DaveAV1

Whilst I don’t agree with quite a bit you say, in all honesty I’m afraid I have to agree with this post. Mistakes are inevitable, but making the same ones every week worries me. I hope Smith can turn both this game and the season around. However if we don’t show enough fight I doubt our owners will show their sentimental side. I’m not sure the recruitment team have covered themselves in glory either.

I understand people being disappointed. What I don’t understand is the relish with which some fans rip into our manager and certain players. Where is the support when the chips are down, when it is needed the most? Criticism fine, but some people are obviously so delighted at times like this that I find it as baffling as I find it unhelpful.

We do seem to lack aggression and fight. We need to buy some in January.

As long as they don’t open against us!

I’m on board with this idea and feel we shouldn’t ignore the option of resigning John Carew, Peter Withe or Andy Gray either.

I think you will probably agree TRO, that we are not at the stage in our development as a team, both individually or collectively to compare us with the likes of Leicester. We were promoted via the playoffs with a number of players either on loan or at the end of their contracts/careers. The result is that we have had to assemble a squad over a single summer, which although our new owners have financial clout, we are still under the restrictive challenges of FFP. So putting a squad together that has needed 12 new players was always going to be a challenge, even with £130m spent. If we are still in the PL next season and spend a further £130m on perhaps only 3 or 4 players then you may be able to find the quality of players which I think you are alluding to. But for now we have to be realistic as to where we are given the time scale. Hopefully the players we have are good enough to compete with the bottom half of the PL but we need to be on the very best form to get much out of the upper half. Results up to now seem to bare this out. The team and it’s coaches will improve as they gain experience, however we have to be both realistic and patient.

You’re right. The problem is that football is a glamorous business that attracts all sorts of dreamers and crooks. The dreamers run up debts that they have no chance of repaying unless they hit the jackpot of the PL. EG Tony Xia. The crooks know that if they get close enough to the money they’ll get the chance to skim some of it off. They con a few dreamers into investing then walk away when everything goes pear shaped. EG Tony Xia.

There are very few teams, if any at all, with players that are so rounded and complete that they can play different styles. I’m yet to see Man City under Pepe that sets up defensively. All teams recruit to suit the style that the manager wants. I can’t think of a team that can just switch styles at the click of a switch. I’m not ignoring the fact that good teams, no matter what their general style is, have the ability to grind out results, but that tends to be down to the overall standard of the players in the team. To suggest that we are somehow a poor team because we don’t have varying styles of play is somewhat bizarre. In fact up until Smith arrived one of the problems we have had was that we didn’t actually have an identity.

Additionally isn’t there some sort of leeway for new owners?

I think the fact that Mings didn’t play had a big influence on the way we played from the back. I know he’s out for a few games but I think we will have worked on keeping to our usual game plan with whoever plays in his place.

I hope that isn’t just a generic, we like to keep things close to our chest remark, but a real dig at the pathetic Brum Mail and their copy and paste “journalists”. The worst local rag in history who I have nothing but contempt for.

I remember him, he had a one legged cousin called Oneleg Willy who entered the World Arse Kicking Championship. I’m not sure how he got on but I believe he fell on hard times.

Ha ha you’re right about Lansbury! Look I don’t think he has always got his subs right this season and agree that we were sloppy at the start. But their kids have got plenty of talent and played with nothing to lose. Nyland made some good saves, but goal keepers are allowed to do that. It wasn’t perfect but overall it was a professional job done in a game in which we were on a hiding to nothing. Their coach thanked our players for the way in which we played the game. By which I think he means we weren’t over aggressive and didn’t bully them. Which is probably why we started a little sloppy.

Thanks for posting that Mike, it’s absolutely wonderful. Pure love and no glory hunters. At one point towards the end there’s a bloke in an Arsenal shirt looking p1ssed off and totally overwhelmed. Love it! UTV!!!

Lansbury was substituted. Why would you risk Jack or John even if Jota was knackered, which I don’t think he particularly was, but he hasn’t had much game time recently and so it was probably beneficial to keep him on the pitch. James Chester was playing his first game in 11 months, he probably was at risk of over doing it if he’d stayed on and so he was substituted. I’d say the reason he had some big hitters on the bench was in case things weren’t going our way and we needed a goal. As it happened the game was over by halftime and so that wasn’t necessary. All in all I think he got the balance about right.

His late sub scored a confidence busting goal and we strolled through the second half no-one was knackered. We were 4-0 up and cruising, I can only imagine your response if he had brought on McGinn or Grealish and they had picked up an injury.

Cup

He has been poor for further back than the last Scotland game. I’d be sceptical of one off newspaper reports.

To be fair a chunk of that time was Christmas for everyone.....

I think we should name a set of goals at one end The Ron Saunders Goal. That set should be 110% of the normal size and should always be the end which we are attacking.

That’s very generous if somewhat cautious, but if we get an extra point for some bizarre reason is it possible to swap the Ferrari for something a little more practical? I’d hate to come across as ungrateful but it’s been snowing quite heavily here today so a 4x4 pickup is really a necessity as is a tow bar. Colour I’m not so fussed about, but a decent reversing camera is always handy. Obviously there will be a fair bit of change from the cost of a Ferrari, so just stuff the cash in a carrier bag and leave it behind the drivers seat. Don’t worry I’ll use the bag again and dispose of it responsibly when it’s past useable. Thanks and have a wonderful Christmas.

Ha ha! Sorry JM. We probably all need a break from this antisocial media nonsense

I think Pochettino wouldn’t be gettable for us at the moment, regardless of future ambitions. He’s been touted for Man U and Bayern Munich. Now personally between those two and us, there’s only one team I’d choose, but I’m not sure Mr Pochettino has the same sort of love in his heart that I do for the team born under a gas lamp. All very hypothetical anyway.

I’m old enough to have had the pleasure to be around during the Saunders days and those days were truly wonderful. The man himself has been rightly lauded since his passing and the phrase many people have used to sum him up was, “Would you bet against us.” Now that was a wonderful piece of psychology by Ron to bring hope to supporters and players alike and of course it worked. However I remember that Ipswich game and we really didn’t play well. I can only imagine the social media posts after that game had it existed. Not good enough, bottled it, players should have been rested etc. You could have said the same after our final game at Highbury. As it was results favoured us and Saunders great heart and spirit that he instilled into the team brought us through and we deservedly won the league. What I’m trying to say is, even the best teams aren’t perfect and even the greatest of seasons have their low points. No matter what level we’re at, sticking together, not folding when the pressure is on and avoiding knee jerk reactions will stand us in good stead in the long term. I know the modern world is an impatient place, but old principles still have an important role to play. Sacking managers every few months hasn’t exactly worked well in the past. I recall Klopp getting stick a couple of seasons ago and heaven knows what they would have said about Fergie finishing something like 11th in, I think it was in his second season.

Ironically I think he may be safe if we got relegated rather than just stayed up. If we slump and look like going down in Feb, then I think he will go at that point. If we go down on the last day by a fine margin then they may feel that he can be the man to bring us back up. If however we just stay up and the board think that perhaps we should have done better and he’s reached his ceiling then again I think Dean could go. Whatever happens I believe the board will review the situation with an open mind in the summer and make a decision fairly quickly one way or the other.