i remember that game carra, its amazing how both teams have turned things around in a short space of time, i do think norwich are better prepared than us and will get stronger next season as long as you keep lambert, for us then unless brendan "BUCKS" up his ideas then next season for us assuming we are still here will be a long hard slog, we need 4 or 5 players that have some height to them as we are lacking in that department and we need to have a decent plan B & C......if we dont then i cant see us doing much and i fear that Brendan will have to go before xmas, its a shame as he has had a good run with his one and only system but come on it was never going to last playing the way we do.... after saying that i would not change much except cut down on needless passes especially back to vorm and get forward taking on defenders, danny graham is not my type of striker for the way we play and would be better suited with norwich......we need a good finisher who is a goal poacher and a handful for the defenders, danny is not he likes to hold the ball up when he gets it and thats not what we want if we want to score goals, to me he is better suited in midfield........so there is not that much we need to change to get us back on track.......Is brendan the right man for the job? maybe or maybe not but i have a feeling the latter.....
You have come a long way, just like Stoke and Wigan have. So there is no reason why you boys can't aim higher.
As much as I think Sigurdsson (sic) has been a revelation since he arrived, I can't help thinking he has contributed to your downfall. It seems whenever I see highlights of your games, everybody is looking to pass to him at the earliest possible chance and totally ignoring other options. I thought Sinclair would be the best player of all the newly promoted teams by some distance this season - what's happened to him?
We are certainly having one awful blip, but it's of our own making, if you examine the game yesterday, QPR were a pretty poor team first half, and we failed to take advantage of that, and there were signs that they were pretty edgy going into the game. But Rodgers saw what we all saw, a team of players with their minds on some tropical beach somewhere, no heart no passion, and no fight to die for, and I'm not going to single out any one player, but I could, but it would be pointless, Dai take note! This season has 5 games to go, and Rodgers is responsible for getting our lads focused again, and anything but a win on Saturday at home, will prove that he will have failed, one thing that has stood out for me this season, is the fact that we are lacking the players in the final third that our game and philosophy deserves, and it's time now to sort this out, we have had fleeting moments as a club, with the right front men, that have made us a complete team, when we had the likes of Jason Scotland, and Borini, but if we are to start next season successfully, then that final cutting edge up front must be sorted. Danny Graham is the only Striker other than Dobbie, I would keep, but Moore and Lita would be removed from our wage bill, if I had my way. We need to move up to the next level with the quality required up front, and Swansea City deserve a front man in the likes of Yakubu. This to me is of the highest priority, and in this I agree with Dai. I'm not going to dwell on yesterday, it's done and buried now, but I hope our players remember they were beaten by one numpty Barton, and a very mediocre QPR, and if they have any spine in them, they'll put this right next year, should QPR stay up!................ please log in to view this image PS: By the way some have stated that Norwich, are average, well if that's true then give me some of their average fight and to do and die for attitude that Lambert has them playing with, Norwich have set our players an example of how to play, with passion heart and fight to the death, and Rodgers has to address the lack of fight that we are displaying these last 3 or 4 games, because I'd hate to see our season end on a whimper!............... please log in to view this image
Think you're on record as agreeing with me that Norwich aren't that great Phill. But they are smart - and get results because of it. They've also had the rub of the green in more than one game (deflected shots/ pens that never were, that sort of thing) and I genuinely think man for man we have the better team. I'm gobsmacked that opposition teams have supposedly sussed us out but continue to lose to them. Stop the crosses coming into Morison /Holt at the far post and you'll halve their goal tally. But managers don't appear to be dealing with the fact they have scored more headed goals than any other team in the Division. Their fans keep saying 'There's more to us than that' and there is, but they rely heavily on their aerial threat and they'd be in the relegation zone if that was nullified. Be prepared next season. But in fairness they have 2 things that we don't: (1) A Manager who is tactically smarter than ours and who adapts the style to suit the type of opposition and (2) (at least of late) players who will to go out and grab a game by the scruff of the neck and win at all costs. Credit to them for for that.
Dai, when you grab hold of a new idea you're like a dog with a bone So where did this idea of sacking Brendan Rodgers by Christmas come from? Did you read it somewhere? Did one of your 'mates' plant it in your head? Or did you think it up yourself? I would agree with you that our pass count is going up on an exponential curve. We should reach 10,000 passes per game by 2015.
Sacking Rodgers?? No need for that talk at all Dai, and I'm sure we will have a response from Rodgers and our boys on Saturday, remember this Dai, even Arsenal had a bad patch early season, and Everton where for long periods at the bottom of the table, we just need to focus, get our fitness up a bit, and start going at teams with pace again!.... Knackered I am on record and agree that we are technically a better side than Norwich, but Norwich have a greater will to fight, and are more ruthless than us in the final third, Rodgers needs to instill some of that Norwich true grit into our game, because we are very passive on times.............. please log in to view this image
who the hell said sack rodgers i said that if hew dont buck his ideas up and we are playing rubbish like we are next season, then he should go by xmas, personaly i think if he has a poor first 10 games next season he should go as we would need to save our season,....if we leave it till xmas it might be to late to save us....The jury is well and truly out on bucks ability now and i dont think he has it in him to change. i hope im wrong but i cant see it, there has been to much over the top praise and he thinks he is better than he really is and he is proving that at a rate of knotts......to me if we lose all the remaining games then we should sack him and get an experienced manager before the season starts or we will find us as whipping boys who play football the right way i cring when ever i hear that from managers who have just beaten us......
To be a successful team you have to have ability (broad spectrum that) fitness and conditioning (embraces strength). We have the ability but I very much doubt that the last two factors are in place. QPR overran us in the second half but am I correct in thinking that we had two more days rest than they had between games? There was at least one day yet, whereas they were bombing up and down the pitch, some of our players looked as though their legs were tied together in comparison. It's all very well doing all your training with the ball but if you haven't got the energy to perform on the pitch, what's the point? Reading between the lines, and I could be very wrong, but I refer back to Luke Moore's interview, I think after the Man City game. He said something (given his reputation of being something of a lazy player) that made my ears prick up. He said that we should see the Swans training, it was great fun because everything was done with the ball. Now if you are a lazy player you will not relish the fitness graft in training one little bit. So it struck me that if Luke was enjoying it there wasn't much graft going on. Just a feeling I got from the interview. I could be wrong about this but our lack lustre performances recently, give some credibility to the thought. Look, we aren't even on the same planet as Norwich, QPR and some other teams in physical terms - we get blown away, Barca type football and all. Something wrong there methinks. It happens that I have long doubted our levels of fitness and I voiced my concerns in the NPC last season. There is NO improvement this season. As for Plan B etc, I think it would help Buck if he had a seasoned, experienced campaigner as his assistant. Sorry, but Pascoe does not do it for me. Exactly what are his credentials? What is his experience, his track record PL or otherwise? None that I know of. Hughes has Mark Bowen at QPR along with Eddie Nizwhateverhisnameis, people with experience who can offer credible input at this level. Time for the old pal's act to go and Pascoe given another job at the club to allow a more qualified person to help Buck. However, my immediate worry is this. Bad runs can go on for a long time. We only have a handful of games left to reach safety and, based on what I've seen recently, I'm beginning to doubt if we have it in us to pick up another point. Confidence is shot; pass and move has become pass and shuffle and the players are showing a reluctance to show for the ball. The support for the man on the ball has become almost non existent as players abdicate responsibility. Then add a leaky defence and a goal starved attack to all that and there is cause for concern. Beat Blackburn and we should be ok. But they are scrapping too, as are Bolton, so I see no guarantee of points there. Wolves, who now have nothing to play for, might be our salvation and a win would see us on 42 points which should be enough. BUT, given the perverse nature of this game, Wolves just playing for pride, might be enough to turn us over. Limp over the line? I would settle for that. At the moment we are crawling on our bellies. As for Manager of the Year, the players have blown Buck (with his help) out of the water on that one. It would be a travesty if Lambert didn't win it. He has instilled in his team everything that we lack - pride, passion, energy, high tempo play, teamwork and tactics. If that doesn't do it, I don't know what will. Sorry to be downbeat but I was delighted to wax lyrical about the team when they were doing well and am just calling things as I see them now they are not.
Ummm, Dai, you just mentioned it in your last post you said i said it in my earilier post and i didnt, but i do think we should sack him if we dont win another game this season, he and his brand of football has had its day and his 15 minutes of fame has ended,,,,how far do you think we will go if he is the boss next season? He wont change in a million years and the signs of boring boring boring will be ringing out of the liberty before you know it, watch this space.....
Another terrific post Ivor, says it all about our present predicament. What has happened to the defence lately, could`nt stop a ten year old from scoring. Dai does have a point, albeit over the top, about the "one trick pony". When the system works, it works well. When it does`nt, we are a mess. Blackburn should`nt be dismissed as an easy win (I know nobody`s saying that) on Saturday. They can score goals, and lots of them, we on the other hand, are finding goals not so easy. I think we`ll be very lucky to manage a draw against them. Let`s all hope that Buck has drilled will and desire into the players for Saturday.
