No more so than many teams and the ref didn’t do anything about it so why wouldn’t you? I blame the officials rather than the players. We don’t really have anyone who harangues referees in the way Preston did for years. Colback maybe at a push on the rare occasions he plays. I think overall he had a good game though. Not a particularly difficult game to referee. The linesman got conned early on by their right winger (Roberts I think) but that wasn’t his fault. An early yellow for time-wasting which still meant more time-wasting but not to the ludicrous extent of other games. Let a fair bit go other than a weird ten minutes in the first half where all contact was a foul. Not loads of cards.
Yes, I was very pleasantly surprised by Madsen and he showed a bit of what he has. I think he just needs to calm down and understand the pace of this league. I thought the substitutions were a bit off yesterday. I felt Smyth should have stayed and Chair should have been subbed off. Chair was huffing and puffing and doing all sorts of things but nothing really useful. I thought Saito should have replaced him. And about 10 mins from time, I thought he should have put Kolli up front for some extra pressure. Or potentially Loyd.
Yeah I think our best chance of winning the game went with Smyth but he seems to hook him around that time every time he starts. Madsen did ok. Not great. He could be the next Dozzell where any performance that isn’t absolute ****e is deemed worthy of praise because the bar becomes so low.
Well, I do think fans sometimes fixate on certain players, unreasonably at times. There were fans around me yesterday sighing and complaining every time Celar touched the ball, even when he did something good. Or if he was given a really bad pass and didn't manage to control it, somehow it was his fault. Considering the mess we're in and that almost everyone is learning about this league, including the manager, it's pointless to single anyone out at this stage. If it all clicks at some point, I'm sure we'll see better from each individual.
Yeah that can happen but the Madsen performance at Derby really had to be seen to be believed. Felt a bit for Celar as the expectation now is he’ll **** up. Fluffed a decent chance but did really well for that one he put half a yard wide second half and I was right behind it and thought it was going in. It was better. Not great but better which is better than worse.
We have a young African striker star of the u19 or u21 tournament signed who will be eligible to play in Jan. Sounds to young for now...but you never know
Don't get me wrong, before yesterday I didn't want to see the name 'Madsen' in a starting lineup. I'd gotten to the point where I only felt it was acceptable to have him on the bench if there's no one else and let him try to work his way back into a starting 11.
Surprised you saw him at derby, he was hiding for the majority of the game. The old age reasoning of it being a different league, different pace etc etc really doesn't wash with me. It's football, relative to standard. I've played at various levels and worked with amateurs and professionals. It took time to adjust to the different standards in level, not whether it was more physical or faster. Madsen looks quite a simple player, not the most mobile and his height could deceive you into thinking he's a physical player. Hes the sort of player who would show his best with a striker with pace who he could find in the spaces.
The hipster kids tell me he’s now a ‘10’ which I think means he creates a lot. He doesn’t. He was previously an ‘eight’ which I think means he’s box-to-box. He isn’t. Beggars can’t be choosers though and we were at least occasionally reminded he was on the pitch.
In my opinion, the players are actually quite good, but they need to acclimatise to both this country and the championship, and this can take months for some players. I think most would be performing better in a better set-up or if our team had a better balance and were not so light in the middle of the park. That includes the forwards I don't agree they are that poor or need replacing but the problem is the lack of service and again lack of balance in the middle. The forwards are lucky to get one or two half chances per match and we expect them to score from scrapes, it just doesn't work that way. When Marti was forming this squad he completely forgot that this league needs some experience in the middle of the park in the form of a couple of hard nuts who don't mind getting stuck in, booked or will take one for the team a Shaun Derry type springs to mind. I believe we have we have one in the form of Colbeck albeit he does have a red mist problem but fit he will do a job. I also believe, that Varane will eventually be able to do this role with more creativity and will shine as the best of the new players given a bit more time. Finally we need Hayden back in January to give us that balance or at least a player of his ilk. My team when fit to start the year would be: Walsh Dunne, Cook, JCS, Smyth, Hayden, Varane, Colbeck, Saito/chair Dembele, Frey, First choice replacements: Field, Morgan, Paal, Ahsby, Kolli, lloyd any of these could start in front of first team depending on the opposition.
I agree with almost everything you say here but I have a bone to pick with it... Walsh in goal over Nardi??? Explain that one!
Ok Bob, I can't compete in any way with your football experience - the height of my achievements was playing Sunday mornings at a fairly ordinary level - but I will dispute your ability to judge a player. I'm surprised that you can't see that Madsen has qualities that haven't yet been properly utilised by Cifuentes. He's plainly a number 10 and showed strong hints yesterday of what we might get from him in that role.
I've always said that football is about opinions and the fact that I hold badges doesn't make me any more knowledgeable than you or any other. I think I said in another post that Madsen looks like the type of player who needs a runner up top to lay balls in to. I'm yet to see anything from him and the derby game sticks in my mind, that could change but will only change when we have the correct players to play in this set up that Marti insists upon. Celar on his own is pointless, Frey too. I presume we utilise them to hold the ball up for enough time for support to arrive but when our play starts from so deep, usually Nardi short goal kicks, then that becomes a long time to hold it against 3 or 4 defenders. How many times have we got in crosses to find only Celar in the box. It has to be the perfect ball for him rather than the perfect run from him. In this respect, I have sympathy for Celar and Frey. Madsen has been described by the club as someone who can play all 3 styles of a midfielder (defensive, box to box, attacking). The first two styles, he has been literally anonymous so you may be right that the no.10 role will be his most effective but the knock on effect is that we are still left with that one striker and we can all see the problems with that.
Willock could hold the ball up long enough and Armstrong, despite his finishing, made runs that enabled the whole team to play a different way. Madsen could have well enjoyed playing with Armstrong in that respect. I think we have scored one goal (Frey) that I can remember, where a ball has been played Infront of a striker for him to move on to.
