Davefevs

Good post BW. The Cosy Club ain’t very cosy at the mo’….and nor should it be. Noses will be put out of joint. Fair post Spud. Looks like they’re being asked to do the basics, work hard, show commitment, etc. Most appear to have bought into that. It is a difficult time managing the dynamic of trying to move on players you no longer need. In an ideal world he’d have another 6 or 7 players in his first team squad, and he could ignore those not part of his plans. But due to budget constraints he’s having to keep them involved 1) to enable training needs are met, e.g. intensive 11v11s and 2) in case they’re needed in the 18. Ideally he would have plenty of others to pick from. I think he’s started to confirm in his own mind who has a “ticket for the bus”, but he’s giving a few reminders that there won’t be “pay on the day”, so make sure you “buy now”. This is a gear up for January imho. Players like O’Dowda could go “pre-contract” in January. Tactical stuff, is a whole different discussion.

Said this so many times in LJ’s reign, where is Player X telling Player Y to just sit in for 5 mins, the opposition have made a change and we are getting over-run, and we need to buy a few minutes to suss out what is going on….and hopefully the manager has spotted it too and can give instruction. If not we’ll sort it out ourselves. Do we see players feeding back to the manager what they are seeing. DNA is “nice” Football IQ and Leadership is very different. If I was signing a player I’d be asking them stuff to find this out. Maybe we do. Do they understand tactical instruction, and why, etc.

I read your post yesterday, and it really resonated with me. How many times have we said there is rebuild going on, and results aren’t the only optic. GrahamC talked about freezing players out, and I think that although to some it will feel like Nige is a big bully, I think he’s also testing them. Lots of stuff going on that we can’t see. Oh to be a fly on the wall.

Think playing footie on the beach in Mexico was the final straw for my knees.

There has not been a playing identity . It has been random and superficial . It has changed with the wind. When it worked we were smug , when it did not work we were bemused because we had no idea what had happened .

Yes, up until the last break I thought we were far from a soft touch this season. The last few weeks have not been anywhere near that though.

I agree with you both to a large extent…..even having an owner who tucked his trousers under his armpits. There is more than one way to run a club, plan for success, achieve success etc.

That doesn’t make him a bad player per se Jon, just a poor recruit by Ipswich. Sign him on a free, then sign Bonne, then sign Chaplin, then go one up top, blah, blah, blah. Notwithstanding Aluko and Fraser who can play as “forwards”. I’m a bit like you, a decent punt for us….did little things that I thought were wasted at Wimbledon that maybe meant he might be suited to playing with better players. 3g / 1a in 442 mins this season. Don’t knock yourself. Our recruitment team over the years do this full-time, with all the football insight, video, data and live scouting you can shake a stick at, and look at what we’ve brought in.

I would agree that there has been a lack of forward planning (or pre-planning) for a number of years. Reactive recruitment, best personified by Pack’s sale. Sometimes you do need short-term fixes though.

Might’ve got beaten more than once, but a lot of the time Jay got a block in, etc. I do think there is a tendency to see a winger attacking a FB and assume it’s a roasting. Graham first two, Dasilva below.

Picking a couple of random matches for each club each season….he was the junior partner / three in each match. Re ages, it’s why I wasn’t against Pigott (27) or Charles (25/26) as a short to mid term striker signing. Nagy was free.

As for todays club press conference. I actually think it’s one of the first times he’s really talked to Dave Barton about tactics, albeit it at a basic level. I sense frustration in answering Dave’s football questions / assumptions in the same way as Gregor’s, e.g. don’t tell me what you think if you’re trying to frame a question to ask what I think, just ask me the question. Today we got some things I’ve been hoping to hear for a while. 1. “We don’t work hard enough to stop crosses” - I particularly took the emphasis on the bit in bold, it’s clear we allow crosses, but here he’s really saying the instruction is to stop them, and we need to work harder to do so, e.g. we are passive. 2. “We didn’t effect the quality of the ball into their two forwards” - I’ve said this countless times against direct sides, you have to pressure the delivery as the first priority. 3. “We had possession and we had chance to get the ball up the pitch (their first goal)” - this less thought provoking, but sense that the ball into Wells aerially against Roberts stemmed from a pass back to Atkinson who had to clear under pressure. I think the pass was from Dasilva. Footnote: just watched the cross from Graham, 20 seconds before their goal. Bentley gets a glove on it and perhaps that is why the attacker couldn’t direct it into the goal. Earlier this season I said we conceded chances in batches, e.g. couldn’t take the sting out our opponents. Another example of where we need to calm things down to avoid multiple chances.

Basically one outfield player in the squad (Kalas) in the 24-28 sweet spot playing lots of minutes.

Give me chance! Its almost like you knew I had a chart with the data in! Heres the player by player view.

If the individuals are inconsistent, which is what he was eluding to after Tuesday night, then although the team itself might be consistently below par, it’s different players each week. I think that’s what he’s saying.

I don’t think 721 would go down well!

HPCMA?

It would be nice to see a settled side / system, of late it’s been a right old mix. And as I always say, it’s very difficult to assess during constant change.

Minus James

Yep, I get that….I still get all nostalgic of Neville and Riley, and Walsh….but it’s tough to fairly compare to someone at Champ level. JET got us off our seats, imho, because fitness / frame aside he was better than Lg1 level. He coasted really.

Very good post @Olé. I recall a Nige interview in pre-season where he said something along the lines of “I always catch them out when I’m around”, suggesting that whilst the cat’s away the mice will play. Putting two and two together, maybe getting 5, were the coaches letting them get away with stuff when Nige not around. Ok, maybe Nige should ensure he’s around more. Fair point. Looks like he’s decided he needs to be following their removal. He really needs to use the international break to rejuvenate the squad. I sense it won’t be, come in Monday, do your tests then bugger off til the following Monday this time around. Hopefully just Kalas away, and young’uns like Scott and Pearson. Maybe a reset, e.g. you’re all pretty much back to square one, who knows.

Moan an concern is absolutely fine….it’s when it has no explanation / reason, just bland statement.

Very good point. We ended the 90 with more pace than we started it. Swap Simpson on the bench for Vyner or O’Dowda and it’s probably full-strength(ish).

The only time all 4 made the 18, was QPR, coincidentally a game where we had a bench where we felt able to bring Martin off before he was knackered.