Hurst arrived. Sure, quality left for one reason or other. I’m led to believe Waghorn was very keen to stay however Hurst wanted funds to put his own stamp and he was out most saleable asset. Anyway, he then had funds to sign a good few players plus six loanees. Sure, not every signing will work out.... however while it’s early days to judge and maybe Nsiala Jackson Nolan etc will be a long term success.... Right now who of his signings have done well?? Edwards sure. Chalobah at times. Maybe a couple others. It’s not acceptable this ineptitude. Then Donacien has been rb cb lb lwb already. Poor guy!!!! There are zero signs of a happy ending right now. It’s absolutely painful, and Hurst needs to go with immediate effect. I never expected top 14 this season, I knew it would be tough but this Is beyond me. Hurst is 100% responsible.
Donacien has looked decent at RB, not out of position. Nsiala looks decent. I’d have him in ahead of error prone Chambers. Edwards obviously. Even Jackson we haven’t seen enough of with decent service to make much of a judgement yet. Harrison had a poor start but only a few games when he had a chance to make any kind of impact. The only player who has had a decent run in his natural position to show what he can do and hasn’t made an impact is Nolan. These players cost virtually nothing each. If we can get ourselves up to mid table then collectively they will be worth many times what we paid for them. Edwards alone looks like a £5m + player. The loan thing though. Reprehensible to sign young players needing game time and not playing them.
Sounds good to me, it's comforting to know that it really wasn't Keanes fault, or Jewells, and now Hurst after all, my feelings towards Evans are well known but to state that the useless managers we've had are not responsible for team performance is laughable. Evans made unwise appointments without a doubt but he engaged these clowns to manage the team and they failed.
Hurst went on record wanting Waghorn to stay and that Waghorn approached Hurst first to ask to leave, he discussed it in one of his first press conferences here. If a bigger club offers you double or treble your wages and a realistic shot at promotion, as well as a move to an area of the country where you feel more comfortable, you'd take it. I don't think Hurst can realistically and credibly be claimed for that. In fact, I don't think he can be blamed for any of the outgoings this summer. Most of them happened before he even got his feet through the door, if you factor in the departures of loanees that played a key part in our league position last season. What Hurst can be blamed for is the lack of quality we got coming in. Sorry Westy but I disagree that Hurst is 100% responsible. Looking at the bigger picture, Evans should be held ultimately responsible for the direction and success or failure of this club, as he is the owner. He has a poor record of managerial appointments. In Evans' eleven years in charge of the club, we've had one failed play off season. Attendances have declined over the past several years. Evans' own five-point plan blueprint has not been followed by either Mick or Hurst, so it looks meaningless. We have no discernible strategy or direction at this club. There is a lack of football experience within the board room and below, Clegg and Milne are not football people and have admitted as much themselves. We've been treading water and relying on Mick to grind out results to keep us safe for too many years now, it was not going to be sustainable, not when the crowds were declining and we rely so much on gate revenue. Really? I think he looks out of his depth. I'd drop him before dropping Chambers, and I don't think Chambers is a very good player. Let's be honest, none of our defenders have covered themselves in glory this season, but Nsiala has not been great and he was awful against QPR. Chambers and Pennington would be my first choice centre-back pairing, but it's an area where we need improvement (and needed improvement throughout the summer, but didn't get deals over the line). If only we had paid an additional £400k for Curtis Tilt, a ball-playing defender who would have adapted easier to the style of football we wanted to play.
No worries Nuggets some good points there! My point really with Hurst is he's been given some to spend. We SHOULD be outperforming Rotherham etc. Whatever way people look at it, we should not be bottom after 13 and given our fixtures. Hurst is creating an absolute laughing stock. We're not going to lose 4-0 / 5-0 / 6-0 under Hurst, however the 2-0 loss v QPR could have been anything. We were never in the game. Just woeful. Tilt is the one that was laughable that should have been signed. Was a major failing. If our pants are being pulled down by Blackpool then we're a club in trouble. Agree on Nsiala, would be Chambers + Pennington for me at Leeds. Let me do a team with a little justification based on this squad we have.
Everybody was awful against QPR nuggets. Bart, Donacien, Pennington, Nsiala, Knudsen would be a solid enough backline. Chambers might be interchangeable with Nsiala but Chambers is not handling the pressure well at all at the moment. With Paul Hurst's press conference it really doesn't sound like a man who has any intention of going anywhere. But it does sound like a man who has no clue what's wrong. Evans' lack of intervention or communication really tells me Hurst doesn't have his full backing at this time and that his days are very much numbered.
Bart Donacien / Pennington / Chambers / Knudsen Skuse Chalobah ( 5 yards further up / Dozza Edwards Sears Jackson * Time for Bart after Gerken's error v QPR. * Donacien is a RB. So lets try him in correct position please. * Knudsen remains the best LB * Chambers still I feel needs to play at CB. One of the best two we have. * Pennington > Nsiala in my opinion. * Skuse I think as a holder. Needs Chalobah further up the pitch. * Chalobah - please MOVE higher up and help Dozza / wingers more * Dozzell - ideally needs to be as a 6 / 8 but we're out of options. * Edwards - obvious * Sears wide left - not a fan of this but not a 9. Did set up a goal first game of the season so needs must. * Jackson as the 9 I think might get more joy than Sears. It's not a good side.
Go to 4-4-2. Try Jackson and Sears together with Chalobah (or Skuse) and Dozzell in the centre and Edwards and Ward out wide. There's not a lot between Nsiala and Chambers, that's our best XI right now and then rotate one or two with younger players and loanees but keep the core of the team like that and we would climb the table.
I would not play 4-4-2 against Leeds, but I definitely think it's worth trying two up top against those three beatable fixtures we've got coming up. Millwall play 4-4-2, I can't see why we wouldn't match them in formation and try and make a go of it.
I don't think we're strong enough in CM to even attempt 4-4-2. If we played 4-4-2, we may aswell turn around, put our ass in the air, and say ' please pull my pants down ' With this squad, I'd suggest if we wanna play 2 uptop we'd need to go 3-5-2. Then are we good enough at wingback!?!/
I don't think it's much of an exaggeration to say we've been bloody awful all season, that's why we have won just one game and are bottom of the division. We have a World Cup keeper warm ing his backside on the bench, that is until January then he will leave and I don't blame him, Knudsen played in the World Cup and sits on the bench keeping Bart company while other defenders play out of position and get a tanning from mediocre opposition on our own ground. Team selection, coaching and tactics are the managers responsibility, that's why he's there for Christ's sake, poor quality players with poor quality management lead only one way, sure we will pick up some unexpected points now and then and hopes will rise only to fail again, I just hope those people who said results were unimportant as long as we played good football are happy now. Rubbish football, rubbish management, = rubbish results, and that's exactly what we have.
I totally agree with that team Westy, other than i'd play Sears through the middle, with Edwards and Jackson either side of him. The three of them need to be more mobile, and interchange, as we're too static and predictable atm. Sears is our only recognised out and out striker, and he needs to stay on the shoulders of the last man.
I did forget Edun and would like him to play minutes. I've been a terrible fan this season - I did see Blackburn live though, and he impressed me no ends that day.
As someone who has sat through all our home games so far this season, bar the mid-week matches where travel is difficult, rest assured you're not missing much, Westy.
I do think these are the issues and not so much the transfers, results are not that important on a game by game basis but if you don’t win at all then it undermines confidence and developing the team. We certainly weren’t awful against Blackburn, Birmingham and Swansea and a handful of others but we have been hopelessly awful in something like half our games. Westy’s approach of breaking the games down into 10 minute spells is a good way to analyse performances in this division and we have had too many games where we’ve not been on top for more than one little spell in a game. Despite the win coming later we have looked less stable and more vulnerable as the season has gone on. I think there have been pivotal games where we could and should have won and we are now at the point where we must take points from Preston and Millwall. The room for error and bedding in has long since gone.
Matt Holland is not wrong but he says 'people have told him', that he hasn't seen any games for himself. George Burley, Mick Mills, Alex Mathie, Terry Butcher are turning out to watch the matches so I'm far more interested in what they have to say.
It’s interesting that pretty much everyone would play the same back 5 (1 possible difference) and that is Bart, donacien (rb) Pennington, Chambers (or Nsiala) & Knudsen. This has been my mane gripe about PH and others before him. He wants to play what he thinks are his best 11 players rather than his best team. The defence listed is the best we have but he puts square pegs in round holes
Yeah it's only these crazy team selections that bother me. I'm not interested in rumours and bitching about man management, that's just a symptom of not winning.
