S-Clarke

I don't think anyone disagrees with that first 30 mins, but a good 30 mins gets you nowhere in the PL. If all we can muster is a good 30 mins, with the mental strength of an ant, then we will lose 38 out of 38. We do have to build on that 30 mins, but we also had to build on that 60 mins or whatever it was at Newcastle and we didn't. At the moment it's propaganda football at it's finest.

I know there is a lot of hysteria from playing out from the back, but in isolation that isn't what's causing the issues. Yesterdays goals weren't down to that. I actually noticed much better use of passing the ball from the back, the CB's were wider and providing better angles and Ramsdale wasn't afraid to go long if required - so that wasn't an issue yesterday. We will still play from the back, but we need to stop being so close to each other when we attempt it. That caused all of our problems at Brentford with a lack of passing options, that then caused us to keep going back, back and back and invite the press. We just need to spread the CB's a bit wider, and a 4 at the back allows that. 3 just makes it too condensed.

I think the difference with Adkins start is that we were able to compete. We went toe-to-toe with Man City in the first game and won a lot of admirers. We also did the same with Man Utd in the home game, gave them much more of a game than we did this time. We did have Wigan and Arsenal nestled in the middle which was pretty crap, but we at least scored goals and looked like causing teams issues. We took until November to really settle down last time - but you could still see the ingredients were there ability wise, not sure I can say the same the same this time. We still have a squad full of lower league players really.

But he was a success in that side because they played a target man, he made runs off of the target man through the middle. They were a route 1 side in many ways and he suited that. We are the total opposite and he is required to retain the ball and make recovery runs down the flank. He is completely ill-suited to this as he's not technical enough nor dynamic enough.

I mean, Calderwood signing did coincide with us keeping a couple of clean sheets last season, but we still conceded 60 odd goals. So he's not some sort of defensive master coach by any means. We'll concede 70 odd goals this year without sweat. The problem is that Martin and his lot cannot coach defensive organisation, all the focus is on passing and playing through the lines, but being able to remain organised when we are on the ball to defend against turnovers is our achilles heal. It was the same last season against any decent side with power and pace on the break. This year every team has power and pace on the break. It's hard to see how we survive, as this pattern hasn't changed in over a year. It's food and drink for PL sides really. We have two ways teams can get us - let us have the ball in the middle thirds/back 4 and tempt us out, then win the ball back and run at Stephens and Bednarek. Job done. Pretty easy for opposition managers. Or use our passing back to the CB's as a trigger to press hard and tie up Stephens and Bednarek in all sorts of knots, and get a few free shots on goal. Another job done.

Looks a bit of a carthorse from the left, can understand why he was subbed by Chlie. Maybe he'd be better through the middle? Doesn't look dynamic enough to me, would fit better in a gung-ho playing off a target man/route 1 style team. Looks lost in a passing team as I don't think he's technically good enough.

For the first 30 mins, as everyone has said, I thought we had finally come to life. I liked the setup and the spaces between everyone, we were pressing United and constantly winning the turnovers. Fernandes in midfield was popping up in the pockets and playing some wonderful passes down the sides, or across. Dibbling has Dalot on toast. It was kind of what we'd been waiting for. The penalty was shit. It wasn't a good save, it was crap. But the problems stemmed from that. Our heads dropped, our mentality dropped and with one foul swoop of something bad happening we crumbled yet again - it's a criticism I've had of this club for years now, different players, different managers, but whenever adversity hits we just melt in front of our eyes. Defensively from open play, I thought we were open and got caught on the turnover a few times in the 2nd half. Ramsdale earned his wage, and given it was 3-0 anyway, that is pretty worrying. The first goal was absolutley woeful defensively, but equally that third goal was a joke in terms of THB failing to play the line correctly - basic stuff, really. At the end of the day, a good 30mins in the Championship can put you 3-0 up (like against PNE), but a good 30mins in the PL doesn't really ever equate to anything other than a defeat. We still look and act naive in moments both on the pitch and on the bench. We don't look capable of sticking in and nicking something if other things aren't going well. It's all about next week for me. If we lose next week then I think it's probably curtains.

If only we'd followed Trabzonspors logic when we went shopping in January 2023.

Summer 2022 - Roméo Lavia (sold for big profit) £15m Gavin Bazunu (long-term injured and pretty poor) £14m Mateusz Lis (sold for a small profit) £Free Ainsley Maitland-Niles (left) £Loan Armel Bella-Kotchap (trying to get rid of) €12.00m Sékou Mara (sold for a small loss) €11.50m Duje Caleta-Car (sold for a loss) €8.00m Samuel Edozie (loaned out) €8.00m Juan Larios (Still here, but injured for a year) €7.00m Joe Aribo (Still here) €7.10m January 2023 - James Bree (Still here) £850k Mislav Orsic (sold for a loss) £5.75m Carlos Alcaraz (sold for small profit) £13m Paul Onuachu (trying to get rid of) £18m Kamaldeen Sulemana (trying to get rid of) £23m

You're right, I didn't even count Cornet - forgot about him. Just realised Dibling too can play from wide areas. Makes sense in that case.

Good move for him. It'll be interesting to see how he does over there, will be watching closely. Jury is still out for sure, but I've not given up on him yet. I wonder what this means for Sulemana? (the lack of news from Ajax is quite damming I think) I'd find it hard to believe that we'd loan out both Sulemana and Edozie, as it could leave us a little short if we had any injury issues.

I don't think there is an anti-RM bandwagon at all, I for one want him to succeed as much as any other fan and always have done. I don't want to be a club that chops and changes managers every year or so. But that doesn't mean we cannot call out issues or voice concerns over what we see in front of us. What I take issue with on your post, and a lot of your posts, is that you're calling what he's doing as revolutionary, something different, no one has ever tried it. That narrative is repeated by Martin himself and seems to filter throughout the club and it's really cringeworthy. Let's just take a step back and work out what he's trying to do - Dominate possession and create an extra man when on the ball out of defence. Now tell me no other team has ever tried that before? It's honestly nothing new, unique or magical. Barca did it, Man City do it, Arsenal did it in the Wenger years. What is the big difference between us and those guys? Player quality. In the Championship we could get away, to a degree, because our players ability was higher than that of the other sides in the league. We're now doing the same in a league with much, much higher quality than we have. I'm not sat here saying abandon all passing football, but there needs to be an acknowledgement and an awareness within our coaching that our quality is significantly lower than that of who we are facing. Bednarek's touch isn't tight enough for example, so what we're providing is an absolutely perfect press trigger for opposition sides when we retreat back. They know that Bednarek/Stephens aren't comfortable on the ball when pressured, so as soon as we go back they swarm on our weakest ball playing players. Brentford played it perfectly. They use our back passing as a trigger to condense and tie us in knots, and that's where we give the ball away and get ourselves in a muddle. That's not reinventing football, it's being stupid and not being honest about your own limitations.

Kompany only got that Bayern Munich job because he was called Vincent Kompany. He wouldn't have got it for any other reason. If Martin goes the same way, he'll end up rocking up at Preston or Hull - somewhere like that.

That's a nice little move for him, can't begrudge him that. I think (like most of us) he'd had enough of the UK!

Softening the approach on Leicester to make up for an almighty brush under the carpet for City coming up soon. Sounds about right!! Like you said, Everton and Forest have genuine reason to be absolutley pissed. None of this is good for us though, that was potentially one of our 'saving graces'.

That's a great post mate, you nailed it all there. Couldn't have said it better myself.

Looks like he's been released early.

Ajax are still playing in a relatively weak league, even though they're a big name as a club. The problem myself and others have with Sulemana is his lack of footballing intelligence. He's similar to Edozie in that regard. You can be the quickest footballer ever, but if you don't know how to utilise that pace then it's all a bit pointless. He can beat a man, he can take on players, but more often than not there is nothing at the end of it. If he wasn't as quick as he is I doubt he'd have ever made European football from that right to dream academy. Last season, in the 2nd tier of English football, was his opportunity to showcase his pace against lumbering Champ CB's, but he didn't do anything. One of the last chances he had was in that utter shit show at the King Power, we wilted in the 2nd half of that game and he was one of the main culprits of downing tools - and that's likley why he's not been trusted since.

Yep, now Ajax. Hopefully a realistic fee on the buy option and not like Charly's at Juventus. Thanks for the two goals against Liverpool in that nothing game I guess.

Seen it pop up on some twitter feeds. We accepted a loan from Benfica last week, but his work permit was denied so that fell through. Apparently we've now accepted a loan bid from Galatasaray, with an option to purchase. But he doesn't want to move to Turkey so the club are trying to convince him.

That's not true. We'd accepted what Rangers had offered, they were the ones who pulled it at the 11th hr.

And he'd never see PL football again. He knows that though, thankfully.

He's primarily played from the left as far as I know. He played there for Sheff U last season. He played in tandem with McBurnie who held it and let him run beyond from wide to central. I guess we shouldn't expect much if we buy up the two strikers from the worst side the PL has seen in recent years.

The Martin logic behind that is that we get an extra player in the middle when we are on the ball. But when that extra player is Jack Stephens the advantage is somewhat removed anyway. Pep did similar with John Stones if you remember, but the gulf between John Stones and Jack Stephens is enormous and he should know that.

I agree it's not just about putting better players into the 11, there's more to it than that. We need some natural width out there and not BBD or AA. Pass out from the back by all means, but it's the over-doing it which is killing us. We got it out of defence a few times today, out to the full backs and somewhat away from danger - but we then played it right back to our CB's or GK when the opposition were mid-press. It's that sort of decision making which isn't brave, it's just bonkers. I'd also argue that our attack is more blunt because of the level we're at. Good Championship players with space, but lack that extra bit required (physique and power) to do it at this level. We'll see how it pans out.