Absolutely my opinion I don’t normally get drawn in but was on after the match just popped back on and it’s the same boring ****e Not sure what’s going on but I love the crack on this board and good posters are bailing out
But who knows exactly what happened, which players we looked at, what offers were made and what the other clubs were asking for ( especially as they would have known we needed a striker ). Should we have completed a deal like Will Grigg's just to get a striker?
No certainly not expecting us to go spunk 3mil on a striker , however I'm surprised that there was not one striker available on loan in the world of football that could of came in. Like I said it's frustrating that is all
Thought I would comment after receiving some really good messages after I said I was going to give this place a break. There is no doubt we were all heated yesterday and some of the arguments on here were totally pointless, I hold my hands up for some of that tbf. My thoughts on our striker situation has been clear, I was gutted and disappointed we didn't sign a striker like we all were. I do not mind folk saying stuff like 'we are missing a presence' if that is what we are missing in that particular game - I'd agree that yesterday the difference yesterday was Coventry having an amazing our striker and our star striker being on the medical table. Where I do take exception though is when people say we should just sign anyone, no we shouldn't just sign anyone, however, I appreciate we are all entitled to our opinions so I shouldn't bite as much to that. I would hate us signing players like Connor Wickham just because he is a big striker - the guy has a heart of a pea and is a shocking player, I don't want the club to go back down that route as we all know where that ends up. I am pleased there is a separate thread now for the striker debate as I honestly think it's a great debate to be had - in particular great to hear others thoughts on how we can overcome it between now and the end of the season. I just think the match threads are being ruined - we all agree we should have signed a striker so in theory we are all arguing about the same thing. A couple of things really disappointed me yesterday in terms of the match and what happened after it. 1st we need runners to get beyond a defence, the team used to rely so much on Stewart to do this and we need more to start doing it. I have been disappointed that Gelhardt isn't doing this as much as that's his biggest strength, I have watched him loads making those great runners behind or between defenders yet he isn't doing that with us at the minute. We need runners to stretch a game as it will give our ball players more space to make things happen - we have to start doing this soon. The other thing I was disappointed with was TM post game comments about not having the tools. I honestly get he is probably really frustrated but he's also given our players an excuse for losing games. He has mentioned fatigue loads, we all know that but I don't think managers should come out and say stuff like that as it gives players excuses. In terms of where we go from here, we need more runners from deep so I would go 4-3-3 and have 2 box to box midfielders running beyond the striker. The last week has been shocking but what a season we have had so far, and its great to see us all so proud of the club. Here's hoping a week on the training pitch really helps us improve for the return of the snake. I won't be on here much between now and the end of the season, not because of how the match threads are going just because of work commitments. My scouting commitments have increased which is great as the club I volunteer for are getting me out to more games and more involved in the recruitment process. Here's hoping I get a full time job doing it in the future, If only Sunderland gets back to me on the reports I have sent them I'd sort the striker issues lol Great forum this, and I will hopefully be able to jump on occasionally between now and the end of the season. Thanks again for the messages yesterday, great to hear that people value my input - I love football and more importantly this club so always happy to share my views. Sorry for the long post - hope everyone enjoys the rest of the weekend (please Man Utd do us a favour)
Great to see the club are increasing your involvement. Hopefully it leads to bigger and better things.
Interesting point Bob, thanks for the info. It's a shame that we weren't able to bring someone in even cheap, but we have a budget for the season and if the owner doesn't want to shift from that then there's nothing we can do. Well run clubs spend money that they've planned to spend, not money that they think they might earn by a possible promotion if they make the playoffs. Too many people are talking about this missed opportunity as if the playoffs is guaranteed promotion. It's not.
Great post mate , missed a lot of what went on yesterday but I can guess, However keep posting as your insights are a pleasure to read and reflect on, the point of 4/3/3 for instance is a good one, I think our 2 two in midfield is a weakness especially in tougher games against certain opposition. Yesterday was an example, although a lot is made of TM's attention to detail in each and every game, he invariably sticks to 4/2/3/1 in every game and is slow to change it even though we have a few options on the bench. This might be one reason as valid as his own post match reaction and I hope he gives it some thought as I love the bloke and want to see us a bit more pro active in matchday situations with what we have available, its a good squad we have no matter even without a recognised target man, as they have shown more often than not. Best of luck KtF..
I hope your thoughts prove to be correct but I'm not convinced that the midfield 2 are the answer without support. Neil and Michut are good technically, but they struggle with the physical side of the game and that's been a factor in both of our defeats this week. It's not just the physicality either, it's the know-how. When a player runs beyond Neil, it feels like he gives away silly fouls far too often. There's no authority who gets in the ref's ear or makes the opposition know they're in a game either and so we lose the psychological battle.
TM should not be publicly talking of fatigue and saying we have no striker as an excuse, no matter how true because he took the job as a head coach not a manager. His remit is to make the best of what he is given and to do that he needs to judge when to rotate the squad to reduce fatigue and adapt a style of play to make the team either more of a threat or be much harder to beat without a recognised no.9 in my opinion. He has to be blamed for some baffling non reactions this season when things were clearly going pear shaped on the pitch - Cardiff and WBA at home being glaring examples. Chuck in Rotherham on Tuesday as well for that matter.
And for me, that's the reason I would play O'Nien in the defensive midfielder role - trying to break up play, getting the little niggles in and letting the ref know he's there
Keep in touch when you can mate. In general,this is a good forum with lots of intelligent,informative debate,to which you contribute in no small measure.
