In my opinion,we need to have confidence in our ability to play through and around these teams. We seem to be bullied into trying to match their physicality and their gamesmanship. I think if LJ has a fault it's that he pays too much respect to the opposition and the way they play. Instead of going out there to try to nullify them,we should be cashing in on our better quality in getting the ball early,moving it quickly and pressing them back.Give them the problem,rather than being nervous about their big striker,their time wasting and their long throws.And,be careful with our challenges.....we know the Refs are ****e......don't give them any excuse! Also,LJ,stop getting into the 4th official every 2 minutes.......players see that,and it translates that we're somehow being hard done by,it's not our day and decisions are going against us.If we play our football,we can rise above all that.
An exaggeration just to make a point. 6 in a row is a fantasy - but you never know. Incidentally, anyone know what our best run of wins was?
Sorry marra, thought the other mighty teams who'd managed promotion to the championship had all gone on 12 match winning runs...
That's the bit (in bold) I don't understand. This is supposedly how he wants us to play yet when teams do it against us he doesn't know how to cope with it. Surely if this is his style of playing then he would know the weaknesses of it as well and use them against the teams who press us high... However, I also haven't seen us play that way consistently either so is it his preferred style or does he just like to say it is? Is he all talk and no substance? I honestly don't know if I want him out or not yet, but theirs no way I would give him til the end of December as a few people have suggested. Theirs 8 games between now and then and if we continue in our current form then we can rule out promotion if we don't act sooner. For me, it's end of November at the very latest which is another 3 games. If we lose them all or take no wins from them, then it's 9 games without a win in all competitions and I'm sorry, that's enough for me to say thanks for your efforts Lee but you're not the man for SAFC.
This criticism of a lack of a plan B is fair enough I'd say. A few teams, including England have persisted with this at times when a slight change is all that's needed imo. City are perhaps the most possession based team anywhere, and they are not shy of hitting the ball into the channel for Sterling, Mahhrez or whoever to go after. This is clearly rehearsed and they don't have to do it often, but when they are pressed hard it's an option they are happy to take. They don't even have to find their man, but if they do it's carnage, with five or six, maybe more, out of the game for that attack. We don't have that quality here obviously, but some work on turning the opposition round early in a game like that makes them think twice. Gooch, Dajaku and Mcgeady could all be on their toes at times ready for a ball like this. It's not the answer to everything, but if it's good enough for city it's good enough for me. Nothing worse for a defender than running back towards their own goal.
It was a record that Man City broke a couple of seasons ago so I remembered it from. Admittedly had to look up which season it was.
I think the owners will want to be patient. But there are levels of patience in football that all tie in with momentum. The slump has to be arrested quickly. KLD may have it in his mind that LJ is here to the end of the season, no matter what, but if we lose 6 of the next 8 after the month we've just had, what's he going to do? There is a point where you start losing credibility if you keep faith with someone who is breaking records for the wrong reasons. I don't think that is going to happen, but circumstances could easily conspire to force KLDs hand. Ipswich game is massive. We need a performance as much as the result.
IF a decision is made on Johnson, it'll have to be made long before the January transfer window. IF Johnson is here with us post winter-window, then I'd be mightly impressed and interested to see who he & Speakman bring in. Will we bring in more youths? will it be experienced heads or will it be players that Johnson used at Bristol (and if they're still playing) from Barnsley.
I think we need to keep LJ. We were all enthused about him until perhaps three games ago. I concede he totally blew the Portsmouth game with tactics and he also needs to quickly work out other teams fighting fire with fire. I still believe he has transformed the squad and we are in a stronger place then we were at this time last year. We have proved that changing managers because we are in a mini slump doesn't work. Every team goes on bad runs, every season, and we are on ours
