As we know Ince isn't eligible and Cairney is still out with a 'dead leg'. Think Slavi pretty much set out his stall in today's press conference when he said, "Brighton need to take the risk, they need to win the game. So we need to know what to expect and be ready with a plan to win." Suspect therefore he'll start with his more cautious 4-4-2 and, as he's done in almost all of the last five games, make his more 'competitive' changes second half. Not that we will be without threat if he goes for: ..................Betinelli............. ..Stearman...Madl..Amorebietta..Garbutt.. ....LVC....Tunnicliffe..Parker...Hyndman.. ...........Dembele...McCormack..
Drat - the Official site have just said that Michael Madl is out with a calf injury. So, slight change at the back: ......................Betinelli............. ..Fredericks.. Stearman..Amorebietta..Garbutt.. ....LVC....Tunnicliffe..Parker...Hyndman.. ...........Dembele...McCormack.. Might be for the better in that Stearman had a very good second half in the middle last weekend whereas he was (and has been) decidedly iffy at RB.
I'd go for ......................Bettinelli............. ..Fredericks.. Stearman..Amorebieta..Garbutt.. .........Baird......Parker.......Tunnicliffe...... .................Hyndman.............. ........Dembele...McCormack.. Bit more defensive
We have a man with a history in the middle tonight, Mr Andy Woolmer. It's not much of a history mind but it's a good one - the only time we've seen him was that 4-1 away to Bristol City on 31st October last. The 49 year old has been around a while, having ref'd since the age of 16 and been on the National list since 2004, and likes to think he keeps fit on his rounds as a Northampton postman. Par for the course when it comes to dealing out cards as well, managing 104 yellow and 2 reds in his 34 games so far this season.
Normal service is resumed! Pity, since we seemed to doing fine for the first half an hour but pretty much collapsed after those two goals in quick succession. I've seen a snippet of both - * many on social media were saying the first was a soft penalty and theirs took a dive. Sorry, but you make your own luck and Stearman pushed the guy giving the ref no option. * the second however, was quite the reverse. One of theirs fouled Stearman in the box leaving the other Brighton player a free header Still had hope we could bounce back but anther dodgy decision (offside question mark this time) put paid to us. Unbelievably it could have been worse but for Bettinelli which says it all about our defence. That said, I do question Slavi's team selection in the first place. No, let me be specific - what in hell was he thinking in playing O'Hara? Not a good way to start the weekend!
Just returned from to nights match / fiasco. and there is no doubt there is a big class difference between the top 5 teams and the also ran's which we are bottom of the pile For the want of constantly repeating myself the defence ie:goalkeeper full backs we should be shot of in the close season, sure Betts made some good saves but this is no substitute for positional sense and distribution, and as on Brighton fan said to me how come you got rid of Stockdale for this poor substitute, it was upsetting for a Fulham fan to watch Stockdals whose positioning and distribution was excellent. Come the seasons end out Betts O Hara Stearman Fredericks Parker Amorebieta and some of those out on loan Footnote from the manager "we were unable to attend to set pieces" baffling statement you are supposed to be in charge of bloody training. A couple of more points required for safety.
Yes we need changes in the summer but nobody can deny for 25 minutes we were far the better team playing away to one of the top 3 until the ref gives a disgraceful decision, the Brighton guy didn't even dive it looked liked he just slipped over on a poor surface following minimal contact . It was a decision that got there team up and ours heads down. Like I say I'm not excusing us for losing 5-0 but that was just a ridiculous turning point and the ref should be embarrassed.
Very much this. Parker and O'Hara should not be on the pitch together at this point. I think quite a bit of our recent form was built on the balance that Ince brought to the team. Without him our defence was exposed, whilst we lacked incision - as a result we had alot of possession without scoring and were torn open time and time again. That said, the penalty was a dive, one goal was offside and another was a big deflection. We didn't deserve anything (Brighton were clearly better), but we didn't have much luck tonight.
Think I'm getting more frustrated week in week out with Jokanovic. I just can't fathom his tactics. He seems to have very poor judgement of the quality of players he has at his disposal and where they should be played. He is stubborn against certain teams not playing long ball to someone like Smith, and has continued the slow possession build up that was the undoing of Symons team. His substitutions make no sense and have very little impact. I've seen very little to say he must have fluked it at Watford because his knowledge of how to play against teams seem limited. Slow build up allows the opposition to get 2 banks of 4 and defend in numbers. We need to get the ball forward quicker and have the opposition midfield facing their own goal. I'm feedup of conceding goals from corners and freekicks. We might as well put all our players on the goal line and have our keeper stand on the six yard box. I'm feedup with a keepers not being able to kick a ball out to one of his own players, it's basic goalkeeping.
I'd disagree that his substitutions made no sense or had no impact. LVC for Parker was an obvious switch and LVC instantly had higher energy. Baird for O'Hara also made sense as O'Hara was poor. Woodrow made sense insofar as being the only attacking option on the bench and Amorebieta was woeful (and lets be honest, Amorebieta only came back because he was already our player and FFP tied our hands), although the team then didn't seem to know what system they were playing and the game was already long gone. Our recent uptick in form was based on playing a system that Rohan Ince was doing well in; he couldn't play on Friday and was obviously missed. Tom Cairney is our best attacking midfielder and we really missed him. We have an unbalanced squad where we have multiple central midfielders and very few wingers. That is not Jokanovic's fault, given the embargo and the remnants of relegation/Magath. I think we should have started LVC ahead of O'Hara, but we don't exactly have a lot of depth right now.
Always Look on the Bright Side Despite the defeat and our goal difference taking a hammering, we're better off than we were before Friday night. Then we were 10 points clear of the drop with 5 games to go but given the other results we are still 10 points clear (if you allow for our better goal difference) and now only 4 games to go.
