Kellen Fisher was an unused substitute for England U21s last night as they beat R of I U21s 2:0 in their UEFA U21s Championship qualification match in Birmingham. England are unbeaten in their group with 12 points from 4 games, currently trailing Slovakia U21s by a single point, with a game in hand over the leaders.
Did I spot McConville playing for NI last night when I was channel hopping though the sports channels
After he had just started making lineups 2 games running? Felt like he was just starting to breakthrough after 2 managers didn’t play him
Just read that Clement has expressed his thoughts as to why we are 23rd in the league. A young squad with players who can’t cope with the pressure and have now lost confidence. The high rate of injuries. I thought that JHT was encouraged to bring in youngsters, thus the influx of lads in late teens early twenties?
Jack Stacey on where we go from here: “To be honest, it's difficult when you are on such a run that we're on. There's never going to be times when you're completely confident going on to the pitch, but we have to change ourselves. Maybe it takes one game or two just to get a run going, and that starts to come back. It can be small moments within the game, just staying in the early parts, trying to stay in it as long as possible. We have to build that within ourselves to create our own confidence. I think another thing is knowing exactly how you want to play and where your team-mates are going to be. And that comes with learning the structure of a new manager. Sometimes it takes a little while, but once you can get the structure, football seems a lot easier because you've got so many more options on the ball and then confidence flows off the back of that. So it needs something to change and that's what we're aiming to do." Let's hope that Oxford and QPR at home provide the turning point to push on from here with new confidence. https://www.pinkun.com/sport/interv...ey-reaction-birmingham-city-4-norwich-city-1/
I get the impression that Stacey is the only leader in that dressing room. Most of the rest are too young,Sargent and the Mayor seem quiet by nature and Duffy would just lead them straight down the Pub!! Mistake perhaps in letting Hanley go as we lost his influence in the dressing room.
Clement has stressed the importance of leadership all over the pitch and has singled out McLean as the team's natural leader. I wonder whether he was feeling the after effects of the Scotland win at Birmingham. Sargent did a good job as captain during McLean's absence through injury early in the season and Attanasio spoke to him as well as Kenny when he was last here. Stacey certainly gives everything on the pitch, but he needs to develop a partnership with Makama and guide him along. The other natural leader is Wright despite his young age and I wonder whether he might start instead of Topic tomorrow night.
I had been thinking about this as well. Hanley may not have been the player we needed on the pitch but its hard to argue that results haven't dropped since he left, we keep hearing about a lack of leadership but that Mclean is a good leader - his performances show it, but maybe he isn't a motivator for other players. I've been disappointed by Darling on this point as my impression was that he could come in and be part of the leadership but he isn't mentioned in that group and his performances/confidence has arguably dropped more than anyones.
I'm also disappointed in the drop in Darling's performances and it's true that he doesn't appear to be a leader on the pitch. For all of his personal faults, Duffy is a leader and very vocal on the pitch and I think that may explain his inclusion instead of Medić.
Duffy may seem like a leader but barking around showing anger and frustration isn’t always the best form of motivation or leadership. I hear he is well liked in the group, but personally I can’t see him as a positive influence around the club
Christoph Zimmerman has called time on his playing career. Can we bring him into the coaching set up for some much needed leadership?
