saintant

It's clearly because they have been told to press us more around our penalty area and not allow us to play out from the back. Plain as day. RM should see it and change to more long balls over the top. Keep playing fiddly against their strong press and we'll let them back in. Sort it out Russ.

Started brilliantly and deservedly took the lead. However, West Brom have clearly been told to add more men to the press and we have nowhere to go. At times like this we will get more joy by playing longer balls over the top to catch them with lots of players in advanced positions. If we continue playing short passes from the back they will get back into it.

Hope we're fast out the blocks with a minimum of walking football.

Thought if he was going to bring in Stephens it would be as a 3 with wingbacks. Think RM is probably bringing in more height and physicality. Spine is weak again so it's going to be a tough gig.

I think we're all pretty sure how they work.

It says conversations have taken place.Hope they went through the correct channels because. as far as I am aware, there's been nothing official from SFC. Still, it's another of the big greedy clubs so why should they play by the rules.

Getting bad vibes about this game probably because we were poor on Tuesday. Hoping for some bouncebackability.

They are strong at home and I think only Leicester and Huddersfield have come away with all 3 points. There's a smattering of draws but they've beaten a fair few of the better sides. A draw won't be the end of the world if it comes from a good performance. If we can somehow sneak a win it'll help massively after Tuesday's defeat. We need a fully fit Downes in the side that's for sure.

I see Utd appointed Omar Berrada from Man City in late January and he'll be their new Chief Exec but not until the end of the season. The suggestion is that he's the guy who recommended JW to Utd having known him at City.

We won't because if it's what JW wants it'll happen - assuming there is any truth in it. Surely there will be more highly qualified options than JW for a club the size of Man Utd - and that's not disrespecting him but there will be those out there with far more comprehensive CVs.

This in a nutshell - totally agree.

The other thing we do much better when Downes plays is win the ball back quickly. We didn't do that on Tuesday. The guy is so integral to how we play. Reading between the lines in RM's presser I'll be very surprised if he's in the squad tomorrow. Hope I'm wrong.

Not 100% sure that's the case as surely offside comes into play the moment the ball is passed.

Baz KWP THB Beds Stephens Manning Aribo Smallbone Stu Arma Adams

Agree we need to mix it up more with some longer balls especially when the pitch is as shit as last night.

Anyone else think their first goal was offside? Surely when the ball was played their guy was in an offside position and, the fact that it reached him via a deflection off Smallbone, shouldn't make any difference. Apologies if wrong as I get confused by the constant rule changes but I always thought offside applied from the moment ball is kicked by attacker.

It's been mentioned and I agree that the state of the pitch proved a great leveller last night. It certainly didn't suit our passing game. In hindsight perhaps we should have factored that in and been more willing to hit long balls to the flanks or through the centre - that's the way Brizzle played and it was way more effective. We kept getting bogged down and losing the ball and they then broke on us very swiftly.

It's a good point but obviously Bree is only just back from injury and won't figure on Friday. Teams are working out that the place to attack us is down the flanks, get close to the byeline then cut low balls across the box. I think a back five is the way to go against West Brom with the two wing backs instructed not to be too gung-ho to hopefully restore some defensive stability. Smallbone is not the same player when Downes is missing which is another problem that needs solving. He can't play as the defensive hold that's for sure. Smallbone and Downes have developed a telepathic understanding and work great in tandem - take out Downes and it's a very different picture because his replacement ,whoever it, is fails to do the job which leaves us with an ineffective midfield.

Having slept on it I feel less gutted about last night's result. Having grown accustomed to winning most games I think it hit harder because I never expect us to lose now which is a naive attitude to adopt. Sure, the manner of the defeat raised concerns the main one of which is, how do we set up when Downes is out of the team? We certainly have nobody who can slot in seamlessly so maybe RM has to consider changing the formation. That said we have just put together a 25 match unbeaten run which is an incredible achievement and we didn't become a bad side overnight. We are still well placed to battle it out for second place. Even if we miss out I'd take our chances against anyone in the Play-Offs. On to West Brom and hopefully a better performance and result. Still much to be optimistic about.

Good point about Aribo and maybe he'll go straight into the side.

If we can somehow conjure up a win at West Brom we follow that with two home games and I'm confident we'll win both. That would give us 9 points from the 4 games including tonight's which would be a decent return. The hard part is obviously beating West Brom.

Going to be a tough one and 3 points would be huge for us.

If Downes is still out on Friday I wonder if RM might opt to play 3 at the back to make us more solid. He doesn't have too many choices and might be forced to try a different system. Keep it tight and look to pinch a narrow win. We can't afford to be as open as we were tonight that's for sure. We've leaked 6 goals in less than two games without Downes so he'll have to try to plug the gap somehow.

The spine of the team was broken with the loss of Downes and, to a lesser extent, Adams. It showed and we were guilty of continually giving the ball away cheaply high up the pitch and allowing them to break on us quickly. We need a reaction on Friday.

Yeah, take our Downes and a crucial building block is missing. It upsets the whole balance of our play because individuals get out of position and the shape is lost. You can't overstate how vital Downes is to how we set up and sadly we have nobody who is capable of playing his role. Hope he's back soon.