MaVilla

To be fair el Ghazi has prob been our best winger for tracking back in recent games.

Any idea how long he's out for?

i tend to agree with this, i think another full season in the championship allowing DS to build the right team, would prob be good overall for us, we just arent ready right now i dont think. It doesnt mean i dont want to go up, of course i do, but right now we just arent ready right now, i think another full season under our belt with a few new faces and a fully and smooth running DS system, we will hopefully be a different prospect next season.

Going to try and be level headed. We got taught a lesson by the best or second best team in the division, Leeds & Norwich are clearly the best two teams in this division currently, lets be realistic and say we are aiming for the playoffs. We have come through the super tough Nov/Dec fixtures with 4 wins, 3 draws and 1 loss, pity we lost to Leeds like that, but overall we have done pretty well the last 8 games, and probably deserved to have won 6, drawn 2 and lost 1 (but ofc it doesnt work like that). We are 4th in the form table over the last 8 games, which isnt the end of the world considering the teams wee have played. The true test is how we do in the next 10 games versus teams we should mostly be expected to do well against. As we all know, defensively we are really poor, the GK scenario is hopefully sorted, we desperately need the back 4 sorting, and a ball playing DM i think, if we cant get this sorted in Jan, i prob think we will even struggle for the playoffs. I know some ppl seem to be losing their s*** over the Leeds game, but at the end of the day, they are/were better than we were, pretty simple, although i still think DS is doing a sterling job with a) the players at his disposal, and b) the bare carcass of a back line we have. We do need to get back to winning ways though, we have W 1, D 3, L 1 of our last 5 games. Regardless of what people say, i honestly beleive if SB was still in charge, the Nov/Dec run of games wouldnt have been anywhere near as good for us, I can see what DS is trying to do and i fully support it, we just need the time to get some players in who suit the system and for the whole team to settle in to that system, i tend to think we will still be in the Championship next season, but im also hopeful that if that is the case, we will be a team and a half next season once DS has signed a few of his own players and really got his system ticking over. We need to give DS some time, the team was left in a right mess by his predecessor (defensively), i have never seen anything like it in terms of hoe SB left us players wise at the back, its almost like purposeful sabotage, or grand incompetence.

I do feel for bree to be honest, I was hoping he would get his chance at some point and hopefully develop in to a good player for us, but not in this type of scenario where he is thrown in at CB to cover for short falls in his first game for a while. Poor fella. Feel like switch in the matrix, "not like this, not like this" - falls over dead

You shouldn't be too worried mate, we have 3 x right backs in our back 4 again, thank you Bruce you left us in a great state

I'm surprised we dropped El Ghazi to be honest, didn't have a great game last time out but he's been class.

So is that Hutton - Chester - bree - Elmo?? So axel is injured then?, are the rumours true that he has gone back to man u,?

nice post, this is one reason that im more than happy, look at how many of the top teams we have played the last 10 games, to have as many points as we have the last 10 games....to me.....is pretty impressive, especially under a new manager, learning a new system of play, with no reinforcements from a transfer window, is super impressive in my eyes. We were all taking about how hard the Nov/Dec fixture list was due to the teams we were due to play, to have won 4 / drawn 3 on the last 7 against all teams in the top 10, is good, and anyone being honest would have taken that if offered it at the end of October, no doubt. (15 points out of a possible 21 against some really tough teams) I just hope and pray that once the leeds game is over, we continue the good form vs the next run of 10 games (Swansea, PNE, QPR, Wigan, Hull, Ipswich, Reading, Sheff Utd, Brentford, WBA), i think the real test will now be what we can do in those 10 games, mostly against teams we should beat on paper - (we should prob beat 7 or 8 of those 10 if we play as we should/are capable of? - the other 2 we could win depending on how we perform on the night).

Cant really blame DS though, he has been playing catch up, in terms of the form tables since DS took over, we are 5th, and in those games we have played quite a few of the team above or around us. In the last 7 games, our form would put us 3rd. I agree if Bruce had us in 12th we wouldnt be happy, but i would argue with anyone who thinks DS hasnt had a massively positive impact on the team, style of play and fan happiness. I think DS has done a great job too far, still a lot of work to do, but in my opinion DS it going in exactly the right direction.

Automatics are a pipe dream in reality, wholly unrealistic. Playoffs are our realistic target really.

so after today's matches we sit 12th with a game in hand, a loss vs Leeds tomorrow obviously keeps us in 12th (5 points off playoffs), a draw would take us up to 9th (4 points off playoffs), and a win would take us up to 7th (2 points off playoffs).

Will prob be Mcginn, BB and hourihane in midfield, assuming BB is fit enough to start.

If we are buying a CB as backup I don't see the point, if we want a backup CB we should just recall Elphick. We shouldn't be wasting money really, Axels and Elphick contract expire at the end of this season (loan/deal exp ofc), so why would we not look to spend wisely and buy the best CB we can if we intend to spend money on one? Or, recall Elphick as backup if it's backup we need, and wait till summer to invest in a starting CB, then spend the money in Jan on a LB and anything else we need desperately.

Personally i would replace Chester, i dont deny he is a capable player, but a 5ft 10 CB is just wrong for me, he will always be at risk in the air, and especially in the championship that's a big issue (at least in my eyes). I think Chester got away with the issue under SB because we played quite defensively, but under a DS system I think he can get exposed too easily, and has done at times.

Who would he replace in our defence do you think?, Axel or Chester?

you are technically correct, but lets not judge the symptom, lets look at the disease, the fact we are in the championship, third season in, sitting here saying we dont have a better forward at the club than Abraham who is on loan, kinda points to the past/historic mis-management and disastrous decisions that have lead us to this point. My point isnt that Abraham/Bolasie/El Ghazi are/arent better than what we have, but they need to be considered as part of the overall picture over many years, and it shows that to even be having this discussion shows how far we have fallen, we shouldnt even be in the position to have a scenario where loan players are better than our own. But, we are, and such is life, we are where we are because we deserve to be, but lets have faith in Deano & Purslow

Thing is bunns contract ends this summer, and we send moriera back, we will actually be I the reasonable position of only having kalinic, nyland and sarkic on our books gk wise, so not too bad.

Can we not just play Kalinic against Leeds?, dye his hair blonde and when someone asks why Nyland is looking a bit taller, we can just say "Nyland has started sporting heels for the odd game to increase his visibility at corners and set pieces".......then we just hope they swallow it?

STEVE BRUCE - ATTENDANCE AT COMPUTERS FOR DUMMIES - DAY 1

Ok cool so he will learn the rough and tumble of real football then

right cool, just looked at av. attendance, Stratfords is roughly 175, but, if hes first team??, suppose its decent? honest question, is the standard any better than U23 in terms of development??

The league Stratford in, is below the conference right?

was that Barnsley home or away?

it's fine, hes 6ft 7, add another 2 feet for arms, he literally just needs to lie down with his arms stretched out and we wont concede joke btw before ppl start imploding