CanadaSaint

It's generally accepted that this is a weak area for him because he's been beaten there more often than he should (and not just this season); I can't count them or list them (others might) but they've certainly happened. He's also slow adjusting to a cross to the far post when he's opted to guard the near post. As much as I like Kelvin and respect what he's done for us (a lot more than some give him credit for), his best days are behind him. I'd keep picking him because he's the best we have but we need to splash the cash. I'm not sure why you're so sensitive about this justified criticism that you want to deny a fact.

LTC is right - it's a fact that reaction degeneration starts kicking in during the thirties. A keeper's prime age was always said to be 28-34 or so, but now it might be a little shorter because top-level physical fitness is such a prerequisite in the modern game. If you want "actual evidence", I'd say that being caught flat-footed by near-post shots is as good as any. IIRC Kelvin wasn't caught-out as often at the near post as he is now.

I think 80% of it is the ball and its often unpredictable movement. It's almost impossible to compute the intercept point for a cross, and harder to get there even if you could because of all the blocking that goes on today. Most shots from any distance have two or even more directional changes, including a late one. But this is why the modern keepers have developed "fail safe" techniques such as bringing the chest into diving saves and trapping the ball. I haven't seen Kelvin do much of this, and passing years are slowly dulling the great reactions on which he's always relied, so that makes him more vulnerable to errors than the "new breed". As much as I like him and the loyalty he's shown, he's hanging on at this level and would be exploited in the Premier league. With nothing for back up, a quality keeper must be a top priority.

Krull and Joe Hart both use the chest as the backstop and close the 'door' with their arms before the ball can get away. It's clever, fast and very planned. I don't know whether Kelvin doesn't believe in the technique or doesn't have the reactions any longer to pull it off. Either way it's a problem - and one that we're seeing more often because I think teams have a "book" on him and set out to exploit the weakness.

All the more reason to put Ron on the banner at the top of the page. Is there any reason why he's not there?

From what I've seen he needs to get back to shooting because he can be - and IMO needs to be - a clinical finisher. He - infuriatingly - turned away from goal when in a great shooting position at FP, after we'd opened them up like a can of sardines. A second goal then would have killed P*mpey off. And he's caught the over-elaboration sickness that I think has hurt our game recently.

Sadly, that's the sort of junk that represents "discussion" for all-too-many people on here. Do you have a considered response to a thought provoking original post or do you just do sarcasm?

FFS. Here's the quote - show me exactly where he says what you say he says:

geoffnut didn't say that. This is exactly what he said: I don't understand why people have to misrepresent what others have said in order to make their own point - especially when they're actually saying something quite similar.

Good post. My big concern in all of this is not so much that we're dropping a lot of points but that the same players are delivering far less than they were before the end of November. Yes, Chaplow is a big loss but that's no reason for others to fall away as much as they have. Our squad is not great but it's deeper than other teams who've been picking up points while we've been dropping them. That inevitably raises the possibility that we've mistakenly changed our tactics, that we've been rumbled tactically by other managers and have failed to adjust, or that we're lacking something in the motivational department. The same players aren't performing, and five points out of the last eighteen is rapidly becoming much more than "a blip." Regardless of which it is, the ball is in Nigel's court when it comes to fixing things. I've got a ton of time for him and what he's achieved but this isn't going to fix itself. Nor is there any guarantee that a couple of new players will suddenly get Cork, Lallana and others playing well again.

You don't do "debate" or "discussion", do you?

I never said he'd lost the dressing room - I said it would become a question if this bad run (after a brilliant run with nearly the same players) continues. geoffnut didn't say Adkins had to prove himself - he said "judge him at the end of the season". If there's a cock in this equation it's you because your only response to a different opinion is a childish insult, and because you have to lie about what people posted in order to justify yourself.

I feared we'd lack the necessary width when I saw his starting line up. As a result we couldn't open them up enough to score when it was 11 vs 11, and we were even more vulnerable than we needed to be when it went to 11 vs 10. Whether Chaplow returns soon or not, Nigel needs to get the balance back into the side. Then we might start to see the Lallana of old and the flowing football that others admired.

Why is he a cock? Because he has a different opinion to you? Why don't you respond to the (fair, IMO) points he's making rather than just insult him? If you care about this team as much as I suspect you do, you should be able to do that quite easily.

I agree with all of this and I'm now really concerned because a bad run of form that started at the end of November is becoming more than "a wobble". People keep talking about new signings as though they're some kind of panacea but they won't make much difference unless we start getting performance again from the current squad. That would be exactly the same players who delivered with such style up until late November. Yes, we really miss what Chaplow brings and we haven't been the same since his injury, but it worries me greatly that there might be something wrong back there. It all went pear-shaped so quickly and we now seem to have lost our way tactically. As far as I could see, we started to day without any real width when we should have been stretching an inexperienced side. I'm one of the most positive on here but I don't feel that way tonight.

No, it wasn't an attempt at humour. We're not talking about one poor result here but a succession of them. We're talking about great form and scintillating football that disappeared quite suddenly. We're talking about dumb mistakes and tactical uncertainty. We're talking about key players going completely off the boil. I don't think he's lost the room but he needs to turn things around very quickly or else that will become a valid question.

This is a scandalously bad performance following a number of below-par efforts, and Cortese needs to ask some very serious questions. If this were anyone else but the affable Nigel Adkins after a wonderful year-long run, we might be asking whether he's lost the dressing room.

If Harding was taken off for second card-protection rather than injury, he needs a swift and heavy kick in the nuts. God, we could do with that sub now.

With clear video evidence that it was accidental and a good disciplinary record there's a very slim chance that they'll trade the red for a yellow, but it's extremely unlikely.

Plus Forest away and Leicester home. Bad but could be worse.

What a f*cking nightmare.

I'm not sure that Harding's the brightest bulb on the tree.

Here we go.

Just a booking. Another two of those and he'll be off.

What with the ciggies, the whiskey and the nuns - all before 10:30 am local time, you know you're going to hell, don't you?