BFTG - Weds H

[Zip]

I know it's out of vogue with the fan base at large at the moment but I think we should seriously consider a switch back to a 4-5-1.

Reason no. 1: We have the players for a decent back 4 but would struggle for depth/coverage if we had to play 3 at the back.

Reason no. 2: Today had to have shown to the fan base at large we cannot play with only 2 Cms. They leave our entire defense exposed currently. A midfield 3 of Bacuna Swift and 1 other (not Kelly or Edwards) would be much stronger in both defense and attack than we are capable of showing in a 4-4-2.

Reason no. 3: Despite the mass calls for a new striker this summer and us signing 2 they have both been disappointing. If Baldock is the better of himself and McNulty then, on current evidence, playing 2 strikers is a wasted starting position. Start Bod and make the other 2 earn their minutes.

Reason no. 4: We tried but we have been shite at playing it long. Gunter pulled off the best long pass of the season today and it was a crossfield to Barrow(I think). We need to move back to a formation where our wingers can play more advanced again. Barrow is wasted in a 4-4-2.

Reason no. 5: It can't get much worse..

The trouble with 4/5/1 is we don’t have a striker of Nicky Forster’s class to play that role. None of our strikers are anywhere near capable of playing alone upfront so where would the goals come from. I do agree though that we cannot play with just two central midfielders because the lot of them are so poor. I don’t know what the answer is or where the first win is coming.

The other thing is that Clement was totally non commital when asked about if he was getting enough support from the boardroom. That’s not a good sign. Rightly or wrongly I can see him being gone if things don’t improve in the next few weeks.

I’m sorry, but he’s paid to deal with what he’s got. Like any manager in any organisation.

And he’s got some decent players. Just not in all positions.

Phil Parkinson (for example) kept an utterly shit transfer embargoed Bolton up who seem to be prospering this season.

It’s just about management.

It’s about the players as well. It was inexcusable to see a Wednesday player totally unmarked at the far post on two occasions from corners today. It happened under Stam too. These are highly paid professionals not managing the the absolute basics.

[leon]

The trouble with 4/5/1 is we don’t have a striker of Nicky Forster’s class to play that role. None of our strikers are anywhere near capable of playing alone upfront so where would the goals come from. I do agree though that we cannot play with just two central midfielders because the lot of them are so poor. I don’t know what the answer is or where the first win is coming.

The other thing is that Clement was totally non commital when asked about if he was getting enough support from the boardroom. That’s not a good sign. Rightly or wrongly I can see him being gone if things don’t improve in the next few weeks.

I’m sorry, but he’s paid to deal with what he’s got. Like any manager in any organisation.

And he’s got some decent players. Just not in all positions.

Phil Parkinson (for example) kept an utterly shit transfer embargoed Bolton up who seem to be prospering this season.

It’s just about management.

It’s about the players as well. It was inexcusable to see a Wednesday player totally unmarked at the far post on two occasions from corners today. It happened under Stam too. These are highly paid professionals not managing the the absolute basics.

Totally agree.

Why is it happening and why does it not happen to teams (as much) managed by decent managers who are in control of things?

[Zip]

I’m sorry, but he’s paid to deal with what he’s got. Like any manager in any organisation.

And he’s got some decent players. Just not in all positions.

Phil Parkinson (for example) kept an utterly shit transfer embargoed Bolton up who seem to be prospering this season.

It’s just about management.

It’s about the players as well. It was inexcusable to see a Wednesday player totally unmarked at the far post on two occasions from corners today. It happened under Stam too. These are highly paid professionals not managing the the absolute basics.

Totally agree.

Why is it happening and why does it not happen to teams (as much) managed by decent managers who are in control of things?

I just don’t know. I keep on hearing on here that we are defending well. No we are not. We were all over the place for their first goal. We got carved open on several other occasions too. How can we be defending well when we can’t even mark up at corners?
We are incapable of keeping a clean sheet which is a huge problem given the lack of creativity and goal scoring prowess in this squad.

[leon]

It’s about the players as well. It was inexcusable to see a Wednesday player totally unmarked at the far post on two occasions from corners today. It happened under Stam too. These are highly paid professionals not managing the the absolute basics.

Totally agree.

Why is it happening and why does it not happen to teams (as much) managed by decent managers who are in control of things?

I just don’t know. I keep on hearing on here that we are defending well. No we are not. We were all over the place for their first goal. We got carved open on several other occasions too. How can we be defending well when we can’t even mark up at corners?
We are incapable of keeping a clean sheet which is a huge problem given the lack of creativity and goal scoring prowess in this squad.

Well that says to me, bad coaching and bad management of players.

We concede every time we come out for the second half FFS. Again, bad management.

No leadership in the team.

We’re fcuked.

[CountryRoyal]

We are fcuked. No matter what area you look at in the team, management or board there are more questions than answers, more problems than solutions.

• Manager doesn’t know his bet team + poor selection choices.
• Cannot keep a clean sheet.
• Cannot create chances.
• IF by chance we create a chance, our impotent forwards invariably miss.
• Little to no quality in almost ALL areas of the squad.
• No accountability on and off the pitch.
• Recurring awful nonsensical recruitment and contract negotiation.

We have one of the worst squads in the championship and that’s just on paper. Combine that with our consistent ineptitude and underperforming and we’re only going one way. Think it’s a pretty bleak outlook.

[Millsy]

The positives:

1) Gunter, fantastic athlete survived the game. Put him at left back as people have suggested. Good to see him back.

2) we scored a goal from open play. Not too bad. Still only a 1 goal loss. Shows we still do have something about us. We can fight.

3) Clement had the balls to make a triple substitution and it worked to a degree. Sends a message. Unlike Stam he definitely has the balls to be quite firm with players dropping them if they are shite etc.

[3points]

I’m finding it hard to express my feelings about our current situation. Am I despondent? Yes. Am I angry? A little. Am I annoyed? Perhaps. Am I be bemused? Yes. Am I disappointed? Massively. I guess I am deeply frustrated with the whole situation.

Am I Clement out? Perhaps, but I wasn’t Clement in. Didn’t think he was the right appointment. Someone else has already said we probably didn’t need another young modern footballing philosophy manager, perhaps someone a bit more old school and back to basics. I just can’t see what our style now is. It isn’t possession based ( a la Stam), it isn’t direct (Warnock), it isn’t fast counter attacking, it isn’t park the bus and hope to score with a set piece.

I do have some sympathy for the guy though. He’s tinkering with the side to find a winning formula. It’s a bit chicken and egg really. But clearly Aluko isn’t working so why persist with him. Barrow is massively overrated. I’d be inclined to go with a more defensively minded midfield and give up on “wingers” as they are not affording our defence enough cover. Let’s stop conceding goals and then work on the attacking aspect. I’d try something like Bacuna on the right, Meyler and Swift/ Kelly in the middle, and Clement or Richards (Obita when fitJ on the left. On today’s showing I wonder if Yiadom could be converted into a decent central midfielder. Defensively aware, loads of energy, decent enough on the ball. Can’t be worse than Meyler, Swift or Kelly

The transfer dealings have been poor. Meyler is no better than Joey. Baldock was the wrong style of player given we’d already signed McNulty. Cameron Jerome would have been a better option or Hemed. Why not give Evans a chance. There’s no sign of any academy players in match day squads. The squad is way too big. It should be around 20 supplemented by our academy. We have a shocking record of getting players back from injury (which bloats the squad) - I question whether players actually want to get fit anymore. Stephen Quinn seems to be doing OK at Burton now. He would have been ideal to play in our midfield at the moment.

I want us to turn this around. I don’t want to be relegated to League 1. I just can’t see how we are going to do that

[Old Man Andrews]

The positives:

1) Gunter, fantastic athlete survived the game. Put him at left back as people have suggested. Good to see him back.

If we needed a fantastic athlete I'm sure Daley Thompson would have got a run out by now. Gunter is negative and slows our play down massively. Yiadom and Blackett were about our only positives in this shower of shite season and poor Tyler Blackett who is in the best form he has been for us is rewarded by being dropped. Gunter has had his time here and needs to go.

[Millsy]

The positives:

1) Gunter, fantastic athlete survived the game. Put him at left back as people have suggested. Good to see him back.

If we needed a fantastic athlete I'm sure Daley Thompson would have got a run out by now. Gunter is negative and slows our play down massively. Yiadom and Blackett were about our only positives in this shower of shite season and poor Tyler Blackett who is in the best form he has been for us is rewarded by being dropped. Gunter has had his time here and needs to go.

I was just trying to find as many positives as I could rather than add to the mass of negativity.

Having said that my opinion is Blackett is still a liability and don't understand the love he gets. Yes a few games of not-totally-shit performance in a team that is generally awful doesn't inspire me with confidence. Gunter on the other hand has been solid, fit and will give us stability. His negativity is down to Stam. He hasn't always been like that. It's Clements' job to get him to play more positively.

[CountryRoyal]

Hey guys where is this great “character”’ that Meyler and O’Shea have brought to the dressing room?



I was shot down as writing off our signings when I said none inspire me besides Yiadom and hey looks like I was right. I really hate to play I told you so but whilst many of you were justifying the signings as good additions “filling in necessary gaps”, a lot of us were absolutely baffled and couldn’t work out how another season of signing poor team’s rejects was ever going to end well.

[CountryRoyal]

That was low from me and petty twatty - I’m just pretty fcuking depressed and angry at our situation. We’ve had so many opportunities to progress as a club in the last 6 years or so and we’ve wasted every single one. Now we’re finally reaping what we sow and years of mismanagement is reaching its inevitable conclusion.

[Hound]

Yeah alright, good on you with the I told you so’s

Nobody welcomed O Shea’s signing did they really?

And on paper Meyler was a handy signing. The fact he has played as bad as he has is a surprise. But again no one said he was anything much more than solid

Plenty of time for McNulty and Baldock to come good. Both look potentially ok, but are not being helped by their teammates

Edit: just seen your follow up post

[NewCorkSeth]

The positives:

2) we scored a goal from open play. Not too bad. Still only a 1 goal loss. Shows we still do have something about us. We can fight.

It was a corner?

[Zip]

Not sure I have ever seen an RFC player show less effort, heart and fight than Meylor did today (and against Bolton)

I’d argue Aluko trumped him yesterday. Utterly appalling. I thought Aluko deserved a clean slate at the start of this season but yesterday was the last straw. Banish him to the reserves and get rid of him in January.

[Old Man Andrews]

The positives:

1) Gunter, fantastic athlete survived the game. Put him at left back as people have suggested. Good to see him back.

If we needed a fantastic athlete I'm sure Daley Thompson would have got a run out by now. Gunter is negative and slows our play down massively. Yiadom and Blackett were about our only positives in this shower of shite season and poor Tyler Blackett who is in the best form he has been for us is rewarded by being dropped. Gunter has had his time here and needs to go.

I was just trying to find as many positives as I could rather than add to the mass of negativity.

Having said that my opinion is Blackett is still a liability and don't understand the love he gets. Yes a few games of not-totally-shit performance in a team that is generally awful doesn't inspire me with confidence. Gunter on the other hand has been solid, fit and will give us stability. His negativity is down to Stam. He hasn't always been like that. It's Clements' job to get him to play more positively.

Yeah don't blame you for clutching at straws, it's got to that sort of time.

Really don't think Gunter has a positive bone in his body, he's always been the same under every manager.

[Hound]

Not sure I have ever seen an RFC player show less effort, heart and fight than Meylor did today (and against Bolton)

I’d argue Aluko trumped him yesterday. Utterly appalling. I thought Aluko deserved a clean slate at the start of this season but yesterday was the last straw. Banish him to the reserves and get rid of him in January.

If only it was that simple. Who on earth would take him and his bumper 3 year contract?

[Winston Biscuit]

Not sure I have ever seen an RFC player show less effort, heart and fight than Meylor did today (and against Bolton)

I’d argue Aluko trumped him yesterday. Utterly appalling. I thought Aluko deserved a clean slate at the start of this season but yesterday was the last straw. Banish him to the reserves and get rid of him in January.

Aluko is certainly another failing due to a severe lack of effort.

Meylor slowly jogs around, never puts pressure on an opponent, never tackles, never closes down properly, never creates anything and is never close enough to his marker to cause them a problem. He is that kid at school in the team who doesnt really understand it all, he just slowly moves around roughly in the designated area for his starting position but not actually doing anything, as long as he keeps his head down and tries not to be noticed then nothing can be his fault, right?!

[CountryRoyal]

Yeah alright, good on you with the I told you so’s

Nobody welcomed O Shea’s signing did they really?

And on paper Meyler was a handy signing. The fact he has played as bad as he has is a surprise. But again no one said he was anything much more than solid

Plenty of time for McNulty and Baldock to come good. Both look potentially ok, but are not being helped by their teammates

Edit: just seen your follow up post

True about O’shea but I was more making a point about the changing room character that people said we were bringing him in for and stuff. Not sure how someone who is used to losing week in week out for years could help with that.

Baldock and McNulty have shown some glimpses, but 7 games in and only one has scored and it was a penalty. McNulty is untried at this level (and the one bellow tbf) and Baldock is an average striker who’s never been prolific and has barely played any football in the last year.

I guess I just never really rated Meyler but I was impressed with him against Derby. I even said that he’d been what we were missing in the middle of the park and enabled us to play forward. God that seems like a long time ago. He’s been truly abysmal since then.

When I go through the names of our players it just gets me more and more frustrated, weve been saying it for years and bar an anomalous 16/17 when there seemed to be a bit of team spirit, I’ve never felt more disconnected to the club and the players. They’re our players, we’re supposed to support them and like them, I honestly hate most of the overpaid, underperforming, useless pricks that meander about innefectively.

Aluko in a human form epitomises everything wrong with this club. We need to pay off his contract and get him out.

[Zip]

What can be said? Both goals were terrible, they got through our defence like it wasn't there and we conceded after half time again, this time right from kick off.

Then we played a bit better but what's the point when already 2-0 down?

Aluko can oxf*rd off, basically playing with ten men, hell, make that nine with how Meyler played, slowed down the play, misplaced passes the lot.

Strikers I feel for a bit as they're getting no service but was it Baldock that missed the clear shot in the first half?

Clement says it takes ten games to know how the season will go but he'll be lucky to make it that far

It was Barrow who missed the chance..well the keeper saved it.
I would give Clement four more games to prove that he can turn things around. If we don’t win any of those games it’s time to sack him.

[Zip]

Not sure I have ever seen an RFC player show less effort, heart and fight than Meylor did today (and against Bolton)

I’d argue Aluko trumped him yesterday. Utterly appalling. I thought Aluko deserved a clean slate at the start of this season but yesterday was the last straw. Banish him to the reserves and get rid of him in January.

If only it was that simple. Who on earth would take him and his bumper 3 year contract?

Then pay him off.