So we play a makeshift LB and he gets ripped apart by a classy winger. Who was supposed to be in front of Macca and offering cover down that side? Kamara by any chance?
Yeah and not addressed the one position that desperately needed attention, in fact we weakened it But it’s ok because we have 63 central midfielders on our books.
Anyone remember when John Barnes That's what I was asking - if Gelhardt then why wasn't he helping out?
It was Kamara on the left whose lack of a challenge after strolling along that allowed Anthony to cross for the second goal.
Kamara found himself down the left for their second goal though and put in the most half hearted attempt to block a cross you could do. i know hes had some very good games after a tricky start like Leeds /Sheff Utd......there are just too many instances where he looks not arsed enough, struggle to ever get fully behind that type of player . Thats why i was asking how Barry Looked, id like to see front 3 of Barry- Pedro- Geldhart on Saturday.
Remember when John Barnes scored a wonder goal for England v Brazil in a friendly? He picked the ball up about half way, seemed to beat about 8 players and slotted the ball into the net? That goal kept him in the England team for the next 20 matches during which he did sod all. Just wondering if Kamara's brace against TWS is going to keep him in the side for the rest of the season regardless of how he does?
I completely agree that things are already dicey and I haven’t been convinced we’ll stay up for quite some time now. Under Sellés, we were collecting the points at the rate we needed to until the Stoke game. However, it’s been on a knife edge since around the 14th or 15th game of the season, so my comment was meant more in context of an already existing relegation struggle. I really like Sellés, but his appointment was made far too late and almost any manager would struggle to pick up the points needed to recover from Walter’s disastrous spell.
QPR were rooted to the bottom next thing you know they won something like 7 in 11. We clearly have a squad who believes they are better than relegation hence the complete lack of consistency. Weirder things have happened but we have 15 games to make it right. Results didn’t go our way midweek but it won’t always be like that.
You say that but Oxford got a new manager bounce, it looks like Plymouth have too and I am sure there are others.
Muslic has managed 1.33 points per game, which is less than Sellés had managed before the Stoke game. If they keep it up they’ll be on track for 48 points. Which is why I keep saying we need to aim for 50.
I thought Barry looked decent. He looks direct and he had the beating of their right back a couple of times. Wouldn't be surprised to see him start on Saturday like you said.
Well, if we managed to keep the following, I think we'd probably be ok: TLT Coyle Jones Hughes Jacob Puerta (assuming he would want to play in L1. Probably not but then if he's just signed a full time contract, who is taking him?) Slater Matazo Crooks Pedro (again, maybe, but the drop down might be compensated by pointing out to him he's 33 and probably not going to get a better gig on this continent). Joseph That starting XI is easily good enough to be at the top end of that division and that's before any spending is done and also doesn't include any players that I thought might leave but would actually stay. The fact Birmingham could lure Jay Stansfield and Lyndon Dykes to that league suggests it isn't impossible. I don't think luck had anything to do with it either; we made sensible signings in Jones, Adelakun, Smallwood, Coyle, Doc and Wilks and kept the likes of Honeyman, Burke, Ingram and Magennis. We also had the breakouts of Greaves and KLP (who had played the season before to be fair, but this was his first full season in the first team). We were never lower than fourth that season and spent the majority of the season in the automatic places (in a division which included Sunderland, Ipswich, Plymouth, Oxford and Portsmouth, all of whom are now in the Championship with us), eventually winning automatic promotion by virtue of a nine point lead over third place. If we managed all of that by luck, then Grant McCann would currently be leading us to the Champions League knockout stages off the back of a title winning season.
Gary Rowett has managed 1.82 points a game for Oxford which is top 6 form. It’s quite incredible. Most of the other appointments around us have averaged around the same amount of points as Sellés had until our last two losses (1.4ppg) Here’s a short list of appointments around us and the impact they’ve had: Rowett (Oxford): 1.82ppg Muslic (Plymouth): 1.33ppg Riza (Cardiff): 1.2ppg Sellés (Hull): 1.17ppg Robins (Stoke): 1.05ppg Bloomfield (Luton): 0.4ppg When we appointed Sellés we needed 35 points from 27 games to reach 50 points. Roughly 1.3 points per game. Only Muslic and Rowett have managed that so far. If all the teams around us continue with their current form, the bottom of the table will look like: 19. Cardiff: 49pts 20. Plymouth: 47pts 21. Stoke: 47pts 22. Hull City: 46pts 23. Derby: 41pts* 24. Luton: 33pts *Eustace yet to take over.
