Spot on. The way he goes on and on in interviews rubs me the wrong way and I know that I’m not the only one. He might make a decent manager one day but the guy talks way too much for someone who has achieved so little as a coach. He speaks eloquently and passionately about the game but without the results and attractive football to go with it, he may as well be a pundit. I want him to do well, I really do, and I want to trust him but he fills me with no confidence at all. The only positive thing people can say since he came in is that he improved the worst defence in the league that conceded 3 goals a game on average. That’s great and all but we improved defensively under Dawson when he was interim so being better defensively than Shota is a really, really low bar. This summer has been very disappointing in terms of incoming transfers, we look a few weeks behind everyone else in terms of fitness and sharpness and our build-up play is ****e compared to other possession teams in the division.
I understand what you mean but to play Devils advocate the fact that they all talk positively from board level down about issues like transfers etc. and then nothing comes out of it leads me to believe that they are jumping the gun and then getting blindsided by changing circumstances. Not that its a good thing they probably should wait to comment but fans are getting so ****ing needy on social media I dont blame them. Talking about the games is another matter
...and we are still so short of pace (bar Delap perhaps) and physicality (bar Jones at a stretch) and leaders. The almost total lack of pace & strength is a big part & parcel of why our build up play is so poor. These 3 or 4 signings that are hopefully coming need to fix what are still big shortcomings; more gambles & kids won't do it. I'm not sure I see it happening.
I think the expectation is that Simons will play big minutes and fill that position for us. We looked better when he came on yesterday and he's can't be far away from getting a deserved run in the side. I quite liked him alongside Seri
Every team has a player similar to him or at least does a similar role. Leicester have Ndidi. Leeds now have Ampadu. Sunderland have Ekwah and Neil. Coventry have Sheaf and Hamer. We don’t have anyone remotely close to that except maybe Simons but he needs to be starting.
One of Seri, Slater, Tufan or Traoré need dropping to the bench for Simons against Wednesday. We’ll have more of the ball against Wednesday than we did against Norwich but they’re still a physical side and Simons has to start for me. He’s the only midfielder we have who can win the ball back in the middle of the pitch.
The Coyle debate here just highlights how a bit of nuance is needed sometimes. He made some great defensive interventions and also gave the ball away a lot. They can both be true, it doesn't have to be an argument of whether he was great or ****. Perhaps he did some things well but not others. I think the team in general gave it away far too much and too quickly after winning it. We needed to get a foot on it and a bit of control, but we didn't. Rosenior has to sort that and we'll see whether he does in time. We played miles better on the ball than that last season so it shouldn't be too hard to imagine us doing it again soon.
Coyle really wasn’t the problem yesterday. Had one option in Adama (out of position) if he didn’t have that he’s attempting to punt it long for the ever chasing Delap to try get onto the end of. Midfield was entirely the issue yesterday, Seri and Slater provides no balance. Tufan and Adama were neutralised by our set up. Vaughan was just invisible. Defence on the whole did okay at standing upto the constant pressure. Midfield provided no protection and no hold on the game for its entirety.
Totally agree when he came on his passing was calm, controled and on the ground and they were going foreward
I still think we'll see an unexpected departure this window. That midfield isn't right and hasn't been for a while. I still wonder whether Saudi comes in for Seri and whether we'd be more open to the idea. I bet he's on more than Slater, Simons and Doch combined and his departure would create room
It’s not been right going all the way back to last summer. We were interested in that Ndayishimiye last year but couldn’t agree personal terms. He’s since gone to Nice for big money. We need to sign an athletic and strong midfielder who is comfortable on the ball and good at winning it back, even if it means spending a bit of money on one. I just can’t stand to watch Seri and Slater get bullied by Championship midfielders for another season. A ****ing blind man can see the issues with this current City midfield.
I'm sure City are well aware of the issue but fixing it is the problem. We need someone big and strong yet who's good on the ball and that's something which will cost serious money and we'd have to beat off very good competition. As good as Seri is on the ball, he's a major part of the issue and I completely understand why we're after Max Bird. His defensive numbers are better and if you paired him with Simons, all of a sudden you have a midfield with a bit of everything. I'd still like to see Tufan played deeper in his natural role, he's not a creative player and never will be.
Lets be real Seri is not up to standards from the players that are heading to saudi arabia. Maybe only bottom teams or second division and i dont see that happening.
The only times we’ve seen Tufan play as a defensive mid for City was under Dawson as interim and he actually did quite well.
When you're trying to build a league, you can't just buy superstars, you won't be able to attract enough of them even with stupid money. And when you look at the top Saudi teams they're still half made up of Saudi players. Saudi clubs wanted him 12 months ago, he's a name and I can't see any reason why they wouldn't want him now. I wouldn't expect to get a fee for him mind
In many ways I'm a fan of Tufan but his snap decision making for passes is poor more often than not. Maybe he needs to slow things down a little. This may be part of the reason why he's better suited to devensive mid.
