avfc_in_essex

I haven't posted on here for a while but I couldn't help but laugh at some of the previous comments. Ayew was one of the only players to come out of last season with any credibilaty and against Wednesday last week he looked like the only player we had with any premiership quality. Have only seen highlights from today but by all accounts he was excellent again. If we can hang onto him we will have a much better chance of promotion regardless of whether he is played out wide, up top or as a number 10

Whilst true, a club in Spurs position could give Adama a better chance to progress especially with more first team opportunities in Europa League, domestic cups etc. (more likely to progress than us). Hopefully it won't happen and he'll be here next season

Defensively he is poor but I'm convinced he would develop a player like Adama far better than any of our previous managers in the past 5 years

What worries me is that he could leave without any of us seeing the player he could become. There are managers and scouting networks who would have noticed his potential who could bring the best out of him. OBE mentioned Hughes, but the likes of Martinez and Pochettino also spring to mind. The same applies to Grealish. It's one thing losing your best players to bigger clubs for large transfer fee's, but to lose young players and see them fulfil their potential elsewhere would be very hard to take.

Top post and absolutely spot on. His natural ability is clear to see, but the there's so much more he needs to learn. Not just defensively but when to release the ball as well.

Regardless of who comes in as chairman, we won't progress until Lerner is completely detached from the club. He's still going to be pulling the strings in some form or another. The club is rotten to the core due to one poor decision after another, all of which was under Lerner's control. We know money doesn't guarantee success, see QPR, but to find an alternative way to be successful, the club needs a structure from the top down. Something which has not been in place since Lerner bought the club. Good of luck to Hollis, but the fact that he thought it was a wind up when approached to become chairman already tells me he will be out of his depth. Hopefully I'm wrong but only time will tell.

Exactly what I thought when I read this article. What on earth have the so called hierarchy been doing these past few months?! They showed how inept they are by the way Delph situation was handled, and I would have thought that Fox in particular would have learnt his lesson and become a bit more forward thinking, instead of waiting for something to blow up in his face. Even if if we were planning on buying players suitable for the Championship, I wouldn't have minded so much because a strategy would be in place but there really is nothing. Absolute clowns the lot of them!!

The only benefit I can see is that if we shout loud enough and for long enough, Randy might take note from across the pond and reduce his asking price to a more realistic figure

Just reading back through the last few pages, I thought i was in the Westwood thread for a moment. Slight over reaction here i think. He might be a lot of things, but gash he is not. The difficulty with a player like Grealish is that he will always divide opinion amongst fans. I'm constantly arguing with another Villa fan at work, who refers to Grealish as a league 1 player because he is too lightweight. He is someone who would rather watch a player with pace and energy who chases every lost cause even if they lack quality. I would rather watch a player who is technically better than most with an eye for a pass and can dictate the tempo of a game. Unfortunately for us and for Jack, the players around him also need to be on the same wave length. Last season with Delph, Cleverley and Benteke to link up with, this brought the best out of him and you could see the talent that was there. The likes of Gabby, Gestede and Sinclair just aren't on the same level. Not a criticism of any of these players specifically, it's just a fact. Worse still, this does make him a luxury player in our side at the moment because he has no one to link up to bring the best from him (Ayew perhaps the exception but we are yet to see this yet). For me, he's one of the most exciting talents I've seen come out of the youth team and I hope that when (if!) we do start putting some good results together, we have found a system to play which allows him to be the focal point in, albeit in the championship.

That has to be one of the worst performances I have seen from us in the 20 years of following the club. When I saw the line up and saw Richardsons name in there, any sense of optimism from the West Ham game went. And then to see he was actually deployed in a more advanced role, has really made me question Garde's intention here. I mean seriously, what the **** was he thinking? We seem intent on trying to play with a possession based style. That's fine if the team is playing with confidence, but we aren't. The players panic on the ball and time and time again, we give it away in dangerous positions. Hutton is the one mostly at fault here and yesterday was no exception (see their 2nd). It was embarrassing yesterday watching our only striker having to drop to the halfway line to pick up the ball. We desperately needed another outlet and I was actually disappointed when I saw Gestede wasn't starting. I could see the positive input Garde was having on the team since he took over, but he needs to take full responsibility for that performance yesterday. The worst thing for me was that Norwich played badly, and they were better than us in every position on the pitch.

There were positives yesterday, particularly impressed with Ayew again. However, it's not just the defence that needs to improve, it's the midfield that needs to stop giving away the ball so carelessly. Watching the highlights again, we concede possession so much. Sanchez in particular needs to release the ball far quicker, even if he does smash it upfield so we can reshape. It too easy for other teams to exploit this weakness just by pressing high up the pitch. Their 3rd goal yesterday summed it up. Had Hutton controlled the ball properly, they wouldn't have scored. But instead he got caught out and Clark was too weak to deal with Deaney. These aren't isolated incidents and they need fixing quick.

Also, part of me is glad he decided to play for England. If he wants to get anywhere near the national team he'll have to perform much better for us, whereas he would have walked straight into Ireland's starting 11

In fairness to Jack, no one has performed well this season hence why we are in the position we are. But I agree with Garde's comments and I think they based around effort and attitude more than ability. It's easy for a young player to think he is the finished article especially with a lot of media hype, so they don't think they need to improve. Good managers know which players need a kick and which ones need a cuddle......and when. I got the impression that under Sherwood, even if Jack showed a total lack of effort for 90 minutes or in training, it would go under the radar. If Jack does take these comments negatively, that says more about his attitude than Garde's ability as a manager. However I doubt this to be the case.

He's getting better and better each time he plays. One thing I noticed last night is how much his hold up play has improved. Hopefully we will see him leading the line on his own soon with the likes of Gil, Grealish and Adama (or all three) behind.

Thought he did well today, really pleased he got his goal. He needs to be played through the middle, he makes some very good runs and we have the quality in Grealish and Gil to pick him out

I think Mcgliesh was a disaster from start to finish but the club does appear to be a bit of of graveyard for managers since O'Neill left. The curse of Lerner perhaps?

I don't think it's a case of Sherwood accepting defeat, it's more to do with him not being able to find the solution. He's tried 4-3-3, 4-2-3-1 and 3-5-2 and all have resulted in defeat. Unfortunately Tim has run out of ideas I too would love to know what goes on behind the scenes, and how much attention the coaching staff actually put into the opposition. From what I see, it appears they take this "just go out and play football" approach which doesn't work, hence why Tim has been out thought by almost every manager he's come up against this season. For or all his passion and enthusiasm, they are no substitute for thought and intelligence, and the quicker the club take action the better.

Brendan Rodgers will be out of a job soon....

Liverpool were there for the taking today, in front of what could have been a very restless Anfield. Instead of putting them under more pressure by pressing high up we sat back and let them grow in confidence. The result actually flatters us and again Sherwood has shown us nothing to suggest he is a Premiership manager. Now we are in the bottom three and I think we will be there for a long time. I can appreciate we have a new squad, but time and time again, tactical errors have cost us, and now we have a new squad of players trying to learn how to play with each other with the added pressure of being in the drop zone. Exactly what we didn't want, coming up to a very tricky run of fixtures.

Christ that was painful! We are sitting so deep it's like we are 2-0 up..........the ironic thing is that when were actually 2-0 didn't play this way!! should be pressing much higher, their defense would have been so nervous going into this game. We still have Sanchez to protect the back 4

I cringed when i read that comment. Tim does have a habit of being painfully honest at times

Westwood is not the sort of player who can take the game by the scruff of the neck......he simply doesn't have the attributes to be this type of player. Anyone hoping to see him take on three players or score 30 yard screamers will be left disappointed. His strengths are his quick footballing brain and a good range of passing, so when we do win back possession, he has the ability to pick a pass quickly. Unlike Sanchez who is more hesitant, those few seconds give opposing players time to readjust and get back in position. With Westwood releasing the ball quickly, the likes of Grealish, Gil etc thrive from this, as defenders will still be trying to find their shape by the time the ball is played forward, usually finding themselves out of position. Unfortunately, due to his lack of energy and physical strength, he cannot form a two man midfield and against the baggies was a prime example, two mid-table players (at best) controlled the midfield. For Westy to have any influence, he needs to play in midfield three. And I really wish someone else would take corners!!

Bacuna's main attribute is his crossing. Without Gestede being on the pitch he is pretty wasted. He occasionally comes up with a piece of brilliance (ball through to Cleverley against Everton) but for every great pass or cross, there are 10 misplaced passes in our own half.

I always found this argument quite strange considering Grealish featured a lot under Sherwood last season. Very similar players who have similar strengths and weaknesses. Surely Gil was just as good or bad a choice for a relegation battle as Jack. But anyway we stayed up so onwards and upwards.... I hope he will be fit for Saturday. It will be a typical Pulis performance and the only two players who can unlock a defence are Jack and Carles. With one being out, they will just double up on the other and resort to route one.

The crowd was like a 12th man because we allowed it to be. If we had killed their momentum by making the right tactical changes when 2-0 up, all you would have heard is singing from the away fans. I hope Tim soon realises that Sanchez and Westwood aren't capable against 3 central midfield players, certainly not with the pace of players such as Mahrez (this isn't necessarily a dig at either of these two, as there aren't many central midfielders in our price range that can). First half today we were excellent, no doubt. But this was partly down to Leicester's 4-4-2 formation. Both Sanchez and Westwood were good first half, dominated the midfield allowing our attacking players to find space with the ball. Some may have found it odd when at 1-0 down, Ranieri decided to bring a off a striker for a midfielder but his decision to bring Dyer on and moving Mahrez central completely changed the game, hence why the crowd was behind them. A good manager will address when something isn't working or needs changing, before it's too late. We saw this away at Palace and we've seen it again today when a more experienced manager has 'out thought' Tim. There are a lot of positives with Sherwood, but this is one area that needs massive improvement. Whilst individual errors have cost us in the last three games, had we been better tactically, we'd be in the top half of the table.