Monday morning Blues? Well, actually after yesterday's poor performance, I think and hope that we may well see some major long overdue changes for Weds. On a day when I wished for a real Go at the match, at least a terrific effort, all round team performance of our frankly limited resources and skills. Like everyone I was bitterly disappointed. I learnt last week I have prostate cancer - yes, I can talk about it, even tho us men are normally crap about such stuff - so really needed an uplift...at least an exciting game! So, what next? We are still in top 6 - 2pts off 2nd! Ridiculous. We all know our weaknesses, and time to ring the changes. Exit for time being Smith, Chambo, Skuse, Tabb, and let those who have been warming their bums and longing for a start, be given a chance! Felt miserable for Sears and Murph...nothing to feed off...just long hopeful punts into the area. Norwich knew our wretched style and tactics, did their homework and played the better football in a game that did not live up to expectations. And we all know they have premier class, premier cash and a very talented young manager. And MM who has done a remarkable job, needs to sit down with his team and re-assess the whole plan. Never a Plan B and poor subs often....and revise his strategy, give several players 'time off' and give starts to players in their right positions. Be brave and think about Murph and Wood leading the line, with Freddie behind. All is not lost, and MM does have good people skills to bring them back. But sadly, if there was any doubt we are a long way from being auto promoted, yesterday showed us up. But not a total disgrace by any means. Evans failed to back Mick with funds at the critical window, to bring in players of the right quality to give us that final spark & drive. Top 6 still our best target. Always has been...and that in my rather faded and worn book is just fine!
I thought MM got his tactics wrong, we were too narrow. Tommy needs to be dropped or we go to 3 at the back because he is struggling on the right hand side. personally I would like to see us go 3 4 1 2.
Sorry to hear your bad news gaffer. I agree with your views, skuse and Tabb iooked like lower league players which they are, parr always looks useful and should start and I think I would try mings in skues position in front of the back 4 we need someone there that drives forward with the ball as well as protecting the back 4 also we must start with at least one of our wide players and I don't mean Anderson !!
South Coast - i wish you all the best in your recovery, hope all goes well. I share your sentiments regarding yesterdays game - they well and truly showed us up yesterday. I've said all along that the scum are guaranteed top two, and will still prob win the league. But, in the bigger picture, i'm still extremely happy with what we have done this season - the team have punched well above their weight up to now, and that has been built on a solid foundation, hard graft and a team spirit. Unfortunately, these alone won't carry us over the into promotion, but you also need a touch of quality and class - which unfortunately we lack. We have a few good individual players, but what we do lack is the ability to grab the game by the horns consistantly - we don't have a plan b (when we do it's just not good enough), and we don't have the players that can change a game. I'm not a total defeatist, as i still think we will scrape into the play offs, but thats only as i don't think Brentford and Wolves will last the pace.
Hope you are your nearest are well Gaffer and I wish you a speedy recovery (hopefully coinciding with witnessing our triumphant return to the Premier League ) I must agree with you analysis. We have too often been too predictable of late. One thing that is very apparent is that we have a very small squad (used the least amount of players in the league this season) and that is seemingly catching up on us. We are still plodding along with players feeling the rigours of a long season while others are able to rotate their line ups with little compromise of the overall quality. All is not lost. One bad match does not make us a dreadful team. But we need to be a little more flexible and adaptable in our approach if we are to have any chance of making the play offs, let alone be competitive in them
" I think I would try mings in skues position in front of the back 4 " Crikey I don't Mings doesn't have any positional sense. Would be embarrassing.
Sorry to hear your bad news Gaffer. Best wishes for the treatment ahead and recovery. Mostly agree with your suggested changes. I think we'd be wrong to write McGoldrick off from the starting line up though. Whenever I try and choose my starting 11 it highlights the weakness of our midfield and wing players and shows were very top heavy in attack now. (Who'd have thought that with Mick recruiting?) But, assumming everyone is fit and well GK. Bialkowski RB Parr CB Berra CB Chambers LB Mings DM Hyam DM Skuse/Chaplow AM Bishop CF McGoldrick ST Sears ST Murphy Subs Gerks Smith Clarke Ambrose Chaplow/Skuse Bru Wood Just doing that though has made me think the quality of our bench has drastically improved over the course of the season though.
" I think we'd be wrong to write McGoldrick off from the starting line up though. " Heard off a guy on the train yesterday McGoldrick's out for the season. He then said the injury isn't just season ending but potentially career ending. Not a wind up.
All the best to you Gaffer, hope you are fit well in the near future.! I think MM is 1 to stubborn to change & 2 & more worringly maybe not capable!
Many thanks for all the good wishes...now a return to the Prem would certainly speed my recovery, but meantime I hope to get to one or two more home games...and a local pint or 2 of Adnams before the games! Now if McG is out of the reckoning that in deed is bad news, especially for him poor man. We all know our weak areas, mainly lack of creative dynamic midfielders and RB. I am hopeful that MM is now perhaps forced to admit he has to a. Bring in fresh players from the start b. Re-jig our defense which looked very uncertain yesterday c. Go back to our quite sparkling 433 or 4321. I still believe that we will make the cut......just!
Best wishes with the treatment Gaffer. We need to return to the form/performances of Nov Dec ,whether we can achieve that with the current crop is questionable.I think it's a great shame that with such a tight top of the league this season we weren't able to continue the push for an automatic promotion place which looked fully possible at the turn of the year.I fear we will now have to settle for a play off place(fingers crossed) and the lottery that represents.
**** the footy!! So sorry to hear more bad news scog, yoi and your better half aint having much luck!! Hope all treatment etc goes well, take care bud!!
PS Sorry for glancing over your post and missing this - Spanish couldn't have put it better **** the footy. Hope all goes good.
In truth all your views, pithy comments, slander, gossip, humour and undoubted knowledge and experience of the game help to keep me so positive. Big Al and others nail it. At New Year we had a golden opportunity to push to really shore up weaknesses, glaring to us, and bring in just 2 really top quality players. But, hey ho...just cast your minds back 15 months! What a hell hole that was!
Horrible news Gaffer, wishing you a quick recovery mate. I agree with most of your sentiments, especially regarding a change to the starting eleven. Thankfully, most of the teams around us are struggling to find consistency as the business end of the season approaches. Hopefully the lads can take some confidence from that. Big game away to Leeds, three points much needed!
Whats worrying is that things that are glaringly obvious to 99% of us, somehow go unoticed by MM, i dont get it!! If all the fans were screaming for him to keep it as it is, im sure he would change it!!
Well, as much as we all like a good moan on here (some more than others ) McCarthy works with these players day-in, day-out. He knows their abilities, their mentality, and their potential. He runs the training sessions, takes advice from the coaching staff, and obviously believes in himself to deliver promotion, as all good managers should do. The man isn't a mug and he presumably has the club's best interests at heart, why wouldn't he? Okay, so he isn't the most proactive of managers, fine, but he has faith in a set of players who, technical limitations aside, were not long ago being lauded as the division's 'dark horses' and had embarked on a run of one defeat in 20 odd matches. Now we all obviously have our occasional doubts and issues with the team, what football fan doesn't? But for every match we've argued for change and witnessed defeat, there are many more where McCarthy's fielded his ideal team and got it spot on, despite our protestations. Now things are always going to look bleak after a defeat to Norwich (and we've suffered enough of them lately), but we are three points off second place and are still in the running for an unlikely promotion, when was the last time we could comfortably say that at this stage of the season? I feel a bit bad for McCarthy's sense of timing. If he had been hired four/five odd years ago, he'd be given a decent transfer war chest to spend. Looking at what he's doing now, we'd most likely be better off than under the two incumbents. So while we're questioning his decisions, which of course we should always do, just remember what he inherited and what we are now, which is a more sensible, well-run, and competitive side, despite the financial limitations. I'm not a fan of the direct style of play, but it's getting results (mostly) and it's obviously an ideology he feels comfortable using because of the squad we have and the fact that it's a style that has won him honours and promotions in the past.
Wish you well South. Stay strong. Your contribution above very much on the ball and I hope Tomorrow nights game will be a tonic.
Many thanks Stallion and I am sure we will kick- start another good run of results. It's all to play for, but I would almost....but wont.....put money on our feathered friends to go back up! Now did I say that? The best we can hope for is of course 2 more matches against them and the winner takes all!
