Smirking_Saint

Probably a bad choice of words on my part because I agree we definitely weren’t safe… I should of said we played primarily to maintain possession first

It was an ok system, based on a tactical model that has now been found to he outdated and even Pep is having to re invent himself It, imo had positives and negatives, it allowed us to build up immense pressure on back lines that sat deep, but was, as we saw against better sides both in the. champ and prem, relatively easy to exploit if you had quick and effective counters The point is, we’ll have to work hard to undo the auto mechanisms coached into players to make them look for safety before opportunity

I think THB is the closest to it, JWP was ok but more of a consistent grafter rather than inspirer on the pitch But yeah… we’re definitely missing somebody

My main issue is leadership really, we’ve been really lacking there since Fonte left, and I don’t buy into Stephens being the answer to that, but Im not going down that debate again Ultimately I want to see a change in two personality areas, one, we HAVE to become more resilient, we have had a real tendancy to completely fold under pressure over the last 4-5 years and as such need pitch leaders to change that Secondly is what you touched on, Russell apent a lot of time training certain characteristics into the side, and it will take time to coach that out of them, but overall we need to become less risk averse and, especially at this level, assert our dominance on the opposition with actual progressive action, not just possession for possession sake

I do think ots a difficult balancing act really, spend bug money now and we likely have to re arm with less funds if we go up Don’t spend in key areas and we risk not getting promoted I do think both us and Ipswich go up in the autos though, we just look stronger than the rest on paper Tough position for the club really

Stewart or Downs can hold the ball up, Id imagine its why Downs has been brought in System wise, I do agree with you and @hypochondriac, Im just suggesting we’re not in as dire position as many may think. As it stands, Fernandes and Dibling are here, the club has said it wants more creativity, so I’d imagine we’ll get that as well as replacing TD or MF is necessary We scored 6 goals in pre season largely without MF, TD or DD AND playing RF at No.10…. Not that I’m too concerned with pre season form anyway Im sure we’ll be ok

Im at odds at this frankly.. Armstrong - 30+ G/A last EFL season Archer - 18 goals last EFL season bookies top goal scorer favourite BBD - 22 and 14 for blackburn in the EFL Stewart - 36/70 for Sunderland (albeit league 1) Dibling/Fernandes/Robinson - The former two looked largely excellent in the prem, with a slight TD drop off and JR has been excellent so far in pre season Downs is an unknown quantity, and of course we could lose people, but we aren’t in the premier league anymore, even if the above output is halved I think we have more than enough… do we have to build on the above ? Of course But I really don’t think, comparative to other squads we are in bad shape at all… we can afford to ‘wait’ for the right targets, where as the likes of Brum and Wrexham, as good as their recruitment looks, cannot

Ive said all along I can see us keeping one of Fernandes or Dibling UNLESS they make life very uncomfortable for us Either one is likely a huge boon in the Championship, but like you say, think we’re in the driving seat as far as negotiations are concerned, generally

Thanks captain obvious

Are you being serious 🤣

People losing their minds over a loan we basically all knew was coming Ramsdale had an agreement that he could go if we were relegated, not sure any of the promoted teams interested him much, but we can’t deny him a move to Newcastle 4m fee with wages covered is a decent deal, if they buy him at the end of the year great… if they don’t we have a PL keeper returning

Good move for him, came in and had a real resurgence after his villa move, definitely repaired some bridges in my mind. Was arguably our best defender over the last couple of years, which shows how badly we’ve fallen off really. Good deal for us, good deal for him, good to see the squad trimming continue 28m for him, Onuachu and Sulemana is mad business, well done Spoors/Rasmus and long may it continue

But you’re basing their creativity from a Prem season where effectively nobody came away with much credit, it was almost impossible for any of them to look particularly ‘creative’ I will say though, both Dibling and Fernandes were the only two that looked like they could affect premier quality opposition, so I find it difficult to believe they wouldn’t be a huge cut above in the Championship. For me, a front 4 of Robinson, Fernandes, Dibling and hopefully a striker with ability and confidence is too much for this level, throw in a firing AA somehow and its more than capable

Who can get that will potentially offers more than those two in this division?

Just the whole release clause activated then the club throwing toys out the prams just odd

That whole saga was very weird

Dibling has never played there and Matsuki is injured

Dupe post

All of thats fair, Id like to think Baz has matured a bit over last year, I still think there’s a better keeper in there than we saw under Martin, and RM had a knack of piling undue pressure on GKs and backlines… but all that said its hard to argue it’ll be one of our weakest positions I just feel both are, good enough, as long as the rest of the squad is more cohesive and less risk taking, atleast in our own box, then the last time we relied on either Of course the best thing to happen would be that Ramsdale stays, unfortunately I doubt it

All of thats fair, Id like to think Baz has matured a bit over last year, I still think there’s a better keeper in there than we saw under Martin, and RM had a knack of piling undue pressure on GKs and backlines… but all that said its hard to argue it’ll be one of our weakest positions I just feel both are, good enough, as long as the rest of the squad is more cohesive and less risk taking, atleast in our own box, then the last time we relied on either Of course the best thing to happen would be that Ramsdale stays, unfortunately I doubt it

Im not massively worried yet… pre season friendlies, especially on camps are purely for conditioning abd assessing the condition of the squad My thoughts are that we just don’t have anyone to play there outside of Fernandes

But my point is, if we replace Ramsdale this year, its likely we’ll have to replace again next year.. unless we get lucky… and that’s fine, if we somehow manage to find a player good enough to carry through unto the prem then go for it, but I ‘feel’ like we would be better spending on a winger, No.10 and perhaps a CB or ST first

I agree, but also not sure GKs are the issue they’re made out to be in the Championship IF we are a team looking to win it Realistically I think the club needs more surgery in other areas, AND replacing McCarthy or Baz this year means we’ll be stuck with a below par GK if we get promoted So.. to clarify, I don’t think McCarthy ir Baz are good enough, but in the absence of a manager intent on putting our own backline under pressure for 90 mins I don’t think its as much of an issue

Wages mainly, pretty sure he is our highest earner, so I do see a situation where he moves to either a neely promoted team or a team that suddenly needs a keeper (injury ?)

It has more to do with the fact that most clubs have a first team keeper sorted, and those that don’t probably have issues with PSR and as such 25m for Ramsdale is probably a lot Id imagine he’ll go out on loan towards the end of the TW