Another moment of total commitment to the whole team was when I think it was Downes played a crunching and legal tackle just near the dugout which took the player out. Said player then made a lot of fuss about getting up! The chap behind me said, 'reminds me of John McGrath that!' to which another replied 'the only difference is, the player would not have played any further part in the game then!'.
We've gone from having one of the worst defenses in the league to conceding just 7 goals in 14. We need to get promoted simply to hang on to THB...
It’s weird, I thought we worked hard to bring him back from Bournemouth and they wanted to keep him. And now we’re talking about him being 4th choice? How long does stephens have on his contract? At least one of THB, ABK and bednarek will leave at the end of the season.
My quick capsule review - Fraser - excellent KWP - excellent Everyone else - excellent Bloke sat behind me - bit of a knob, but excellent in his own way 20 undefeated - most excellent of all.
Well, if we go up THB stays, we have an obligation to buy if we go up. I think Bednarek will stay as well. No idea about ABK.
Likely makes sense for him to return here, if we go up. His season has been ruined by injuries, so he's unlikely to get a big move this summer, but the talent is still there.
If ABK came back into the fold he would be 4th choice. He had a good spell under Ralph but was no world beater. He would have to learn Martin's system and fight for his place the same as everyone else did.
Not sure if he would be up for the fight to be honest, based on what he showed before. Maybe I’m being harsh but I’m still convinced some of his “injuries” weren’t as bad as they seemed. I just think he checked out of a difficult season.
On a diff note, class to see how well adama is still doing. He looks so good coming in off the right.
Because he’s on loan, so could return next season. My post was really about stephens, I wonder if he’s pissed off? He’s too good to be 3rd or 4th choice, but obviously THB and bednarek are a great partnership. We obviously brought him back and made him captain for a reason.
Jack must be so frustrated I agree. From team captain to 3rd or 4th choice through no fault of his own, just an unfortunate injury. I suppose when you’re a professional footballer this is how life is and you have to make the best of it. If he lifts the FA Cup for us in May I guess he’ll be happy!
Something else that merits highlighting: Adam Armstrong has improved by, paradoxically, shooting much less than he did when last he was in the Championship. Then, he took a shot every 18.4 minutes, with 30% of his shots coming from outside the box, which is frankly ridiculous; now, he's shooting once every 30.9 minutes, with only 16% coming outside the box, and a much higher percentage from the six-yard box (21% versus 1.6%) The net result is that his goal contributions are up versus that year at Blackburn despite scoring less frequently because he's leading the Championship in assists, and he's a far more effective part of our buildup. Sometimes, less is more.
