.... the next 10 games were given to a new man as preparation for next season. Can't see us ever finishing higher than 10th with Slade in charge, even with the summer transfer window.
If taking off McAleney and switching Noone to left was tactical then Slade and Young should be lined up and shot. Noone murdering the left back and best game of season. Until then.
Another masterclass in averageness from Slade and Co. I had a feeling the Rotherham result was going to be another false dawn like Fulham and Wigan before. Must agree that Noone seemed to have a lot of his old zest back about him but he is very variable in his decision making - still not the force he was last season. The right hand side was definitely our strength today - Manga/Connelly/Noone arrangement caused them a lot of problems but it wasn't the same on the other side of the pitch. I don't know what to say about Jones and Macheda though. Jones was right off it for most of the game and his only real contributuion was to set up Macheda. As for Macheda himself, sorry Stevo, he got his goal and took it well, but the guy is well off the pace in his general play. I'd rather have brought Doyle on in his place to run the channels and get some pace on the pitch. All in all, nothing more than I honestly expected. I'll have to own up here to having a fiver on Charlton to win by any score at 4/1. I got 20 quid out of it but little satisfaction.
Fair enough Sparks plenty around me have made their minds up too. It's all about the way we watch the game, if KWJ had a better game than Macheda I really am watching something different to others. I want us to play football on the ground. Macheda is excellent (by our standards) at linking play. He shows for the ball to feet and normally retains possession with a good first time touch or pass. Kwj takes multiple touches literally runs in circles waits for everyone to get marked or run off side then miss places the pass. He makes other players look bad by taking all their time and space with slow decision making. There was one instance first half where we won possession the ball broke to Kwj, no one was in acres of space with 1 man in front. Kwj held and held the ball until he finally saw the pass (that's the issue he has **** all vision) then immediately passed it straight to their left back who he'd brought into play by taking so long. The Macheda haters shout he's lazy, well if he's lazy what the **** is Jones? Macheda covered double the ground KWJ did IMO. Then there's Kwj goals, well that was macheda's 7 goal in 12 starts. Very similar to his brum record and very respectable. It suggests he'd have scored as many as Kwj if given the same game time. So I suppose if I've got to chose between a 23 year old off on striker who can play or a lazy ****er after 1 last contract who's a real weapon playing long ball/score from the set pieces I'll pick the footballer. As for our right hand side Blue I agree with the sentiment but I thought the mistake was moving Kenny from there. The reason we were causing such problems was the superb timing of forward runs by Connolly! He linked brilliantly with both wingers. The final attack Kennedy had on the right before being moved resulted in Charltons centre half screaming at their midfield and angrily gesturing towards Kennedy in an obvious "one of you has to deal with him". He gets his head up a lot better than No one. I'd have left him there because it was only a matter of when not if him and Connolly were going to open Charlton up again. In truth though it was probably the best result as we need a new coaching set up and a few wins could make Tan decide Slade has turned a corner I honestly don't believe the man is capable of turning.
Stevo - I don't quite know where you get me advocating Jones as the answer - I said his only contribution was the assist for Macheda. They are quite different players. There's no doubt that Macheda is by far the better player with the ball at his feet and you can definitely say the opposite when it comes to their heads. Because of the way Slade is playing it, I don't see any alternative to Jones as a target man. Macheda on his own up there wouldn't win a ball in the air and Revell is something of a makeweight journeyman who's only here because Slade knew him. The only other option is to play a totally different system and that's beyond Slade's expertise.
Apart from his aerial ability up front which, in fairness makes him our top scorer, and defending set pieces what else does KWJ contribute to the game. Does little pressing, gets stranded in no man's land when we clear the ball from set pieces as he is so slow and is pretty useless with the ball at his feet. To use anyone else up top would mean actually playing the ball on the ground which, as Sparks said, would mean a change of system. If the system can't change the the person running it has to. P.45 for Slade anyone?
Bloody hell Bluey, I'll take that all day pal - I'll leave other stuff for Slade to work on...... Jones up front with a 5 man pacey midfield behind him in support and he can stay in their peno area all match. Getting his head on the ball practically every time he challenges puts the ****s up most defences and others can benefit - but they HAVE to get in the bloody box alongside him.
Well it take another 10 mins after the ball the crossed in for Whitts or Gunner to arrive... Take makes that tactic redundant!
This season is all about playing it out now and hope that slade will get replaced or gets help in some way. Tan needs to disappear and not show his face and let football people make all decisions to get the club up and running properly again and not interfere he has no clue about.
Now we will disagree Sparks. KWJ is a dinosaur in the modern game. Does he really scare defenders? He might win 60% of headers (Jolly Rog and the midfielder in front of him had him in their pockets yesterday apart from the lay off for our goal - mainly due to Noonie's tenacity in chasing the ball down and putting in a great cross) but how often do they reach our players? And how often does he use his size to get stuck into defenders? He is so immobile we should buy him a mobility scooter. I'll accept we would be a lot worse off were it not for his goals but, quite frankly, he is a donkey and if we were capable of playing a passing game he would be amongst my subs at best as a Plan B or C even. End of rant.
You can't play Kwj on his own because his totally lack of movement and even worse ability on the ground mean you'll never have anything to play to or off. The only exception to that is if he manages to head it back to the 5 midfielders if it's lumped at him. I agree with blue that his only future is as a plan b sub. He leaves us playing with 10 men almost every time he starts. A team that wants to challenge upwards in this division needs a front man that can do more than score headers from set pieces and nothing else. Macheda might not be that player right now but at least he has the tools to possibly be it. The thing we've all got to accept is a side to challenge needs to be built, probably over a couple of seasons. The money won't be there to buy our way out of this division again. My opinion is a young striker with a 7 in 12 record is the sort of player you can build with. Kennedy looks another who could be a serious player if allowed the chance to develop over the next 12-18 months.
Bluey and Stevo - all I'm getting from you is if, if, if all the time guys - and that's quite enough of your rants Bluey thank you...... If we had someone else, if Macheda could head a ball, if we had quicker midfielders, if we had a 7 in 12 young striker - we haven't, and the list goes on. We've got what we've got courtesy of Ole and Slade, and we need to max out that for the moment not just wishing on a star for something we haven't - leave that to Shirley Temple. Kenwyne is not the answer ultimately. He's slow, shows little appetite for work and gets detached from the game far too often, but to say he doesn't cause defenders problems in their box is ridiculous and he has the goals to prove it. Having him there can bring others into play as he outmuscles defenders - the problem is we have no appetite to get in the box and pick up the second ball. He is not the future, but he's here and we need to play what we've got until we get a manager and coaches who can change that and assemble a team accordingly. Sadly we haven't at the moment.
If you'd just agree with me this would be so much easier That opinion (about KWJ being the best current option) is where I really do differ from yours though. KWJ's is out of contract and unless he's willing to accept vastly reduce terms I doubt he'll be a bluebird next season. Therefore start building now towards next season. Don't drop young players after a bad game, or even worse a bad 45 minutes. As long as they're trying hard then bare with them and see if a bit of continuity can start to make us look like a football team. The cb's have certainly benefited from a bit of continuity. The flaw in my plan is Slade is a desperate man and cannot afford to lose games whilst developing the side. The irony is that his 'keep chucking ideas at it till something sticks' approach is doing just as badly anyway.
If I'd could get my facts right about wishing on a star, I'd have said Judy Garland not Shirley Temple.... If Slade hadn't have dropped Ralls and Kennedy for the Charlton game after playing so well at Rotherham, we could have one it. If the club has any ambition to get out of this division instead of turning it back into a League One outfit (which is where it's going), Slade must go sooner rather than later.
Didn't know you were a big Judy Garland fan Sparks. You'll be telling us you like Lisa Minnelli and Kylie Minogue next. <yikes)> 100% agree on your other comments Sparks but also 100% agree with Steve regarding KWJ. If (I know another if but I only had 2 ifs in my previous 2 iffy posts Lol!!!) we can reach what looks like safety then bench or drop KWJ and give others more opportunity, Mason, Doyle, Macheda and even Revell. In another post you talked about the best football we have played this season. Those games were Forest, Ipswich, Leeds and Norwich. As far as I can see KWJ only took part as sub in 2 of those and only scored once. Before his appearances we actually played the ball on the ground, through the channels and most of the goals were from open play. We could do it then but now have to resort to hoof ball whenever he is on the park. Looks like he is a necessary evil until we get to the 50 point mark. But once we do then for god's sake dump him. He won't be around next season and with the likes of Kennedy and McAleney and Pilks and Joe to return, the skill level will increase, we should play better football and the results will pick up. The 4 strikers I list above are more skillful, can run and put shots away on the ground. The Bluebird Luftwaffe will only be needed on set pieces.
