Well, having just read Chris Lakey's article on Wednesday's debacle, I'm back to giving AN till Xmas only, as IMO, he handed Newcastle the initiative, which they took with ‘open arms’, ably abetted by Bassong!!!!
Just the fact he started Bassong away at Newcastle, straight away was really alarming. The end to the game, was even more alarming/******ed. I've stuck up for him a lot on here.... He hasn't learned a f**king thing!!! It's actually amazing that the same f*ck ups happen over and over again.
Lakey used the words 'Achilles heel' which absolutely nails it. Yet we plod on, to-ing and fro-ing from Prem to Champ because nobody is prepared to address it but instead just content to 'paper over the cracks' by offering contract extensions to muppets like Turner and Whittaker in the vain and misguided hope that it will 'eventually sort itself out'
Thanks FML - I've been known to support AN in the past as well, but his decision to start with Naismith as the striker against Brum was the first 'nail in the coffin' for me. He 'cut himself some slack' with league wins at Florist and against Wigan, but as you say, to even consider starting Bassong against such a potent strike force was a 'disaster waiting to happen' I'll NEVER understand the logic behind offering Whittaker a one year extension to his contract and he certainly played his part in our downfall at St Andrews
Well, we're certainly descending to the depths here. Have we dropped into the relegation zone without my noticing? When I last looked we are second in the table in spite of the debacle in the last 2 minutes at Newcastle. This could well be the time to bring in a new manager while they're going cheap. Nigel Pearson anybody? Hasn't worked out well at Derby, but never mind that. Then there's Villa's manager, who spent £29m on new strikers who have propelled them to great heights. If only. Let's go for it guys.
First of numerous as the season progresses. Which once again (though the horse has long since bolted) begs the question did we really need to spend circa £18m on Naismith, Maddison and Pritchard, who are all ostensibly vying for the same position on the pitch - at the expense of a new, good CB to partner Klose and/or a good striker to give Jerome some respite? Old ground, Still rankles. Apologies
Dunc is gonna jump on you and rapidly hump! You mentioned that you thought something once, and it's sort of happened....He's going to be a tw*t all over you for that!
Excellent post Rick. It's not so much the fact that we are still 2nd in the Championship, as AN's team selction and substitutions that have made me look at him less favourably. That and the fact that he doesn't seem to have learnt much since our last visit to SJP 11 months ago. Yes, both Villa and Wolves have spent £Ms, but neither are really getting the team to gel - in AN's case, I'd far rather he had played Godfrey instead of Bassong on Wednesday and yes, he may well have made a misake which cost us a goal, but the fans would be in a more forgiving mood - I know I certainly would be. I was at the friendly against Coventry and he read the game well, as well as being able to pass mostly to a teammate, something some of our senior players seem almost incapable of doing at times.
Yeah, maybe but I can deal with it without resorting to insults and stuff. Just take him to a pub with no 'premium' lagers on sale and you'll be s
You cite Godfrey against Coventry, Braveheart, but you could just as easily cite Bassong against Everton where we won 2-0 away from home. I do think we need another CB because Bassong is our only left-footed player there. Klose can play on the left, but he's naturally right-footed and therefore something of a square peg when playing on the left. Like you, I'm very keen on our young players, but I don't think that playing the 19 year old Godfrey would have been a better decision against Newcastle, especially as he is also right-footed.
Why are the next 12 games more challenging? After Wolves we play Rotherham and the only top 10 teams we have yet to play are Huddersfield, Brighton, Brentford, Reading and Barnsley. If we're worried about that then I am amazed. Yes, we do need a good left-sided CB but let's give Oliveira a chance before we write him off.
I didn't say they were? I said Toon away was the 'first of numerous' potentially tricky fixtures we still have to negotiate. I'm not one who attaches massive importance to the league placings of our oppo so far but there is a table on here somewhere which does highlight what a comparatively 'easy' opening 9 fixtures we had. Nor did I (anywhere, ever) suggest that I'd written off Oliveira? You seem quite good at inferring a hidden agenda when there are none?
Excellent post Cromer and I'm less worried re the striker, as the goals seem to coming from other players in much the same way as they did the last time we were in the championship, but I'm DEFINTELY worried if we have to rely on Bassong as cover for Klose/Martin/Bennett. I'm looking forward to seeing what Oliveira can do given a place in the starting 11 and would love to see him given that opportunity in the 3 games after the international break.
How to post on the Internet like FML. Step 1 go into every game with a "bad feeling " about the result. Step 2 mention how good some of our players are and predict they will score, always go for about 5 or 6 players to better your chances . Step 3 Criticise the new keeper he's the easy "I told you " option as any goals conceded are his responsibility. Step 4 make sure you make loads of predictions negative and positive . Step 5 If any of the things you post eventually happen always always always say "I SAID THAT WOULD HAPPEN ". That way everyone will marvel at your knowledge of football as well as your indepth knowledge of every single player that is ever linked to us , from non league to Polish 4th division reserves. (We all know you just Google the name and pretend you had heard of them before giving your difinitive critique )
My interpretation is that the Toons battered us for the first 30 minutes. AN made a very astute formation switch which worked wonders. We shut up shop towards the end and it didn't work. If if had, everyone would have been creaming themselves. It's football and sometimes doing the right thing doesn't work out. I still see AN as our long term manager.
Apologies Cromer, if I misread what you were saying. I thought your inference about signing a 'good striker' meant that the one we signed wasn't 'good'. Reading it now, I can see more what you were saying.
I agree, PTT. Klose's injury was what cost us at Newcastle, as was shown at Wolves last night when he was Sky's MotM. I agreed with AN's tactics at Newcastle, but the players (all of them, not just Bassong) failed to do their job in the last 2 minutes. I can't believe people are seriously talking about getting rid of AN when we are 2nd in the table and averaging over 2 points per match, which would yield over 90 points over the season as a whole. What's more, we've done that so far without playing our best football much of the time. Last night at Wolves we looked to be getting closer to that with sharp passing and dominating possession away from home. We should have won by more.
