03 Mar 2018 14:27:31
Sims starts with Redmond in what could be a pacey and direct attacking line-up. Would rather see Gabbi playing off Carrillo than Tadic but it signals attacking intent. COYR.

1.) 03 Mar 2018
03 Mar 2018 15:49:40
If this is attacking what is defensive?

2.) 03 Mar 2018
03 Mar 2018 15:55:58
Well that puts paid to your attacking intent idea Figo. When will we ever see a change of ideas when it comes to attacking. Carillo good in the air but we take short corners? Just don’t get it. By the way where is everybody?

3.) 03 Mar 2018
03 Mar 2018 17:08:49
I'm guessing they stayed at home. as its cheaper and warmer to watch saturday reruns on the tv.

4.) 03 Mar 2018
03 Mar 2018 17:36:55
What can I say? On paper it looked direct and attacking. But how many times have we said that our team is performing worse than the sum of its parts. Today is another example.

The second half was much better and Butland (and Saints’ profligacy) kept the score at 0 – 0. That said, big opportunity missed. You can’t help but look at Swansea and wonder what could have been.

Another opportunity next weekend against Newcastle but games and chances are running out. This result just heaps more pressure on the Newcastle game. There’s still hope as we seem better away from home, West Brom are basically down after today, West Ham have a raft of injuries, Palace are missing Zaha and as I’ve said before, Huddersfield and Brighton have some horrible games coming up over the next few weeks. I know, I’m clutching at straws….

5.) 03 Mar 2018
03 Mar 2018 22:30:55
Figo
The first time I have seen a post from you that has any negativity . and rightly so. While having Simms and Redmond on at the same time looked a more positive approach, the way we actually played was almost identical to every other game. Redmond till actually look much more the incisive pass than he used to, Simms is very quick, agile and looks for the pass . Tadic, I have no idea what he brings to the team. But with only one Striker, the incisive passes have to be so good, so accurate . if they are actually made. Furthermore, when the pass was mad to Carrillo, he had no one to lay the ball off to.
brighter points were that Lemina continues to grow as a player, hoedt is improving as is Stevens .
Finally, Stoke had conceded over 50 goals, we played the same formation as we did against Man City . or Burnley . or Man U . or Bournemouth .
It is so sad to see the way we are playing, dis heartening.

6.) 04 Mar 2018
04 Mar 2018 10:59:28
Don’t get me wrong, I still feel we have a good chance of staying up, but every passing winnable game is eroding that hope. Newcastle, West Ham, Everton, Swansea, Bournemouth, Leicester are all games we should be able to pick up points from, but as many have said, we always seem to target not losing rather than winning. If we draw all of these games, safety will be very much in question. The trouble is, with MP at the helm and after another missed opportunity yesterday, I struggle now to have faith in any other positive outcome from these matches.

The players are low in confidence and self-belief, they are clearly not being coached to a standard that improves them as players and unites them as a team with a common purpose. None of the team seem to have actually improved as individuals over the course of the season and its such a shame as many are talented young players.

They need an injection from somewhere and 9 games is still enough time for a new face to come in and turn things around but I still cannot see this happening. As with VVD, the board have taken a gamble on MP and its backfired. Sadly, they haven’t learned their lesson from VVD as they continue to back their choice either stubbornly or naïvely, blindly and with their fingers crossed. The thing I can’t countenance is that if this decision is football based, its unjustified due to results and performances. If its business based, its unjustified as the loss of income following relegation will be huge, not just TV rights but we won’t be able to command high prices for our players in the transfer market and most of our squad will be on premier league wages so the club will struggle financially. If we stay up, its still been a damaging season and it will be hard to convince our best squad members to stick with us no matter who is the manager next season. We don’t want to be a selling club but with a season like this, we may have little choice in the matter. Either way, its going to be a tough summer.

7.) 04 Mar 2018
04 Mar 2018 13:19:01
Figo, have to agree with all of that, although firm it is also a fair and balanced view of where we are. For me, I have noticed much less talk of sacking MP2, not because we suddenly believe in him, but because we are resigned to the fact that he is staying, at least to the end of the season.

I cannot understand how / why he is still here, this is NOT his fault - why would he resign. 9 games is still a qtr of a season and the potential to win almost as many points as we have now. We need a minimum of 3 wins and a draw, this is far in excess of the points per game ratio thus far.

Think we can do it, but more concerned than ever after some recent results of the rivals, palace always have a couple of wins in the locker, swans have pushed on, as have Newcastle and others.

People talk of one defeat in 8, this is true but it is also on win in 16.

8.) 05 Mar 2018
05 Mar 2018 17:58:12
On Football365, Daniel Storey described our results this season as ‘death by a thousand draws’ – I love this word play and boy is it on the money. After Saturday we rank 1st in the league for number of home draws (7) and number of draws total (13).

9.) 06 Mar 2018
06 Mar 2018 00:20:34
If only it was 2 points for a win.