Greaves will be team captain if coyles not on the pitch, but he's club captain for a very good reason and that won't change while he's at the club
And that's absolutely fine and Tufan's recent interview points to that too Christie is meant to be a really good lad too and does a lot for charities etc so he should be another good lad. He's just done 5 marathons in 5 cities so he should be fit too
We've averaged about 30% possession in our games so far and so far got away with it. I'm pretty sure this isn't a deliberate rope-a-dope tactic and, if not, it suggests we need new recruits fast.
There's been a noticeable difference since Seri has been out and the possession stats will also be better once Ozan is in a deeper role too. We've brought in Woods & Salah to help that as well. We've also faced a lot of the promotion favourites so it's a little tricky to start drawing conclusions just yet
I think we'll get Pelkas, but Halil will be touch and go. We could do with him not to be involved at the weekend for Brentford as it'll further emphasise that he won't play. It would also help if Canos could get fit or the sign another attacker
The smile on Tommy’s face when the stand was chanting he’s one of our own was touching to how well his family represent our city.
I'm not suggesting we deserved a point, but lady luck glossed the scoreline in WBAs favour. Even with a fully fit squad, if you compare theirs to ours then they should be coming away with something as the home side. If you're thinking we should have won that in the context of the season, then you're probably expecting us to win the league, or just a troll as I suspect is the motivation behind some (not all) of the criticism.
Yep their squad is comfortably the best I’d say in this division. Karlan Grant, Wallace, Diagana, Swift as a front 4. I mean come on. they cut us open for one of their goals. 2 screamers, a penalty and a own goal off Elder’s backside that came minutes after we hit the bar. The fact we scored 2 goals like we did still is testament to the mentality of the squad jus need to ride out those little rough patches better when we concede
It hasn't happened too often. Defensive record was top 10 last year and we've strengthened it. Goalscoring record was bottom 3 last year and we've signed the players to improve that. Tricky period with injury, but see it through until Seri and Tufan are back with Sinik and M'hand to come in also and that's without the mooted signings ahead of next week - we could he frightening when everyone's fit after the World Cup.
The full family are amazing ambassadors for our city. Watching Tommy win the Commonwealth Title against Masher Dodd was an amazing moment after falling short for the British Title on a few occasions. But sport is brutal and it shows your levels like nothing else and you do it in front of a huge audience. In the same way Tommy wasn't a world level fighter, Lewie isn't a top 10 Championship full back. I do believe that if Oscar scores that chance early on, then we win the game. I think the stadium would have gone very hostile towards them and it would've been a completely different game. They squad they have is fantastic though and they should be pushing for top 2, whether they will be is a different matter entirely
You start to look at the side and there's going to be some very decent players missing out on the bench once we get most back fit.
Debatable whether Ashbee, France, Myhill, Ricketts, Meyler, McShane etc. were either but you don't need to be when you're a key part of a top 10 championship squad.
Myhill and Ricketts stayed in the PL so they definitely were. France probably not but Ashbee was for me. He was very underrated, knew what his strengths were and used them well.
I disagree, but you do get less exposed in midfield. Fundamentally, Lewie just doesn't have the pace or the positional awareness to be a top end Championship full back. That being said, as a ball winning midfielder, it's something we've not seen (he got rave reviews from Fleetwood playing there) and I think it suits his attributes more.
I'll agree with you on pace, but I have no issue positionally. He's played that tucked in back 4 to great effect at Burnley. Difference at West Brom was half of the midfield being ad hoc and no cover. And that didn't just go for Coyle either. It was obvious cos he was the closest one to a massive gap a few times. That gap should have been filled by Randell.
Do we know where we're at with Pelkas? Baz saying yesterday we plan on having him signed by the weekend suggests everything is agreed and we're just waiting on work permits etc... But Shotas interview today makes it sound less close and that Pelkas himself hasn't made his mind up yet.
