Shaw turned an ankle on Friday and has his foot in a support, ten days minimum is quoted. Shame because he may have made the difference, difficult to say because so many had an off day. Don't know whether Corks subbing was tactical or medical?
A refs adjudicator saying that all 3 red cards were warranted on Saturday. Only shot shown of Ramirez's incident makes it look innocuous, but must assume there are others that are clearer. However, what was Fox thinking off...both feet off the ground when the guy was going away from goal.
No doubt that all three cards were correct, the only thing about Ramirez was that he was clearly being fouled by Long, when he flashed his arm out and made contact, had the Referee blown before then, he may have prevented the mayhem. Fox was a gentleman and did apologise immediately, knowing that he had got the timing completely wrong, he has a long time now to contemplate his further conduct and a lot would wish that it was elsewhere, I am not so sure that he can't be sorted to our advantage, but I don't think many of our more judgemental fans will give him that chance. In which case we will need to pay some cash to bring in at least one replacement LB. Shaw is still young, Targett isn't quite ready, but there is promise in both.
I'll reply to your last point first; on saturday I didn't have a drop until I got home in the evening, so unfortunately I remember the game with crystal clarity. Ramirez can have a negative impact on the game in that he often gives the ball away cheaply and can be selfish. Morgan put in his shift usual which is ofcourse a very high standard. I think this guy should be captain. He's very vocal on the pitch. I also noticed that in the warm up before the game he was giving Fox a bollocking for not taking it seriously (posing and pissing about). This says as much about Morgan as it does about Danny Fox
Didn't see the match tankfully. Was fox terrible all game? (balanced views please). And why was cork subbed- is he injured or was it to prevent him getting 2 yellows?
Fox wasn't terrible, he was just his usual self really. Couple of moments where you saw a WBA player running for a throughball into the space where a LB should be and he had drifted off into the wrong areas. Fairly sure that his red card was the result of pent up frustration manifesting itself. Cork wasn't on a yellow, I can only assume that bringing Ramirez on for him was an attacking substitution to counter the 3 up front WBA were playing - which was starting to work until the flurry of red cards. Such a shame as Ramirez played well until he was sent off, was playing a pretty free role and was popping up everywhere and working very hard.
Thanks, was concerned about injury. He's vital and would hate to lose him for the rest of season. Could have been a different story had Gaston not got sent off. Sigh...
Could have been a different story had Gaston not got sent off. Sigh... _____________________________ As much as I'd like to believe that, I really don't think it would have. Lakuku should have scored a few, on another day I reckon he would have. Their game-plan just had us playing a different game to usual, maybe if they hadn't got the earlier fluke goal things may have been, err less bad. Credit to WBA, they all stuck to Mr Frowns plan & it paid off. I expect to see a fully focused Saints side next weekend, where we'll probably play well & get a sucker punch from Bale in the last minute. But, draw a line & move on anyway.
Maybe in training Fox can show the team how to perfect the ambulance tackle ready for bale. Take out bale and take one for the team?!
Tottenham is one of the more challenging of the top teams in terms of style...they can get caught out at the back (good game to have Rodriguez running every which way), but they don't linger in attack. Any moments of panic for our defense likely won't end well.
The only way Fox would have been able to cope with Bale is to have broken his leg, Im pretty sure Spurs would have targeted Fox so his sending off is a blessing.Clyne was a match for Bale with speed but he did get outmuscled for Bales goal. People say that Targett is a better defender than Shaw but not as good as going forward, thats fine with me. Richardson is a solid player but would get ripped a new one by Bale purely on speed.
Hopefully Fox won't even be in the squad next year. Pratting about in the warm up really wound me up.
Thought he was ok against west ham by and large. Until we sign another LB or promote Targett he is the best 2nd LB we have- what are our options?! I think his confidence has been shattered this season. While he is no shaw or baines he is capable of playing better than he has been, I think he knows he's made some shockers and his performance is suffering.
Well, let's face it. He's not PL standard. Not by a long way. We need to sign another LB and sell Fox.
I don't like getting on our players backs and I would never boo one nor do I have anything against Fox personally, but he's just fairly rubbish at this level and there's no real way around it in my view. His positioning is all over the place, he's not quick enough to match up against 90% of the wingers in the league, and his offensive capabilities have completely left him. At his best he is sufficient, at his worst he is a complete liability, and he has hit the lower end of that spectrum a lot more frequently the other end this year. At this point even if he wasn't suspended I'd rather play Targett, he may struggle and not improve us but at least there is an upside to playing him, there is a risk-reward there, with Fox it is all risk. Personally I think there is nothing wrong with a baptism of fire, baby-feeding a player into the team can do more harm than good, put them up against some stiff opposition and see what their made of. Let's not forget that JWP made his league debut against City, and his only starts this season have come against them, United, Arsenal and Everton, and he came out of it with his head held high. I'd much rather we gave Targett a go than shifting the balance of the team to play players out of position. Obviously I don't know the guy but if the coaching staff think he has any mettle (which most of our boys coming from the academy so far have) then I think he'll be up for the test.