StrangelyBrown

Our opposition seem to have realised that if the CBs are pressed and that others cut off the supply to our midfield 2 who are usually outnumbered then we really struggle to get out. To me the lack of a target man means we can't easily bypass the press which in turn just keeps the pressure on us. We also desperately need another body in midfield, but I can't see how we do that without sacrificing either one of the CBs or Azaz who naturally plays further forward. Fundamentally it's the same 2 problems: formation and lack of a proper striker

Manning is absolutely shit - what on earth was he doing to stop the cross that led to the goal. Wellington is no better - miserable excuse for a footballer.

Maybe it's part of trying to deal with the 2nd half issue?

That could be said no matter the opposition....

You can expect to see some marginal improvement though. Defensively we are still as bad as we've been for some time. Yes our players aren't the best but there are some simple glaring issues that can be addressed on the training ground - For instance what is Jack Stephens role in the defence? To the best of my knowledge he hasn't won a "best seat in the house" competition to watch the game so he should take responsibility for some defending. Why does Ryan Manning let his man have so much space game after game?

So what's your rationale for the multitude of managers playing 3 at the back despite it not working and not having done anything about Bazunu who is statistically proven to be one of the very poorest keepers in the championship?

With our ropey defence/keeper it's almost guaranteed that they will score at least 1. So the question is can we score more?

It's looking that way...

Well that was fucking shite. Poor penalty, shambolic defending, same old Bazunu and far too much Martinball. Once again we surrendered the midfield by only playing 2 in there. Desperately need a GK, CB, LB and striker - all very weak positions. And stop playing 5 at the back....

Some legacy Martinball on display today. All the usual suspects guilty. We desperately need to hook Frazer and the sooner we work out how to play without 3 at the back and drop that useless helmet Stephens the better.

Is that a prediction?

Or the player was Aribo

Jack Stephens runs the club clearly as you say is a load of bollocks, but I'm not so sure about 3 CBs - Rasmus put Brentford's success in his Brentford days down to 3 CBs and we've had a weird obsession with the formation for a number of managers now despite it not working. Relentlessly playing this way makes no sense at all.

It has always been this way but somehow he's still here after a very long time

Did I blame him for the goals? It isn't just about goals. Having someone who is iffy a lot of time is going to undermine confidence and lead to us panicking. Did our defence panic yesterday???? Of course they did. Having a supposed captain who displays no leadership and goes missing a lot also is going to undermine our confidence. I stand by my point.

Until something is done about crisp packet hands and captain shoehorn we'll continue to be soft at the back.

Fitness issue? How many players can play with the level of running, intensity and involvement that Leo has been playing with for longer than 60 minutes?

He had a perfect cross aimed at him and he got no where near it. He also fell over his own feet off the ball with no one anywhere near him. He's simply not a footballer and it's time we gave up on him.

He had a perfect cross aimed at him and he got no where near it. He also fell over his own feet off the ball with no one anywhere near him. He's simply not a footballer and it's time we gave up on him.

Tonda has convinced me. It's not just the results but the manner in which were playing - front foot attacking football; attacking players taking people on and creating havoc and the speed at which we move the ball is sublime. A long time since I remember watching us and thinking we look like the real deal (I didn't ever have this feeling under Martin). Give him the job... He's earned it! The only thing he hasn't done is make Damion Downs look like a footballer, but he isn't a miracle worker

Tonda hasn't faced a team yet that have tried to dominate midfield, which had been our undoing under Still. It will be interesting to see if he has anything up his sleeve - I'm still convinced the formation is the problem.

And a LB and a CB (Manning and Stephens will inevitably cost us points if they continue to play).

I'm starting to believe, but I still think we're crap at the back and against a 3 man midfield I think we'll struggle. The goal we conceded today was a perfect illustration of how shit Stephens is - no where near the danger and simply ball watching. However, that 20 minute period was the best I've seen us play for a very long time.

At least Eckert has the balls to drop FD, just needs to drop Manning and Stephens too.

Let's not get carried away. He hasn't been tested yet.