I'm as staggered now as I would have been then had I been told we'd be challenging for automatic promotion by early March!! We've been over it hundreds of times but let's just say I wasn't Neil Adams biggest fan and saw nothing but disaster while he stayed in tenure. In a way, I've been proven right because there's no way we'd be anywhere near where we are now if he was still in charge.
What, that they'd stay the distance? Remains to be seen. I think they'll probably struggle to reach the play offs looking at their fixture list. They certainly won't be finishing above us now Alex Neil is here!
No not that they would stay the distance or if this thread should be on the Ipswich boards this one .."whether they go up automatically is still up in the air but i think its almost certain they will finish above us. automatic promotion is nothing but a fantasy for us now."
Right - sort of answered that above - the Adams effect. Indeed I'm very sure that had Adams remained the season, Ipswich would have finished above us and there is no way on earth we'd now be where we are. It just highlights how poor we'd been, that its taken a stunning six wins on the bounce against some bloody tough teams to get us two points above of Ipswich for crying out loud. I think Ipswich would have beaten us on Sunday too - there's no way Adams would have had our defence well drilled to deal with the high balls like Neil did, not to mention there'd have been no Bassong. I feel perfectly comfortable with what I wrote back in late 2014. The only reason its wrong is because of a change of management - and thank god for that.
You say Grabban was at his worst out wide and that's where Lafs played the whole time (Bar the PNE match which was a no show from everyone). I still believe he would have gotten around 10 goals if he was playing as a Striker. It's a moot point now and Grabban has improved vastly and I'm very glad with that. I still think OVERALL, Lafferty is the better player.
In fairness, neither actually played out wide, but usually on the left or right of a three in a 4-2-3-1. TBH, much as I like Laffs, I think he'd not get many games up front if Jerome, Grabban and Hooper are all fit. His going out on loan suggests that AN feels that way as well.
So Grabban would be 4th choice after Jerome Hooper & Lafferty ?. Yet the manager makes him first choice & he played in all of the 8 wins scoring 5 in the last 5. This kind of proves my point , most on here don't rate Grabban . I'm just glad we don't pick the team .
Grabban seems to suit AN's style of play more. He's hard working and he can press the back line very well, as well as stretching them and getting in behind. I think that's been really important in our recent performances. That's not the sort of role I can imagine Lafferty playing. He's more of a target man whole try and find some spaces in and around the defence and bring others into play. Lafs would be my second choice as a target man behind Jerome. Not the question you ask, I know, but I'm trying to flounce out of it!
I'm not getting ****ty I just rate the guy after the crap we were served up last season. Wolfswinkel 1 goal Elmander 1 Goal Becchio 0 goals This season Lafferty 1 goal Some posters have already written Grabban off as a flop IF we go up, which I find extraordinary . He's only 27 he has bagged 34 in the last 2 seasons and counting. Lafferty and Wolfswinkel may get another shot next season with the new manager giving us 5 pretty decent options.
I think he might struggle in the Prem but I'm more than willing to wait until I've seen him there before writing him off. If he could just tighten up his touch and finishing he'd be a very good striker!
So you keep reminding us!!!! He may stay If we go up, in case we suffer numerous injuries to our other strikers. You're also forgetting that we have yet to see Vadis-Ofoe and Dorrans can do when both are fully match fit. I would imagine he'll hang on to his place in the starting 11 for the next few games though, but I also liked the Jerome/Hooper combination.
I thought scoring goals making assists and winning games was the whole point of strikers ? I clearly have no idea .
He scores a lot of **** goals but the winner on Sunday for example he made up about 40 yards to get in the box and it bounced off him. He has also been setting up a lot of goals lately by getting wide and cutting the ball back. He is clearly doing something right to keep Hooper and Jerome on the bench. Yes he misses a few chances but he Always gets himself into scoring situatuons by sheer hard work ,that is an attribute that A N obviously likes .
Well Jerome has had a hamstring Injury and Hooper has only dropped out because he had an illness. Not saying he wouldn't still be playing if they were both fully fit, just there are currently mitigating factors that have made his inclusion less of a decision of AN. Grabban has still taken this opportunity and is doing great. Far more impressive than earlier in the season. Still think he could be a better finisher though and he is still scoring lucky goals a lot of the time. Not necessarily a bad thing for a striker though.
