saintant

Ipswich pretty poor and have offered very little so far. Lucky to keep it down to 1-0 at half-time.

I was commenting on the suggested team by Nolan which included SAA which is why I opted for Dibling to replace Fraser. I'm sure SAA will start.

I doubt RM will risk Fraser with Edozie injured so will probably give Dibling a start which is no bad thing. Also think Meghoma deserves another start at left back and we may see Holgate in for Bednarek. Not the end of the world if we lose because we won't be winning the FA Cup.

I don't buy this 'out of window form Adams' that some are suggesting. No way would Che try any less when the transfer window is closed. This is backed up by his stats which are not at all bad. The only barren spell he's had where he neither scored nor assisted was during Oct and Nov when, for whatever reason, he wasn't getting that much game time. During that spell of 9 matches he was an unused sub in one, not in the squad in another and played less than 25 minutes in 4 games. Outside of that he has either a goal or an assist in every other game. My only slight criticism is that he's not scored more than one goal in any game but his hold-up play, strength and ability to bring others into the game is top notch. We'll miss him if he goes during this window but I'm hoping he'll stay.

Agree. I don't think there was ever a trophy in the old days before Div1 became the Prem.

Why do we care who wins this game - we're going to finish above them both 🙂

McAtee looking quality for Sheff Utd. Would love him in our squad.

We'll obviously make wholesale changes for this game and rightly so given that the league is clearly our priority and we are not likely to win the FA Cup. As such a loss would not be the end of the world although I'm aware none of us ever like defeats in any competitive games. It's a good chance for others to come in and show what they can do and hopefully ramp up pressure on those regular starters. All things considered I'm quite relaxed about this one.

Having slept on it I've concluded that the way we finished the game was more of a brain fart on the day than something that will become the norm. Sometimes even the great sides like Man City have a sticky period in a match where they suddenly stop doing the things that make them so good and their opponents swarm all over them. It is always a temporary blip and I think we'll be the same. I and others may have been a little harsh on Stephens and although I still think the ball across our box was inexcusable I should cut him a little slack in general. I say that because he is back from a long term injury so has not had the benefit of regular training and game time. If we go back to when he first got injured none of our players were anywhere near the level they are now and the system was a work in progress. RM will have taken a lot from the game and we can be sure he and his team will be working on the positives and the few negatives this week.

Aside from the fact that we'd have been down to 10 men 🙂

It would have got a little nervy if their bloke had scored instead of hitting the post from a yard out but we got the job done and deserved the 3 points. RM is always looking to learn so I'm sure he'll have taken a lot from this game both positively and stuff that we can improve on.

I doubt many are 'Jack haters' and I know I'm not. For me he is not good enough to slot in and play the style of football we are becoming so accomplished at. He has always been one who dithers and dwells on the ball and is not good enough or calm enough to integrate into the way we play out from the back. This leads to uncertainty in his fellow defenders and, what was a fluid transition, becomes disjointed and far less effective. He's obviously a great pro but I have little confidence in him and get nervous when he's on the pitch.

I take my hat off and congratulate RM on masterminding this record breaking run. I had big doubts about him after the 4 losses on the bounce but fair play to him, his coaches and the players because this is quite a ride we're on and long may it continue.

He came on today and got caught up in how good the defence has been during this unbeaten run so was attempting to play passes he shouldn't have been trying and put us under so much pressure. We need far better and the fact that he's our captain is a concern if, as seems to be the case, RM is giving him game time he doesn't merit. He will cost us points unless this is managed well.

Agree, Baz pulled off some very good saves near the end to keep our 2 goal lead intact when those in front of him decided to have a collective brain fart instigated by Stephens.

Brilliant first half and deservedly led 3-1. Second half I thought a touch of complacency bordering on arrogance crept into our play compounded by bringing on Stephens who was awful - the square ball he played across his own penalty area was just horrendous and it gave encouragement to Swansea and lifted their crowd. Funny game and you could make a case for Baz being our man of the match despite our total domination in the first half. Stephens certainly emphasised the gulf in class and ability between him and THB. It's a great win and brilliant to break the record but plenty there for RM to work on because really we should have won that game by a bigger margin yet, in the end, were hanging on.

He did say better team in the second half and he's probably correct.

How soon we forget [ best defence in the Prem at that time.

We have a new hipster phrase as this analysis mentions something called Field Tilt. What next I wonder?

So the only time we should hear from JW should be an annual fans forum?

I think this thread is worth a bump because there hasn't been much chat about JW since the two heavy defeats to Sunderland and Leicester (after which I commented that he probably wouldn't sleep easy) followed by two more losses. This worrying spell of course led to the current unbeaten run. JW seems content to stay in the background which is probably a good thing but it would be interesting to hear his views on the evolution of the team bearing in mind the long unbeaten run. It's got me wondering whether he has had much, if any, input into any tweaks in our set-up and style of play. RM is clear that they speak most if not every day. JW strikes me as someone who invests 100% into improving the side and with his undoubted knowledge and enthusiasm coupled with a burning ambition he must be delighted at how we are performing. I'd love to see a fly-on-the-wall type film of his typical working week. It would be good to learn more about his overall role as, whatever influence he has, it is certainly paying dividends so I'm chuffed that we have Jason in our camp.

But if we'd lost 3 and drawn 1 of our last 7 games I doubt you'd be talking about an unbelievable run. Ok, they have a good record over the season but their current run is ordinary at best.

Yeah, agree,

Is that the unbelievable run that has seen them lose 3 and draw 1 of their last 7 games?

Only if Man City, Liverpool or Arsenal sign him.