All quiet at Motspur Park. I guess Kit will be working with the 18-man squad from Saturday plus Emerson Hyndman and possibly, just possibly, Sean Kavanaugh. The chances are we’ll only see two changes in the starting line-up however. Burn coming in for Bodurov, who as I’ve said before is slow of foot and slow of mind. He might also switch Richards and Voser; the latter being so right footed he really struggles when the opposition go on his outside. The other change - and I never thought I’d say this - is Tunnicliffe for Pringle. Pure and simple because we need some brawn in the middle. That I also regret to say means Kit reverting to the fateful Diamond. ……………….Bettinelli……………. ..Voser….Hutchinson…Burn…Richards.. ………..Tunnicliffe…..O’Hara…. ……LVC……………….Cairney…. ……………McCormack…… …………….Smith…. I think there’s an argument for Dembele over Smith, with the option of (more likely the inevitability of) a 60th minute substitution. However, for this type of away fixture I’m going for that wee bit of extra experience from Smith to start.
……………….Lonergan……………. ....Pringle…Burn…Richards.. ………..Mattila…..O’Hara…. ……LVC…McCormack…….Cairney…. ……….…Dembele…….... …………….Smith…. Why Pringle at leftback, because he has good energy to go box to box can cross a decent ball, and take good corners. Really need to get in new LB cover for Garbutt. Mattila is used to playing Defensive Midfield but could slot in the back 4 when needed, I put Dembele to give us more speed getting behind defenses, with McCormack running in late from midfield
I'd prefer to have Matilla in Centre Mid than Tunnicliffe. He's bigger and stronger than Tunnicliffe and better equipped to deal with the likes of Huddlestone. I feel a lot more comfortable with Lonergan in goal but I think Bettinelli will probably start. I agree with swapping Voser and Richards but I don't think Kit will do it. I'd like to see Kaca start for his pace on the counter and it wouldn't be a disaster if Dembele got the nod ahead of Smith. He offers a physical presence as well as pace. I think it'll be: -------------------------Bettinelli------------------------- Richards-------Hutchinson-----Burn---------Voser ------------------Matilla---------O'Hara---------------- Cairney------------McCormack----------Kacaniklic --------------------------Smith---------------------------
Not expecting anything tonight, think this is the hardest fixture of the season and I expect Hull to go straight back up this season, can't see a clean sheet against anybody at the moment so we are going to have score two pmaybe three goals to win any game can't see that happening away to Hull
Did Pringle have a bad game on the weekend? I thought he would be a regular starter for us. Had to stop myself commenting last night, Cottager's mention of the diamond set me off and I was moving into the second paragraph of a rant before pulling back! Matilla might well be the biggest donkey we've seen, but based on my personal dislike of Tunnicliffe, allied to the fact that I've not seen him do much and I think having a Man U association makes him seem better than he is, I would much prefer to see him run out than Ryan. We should of got shot of him, maybe we tried and no-one took him and that explains the Rigg phone call reported a while back.
Hull's line up has got promotion written all over it, that back four is the best in the Championship, Aluko and Elmohamedy give pace out wide, Huddlestone in the middle with players like Hernandez and Jelavic upfront they should be walking this division!
Said it many times before Symonds is not the manager for us, he is an apprentice learning his craft but unfortunately he is failing to learn. And can he attract quality ?. Please if we have not added to our points total by mid Sept he must go we cannot afford to have the debacle of last season
Sounds like we've been all over Hull in this 2nd half and got a well deserved goal. We could maybe even win this!!
After a poor first half (one shot) and a seemingly better second half (seven shots) I thought so too, but conceded late on again. Point lost. Hope Betts is not too bad. Need a win against Huddersfield.
Went to game. Shambles in the first half. 2nd half better took the game to them. Good Cairney goal. Our build up play was good but too many times fail to have a shot at goal or pick the right pass. And again let in late goal.
Lost my network connection so only heard Gentleman Jim's first half. Sounded as though there was no balance or organisation to the side. Good to hear from others that we had a better second half. It goes without saying though, you need to commit for 90 minutes to win games in this League. Here's a link to an radio interview Kit had with BBC London Sport, which kind of sums up how depressing things are currently and not least for Marcus and Matt -
Why does the start of the season reminds me of the last 2 seasons with Jol and Magath? No change of play in the first few games and the hope something will change... There is still hope!
Kit and the board have not learned from the last 2 seasons mistakes, our defence is week, not up to this level. So obvious to us all. Ream and Dunk we keep hearing about them where are they? An enforcer also required in middle of midfield we continue to ship goals. Depressing to say the least.
If we miss signing as cottagecravens says an enforcer, and a quality full back we together with KS at the helm be staring relegation in the face once again Todays KS statement " The fitness level is great" b.....ks" they look knackered after 80min. What less than 3 weeks to the window closure then what ? scurrying around for leftovers
Kit needs to take a close look at all the goals conceded, not just the late ones. Of those three late efforts, two could fall into the cliché of “that’s football”; Pringle slipped for the Cardiff one, Hutchinson had a rush of blood and the linesman a touch of blindness for the Brighton one. The other three goals we’ve given away? There’s one common denominator - Bodurov!
