Welcome back Brian!

[CountryRoyal]

:|

Played some nice football tonight. If anything we overplayed it.

Is everyone just a bit stroppy because Christmas is over?

We played some nice football infront of their entire team.

I think people are stroppy because we lost another away game and couldn't score against a terrible wolves side who hadn't won at home since October.

[Extended-Phenotype]

Manager can't make strikers score

Set up well, moved the ball well, created chances. Should have put them away. A bit more confidence and time and we could be looking at a really exciting side.

[CountryRoyal]

Manager can't make strikers score

Set up well, moved the ball well, created chances. Should have put them away. A bit more confidence and time and we could be looking at a really exciting side.

How much time do you reckon it will take? We can't afford too many more weeks of saying "we're almost a good side".

If HRK starts up top next game I think I'll cry. I'd prefer Liburd up top.
I'm still waiting for Vydra to come good but for the life of me I don't know when it will be. I think we've broken him.

[Longhorn1970]

Manager can't make strikers score

Set up well, moved the ball well, created chances. Should have put them away. A bit more confidence and time and we could be looking at a really exciting side.

This is the Terry Burton way, short passing game 'great triangles and lots of possession' and no end product, if it persists I'm worried teams will just sit in like a poor Wolves side did and it becomes very frustrating viewing ...

[bcubed]

Manager can't make strikers score

Set up well, moved the ball well, created chances. Should have put them away. A bit more confidence and time and we could be looking at a really exciting side.

How much time do you reckon it will take? We can't afford too many more weeks of saying "we're almost a good side".

If HRK starts up top next game I think I'll cry. I'd prefer Liburd up top.
I'm still waiting for Vydra to come good but for the life of me I don't know when it will be. I think we've broken him.

I agree with you but get ready to cry!

We should look good - this is a very good squad. But the set up is all wrong. The best we have played is when Tish or Hector played in front of the back four. Only then have we looked to have a solid base and able to defend well and build from the back with style.

Since then we get over run in midfield every time the opposition attack, we have HRK up front frankly just not up to the standard of most of the rest of the squad, Vydra making runs that no one sees (and last game missing the chances he did have), two players playing on the wrong side of the pitch and never getting to the line to even be in a position to cross... I could go on.

But tomorrow I will go again hoping that somehow it will all sort of click, maybe by luck rather than judgement. This group of players is more than good enough but I am not sure BMac has much idea how to get the best out of them, yet

[AthleticoSpizz]

well, he has had nearly two weeks already

[CountryRoyal]

Manager can't make strikers score

Set up well, moved the ball well, created chances. Should have put them away. A bit more confidence and time and we could be looking at a really exciting side.

How much time do you reckon it will take? We can't afford too many more weeks of saying "we're almost a good side".

If HRK starts up top next game I think I'll cry. I'd prefer Liburd up top.
I'm still waiting for Vydra to come good but for the life of me I don't know when it will be. I think we've broken him.

I agree with you but get ready to cry!

We should look good - this is a very good squad. But the set up is all wrong. The best we have played is when Tish or Hector played in front of the back four. Only then have we looked to have a solid base and able to defend well and build from the back with style.

Since then we get over run in midfield every time the opposition attack, we have HRK up front frankly just not up to the standard of most of the rest of the squad, Vydra making runs that no one sees (and last game missing the chances he did have), two players playing on the wrong side of the pitch and never getting to the line to even be in a position to cross... I could go on.

But tomorrow I will go again hoping that somehow it will all sort of click, maybe by luck rather than judgement. This group of players is more than good enough but I am not sure BMac has much idea how to get the best out of them, yet

Agree with most of this bar perhaps the last point. Not sure however we can say we've played best with Hector in midfield as we've done that once this season, though admittedly we were pretty decent that first half against Hull. For me our best formation was the 4-3-3 we played earlier in the season. With Norwood/Williams/Tshibola/Quinn we can pick and choose our midfield 3 and all are perfectly capable of being sufficient and offering the perfect balance of attack and defense. I'd have tish over Williams at the moment purely because the latter has looked a bit out of sorts despite a worldy against Blackburn, Tish looks class and the real deal. Norwood is a given in the Pirlo-esque CDM role though I'd rather play Hector as the holding midfielder and allow the other CMs to push up the field further.

I wholeheartedly believe we have a good squad, one of the best we've ever had in fact, and that anything less than playoffs will be a catastrophic underachievement, regardless of our poor run. Is McD the right man? I'm not sure, I'd like to think he is. I had my reservations before he was linked but like a lot I have warmed to the idea. I was under the belief that his success here was due to his relationship with the club and the players at the time, and as we all know it's not the same situation.

Our performances have slightly improved and I'm going to stick with my newfound belief that Brian is the right man for the job, however if he continues to persist with HRK up front I may have to revaluate.

[Ian Royal]

Manager can't make strikers score

Set up well, moved the ball well, created chances. Should have put them away. A bit more confidence and time and we could be looking at a really exciting side.

How much time do you reckon it will take? We can't afford too many more weeks of saying "we're almost a good side".

If HRK starts up top next game I think I'll cry. I'd prefer Liburd up top.
I'm still waiting for Vydra to come good but for the life of me I don't know when it will be. I think we've broken him.

We're almost certainly not going up. We're almost certainly not going down. So I'd say we've got about four months.

The season started as a rebuild and top half finish job. The signings and excellent run of wins transformed expectations to promotion... that fell apart so we return to the rebuild original expectations.

As long as we don't go down, there's always next season to pull it together and get to the PL. We're clearly not ready, so going up this season would be bad, just like it was last time under McDermott. We weren't ready, we had too much squad surgery to perform to be capable of staying up.

[Lower West]

The season started as a rebuild and top half finish job. The signings and excellent run of wins transformed expectations to promotion... that fell apart so we return to the rebuild original expectations.

Earlier in the season we rode our luck and also scored quick goals. When teams are set-up to counter attack us we struggle. Primarily through a lack of pace.

[Ian Royal]

The season started as a rebuild and top half finish job. The signings and excellent run of wins transformed expectations to promotion... that fell apart so we return to the rebuild original expectations.

Earlier in the season we rode our luck and also scored quick goals. When teams are set-up to counter attack us we struggle. Primarily through a lack of pace.

We've oudles of pace in Vydra, McCleary, John, HRK and Blackman.

[CountryRoyal]

The season started as a rebuild and top half finish job. The signings and excellent run of wins transformed expectations to promotion... that fell apart so we return to the rebuild original expectations.

Earlier in the season we rode our luck and also scored quick goals. When teams are set-up to counter attack us we struggle. Primarily through a lack of pace.

We've oudles of pace in Vydra, McCleary, John, HRK and Blackman.

We have an abundance of pace without playing quickly.

It's not news about us not struggling to break teams down who sit back, we've been like this for years.

[Ian Royal]

Pace doesn't much help breaking down a prepared defence in numbers. That's for counter attacks against unsupported defences using lots of space.

Couple of tweaks to the side, a dose of confidence and we're away.

[3points]

I think we'll see the ball played into the channels a bit more with Brian at the helm. This will help to turn a defence, rather than our constant trying to pass our way through a 9 man defence. We also need to start scoring from set pieces to help relieve the pressure on the forwards.

[bcubed]

I think we'll see the ball played into the channels a bit more with Brian at the helm. This will help to turn a defence, rather than our constant trying to pass our way through a 9 man defence. We also need to start scoring from set pieces to help relieve the pressure on the forwards.

Not unless the wide men don't operate from the current sides

[leon]

Pace doesn't much help breaking down a prepared defence in numbers. That's for counter attacks against unsupported defences using lots of space.

Couple of tweaks to the side, a dose of confidence and we're away.

Of course it does Ian Ffs. How do you think Barcelona and Spain actually score from all that constant passing in front of defences? A decent ball and a sudden injection of...........oh yes, pace.

It's not all about counter attacking football (as much as I like it)

[Extended-Phenotype]

Manager can't make strikers score

Set up well, moved the ball well, created chances. Should have put them away. A bit more confidence and time and we could be looking at a really exciting side.

How much time do you reckon it will take? We can't afford too many more weeks of saying "we're almost a good side".

If HRK starts up top next game I think I'll cry. I'd prefer Liburd up top.
I'm still waiting for Vydra to come good but for the life of me I don't know when it will be. I think we've broken him.

Dunno, but at least to the end of the season to show signs of improvement and then see how we go next season. Can't just ship a manager out after a month because he can't get a team somebody else put together to gel.

Agreed though, HRK up front is a bit meh. Like him as a player, fairly decent winger who gets a bad rap on here imo. But there is nothing I've seen from him that suggests he's got what it takes to play as a striker.

But then Blackman, Sa and Vydra all look shot of confidence. Maybe HRK is the only fella asking for it right now.

Anyway, Brians tried something out, given it a few games to see if it works, it hasn't so maybe we will see him try something else next time.

[Vision]

Manager can't make strikers score

Set up well, moved the ball well, created chances. Should have put them away. A bit more confidence and time and we could be looking at a really exciting side.

How much time do you reckon it will take? We can't afford too many more weeks of saying "we're almost a good side".

If HRK starts up top next game I think I'll cry. I'd prefer Liburd up top.
I'm still waiting for Vydra to come good but for the life of me I don't know when it will be. I think we've broken him.

Dunno, but at least to the end of the season to show signs of improvement and then see how we go next season. Can't just ship a manager out after a month because he can't get a team somebody else put together to gel.

Agreed though, HRK up front is a bit meh. Like him as a player, fairly decent winger who gets a bad rap on here imo. But there is nothing I've seen from him that suggests he's got what it takes to play as a striker.

But then Blackman, Sa and Vydra all look shot of confidence. Maybe HRK is the only fella asking for it right now.

Anyway, Brians tried something out, given it a few games to see if it works, it hasn't so maybe we will see him try something else next time.

I think the issue really is that we don't have a striker as such. Certainly not one to play in a way that complements our squad.

HRK is playing centrally because he carries more of a physical element (yeah I know!) than the alternatives and to be fair he's done alright in that regard. I don't think McD or anyone (other than perhaps HRK himself) thinks of him as a traditional striker/centre forward but it's just to see if he can get the best out of the others. During ours and Blackman's purple patch a fair few goals were the result of link up play between Blackman and HRK so I guess that's the thought process.

As for alternatives .Blackman can't do the same job, neither can Vydra, Piazon or any of the wider attacking players such as John,Hurtado, and McCleary. For some reason it would appear McD doesn't think Sa can either. I can only assume that bringing Liburd on against Brentford was to see if we might have some sort of Roberts/Long hybrid waiting in the wings to do it for us.

But basically as you say, it's a case of trying things at the moment to try and get the best of the squad and if some of the decisions seem a little off the wall then it's a result of the odd make up of the squad and the hectic Christmas holiday period with little time to work on much on the training ground.

[Extended-Phenotype]

Likes

[paultheroyal]

Not a case of trying a few things out. We ain't far away from going again.

We should of won at Wolves if not for taking them chances.

We should of won at Hull if not for injuries.

We should of won against Brentford if Vydra took that chance etc etc.

You can't argue that we did not put in decent performances.

[CountryRoyal]

I don't have a problem with trying things out but why stick with what didn't work?

Set up A against Blackburn first half - crap
Set up B against Blackburn second half - good
Set up A against Wolves.

Im all for him trying things out - so next on the agenda I'd like to see him trying to play a striker up top. That would be novel.

There can't be too much longer we can persist with this - it's such a travesty knowing the potential of the squad, yet seeing how limited it currently is.