I wish a striker was the issue but it's not. I don't think we are very creative at the minute seem void of ideas. Do **** all with the ball! Any striker would fail to score at the minute in this team. Isidor is in ****e form but think it's because without the through balls etc he offers very little. Mayenda om the other hand is one of the shining lights when he plays and has been for weeks, takes players on looks dangerous is strong and fast with a bit more experience he will be unstoppable at this level (hopefully he is playing a level above with us next season!). Mayenda is more than capable to lead the line, not many better at this level never mind out of contract! Stop convincing ya self we don't have a striker and it's the problem, we have two that are more than capable of scoring with the right service!
Was really disappointed with the performance yesterday, don’t really care about result but we lacked any spark or even confidence and that is a little worrying. They looked like a team with something to play for and we looked like a team trying to sort ourselves out at the start of preseason. I can normally find a positive and I suppose no major injuries is a good thing. Not sure what else to add feeling a bit worried and hoping it is just a bit of training going on but all players looked disinterested.
I think Le Bris or any other fan on here that thinks yesterdays result means nothing should go and explain that to all of them travelling fans that made the trip down to Oxford yesterday spending their hard earned money to watch that shambles of a performance with players not giving a toss. Ive woke up still feeling livid after watching yet another shyte performance where we were out battled, out played and out fought from whats meant to be inferior opposition. If i was any other team in the playoffs, id be desperate to get drawn against us.
After watching the last 4 games, where lets be honest we have been woeful..even for weeks before that, we really haven't been that impressive....... Then watching a mid table premier league side ( Palace) rip apart a top team (Villa) not sure I would want our team to suffer week after week. I understand we would make changes and yes the money to the club would be great... But the speed, power and skill at the top level is scary. All that said... If it happened I would be delighted..all i'm saying if it didn't, not the end of the world.
RLB has painted a target on his back with the approach over the last month. Treating games like pre season, the apathy, the not arsed attitude and squad selection has put this position in front of us. I have no idea why people have been fine through it all, not bothered about results and performances. Winning breeds confidence and a strong mentality breeds resilience. Just dropping the full strength yday and saying we are now in play off mode, is rank bad management. He has had a good season but his choices in the run up has really meant the pressure is amplified now and the tone across all media platforms is not one of optimism but fear and negativity. If he doesn't get it right ( I don't think he will) he might pay the price.
We probably would go down, but the money we'd make would be phenomenal, and the team we have in the Championship in 2 years time would be alot stronger than the team that doesnt get promoted. We'd then probably do a Burnley and go straight back up and make another windfall. Id rather have hundreds of millions of promotion money in the bank than someone like Sheff Utd or Burnley.
This is the big one for me. The performances have been poor for weeks, I remember after the first home defeat saying its been coming. They start slow, come out at half time and again are slow and by slow I mean are sloppy giving away the ball easily and often giving away silly chances fortunately you don't get punished as much in this league with the opposition missing some sitters, which we have also been guilty of. The results have flattered us as they were having small spells where they dominated and looked brilliant which they would usually score. The last 4 have just been really bad and it honestly looks like their confidence looks shot and the small spells are even smaller or none existent with **** all created. Mayenda and Mundle are the only ones who show real attacking intent and worry the opposition, I haven't been too impressed with Le Fee since he came back but maybe that's just him playing out of position? Quick add of I hate being negative so have celebrated the good results and hardly said owt with the defeats but I'm concerned at the moment that the last few weeks will be difficult to shake off!
I just don't understand what the team are doing at this point. I don't know what the aim is and it's all a bit confusing in the short term. I couldn't be less confident about the playoffs and I don't think that's particularly dramatic. Case of wait and see and hope they have some sort of plan. Maybe it's some sort of weird rope-a-dope and we are letting our rivals think we are ****ed or something. Weird.
Also worth saying it would be Sunderland as **** to stagger into the playoffs like an old drunk and wipe the floor with them, always expect the unexpected
Good to see you also. No problem at all it's a quirky little pub. We ended up missing the train it pulled away as I crossed over the bridge to the platform. Eventually ended up back at Leeds then the brakes locked onto a train leaving Leeds for York. Eventually home near 2 o'clock I think. Knackered. Why do we do it. Only 4 more match threads to do. Cheers and take care.
Christ I'm rough this morning, about to start the long journey back. Had a cracking day despite the result. One local lad asked if we were from Newcastle when he heard our accents, lad next to us (man city fan) said we are obviously from Sunderland as we were still laughing and chatting after losing
Mate, you can post your feelings. The performances are negative. It's ok to post reality of the situation. Be authentic, delusion gets no one anywhere.
Having had a sleep on it, I can't help wonder where our intensity has gone? I know we have been rotating and resting players, but we look so slow and static. Yesterday we seemed to be set up with 2 defensive midfielders Jobe and Neil, then Rigg in that hybrid 10 / second striker role To my eyes we have moved back to a 4231 but the 2 in cdm are sitting too deep, in some stages 1 of the cdms sits between the centre half's as we pass the ball across the back. Jobe looks so much better driving forward but seems shackled lately, Rigg puts in a hell of a shift closing down and pressing but again looked better yesterday when he was in amongst the midfield as an 8. Just musing on a Sunday morning
Guess we will know soon enough if his gamble has paid off and we can massively improve for the big occasion. I mean it's a chance of promotion so the motivation shouldn't be a problem. Like many, I can't see how we can just suddenly improve with the flick of a switch. But I'm no coach.
Don't those two claims contradict each other? Instead of trying to be the spokesman for other people why not not just put your point of view? And, seriously, if you believe that 'the tone on social media' is proof of anything you may be barking up the wrong tree. 'Rank bad management' may be actually failing to go up ... ... which may well be Lampard, Wilder, Carrick, Manning, RLB. But we won't actually know who that is until May 24th, none of us can make that claim now, it's just guesswork and opinion.
I don’t think it’s that deep. We went flatter after Leeds when it was fairly clear we’d struggle for the top two. Added to that you can see by the choices made by the team. Rest and freshening up. Players needed less minutes to recover. Hunger to win and rest followed by reconnection and we’ll see an uplift. Not saying it’ll be enough, it’s a lottery. I’m more worried about us conceding from set pieces.
