Beginning to think when we play qpr next home game i am going to get up early and gloss all the skirting boards in the house and watch them dry.....more entertainment then watching the drivel rosenior is serving up
Got to agree with you here..... we were crying out for more creativity down the middle for ages Tufan steps up for a 30 minute spell.. no direction out wide Tetteh gets 20 minutes ... im sure he does more than a 20 minute spell in training....
And you think training is the same intensity as match day? There's some daft calls on here but complaining that we're being sensible in easing someone back from injury has to take the cake. Tetteh starts today and goes off after 40 minutes with another long term hamstring injury and everyone's on his back for not learning the lesson from Ally.
Course its not the same intensity but Tetteh is in the same sessions as everybody else. 'And' im not saying Tetteh should start either. (Also im not taking the cake im staying of it after xmas) he got 20 mins against Fulham the week before so he is fit enough.... if you watched the game we couldn't create or don't create down the middle. Tufan has that ability. we were left-right-left etc..... we needed something different today
So play Tufan from the start, that's an entirely different conversation that I'm not part of. I'm just pointing out that easing players back from injury should never be a controversial approach. Tetteh will likely start against Sheff U next weekend.
Not sure Tetteh will start against Sheff Utd, i think its a completely different game.... it will be more competitive and can imagine we will be more on the counter which may suit. Think we can see his ability thats the frustrating thing and want to see him on the pitch. Not sure i would even start Tufan in that game to be honest. Keep it tight. Today was just frustrating there was so much play acting and time wasting not like a normal flowing game.....
Think we all agree that Smith was crap. He just doesn't have the physical presence to offer anything. He's slow and weak which is an awful combination and means he just gets easily kept at arms length by defenders whenever he's involved with the ball. But what are the alternatives? Doc out wide hasn't worked very well, Tetteh and Connelly clearly aren't deemed ready to start yet, that leaves Slater who would be better than Smith for me but still leaves us lacking proper wingers. The fact that Longman is by far out best winger even though even he doesn't achieve much, tells you exactly where our problems are. Like someone else said, Ebiowei can't come in soon enough. It's frustrating that even with players coming in and coming back from injury we're still having to play Smith quite often who clearly isn't up to it. I don't think we were awful today by any means. The first half wasn't great but the second half was complete dominance and there is a pattern here; we keep going a goal down which is obviously an issue we need to resolve, but we also keep coming back every time, which is impressive. The fact no one has succeeded in shutting us out in any of these recent attempts tells you something about our fight, belief, fitness levels and the way we tire teams out by making them chase us round the pitch all game.
Also, did anyone else notice Hogg I think it was, celebrating prematurely when their keeper had the ball after saving Slater's shot just before the equaliser? He was facing towards the keeper and the North stand and from North you could see him do like a fist pumping gesture at his keeper, he must've thought that was it. So did I to be fair.
Something that's really becoming a pet hate of mine is how we defend short corners. Until a couple of years ago it always used to be that if the opposition was setting up a short corner you automatically sent two defenders out to match them up, so once it's in play it's 2 v 2 at worst. Nowadays we only send one man out, so when they take it short they easily get it to the corner of the box and get a shot or cross off from a dangerous position unopposed. The one early on today where Holmes crossed it and they almost scored is the one I'm thinking of. It was under McCann that we first started doing this and we conceded loads from long shots after short corners. I just don't understand letting them do exactly what they want and I don't understand what changed in the last couple of years that means this long established rule of defending no longer applies.
Unbeaten in six, one defeat in nine. Scored 13 ,conceded 9, three clean sheets. You stick to your skirting boards. We've gone from hopeless defending and heads down to losing just once in two months. I'd rather be trying to turn draws into wins than trying to turn losses into draws.
Down the right, neither Smith, Doc nor Slater are wingers, the obvious one IMO is to put Christie there with Coyle at RB, they can both switch places, but it’s the best we’ve got without any recognised right winger, unless there’s someone in the youth set up that could come in? Although our youth set up seems pretty dim right now, maybe when we’re safe & not a lot to play for at the end of the season, we might get a look at some?
I think we’ll see Tetteh/Connolly occupy it once they’re sharper. Slater really needs sacking off in the advanced role, his decision making and execution in the final 3rd is so poor against any decent opposition
One fun aside about the Huddersfield team today was they had Jacob Chapman on the bench, an Aussie keeper, whose father runs my local pub trivia.
Unfortunately or fortunately reading some of the posts I couldn't watch the game live as I had to leave Vietnam yesterday, stay the night in Cambodia and return this morning. Consequently, the WIFI in the hotel was not good enough to stream the game. What I would say is that to grab a point for the jaws of defeat was a positive, and under Shota that probably wouldn't have happened. Defensively, which was the main focus of Liam when he came in is looking much better organised, still has the odd lapse, but much better than before. We have only lost once to Reading with a last minute winner, so to remain unbeaten in the rest of the game is a big plus. Gaining a point see us not lose a place in the league, and other than Rotherham & Bristol C who won, teams below us either lost ground or stayed the same We are going to have poor performances now and again, but not to lose when we do is a big step forward. However I do feel like some others that it's time for Tetteh to start as well as Tufan, we do need more creating going forward, and when teams park the bus, we have to find ways of breaking those lines.
I wouldn't like us doing a Forest this season. When we go up we need to go up 4 short of a team able to compete, (we're perhaps 8 or more off for a squad) not have to spend the majority of what you might earn in one season for being there. The thing thats saving Forest at the moment is that 7 are within 2 points of each other at the bottom. There might get away with it as the manager merry go round kicks in, they might not... Doesnt mean I wouldn't like a play off run BTW.
Are you advocating that that when Malcolm arrives because he's had a knee injury, het gets 20 minutes Syd... I'm sure Palace medical will say, he's good to play, I'm pretty sure City's medical have said Tetteh is fit to play... I'm sure they said Ally was ...
One defender on the near post stops their goal yesterday. We were **** zonal marking under Marco and no matter what LR says, we are still **** at it now...
