Which is good and we are slowly looking defensively stronger. Still the style of football we play is terrible and our manager often seems to show a tactical naivety at this level. All in all, being 17 points from the playoffs and 200 million in debt is a very disappointing position for us Just saying.
We are playing like a mid table Championship side now. It's a huge improvement on the certain relegation form we were showing. Whether it's good enough with the squad we have or good enough for the board's expectations is seriously debatable.
Fair play DJ can't argue with that, the facts don't lie. 10 points from 21 is a half decent return for a struggling club looking to survive, but they also don't lie if you look at the previous 9 games. The "1 loss in 7" stat become the "1 win in 9" stat. Of those 9 we won 1, drew 2 and lost 6, that's 5 points from a possible 27 - only Malky's done worse. I'll take what we're getting right now as it's better than it was, but it's taken Slade over half a season to get this side just average on the pitch. Maybe our expectation levels were set too high at the start. The annoying thing is Slade's appointment that early in the season with all to play for was a mistake.
It is fair to say that this recent tranche of games has mostly been against teams not dissimilarly placed in the league to City (and even lower) whereas the really bad run saw City come up against most of the teams looking for promotion. City seem to have found their level. Hopefully we'll see the remainder of the season out fairly comfortably, and then start afresh pre season with a blank sheet paper. .
.................and a new manager. Strange how this improvement has coincided with Trollope joining. Before that we were going backwards let alone forwards.
Not going to happen i'm afraid Spark. There is no doubt that this slight improvement is Trollope's doing though
A question to discuss is whether Whittingham will get back in or not; would be harsh on Ralls, who filled in at full back in a win at Wigan and then was dropped, and now filled in in midfield in the win at Rotherham and was the MOM in the Western Mail report. It should not go unnoticed that the first goal came from a corner taken by Ralls, which was supposedly Whittingham's reason for being on the pitch so that is now covered by Ralls.
The only place in that 11 that should be questioned is Revel imo. Bring Doyle or KWJ in for him and let the others prove they deserve to keep the shirts. I agree that Whits USP has been downgraded by Ralls delivery for the 1st goal. We've also proven we can score without him or KWJ on the pitch. Just because the side with those 2 and noone can only score one type of goal doesn't mean it's the only way we can play. With the pressure off I'd like to see us play Kennedy and Harris on the wings. We need to work out what we've got for next season and start building towards a starting 11 that challenge the right end of the table next season.
Regrettably, apart from Marshall, Manga, Morrison, Turner, Gunnarson and possibly Peltier, Moore (as a back up keeper) and Noone (if he can find the form we know he has), I think it will be starting from scratch again although those not mentioned now have time to prove their worth for next season with relegation pressure starting to lift.
I read somewhere that Mason and Pilkington should be in contention soon. Real pity that Pilkington got injured when he did as he did look like he was a decent player at this level. Mason surely is a better bet than Revell. Jones will be gone by next season.
Wasn't Kenwyne a straight swap for Odemwhingie in both fee and 18 month contract length? I think Kenwyne is out of contract this summer. No idea why Slade bought Revell other than he was a cut price journeyman that he knew about. Mason has it all to prove over again, but he deserves a shot at "second striker" behind a front man some point this season. Remember (if you can bring yourself to it ) that we still have Le Fondre on the books for next season along with Macheda. On another point, where was Adeyemi last night? He wasn't on the bench but O'Keefe was. Get the feeling that Adeyemi is another player who's falling outside Slade's "circle of friends" as one he just inherited from Ole.
Make that 2 in 7 Dai, and with Brentford away and then Bournemouth coming up next, that figure could well rise. We're still on course for a bottom 6 finish, and Slade (and us) can thank God for Blackpool, Millwall and Wigan in this division this season.
Yep, next 2 games could see us tumbling back down the league and Brum fought back for a great draw at Derby. Home to them after those 2. We have to face it, we are a poor side with an inept manager. Charlton couldn't believe their luck. Not a sniff for over an hour, we make a sub I still don't understand then smash and grab. First ram raid I've seen in a while. Didn't watch Football League Show. Was it a pen?
Didn't watch it either but from where I was it was blatant and unnecessary from Morro who all in all had a pretty poor game after being so good at Rotherham. As far as the game generally is concerned, we are still being treated to some very poor fare despite the stats. The only reason we saw so much of the ball was because Charlton didn't want it. They seemed disinterested and sat deep with a defensive 5 man midfield and virtually let us play in front of them. If we had any chance at all to put this game to bed it should have been taken in the first half. The recall of Whitts for Ralls seemed to suck any energy out of midfield and I really don't know why Kennedy was benched after the Rotherham win. Second half was an improvement and when the goal went in it should have been goodnight Vienna for Charlton. What happened after that was all so familiar. We haven't got a clue how to close a game out. We allowed them to equalise like the reverse game up there, only this time we went one better and let them win it. As it was, it was yet another stuttering performance lacking incisive play that showed that even when we've got the majority of the possession, we don't really know what to do with it. I've given up hope of Slade improving this side for this season, and hopefully he wont be here for the next one. It's only the greater ineptitude of the three bottom clubs that will ensure our Championship survival this season.
As I said a few weeks ago, I can't wait for this total non event of a season to be over. We will keep our Championship place thanks to Blackpool, Millwall and Wigan. My worry is for next season. I think we will start with the same clueless numpty in charge. We will also have the majority of this clueless gutless squad, most of who belong in the first division. I think Marshall, Manga, Fabio and Jones will go. We will be relying on the likes of Malone, Peltier, Morrison, Revell, O'Keefe, and possibly Dikgacoi (if he really exists) to try and preserve our status. I have no confidence in that lot.
Quite right Dai - my maths aren't what they used to be. I just know that despite the "transition" and "improving" rhetoric from Slade, we're no better now than when he joined us - in fact after over half a season with us, I think he's actually made us worse. Although he was inexperienced and out of his depth, Ole would have sorted something better by now if he hadn't been sacked after just 8 games. We needed someone better than Ole but we got Slade instead. Wonder what that statistic will be after the next two games though.
In fairness to Slade Ole had even less of a clue and got us into this fine mess in the first place. His signings were generally poor (Manga and Pilks - when fit -excepted) and regulars on here know I wasn't Daehli's biggest fan - plenty of promise but little end product. Has he uprooted any trees at Freiburg? Played only twice since joining. Agreed Slade's signings have been no improvement although McAleney and Kennedy have more about them than most. I said I would give Slade to the end of February before passing judgement but have to agree with most that he is out of his depth and has to go. Even the positive Trollope effect seems to have disappeared. All very depressing. Brentford next Saturday? Looking forward to curry and beer in Ealing after. Any other sucke..... fans on here going?
Bluey - I love an argument - oops I mean discussion........ Apart from the two Everton youngsters, most of the players Slade's brought have been a waste of time. Peltier was a fair enough replacement for Brayford but the rest have been underwhelming to say the least. They're not even getting much game time. Except for his injury, the variable Malone would probably be in there at the expense of Fabio and John, but Revell, O'Keefe and even recently Doyle look like panic buys to make up the numbers. Slade is basically playing at the moment with players he inherited from Ole and before. The loss of Pilks has been a major blow and his influence hasn't been replaced. At least he was very direct and drove at defences a bit like Mutch used to. At present we're so predictable we've been sussed out and struggle every time even against poor teams who've taken the time to do their homework. Ole was gash at it and he brought in Norwegian players in that first January window that were also out of their depth, but I don't think Slade has got beyond League One thinking since he's been with us. If he stays, that's ultimately where we're going.
