Fabrice29

This thread should be pinned at the top of the board so everyone can refer to it when wondering about the credibility of a poster. Delusion of the highest order from many.

3 fan myths that need dispelling... 1) We have a strongest 11 2) You can and should play the strongest 11 from the start, including 3 times in a week. 3) Winnable games on paper.

Rinse and repeat.

Oh he's 100% giving his only audience now exactly what they want. He's a slave to his audience now and that audience wants to be outraged and wants to be fed a certain narrative. The Lineker stuff was quite funny because his audience and his platforms (GB news etc) talk about free speech but also found themselves in a position that their narrative matched with having to back Lineker but still needing an enemy and a conspiracy. The BBC obviously stepped into that role nicely and MLT threw in the conspiracy about his own personal experience (the fact that it didn't stand up to any scrutiny of course isn't an issue with that audience). I see Mark Lawrenson has also happily obliged in giving the audience exactly what it wants too recently. Going on GB news and calling for all pundits to be sacked. He and MLT probably don't even believe the stuff they say, certainly initially, but it's a path they will find hard to come back from and immediately rules you out of working for any credible platform in the future, which coincidently continues to suit the narrative they want, until the audience eventually dries up of course, which will be a sorry sight.

I think the team is in a really precarious position in terms of mindset. It's had two good results in a row, 3 clean sheets in 4 and is starting to ever so slightly turn a corner. The last thing it needs is a baying crowd shouting "It's Brentford at home for goodness sake!!". Sadly, I think it'll get that but it could really do with a crowd that recognises it's need, is positive from the start and backs whatever game plan is set out rather than what it did against Leicester which was get incredibly upset at a short goal kick.

Completely different game to the ones we've picked up points in recently and the type of game we normally struggle in. Onus will be on us to break them down so crowd needs to be patient and not get frustrated.

He can, and you don't have to listen to it, you're right. You're also allowed to listen to it and call it out for the nonsense that it is, if you want to.

This would be a reasonable take if A) Matt was sacked solely because of his views and two other pundits who didn't have those views weren't also sacked at the same time or B) If any of Wright, Scott, Shearer actually worked for Sky at the time.

Injured

They've got every right to do what they please of course but what are they gaining from it? Who does it benefit? It's classless and can only frustrate and add further pressure to everyone.

Piss poor fanbase by the way. Booing Bednarek at the start, the whistling of Bazunu, screaming "kick it" at the lad despite the obvious fact they've been told not to do that straight away and kicking it at two massive CB's means it's only coming back anyway, the booing of Moi when he's subbed on, so embarrassing.

Selles comments on Lavia resonated with me during that second half showing. Probably should/could have called out JWP as well. In games like that, especially the second half, you absolutely need one of your midfielders to grab the game by the scruff of the neck and get you some possession. Not helped by the attacking players obviously but both of those so sloppy on the ball and if you want to play for a top team then you need to show you can wrestle control of games back.

I’d be surprised if any/many of those leave. Diallo and Bednarek might find suitors but wages and prices are going to be a problem if we go down. It’s a bit of a myth that going down is a chance to completely reset personnel. Mentality changes should be the focus.

He’s leaving whatever happens and it’s been planned for a while.

This attitude is absolutely mental. Season isn’t a write off firstly, however bad it is. Secondly I don’t think throwing more inexperience into the team would be particularly helpful to the team. Thirdly anyone who watched yesterday would have seen a group under pressure at times, typified by some good last ditch defending, which is great for this groups learning but their results in the JPT (or whatever it is) show there is a level they have yet to reach. The exciting thing about the group for me is their is clearly of plenty of match winners in it, Dibling, Doyle and Ballard have all stepped up at times but yesterday showed periods where they were quiet and ineffective (Ballard particularly had to be moved wide to get him in the game) and at first team level that means they would be passengers for long periods, and that’s unfair on them in any situation let alone a relegation battle.

Who is starting the why aren't DCC and Orisic playing thread then? Or is that answered now?

The point I’m making is it doesn’t matter. The fundamental issues will still be the same until we have a manager who focuses on our patterns of play with the ball, which we haven’t had for a long time. Then you’ll need a squad who can cope with that, which we haven’t got. I quite liked the wing backs tbh. I think our best attacking wide players are Perraud and KWP so any excuse to get them higher works for me but we’ll have the same issues. They go beyond who we pick and the formation. Our best chance of getting out of this is picking up points against the better teams so I can see the logic from Selles in going back to what everyone knows and hopefully he sticks to a core group of players rather than changing every couple of games under the guise of resetting things every time. Who that core group is? Doesn’t matter.

Christ, Selles pinning up a bit of paper before the game with a 433 formation isn't the magic formula that will change everything. Sulemana and Edozie aren't suddenly going to whizz past players and stick the ball on a plate for a striker or shots into the top corner just because they've been told to play wide. JWP, Alcarez and Lavia aren't suddenly going to be breaking down defences with ease just because of how they are told to play in whatever variation of a 3 man midfield you would like. That's the same 3 who completely got the run around by 10 man Wolves by the way. Our back four isn't suddenly going to be immune to making mistakes just because the people around them are in different positions.

We've lost a stupid amount of games by 1 goal, lots 1-0 and some of those to the team 19th at the time, we've probably played various different set ups and players in each of them. There's nothing fundamentally wrong with how we're setting up, whatever formation or combination anyone comes up with will do okay one week and collapse the next, there is something fundamentally wrong with the ability and mentality in the squad however. As a side issue to this, I genuinely believe these next few games are a chance for us to pick up points. Our squad completely melts when playing anyone who puts the onus on us to break them down but seems to relish playing against teams who are proactive. Leicester, United, Spurs will all have to be proactive against us, I've no doubt we'll play better in these games than the Brentford game especially, whether or not we pick up wins is up in the air because clearly we're playing some quality players who can take the game away at any time, but we'll definitely up our game in these games and almost certainly melt in the less challenging games.

The idea that we've got a "best 11" is bizarre. Each week people come on here saying who should be picked, the formation etc, but it's all bollocks. There's no magic formula that means we suddenly click, there's nobody in our squad that hasn't been given a chance and that is being left out disgracefully, our whole squad is much of a muchness and 3 managers now are not picking the same players because of some conspiracy or trying to be clever or just to annoy you, it's because that's our squad and they have all made mistakes at the back and been pretty toothless going forward.

Bednarek and Bazunu both poor for the goal but bigger issue is once again creating and scoring from open play, that's what will cost us this season, especially against teams we have to break down. Mistakes at the back become bigger from the pressure built up by lack of quality at the other end. Would start Mara going forward as at least he's improved his hold up play lately. Get Sulemanu in the No 10 role instead.

This is evidently much nearer the truth rather than any conspiracy theory. DCC doesn't quite suite the high press system and isn't quite good enough on the ball to compensate. I suggested this at the start of January and got ridiculed . I feel he was bought in last minute as they hoped he could play a Vestegaard type role on the ball in a 3 but it's never quite clicked. Glimmers of hope when we retreated a little into a mid/lower block because he reads the game well but any manager tactically setting up to be a high pressing team will naturally look at the fact that for all their faults Bednarek, Salisu and ABK all statistically intercept much more than DCC because they are brave. I remember Ralph talking about younger defenders being easier to mould and get to go out their comfort zone than experienced ones and you can see that in our CB's. And Lyanco is just naturally a nutter. As for Orsic, find the fascination to get him into the team a bit odd bearing in mind that every time he has played he's barely kicked the ball and that's not an exaggeration by the way. I'm well aware the argument is to give him more chances but he's been out of his depth physically, technically and mentally every time he's played. Newcastle and Blackpool games he's been so off the boil it wouldn't do him, the team or any manager under pressure to get results any good continuing to play him. Let him get up to speed in training, if he can.

100%. We spent years buying players for a manager who prioritised off the ball qualities and it shows.

Identity back/Jones gone and all that bollocks but the reality is this group of players relish a challenge but absolutely bottle it when the onus is on them. Some favourable games coming up when we can continue to be reactive and will play proactive teams.

You might be right, maybe we will be one of them but this idea that we’re already down is wrong, it’s bullshit, it’s simply not true. Again, lots of talk about what we need, and how we get there, but there is at the very least 3 other teams in a very similar situation. We might be the worst team in this league but with 16 games to go, there’s no way we should be sticking our hand up and saying ‘don’t worry about us guys, we’re done, you guys fight it out’. Simply writing off the idea that we can get 5 more points than the others is madness. The idea that Leeds, Everton and Bournemouth are all picking up 36 points is only slightly less crazy than us.