saintant

I think when we signed Jelert it was said he can play on either side of the pitch.

Sounds to me like she is more astute at spotting talent than Spors. Judging by Downs it's a low bar.

He's a big lad - the least he needs to show is some aggression towards opponents. Do that and the rest might eventually follow although it could be a long journey from what we've seen so far. Will Still has said he needs to pick a few fights and he's dead right because Downs is far too passive for his own good. Get stuck in lad!

Have you not been keeping up - even a lot of the good sides are now introducing big, powerful centre forwards. It's in vogue along with the long throw and more long balls rather than tippy tappy at the back.

Morris would have soon won the fans over by banging in goals, he's not perfect but decent for this league - not so sure about the guy you describe as showing what he can do when we play to his strengths as that strike was clearly the exception rather than the rule.

Well if Rangers were smart they'd have given him a contract that stipulated he only gets paid out if he fails after a certain number of games or points given his history. Mind you, they clearly aren't smart or they wouldn't have hired him in the first place. Their hierarchy have some tough questions coming but I don't think they have any answers other than holding their hands up to the charge of rank incompetence. Most of their fans predicted a car crash from the start and they will want more heads then Russboy to roll.

Oh he will.

Get tae fuck!

Carlton Morris should have been a no brainer for us and would have been perfect - bustling, strong centre forward who scores his fair share of goals. But no, let's bring in the freshman USA striker who one day may make us a few quid but, in the interim years, is frigging useless.

I thought you'd struggle but full marks for trying. You admit and everyone knows AA up front through the middle doesn't work. Whichever way you cut it SR and Spors fucked up by signing Downs instead of an experienced centre forward with a bit of strength and nous. Still is snookered I'm afraid.

Anyone heard any news on the severity of Stewart's injury?

Yes, it's baffling that he's never even used as a sub to at least give him a chance to show what he can do.

Sounds very good in theory but what formation are you suggesting they play in and who plays up front? I think this is Will Still's problem - who plays where and in what formation. If he can get that right we will start to see more wins although the injury to Stewart has come at the worst possible time unless it was a minor twinge and he came off as a precaution.

Agree, we continue to concede headed goals from crosses. The guy who scored yesterday was allowed a free run and jump - we have to be blocking and hampering these big lumps before they get near the ball - it's within the rules because most other sides do it.

This. You wouldn't expect a school team player to do it but Manning, an experienced pro, couldn't stop himself. Needs dropping as a disciplinary measure at the very least and his defensive play is below what it should be too.

Is this a fact? I'm pretty sure it's not but you may be able to point me to where you got this info from. I'm berating the SR top echelons as a group but, for this decision, I blame Spors entirely. He claims that we'd watched Downs for a while and he was the one we wanted which leads me to think he wouldn't know a decent footballer if a prime Messi tapped him on the shoulder and said 'sign me'. I'm actually starting to wonder if Spors is in Will Still's ear encouraging him to give Downs game time because he genuinely believes he'll come good soon. He won't and this is up there with some of the worst signings this football club has made. Season after season we ask for a decent centre forward and, when we actually sign one, it's Damion Downs - you couldn't make it up. Stewart was starting to show we can be a good side with a guy up top leading the line, holding the ball up and knitting things together but the world and his wife knew he was made of glass but Spors thought Downs could fill the void. Nah!

Think you meant less but it's a good point.

It's the start of the run to beat Russboy's record of 20 matches 🙂

Not with a 2 mile long barge pole!

He's improving then.

Spot on and it's one of the big differences between us and Coventry who are regularly scoring 4, 5 and more every game. They have a big strong centre forward who scores goals, holds the ball up and brings his team mates into play high up the pitch - we don't now that Stewart is injured again which was always likely to happen. For whatever reason Downs is well off what Spors expected of him and that's not going to change anytime soon. More poor decision making from SR.

But if Stewart is out for a long period we need someone now which means the free agent market.

Well if he is injured long term we need to sign one of the free agents because relying on Downs is not an option. Emmanuel Dennis is available and he's played for Watford and Forest. He's not perfect but he'd be far more use than Downes. Not the tallest though at 5'9". Got to bite the bullet and find the best free agent we can if Stewart is going to be side-lined for long which is likely the case and we've seen how much time he takes to get back up to speed after injuries. A mess of the club's own making with Spors among the guilty parties.

Just watched the brief highlights and Manning needs dropping for his actions leading to their goal. He may not have felt it was a Derby throw but he is experienced enough to know that once a lino has given it to them no amount of whinging is going to change his mind. He allowed them to take a throw to an unchallenged player and cross it into the box to another unchallenged player who scored with a free header. Edwards needs to be far stronger there. Lots wrong with the goal for Still to look at but Manning must be made to pay for what he did.

We don't. They are banging in 4-5 goals every game. They have a brute of centre forward who scores goals and when he gets tired they bring on another brute of a centre forward who scores goals. Their squad and coaching set up is light years ahead of us.