True, just so annoying when he looked like he might finally have turned a corner.
Oh it’s incredibly frustrating. I really feel for him.
True, just so annoying when he looked like he might finally have turned a corner.
Not sure we could necessarily put that on Still, as it would have been heavily influenced by what the medical team (and Ross) said. I think, at least.
Hmmm, not sure really.
He gets medical advice which will influence him sure, but it's still his decision ultimately and anybody could see that giving a player who's barely kicked a ball in 3 years 3 starts in a week is a huge risk.
He definitely shouldn't take Stewart's word for it imo, should be stronger than that.
Looking at last seasons goals count (appreciate that goals / game need to factor but I'm looking at totals for simplicity) I'm sure that SR were trying to bring goals into the team and to widen the player pool who could contribute to them.
Downs - 11 goals (2 Bundesliga)
Azaz - 17 goals (championship)
Fellows - 4 goals (championship)
Scienza - 6 goals (Bundesliga / Europa Conference)
Jander - 3 goals (2 Bundesliga)
Plus we probably expected Armstrong and Archer to be good at this level (i.e get 20+ between them) and we had the unknown about Stewart so I'm sure the club were expecting a tally from that of at least 70+ goals across the season (yes including a realisation that some of those players are stepping up a league)
Leeds scored 95 last season as champions.
Our current goal rate is getting 56 which is below the expected from above so we're definitely not firing properly at the moment but it's off the mark to say that SR just didn't do anything to boost our firepower up front at all as they clearly tried to get more goals into the team. If they did the right things or not will only be crystal clear come the next window and the end of the season.
I'm in the camp that wants to give WS the time to overhaul last seasons dross, clear the poor mental state and get us back to winning but I can also be disappointed as a fan with a poor performance but one poorer performance in a trend of improving performances isn't a case for dismissal of the coaching staff.
It of course can, and should, be a fans debate on the performances and decisions but we all need to accept that we are never in full possession of all the facts around events in the week and most importantly another fan's interpretation (which is inherently personal to them) should never be a cause for a slanging match.
(Sorry the last bit came out as a bit of an old man rant but this board is much better when threads don't devolve into entrenched posturing of the "correct" viewpoint)
Recruitment teams fault (again) imo. Stewart should only have ever been a bonus striker this season. We needed to buy a starter striker who fits the way we want to play. If we had, we wouldn’t have felt the need to overplay Stewart. Mental to start him 3 times in a week imo. He’s barely started 3 games in 3 years before that. Even consecutive weekend starts is a big step up for him and the max he should do for a good while to build up his body.
But yeah, given the recruitment have once again ****ed up the striker recruitment. It’s ultimately on Still to make the call, and he ultimately made the wrong call.
We’d be ducking the toysIt's unfortunate for ross to pick up an injury when he was just starting to look good. But just imagine the **** will still would have got on here if he dropped Stewart
This is such a sensible post.
I think SR will do something about the forwards in January. Not sure we will retain Archer and maybe we will recall someone from loam.
I think Downs will be farmed out to get more experience although cannot see him improving to the level we require.
Totally agree. Think I said this in the summer but Stewart should only ever have been considered as the 4th of four strikers. The fact he's ended up being the first cab off the rank and the one that looks best with our other starters tells you they got it horribly wrong with Downs and the failure to bring in any other forward (either instead of or in addition to DD)Recruitment teams fault (again) imo. Stewart should only have ever been a bonus striker this season. We needed to buy a starter striker who fits the way we want to play. If we had, we wouldn’t have felt the need to overplay Stewart. Mental to start him 3 times in a week imo. He’s barely started 3 games in 3 years before that. Even consecutive weekend starts is a big step up for him and the max he should do for a good while to build up his body.
But yeah, given the recruitment have once again ****ed up the striker recruitment. It’s ultimately on Still to make the call, and he ultimately made the wrong call.
In case anyone needs this thread…
Not personally yet, no. That one wasn’t on the manager. Under any normal circumstance we win that, and as a unit we looked better.