Oh I think he's done brilliantly, but watching him take on the Peterborough full backs like there was no tomorrow and then watching him vs Barnsley and WBA, it was clear that he just didn't back himself enough. There's clearly an issue with our players playing in front of the home crowd, the situation needs to unfuck itself sharpish.
When we are poor in the first half. Shota needs to know not to change things quickly. We just limp about in the second half of games sometimes.
If the new management have any ambitions towards getting near the playoffs then we need a new midfield. We don't have a single midfielder who would get into any of the top teams in this division, bar maybe Luton.
no,if Acun is really serious about a top 6 finish. To do that we need a quality manager & nothing so far I’ve seen from Arveladze makes me think he’s capable of it
He wasn't brought in to be a mainstay of the playing squad, he was always going to be used sparingly. His influence and experience is the reason he's in most match day squads. He's a player-coach effectively. A midfield coach if you like...
If he’s supposed to be a midfield coach, either the players don’t listen to him, the manager doesn’t listen to him, or he’s just not a very good coach! Our midfield is one of the worst I’ve seen!
I was taking the piss with the 'midfield coach' thing We're punching above the sum of our parts this season. Bottom 3 budget, 13 points clear with 10 to play. Work to do but perfectly doable. Now accept were not ****ing Man Citeh and back the boys.
This was reminiscent of the Barnsley game, teams have sussed us out that if they press us high, we just hoof the ball out of defence, and then with a small striker against bigger defenders it just comes back. This is what WBA did until after about 30 minutes we then managed to find a way of getting past the press. We then had our best period of the game, and really KPL should have scored rather than try to put it into the top corner, just make sure you hit the target. Smith was also unlucky with his header and also the near post attempt which was stifled by their defenders. So going in at half time I was optimistic, if we picked up and played how we did for the last 15 minutes, we might get something from the game. That was quickly undone with Greaves crazy attempt to clear the ball. Never turn in with the ball towards your goal, always either put it out for a corner or throw-in. Greaves at least tried hard to rectify his mistake and made some good runs forward and was unlucky with his goal attempt. That really settled the game, they are a big side, were in the EPL last term, so with the confidence of the 2 goal cushion just kept us at arms length. If we had managed to score in the last 15 minutes of the first half, then I think we would have seen a different game. E just need to get to the end of the season, I've said it before, we lack quality in the midfield, we have effort with Smallwood and Docherty, but neither are good enough with the ball going forward. We just seem better set up away from home, to defend and counter attack. At home when we are expected to be on the front foot we struggle, which IMO is mainly down to the midfield not retaining the ball and looking to go forward. Shota is still finding his feet in this division, if he gets us to the end of the season and we maintain our championship status, then he will have learned a lot, and I think you will see a much change squad next season.
We seem to have a culture of wanting to play out from the back. This often gets us into trouble and when there is no route out after a few tip taps it’s back to the goalie for a hoof. Two instances yesterday. First half 1 minute of injury time Smallwood 30 yard back pas to Ingram resulting in a corner.Fortunately the dreadful ref didn’t let them take before blowing. The penalty debacle.Trying to be clever and play out…should have been put in the back of the stand.
I think there's got to be a sense of realism here. I didn't think yesterday was that bad nor do I think the manager is the problem. Grant wasn't and neither is Shota. What we face week in week out are sides who are technically better than us. We do our best to make up for it with graft, desire and hard work but from everything I've seen this year, we're probably the poorest technically in the division. We are what we are at the present time, but a major problem is the midfield sitters, they're naff on the ball and I see why Shota wanted to bring in Walsh. I understand the calls for big Tom but his legs have gone. We do create a surprising amount of chances though, but we just never take them and although KLP gets all the plaudits, he misses far too many and did last year too. We just have to get through this and then there's a major overhaul required in the summer. I've seen a few people says that we need 10 signings for the summer. That's pretty obvious, and has been for a while, we not only have to make the XI better but we have to really improve the depth too.
Sorry I’m not having that, there’s no way he’s sat on the bench happy watching that lot. We can use him sparingly if the people in front of him are performing. Why would we use our best midfielder sparingly when the people in front of him are out of their depth?
Our best midfielder, have a day off! Even when he has played, he's not been any better than the rest. I swear you think he's the same player he was 5 years ago, he isn't.
KLP and Greaves, possibly Fleming and Honeyman. I think the rest would struggle to get games at any other Championship team.
Greaves , Alfie , Macca , KLP , Baxter, sorry Fleming good feet quick but not strong enough to be a full back
Huddlestone is the only one who can pick a forward pass that has any chance of unlocking defences and gives our attacking player (whoever that might be) a half decent chance on goal. Cannot believe he is not being used more. I don't think he is less mobile than Smallwood is he?
