Agreed he is pretty good. Although I get the impression 1-0 is not enough for Vlad and he aspires for more.
Only a matter of time before we give a team a hiding. It’s not like we’ve really been riding our luck at the back, that chance off the bar yesterday was really the only glaring opportunity the opposition have had in four and a half hours of football. So even though we’ll obviously let goals in, we won’t be letting many in, but it’s only got to click a little bit more up front for a hatful to go in.
Its good to see the mood being more positive on this forum now. I been saying last couple of weeks that it was too early to panic and it was a time for patience.
Dont bump your own messages just because nobody answered you. Man up and realise nobody cares for your opinion sometimes and thats ok.
Yes, likewise. To my mind there are (broadly speaking) two types of situations with managers. You’ve got the new manager bounce, this generally happens when a manager has been sacked and the players stopped playing for them. The new manager in question is generally a caretaker manager or an Ex player of the club. You tend to get an instant impact, because the players start playing again, they want to prove the old manager wrong and the new manager generally gets them running around a lot more. Ultimately it normally fizzles out as there isn’t actually any real ethos or plan being implemented, the players just run around more for a bit at the start. Then you’ve got the situation of a proper manager coming in at the end of a season/start of a new season, or at the end of an old managers contract. They usually have a completely different plan or playing style to the old manager, there is no new manager bounce as there is nothing for the players to ‘bounce’ for, especially in our case after being relegated, the opposite is actually true. In this second scenario it takes time, time for players to learn the system, time for players to gel together, generally you get lots of mistakes at the start as they get used to it and very patchy results. You tend to see glimmers of hope here and there, and then if you’re lucky after about ten games it all clicks into place and the results start to follow. We’re very much the latter and very much ahead of schedule at the moment.
I think if the 3 CM’s we had yesterday can remain fit, Quina may well struggle for starts in this side personally.
I think we need one more player of a good level. We've lost Doucoure and Capoue but have only gained Garner. Sure, if we get a tune out of Chalobah that would be a bonus but he and Cleverley are unlikely to stay fit for too long. We need someone else of the level of a Grimes or Busquets to come in before we have enough. When everyone is fit, you can have selection problems, but it's rare everyone is fit at the same time. Garner, Cleverley, Chalobah, Hughes and Quina, plus the added bonus of Dele-Bashiru, who looks like he'll be useful. We could do with a bit more experience in there though, so 7 players for a heavily used/rotated position is ideal.
Personally think that if Garner can perform like he did yesterday on a fairly consistent basis, and we hang onto Hughes, that is enough. Especially with Ken able to cover there if needs be (assuming we bring in wing back cover for him). Think cover in the wing back positions, and in the creative positions behind the striker is currently more important.
If you care to look back at #848, people did answer it and it got several likes too. I only bumped it because someone brought up something that was relevant to that post
There is a careful balancing act to be had, if we stockpile CMs and the likes of TDB and Quina can't see a route to the first 11 they are going to talk to their agents. The 6 we have (Cleverley, Quina, Hughes, Chalobah, TDB, Garner) are more than enough for this level, it's the best group of CMs in the league. If it were me I'd focus on cover for wing backs and centre halfs.
Very early days obviously but some interesting stats to keep an eye on as the season progresses. As it stands we are: 2nd best for shots conceded at our goal 2nd for tackles made 3rd for fouls committed 4th= lowest for bookings 1st= clean sheets We're really not giving away many opportunities to the opposition. It's interesting that we're high for the fouls but low for the bookings - a feature of the last few seasons has been Doucouré/Hughes/Capoue having to take a booking to stop an attack but I don't remember this happening at all with the midfield in our first three games. Could all change but at the moment, we seem very well drilled and disciplined, with fouls happening in non-dangerous areas.
That is interesting, I'd probably view that with some caution in the sense that we haven't yet played a team who would be considered that likely to be challengers for the top half, let alone one of our fellow droppers, say.
I think the 3 teams we've played appear to be mid table form (ignoring SWFC points deduction issues). I'm fully aware this smacks of arrogant out of touch fan... but I am suprised at how overall poor the standard is this season (our creativity and finishing included to date, though the creativity since halfway throgh SWFC game has been improving quickly).
Good so far, but I agree with Chumlax, it would be good to see what those stats are like at the end of October. We have a mixed bag of opponents for our next 6 matches: Reading (A) - early pace setters. Derby (A) - falling apart, possibly a new manager by then Blackburn (H) - current top scorers Muff (H) - fellow relegated team Wycombe (A) - whipping boys Barnsley (A) - Non-descript Yorkshire place Anything north of 12 points would be great.
If we are to be one of the stronger sides in the division, I am not necessarily sure we do. Think you are better off with two or three midfielders all happy to work off the ball.
Sarr makes an absolutely Huge difference if he plays we have a great “out” ball sorted, keep him and we would be favourites to go back up, if he goes it’s a different story would need two very good players to replace him!
Never thought we'd see the rotting, reanimated carcass of this myth drag itself out of the grave once more.
But it isn't, is it; it is in general, and general is all that matters when it comes to pace, unless the opposition are regularly going to field Deeney and Murray against us in defence!
Gray does have enough pace to occasionally beat an offside trap or get on the end of a cross now and again.
I think this system would suit Gray far more. He's not electric but he runs down the channels and gets in the box. Last few seasons we've been smashing balls at his head and our wide players have rarely been getting to the byeline and putting low crosses in. With Ngakia and Sema, most of their balls are quite low and could see Gray getting on the end of a few. We all know he's not going to knit the play together, nor win anything in the air but he'll be around the six yard box and he has got a habit of being in the right place at the right time. Whether he finishes it or not is another matter. The biggest threat to our style of play is if Deeney comes back in. It could work if he can get in shape and be the second striker, but not if he plays the furthest forward. Squad role at most for him I think.
Its a lower level so defenders of most clubs wont necessarily be as quick and/or defensively streetwise as PL ones. So rather than being dismissive its a case of wait and see as he not played yet.
Fozzy on Ivic 'he's raised the bar so much now...the minimum is sticking your head on the line ...everybody buys into it'. I have two main reactions to this: 1)Why was the bar so low last season? I guess we all know the answer to that already. 2)If any player undermines this situation in any way they should be kneecapped on the centre circle before kick off. Ivic is the main man now and anyone who doesn't buy into his vision should be kicked out on their a$$ and have their head jumped on 'deeney style'. Death to player power - Let Vlad do his job, he knows what he's doing.
It's just the same old drivel each time a new head coach comes along. Refreshing to see Foster coming out with all the cliches rather than Deeney this time around though.