After 9 games of this new campaign, its already beginning to loook a lot like another struggling time for the club. We are bottom 4 again and by this time tomorrow, maybe back in the relegation zone we occupied for 90% of the time last campaign. We have been thumped 8-0 already, conceding 11 in two games now and are finding goals extremely hard to come by. We don't look any better than last season tbh and maybe even worse if I'm really honest without Borini up front. Gus looks under pressure already and increasingly frustrated on the touchline and his comments in the media recently about being unhappy at recruitment at the club in the summer increasingly worrying. Last weeks humiliation was a freak result for sure but is symtematic of a long standing problem at the club. We've a very poor squad. We lack the fundamentals of a strong mid table EPL club such as pace and flair in the team, a very poor backroom team that don't seem to be offering much support to the manager and above all a coherent direction from the upper echelons of the boardroom. Our CEO is way out of her depth and our marketing and communication none existent. We simply don't have game changers in the team right now. Gus needs his experienced players to step up and step up now to halt yet another slide downwards and to start and earn the trust he has shown in them. Gus himself needs to ditch the current 5-4-1 formation, as we just dont have good enough players to actually carry out his desired effect. Plan A hasn't worked for several months tbf and we need a plan B now. Play 3 or 4 up front and just by pass our ineffective slow and headless midfield. Larsson, Bridcutt, Roswell, Johnson or any combination of the lot are hapless and he needs to get Gomez in alongside Catts and play Alvarez (when fit) Fletcher, Wickham (as a centre forward) and Giacherinni (when fit). We don't have good enough footballers to pass our way to victory but in the aforementioned front 4 we would have pace, power and a bit of flair in front of goal and in Catts and Gomez a good covering pair who can tackle and pass. I fear for Gus right now and I'm desperate for him to remain here long term. Many more defeats and anothrr entrenched bottom 3 place at Christmas/New Year and I fear the worse may happen. We can't expect another season long relegation scrap to end in smiles again for sure. The signs are worrying but I hope Gus grasps the opportunity by the horns and turns it round quickly before confidence is drained and the rot sets in.
Classic Cest post,,,Great as always. Well written and to the point, and i agree with him word to word. It's not time to panic just yet, but why every friggin season?
For me the last fifteen minutes of that game was calling for a long ball game, we had two big lads up front, a winger on the pitch against a fairly small Arsenal defence but we slavishly stuck to a passing game when diagonal crosses into the box for knock downs were called for. For a small period of the game we showed some urgency and were combative and rattled them but then we reverted to a slow pace passing game which suited them down to the ground. Doubtless a lot will be made of the errors which no manager can compensate for, but our lack of variation is more frustrating as we give the opposition too much time to set their defence.
Agree 100% I also dream about having a start like either Southampton or West ham and what the feeling would be like at the SOL if we could as I said "dream".
You want us to play 2 in midfield and bypass them?! Not sure that's deserving of the 100% nail on the head reviews! What about when the opposition decide not to ignore the middle of the pitch?! We are struggling yes, but when a few key injuries clear up it will be much better. I do agree with a change in tactics, but to 4-2-3-1 with Rodwell/Bridcutt beside Catts.
I think the formation Gus is trying to implement is the right one, we just need to keep plugging away until we have the players to make a success of it. Giack and Ricky to come back will hopefully be a big boost. I think we're dire at centre half as it stands and that will need addressing. I'm also not that confident in the likes of Wickham, Fletcher and Jozy up front. When I look at our personnel it doesn't inspire me with much confidence at all in the short term. Congerton, Byrne and Short have a lot of work to do.
We can't play 6 up front mate so you're being a little pedantic here. What I mean as you must realise, is the passing game is beyond us but still leave 2 holding midfielders there and emphasize getting the ball up front quicker with 2 strikers and 2 attacking wide men. Forget this bringing it from the back as we just lose it and end up chasing shadows. Btw Bridcutt is a championship player at best and Rodwell a huge disappointment. Neither should start a game in the near future IMO.
Hard to take it seriously when you're not being balanced Cest. You opened on our first 9 games yet not a single positive about the first seven. It's so easy just to come back with 'it's just a two game blip'. I know it's not like that in reality, but at the same time i think it's harsh to define our season so far on the last two games which is basically what you're doing. Don't get me wrong, I know we don't look great, I voiced my concerns at the end of the transfer window. No problem with addressing problems, but you didn't even mention our defence which is by and large our biggest problem with being short of numbers and options. Just seems like you've based a rant(with a lot of truths) on the last two games which isn't fair imo. We gave 100% today against a team that more often than will take points off us home and away. Today's game was defined by two individual mistakes, but the lads did me proud and responded in the manor I wanted, I don't ask for them to exceed their capabilities, but I do ask for 100% effort and I believe we got that today, that is what we should draw attention too, not compiling everything we already knew and heaping it on them after two bad results. detrimental attitude. I noticed you gave no effort to the lads who played a fantastic game today. What a bounce back from vergini! Catts was back on top of his positioning. Buckley tracked back(to the point where he played the worst and most shortest backpass ever, this after not even registering in our defensive third against Southampton on his heat map). Sorry Cest but you just seem like one of those half empty blokes who springs out when the chips are down but have little to say while we were building a tough to beat streak for the first 7 games. My memory is longer than two weeks marra.
Dealing with the here and now situation, we are low in the league because we have not been able to produce a killer finish against teams like Burnley, QPR, WBA and even an incredibly poor ManU. The reality is that we are good at passing in our half of the field when we are not under pressure but the slowness of our build up gives opposing defences time to organise. We may be thin on the ground with players but varying our tactics to suit who we have on the field at the time is just as big a factor.
I posted after the transfer window, claiming our squad was poor. I got slaughtered by those on here, especially cest. I'm not trying to gloat, far from it. But next time, try not to slaughter people who don't agree with the general consensus. We've got next to no creativity in the team, and i knew it could be disastrous the moment the transfer window shut.
When Bardsley left & Larson signed a new deal, that's when we knew. Lets not forget, people on here thought that was good, same people who thought JoS needed a new contract, utter madness.
He gives O'Sh*te a two year contract ffs. We cannot stay up with old men like JOS,Brown and the French lad who turns 35 in November. Gus aint up to it lads, he failed to get basics right like the defence this summer. A right back crock from WBA and an untested Left Back. Very naive, shows he is a Championship manager at best. His tactics and style of football are poor to say the least, He will take us down. Moyes for me before someone else snaps him up, even Pulis.
You do know we have a DoF and what that entails don't you? You do know that he doesn't control the budget don't you? You do know that even though he has last choice on a player, there needs to be some players to choose from don't you? You did know he publicly stated what he wanted from Congerton and the transfer window before it opened didn't you? You do know he didn't get the numbers in the positions he publicly asked for don't you? You do know he's referenced back to that recently to press his point don't you? Your attempts to make a scapegoat of Gus is piss poor imo.
Yes it's certainly beginning to look like last season ........ people jumping on the 'doomed bandwagon' in October and finding every possible negative. No doubt it'll end like last season with them saying, 'So, we finished well and there's no one more pleased than me to be proved wrong.' Yep, nowt changes does it?
To me, this is the most incisive post on the thread. It's all right going on about Congerton not getting the players in that Gus wanted. But we have to face reality. Of the 31 league games Gus was in charge of last season, we were in the bottom three for 25 of them, and good players simply don't see that sort of club as a career advancement. As Nostalgic says, we must organize the present players in the most productive way possible, forget style for a while, and get ourselves away from the 'scraping round the bottom' reputation we have. It's no good saying a manager can't organize poor players - Pulis did at Palace last season. So the jury is still out on Poyet for me. I'd like him to turn it around, but have never been totally sure he can. I'll keep an open mind on that. I think we've been a tad unlucky with the midfield. Giaccherini has looked a different player this season. And, from what little we've seen, Alvarez looks an excellent ball player. To have both of them injured at one time is downright bad luck, and we should make allowances for that. I won't be advocating any knee-jerk actions, but as Cest says, Xmas/New Year will be critical for Gus. It's not up to Byrne or Congerton or Short. One man has charge of team affairs - him.
This is exactly what was required and all we got was the safe sideways and reverse pass when a ball into the box was all that was required, it says a lot that the team could not change tactics at the time.
This would be my set up, and I would try AJ / Fletch / Buckley behind Whicks the central choice might surprise a few but I base it on his performances for Scotland where he plays the deeper role with some style. If it does not work for us put Gomez in until Giacca is back.
