The main question on the agenda is again about injuries. In today’s press conference Kit said, Hoogland, Amorebieta and Jorenen are still out. However, Kavanagh and Voser are fit and available. No mention about Grimmer or Ruiz though. Another question of course is whether Hutchinson, who had a solid game against Brighton, will retain his place or will returning vice-captain Dan Burn come back in? And will new boy Seko Fofana, who looked strong and pacy in his 30 minutes against Brighton, get his home debut? Kit did make a point that the players not getting a regular place were okay with that, so I wouldn’t expect any of those who turned out for the U21s on Monday night starting. In fact it will be pretty much as you were and, going out a the wing (well, not literally since we won't play with one), I’d suggest - ………………..Bettinelli…………….. ..Grimmer…Bodurov..Burn…..Stafylidis …Christensen….Parker….Fofana…. ……………….Ruiz…….. …………Hugo….McCormack…
Anyone else worried about this game, i watched the highlights of there one nil defeat to Cardiff and they were by far the better team and the stats showed they had 72% possession and loads if chances against a Cardiff defence much more solid thane ours! Added to the fact tag they g0have Vydra who after I advised we should buy himabout a year ago he then went and scored a last minute winner against his last season!
I didn't see the highlights, but guess that the possession figures had something to do with them going a goal down at home after 12 minutes and Cardiff holding onto what they had. I'm expecting another close game. I'll predict a five goal thriller - Fulham to win 3-2 and set us all up for a good weekend.
I largely agree. Assuming all of the following are fit, I think Grimmer will keep his place while Burn will return for Hutchinson. I suspected the inclusion of Hyndman against Brighton was due to a desire to be more solid - three 'proper' central midfielders - for an away game. I wouldn't be at all surprised to see George Williams come back in rather than Fofana (who I'm sure will at least make an appearance from the bench). Ruiz will play if fit, but if not that leaves a chance for Eisfeld, David or (the one I'm hoping for) Roberts to show what they can do behind the strikers.
Spot on again Cottager, line ups these days are a far cry from the games of Magath bingo we used to have to put up with.
Unfortunately it shows that Kit was not appointed on merit but on emotion! Has no clue how to sort our defensive formation. Clueless!!!
What an awful performance. What makes it worse is the fact that we have to endure the next three games with Kiraly in goal and only Rodak an Norman as back up. Emergency loan???
Annoying that all our hard work of the last few weeks bringing the goal difference down has been blown in one match and is now back up to -9 again. How many goals has Kiraly let in this season. Must be averaging about 4 a game.
Kit lets not hear crap about promoting from within, get a solid couple of defenders in the window + a rotational goalkeeper, and if you want to manage properly ditch your Wales association and concentrate on who pays your main wages. This performance was abysmal, the top 5 teams are mediocre, so it goes to show how bad we are. Tread water for 3 week and dip your toes into the transfer market
Evening all, really disappointed by the result and performance tonight. I have only seen the televised games this season and am left a little bewildered by how we are playing. 2 things really stand out : we are playing so many long balls, we seem to completely bypass the midfield and hope Rodders or McCormack can hold it up. Whenever parker gets on the ball he looks up and there are no options. Secondly, what is going on with the delivery from set plays. Time and time again I see corners being headed away from the near post and free kicks not clearing the first defender. Could anyone who has been following the games let me know if this is just stage fright from the tv or if it is simply the way we have been playing. This was a terrible performance with a few errors from the off. Fofana should not have started and grimmer looked out of his depth. However, Christenson looks a real talent and the front pairing of Rodders and McCormck look very good. I really want Kit to succeed but we need to play better and be better tactically. Whilst I am delighted that he has galvanised the team and got us moving up the table we are a mile away from the sort of football that,say, Derby are playing. The championship is a brutal league, no one can sit on their laurels, as much as 4 or 5 wins can catapult you up the table, 4 - 5 poor performances can be punishing. The December games are going to be crucial for all involved in the club, let's hope tonight was simply a bad day at the office, and that we can defend better as The tracksuited one looks truly awful. COYW
The long ball stuff is not new froggy and while I agree with you that Fofana and Grimmer performed poorly I'd give them the benefit of "first night nerves". There was no such excuse for the more senior players however. When Ivan B forgot to mention Bryan Ruiz in announcing the team before kick off the writing was on the wall. That wasn’t why we lost this match of course, although we did indeed play something like 75 minutes without Bryan. The game was lost because we - 1. Started as if it was a training event 2. Didn’t close players down 3. Didn’t learn from our mistakes (lobs over the top; short corners; wingers left unmarked) Add to that a defence that is simply tragic, and so slow. That is something that has been written on the wall for some time and, as rosc suggests, sadly Kit let the ‘loan window’ drift by. As he has his opportunity to bolster the goalkeeper situation and he’s now stuck .. for three games?.. with someone who clowns around. I could moan about the linesman on the JH side and some poor refereeing (no idea why he gave the foul that led to their first goal) but the bottom line is that we were bettered all over the park and most definitely, as froggy said, tactically. And tactics are down to you Kit.
That must rank as one of the worst performances I have witnessed. I though Grimmer and Christensen, although not perfect, were the two who actually looked to be trying. No sign of a half time rollicking, or any kind of inspiration - Symons was exposed in this game. There was nothing he could do about the sending off - but there was no response. We played for too long without any width and endless hoofs up to Hugo, who must have only won one or two headers. We were outclassed but the effort was awful - at one point half the team weren't even looking as a goal kick was being taken - hardly any wanted the ball. Parker was off form - exemplified by his quick free kick when Staf was still down, which led to a ridiculous passage of play. Kit got off lightly at the end, as did the team, because most people had left. We need someone to support on tactics and someone to help with identifying January targets. The cracks papered over by good fortune and goodwill were exposed tonight.
