UpweySaint

He certainly harries less than Archer. Give him some credit he had a good flick down to Arma (I think) later on in the half but we looked much more mobile and aggressive with a three of Archer, Scienza and Armstrong. Shout to Armstrong for some really clever movement and showing a bit of experience- simple things like stopping a quick goal kick when we were overcommitted. Overall some positives today but more questions than answers really - also need to caveat it all with a much changed Liverpool side in a midweek cup game. Are we better as a five? If so, what’s the back three and what does it mean for Azaz? Did Jelert offer a bit more than Mads? Is there a place for Armstrong in the side? I think Still has got some tricky calls to make over the next few weeks. You never know - we might master more than one system/style of play and be able to adjust to opponents…

Maybe harsh because the second half has been a bit flat and coming on as a sub can be tough but Downs has barely made anything stick. We aren’t having too much of the ball this half so need him to make more of an impact.

If you see it as a lecture okay. It was intended as a polite ask on my part. Onto the footie I guess Jander may get a chance to show us what he can do on Saturday with Downes likely unavailable.

I anticipate you already know but the majority of people coming from Eritrea and Afghanistan are Asylum Seekers. I think you may well be doing schtick. Either way, fancy keeping it to the football on here? There is enough divisive stuff elsewhere to keep us all angry - whatever our politics or worldview. I would be interested to see what Jander offers but I wonder if it might be too soon. You are spot on about tempo though- we’ve looked our best this season when we have moved the ball quickly and with purpose. I think both Downes and Charles are capable of it - moreso Charles - but it may need coaxing out of them. A clean sheet away from home would be good. I don’t see us scoring three but could see a 2-0 - reasonably early goal, second if they open up sort of game.

Pretty much this. If we don’t get into gear quick enough for the autos and lose a play off for example that could be ‘acceptable’ in the context of noticeable upward trajectory that we think we could build on the following season. If we scrape in and we’re still scratching our heads about how best to utilise the squad it’s a different story.

True. I think I was still having glimmers of hope after the first handful of games last season. I may well end up looking stupid but I just don’t see us not coming good this season. I think there is too much proven championship quality to not have us in the top six come the business end of the season. How quickly things come together is the bit that worries me, if we don’t kick into gear quick enough we might not be able to catch the automatics - assuming some teams pull away. Again I could be wrong but I don’t see anybody who is going to piss the league this year - it could be quite close. Hull away isn’t a doddle but does feel like the sort of game we need to start ticking off with points in the bag to build momentum. They’re not up to much. Without wanting to get too into the Martin stuff the run we went on (was it after Leeds?) was important - you could see the players believing we would win week in, week out.

Change of ownership to who? Who are you hoping buys the club? They’ve made mistakes for sure but they have invested in the club without taking money out. They have admitted mistakes and took action to try to correct them. It’s five games into a season. Five. We have turned over almost an entire squad and made signings most agree are sensible- Fellows, Azaz, Roerslev … I genuinely don’t know what some fans expectations are for the club/owners. we’ve made a lot of change and it might not come good immediately.

Yeah, it does feel a bit reactionary. Downes has been a bit meh so far this season. The pairing with him and Charles hasn’t really clicked but we have also just changed shape after an international break so this may yet develop. We have a lot of games coming up so I expect Janders will get opportunities to press his claim but I don’t think we can assume he walks straight in even if he ultimately proves to be a better player than Downes.

Fair point on the awkward run. Another way of looking at it (if you feel positive) is that we arguably have one of the better squad depths in the league and the fixture pile up may impact others more than us. We need to build relationships and consistency so I can’t see us wanting to rotate at will but I feel fairly confident that many of the players we swap in as needed would be starting for other top end championship clubs.

This. It was dross but we came away with a point and it won’t define our season. We need to get some momentum going before the gap starts to open too much but no need to panic just yet.

Been on the beers or is this a serious take? Sacking a manager six games into a season after changing almost an entire squad… we’re not Sheffield Utd for fuck sake, we’re mid table and have looked patchy. We need to improve for sure but throwing the pieces up in the air and starting again by sacking the manager this early in a season if a bizarre suggestion in my book.

Based on what?

We’ve signed a cm and potentially have a full back lined up. I’m hoping we start to hit our stride after the international break.

Rowe has gone to Bologna. Can’t imagine Cresswell coming cheap or Sargent coming at all.

The Lazio game in preseason was the high point unfortunately. I thought he seemed like a bargain considering the goals he had got for Sheff Utd in the run in. Confidence and systems likely play a part - I wonder if somebody else will get a tune out of him?