It's not perfect but tbh only Burnley and possibly Fulham are better than us going forward, and having a good defence is by far the most important thing to get out of this league which is what we all want. Maybe in the future there will be a time to change how we are, look at what Stoke are doing now. The way I see it, we can carry on as we are and get back into the top division or completely throw away our solidity and go the way of Fulham and QPR.
Snodgrass Dave Powell They effectively neutralised Diame by having a man sat in front of the back four, we should have gone 2 up top within 30 mins. Powell looks like a class act and I wouldn't hesitate to put him up front in place of Diame who looks increasingly disinterested or knackered - or both! Alternatively put Powell in midfield instead of Meyler or Clucas - we needs Jake's energy so he keeps his place. Also, Robbo and Clucas seem to be increasingly getting in each others way the same as Dave and Elmo did before Elmo made way for Snodders. Still, lots to look forward to, I can't see why we shouldn't remain unbeaten at home for the rest of the season and we've only got to play Boro out of the top teams now so if we keep our current away form going we should be promoted by mid-April.
Agreed. Yes his shooting was pants last night but the ground he covers is way above average. He's trying to set attacks up, get tackles in, at one point in the 2nd half he was by our goal line corner flag as another defender. Not everything he tries comes off, the extra he does all over the pitch is going to lead to extra mistakes. But it's like having an extra man on the pitch, I certainly wouldn't drop him.
nobody would Alan. Its ridiculous. My only concern is that 50/50 he went in for with Turner. That was a heavy challenge. Hope he's ok for the next game.
Having read your posts in the past, about Alex Bruce, I'm not sure you are qualified to post on a football forum.
as Junior can't even get on the bench, I think you'll find that I was right all along - can't see many people on here saying Junior should be in the team ahead of Davies, Dawson or Maguire - even GLP has stopped claiming he's the best central defender outside the top six in the Prem - he never was of course - he's got his three year contract courtesy of daddy - job done, nest feathered, no need to put Macca on naughty step, no need to stop picking Davies, no need to farm out Maguire so he's the only one left to be picked and the Allams think he's important and sign the contract extension - if you think Junior should be anywhere near the first team then I suggest you're the one that's not qualified to post, sunshine
As "Junior" isnt selected by the manager, his dad, it puts all your bollocks about preferential treatment in the bin.
so why did he get a 3 year contract when we were a Premier League team but can't even get in the team when we're in the Championship - worse case of nepotism in football
How much is he on? Know anything else about it? No. He's a back up and someone he trusts. He comes in does a job when we're short or struggling and doesnt complain when he gets dropped.
Not what I said, sunshine. He is certainly one of the best back up players we have in the squad. Thank you for confirming what I said. By the way I am not your ****ing sunshine. Sunshine.
Didn't Bruce start a week ago when we kept a clean sheet against the team who are favourites to win the Premier League?
If we were quicker at moving the ball forward, I believe we'd probably be 15-20 points better off with a similar additional plus 15-20 on our current goal difference. It's not a player problem, I think it's a problem that has come from coaching instructions. It is not necessarily a significant issue for me, but we should be comfortably top.
Has to be the most split MOM of the season, and prob with good reason as I don't think anyone particularly stood out tonight. Whilst a frustrating performance and result, thought it was much better than the Brighton game, it's very hard to play against a team who waste time and play a very structured defensive game. Bruce needs to figure out a counter for it and quick as everyone will be doing this home and away against us. I thought that when we broke we broke at a good pace My top 3 are: Dawson - did the job expected of him, plus bonus points for inadvertently getting Forestieri sent off Davies - as with Dawson, did the job expected of him Snodgrass - of the outfielders, thought he did the most to try get us going forwards and to create something I thought our left wing flattered to deceive which is why I didn't vote for Clucas who won sky mom, I cannot remember a single cross on the left being delivered from the by line, and thought that Clucas and Robertson's approach play was quite slow and laboured, with them constantly coming backwards. In comparison our right wing looked much more threatening as both Snodgrass and Dave got outside quite a few times, but their delivery in general was pretty poor, especially Dave's. Centre mid looked tired and I don't think either contributed a great deal, whilst not being poor either, against a team who were wasting time from minute 1 and getting everyone behind the ball was always going to be tough. Powell when he came on did look to make things happen and played a very different game to Jake and Meyler to be fair to him but his execution was shocking, with a string of misplaced passes and that shocker of a free kick delivery in the last minute. I hope the techniques will come with more game time, if not, he's ****ed. Up top, I find it hard to really criticise Diame and Hernandez, as the majority of the time they got the ball it was back to goal whilst surrounded by at least 4 defenders, it's easy to criticise strikers and say they should make different runs etc. or to say Bruce needs to get more strikers on, but in a game like tonight it's your wings you need to be looking to to create opportunities, I thought we needed more pace and trickery on the wings to try get to the by line more and thought elmo should certainly have been on ealrier and Maloney on the left would've been an option i'd have looked at too.
