BarberSaint

Who is this player and why don't we play him?

I'd tell you but I stopped watching international football years ago.

But it's also Leo's number. Maybe he'll score 13 in a 15-all draw?

At those prices, I wonder who can afford them? £100k upwards? Or young, single and stupidly minted.

Two interesting things yesterday. One he scuffed a hoofed clearance so isn't always great. Two a couple of times he just did the sensible "Get rid of the bloody thing" as did a couple of others. Seems someone's letting the players just make decisions as they see fit at the time. jjj

True. I am incredibly surprised now how it is Still ever managed to 'manage' a football team, frankly.

From where I was, I agree no-one was saving Gray's shot. Might change my mind once I see it on the telly, however. Brum were like most teams (didn't see Millwall) in this league: functional and organised. You can see why the league is so tight: most teams seem much of a muchness.

I think the quite audible and more than once sung "Sack the board" did have some effect. First time I can recollect they actually got put in the firing line.

The Rasmus Effect. "Come and be broken".

I'm not complaining.

That third goal was park standard. The Millwall player is just trying to scoop it over back into the danger area/keep it in play/do something with it. It's not hard, accurate or anything and should have been a case of just picking it up or someone hoofing it clear (that non-defending left back we have springs to mind). The worldy should have been cut out in midfield but again you see the not-a-goalkeeper just standing there, set, waiting to launch off (as he always does) and he doesn't do it well. I think a goalie could save the first; might push it back into the danger area and they net the rebound but I don't think it's one that is a certain goal from that perspective.

Strikes me as tidy, but not world-breaking. Don't dislike him, but can't see what all the fuss is about yet. Not OR's standard. Again, while he can make up for some of his lack of physical presence and does so, I wonder how he'd fare in the division above with its brutal beasts.

I don't like him.

My difficulty with this is that when I listen to most fans at the ground they struggle to put three words together, repeat hackneyed phrases, think Stephens is good, or could be as he has potential, etc. That's far too lucid for a fan. Almost AI assisted, I'd say. So you moved from Glasgow to Nigeria (or was it Kenya, can't remember) and now you're ... where? As for the good patterns of play, yep Wednesday had several of them.

I like his effort but I really can't see why we offered him a contract with a view to being an EPL club. He just won't cut it up there.

Yep. Joined in with that one.

Best player was Bannan and some of Wednesday's one touch stuff was good. We were much as we've always been apart from we moved it quicker, played with more energy, the game was more open and chaotic partly because it was faster-moving but I wouldn't say we would have more points if Eckhart had been in charge for longer; we just might have troubled teams more. Seemed like they'd tried to hit Downs earlier and use him more to get him on the ball and I think I saw enough to consider he won't ever be PL level and as that's where we want to be, that's the yard-stick. Don't know why Azaz headed the ball miles wide when the goal was the other way and still not impressed by him. Happy for the points, like the fact that we're trying to play through the lines rather than round the sides, might make the play-offs but don't see us a particularly good team. Manning is still shit. No idea who the new kid was and saw nothing from him to make any impression but would be interested to learn where he came from (out of nowhere), etc.

GON should be GONE. Another pass it around the back aimlessly merchant. No thanks, if it's to be him.

As it hasn't been fully broken, keep going until it's 'null points'. Then it's broken.

12 points.

Ings was never 'proven' (presume he's a loaf of some sort) but was someone who had demonstrated ability and a knack of being knackered. The gamble was on his fitness as much as anything and I think Covid helped a lot (him as well as us as we probably didn't quite down tools mentally as many seemed to have done).

Every team I've seen at SMS this year has been 'functional'. Organised, hard-working, very little talent but strong and they stick to it. I'd hope that a half decent Saints would have easily beaten them all. Preston were the same i.e. in real terms shit, but we were even worse. No movement, no energy, no working together, still taking forever to pass it from Manning to THB to Wood to Edwards to fuck off. They're set after the second pass, if not the first and we have neither the balls nor the brains to do anything. We have one player who can take others on and so break the structure, but we don't move again so that gets shut down quickly. There was at least one pass through the lines that went out because Manning didn't push up like a wing-back and look for that ball but most of the time it was pedantic crap. Joined in with "Sports Republic get out of our club" because it's time they did. I think Still can't handle the personalities in the club and was probably a bit too nice when he came in but I agree with those that we now need a Warnock/BFS type character. Ratings: McCarthy. Last year of contract. He now looks as though physically he's a bit slower and that first goal was fucking dire. We really need to clear out all the goalies and start again as we won't keep Ramsdale. Roeslev. Can't dribble, isn't fast, isn't a wing-back would probably struggle against a top-end attacker with pace and power. Should have done much better when he cut inside during the second half, but bottled it with a 'cross' that was never on. Edwards. I knew he was slow but thought he could read the game. I think if he wants to do anything more he'll have to dry to move into DM because he just won't ever cut it against pace and power and skill. Either that, or sell him. Wood. Never rated him. Still don't. Can't pick a pass (very few of our team actually can), panics, isn't strong. THB. Slow. Shit. One-footed. Weak. No brain. Can't read the game. Can see exactly why Blackburn didn't try to take him on permanently. Might do ok as a flat track bully when carried by others. Manning. Can't dribble, you know he'll nearly always turn back, passing is shit, panics, makes a fuss rather than getting on with things and hides behind that bullshit. Just get rid. Downes. Absolute nothing of a player. West Ham getting us back for JWP. Jander. He does again, struggle against pace and power and he's ok but I've never really seen him just nullify the opposition's midfield or control that space. Need to see more from him. He can't dribble and haven't seen any early or clever passes from him apart from the one mentioned above (I think that was him). Azaz. Seen nothing from him. Assume he'll be another who's a bit of a flat track bully. Leo. Yep, like Leo. Armstrong. Can't pass, gets offside, can't tackle much but does put himself about a bit, can't dribble, always looks to spin and go for the ball over the top/round the side (which we haven't done since before Gabbiadini) and just isn't a goal threat really. I'd get shot of him. Aribo. Not on long enough but know he can play football now and again. Not sure he's really what we need now though. Robinson. At least he moves a bit and provides energy and a spark. Looked up a bit more and did move it on quicker at times (but there's no movement and we make it so easy to mark us). Needs more game time. Fellows. Starting to annoy me now because he has very little end product and while he runs with it he doesn't really take us forward that much and he is a bit lightweight. DD. D for effort. D for talent. I think most of us would have made more of that golden ticket if we'd found it in that raffle. Yes, I can see the curling runs in behind that our team never will but apart from those ... well, he did kick the ball today. Oyekunle. The one thing that he did was actually just look like more of a footballer than DD - his posture, positioning and movement were better. He didn't do very well when he had to jump for a ball but that's just part of his having to learn that the defenders he'll be up against will fight him for those so he'll have to get used to battling and losing a lot more duels. Here's to another long day next Saturday.

Well it does if we get rid of the dross, of which we still have rather a lot. It would sound good if we didn't know they'd given Stephens an extension; that kind of blows the rhetoric out of the water.

He's shit.

Way our team is, I'd bring him back and provided he's motivated we'd score more. Give them AA and Archer and DD in return and we'll call it quits if they also give us £50m.