The game: Well the game today was certainly not boring. We conceded an early goal completely out of the blue right at the start and we were completely outplayed for the first 10 mins and lucky not to go further behind. Gradually we found our way into the game and from then on we were in complete control until the very end of the game. Once again we were given a massive helping hand from the referee. We equalized from an iffy penalty whilst the referee turned down a (two?) much more convincing handball appeals at the other end. Johnson scored a wonder strike (again!) near the end and in a frantic end to the game the ball broke kindly for us and we nabbed a third. Don't get me wrong we played really well for alot of the game but we were helped by the ref. John Ruddy had no chance of stopping the goal but saved us from a late equalizer with a superb save and started the break for our third goal. Turner, Martin and later Bennett all looked comfortable enough at CB (at least after the early storm) but I have concerns about our full backs. Garrido is ok, he makes the odd mistake but he is is usually consistent enough. Whittaker is capable of moments of brilliance but at even at this level I fear he could be a liability at either end of the pitch. Tettey and Johnson were both superb (once more, aside from the start of the game) and Wes Hoolahan continued to thrive as the main man. Lafferty put in a real shift again (on the right this time) and this time seemed a bit more willing to attack crosses. Nathan Redmond continues to be an enigma; he beats his man nearly every time, but then what? Will his end product ever improve? He has been a regular first teamer with us for over a season now and his final ball is still woeful. Grabban was lively once more but oh boy is he wasteful! He scored twice of course, but he nearly fluffed both of those straightforward chances, although if he scores I guess how doesn't matter. Finally Josh Murphy really impressed me in his cameo at the end; if Nathan Redmond continues to frustrate then he may find Murphy staking his claim to his position. Our plan? Once more we put countless crosses into the opposition box but they were typically of appalling quality. On the rare occasions we found a decent ball nobody was on the end of it! Once again we had an alarmingly large number of corners but I don't really recall creating a chance from them! With Turner and Lafferty to aim for we should be doing better. We scored one or two corners all of last season despite having a big team and I really hope it is not going to be more of the same here. The deadball delivery has been woeful so far this season (but then again it is Redmond and Hoolahan taking them) which makes the decision to let Snodgrass and more infuriatingly Pilkington, a player who seemed happy to stay yet we sold to a direct rival for a derisory amount, all the more bizarre! Adams needs to decide if we are a crossing team or what and if so we need to be getting good quality into the box with lots of players getting on the end or else there is no point. Imagine how good we could be if we get this right! Transfers: This is the thing that really pisses me off. The board say we would not sell any of our players unless its on our terms but I am deeply dissatisfied with the business we've done so far, regardless of how well we are doing on the pitch. Snodgrass left with my blessing because I feel we got a good price for him. But Ricky we seem to of just accepted to cut our losses rather than see if he could be a force at this level when with the ammount of chances Grabban has had you'd think he could have bagged a few also and you never know, maybe he would attack these crosses. Pilkington's transfer really annoyed me though. £1 million is an insulting price for a player of his quality and of course to someone we may be contesting the league with. If that is our terms then I can only assume he is surplus to requirements which seems even more perplexing watching Nathan Redmond shank another cross into the stands! And now Leroy Fer is all but gone to QPR. Other posters may be, but I am certainly not please with this. £8 million is more or less what we paid for him I think, but he had a long contract remaining and we are selling him for more or less his market value! The thing is that everyone knows QPR are ****ing loaded and pay over the odds for mediocre old players yet they are poaching a young and talented player of him for quite cheap. How on Earth can this be considered business on our terms? Yet take a look look at our bench for this game and you don't exactly see alot of quality there. Our squad is paper thin right now and there is no way it will last a full 40 something more games. Yes Hooper and Howson are still injured but I really feel we need reinforcements now or this could be our undoing this season. The board made out that we would have some budget this season without needing to sell players so I presume we must have £10 million kicking around waiting to be reinvested? I certainly ****ing hope so because the whole thing just stinks of a lack of ambition to me. Anyway sorry for ruining your Tuesday evening. DM out.
Pretty sure we paid around £4.5 million for Fer and his overall fee is likely to be in the region of £10mil. It was a good game overall, we had most of the running and Blackburn didn't offer much up until the final throws when they had to chase the point. It's nice to see genuine commitment and movement up front, with Tettey and Johnson supporting them really well. I'm becoming more confident about our defence overall but Whittaker does still worry me. He's a bit too jittery and tends to play a ball without thinking it through. such as the corner he gave away at the end. However, I think his attacking instincts and the rest of our team should be able to accommodate him, he'll certainly need improving on if we do go up though.
Good post DM and thanks in particular for the match review. I'm not sure I completely agree with you about our transfers, other than I'm disappointed that we seem to be selling without replacing at this stage, but I do think it's something that can only be fairly judged once the window has shut. It always has to be borne in mind that relegation = selling. And that is inescapable. We've avoided some of the worst of it. So far my view is: With Snodders you're spot on. Fer is a good deal, save for it being QPR. Before the WC I said, and I think most felt, they would be happy with 6/7m, which would still represent a tidy profit on purchase for a guy who hardly had a totally consistent season. I think expectations were over-hyped a little by one WC goal and a 15 min cameo. That doesn't increase his price, really. So £8m rising to 10m on appearances plus a 20% sell on fee is a seriously good deal frankly. It's a good deal for QPR too, sure, but there aren't many clubs prepared to part with that for Fer I'd bet. RvW is tricky. My feeling is that this really is a good deal for all parties. I too would have preferred him to stay, but I just think it wasn't really on the cards. Look at the loss Cardiff made on ?Helenius and you'll see we've done very well all things considered. He may yet return as well! Pilks is a funny one. For starters I have it on reasonable authority that the fee was close to £2m, which is actually a decent is price for the time left on his contract and the fact he wanted to leave. The board was, negotiation-wise, in a much stronger position with Snodders. My principle issue with this is that we've sold him to Cardiff. I suspect there's a little more to this than meets the eye - we undoubtedly have good knowledge of his injury situation and we're not prepared to offer him as much money as he wanted. Doubtless Cardiff were probably the only club in the world willing to pay his terms for his injury record. Personally, Pilks was probably my favourite player and I'm gutted we let him go, but I can't help feeling it just wasn't going to happen there. If we don't get any more in before the end of the month I'll be seriously concerned as you need real depth to last the distance in the Champ. I'm holding off judgment til then. And please no more outs (I'm looking at Redmond, Hooper, Tettey and oddly now Johnson in particular).
I get the feeling Adams might be forced into a difficult situation with Martin in the coming weeks. Much as Martin states that he wants to play CB, Bennett needs time there, Cuellar won't sign to struggle to make the bench, and we've not sold Bassong yet. Meanwhile it's not unreasonable to imagine we'll be going into the next couple of games with Whittaker at LB, forcing Martin to RB. A couple of decent defensive displays from Turner + Bennett/Cuellar, and Martin might well be stuck at RB for a while. That'll be interesting for Adams to handle.
Don't understand the OP at all. Read the game summary and it seems we were the worst team for long sections of the game and only won because of biased decisions by the ref and lucky bounces of the ball. I had a good view of the penalty and it was handball and the last goal was the result of quick thinking by Ruddy and swift play up front. I didn't see any fluke at all. Ruddy made a good save but Robinson made even more so don't follow that line of argument. As to the suggestion that we aren't executing a plan - 6 points and 6 goals in 2 games seems to refute that. I accept that the accuracy of some of our crosses needs improving but I thought it was better tonight than Saturday. Don't understand the implied complaint about Hoolahan - I thought he was excellent tonight and Saturday. Regarding transfers out - opinions are divided but it is a bit unfair to quote sums less than we seem to have got. We have debated Pilkington at length but I am in the camp that says £2m for a very injury prone player, in the final year of his contract and who has refused to sign a new one is good business. I also do not understand how you can call a squad that has operated so well in the last 2 games paper thin when we also have Howson and Hooper to come back from injury, O'Neill still getting match fit, Olssen to come back from suspension and 2 new players about. apparently, to sign tomorrow.
I completely agree with all this. I actually think the spirit is back within the squad and with that we stand a chance of getting back up. But like you said we need to invest more in the squad. I would like to see a rightback come in, 2 central midfielders and another winger as well as the two signings in Cueller and Jerome. Might sound hefty but I think we should gamble and try and get back up while we have a good core to our team. QPR big time gambled last year and it paid off, if we gamble to a lesser degree we could I think an automatic promotion spot. Adams has impressed me tactically these past two games and is winning me over, he's also done well to get the spirit back. He's naive when it comes to talking to the press and should probably be more honest but now we've seen Fer, Snodgrass and RVW go and probably recouped nearly 17 million I would like to see at least half of that spent in the coming days.
You're right, you haven't understood my OP at all. I said "we played really well for alot of the game" but I was acknowledging that the referee made all the big decisions in our favour. What's wrong with that? I never said our third goal was fluke either; by lucky break I simply met that the corner went to Ruddy which allowed us to get there. And what does the number of saves Robinson made have to do with me praising Ruddy for a good game? Where did I criticise Hoolahan; is saying he "continued to thrive" considered such? Where did I say Adams didn't have a plan? As for the transfer fees I am just saying what I have seen reported in the media.
I apologize if I was reading things into your comments that weren't intended. I didn't see how our GK coming out to claim a corner and then starting a counter attack with a quick clearance was a ' lucky break' Again, you commented that Ruddy kept us in the game with a good save without mentioning that Robinson did the same for Blackburn on more than one occasion. Perhaps I also read too much in the ? after our plan. With Wes you referred to poor delivery and then added ' but then again it is Redmond and Hoolahan taking them ' I obviously read more into your comments than was intended.
Posted the below on another thread. One point off the top after 3 games. I think a couple of weeks ago everybody would have been happy with this. For me so far Adams has done a good job. Yes, he's made mistakes, but as they say âThe only man who never makes mistakes is the man who never does anythingâ. The players he's brought in are looking like quality buys at the moment and whilst I would have liked to keep RvW & Fer I can't say I'm that surprised they've gone. For me I'm not really fused at either Snodgrass nor Pilkington leaving and the contract extensions have been good i.e. Hoolahan & R Bennett. I particularly like the way we don't appear to have paniced and seem to be looking past the immediate challenge of getting back up to the Premiership and thinking about the long term future of the club. The negativity of Houghton's seems to have been pushed aside and I get the feeling the team is predominately behind Adams and the team atmosphere seems good. Whilst I don't know I suspect that this has been helped by Bassong & Bechio being sidelined In summary for me Adams early report would be Well done so far, Keep up the good work and if you can get rid of Bassong & Bechio for a good price so much the better.
I also think we need a few more quality signings but I'll wait until the window closes before I comment.
I think this is the biggest issue at the moment. Our squad, for the Championship, is very high quality but now looks paper thin.
I think the suspension of Olsson and the injury to Garrido may be a (small) blessing in disguise. We looked much more solid last night with Ryan Bennett on and Rusty back to the RB position - to me that's the right defensive mix and Rusty just isn't big or strong enough to be a permanent CB - Bennett and Turner looked far more efficient against the hulking brute of Gestetna (spelling ?) and when Olsson returns a back four of Rusty, Bennett/Cuellar, Turner and Olsson is more balanced and secure as far as I am concerned.
I agree. I think Turner & Bennett are currently our best partnership. As much as I like Martin and I think he can do I job at CB when needs must, he's not good enough to play there all the time.
I see Cuellar as Turner's back-up, actually. Even at Champ level I don't fancy the lack of pace and agility that would be a Cuellar-Turner pairing.
As I set out above Rob I don't see that our squad is paper thin. In addition to the squad who have done so well in the last 2 games we have 6 other potential first teamers to come in. O'Neill when he is match fit, Olssen from suspension, Howson and Hooper from injury and 2 new signings today. On my calculation that gives a squad of 25 excluding Bunn, Bassong, Becchio and Fer. We might need another player or 2 in specific positions but we still have the loan market to raid even when the transfer window ends. I don't think the wage budget will allow more signings until Bunn, Bassong and Becchio are gone.
You might be right that we need to offload a couple of Bunn, Bassong and Becchio, but I really do think our squad is thin for the Championship. Bear in mind it's six games longer than the Premier League. There was one stage last season (before January) where we had three wingers and two midfielders injured at one time. That was too much for our squad at the time, now it would be an unmitigated disaster. Obviously you can't cater for all events, but if Bassong is definitely never going to play we do need a back-up at CB (probably Cuellar, admittedly alreadly likely, who will be good for the slightly injury-prone Turner). I also think we need cover for Hoolahan, because while E Bennett can fit that role, I think he is more useful as an out-and-out winger. Another striker, on the assumption that Becchio is offloaded, would definitely not go amiss either, because we do need cover for Lafferty's secondary role as a target man. Just my opinion on our squad, because the first team looks fantastic in the same way as I thought that last year, but I felt the depth of injuries in the same position last year really stung us (and is the point I really identified in my head as when Hughton began to unravel because he couldn't cope with it).
For me Russ Martin has to play right back as he is far better than Whittaker. I didnt think Whits was bad last night (after a slightly ropey start) but Russ really is a top championship right back. He showed it when we were promoted the last time... one of our best AND most improved players that year
Did we got 3-5-2 last night when Bennett replaced Garrido or did Whittaker move to the left? IMO I think Whittaker is better as a right winger. He can be a livewire going forward
Whits moved to the left and the whole shape of the defence improve markedly. Until Bennet came on we had barely won a single header and they were seemingly thinking a long ball into Gestede would be the most effective outlet. Bennett came on on wine three headers in a row and all of a sudden we look far stronger at the back. If Martin wants to play as a CB then that fine but he's not one of our best 2 an so should have to start on the bench (As a RB I'd start him). Generally I think criticism of Redmond last night is very unfair because actually he had a very good game, only cut in for two shots, both of which were on target and the second really troubled Robinson. He was also the first player to start playing the low dipping balls into the box which we were looking dangerous from with bennett providing more height. He was also linking up very well with Wes and Garrido/Whits. Murphy did have an excellent cameo but remember he is left footed so can get to the by line and pull the ball back easier than redmond can (personally i still think Redmond should be on the right). Lastly I'd have said it's been pretty clear for a while that Pilkington wanted to leave the tweets after the solve game showed that he wasn't exactly happy and he's been making comment all summer. I think the upshot it that the club didn't want to give a new contract to a player so injury prone and that annoyed him. Also OGS said that the the £1m rumour was false and it was more than that. I'd have like to keep him if he was going to play every week but he really isn't especially in this league.
Martin was saying in an interview after the Watford game, that both Adams and Strachen claim that it's his strongest position, I've seen him have some good performances at centre back but I've seen him have his fair share of poor games, like you I think he is way better at right back I don't think he has a physical presence or general awareness to be a superb centre back. In regards to bolstering the squad we need some players to fill positions but we desperately need a threat to bring off the bench a very pacy attacking midfielder or second forward type player.
