Wednesday 10th March 2021 Manchester City V Southampton 18:00 KO Referee: Jonathan Moss. Assistants: Marc Perry, Dan Robathan. Fourth official: Martin Atkinson. VAR: Andy Madley. Assistant VAR: Stephen Child.
Someone here will know the answer. The number of goals Adams has scored with Ings on the pitch, and the number of goals he has scored without Ings in his SFC career to date.
It appears to be 6 goals with Ings on the pitch, 3 goals without. If you want a stranger stat: we have 6 clean sheets in the 8 matches where Adams has scored. In matches where Adams didn't score over his time with the club, we only achieve a clean sheet about 21% of the time.
Happy days! Haven’t had a Sunday feeling like this since Christmas. Respect to Ralph. He rang the changes and we looked better for it. Tella was excellent. Good to see Forster finding himself again. Respect to those of you who predicted Sheffield would be woeful. Spot on.
Not how I see it. He just had some players back to pick a better side. Fundamentally, that’s all that’s been wrong, yet so many fans didn’t want to see that. The respect for Ralph has always been there, for some. It’s just a simple case of seeing what has been happening. (Not aimed at you NZ; just a general comment)
Great result when we needed it. I thought we did okay overall, but not spectacular considering how poor Sheff are. However I think it was one of those games where we just had to get any kind of win to stop the rot and that’s exactly what they did. Second goal was crucial and it was game over after that. Something to build on for the Brighton game. We really could do without this City game, not because I think they’ll win, but because we’re much better with a week to prepare for games. We also really, really don’t need another injury now we’ve just got a few back. But at the same time, I think we need to play our best team (particularly KWP) because we can’t risk another heavy defeat. It would just ruin the confidence we’ve built from this win, and any kind of team that City put out could inflict that if we’re not careful.
I’d like Fulham to stay up, but unless they spring a few surprise results against the top sides I don’t think they will. I like Scott Parker. Brighton have tough fixtures though, so they could easily go down if Fulham can get some surprise wins. Newcastle are obviously also going to be struggling with their injuries. Wouldn’t we benefit if Fulham stay up? I think there is a clause in Lemina’s loan that means they are obliged to sign him if they do.
I don’t think another heavy defeat will ruin confidence necessarily if it’s against City. I’d really consider resting anyone who is struggling with a knock or tightness. To get a result or avoid a big defeat the team will have to be at their absolute best and work their socks off for 95 minutes. That will bring on more tightness, more fatigue and possibly more injuries. Complete free one for me. This season is now about picking up a few more points and most importantly beating Bournemouth... then hoping to avoid City in the semi-final. You just never know then. I’m all Rhett Butler for this City game.
Hmm, I know we fundamentally agree but dropping Macca for Forster and bringing in tella for redmond needed to happen. And yes, he can’t make changes without players to replace them so I take your point, nothing was broken bar the bodies to get on the pitch.
I have to admit that Fulham are a team that are difficult to dislike. I think Sheffield Utd will go down regardless of my feelings about them and I would have to share my work colleagues comments about loving seem Allardyce eventually getting relegated. My gut feeling is that he will walk before he is pushed. It would be nice to see both Brighton and Newcastle drawn in to the mix. Part of me is pragmatic about relegations as I am always thinking ahead to next season with a view to looking a which teams are weaker than Saints. Brighton will get relegated at one point whereas Norwich's impending promotion should follow the trend and see them get relegated in 21/22. I have one eye on Palace too. I like Roy Hodgson and think they will be foolish not to let his rebuild the aging squad. My bet is that they will get a younger manager in and the rebuild will go south pretty quickly. Craven Cottage is one ground I have always wanted to visit but have never got there.
Great result, ok performance, but the performance was irrelevant for this game. Ralph did have players to select from, but not totally sure many fans didnt see that. I’m pleased for Ralph, but for me this game typifies his approach - it is understandable to want KWP, he gives teams a real issue going forward, which is fundamental to how we play, and is good defensively. This is the bit I was confused by playing Bednarek at RB. I didnt really complain about much before he did this, when on our poor run of results. The games he played Bednarek at RB cost us at CB as he really is a good CB, and at RB was a total disaster. I couldn’t understand why he didnt play Moussa there (or someone else), considering he had played him at LWB a few times previously. I think i was just frustrated at this by what I perceived to be a little stubbornness from Ralph. Also, I agree with you on people moaning about Che. He has been really very good at holding up the ball as an outlet, and I pointed out a previously he did actually score a couple of ‘good’ goals, wasnt his fault the officials have been a little incompetent. I think any striker loses a little confidence when not scoring. I saw some comments somewhere that he is as good as Long, which I couldn’t agree with at all. I think he will be perfectly capable of scoring 10 goals a season, and getting as many assists, and certainly being very positive with being directly involved in in scoring opportunities. For me he is one we want to keep. Also, with our finances, we may lose Ings and Vesty, which is ok for me. Losing Armstrong right now would be suicide, and we should be doing all we can to tie him on a much longer contract. Ralph isn’t stupid, and I imagine he knows this.