Maybe I'm being unfair to them but they struck me as being even more of a pub team than most of the other scuffers we've seen this season.
Not sure I agree entirely, he's a bit like Kiko - a good outlet, decent on the ball, and gets around the back of oppo RBs, and currently he does a good job back with Cathcart when we are under pressure, but it's not often you see him in a proper LB positioning otherwise. In fact I think we put too much onus on our CBs over recent years, yes they're not top class but they do get pulled about a lot in defence, which is caused by not having proper FBs to cover our rear corners. Good fullbacks make a huge difference (Robbo.!) and let the CBs do their main job down the middle. I agree Sema is v good down our left and puts in a shift defensively but FB is a specialist position... I may be wrong but Slav doesn't seem to see him there...?
Put Masina on the left of the 3 when he's back, Wilmot on the right, and WTE in the middle and we're sorted
I agree with this, I thought Coventry were the worst team that we have played this season. I felt that whilst Wycombe's quality was limited their style was effective, Derby were **** but they were well better defensively than Coventry. Lets be honest we barely got out of first gear yesterday, I will be surprised if they stay up, they really need to sort their defence out 23 goals they have concede already.
Because he is not a left back he plays left wing back, so we are limited to playing 3-5-2 without a left back which is not the most ideal system for the players that we have to our disposal. I am assuming that most people want something like a 4-3-3 with Sarr and JP or Sema wide of Deeney/Gray or Perica.
Just watched Deeney's interview with Hive Live from after the game. He seemed much more grounded than usual and less arrogant. Spoke about needing to work hard to win his place back. Might be Ivic has whipped him back into shape. Something certainly seems different about him, and in a good way. A fully fit, team oriented and motivated Deeney would be a great thing for us.
Anything close to his 13\14 performances will be a massive bonus as well. If he can get some pace back, perhaps a partnership with a fit Perica or even Gray would be a good idea. The sooner we can get Sarr and Pedro back into their natural position the better.
Pace back as you get older and had serious knee ops? Doesn't quite work like that I'm afraid, he's never, ever going to get a quicker top speed. Might be able to accelerate slightly quicker with his leaner looking self.
Perfectly feasible to be quicker than in the last couple of seasons. If the op has fixed an issue that can actually help. And some aspects of pace are related to fitness and training. Certainly easier to accelerate if you lose weight!
Well if he’s slimmer maybe he’ll make his game less about trying to wrestle with players half way between the centre circle and the penalty box and actually try making some runs into the box.
I agree with this, I thought they were appalling. The problem we have is that our team struggles to put the effort in against the lowly sides. It was the same in the premier league. Beating liverpool and man utd one week, losing to west ham and burnley the next... I used to be the same, I never gave 100% when it was obvious we were much better than the opposition. Why waste energy when you can brush teams aside with superior ability? Of course, in reality it often didnt work out like that, and the hard-working cloggers gave us a much closer match than it should have been, even getting a flukey win on occasion, a la barnsley. It is a huge character flaw our squad has. I am worried that it will rub off on players like king ken, who for now doesn't seem to have this superiority complex. But make no mistake about it. We are so far ahead of sides like coventry it is a humiliation for a lot of our players that they have to play against them.
All the above posts are right about speed. The inexorable passage of time makes you lose your pace, your stamina and your strength, in that order. All things being equal. Specific problems, such as a knee op or excessive weight, can interfere. You can also appear quicker by using your experience and anticipating the play. Deeney has 400 first team appearances to his name.
Good point, we should go back to using the calamity ken moniker from his first spell with us to keep him on his toes.
I still don't think he actually touched the ball and it was an own goal. But the point stands we scored by nature of him being in the right place.
I assumed that by virtue of the fact that the goal was awarded to him, someone with a better AV set up than I will have slow mo and paused it to get a clear answer. I thought maybe it hit his back before he spun and wafted his leg at it.
It looked like it bounced off of his ankle, Gray's reaction to being hit the ball was a split second after to make it look like he back-heeled it in.
key to a good striker is being in the right place and scoring with whatever you can , even the best striker needs some luck
I don't think it's that forensic! I believe there's a 'dubious goals panel' in the Premier League which adjudicates on whether goals should be awarded to the attacker or be given as an own goal, but I think in other competitions it's just down to the club who they want to award the goal to. No idea who the ball touched and at what particular time, but I'm fine with awarding the goal to Gray, I'm sure both he and the defender will want it that way too!
Surely there has to be more to it than that, even at this poxy level, with betting markets and suchlike.
Having seen the reverse angle, the ball clearly hits Gray, it's his goal alright. Might not be Sema's assist, but needless to say it was great work from him
Agree with goal 1, I thought it was poor on our part on first viewing. Defending for the corner was poor though and young Callum had a moment of madness. Still it was pretty funny watching Ben Foster's face turn red...
Jesus wept being spoken about in such terms by the mighty Watford isn't half a humiliation either. Breathtaking arrogance.
I don't, this is a decent forum and we're not a strong side at this level. Just to put it that way...brutal!
To be fair one of your lads called foster a legend after the game.....it’s great for your lads to experience football at this level. sarcasm of course
BTW, how have you lot managed to sink so low? I still find it hard to believe that the same club that spent 34 consecutive seasons in the top flight and won the FA Cup ended up in League 2, at least you are getting back on track pretty quickly assuming you stay up. Do you think there's any chance of, if not exactly a return to the glory years, getting back to the top level and becoming a solid established top flight club, like say Palace or Burnley? Also, I presume you're naming yourself after John Eustace - but I thought he was one of Coventry's better players?
You seem like a decent sort. Any oppo fan who can name our players of decades past is alright by me. My enduring memory of Coventry is Gordon Strachan signing the highly rated Robbie Keane a couple of decades ago.
I always liked Coventry. 1987 fa cup team, then funky Denmark style kit and still good, then years of premier league grinding in bad kits, then a bit more glamour in Huckerby and Keane types then absolutely dreadful for about 20 years. Throw in a bit of Big Ron, Highfield Road and losing to Sutton and what’s not to like? Didn’t like Micky Gynn for some reason.
