Yu Hirakawa - OFFICIALLY SIGNED

[Jose]

19 minutes ago, mozo said:

One thing we can be sure of is that every matchday thread next season will include a Manning in/out debate, with I-told-you-so-galore from both sides. At least we know what to expect 

And I will be right smack in the middle off it……however all my frustration is being used up on England and Southgate for now so pretty chilled about us atm 

[astrondrew]

Well, I didn't need much encouragement to watch the Olympics but I guess my watching of the men's football will increase now.

[Crackers Corner]

It looks like he is out of contract end of jan which makes more sense why they are cashing in now mid season in Japan.

[Wade Wilson]

40 minutes ago, W-S-M Seagull said:

I think I read previously that the rules have recently changed? And clubs can sign something like 2 players from around the world? 

Yeah, rules changed last season. Clubs can sign 3 players that’s don’t require work permits. “ESC” signings. Imagine both Hirakawa and Mayulu will fall under that banner. 

[Port Said Red]

24 minutes ago, Davefevs said:

So, not contractual reasons then!

Was that ever the Club's line? I thought it was just conjecture on here?

Gut feel is that as the Olympics is mid-season you could argue he can straight(ish) out of that and into league footie, whether that be Japan or here.

My Only worry would be burn out, the J-League started at the end of February and he could potentially be playing until May without a break, if he gets called up internationally throughout the season 

The question mark if it it happens is loan term v contract remaining.  Gonna ask James P.

 

+++++

Eff me, there’s some pot and kettles on both sides today!  Chill.

 

[mozo]

40 minutes ago, Jose said:

And I will be right smack in the middle off it……however all my frustration is being used up on England and Southgate for now so pretty chilled about us atm 

Me too. Win, lose or draw, I'll be on here hammering home the message that we should never have sacked Benny Lennartsson!

[Mr Popodopolous]

5 hours ago, Port Said Red said:

I don't think it's too different. If we are signing a player like this. Either they can fulfil a wing back role or they are player that can widen the pitch in some games. 

Again, it does feel the like some fans are still stuck on starting 11's and rigid formations when the game has moved on to 16 players used in 90+ minutes and fluidity in formations.

I'm all for changing in-game as it were, both subs and indeed if you have players who can drop into different positions you can switch the shape wirh minimal or no substitutions.

I do fear a back 3 with wingbacks or two 10s can waste certain players such as Sykes, or that it can be an easier setup to pin back in some ways.

However most of all I have concerns about whether we have an overarching strategy. We will see, a fine base was inherited but we don't want to be shoehorning players if we can help it.

Edited July 1 by Mr Popodopolous

[marksy]

17 hours ago, glynriley said:

We’ll have to wait and sushi. You may have to tempura your excitement. 
 

Well he’s a football man and he was raving about how good this No 7 is. 

[Sleepy1968]

2 hours ago, Port Said Red said:

Bristol Live now saying we will be signing this guy this week on loan with a view to buy, but he won't join us until after the Olympics.

What's he competing in?

[Port Said Red]

Just now, Sleepy1968 said:

What's he competing in?

Sumo

[Sleepy1968]

2 hours ago, Jose said:

Can we all get along, atleast till we inevitably lose our first game. 

They are in pre season training.

[Steve Watts]

18 hours ago, Hocca said:

Why obsess over his stats ffs, one look  at a video of him he has technical ability and dribbling qualities no one else in our squad has! Looks exciting.

Diony looked good on a highlights reel.... Jury will be out until we see him with our own eyes though.

5 hours ago, Davefevs said:

The transfer window is already open here, it opened on 14th June.  And you can sign a player anytime you like, they just can’t play (ie registration doesn’t come into place until the window opened).

FWIW the Japan transfer window runs from 8th July to 21st August, but that wouldn’t stop any player leaving outside of that, or at least being announced.  It really wouldn’t make any difference if we signed him today, but his registration didn’t transfer until next Monday, we aren’t playing any games.

FWIW2 Hirikawa’s contract expires on 31st Jan 2025, ie only 6 months left.  That of course could be wrong, out of date or contain an option…so the loan with option to buy is an interesting bit of news…and doesn’t quite fit.  Maybe just lost in translation (what an awful film, expected so much more!)?

In your final scenario, the deal wouldn’t be “done”.  They’d just hold the docs in place ready to submit.

I felt the same when I watched Great Expectations.

[Jerseybean]

Post article: https://www.bristolpost.co.uk/sport/football/bristol-city-continue-broaden-transfer-9380168

[Mr Popodopolous]

Would he be competing with Sykes should this get over the line?

Is he a wider player in a back 3 base, front 3 or more of a typical 7 with a back 4 base.

Interesting to see how it all fits together.

[Southport Red]

26 minutes ago, Sleepy1968 said:

They are in pre season training.

They train to lose?  That explains EVERYTHING. Just to underline the point, we named the place where they train as Fail-land. 

[Port Said Red]

5 minutes ago, Southport Red said:

They train to lose?  That explains EVERYTHING. Just to underline the point, we named the place where they train as Fail-land. 

Failand one L has always been it's name and derives from the Scottish name MacFarlane. Presumably it must be named after a farmer of Scottish descent initially.

WE, didn't name it that, it's was referred to in documents from the 15th century as "Fayland", sorry to ruin your "joke".

[Betty Swallocks]

Just now, Port Said Red said:

Failand one L has always been it's name and derives from the Scottish name MacFarlane. Presumably it must be named after a farmer of Scottish descent initially.

WE, didn't name it that, it's was referred to in documents from the 15th century as "Fayland", sorry to ruin your "joke".

 

[Davefevs]

57 minutes ago, marksy said:

Well he’s a football man and he was raving about how good this No 7 is. 

He once told us how good Duncan Idehen was!

51 minutes ago, Port Said Red said:

Sumo

That made me chuckle, nice one.

I’m gonna start re-watching Richard Chamberlain’s Samurai.  In 1980 I was forced to watch that on a Sunday evening with my parents.  Kon’nicha-effing-wa!

25 minutes ago, Mr Popodopolous said:

Would he be competing with Sykes should this get over the line?

Is he a wider player in a back 3 base, front 3 or more of a typical 7 with a back 4 base.

Interesting to see how it all fits together.

I think you’re over-thinking it MrP.  Squad games, roles rather than positions in formations.

If you want to have a look, Transfermarkt is a good source for where he’s played in what formations, but you get a much better feel for his game style from watching video clips.

Every J-League match has highlights on the internet.

[Southport Red]

12 minutes ago, Port Said Red said:

Failand one L has always been it's name and derives from the Scottish name MacFarlane. Presumably it must be named after a farmer of Scottish descent initially.

WE, didn't name it that, it's was referred to in documents from the 15th century as "Fayland", sorry to ruin your "joke".

Sorry that my “Joke” upset you so. Always lovely to get a lecture and a mild telling off though. 

[Port Said Red]

1 minute ago, Davefevs said:

He once told us how good Duncan Idehen was 

Are you sure that wasn't Duncan himself?

That made me chuckle, nice one.

I’m gonna start re-watching Richard Chamberlain’s Samurai.  In 1980 I was forced to watch that on a Sunday evening with my parents.  Kon’nicha-effing-wa!

There's a rehash of it on Disney+, I have only watched one episode as I was the only person in the house wanted to watch it. 

 

 

[Port Said Red]

4 minutes ago, Southport Red said:

Sorry that my “Joke” upset you so. Always lovely to get a lecture and a mild telling off though. 

I have always liked the word "rebuke"

[Southport Red]

14 minutes ago, Port Said Red said:

I have always liked the word "rebuke"

I quite like “chide”, or, at a push, “scold”

[Dynamite Red]

All looks good on paper.

One of the best players for the team top of the J league, Feb/Mar J league player of the month. Decent stats for his age and representing his country at the Olympics. 

[bcfc01]

11 minutes ago, Southport Red said:

I quite like “chide”, or, at a push, “scold”

Bollock is a good one.

[Terry Boyle's Perm]

1 hour ago, bcfc01 said:

Bollock is a good one.

Usually come in pairs, in my experience at least

[Southport Red]

7 minutes ago, Terry Boyle's Perm said:

Usually come in pairs, in my experience at least

So if you do one thing wrong, it’s a rebuke, but if you do two things wrong, it’s a bollocking. Right?

[formerly known as ivan]

2 hours ago, Mr Popodopolous said:

Would he be competing with Sykes should this get over the line?

Is he a wider player in a back 3 base, front 3 or more of a typical 7 with a back 4 base.

Interesting to see how it all fits together.

Quality over quantity. If he is an upgrade on what we have, which he should be otherwise what’s the point in signing him, then would happily see the back of, or a reduced role for, Sykes, Bell and anyone else potentially not able to take us to the next level.

[Mr Popodopolous]

Just now, formerly known as ivan said:

Quality over quantity. If he is an upgrade on what we have, which he should be otherwise what’s the point in signing him, then would happily see the back of, or a reduced role for, Sykes, Bell and anyone else potentially not able to take us to the next level.

I still think Sykes still has more to give tbh but a wingback he is not, a left sided wingback he very much is not and it is a squad game- 2 for each position- fitness, form, confidence, experience of the level all play a key role.

[Ska Junkie]

16 minutes ago, Southport Red said:

So if you do one thing wrong, it’s a rebuke, but if you do two things wrong, it’s a bollocking. Right?

Other way around isn't it? Rebuke a collective, bollock an individual.

That doesn't work in this scenario does it?

[Midred]

1 hour ago, Mr Popodopolous said:

I still think Sykes still has more to give tbh but a wingback he is not, a left sided wingback he very much is not and it is a squad game- 2 for each position- fitness, form, confidence, experience of the level all play a key role.

I was confused with the video as he appeared to play on the left despite being no. 7.

[Mr Popodopolous]

1 minute ago, Midred said:

I was confused with the video as he appeared to play on the left despite being no. 7.

Oh so he plays on the left does he this guy?

I worry about balance, I worry about strategic plan.

[italian dave]

3 hours ago, Southport Red said:

They train to lose?  That explains EVERYTHING. Just to underline the point, we named the place where they train as Fail-land. 

And you live in (I assume from your forum name) a place called South-Port. Which is in the…….

[Davefevs]

3 minutes ago, Midred said:

I was confused with the video as he appeared to play on the left despite being no. 7.

1 minute ago, Mr Popodopolous said:

Oh so he plays on the left does he this guy?

I worry about balance, I worry about strategic plan.

He plays either.  Predominantly right winger but happy on left too.

[W-S-M Seagull]

1 hour ago, Mr Popodopolous said:

I still think Sykes still has more to give tbh but a wingback he is not, a left sided wingback he very much is not and it is a squad game- 2 for each position- fitness, form, confidence, experience of the level all play a key role.

In my opinion Sykes was less than half of the player he previously was in the Manning system. 

Previously he was one of our best performers. 

How do I feel about bringing in competition for Sykes when Manning hasn't got the best out of him? Especially when Manning doesn't seem to want to play with wingers? I'm not quite sure. 

With Sykes being moved all over the place last season, I'm not quite sure where this lad would fit in either? 

Edited July 1 by W-S-M Seagull

[Port Said Red]

10 minutes ago, Midred said:

I was confused with the video as he appeared to play on the left despite being no. 7.

 

7 minutes ago, Mr Popodopolous said:

Oh so he plays on the left does he this guy?

I worry about balance, I worry about strategic plan.

On the videos I saw he clearly switches flanks. He looks more right footed from his body language, but has no hesitation in going outside on the left and crossing with his left foot.

[maxjak]

3 hours ago, Southport Red said:

I quite like “chide”, or, at a push, “scold”

I always thought that Fioccinaucinlhilipilification................summed up Lois Diony quite well?

[pongo88]

I admire City’s world-wide search for players but, for me, there is a problem. Yo Hirakawa, Sando Kulenovic, Fally Mayulu - I can’t pronounce their names. I yearn for the good old days when we signed players who had simple names like Bert Scroggs

Edited July 1 by pongo88

[Mr Popodopolous]

1 hour ago, W-S-M Seagull said:

In my opinion Sykes was less than half of the player he previously was in the Manning system. 

Previously he was one of our best performers. 

How do I feel about bringing in competition for Sykes when Manning hasn't got the best out of him? Especially when Manning doesn't seem to want to play with wingers? I'm not quite sure. 

With Sykes being moved all over the place last season, I'm not quite sure where this lad would fit in either? 

Yes agreed.

I think we are wasting him. His output was quite good especially when we moved from the back 3 in Janaury 2023.

Did Sykes have injuries? I recall two unjust suspensions.

If we aren't playing with wingers then potentially signing a 7 seems incongruous. Still struggling to piece it together and how it will naturally balance.

[Mr Popodopolous]

Sykes just checked.

Since we went to the back 4 with Sykes in the League mainly under NP but some in the early days of Manning, 10 Goals and 2 Assists in 42 Games.

Quite good.

Tanner-Sykes on the right side struck me as a good combo tbh.

Edited July 1 by Mr Popodopolous

[LondonBristolian]

9 hours ago, Davefevs said:

Not sure I agree with this…imho he tried to shoehorn the players into HIS way, and it didn’t work very well.  When he changed it a bit at Easter it was better.  I still think results exceeded performance over those 8 games though.

We certainly know his “philosophy”.  How adaptable he is to that given a preseason we will need to wait and see.  There is a possibility he uses the 6-weeks to “double-down” on HIS way.

I’m not sure we’re actually disagreeing. My point was more that we cannot assume that the formation and playing style last season will be the same as for this, rather than whether he got it right or wrong.

As you say, he played two different systems in any case which furthers that point.

Like you, I’m not convinced he got the best out of the players last season and - whilst I feel he did enough from Mid-March onwards to start with a clean slate - I’m by no means won over. I just don’t think that “these players we are signing don’t obviously fit into how we played last season” necessarily equates to “there is no plan for how to use them.”

[Mr Popodopolous]

30 minutes ago, LondonBristolian said:

I’m not sure we’re actually disagreeing. My point was more that we cannot assume that the formation and playing style last season will be the same as for this, rather than whether he got it right or wrong.

As you say, he played two different systems in any case which furthers that point.

Like you, I’m not convinced he got the best out of the players last season and - whilst I feel he did enough from Mid-March onwards to start with a clean slate - I’m by no means won over. I just don’t think that “these players we are signing don’t obviously fit into how we played last season” necessarily equates to “there is no plan for how to use them.”

Which IMO brings on current concerns. Three or two different shapes at minimum.

Which is it, where is the consistency of plan- do we have this consistency.

[Major Isewater]

1 hour ago, maxjak said:

Fioccinaucinlhilipilification................summed up Lois Diony quite well?

Red Hot Chili Peppers ? 

[Davefevs]

31 minutes ago, LondonBristolian said:

I’m not sure we’re actually disagreeing. My point was more that we cannot assume that the formation and playing style last season will be the same as for this, rather than whether he got it right or wrong.

As you say, he played two different systems in any case which furthers that point.

Like you, I’m not convinced he got the best out of the players last season and - whilst I feel he did enough from Mid-March onwards to start with a clean slate - I’m by no means won over. I just don’t think that “these players we are signing don’t obviously fit into how we played last season” necessarily equates to “there is no plan for how to use them.”

Perhaps I should’ve said he tried to shoehorn into his way of playing,  Slow build-up, block rather than press, etc.  But you’re right, we’ve no idea how he’s gonna play next season.  I’m pretty chilled, but at this stage of the summer I always am.

It’s great that we are hearing Mayulu fits the recruitment brief.  The most important thing is how he fits the way we are gonna play.  You’d hope that was aligned!.

Being facetious, if we’ve genuinely watched these players 30-40 times (yes I know it’s BS), the profile must’ve been done ages ago, and therefore before LM had a real chance to know what he had here and what the league was all about and what he needed.  But having said that, I think it’s BS and the profiling is more recent, and therefore it ought to be a more apt recruitment plan.  I look forward to seeing it play out.

[Corsham Alf]

A quick update : He’s expected to be announced in the next few days officially but we are struggling to get the deal over the line with the work permit/international clearance. So we may announce it before he has international clearance. 

[Davefevs]

12 minutes ago, Corsham Alf said:

A quick update : He’s expected to be announced in the next few days officially but we are struggling to get the deal over the line with the work permit/international clearance. So we may announce it before he has international clearance. 

The work permit / international clearance should be a piece of cake because he’d qualify using one of our ESC slots.  He doesn’t pass the points criteria.

Mayulu is taking another, he doesn’t pass points criteria either.

My only thoughts are that it might be complicated by it being a loan with an option to buy, might be seen as a “trial” and not allowed.  Loans are allowed though.  The other is having to reapply to transfer from to perm and having to resubmit, when he might not hit the minutes required in the Championship.

If that is the case, you’d think, why bother with the loan, go straight to perm signing, but…

 

…I think that is complicated by him becoming a free agent at the end of January.  I think we are trying to manufacture a deal that minimises any fee / UEFA Compo due.

+++++

It might all come out in the wash, and not be any issue at all.

[Port Said Red]

This does open up a new avenue of income for the club too of course. Like other Asian players, he will presumably bring a lot of interest with him, there could be lucrative sponsorship, TV rights and travel deals to exploit if done properly.

[italian dave]

6 minutes ago, Port Said Red said:

This does open up a new avenue of income for the club too of course. Like other Asian players, he will presumably bring a lot of interest with him, there could be lucrative sponsorship, TV rights and travel deals to exploit if done properly.

And we won’t have to change our shirt colour!!

[bpexile]

7 hours ago, Southport Red said:

Always lovely to get a lecture and a mild telling off

What !!! ....... No Spankings 

[Severn Beach Pigeon]

2 hours ago, Mr Popodopolous said:

Which IMO brings on current concerns. Three or two different shapes at minimum.

Which is it, where is the consistency of plan- do we have this consistency.

Being comfortable with different shapes and having consistency aren't mutually exclusive.

Being able to change seamlessly into a Plan B or Plan C if Plan A isn't working should be something your team is capable of.

[marksy]

8 hours ago, bpexile said:

What !!! ....... No Spankings 

 

[bpexile]

5 minutes ago, marksy said:

 

I can only dream

[Henry]

I’d be interested to know who is dealing with all the contracts and paperwork side for it. It’s a completely new market and requirements for the club. I can’t imagine the Geordie or Japanese language barrier is easy to manage!

[INCRED]

12 hours ago, LondonBristolian said:

I’m not sure we’re actually disagreeing. My point was more that we cannot assume that the formation and playing style last season will be the same as for this, rather than whether he got it right or wrong.

As you say, he played two different systems in any case which furthers that point.

Like you, I’m not convinced he got the best out of the players last season and - whilst I feel he did enough from Mid-March onwards to start with a clean slate - I’m by no means won over. I just don’t think that “these players we are signing don’t obviously fit into how we played last season” necessarily equates to “there is no plan for how to use them.”

If as rumoured we are bringing in 2 strikers, a winger/wing back and a 10 then it’s quite possible we could go 352 

This would accommodate incoming players 

It will be interesting to see what LM does in pre season and what variations in shape we play 

[Port Said Red]

8 minutes ago, Henry said:

I’d be interested to know who is dealing with all the contracts and paperwork side for it. It’s a completely new market and requirements for the club. I can’t imagine the Geordie or Japanese language barrier is easy to manage!

I am sure there will be multiple intermediaries on both sides, with little direct communication if any. It will probably be an expensive signing from that point of view.

[cheddarwedlocker]

10 hours ago, Davefevs said:

The work permit / international clearance should be a piece of cake because he’d qualify using one of our ESC slots.  He doesn’t pass the points criteria.

Mayulu is taking another, he doesn’t pass points criteria either.

My only thoughts are that it might be complicated by it being a loan with an option to buy, might be seen as a “trial” and not allowed.  Loans are allowed though.  The other is having to reapply to transfer from to perm and having to resubmit, when he might not hit the minutes required in the Championship.

If that is the case, you’d think, why bother with the loan, go straight to perm signing, but…

 

…I think that is complicated by him becoming a free agent at the end of January.  I think we are trying to manufacture a deal that minimises any fee / UEFA Compo due.

+++++

It might all come out in the wash, and not be any issue at all.

Is it still 5 slots available @Davefevs

[Bazooka Joe]

If he does come here, there’ll be a pint ready for him in the Rising Sun.

[Davefevs]

22 minutes ago, cheddarwedlocker said:

Is it still 5 slots available @Davefevs

4 slots max.  It can be less / decreased if you don’t have enough English qualified players.  City are fine in that respect.  Even Max and Tommy count as English as they were qualified for England when they signed as professionals despite now representing Ireland and Scotland respectively (Max yet to play).

So Mayulu is one slot, Hirakawa and Kulenovic could be two more leaving one slot.

Obviously the more ESC players you have and non-English (Wells, Knight, Sykes, etc) the harder it is to keep your EQP (English Qualified Players) minutes above the thresholds.  Conway going is an example of someone who’d contribute a lot of minutes to our EQP score.

But I’m sure we’ve thought it all through!

You can of course convert ESC players to full work permits after 12 months if they meet the criteria.

[GrahamC]

Looking at the Olympics football schedule the whole tournament finishes before we play a league game, as the final is on August 9th, we start at Hull the day afterwards.

Semi finals are being played on the 5th, quarter finals on the 2nd, Argentina, Brazil, Spain & Germany are amongst those competing, so high quality opposition as it gets in to the latter stages.

The fact it is in France also means minimal travel to here once Japan are out & there’s no significant time difference either.

[Merrick's Marvels]

16 minutes ago, GrahamC said:

Looking at the Olympics football schedule the whole tournament finishes before we play a league game, as the final is on August 9th, we start at Hull the day afterwards.

Semi finals are being played on the 5th, quarter finals on the 2nd, Argentina, Brazil, Spain & Germany are amongst those competing, so high quality opposition as it gets in to the latter stages.

The fact it is in France also means minimal travel to here once Japan are out & there’s no significant time difference either.

Do we know how far Japan are likely to progress? 

[italian dave]

4 minutes ago, Merrick's Marvels said:

Do we know how far Japan are likely to progress? 

With a star like Yu Hirakawa in the side, I’d imagine all the way! 

[Davefevs]

24 minutes ago, GrahamC said:

Looking at the Olympics football schedule the whole tournament finishes before we play a league game, as the final is on August 9th, we start at Hull the day afterwards.

Semi finals are being played on the 5th, quarter finals on the 2nd, Argentina, Brazil, Spain & Germany are amongst those competing, so high quality opposition as it gets in to the latter stages.

The fact it is in France also means minimal travel to here once Japan are out & there’s no significant time difference either.

Posted similar earlier.  The big question is whether he’d come straight to us from France or return home.  That might depend on whether we get him over here ahead of the tournament (assuming we sign him) or not?

[Bazooka Joe]

To find out more about him, check out Yu Tube.

[Ska Junkie]

1 hour ago, Bazooka Joe said:

If he does come here, there’ll be a pint ready for him in the Rising Sun.

Be careful, 'cider' is white lemonade in Japan, as found out by a group of Japanese trainees years ago. Naughty trainer, didn't tell them!

[BobBobBobbin]

2 hours ago, INCRED said:

If as rumoured we are bringing in 2 strikers, a winger/wing back and a 10 then it’s quite possible we could go 352 

This would accommodate incoming players 

It will be interesting to see what LM does in pre season and what variations in shape we play 

I think we need to stop thinking about the team in terms of formations and dots on a whiteboard. It hasn't been a resounding success so far, but Manning clearly does see us as having a very different shape depending on the phase of play we are in. 

It becomes a lot harder to pinpoint from a fan perspective exactly what the players are meant to be doing, but it's a lot more intricate than LWB or LB etc. We've played with "two tens" but both of those players have very different roles. Knight played as more of a pressing AM, Twine as a floating "free role", Sykes as an in to out central winger. 

I've always been a believer in recruiting to a plan A and B, Manning is clearly aspiring to have "options" to play multiple ways within his framework of "principles". It will be interesting to see if he is good enough a coach to get that working and whether the players are versatile enough to adjust. If it comes off we could be very good, if it doesn't we will look disjointed and confused. I anticipate both being true at different points of the season...

[GrahamC]

1 hour ago, Davefevs said:

Posted similar earlier.  The big question is whether he’d come straight to us from France or return home.  That might depend on whether we get him over here ahead of the tournament (assuming we sign him) or not?

Clearly he wouldn’t be involved with the first team straight away but I would expect him to join up with us, a Japan flight is absolutely brutal (13 hours or so).

[ciderwithtommy]

Apologies as this isn’t the correct thread as such, but with conversations around formation etc. is Naismith expected to stay this summer, he’s almost the forgotten man at the moment!

[downendcity]

12 hours ago, bpexile said:

What !!! ....... No Spankings 

Costs extra!

[Chivs]

18 hours ago, Terry Boyle's Perm said:

Usually come in pairs, in my experience at least

Did you know Farage only has one bollock?  He's a bit like Hitler.

[Mr Popodopolous]

12 hours ago, transfer reader said:

Being comfortable with different shapes and having consistency aren't mutually exclusive.

Being able to change seamlessly into a Plan B or Plan C if Plan A isn't working should be something your team is capable of.

I'm okay with the concept, but too much or too frequent change can muddy the waters.

Otoh a good example I would point to, and have pointed to before is Brentford- they have for a while now switched between 4-3-3 and 3-5-2, especially when Hickey and Henry fit, both of those when fit and in form are equally comfortable at RB and LB and RWB and LWB respectively. Home and Away, calibre of opposition all relevant factors for switching.

Times change but when Manning was brought in his remit was to continue with and improve on the solid base.

We didn't play with wingbacks, we didn't play with two 10s. We had a clear and defined structure.

[Major Isewater]

38 minutes ago, ciderwithtommy said:

almost the forgotten man at the moment!

Not by the medical team he’s not. 
 

18 minutes ago, Chivs said:

Did you know Farage only has one bollock?  He's a bit like Hitler.

And you know this how ?