The PL players with "top level pedigree" got us relegated and Foster was a big part in another relegation. I'm sure if other clubs would love some of our younger players they would have been able to buy them when we had the fire sale in the summer. How is Ivic pathetic for setting up the side to give us the best chance to win? We are a counter attacking side mainly because we do not have a decent striker.He has to set the team up to give us the best chance to get a result. It would be suicidal to set us up to "entertain" knowing it would expose our glaring weaknesses and allow our opponents a better chance to win. If you hadn't noticed his boss likes to fire people who don't get results so he is maximising his chances of keeping his job-pretty smart that! Instead of throwing your toys out of the pram after nearly every game perhaps try looking at the bigger picture and appreciate the circumstances facing Ivic and the team and come to a more balanced viewpoint.
Not sure about that. Certainly NF would have been in hot water for press-ganging the ref in the style of Keane’s Man U, led by the truly hideous Arter. Intrigued by the pre-match embrace between TD and Knockaert; hadn’t realised they were close.
I can't disagree with that, as I assume by that comment you think both challenges were worthy of RED CARDS!!! However in fact we have been getting quite a few favourable refereeing decisions so far this season, which makes a pleasant change from the many appalling decisions we had against us last season. Maybe the old adage that things usually even out over A SEASON might have some truth about it. Having said that it seems that in our case, seeing as we got relegated last season, it is beginning to look like those decisions are going to even out for us over TWO SEASONS
Something that troubles me (and troubled me last season) is how easily we're closed down by a team choosing to play anti-football. Shirley these must be someone with the wit and foresight to develop some anti-anti-football tactics at a 'professional' football club?
I think last nights result just shows how close the league is, Notts Forest didn’t look like a team towards the bottom of the league, we didn’t look like a team near the top! Had Troy’s effort 10 minutes from time we would have been happy, it was close!
I'll repeat the mantra the GK coach at the Gooner Filth Soccer School who coached my eldest, SAHC elite GKs who coach my youngest, John Hurst (Team GB GK coach of the Olympic gold medal winning women) and, errrrrr, David James (whose daughter was in the same SAHC squad as mine) all have said:
15 shots on target in 8 away games. On the plus side we're leading world football for time wasted passing between defenders
The most frustrating thing is we have been easily capable of winning all the games we've drawn or lost this season. No lack of effort last night - just too much sideways passing and general fannying about. Plus, after the run they'd been on Forest were always going to be hard to beat. Championship football might not be scintillating, but no VAR makes it more enjoyable to watch than the Premier League - even if it is only on the tele
Ivic has done a smashing job in tightening up our defence. He’s done a great job in making a recently relegated side hard to beat. He’s given us something to build on, But these awful tepid away performances are in danger of spoiling things. They are so awful it really feels like we’ve lost, and you actually have to remind yourself that actually we haven’t. We are still picking up points, each and every one could yet still be vital come the final shakeup. But it does feel like we are wasting opportunities to really break away from the pack, and I still don’t feel he’s getting all he should be out of the squad he has.
You’re right, Forest didn’t look like a team at the bottom. They looked like a mid-table side... ...in League 1.
While I get your broader point and agree, some bits I don’t. Forest were always going to be hard to beat because they lost their previous 3? I’m sure Swansea thought that after Forest lost their previous 2 before playing them but they found a way to win. Surely losing many games in a row makes it harder to pick up results, not make you harder to beat? I’m also not entirely convinced there wasn’t a lack of effort from some players at times. Quite a few of them looked like they were waiting for the game to come to them rather than using their ability to affect it pro-actively. I agree about the tempo though. And am surprised a few on here don’t think that’s coming from the manager. It was painfully slow and ponderous last night and the manager did NOTHING to change that. If he wasn’t happy, do something about it. But he just took off an underperforming mobile striker for a slightly less mobile central striker.
I don't know about that last sentence. We have a decent Championship defence plus keeper and that's borne out by us having the third best record for goals conceded. Our first choice midfield would undoubtedly contain Hughes and Capoue, they've started five out of a possible 30 games between them. Garner should be rotation option but we're now having to play him every game, same with Quina more recently. Cleverley is a decent enough squad player but he's missed a third of the games now through injury. Chalobah has featured in every one but has been in horrible form other than a couple of performances. What is on paper a strong central midfield isn't really relevant if we can't get players on the pitch. Our wide options are Sema who was playing well and creates the most in open play until he got hit by Covid and a misfiring Sarr who rarely takes a player on and has missed numerous presentable chances. There's still enough residual quality there for him to be a threat at this level but Ivic can't be blamed for him missing one on ones. There is no cover at full back (sorry Marc Navarro, I can't count you), nor central midfield, nor out wide. Upfront we have the two big beasts coining in their combined £130/k a week but they've managed six starts between them out of a possible 30 and contributed two goals. Pedro has had to play upfront which Ivic doesn't think is his best position and whilst undoubtedly talented, he sometimes goes missing. If everyone was fit he could be used more sparingly. Perica has looked ok but got himself banned and then injured. Murray has been awful and probably has Covid. We can't really rotate much at the moment due to the limited options and this is going to take its toll on energy levels. This shortened season is like no other and Ivic also had a very limited pre-season with the squad available. He deserves criticism for persisting too long with three at the back but he's now changed that. Some of his substitutions have been pretty uninspiring too. But I don't think he wants us to play this negatively, I think he's being hampered by the players available and the form they're in. If we'd had a fully fit squad the whole season and were still looking do disjointed, I would be questioning Ivic far more but he is in an unprecedented situation in that the season started with half the squad unavailable. Normally our injuries bite around Christmas and our form would nose dive, this season the squad has been threadbare from the off.
Teams that have had a few d1ck ings on the bounce tend to dig in and make it tough for the opposition - like Forest last night. We still should of thrashed them though. Your point about some players not being proactive enough is fair but I think that's down to loss of form/confidence (both of which I'd blame Ivic for) rather than a lack of effort
I’m not one who thinks we have the best squad in the division or any other such delusions of grandeur BUT I stand by my point that Ivic isn’t getting the best out of it. Should a squad containing Sarr, Pedro, Sema, Deeney, Perica, Cleverley, Capoue etc score more than three goals in eight away matches? I believe the answer is yes.
We need the cash we get for him to pay off debt. We just gambled in the summer that we could get more cash in Jan21 or summer 21 than we were offered summer 20. Probably not a good gamble the way it's going at present.
I think it was probably a point gained considering we moved up the table and are only 1 point behind top spot. Forest as expected were very difficult to break down and had 8 or 9 men behind the ball at all times. Our players got frustrated and had so many wayward passes. What was evident to me is that there was very little movement off the ball our play was too static. I think Pedro tried to move off the ball a bit better in the second half but it didn't really work out for him. Positive is its another clean sheet and our unbeaten run is extended, Forest didn't have a shot on target and in fairness they do have good attacking options at this level so I would say the defence done their jobs it was a shame about the players in front of them. For me the man of the match award was between 3 players Kabasele, Cathcart or Kiko. I thought Quina was okay and he tried to be positive. Troy was disappointing after his performance on Saturday I expected more from him. Chalobah was crap too slow on the ball and dark too sloppy at passing it forward, Capoue has played like a ****head in the games that we are featured but we are crying out for someone that can pass the ball forward quicker, the key to beating teams organised teams is often switching the play quickly especially as it will allow Sarr to get one on one with the defender instead of them having 2 or 3 players around him standing g him up, at the moment we take w or 3 passes to switch the play and the opposition pull across and we hav to go backwards and start again. I think Quina had been decent in the last two games but I am looking forward to seeing Sema in a more advanced position down the left, I think this may free Sarr up a little as well.
Capoue is not the man "that can pass the ball forward quicker", in fact I would say he is the biggest culprit in slowing the game down. Usually his only forward pass is the long diagonal out to the wing (not that I'm criticising that). The player we need back in the middle for quicker passing is Hughes.
But you're only looking at the away games where clearly it's not good enough, not the home games where we're scoring over two goals a game. Surely we should judge him on his overall performance (think we had this discussion with Javi when we couldn't buy an away goal there either!)? And again, of those players you're listing, they've not all been available. Also, as a point of logic, if you don't think we have the best squad in the division then isn't Ivic doing well to have us a point off the top, and only outside the automatic spots by a couple of goals a third of the way into a season where he's had so many players unavailable?
Agreed Hughes is a player we need in the middle of the park, However Etiennes diagonal pass is a decent attribute when teams sit in as we can switch the play quicker, sometimes g we have been far to slow at. Capoue has the best range of passing in our team when he is not playing like he can't be arsed.
I dunno, it hasn't happened yet has it? When we have all those players available, I would think they will.
I think you’ll find about the most important element of a primarily counter-attacking team is a prolific striker.
Given that Ivic now appears to be another dud, is it fair to say that of the managers appointed by Pozzo only Jokanovic and Gracia (and maybe Zola) can be judged a success?
That is unfair he has lost 2 out of 15 league games and we are a goal behind an automatic promotion place. Zola played some good attacking football but ultimately we never went up and were a bot of a joke the following season. I think the initial Flores appointment was a success, he kept us up on our first season.
Well that was disappointing , recorded it and watched it @11 last night without knowing the score , by 60 mins in was obvious we were not going to score so only question was if forest would score. the difference between yesterday and Saturday was lack of attacks from outside of the box , yesterday we seemed to revert back to running it it in. we are are not a bad side as we are , but we can be ******* boring
