairness Ive been pretty vocal, certainly during the transfer window against any pessimistic voices, so its only fair I come here now with balance

Last night, and Sunderland were as poor a defensive performance as I can ever remember… potentially since the 9-0 but even then I felt like our defensive shape was better than it was in the last 180 mins

I think we likely have the best squad in this division, the best 11s are probably between us or Leicester and I do think we’re both better than Leeds overall, so ultimately its down to tactics and ours have too many negatives

I know I keep banging the drum but if he doesn’t give us more defensive structure then we’ll be struggling to mount a meaningful promotion drive come christmas, because despite how good we are on the ball we simply are too easy to play against us… if I was our opponent Id push high on us when we play from the back, then retreat as we progress.. keep two wide men wide and you have counter options and we see that counters work

At a basic level he needs a No.6 to stick to that position and atleast one of the WBs to support that, if we give up the flanks then we do.. you can’t cover everything, but unfortunately we can ne turned over wide or centrally right now

Im genuinely worried that RM is either too stubborn or incapable of changing things