S-Clarke

He's obviously aware of the fans opinion of him, he posts on here at the end of the day so he's seen it all! Against Forest 'long ball' wasn't a myth, it's what I watched for 90mins. Long ball into the channels. Chris Cohen was even directing Salisu to do such a thing, at which point Salisu did it and then shrugged his shoulders (if anyone else noticed that). We weren't long-ball against Palace, but Forest was pretty frightening.

I reckon Alcarez is one of the guys already over here, sounds like that will happen. I hope we're not setting ourselves up for disappointment on the striker front though, that simply cannot be an option. For me a ST was always the biggest priority, attacking midfielders next on the list. If we get Orsic and Alcaraz but still drop the ball on a striker then it's all rather pointless and another massive ballsup. Beto would be good on attributes alone, but I’ve not seen any concrete links to him and we’d have seen then by now.

We've not been blessed with superstars in this team for many years, so anyone half decent is likely to be somewhat pined for when they're not playing. Armstrong is half-decent, no more than that. His lung busting runs and threat from deep were fun to watch, but it didn't really happen enough if we're totally honest. He wasn't particularly consistent and his injury record has been very poor. He's still one of our better players for sure, but that's more of a damming indictment of the rest of our players in that attacking third rather than Armstrong being a world beater.

He was up there with the best for a couple of years, it did peter out a little though. If I'm honest he should have retired some time ago, but he obviously wanted a last swansong with Wales at a World Cup which you can't really begrudge! I remember his debut against Millwall back in 2006, one of the last home games of the season I think. He owned that left side, so much power and pace at a young age. It's making me feel pretty old to have seen these guys make their debuts (Theo/Bale) and now they're retiring, or on the brink of!

This is the mega confusing thing for me. When we were going for the likes of Selles, Shields etc in the summer it suggested that we were after the top 'young' talent in all area's, not just playing staff. Like you said, going for someone like Liverpools assistant would have made a bit more sense in terms of our approach. Jones just seems a really odd divation away.

Jesus-h-christ.

Started crap, thought it would be same old. Palace could and probably should have had a couple in the first part of the 1st half. From about 30 mins we got to grips with it, kept the ball a bit but didn't actually create anything of note. A bit huff and puff. 2nd half we came out more on the front foot, more aggressive, more in their faces and it worked. I don't care who the defender is, they will always hate being pressed and that's what we did well in the 2nd half. There is a tinge of frustration that we couldn't play like that against Forest, and part of me wonders if once again the players are wilting under the pressure in the league, but a win is a win and you have to take them at the moment no matter where they come. Could build some momentum, could be a false dawn. Hope we get a decent draw in the next round.

I imagine this guy is going to be our Crocker replacement and Joe Shields replacement wrapped up in one.

It's often a good sign when fans at his previous club hold a player in such, such high regard. He's not just 'liked' by their fanbase, he's absolutely adored and has legend status over there. Bit of a late bloomer at 30, but it's weirdly refreshing to see us adding someone who has done it at the highest level of mens football - not kid football.

You're getting a little bit too overemotional LGTL. He's not purposely come in to break us with an agenda, as others have said he's taken a well paid job like we would all do if we were offered it. It's not his fault he's out of his depth, the people who recruited him take the blame for that.

Yeah I wondered that, I think it was Baird who he said had noticed that. We'll find out soon I guess, couple of bits on twitter I saw over the last few days suggested he'd done his ACL or MCL. Seemed a bit innocuous.

To be fair I did admit that I over-egged that, as I even admitted a lack of an attacker is going to kill us. I guess I was excited by the early showings of ABK and Lavia that it clouded my judgement a bit! I don't think our recruitment was all bad in the summer though, we had the right idea and definitely targeted some good young players, better than we have in previous years...but we didn't back it up with the established quality we also needed which has become even more apparent as the weeks went on.

I saw a lot of disillusioned players against Forest to be honest, they looked a bit lost. This isn't me sticking up for the players, as they have dropped their own bollocks many times, but there's just a lack of engagement from players - especially Adams, totally isolated and lost with the ball being pumped 10ft above his head all night.

Adams is another guy who has been somewhat hung out to dry. I know people laugh about the term 'support striker', but that is what he is at this level. His running and tenacity can open the space for players who are better finishers, as we saw with Ings. We have put ourselves in a position where we are expecting him to be someone he never was and never will be. He needs to be supported by clinical players, as he's the sort of guy you do need to do the hard grafts and the hard running, but expecting him to be the goal scorer on a consistent basis is somewhat hanging him out to dry. Don't get me wrong, he can and will score goals, but you'll never get enough from him alone to create a successful team.

Didn't the players do similar regarding Ralph as well? At some point they have to take responsiblity too, this is equally on them and has been for many years. Although it's hard to disagree with them on Jones, they do have to look into the mirror at some point.

I was wondering if we were keeping him back for the cup games, and introducing him there. We'll find out soon I guess. Also find out about ABK soon, I saw some murmurings on twitter that he'd done his ACL. No idea if that's true.

Theo Walcott, and he's already on the books. He'd do a better job on the touchline and I'm not even joking.

I think that's what were doing....''Just get it in the box'''. You don't have to be a genius tactician to instruct that. Don't get me wrong, these players are frustratingly crap as has been proven time and time again, but they weren't really given a foundation to play from at any stage on Wednesday. The way we were being instructed to play (which I visibly saw Chris Cohen directing) was to lob it diagonally to either Ely or Edozie in the later stages. How the fuck was that ever going to work, just dumb-ass dinosaur mentality football.

With the current crop it's difficult, as our midfield is way too weak. What I'd personally do is fill the midfield, play 3 in there. One as a deeper shielding player in a pivot and then two supporting members who can advance and get into the box. In the current situation I’d play Lavia deepest, with JWP and Diallo supporting in more advanced positions. (get JWP to pull out wide right more often, so he can throw Beckham-esque balls into the box) Adams up top, as our only physical outlet if we’re honest. Edozie is worth a shot in one of the wide positions, but another creative player is a must as Moussa/Ely/Aribo just don’t cut it in any position. (Which Orsic is going to be by the looks of it). The CB's, in a pair, are decent. I'd go with ABK and Salisu, flanked by KWP on the left and Tino right if fit. I don't think filling the midfield blunts us anymore than we are today, in fact it should allow us to control the game a little more and have the bodies to push up. At the moment we are over-run in there way too easily, and teams know that. It would also give us more bodies to pass to in that central area which would aid with a quicker tempo, at the moment it's all a bit too slow and sideways.(or long) So to make that work practically I think we’re short 3 players. A proper DM (I’d personally keep Diallo away from the side) another wide player, a striker who can lead a line with pace and power (and maybe another striker for depth). What we’re trying to do at the moment with 3 at the back is daft, because it removes the numbers we have further up the pitch, isolates the physically lacking attack and allows the midfield to be over-run. We don’t have the profile of player in the middle of the pitch, or up front, to get away with this system. I don’t know why we keep persevering with it.

This was the biggest concern, it was obvious to anyone in the stands. Us, media, opposition, coaches - but why not our manager or his coaches? It was disorganised chaos after around 80 mins, you had CB's at LB, then Edozie at LB, then balls being launched long to Elyounoussi. Aribo coming in from deep and just running across the pitch with no actual position. JWP was deep between the CB’s, then he ended up wide right. It felt somewhat surreal, I couldn't quite believe what I was watching. The entirety of the game was shit, but that last period was just a rabble. I don't think the players had any idea wtf was needed from them. I'd have expected better if a fan was plucked from the stand and asked to coach the last 10 mins.

Yep true, but it's nice to hear something from the background! I think a lot of assumed that they were blocking out the noise and were steadfast in their decision, if there are doubts then any more defeats are going to give them a decision to make for sure.

I blame Eric Black. In all seriousness I'm sure the underlying recruitment team are still there, working to the same criteria as set. It's only the 'heads' of that department which keep shuffling around. Needs a bit of a restructure in my eyes.

Thanks for sharing, it's somewhat reassuring to know that they haven't got their fingers in their ears.

Not against that at all, but that really does bring to the fore the horrendous recruitment we've had to endure over recent years. He was allowed to go as he was a squad player and we were evolving the squad, yet here we are a few years down the line and we want him back as first choice. Heads should roll over the state of our recruitment over the last few years. Financially constrained at times, yes, but we must find better than Lyanco and Perraud surely.

I do somewhat agree, as I said in another thread I don't think their approach in the summer was all wrong - it was the right idea, but they executed it wrong. They went balls deep in youth and underestimated the level of experienced quality at our disposal, in fact we actually diluted that. There is no doubt that this regression has been happening for many a year, we've been hindered by a lack of investment and resorted to having to punt on Lyanco's and Perrauds. So whilst it was totally accepted we needed a big change up in the squad, it needed to be a balanced approach. To me they've come in with two eyes fixed on the long-term rather than looking at the here and now, but we needed help 'now' and they miscalculated that in the summer.