Agree. With McLean and Forson injured, our midfield options are limited. Fisher and Schlupp were already committed to defensive roles, so Manning had few options in midfield. A really positive away win and I can't remember when I last said that. Edit: Given the shortage of midfielders, I wonder whether Slimane might be given a reprieve.
What did I say that was not correct. This team is severely flawed. What were you all watching. Missed penalty, hit the bar, 42% posession. 66% pass accuracy from only 354 passes. These stats are dreadful for such an expensive team. Scoring from long throw ins and set pieces, I feel embarrassed that we have been dragged down to this level and everyone is happy. Can none of you see what's going on here?
A new manager and a lot of new players, we can't always expect instant success. Got to give them time to gel and learn to play together. But there are promising signs and things to be encouraged about.
Er, there are quite a few posters who have been critical mate, and pointed out it wasn’t a good performance… You’re not the heroic and uniquely insightful innovator you think you are
I like Carabbuh probably a Pixies fan great song but he has a little bit of @columike about him which is awesome
I think you can expect a PS rate better than 67%; and better than aimless hoofed clearances ceding possession and control over and over again. We were fortunate to come away with any points, never mind three.
The subs changed the game, before that we were looking good. So as I said, some encouragement and obviously some learning still needed.
Same as the display against Watford - decent first half followed by a crap second. Why? Change to a negative mindset which is my theory? Loss of one player to injury? Really? So many new players? Why does that only affect us in the second half? Paper over the cracks as much as you like but we were very lucky to get anything out of that game let alone 3 points. Only good points to me were that we now have a mobile and sound CB with Darling and at last have a decent keeper. Berate Carrubah, Robbie and myself as much as you like but you can't just ignore the negative aspects in the three performances to date.
Any performance has positives and negatives, therefore you need to take a BALANCED view. For me we are starting this season in a much better position than we ended the last. Players are still building fitness and learning to play as a team under a new system. Despite this we have won 2 out 3 games against championship opposition. We are at the start of a very long journey not at our destination. Rome wasn't built in a day
Well said Canario. Five new players started yesterday and two more came on from the bench. The preseason was limited, given the decision to play two games in the same day twice and playing time was limited even more for most of the new players arriving during the window. With 11 new players it will take time for them to settle in and the pressure was on because of the opening day loss. We'll have a better idea after another 8-10 games but two away wins are encouraging.
' We are at the start of a long journey ' - fully agree but so was Thorup allegedly but he was sacked after less than a season because we hadn't got in the top 6. Rules changed again? We certainly look better than the last 3 months of last season but do we look better than the first 6 months?
Well we can all agree that Thorup was sacked. The reason why is debatable and I don't believe it was as clear cut as he hadn't got us in the top 6. I'm not even convinced our league position was the only or indeed the main driver. You seem to be suggesting that Manning who only joined us on the 3rd of June and despite the issues he had with our pre-season programme, has already got the team playing better than Thorup did after 11 months of coaching. At the very least you seem to be accepting that the more Thorup coached the worse the teams performances got. Perhaps inadvertently getting closer to the real reason he was sacked. Anyway, I like most have moved on from the Thorup era. We are where we are and whilst the performances so far suggest there is plenty of room for improvement the initial signs for me, indicate that we are moving in a positive direction. Most people including Manning aren't suggesting that the team are anywhere near the finished article, nor that we have already seen the best performances this team is capable of. Maybe, it would be better to give Manning a little more time before jumping to premature judgements of his ability to coach the team.
As you say Thorup is gone and we may never know the full story but to some of us it just seems a coincidence that the drop off in form coincided with his meeting in America with the owner and the change in narrative from Carrow Road regarding top 6. I don't think I have jumped to judgements on Mannings coaching ability as I have praised the performance in the first halves in the last two games. What I have queried is the need in our last two games of getting a lead and trying to sit on it rather than continue to play as we have done in the first half. It is a general trend that we seem to have unfortunately followed. I like the idea of planned progress with a younger squad - I thought we were going to get that with Thorup and I hope Manning is given the time to see it through if progress is maintained. The GK seems to be a vast improvement on Gunn and Darling is a vast improvement on Duffy. I don't think a bigger Club will come in for Sargent who I rate as a top rate Championship level striker . His scoring figures are not as good as Pukki and nobody to our knowledge came in for him, Nunez would be a bigger loss - he is EPL level but his injury record is against him. Do I think Manning is a poor appointment - probably not. Do I think we will get top 6 this year - no. Do I think we will get promoted in the next 3 seasons - probably not. I just hope our performances are as entertaining as the first halves in the last 2 games and not as negative as the second halves and that would make me a Manning fan.
Thorup had us fannying about at the back attempting to pass out , this resulted in the opposition closing down the defence forcing errors. There wasn't a plan B. We became predictable & easy to score against despite having 2 of the best attacking players in Sainz & Sargent. Blowing leads & capitulation became a regular occurrence. I became disillusioned midway through the season & expected to roll over away from home then our home form dropped off a cliff & they became the laughing stock of the division .
Whats Mannings plan B exactly. Luck?. Pass the ball for a change, keep posession. It goes both ways. If you buy players based on size or speed then you restrict yourself even more. I haven't seen us this bad in posession for probably 20 years. I have no sense of pride in how this team plays. All that money Knapper has squandered
We have only seen 3 games, we haven’t even seen a fully formed plan A yet, the team is still learning and adapting.
