Ah bollox!... That is my Stuart Hall-esque review of that match. That was a must win, if we were serious about Europe next year. As it stands, I am losing faith in the plan, unless there is already a new plan for the transfer window. But if I was the owner, I would not spend in this window, and hold Kenny to the 4th place finish to keep his job. Obviously taking Carroll to a Take That concert did little for his ability. I think after a year, he is not going to change into the player we want him to be. If Kenny doesn't think he is worth a start, when all about him are firing blanks, then it maybe time to move him on and let him play in a team that suits his abilities. For me, Kenny has done a bit of a Souness and has cut his nose off to spite his face, in not playing Maxi and Kuyt, they are obviously better than Downing and Hendo, and the fact that Kenny is sticking with his selection, should spell the end of his time as manager in the summer. Pride and determination should not get in the way of success, and the way he keeps sticking with a dysfunctional team is now passing the point of my tolerance. I'd be inclined to spend £150,000 on that Irish kid and stick him right in. Can't be any worse than how we are now.
I didn't expect that response from you Noble. Can see why even the most positive fans have all gone against the grain after that performance though. Did you go to the game mate?
Henderson was one of our better players tonight Maxi and Kuyt both played, Maxi went missing after the first 20mins and Kuyt was proper **** Agree that Downing is shaping up to be a white elephant And the less we mention Carroll the better the chance we might forget hes at the club The Irish lad might be worth a punt, heard hes got an eye for the goal and would we reallywant to rely on Carroll?
I think this is Kuyt's last season. If he leaves in the summer I hope he gets a hero's send off, he has been a fantastic servant to the club. If he stays then it will benefit the youngsters having him around like it is with Carra at the moment.
for me on mature reflection and after reading kenny's comments: 1. i agree with kenny on their pitch, the ball was sticking and it also cut up. 2. as a result i felt kenny was badly mistaken in his subs. carroll in a case of a bad pitch has to be plan B.. he got 7mins of normal time. I'd have put him on for sure. 3. the back 5 and henderson did quite well IMO, henderson played the lucas role with some maturity I thought 4. Adam was terrible, having upped his game since the lucas injury he totally lost it in terms of positioning, passing and his set piece was terrible. 5. downing was as bad, drifting around, holding the ball too long, no real vision (cos he's a winger not a midfielder) never put on ball in. 6. kuyt.... terrible where was he playing? right wing? left wing? forward? he was pure dirt most of the time and either ran into someones channel blocking them or just was absent from his own. 7. Maxi, zero pace... zero. so while he did ok in basic play he never got going. 8. suarez... sorry but he cannot play up top on his own and this is the 4/5th time he's proved it. can't get into the game and tries too many flicks and stuff when we need someone to hold it. kenny is wrong playing him like that. 9. bellamy... sorry guys but he cannot play 2 games a week and just cos some guys wish it it is not possible. we got 20mins out of him but by then the teams shape was gone. 10 shelvey. couldn't get into it, for me he was the wrong sub. so all in all i left this one goes down to a few really poor personal performances and a tactical error by Kenny. We needed plan b on that pitch and it sat on the bench until the end of the game and when a pen is missed the guy who took it telegraphed it needs to take some stick
Haha, I thought he wasn't that impressive! I guess it was the dribbling into trouble/no where which did my head in. Also the stat on his passing completion I feel was a lot of short passes came off, but trying to find the ball forward I felt was not as good as he normally was. Ah well, two home games now and we HAVE HAVE HAVE to win these.
Thought we ran out of ideas to be honest, last fifteen minutes was just Jose running down the flank and being brought down, free kick to Carroll, header away and back to Jose. Was frustrating to see. Kuyt and Johnson should of scored in the first half, made it too easy for the goalkeeper. Wigan always up there game against us, so i did see this coming to be fair, they seemed to have a policy of if they can hit it, hit it. But seeing as Reina is the best long shot saver in the prem it was a bit pointless. Adams should of gone off for Shelvey as he had one of his worsts games i've seen from him and Carroll should have came on for Kuyt so we could of gone to a 4-4-2.
