skell

1 hour ago, flashingqwerty said:

Did he?  Terry was here before him, and Shakespeare was brought in by the team, not only Smith.

As far as I know, O'Kelly is the only coach specifically brought in by Smith.

Not a glowing review.

Shakespeare was brought in by the team. What a strange comment. Clearly Smith, you know the head coach

As was kelly and Terry developed under him

On 14/02/2021 at 23:26, flashingqwerty said:

I never said manager out.  Yet again you are putting words 8nto my mouth.

You might want to spend more time actually reading what's written rather than looking for things between the lines, because you're finding things that simply are not there.

Apologies. You were pretty brutal to him though. So, to be clear. You would stick with Smith?

On 14/02/2021 at 23:23, flashingqwerty said:

How much of it is down to DS and how much is down to the coaching and recruitment staff?

We don't know what's happening behind closed doors, or what might have been with a different manager.

No we dont. But as he chose most of his staff and has developed them I'd say he deserves praise

8 hours ago, flashingqwerty said:

You make me laugh.  If scoring 1 goal in 7 games as the only positive contribution is all a player needs to do to keep his place in your opinion, then there is no point in addressing anything else you say, as you clearly have very low standards.

Yeh he needs changing. There are a million fans with a million ideas of what we need to do. But sulking and saying manager out is not not ideal and needed at this time. I I thought the fickle fans had disappeared 

8 hours ago, flashingqwerty said:

You agree about Smith's mistakes, but won't agree it's his fault?

Yeah, makes sense...

I just think he knows.more.than me and you. I you shouldn't jump on managers back at every opportunity. Especially one who has.brought us so far. 

6 minutes ago, flashingqwerty said:

Nakamba was our best player in the 2 games he played and got dropped.

Barkley, goal aside, has done less than nothing in 7 games.

This one change would have meant a completely different game dynamic where our midfield was not constantly overrun.

Its no coincidence that as soon as Barkley went off Brighton were suddenly much less threatening.  Also no coincidence that our best performances have been games where Nakamba has played as he helps us control midfield areas.

Barkley is a luxury player, and as we are in such bad form, we cannot afford to keep him in the starting 11.  Pretty simple.

I agree with most of what you say but the Smith attack is just bizarre and unjustified 

2 minutes ago, smg said:

We have had a great season so far but we are not good enough to accommodate Barkley, he is a luxury we cannot afford, let’s be honest even Chelsea have recognised this with the kind of players they can surround him with. When he is in the team he offers nothing when we don’t have the ball ( to be honest very little when we do have it) and this just puts extra pressure on other players. McGinn  and ,Luiz cannot play their normal games because they are covering for him, the back four are under increased pressure and are more likely to make errors, I believe Konsa has looked more and more vulnerable because of this in recent matches. I know he isn’t a popular choice but Nakamba may give us the solid base we are missing to allow others to flourish 

Yep. Nakamba and Luiz, let SJM push up in Barkleys position 

3 minutes ago, flashingqwerty said:

Leeway on not making changes when its clearly not working?

Leeway on playing someone who is a complete liability and offering nothing for 7 games?

Leeway when Nakamba keeps getting left out despite clearly being in the best cm in the games he has played?

Leeway in not rotating players when playing 6 games in 18 days despite players clearly looking fatigued?

Not making subs when playing poorly?

2 years of the same issues, sorry, I'm all out of leeway.

Yep. Were not far off Europe so leeway on all of the above. I'll humour you and my comments.

Leeway on not making changes when its clearly not working?  YES HE SHOULD HAVE MADE CHANGES.

Leeway on playing someone who is a complete liability and offering nothing for 7 games? WHO? BARKLEY HAS SCORED. TELL ME YOUR STARTING 11. I AM INTRIGUED

Leeway when Nakamba keeps getting left out despite clearly being in the best cm in the games he has played? 2 GAMES RIGHT. HE DID OK. DIDNT.JUSTIFY A START

Leeway in not rotating players when playing 6 games in 18 days despite players clearly looking fatigued? WE HAD A WEEK OFF. BENCH NOT.GOOD ENOUGH . WHO DONYOU ROTATE? 

Not making subs when playing poorly? YOU HAD THIS ALREADY.DOESNT COUNT

2 years of the same issues, sorry, I'm all out of leeway. ARE YOU INCLUDING A PROMOTION AND SURVIVAL WITH AN AVERAGE TEAM. HES DONE WELL .RIGHT

Just now, flashingqwerty said:

I never wanted him in, and my stance hasn't really changed.

Great bloke, Villa fan, but I don't think he's a particularly good manager.  Good coach, improves players, but tactically, poor.

Christ. Have you seen our position in the league. A bit of leeway please.

20 minutes ago, the_eristic said:

Zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz........................ wait, it's over?

We need some energy and composure badly. So behind the play all night, poor touches, poor passes and giveaways, poor decisions, barely involved our attackers. I thought that breakaway by Jack from Bertie was going to be it, but then the ball went to Barkley and he sent it straight into traffic instead of just rolling out to Ollie in space on his left. Brighton learned from Hammers to effectively double mark Jack on the left, none of our side able to take advantage of the space because they were too sluggish and/or sloppy. Sanson and Nakamba in for Ross & SJM for me. Not sure about Trez for Bert, maybe because it's Leicester next but Trez just has next to nothing going forward.

2 minutes ago, TRO said:

Brighton are a team of spoilers...but they showed what can be done, with Hard work and physicality.....we have too many ball watchers, when we haven't got the ball.

Yep. Too many ball watchers indeed. Midfield needs a shake up. Stick Trez in there

18 minutes ago, the_eristic said:

Zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz........................ wait, it's over?

We need some energy and composure badly. So behind the play all night, poor touches, poor passes and giveaways, poor decisions, barely involved our attackers. I thought that breakaway by Jack from Bertie was going to be it, but then the ball went to Barkley and he sent it straight into traffic instead of just rolling out to Ollie in space on his left. Brighton learned from Hammers to effectively double mark Jack on the left, none of our side able to take advantage of the space because they were too sluggish and/or sloppy. Sanson and Nakamba in for Ross & SJM for me. Not sure about Trez for Bert, maybe because it's Leicester next but Trez just has next to nothing going forward.

I would ay McGinn or trez in the Barkley position. We need more drive

30 minutes ago, holteend1982 said:

Great goal but couldnt celebrate unfortunately. 

Me neither sad isnt it. I like VAR but then use.needs to be reduced by 80%

44 minutes ago, TRO said:

He is not a dedicated defensive midfielder.

No but next to Luiz he could be, clearly like Luiz he can join the attack now and again. Any other ideas?

1 hour ago, Zhan_Zhuang said:

Marvelous 

I'm not convinced. Seems too small without having a good.range.of.passing

5 minutes ago, Paul33 said:

The only area that is letting us down is in midfield and Smith needs to give that a lot more thought ..... it has no balance and seems to be uncomfortably weighted towards attacking players who don't offer much resistance when not in possession.

Don't care what McGinn says, he is either still short of fitness or last season's injury has taken something out of his game. He is a pale shadow of the player who started last season ..... we now have a John McGinn who can't/doesn't run with the ball and that leaves him looking Championship standard on a good day.

Barkley is quite a lazy player and only lights up when he's on or around the ball. He needs to do a lot more and he needs to recognise his defensive responsibilities. Traore will not make it at this level and he never was going to. He is as lightweight and lacking influence as fans of his last club said he was. Waste of money and nowhere near as good as Trez !

Grealish and Watkins are fine but without those midfielders stepping up to the plate, they are going to struggle as will our defensive unit who once again were left horribly outnumbered and exposed by lazy midfielders not tracking back.

Good start to the season but some serious questions being asked now and I think Smith will have to at least change the midfield mix if not drop one or two of the "names" in favour of more resilient players.
 

 

Spot on

 It's the midfield mix.that is causing us.problems. now we have Barkley who doesnt like.tracking back along with Jack. This is a recipe for disaster.  We need a defensive Mid next to Luiz ASAP. Who are these resilient players.you talk of?

5 minutes ago, wilko154 said:

So who is the box to box, physical midfielder that you are playing?

Stick mcginn as defensive mid

1 minute ago, M_Afro said:

The one that we have needed to procure in each of the transfer windows since Smith was appointed and failed to do so. It is so obvious but he just cannot see it!

I even put Billings name down as an option. Anyone!

So Smith last year he played too attacking and was to naive last year. Roll on one year,  he is playing a striker with 3 attacking players who dont defend well.   This and Leeds was on him. He needs to learn from this to stop teams cutting us.open so easily. We miss a genuine ball.winning midfielder, if it was.me McGinn needs to be in a deep lying role with Luiz 

3 hours ago, Vive_La_Villa said:

Midfield getting overrun again.  Maybe we need a game away from home we’ll tighten up again. It seems If Mcginn doesn’t play well the team doesn’t. 
 

cracking freekicks though.

The problem is.midfield too many attacking players who dont prioritize tracking back

3 hours ago, samjp26 said:

I really hope clawing back those goals doesn't mask an unbelievably poor half, and overall poor performance. I would drop Barkley to the bench personally, he needs to understand that he doesn't just get into the starting XI by default - he needs to work.

Trez changed the game with his workrate but it shows just how much the other players took their foot off the gas just like the last match. Need a serious kick up the arse.

Barkley could.be a defensive liability unless Smith changes the system.  McGinn as a defensive midfielder would.work

3 minutes ago, JAMAICAN-VILLAN said:

Yeah but aside from that, there are multiple times I have seen him actually have a better pass around the box, and either lose it or run into a dead end.

WITH players moving around and actually in better positions than him.

Anyway forget it.

I agree and it does make us predictable when teams sit back.  Just wait when we have pace and skill in a Abundance  up top.  traore  and xxxx better be good!

4 minutes ago, JAMAICAN-VILLAN said:

Why is it that whenever Jack makes poor decisions, it has to do with everyone but him?

So now he is retro actively making certain decisions because of Wesley who has been out for longer than he has actually played, and Trez and El Ghazi?

Can't we just say he makes bad decisions sometimes?

 

 

Wait, what! Who said that! It wasnt me. I can say it, look.  Jack  sometimes makes poor decisions.

My point is that if we have 2 decent wingers who can actually do something he will play the ball out quicker.   

51 minutes ago, Johnnyp said:

Moving Jack into the middle still doesn't take away from the fact ( and nobody wants to say it ) he doesn't move it quick enough. Fantastic player but it's a side of his game that lets him down .

He doesnt move it quick because he has had wesley trez and elghazi around him for 12.months. I have no doubt that with Traore and Rashika?  Ahead of.him you will see him look for the quick outballs

19 minutes ago, allani said:

Best thing to do with 15 seconds of the game left is to shoot high, wide and handsome.  No chance of the keeper catching it and punting the ball upfield to give them one more chance.

It was so annoying at the end why they didnt run forn the corners with the ball

52 minutes ago, sne said:

3 points is 3 points but this was very much how it looked last season and that is worrying.

Gotta get a few new signings in asap.

To be fair in the midfield and attack only 1 player has changed. So to be expected