I won't deny that our results, our goal difference and our table position are deeply concerning. I could write loads more on why I think we are where we are, and what we should do about it but opinions being like arseholes etc I won't bother because it really is just my opinion. What can I do about it? Well, nothing directly for the team apart from turn up when I can, and it does bother me that our fellow fans, during that 90 minutes, seem to come ready to tear them apart. To my mind its a tad hypocritical I think to then have a go at players and their perceived lack of effort. I can do what I can with a "come on city" and a "keep going" and a "well done lad" etc but I'm a lone voice. The guys around me shouting that they're not fit to wear the shirt and the booing and the "Coyle/Greaves/Whoever you're ****" have louder voices. Acun is trying to get the twelfth man going, and his pre-match interview ended with a plea to fans and saying how much he loved it when the fans sing City Till I Die. I didn't hear it once yesterday. If I was him I'd be wondering if the fans are just taking the piss.
To me it's a real shame as the off the field running of the club seems to be going so well - everything from the Comms, PR, sensible pricing through to the sponsorship. It'll come good on the field but it's going to take time. Looking back on where we've been in the last few years it's so much better now and there's still a buzz around the place despite the results. Football fans are never a patient lot, some City fans especially, so we need to take a breath, get somebody appointed to bolster the team and move on. Funnily enough, despite me being utterly pissed off at the mid-season world cup break, this could be a really useful time for us to turn things around.
as long as we get a good manager in, we have no players going to the world cup, except maybe elder? so theyll have 4 weeks to train and be coached together then again, most other championship teams are probably in a similar boat
Support is what we do when we attend,some of us come when we have the time or the funds(or the rail network is fully functional),some go as a lifelong unconditional habit and genuine love for the Club and some yo-yo and desire top flight football at any cost? I suspect that those sitting around you are the latter.I noticed a bit of uneducated frustration from a couple of unfamiliar faces on my last visit(I usually sit in the same seat if possible and know who sits in the vicinity) and a couple of them upped stumps with 15 minutes left to play? The Historical attendance statistics point to a fan base who ebb and flow based on results,Acun should surely have figured that in when making a bid for the Club,I'd be surprised if he didn't. I suspect his 'dream',maybe he thought it was a given,was to boost crowd numbers with swashbuckling performances,that in turn would put cash back in the coffers and fund his investment in part,sadly that isn't happening at the moment and the crowds are edgy,relatively 'quiet' and unsure what direction he's taking us in. The potential is still there but we need the players who'll buy into the dream,unfortunately and in my opinion he chose the mercenary route and needs to have a serious think about what he does come January,otherwise his investment,especially if we were to go down, could be halved in terms of our value.. He has a monumental decision to make and it must happen sooner,rather than later...
Most on here seem to agree we played well first half without making the keeper work really hard, I’ve read and again agree that physically in the midfield we are lightweight but for me since we lost the two wide men to injury then going forward we are way from been strong enough. Sayyadmanesh adding aggression and pace and Tetteh added a physical presence with his height. Oscar as scored once in the last half dozen games, he plays as a target man but always as the biggest physical defender marking him so doesn’t win enough headers. Other sides had to keep an eye on Tetteh because he must be around 6.5 giving Oscar more room. Once these are back and a couple added to balance the squad I think we will have a chance but the problem is the way we are going we might find ourselves to far behind. If you hardly score it puts your defence under pressure. 16 players brought in and we have unbalanced squad it’s unbelievable.
Tetteh and Ally would have but they're injured, thought there was a fourth but can't recall who it would have been. Elder hasn't been in Aus squads so don't think he'll make it which is a little odd since we're taking players from our local league. He's only had one cap though so our manager might just be going with players he knows.
Elder's injury last season and then Fleming's form keeping him out of the the team again once he was fit has probably cost him that world cup spot. He seemed to be just muscling his way into the squad before then.
Perhaps, but we had friendlies during the last International break he should have been called up for - he had played every game of this season for us, and is certainly better than alternatives we're calling up from our local league.
What happened yesterday (and a lot of the time I think) was that Greaves was cleverly blocked off by another attacker and he lost his man just as the ball was coming in. He then grabbed his shirt to try and recover. I wouldn't say that pulling shirts is his primary method of marking, but he does too often get himself into a situation where it's his last resort. Others in our team do it too, to a lesser extent. This problem goes back to the start of last season. That Sheff United home game was the worst, when they twice scored easily from corners whilst our defenders were grabbing people all over the place because we simply couldn't handle their movement and blocking. I can't understand why this is such a significant and long-standing problem for us but seemingly no other team. Perhaps it's as simple as lacking experienced, confident defenders.
Probably like you say lacking confident experienced defenders plus no height midfield and forwards to help out will always make us vulnerable and at the other end rarely bother other teams from our set pieces.
I'd love to know the answer to this as well. We've done it with different managers and different owners now so who exactly is telling the captain we've got to do this every game ?
Plus lack of height and physicality in the team as a whole. Greaves and Jones need to get in the gym I think.
please log in to view this image absolute blatent penalty his arm is fully stretched pulling his shirt
There is no doubt we really miss both Allahyar and Tetteh, when they were in the team Oscar was getting more chances.
He got totally the wrong side of the attacker, so as you say he was left with a shirt pull as his only way of stopping him. But in other games, he does it a lot and was always going to end up being penalised. Again, we don't seem to have a centre half that goes and attacks the ball when the cross comes in, they wait for it to reach them. and just try and block runners. Someone needs to organise them, your tallest try and get the ball cleared by attacking the ball and heading it clear, others do the blocking to protect their own centre backs so they can head it clear.
