saintant

I think we have priorities in other positions notably striker. Also don't believe he's that good a player - just my opinion of course.

We'll only learn anything meaningful if we put out a strong side. Fail to do so and we'll likely get battered.

Not fussed as I don't think he'd add a great deal to the squad.

I'm not saying put out our strongest side but just as an example our starting midfield today was very weak. I'm sure we could mix it up a bit and allow players a bit of a rest with clever use of subs. Let's at least give them a bit of a game if we do get through against Watford.

Have to say he disappointed me today. This was a chance to show what he's about but he looked sluggish, very slow and lacking in self belief. He probably wasn't helped by the fact that the whole team was completely lack-lustre until the 4 subs came on but I expected to see more.

If we do win the replay we need to send out a much stronger side than today against Liverpool or it could be embarrassing.

Agree about Smallbone. There are quite a few on here who don't see what he brings to the side but, for me, he is one of the most crucial cogs to the wheel.

A creditable draw considering how poor we were for about an hour. When the 4 subs came on it was like someone had flicked a switch. It just emphasises how good our first team players are because our football after that was night and day compared to the rubbish before. Great goal by Stu and we looked the team most likely to get a winner. Now go and beat these in the replay and the Liverpool game is a free hit. However, if we do get through I'd like to see us field a strong side at Anfield and have a right good go at them.

Liverpool away so this doesn't matter now.

Making this very easy for Watford so far for obvious reasons. The side we have out there has no composure or much self belief. The passing and movement is very poor and, when we lose the ball, we do not win it back anything like as quickly as our normal first eleven. I know we have non-regulars playing so that explains a lot. However, none of those given a chance to play are showing any skill or desire to make RM want to pick them for the starting eleven in league games. The likes of Lumley, Dibling, Holgate, Rothwell, Alacaraz, Mara and Melohma have all been pretty poor and they don't appear to be busting a gut to impress the manager. I've said before it won't bother me if we lose today and, unless we make some quick changes, it looks as though we will indeed be concentrating on the league. Very shoddy half of football from us.

I believe you need a funded account with them?

You happened to catch their best spell. Apart from that they were generally fairly poor and their football was not a patch on ours.

Patience!

If we could manage to beat Leicester at their place that reduces to 5 so never say never but It's still a big ask.

Leicester very poor in the second half so a draw was fair. We are a better footballing side than either of these. I think we'll close in on Leicester but may not overtake them. Ipswich are very gutsy and don't give up but they haven't got a lot of quality.

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 🙂