Having difficulty with the first, always had the second, and as for the third, I'll spare a bit for Slade - Fck me, we're as good as up!!!!........... The well worn saying is "you can only beat what's in front of you", but that was a second string Bournemouth side and nothing like the strong side that Howe could have put out. He's got his first team playing Hoffenheim in Krautland this afternoon. To quote from their lot - "Artur Boruc, Ryan Allsop, Adam Smith, Tommy Elphick, Steve Cook, Elliott Ward, Tyrone Mings, Matt Ritchie, Dan Gosling, Shaun MacDonald, Christian Atsu, Junior Stanislas, Joshua King and Callum Wilson all did not feature against Cardiff. While Harry Arter remains sidelined through injury." The real stuff starts next Saturday and if last night's game and the Watford one are confidence boosters, then so be it. If Slade (or should I now say Russell ) can get us in the top six before September's out he'll have done really well - if he can manage that by the end of our difficult August, I'll publicly apologise to him on here for doubting him. Until thern, a little Charity? - why not?
I'm more optimistic than I was a month ago but the acid test starts a week today. Reading the write up, Howe split his squad for the two games and given the number of signings he made in the summer what we played wouldn't have been last years reserve team. Not their first team but not their reserves either. I'm willing to cut big R some slack and see where we are after the oft quoted 10th game. At least we're at FH&C not WTF.
Yes remote, for the moment I've moved away from WTF in favour of FHC (well the H&C bit anyway). I can't bring myself to go all the way with the first one, but I expect there'll be a few who'll always KTF - and the best of luck to them as well. Like you, if not succumbing to his charm, I'm at least cutting "Russell" some slack and will await the opening games of the season with some hope and a fair chunk of charity. If we can get off to a reasonable start and get a settled system going, there's no reason why we can't make a mark at the right end of the division this season rather than trying to play catch up after Christmas. Trouble is there are probably more than a dozen other teams in the division who feel the same way.
It's true that not all first choices played for the Cherries but Francis, Daniels, Surman, Pugh and Kermorgant did. All instrumental in their promotion. Plus the keeper and Distin both have much Premium experience.
Bluey - you're far more familiar with the Bournemouth setup than I am, but to say "it's true that not all first choices played" is stretching it a bit. In fact very few did, and if we fool ourselves into believing we've beaten a "Premier side" as much of the press has proclaimed, we could be in for a rude awaking. That was a distinctly average Championship level 11 they put out at best. The Watford game was more significant but I expect them to come straight back down.
Sparkey's glass is half empty again. He's charitable though. Were any of their 10 new signings playing? They would expect those players to be better than the team that took them up. At worst we beat a team that won the championship last season. That's respectable enough given where we finished last term.
But we didn't beat a team that won the Championship last year - we beat a side that the club that did decided to leave behind whilst their first team traveled to Germany for the game against Hoffenheim the next day. Half empty or half full, it doesn't really matter on here - it's what we churn out on the pitch that's going to change perceptions. We could have done no better than win the two games against Watford and Bournemouth and Slade obliged. The thing I'm saying is that it all really starts against Fulham.
well i have to say pre season seems to have gone well, and it is rumoured that the spirit in the dressing room is now very good, which was non existent last season. Off to renew ST's this morning. Will be interesting to see what the crowd will be for a 12.15 kick off on a saturday when the peanut flickers are also playing, i predict about 15,000 which wouldnt be that bad. Chins up guys i have a funny feeling we will do fine this year.
In fairness my faith was smashed to pieces watching the ****e we were served up at times last season. But like I've already mentioned there were some green shoots of recovery towards the end. A few players returning from injury and hopefully a much fitter squad overall has me full of hope. I felt like that before our couple of promising pre season results. I'm expecting a decent performance against Fulham. I'm slightly worried that Kit Symons has watched us twice and seen pretty exactly what his side will face on Saturday. From the description of the Bournemouth game I'd expect him to target winning possession off Dikgacoi and Malone high up the park. Fulham like us are a squad with massive potential for improvement this season. It'll be very interesting and I can't wait!
I thought the same Steveo and if he has 2 fast wide guys Peltier will be targeted as well. They won't get any change off Morrison and Connolly but if our full backs are under pressure then our wide mf's will have to drop back to support and reeduce our effectiveness going forward. Both Peltier and Fabio had a torrid time against Pugh in the second half on Friday.
Fulham have probably got the best squad of young players in the division. A huge potential for a successful season for them if they can get cut out the errors that comes with inexperience. I'm looking forward to this game as well, despite my reservations about just where we sit at the moment at Championship level. The experienced players we have should see us through this one - if not, the other August fixtures are going to be tough to get points from. The team sheet for next Saturday will very interesting. The CB pairing seems pretty obvious, but who is Slade going to play in front of them to hold midfield together let alone supply the front runners?
I think Saturday's team will be mostly the same as last Friday. Revell has set out his store so it will be interesting to see if he starts. Or Doyle or Ameobi? Whitts and Dikgacoi will start in mf especially if DGC can lose an extra milligram of weight this week. He is a very big unit and if tackled by him, you will stay tackled. There was an amusing bit Friday night. Twice we broke clear and twice their defenders pulled our guys (Mason and then Ralls I think - Mason might well have got clear if not held) back by their shirts. No cards shown!!! The next 50/50 tackle was DGC on Surman. Fair tackle but DGC went in 100% and Surman was limping for the next 10 minutes. I don't remember him being that "large" at Palace. He must be at least a stone heavier if not more. He has a good first touch and we played triangles around him so there was usually someone to pass on to. The problems arose when his options were limited and he tried to run the ball. His feet are not the quickest so he got dispossessed several times one of which resulted in their first goal. Much as I like Gunnar and his whole hearted effort I can see him playing a lesser role this season unless DGC is unfit/suspended.
I would say Revell should feel very hard done by if not in the starting 11 on Saturday. I've got a similar relationship with Palace as you have with Bournemouth Blue. My father in law is a big fan so I end up watching a disproportionate amount of Palace matches. It's why I've been batting for Dikgacoi for a while now. He's always been a very muscular (under all that fat) presence in the middle. He's exactly the type of player we've been crying out for. Having missed an entire season I'd expect him to take a good while to get right up to speed and we may have to bare with him whilst his full match sharpness returns. There's no doubt the player Palace had improves our side compared to Gunnar imo.
Slade is bound to play Dikgacoi in the middle - he's set his stall out with his pre-season team sheets. Whitts is also a certainty, it's question of who else is in there behind a front two which at this point in time should be Revell and Mason - and he will definitely play a front two! I know it all sounds a bit "narrow" but Pilks coming in from out wide and Ralls would be my choice. We need to dominate this game in midfield. If Fulham get the ball too often they could seriously hurt us with pace. Maybe a bit negative for a home game, but we need all three points and a 1-0 will do.
I think Revell was the only position in question before Bournemouth. The WOL piece about Whitts being supported by Ralls and Dikgacoi would seem pretty decisive in terms of midfield selection. Playing the same back 5 in our 2 main friendlies then changing it for our first match would have my Big R doubts resurfacing quickly again. I'm sure he's settled on his back 5 from the options he has available. What is interesting is that we supposedly promised to play Ameobi to beat Wolves to his signature. If he's benched first game of the season it would seem that clause is unlikely. If he takes Pilks shirt on the other hand......
Being part of the match day 18 is more likely. He will get his opportunities but will need to be a little patient. A fit DGC will certainly bring steel to the midfield. Not the Jordan Mutch type many of us have been advocating but his presence will allow Whitts more licence to get forward where he is most effective. Sparks' comment about a narrow midfield will also make us stronger while at the same time allowing the full backs more chance to get forward.
I very much doubt that promising McClaren that Ameobi would be given game time would be tantamount to guaranteeing him a start for every game. There are others in the squad who have acquitted themselves well this pre-season who could argue they were more deserving of a start against Fulham. Fielding Ameobi because he was a "name" wouldn't help this "happy camp" we are supposed to believe exists at the club. I'd expect him to be on the bench to be brought on later with Pilks given the chance to run out at the start.
I would agree with the above, Ameobi hardly made and impact at Newcastle, thats why he was allowed to come to us.
