Chez

So, basically you are saying we should bring in McCarthy for this thankless task? Maybe not the worst idea in the world.

can you be a but more specific about what that playing style would look like? Not sure what our style actually is now, so if you can sum that up too that would be good. You might be right, but I struggle to know what would suit both players best.

I agree with this. I don't see any amount of coaching converting them into something else. However, confidence is the key thing for strikers. Armstrong. was clearly on a roll at Blackburn. Maybe we can get him back in that groove, although in the end it will be down to him to just start striking the ball as he did in the championship. He's had a few chances. its getting to the now or never stage.

going to five at the back at the start of the season seemed bizarre to me. In general, players seem to struggle with that formation, with CBs pulled out wide and lots of players back, but no one actually getting tight. I guess we were leaking goals right left and centre, so something had to be done, but the obvious thing seemed to be to add the extra player in the middle to ensure there was more protection for CBs. I still think that is the way to go, especially with B-K looking OK.

you can play well, but if you don't take chances, you draw and lose games. Play pretty shit, but Ings scores with his one shot of the game and you win games you have no right to. Until we put a side out that is top notch, dominates and creates loads of chances (I wonder which decade that will be), we will be reliant on strikers to get us out of jail (do their job). Armstrong, Che and Mara are going to have to hit a purple patch or we are in trouble,

I think he was mismanaged at Saints. Apart from the team failing to feed him, despite him offering some great movement, I felt that he was left on the bench far too often. He scored twice at Newcastle, didn't score in next three and was dropped, not getting a start for another 7 or 8 games. The manager just didn't seem to rate him. For me, there was a proper player in there, but we failed miserably to take advantage of it. Too late now.

Decent shout, but even if he isn't starting games, Villa will want to keep him in reserve so wont let him come to us. Do teams near the bottom ever pick up quality players in the January window? I know there are some great signings by the big clubs, but they are not in danger of going down.

This is a huge problem. Ings papered over the cracks with his ludicrously high goals to shots ratio. We haven't created a huge amount of chances for a few years, but if you have a striker that scores out of nothing or takes that one chance, you can play pretty poorly and get away with it. Adams and Armstrong aren't clinical enough. I thought Armstrong did well when he came on, adding real impetus into our attacks, but when that one great chance came his way, he fluffed it. Adams worked hard as always, but again, when that chance came, he didn't score.

never understand why people care so much about who is captain in football. They do the coin toss, they lift the trophy. That's about it. Make KWP, Adams, BK or Carleta-Car skipper and what changes? Fuck all.

We really miss Ings winning those near post headers from corners. He scored a few goals getting in front of opponents and turning JWPs corners into something good. You don't have to big, but your movement and desire has to be there. Agree with you about the midfield. Weak as piss.

Could not agree more.

what a great chance for Armstrong. Fluffed it.

Maybe could come out and punch the cross. The header is about five yards from the goal line. Need to see it again a few times. No chance with the second.

Great strike. If that was McCarthy in goal, "beaten at the near post again" would be posted on here. Adams perhaps should have scored before hand.

Bazunu should come and claim that IMO.

nothing glaringly bad, but nothing overly great either. If you judge the half based on this being his full debut and him being very young, then he's done OK, but he hasn't improved us immediately.

Bazanu...got away with that drop. Very poor.

Everton are running the game. We are shite. I guess the only good thing is we have won games when we have had limited possession.

Gray waltzes past BK. We got away with that one.

Seems to have picked the team most on here wanted. looks a busy kind of player, but he's small and I wonder if he really is quick. Hope he has a stormer today though. Left back hasn't been a strength.

no idea. Pope looks terrible with the ball.

are you saying that Sterling is better than Ely? If so, yes.

best England player by miles in the previous game.

Hope he kicks on from here, because overall he has been pretty frustrating during the previous three years. He's still young though, so maybe this is his time to blossom. The one thing he does have is the ability to beat a man. We need to see him do that week in week out, not once every three months. We are always desperate for players that can dribble, create something from nothing and be a genuine threat to opponents. He needs to be one of those guys.

I assume it was a free transfer? I wonder if we had to pay him a lump sum to make it financially worthwhile for him - assuming Besiktas don't/can't pay what we have been doing.