saintant

I wonder how much of that possession is in our own half - most of it I would imagine. Propaganda football.

Which means there must be 12 managers with a win plus there are 17 managers with more points - make of that what you will.

We won't attract many managers with proven Premier League experience other than perhaps David Moyes. So this leaves us trying to unearth a Championship manager with potential or a foreign manager.

I think we could try KWP as the more attack minded player in a double pivot with Downes as the defensive partner.

We aren't likely to attract a big name with a track record in the Premier League so, for us, it has to be about judging someone's potential and looking at their values and approach to the game. Not easy to get it right of course as we know.

Absolutely. Drury drives me mad with his clearly OTT scripted monologues before games start and the way he screams a players name as they take a shot.

Plays 4-2-3-1, strict on fitness and diet and has made West Brom tough to score against - he'll do for me.

Peter Drury is such a drama queen - he's trying to claim that pile of shit will live long in the memory of anyone who watched it. Do me a fucking favour it was a complete bore in the second half.

How do you know Dibling has never played centre forward? Presumably you closely follow every B Team match? Nah, thought not - you are just making things up. Just because RM is a professional manager doesn't mean his tactics etc must be followed like a sycophant - if he was always right I think we'd have more than one point on the board from the teams we've played so far. You are quite entitled to be satisfied with this and equally, others like me are entitled to express dissatisfaction. ☺️

It's hard to argue with this to be fair.

I'm convinced Dibling is the answer and should be playing centre forward not out wide.

Yeah, I've noticed he can be inclined to do that. However, in this instance I'm prepared to give him the benefit the doubt simply because it seems hard to believe that any team would be coached to set up like that to defend a last minute corner. Maybe he needs to delegate a player to take responsibility so you'd have someone on field who'd organise things better. It did look a shambles and smacked of rank lack of professionalism.

Does this class as 'bed-wetting' or are some able to criticise while others aren't? Just saying.

I think you're maybe a tad harsh on Taylor who was up against Hutchinson who is a very tricky customer. I'm not convinced KWP would have handled him any better because he is not that great at the defensive side although he would probably have offered more going forward.

Looking at the highlights again I think Archer was a little unlucky with his two big chances. Maybe he should have taken an earlier shot for the first chance rather than push it wider but he was making a split second decision. The second one he does really well to work the shooting chance and is a tad unlucky that the keeper spreads himself and gets something on it. I think he'll score goals given the service and just needs a wee bit of luck to get up and running.

In fairness to RM I've just watched the short after match interview clip on the official site and he does make the point that we did not set up how we do when practicing this scenario in training and he put it down to a loss of focus in the heat of the moment.

You cannot exonerate RM and his coaches of blame for this fiasco. They have hours on the training ground to try different set ups for every scenario at every moment of a football match and, defending a late corner whilst holding a one goal lead should be high on the list. No excuses for players or manager/coaches.

We could also flip this and say there are loads on here who wear red and white glasses despite what they are seeing on the pitch - both sides have their merit. It's about opinions and we are all entitled to one - doesn't make us 'bed-wetters' just because we don't agree with yours. I've had season tickets many times over the years but don't go to matches now but wasn't aware that not going to games makes my opinion any lesser or me not so much of a fan. I care about this football club and will voice my views on what I see whether the football be good or bad. As to PSR I get that it presents its problems but we shouldn't make it an excuse or suggest it leads to inevitable relegation.

That is a damning picture. Very amateur defending. And even with the whole team back defending our six yard box I can still spot two Ipswich players totally unmarked and that's not counting those waiting on the edge of the penalty area. This just should not happen at any level never mind the Premier league.

There are no last chance saloons I'm afraid. We are not suddenly going to change tactics and become a team that can hold it's own in the Premier League. We are being coached to play this fairly pointless possession football - it worked to a degree last season and we scraped promotion via the play-offs with a squad that cost millions more than virtually all our opponents. That's as good as it's going to get as RM has no silver bullet. There are better ways and systems than he is employing but he's welded to this idea that he can somehow turn us into a lesser version of Man City - he is swimming against the tide and we continue to make the same basic errors in every match. Along with many others I think the squad we have could do better but that would require a change of manager which is likely not on the cards. Our start in terms of fixtures was relatively kind but we sit second from bottom with a single point and the goal difference is already negative by 7 and would probably be worse had we not signed Ramsdale. I get that we don't have the strongest squad but I don't believe we are getting the most out of them. Others will disagree which is fine as this great game is all about different opinions and I admire the optimism of those who have faith in RM but he doesn't strike me as somebody who is capable of masterminding us to a position of safety.

Well, the manager and his coaches are supposed to analyse every minute of every game so, if they are missing such obvious mistakes and we are continually repeating them, you can only assume they aren't doing their jobs properly or maybe they just aren't up to the task.

AA has quite frequently been used as a central striker for RM and he played there against Everton despite the world and his wife knowing he is totally ineffective there.

Very difficult to score from your back garden.

I wonder if Dibling can play centre forward. I recall he scored 3 goals against Newcastle at St James park for the B Team and they were all from running through the middle.

Was anyone apart from RM surprised that our midfield was overrun until he brought on Big Les?