S-Clarke

yeah, realised my mistake with that suggestion!

doh'. good point, forgot about that!

Absolutley, he was much better on the ball than AMN was in my opinion. Calmed us down and helped us carry it. He was somewhat aided by the fact that there was a tiny bit more space as Bournemouth had pushed up, and by taking off Billing they'd lost their physicality in the middle area. But the subs we made helped us retain the ball in those closing 5.

AMN RB, I personally think he's a better player there than CM. He's too risky on the ball in CM for me.

It was never going to be a comfortable win after being on such a shitty run, you just have to get a win by any means. I didn't really feel like we were on the brink at any stage to be honest, they had a fair bit of the ball from time to time but we seemed to have their number in terms of the 1 on 1 defending and CB positioning. They were fairly toothless I felt.

Adams. Honourable mentions for Perraud and the two CB's, who were very physical and dominated their attackers most of the game.

Our first win in god knows how long was always going to be like this, nervy, backs against the wall for periods. We were fortunate Bournemouth couldn't really muster much quality up top, as we kept giving them the ball back. We did defend well against them though, I don't remember many 'clear cut' chances. My main criticism of our game - our ball retention was horrendous. Key players like KWP, JWP just tossing it away time and time again in really dangerous positions. AMN looks too casual on the ball; I don't know why he thinks he can dally around on it. Adams clearly the best forward we had, put a shift in, run their defenders around and got the goal. Adam Armstrong put in a shift, he ran around but he hasn't got the physicality to offer what Adams does and he also doesn't have the ability to offer anything else...so he's a pretty mute player really. Not a great game to watch, not much to be excited about - but we needed to get a win by hook or crook and that's what it was at the end of the day.

Yeah, it's been shocking on match days since the start of the season. Seems ok on the day to day for other bits that I use it for, but in terms of 3pm kick offs it has been pretty pants. Not sure if it's a capacity issue or if they're being 'targetted', but it's not the same reliability as it once was. The lack of comms and removing our ability to talk to them is a bit shit as well, it's not like they're giving it out for free. They've got customers at the end of the day.

He's not afriad to take a shot at goal, seems more direct then anyone else we have. It wouldn't take a world beater to be better than what we have, so nothing to lose. ABK could be a long term one, depends how bad the ligament damage is as by all accounts the shoulder did pop back in. Glad we seriously strengthend at the back in the summer, that's probably the only good thing about us this season.

We'll give him until January, let him spend £20m on his son, Patrick, and then sack him in Feb 😉

I'd be tempted to put Edozie in from the start. We need something extra in that final third which the others aren't bringing. Edozie for Armstrong would be my shout. Aribo - agree, he's got bundles of ability but just seems a bit lost in the team. That's the feeling I got from him anyway, he's not entirley sure on his role or position. He's got more talent than anyone else we have so for that reason he must start.

This is what I've always liked about Romain, he's got a bit of aggression about him and isn't afraid to get stuck in like you say. We don't really have any other players who do that, which is quite shocking in it's self.

That sort of striker shouldn't be out of our price range to be honest, these clinical strikers cost money and if you want to survive in the league you need to spend the going rates. By all accounts we were ready to put down £34m on Gapko in the summer, and Scammaca was around the same figure - so we could do it if we wanted.

This is the prob, we are playing with two 'support' strikers, and no actual clinical striker. We had that clinical striker with Broja (when he felt like it) and Ings for a prolonged period of time. I don't doubt that both 'could' have a role for us, but it can't be that they're the main man as they're not good enough.

They had 2 full backs and 1 CB in a back 3, if there was ever a time to beat them it was yesterday which is the most frustrating thing. The fact we are now giving Adam Armstrong his longest spell in this team is pretty telling, and no surprise we can't score. We have nothing else.

Thought he was really good today, particularly commanding as well. The lack of protection in front of him (CM) is the problem.

First half was decent. Should have scored a 2nd during that period, but Adams continues to make Brett Ormerod look like a clinical machine. Second half was the norm though, as expected the opposition react and we just don't seem to have the quality to repel them - either by defending or getting that crucial 2nd/3rd goals. We then lose control of the game. We did well to draw in all honesty, so I'll take that - but it's still not particularly impressive. Our lack of goals is no surprise really, we just don't have any goal scorers in the side and whoever manages us will figure out that enormous and ultimately fatal limitation in our game. I think it's time to start looking up the Championship grounds for next season, as I just do not see how we can win games with the attack we have.

The key word is patience, but patience in football doesn't exist. Like you say, their model is clear. It's the best model a club such as us can operate. But it will take time, it won't be easy and there will be lots of sleepless nights. My big concern is that Football doesn't provide an opportunity to be patient anymore. There's so much money flowing around that clubs will struggle to grow a philosophy over a few years, it has to be a rapid growth otherwise you risk failure/relegation and a massive dent in any plans. With regards to the incumbents (manager/ CEO/Directors), you often see new ownership models giving them a period of time, but ultimately they are always on borrowed time as they will inevitably be replaced by their own people at some stage.

I do feel the same, I find myself not really bothering with European football, other PL games or even internationals nowadays. Football just feels a little dead to me. Whilst it's 'fun' to potentially see players like Haaland trash records, he is being paid 900k per week for the privilege which is just obscene and shouldn't be allowed. Then you've got Barca, on the brink financially, yet spending more than anyone else in Spain and now on the 'brink' financially again after they failed to qualify for the next rounds of the CL. It shouldn't be allowed to happen. Meanwhile clubs like ourselves, who want to do it properly and within our means, are just constantly beaten up against a wall by these clubs who hold no regard for anything. Todd Boehly at Chelsea is just playing Football Manager, it's as simple as that. It's what I do when I get the job at a club with some money. You go and poach the biggest and best coaches, physios, DoF's, players and then change it again when it hasn't brought desired results in a few months. Money doesn't seem to be an object for these clubs and it's so wrong. It's hard for 'everyday folk' to be aligned with football anymore, most of the general public are on their arses financially, trying to skrimp together the loose change they have, yet you have clubs writing off millions on 'mistakes' at a whim with no care in the world. How can the normal fan relate to football these days? I know a counter argument to these feelings will be ''well, it's only because we're not doing well that we feel this way'' - maybe there is a tiny element to that, but you also have to look at it and say what chance do we have to ever 'do well' in the current climate? Unless we have owners willing to gamble with their own money then we're just fodder, as per most clubs in this league. The model of selling to buy and being a 'showcase club' is pretty much all we can be, ditto most clubs in this league. Gone are the days when you can build a genuine connection with a team, as we did in L1/Champ. It feels like it's almost illegal for us to be allowed to keep 'good players' for more than a couple of years, and you'll start to see that reduce even more in the future. There are some genuine plus points to a split away league. Let all those morons go and play in their own playground.

I totally accept the steppingstone mantra, but to be using us as a steppingstone after just 4 months is a bit insane and not normal.

I thought Chelsea were getting that guy from RB? This is weird though; this is the second of the new appointments over the summer who has left/leaving (Clapham and now Shields). It's hard to totally call the club out on this because it sounds like he's done a number on us, but we really do feel in ultimate turmoil right now in all departments

Good searching, but it was Pardew. We got Adkins in Sept of that year after a very bumpy august.

That's a real shame. He missed most of last season with a bad injury too, can't quite remember what it was. Still young enough to recover, but he'll probably be around 21 by the time he's fully fit and it'll be a struggle for him to hit the hights his potential once had.

There's always one....

I don't think he's stupid and he's been far from terrible for us - during the Gao years in particular he did a great job keeping us somewhat competitive. However, in the last year there have been little drips coming out in the media playing us down as a club which is really bugging me. His ultra-defensive tone in the recent fans' forum didn't sit particularly well with me either. I appreciate that everyone becomes a scapegoat when we're having a bad time, but none of these people are immune to criticism right now. Don't get me wrong, I don't expect us to start proclaiming we are going to get Top 4, challenge for the best players etc - I appreciate our place in the pecking order and I accept it, but as a club you still have to show ambition and a desire to push above the accepted norm. Everyone at the club right now seem perfectly happy with us finishing 17th and applauding it because ''we've done well to be here as long as we have''. With this attitude you encourage negativity in the fan base and an acceptance in the playing squad, which will eventually lead to a malaise around the club and an irreversible regression.