Saint Fan CaM

Be in that dwindling number!

Re-group and go again?!?

I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again. The reason we can’t win games is because we don’t score goals. The reason we don’t score goals is because nearly every attacking move involves waiting for the opposing team to re-group into 11 men behind the ball, thus making it difficult if not impossible for our mediocre players to break down a defence. Contrast this to the excellent creative move for the recent Che assist / Alcarez goal. We just don’t do that stuff enough. It’s not just Diallo and Ely-no-usey…JWP is a culprit too, along with our two centre backs who dawdle on the ball (although who they’re supposed to thread a pass to is anyone guess). Brentford are well drilled, set up to compete and generally play fast flowing football. They don’t have well known expensive players. In fact to be honest they had few chances this evening, but they were tidy and clinical in taking their 1st goal (that essentially won the game). We were no match and that’s the sad reality. We are not as good as Brentford…let that sink in. The madness is that we’re still not mathematically down, but those who know a dysfunctional team when they see one will know that we’re dead certs for the drop. In truth, we have been all season.

Like others have said I was pleasantly surprised at his ball control and passing. However, his heading ability is nothing to write home about and most importantly for me, he doesn’t seem to have a sharp footballing brain…i.e. his positional sense is poor, meaning he will see very few chances or create very few chances. Not that he can’t improve…but we’ve seen how this goes with other strikers that don’t have that natural instinctive talent for the Prem…it doesn’t end well. Compare him to Lambert who came up from the lower leagues - he had that instinct that gave him a head start.

As is often said, there’s no point over analysing what other teams do. We have to concentrate on winning our games and if that’s still not enough at least we can be proud of our team for giving everything.

Oh I get it now. Your TSW name is a red herring…it’s you! 🤣

So you think we’ve got a better or equal chance of beating Spurs rather than Brentford? Really? Of course we don’t HAVE to beat Brentford - we don’t HAVE to win another game this season - but if we don’t start picking up three points we will ultimately run out of time and opportunities. With that in mind, it’s true to say that thanks to the abysmal performances up until Jones was sacked, EVERY game from now until the end of the season is ‘must win’. Or to put it another way, I wouldn’t send a team out saying “don’t worry…just have a fun time…we don’t need to win”, would you? 🤔🤨

Laurie McMenemy will always be revered for his work with the club and in particular winning us the Cup in ‘76. I know from first hand experience that he’s a great guy to spend time with and has some wonderful stories to tell.

Yep, can't help myself...snagged a ticket. Huge game..too huge for a stream.

Cannot underestimate Brentford and the relatively great season they’re having. They’re a well drilled side, difficult to break down and able to find ways to win games. We’ll need to once again be at our best to get a result, but three points here could be huge. I’m not overly confident to be honest…head says 1-2…heart says 1-0.

That table makes for very sobering reading. When you’re bottom it doesn’t matter how many heroic draws you achieve - it’s three points that gets you out of the mire and we’re just not capable even against 10 men. Shocking how few shots on target our strikers got away…I stand by the contention that’s what will relegate us.

Well a point is not bad at OT, but we’ll not get a better chance to beat them at home. Very disappointing from our forward line.

Totally wrong positioning from Tall Paul - stood at the far post rather than running onto the ball.

Here we go - long balls to Tall Paul.

Good attacking subs from Selles.

Rashford should be booked for simulation - cheating fucker!

Mara for Walcott?

Great hit by KWP.

They’re going to win because there’s not the belief that we can win. No use of our extra man. Sullemana is having a fucking mare!

Point is, Walcott is getting into the positions to create the chance in the first place. If that carries on against 10 men he will score. Key here is make the pitch big and don’t panic…1 point is better than none today. The longer the game goes on the more chance we can hit them on the break. Sulemana’s decision making is not honed yet - could have given Walcott a lovely assist to put us one up.

If Carling did…

Would be mad not to play him really if he’s fit. He and Lavia have been the bright sparks of the recent intake, with Tall Paul and Sully not showing their value just yet. Can’t see Che not holding his place - that assist on Saturday was sublime and something we’ve been missing. A friend said to me at the weekend that they thought Che looked better as an advanced midfield provider than an out and out striker…can understand that.

And your thoughts on the game are? 🤨

This is going to be a difficult one, despite their humiliation at the hands of Liverpool, unless of course their players want to send an adverse message about their Manager. Think Selles will need to consider a more conservative formation to protect our fragile defence/GK, but still have pace up top to hit them on the break and give us a chance of a goal. A great result would be a draw…an unbelievable result a tight win (we rarely look like scoring more than one). Bazunu AMN. Bednarek. ABK. KWP/Perraud Diallo. JWP. Lavia. Sully/Walcott. Alcarez. Che.

Ran the calculator and still had us relegated.