My worry is that Jol has not resolved the problem with Berba and Ruiz on the same team... slow build up, no creativity. Taking note from a post on Ruiz I paid close attention in the first half... almost fell asleep as the guy next to me. Apart from that long pass nothing to write about. I think he should be playing off the striker otherwise he is wasted. I don't think it's time to start asking for Jol's head but hearing about Dempsey 12 months on, I am despaired.
But you are talking about it - talking about how long he's got before we start calling for his head. Why five games? Why not three, or seven, or twenty? Even saying, 'I'll give him five games before I start calling for his head' is like saying that he's on borrowed time. The first five games include Arsenal and Chelsea, plus two less-than-straightforward away games. It's possible that we play well in all five and still have a worryingly low points total. The five after that (apart from the last one - Man Utd) are a less daunting prospect. It's too soon for knee-jerk reactions, and it's too soon to set up a timetable for when we should start our knee-jerk reactions.
I'm just voicing my opinion as based on the end of last season, if the performances don't pick up at the beginning of the upcoming season i don't think i will be able to back Jol as i have in the past. Even if we have some tough matches at the beginning of the season, If i think that we put in a good performances, even though we may not pick up too many points, i will back Jol fully. I think that Khan should back Jol fully as i believe that he is a very good manager, just maybe not the right manager for a struggling mid-table club who aren't getting enough financial support. What i am saying is that I will see what happens at the beginning of the season and decide whether i still want Jol at the club then. I am slightly pessimistic right now as my patience is running thin due to our bad end to last season and bad pre-season, and the fact that the main areas on the pitch that need fixing aren't being addressed frustrates me.
I quite like what Jol is trying to do with the team in general, in that he is bringing in players of a higher quality to what he inherited. The problem at the moment is that we aren't bringing in the right players of high quality and our team is starting to look unbalanced. We are thin in defence, midfield and attack but we dont have a shortage of players. In defence we have 7 experienced players, 8 if you consider Richardson a left back. In defence we've got; LB - Richardson, Riise & Briggs CD - Hangaland, Hughes, Senderos & Amo RB - Reither and Hughes We've got some depth at CB, although I'd rather not see Senderos starting too often- should Reither & either of Hangeland or Amo get injured he would be the only senior option. I'm not much keen on our LB options and we need someone else behind Reither. Hughes could do a job over a short period, but he would hardly offer much in terms of overlap. Midfield is; DM - Sidwell, Kara & Boateny CM - Kasami & Taarabt Wing - Frei, Kacaniklic, Duff, Richardson, Kasami, Taarabt, Dejegah & Mesca, Ruiz AM - Ruiz, Kasami, Taarabt & Berbatov We're heaving on wingers and yet we hardly play with any width, Jol is consistent with putting wingers on the opposite side. DM has depth and I'm not unhappy with it, CM is weak and really both are attacking players- there is no one to connect the defence to attack/ I want someone who is composed and can pass- don't care if they score. AM is strong. Attack CF - Ruiz, Berbatov, Rodalegga & Trotta I don't consider the last two as long term options and we lacking someone who plays in behind defenders. Ideally I'd like to see us play wingers on the right sides with crosses in behind the defence rather than crowded link up play through the middle and lots of sideways passing. We need someone who will keep our attack forward- Berbatov will never stay there if he isnt getting the ball.
I've no problem with you voicing your opinion, Nick. I was just expressing my opinion that putting a deadline on when Jol has to prove himself worthy of our support isn't necessarily the most productive thing we can do. I get the frustration - I share it - but I want to see how we play before deciding whether or not to back Jol. I agree with you that his biggest problem has been the absence of financial backing from Al Fayed and, so far, Kahn. That said, his biggest signing so far, Ruiz (who I'm a big fan of) hasn't delivered consistently, so that does provide a counterargument for the anti-Jol brigade. Not, in my opinion, a convincing argument, but a valid one nonetheless! Anyway, we seem to be getting drawn into conflict on this (it's so hard to get tone into discussion board messages, isn't it?) which wasn't my intention. Let's just hope that Berba, Ruiz and Taarabt blow Sunderland, Arsenal and Newcastle off the park and make all this seem redundant.
It was rediculous and petty. I moved from the Riverside stand to the Hammersmith stand for the second half, plenty of seats in avails. 2 pissed up morons spent the whole time abusing Taatabt when he came on, I mean seriously whats that all about. He plays for Fulham for gods sake. Shocking behavior.
I felt there were a lot of players not trying on Saturday, may be afraid of getting injured, but when Kara, Taarabt and Kasami came on you could see there were players who wanted to get involved and step up the pace of the game. At times in the first half we had no strikers, may be Jol was testing out tactics but Ruiz was picking the ball up far to deep in defense he was getting too isolated and surrounded that his passing was poor. Mesca has the speed but no end product on the crosses. Dejagah had some good runs in behind their defense but no one there to finish. Boateng again did what I thought he could do, and probable gets MOTM, needs to calm down a bit in his tackles to win the ball back when he loses it and Sidwells goal was a good one. But that apart still the same slow build up. Thought the No:99 (put a flake in it) for Parma (Cassano?) controlled their team and a good creative midfielder, what we lacked. The Ref (Mr.East?) seemed to let the Italians get away with their normal blocking and antics, but we never threatened to take a hold of the game.
It was never my intention either. I just hope come Saturday Jol can get the boys playing good football and we trash Sunderland
It won't work. Ruiz is not the player to fill the gap between them two and Berba... We are doomed if that will be the case...
maybe taarabt can do the job and Ruiz push out wide as IMO he looked like a very good player against Parma and Taarabt will draw defenders in the center giving Ruiz space to do what he wants to on the wing.
Tried frequently on the right wing and hasn't worked. Had pondered/suggested trying him wide left but have gone completely off that idea now. He should be attacking midfield and competing and competing with Adel for that spot. Anyway, here are the video highlights of the Parma game (useful to compare how the respective teams break forward): [video=youtube;zrSWbgbOrRA]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zrSWbgbOrRA&feature=player_embedded[/video]
If that is the case, then I'll officially join the Jol Out camp on September 2. Sidwell is not good enough to be starting in a Premier League team, especially not one who is trying to avoid the relegation fight. There are 3 weeks left, we have to believe there are 3-4 more deals left to happen. A summer outlay of £5m is just not good enough for a Premier League team.
Great post siky and couldn't agree more with each of your analysis points. So this is just an observation - it gets thinner if in all likelihood Riise leaves and Jol sends Briggs, Kasami, Trotta (and David) out to the Championship on loan.
What peeves me is that if we are under the cosh new players are brought on ,but it appears that when this happens no plan B is put into action its just players replacing players with the same old formula,many of them given 5 or 10 minutes play time Hopefully this season Jol can prove me and all the other doubting Thomases wrong but the signs are not looking good lets remember after 2 years at the helm we are still scraping the barrel. Who would have believed that Wigan would win the the cup and Swansea are in Europe 2 teams that a year or so ago the pundits were writing off. How many times recently have we heard Demps and Dembele leaving was a blow,i could have bought Benteke, we need to score goals. Mr Jol you pick the team, and dictate tactics, us supporters week in week out just bite our nails.
Personally I'm not pinning my seasons hopes on pre season games. We will be absoltely fine come the Sunderland game. BTW I think Jol is a great manager for us and I don't think there is anyone out there currently available.
I am disappointed Mo didn't sell earlier and we missed the opportunity to hire an "ambitious" manager But mind that Pulis is still available. I always admired Stoke's setup and technical play.
