S-Clarke

Does anyone know what's happened to Smallbone? I thought he was doing fairly well there at the start of the season, but he doesn't even make the squads nowadays. I assume he's injured, he does seem very injury prone tbh. Another one worth scrapping off long term I think.

I don't fully disagree with you on this one, I believe the problems go far deeper than any manager here today. The makeup of the squad is all wrong to start with. But...that does all boil down to the ownership making bad decision after bad decision with the managers since Ralph, which has created us such a confused and odd looking squad caught between a few playing styles. (add the constant cycle of DoF's to that as well) For this season in particular I believe the club have needlessly gambled and thrown away a season to try and be clever and seen as 'revolutionary' by appointing a left field choice, when in many ways it's like throwing a lamb to the slaughter with the mishmash of a squad we have.

Someone better tell Fabio Cannavaro, Thiago Silva, Baresi and Puyol then.

I've seen this mentioned a few times now, it seems bonkers to suggest that a formation/tactical setup is being used to hide/dilute the limitations of the players we have. It's entirely backwards if that is the logic and it's not how formations are meant to be used. Tactical setups/formations are in place to give you a foundation and structure to get the best out of the players you have in the squad profile, they're not there to be used as an aid to cover deficiencies and gaps in individual quality. Let me suggest something ground breaking - maybe to cover deficiencies, you buy better players? Just thinking outside the box here. But no, they keep renewing the contracts of these poor players so we're in a groundhog day loop.

But our CB's aren't short. They're within the normal ranges of heights expected from CB's. I don't know what you're getting at here. Proclaiming that we have to play 5 at the back because our CB's are short/poor is just so flawed. Formations aren't there to cover gaps in quality or individual limitations in players, they're there to bring the best out of the players you have. The fix for individual limitations/gaps in quality is to improve them with recruitment.

Goztepe seem pretty wedded to 3 at the back/5 at the back, not sure about Valenciennes as there are no historical line-ups/formations listed anywhere I can see.

Nah I don't truly buy that. When we had Mads and Jelert available earlier this season, we still played 5 at the back. When Jelert came on yesterday we still played 5 at the back. The idea seems to be that our attack needs to be supplied by our full backs, which I think is flawed. We've got Leo, Fellows, Robinson etc as wide players - let them supply the attack, let the full backs defend. We've even had Robinson and Fraser playing as wing backs this season, everything just seems so backwards - just out of absolute desperation to keep 5 at the back no matter what. A lot can be made of formations, and sometimes too much focus is placed on them. In simple terms you need your best players in the 11 in their natural positions, but we don't do that - we shoehorn players into positions they're not as effective in, just to accommodate 5 at the back.

You were a huge supporter of the decision to renew Stephens contract in the summer, siting it as good due to his leadership and experience. As we all said at the time it was flawed, and it was a decision which pretty much nailed our trajectory this season.

You can - you can tell the wingers to hug the line, stay wide, keep the width. You can play with an extra CM to sit deeper, which allows Azaz/Jander/Bragg or whoever to step up higher. Azaz coming for the ball in the centre circle is all wrong, Azaz passing the ball back to the centre backs is all wrong. He shouldn't even be in that area. Space is created by moving the ball quickly, and also by stretching the game and having your wide players playing wide. We condense it too much through the middle through our safe backwards/sideways passing, you've even got Leo coming inside - and it's Manning who provides the width down the left side. I'm not saying we don't need a physical centre forward, we 100% do, but there's also so much more we need to do to our game to make the opposition sweat and think a bit. We make it so, so easy for everyone we play against. You could coach a non-league team to defend against us without much trouble.

Apologies, I didn't realise we shouldn't be complaining or criticising the club as everything is in fact pretty good right now. It's not like we're sat in the bottom half of the Championship past the mid-way point of the season after spending £55m, with 2 relegations in 4 years including one of the worst ever PL efforts by any team. You're right, we are certainly not made of the right stuff and it's in fact all pretty rosy and going really well, well done Sports Republic. My mistake.

Given that we concede from most set pieces, it doesn't particularly add much - if anything. I've always felt 3 at the back confuses the situation more than aids it. I think too much can be played on the 'target man' line, not all teams play with a target man - the key is to move the ball quickly, stretch the game and open it up and get yourselves in behind. Fellows playing deep does not allow us to do that, especially against teams who press up against him - it means he has to focus on defending, which just nullifies his influence. Stick him wide right, Leo wide left, Azaz in the 10. Play forward quickly through the midfield and stretch the play - not relying on wing backs, but actual wingers, to provide the width. Let Leo and Fellows commit and run at players higher up the pitch, that's where they're dangerous.

Reminds me of the Bournemouth 'bucket rattlers' days.

I don't want to be constantly throwing out depressing posts tbh, I've always been someone who looks at the bigger picture/positive swings of situations - but there's just nothing here, it's all pretty hollow from what I can see. There's no grand plan to get behind, nothing. As fans we're desperate to get behind the club, but we need the club to give us something to cling to - just a chink, anything. But it just feels dead.

Do you know what a revolutionary idea would have been? Appointing an experienced manager in the first place, rather than now scurrying around looking for an 'experienced' number 2. It's so back to front it's frightening. Seeing Ben Reeves giving tactical advice on the bench today, was a really stark picture of how much SR have regressed us.

I genuinely don't think we'll be anywhere near promotion for many years, so them coming down is irrelevant in that sense as they won't be a threat to whatever we're doing.

Not sure it's a case of him being played out of position per-say, it's our general lack of moving the ball with pace. If we move the ball quicker, he can get into space and make things happen. He's one of those 'stand still' number 10's, he's not effective if we're needing him to go after the ball/pressing/chasing - that's not his game, like a duck out of water. Just move the ball quickly, stretch the game, get him in the space in the gap between the midfield and attack and watch things happen. Azaz cannot be the final line of our attack, he needs people ahead of him.

One of the reasons coaches play 3 at the back is to enable more control of the ball from the defensive third, and through the middle thirds of the pitch. Then you have progressive attacking full backs able to stretch the play (go back to Wolves in their pomp - Ait-Nouri and Semedo). But it doesn't work for us because we have a winger at RB and one of the worst LB's (if not the worst) in the entire league. For this tactic to be truly successful you need progressive ball playing CB's like John Stones, who can feed the ball into a Rodri/KDB type - with progressive wing backs pushing high. We have Manning, Nathan Wood and Jack Stephens, with Downes receiving it in CM. It's never going to work. I don't know why we can see it, but the guys paid £100000's more than us can't.

It encourages the backwards passing because the 3 CB's are always free to receive the ball, it's pretty much simple to everyone - right? Why can we all see it yet we keep persisting with it? The oppo are more than happy for us to do what we're doing. Stick an extra CM in midfield, and encourage more progressive passing as we have extra bodies up field. That's where we need them. I'm bored shitless, absolutely tired of watching Wood > Stephens> THB > Bazunu > THB > Wood > Stephens > Manning > Bazunu. Just bored. It's pointless. It's the ultimate propaganda football and it's killing us stone dead. It's a club strategy, clearly, that's why we only get yes men who agree to do it - the U21's and U18's play the same way. At this point it's basically self sabotage.

Oh absolutely, there's nothing in this season for us. It's like I thought it was going to be, similar to our 05/06 season when we came down with Redknapp - and then changed to Burley in mid-season. I can see how it'll play out, we'll get another good run which takes us to a playoff shout after 40 odd games - everyone gets excited (teams as far down as 12th are often in the playoff shout come the end of the season), then when we fail to finish top 6 it will be lauded as ''what an effort, we got so close''. Tonda will be kept on to help shape the next season, then we start the next season stuttering and shit, he gets dumped in November/December, and we've wasted half a season again. So basically, we're never getting promoted with SR in charge. They've fucked us. We're now Stoke/Swansea. Pretty much nailed on now.

The weak wrists to get a touch, but struggle to keep it out were one thing - but the biggest issue with that goal was his lack of commanding of the area. It was bobbling all over the place, the CB's didn't get a touch and the GK didn't take command either. There was nothing. That's yet another weakness in his game, which doesn't really have any strengths. But I'm sure he's 'fine for the Championship'.

He shouldn't have ever been appointed tbf. Everyone knows it. The club would have given it to him whatever the outcome, they were desperate for him to have the job. The club (Ankerson) is desperate to be seen as this revolutionary/outside of the box thinker, and you're not going to stroke his ego by appointing someone like Steve Cooper.

First half was as bad as we've been all season, slow, predictable, sideways, backwards, getting caught etc etc - same script that's been played many a time. We were very lucky to go in 0-0, should have been 1 or 2 down if we're honest. Second half we actually started the same way, and let in a goal that would have not looked out of place in the Sunday league - with 3 CB's on the pitch, not one of them got anywhere near that. The GK didn't command or take control either, just horrendous all round. A non-league standard goal. After that, Birmingham changed it a bit and removed the pace they had - so it removed their threat on the break, which allowed us to move higher up the pitch. The goal came from exactly that, with the right back pushed up high and providing a first time drilled ball into the box. Apart from that though, I thought it was more propaganda football in the main - no one willing to take a risk in those last 10-15mins, safe passes, pointless probing and very, very slow predictable build up. We didn't make Birmingham work at all and it was just a revert to type really. Overall we play too predictably, too slow, too safe. There's no urgency in our game, no movement, no quick passing - it's all very static and slow, which means there's never any space as we give the teams the entire game to block off any channels. The entire setup in the CM area is just wrong for me, Jander is clearly being targeted and closed down heavily by everyone we play now - we need an extra body in there to open up some space. There is no need for us to have 3 CB's, in an attacking sense it brings us nothing and in a defence sense it brings us nothing. It actually causes us to recycle it backwards as our numbers are at CB, so you end up with THB/Stephens/Wood cycling the ball between each other - the oppo are more than happy for those 3 to keep the ball, it offers fuck all. We need extra bodies in CM, and have Leo and Fellows on the flanks - keep them up field and wide where they can hurt opposition, what's the point of spending £10m on a winger in Fellows when his primary job was defending? It's foolish. Just cut the 3 at the back for everyone's sanity.

Keeps the possession stats high and creates the illusion of domination, even though we're not doing anything anywhere that matters.

I thought Birmingham played pretty well at our place, and we were somewhat fortunate to come away with the 3-1 - which probably flattered us a bit I'd have to say, we were just very clinical. I think they're without some players, so we'll see how it goes. They're clearly a club with momentum and some finance behind them, so expect them to go big in January $$ wise - so in that sense we're probably playing them at the right time.

He passes the ball between the CB's very well.