You'd have thought we'd lost.................

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Oldsparkey

Oldsparkey

Well-Known Member
Forum Moderator
Jan 27, 2011
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Porthcawl Riviera
Wot - no apologists for ever doubting Slade? No KTF'ers berating those who did?.............<laugh>

Was Fabio good yesterday or not? Should he keep his place (assuming he's fit) or was it just a temp thing for Malone's illness?

How effective was Jones compared to Revell? Do you think Manga should start on Tuesday and maybe even next Saturday? If so, who should he replace?

We did the double over Forest under Slade last season - can we do it again starting Saturday?
 
1)Fabio played fantastically (my man of the match actually), he should definitely keep his place; although we missed Malones pace down the left at times (fixed when ameobi came on)
2)Jones was far more effective than revell; but i think that it was because we were always pressing wolves and causing problems, in away games i'd start revell as his running makes defenders panic at times
3)Manga should start next saturda to replace Connolly (who always looks like he has a mistake in him) although i would rest him for tuesday to allow him to get back to full fitness
4)yes we can definitely beat forest
 
I though Morrison was worse than Connolly and has been so far this season. Not that Slade is ever going to drop Morrison unless injured
 
Bloody crab foootball, Played it sideways and back to goalie far to often which demonstrates a lack of confidence, no penetrating runs from midfield, Hoof ball at times, and yes Connolly is a liability, All round horror show. Wait till the "big boys" settle down and get hold of us bye bye russ
 
Fabio should definitely keep his place. He was superb.
I doubt KWJ will be ready for Tuesday, I would think Ameobi has put in a decent claim for that starting place. I'd leave the centre backs alone and maybe look to start Manga next week.

Still lots of football to play but if that KWj plays more games for us than the lazy disinterested version he'll be a weapon. With Austin almost certain to leave we'd be left with potentially the best striker in the division.
 
Slade and his staff deserve credit for having us well organised and difficult to beat. I still say judge him after 10 games.
If we are mid table and the football is improving then hes doing his job. We are definately better than last season. Ralls is really standing out now and is a key player in the role he is playing. I dont think its a coincidence that Malone and now Fabio have done well at left back.
I think id play Fabio at right back as long as Pilkington is on the right.
Id still axe a striker to allow and extra midfielder with pace - Noone.

When we were playing 442 under Jones we set up 2 in the middle and 2 wide. No real tactics or ideas or thoughts on the opposition. When we able to play and with the likes of Bothroyd and Chopra we had some exciting football. However we were quickly worked out and there was never a plan b. Slade prefers 442 but there are definite thoughts on stopping the opposition and the side is organised and indivduals seem to know their role. Wolves were made to look terrible yesterday and maybe QPR arent as bad as I first thought.

This league looks poor to me. If we brought in 3 quality pacy players we would go up.

As it stands mid table and improved football is job done as Slade hasnt had the backing or resources Jones , Malky or Ole had.

There were probably better options than Slade. But im stating to think hes not as bad as I thought and us fans should back him and give him a chance.
 
First game I've watched this year. A poor first 20 by both teams but we slowly grew into it and had a decent second half. Workman like if not flamboyant.

Fabio was very good and worked well with Ralls who looks one of our best players. Whitts was very quiet and looks a shadow of his former self. Interestingly there was a lot of rotation between Whitts, Ralls and Dikgacoi. The latter got forward more than I expected. When he did, Whitts dropped back. Dikgacoi seems quite a rounded player (not so much physically now), challenging in the air at both ends of the pitch and making neat passes even if the odd one went astray. Often Whitts and Ralls swapped places with Whitts looking diligent when Fabio got forward. Mason was unlucky to have a goal disallowed and worked tirelessly in his running off the ball usually ignored by our midfield. He would have had a field day with Whitts in his pomp.

The back 5 looked largely untroubled though that may have been down to the lack of creativity from Wolves. Morrison is an old fashioned centre back. Wins his headers, gets a tackle in and clears the ball. Too often he lumped it forward and he always tried to head the ball as far as he could, giving the ball straight back to Wolves where a cushioned header would have found one of our midfield. With that in mind I'd stick Manga in with Connolly who looks more of a footballer. Interesting that when Fabio went off, Morrison went to left back.

As for KWJ, seemed to do a bit of running in closing down and helping to defend, winning headers in both boxes. Held the ball up ok and obviously knows where the goal is. Still a bit of an enigma.

Unbeaten after 5 (including the cup) and scored in every game with lots of different scorers which I feel better than one striker filling his boots. Positive signs though I'm still not convinced.

Admit that this is based on watching one and listening to a couple on the radio.
 
I understand Wolves had not failed to score in a league game since March 2014.

I could have kept goals and we'd still have had a clean sheet. They were awful. City won with amazing ease but for me whilst that was great, some serious questions still exist.

Yes City won but against better teams ie team with pacy attacking midfielders they'll be on the back foot continually and just won't see enough of the ball and will need to take every rare chance that comes their way in the box. Watching Derby and Birmingham on friday amongst others look to have the sort of payers who will flourish in this league. City are neat, compact but have no flair (until Ameobi came on).

In the first half (ie until Ameobi came on) all City did was as usual pass it sideways and backwards and when it was played forward it was either straight to a Wolves player or to Mason with his back to goal. Apart from his goal, Jones sent the match in midfield. Whittingham again was far too deep.

How many more times have I got to type - Mason is not a striker and City have no pace in central midfield.

Slade says he has his eyes on 2 targets - I'm not holding my breath whilst Hull spend £6m on Gray and Leeds spend £3m on Forestiere. other clubs around us will be stronger next moth with new signings, City have half a chance in this league if Slade can (I) get in the 2 new players City so badly need and ii) Slade picks the best attacking team each game.

Pace, pace and pace is the key attribute. City were a much more attacking team with Fabio and Ameobi but the rest are too slow.
 
I'm glad I'm not the only one who thought Wolves were terrible. I've also said that about Fulham watching them in the flesh and QPR on video as well.

How many other poor sides are we going to face or are we just making them look poor? I'd like to think the latter but if not, this league looks wide open for an average team with a plan to do well this year. Not sure if that applies to us with Slade at the helm, but after these first four games anything seems possible.

As far as the Wolves game itself is concerned, both Jones and Fabio have made a statement regarding their future starting 11 inclusion. Injuries apart - they both went off injured and have no idea how bad they are - they should both be the first names on the teamsheet for Forest. The Tuesday night cup game should start with Revell and Malone in their slots.
 
Why didn't Malone start?

Was he ill, with the bug rumoured to have been at the club last week?

Versus MK Dons I'd put out a decent team, why not?

Moore
Peltier Connelly Morison John
Noone Gunnarrsson Ralls Ameobi
Doyle Revell
 
I watched the game on TV as I didn't fancy the long drive in atrocious weather. Some of the points made on TV might answer some of the questions others have asked. Connoly was Sky's man of the match. Bit of a strange one but he had a decent game and should not be the fall guy for our next league match. Fabio (my man of the match) looked as though he was suffering from cramp so should be available for selection. Malone was suffering from the bug possibly picked up in Blackburn midweek as there is a water contamination issue in that area so should be available for selection. The commentator thought with some minor strengthening we could make the play offs.

As for the next couple of league matches, my own preference would be to leave the side unchanged. If changes were to be imposed I would drop Peltier playing Connoly at right back alongside Manga, Morrison and Malone. Whittingham and Ralls seem to be developing a partnership, Dika is a shoe in but I would bench Pilkington in favour of Noone. Mason looked Ok but the dilemma would be whether to choose Jones (if fit) or Ameobi. Either would be OK with me.

The standard of opposition seen to date seems to be poor so there is reason for some optimism after all. No longer do I believe we will be relegation fodder.
 
I think Jones and Ameobi has to be an option. Mason hasn't done enough to nail down a first team place. He's competing for one for sure but he's a long way off 'certain starter' form.

I don't think you can say both QPR and Wolves were terrible without giving some credit to the way Slade has set us out.

I wouldn't risk Ralls midweek as he's possibly our best midfielder right now. I agree Pilks can be swapped put for Noone. He's started every league game without producing an assist or goal. As the 'flair' player in our midfield that's not good enough.

As I mentioned before Fabio has to retain his place. I don't care how well Malone has played until now, if you come in and play like Fabio did you keep the shirt until you give the manager a reason to change. I agree with Hilts that Ralls is helping our left backs this year but our intention to keep and pass the ball really suited Fabio compared to last year. He's a good footballer and our ability to pass and keep possession is improved with him at full back.

Manga returning is further reason why I'm still in the half full camp. If we get anything at Forrest I think you'd have to consider August a success, 3 out of 4 at home in September means Slade might outlast a few more Championship managers.
 
As well as Slade might have got us playing at QPR, the fact is we gave a poor side a 2 goal start and only salavaged a point with a CB set piece header and a "wonder strike" from Malone that could easily have gone in the stands on another day. Wolves were terrible and the fact that they lost at home to QPR in their previous game is testament to that.

We had no attacking prowess to win that QPR game, and for all the systems Slade can employ (but more often than not doesn't), you won't win anything in the long term without that quality in the side.

Ralls has come on a bomb and is holding that left side of team together but we need a match winner. The closest thing we have to that is Jones. Slade must play him up front in the league outings unless he's injured. He's also very useful in defence for opposition set pieces.
 
whoops said:
I would drop Peltier playing Connoly at right back
Click to expand...

NO <yikes> NO<yikes> NO <yikes>

He is an awful full back - put a decent winger on him and City are toast.

Look at previous season first game up at West Ham.

Look at Boro at home last season.
 
When the fixtures were released I said we would only have 4 or 5 points by the end of August. Pleased to be proved wrong.

I still can't decide whether Fulham, QPR, Blackburn and Wolves are really poor side or have we played reasonably well in restricting them. The truth is probably a bit of both.

I thought Fabio had his best game in a Cardiff shirt on Saturday. Still made a couple of mistakes but he worked to recover the situation.

Jones looked effective up front but is still about as mobile as Stonehenge.

Manga needs to replace Morrison. He worries me whenever the ball gets near him.

Why did we take a free kick sideways that ended up going back to the keeper against Wolves?
 
Oldsparkey said:
Only Whitts knows that
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Considering the amount of height we posses you'd think we'd be lumping it into the box at any chance we got.

Also in Pilkington's defense he is far better defensively than Noone, who is far too light weight, and that is needed to cover for Peltier. Plus he can put in a good freekick. Would like to see Ameobi remain as an impact sub where his pace can trouble tired defenders - he still cant pass.
 
I agree Pilkington is better than Noone defensively but Noone is the only player in the side with pace. Peltier does need defensive cover however and that is why I would drop him in favour of Connoly at right back. While Connoly is not great with a decent winger in front of him not every side has one.
 
whoops said:
I agree Pilkington is better than Noone defensively but Noone is the only player in the side with pace. Peltier does need defensive cover however and that is why I would drop him in favour of Connoly at right back. While Connoly is not great with a decent winger in front of him not every side has one.
Click to expand...

Ameobi is as quick as Noone. They are both dangerous coming in off the flank.

Peltier is one of Slade's pets so he won't be dropped anytime soon. I reiterate Connelly is a liability at full back.
 
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