wilko154

Unfortunately we have a weak defence, I imagine it is a struggle to improve them at all. Elphick, Hutton and Taylor are all experienced professionals, they aren't going to change their game to suit Smith's style. Unfortunately we have no replacements, especially at right back. Chester is broken, but currently we can't afford to rest him.

I've just come on here to write the exact same thing. 6 points are an absolute must, with a few results going our way we could be back to a 4-5 point gap to the playoff places. Combine this with Grealish returning and a few late January transfers and it gives us a real chance.

This is absolutely spot on. The defensive organisation is one of our biggest problems, sometimes it seems like they aren't speaking to each other on the pitch as two players go for one ball, or a pass is made without the other even expecting it. Elphick is now making a slight difference as he's fairly vocal, but we are missing a dominant, physical defender (Axel was starting to become this for us). I don't think the goalkeeper issue is now a problem, I just think the defence isn't helping Kalinic just as it didn't help Nyland. The majority of goals we concede are point blank shots where the defence has crumbled and allowed a cross or a someone to walk through, most keepers wouldn't stand a chance. Snodgrass is a huge miss this season, not for his footballing ability (at times last season we needed for pace on the wings it seemed). What we are lacking is his energy and drive, it's easy to just walk up and down the wing waiting for a pass (Bolasie and now Adomah did it for 45 minutes yesterday), Snodgrass worked hard for the time coming inside to help out the midfield when needed and helping the striker press at the other end. This is how our entire midfield, wingers and strikers should be playing. Not many teams in the Championship can deal with a high press, us included. I miss last seasons team, the desire just doesn't seem to be there this season - bar Tammy and McGinn. I'm just praying that when the transfer window is done and Grealish returns we start to see some of the fight we had last season return.

The goalkeeper is the least of our worries right now. Heaton is now Burnley's first choice keeper, they aren't going to let him go out on loan. We've also just spent 6 million on Kalinic who is a very good keeper, why would we waste anymore money?!

Without question if we had Tammy last season we would now be in the Premier League

Immense today, carried that midfield through the game

Didn't look to put any effort in today, didn't help Abraham press the back line at all (nor did Adomah), we only started doing it when Green and El Ghazi came on. I'd send him back if we can, spend the wages on someone who wants to fight for the team and let Green and Kodjia battle it out for the left wing position.

So are you saying that after 3 months and half a transfer window we have made a mistake by bringing in Smith because we aren't zipping the ball around at a high tempo? It's not FIFA, we actually have to change things to progress and it will take time. Today wasn't Smith's fault at all, we were awful first half, there was no pressing, no tempo, no desire. Second half the same team came out and started doing all of those things. The players know what they have to do, if they aren't doing it it's on them. It's now upto Smith to weed out the ones that won't work for him, and the ones that don't fit the system.

Agree with you on this. He's nothing special but for the most part he's solid, you know that on occasion he will be out of position but you just have to accept that. I understand why he brought him in for Bree (although I don't know if he was injured), currently with a frail back 4 and a poor midfield it's a brutal initiation for Bree and Elphick is having to help coach him through games. Once we have a settled defence and midfield I expect Bree to come in and make the right back position his own, currently it would be detrimental to his confidence to play him.

I'm so confused by this... You want to play one winger? That would be a really unbalanced formation ?!

Ridiculous

But then the youth player who couldn't get into a L1 team did more in his 30 minutes on the pitch than the Premiership player on 75 grand a week that he replaced. Sometimes it's not about the current ability of a youngster, it's about having the drive and energy to want to perform in a game. So many players are lacking it in this team at the moment. At lease Green worked hard when he got onto the pitch, helped Abraham press and had a go at the full backs. I'm fairly sure that Doyle-Hayes or O'Hare wouldn't have done any worse than Bjarnasson in that midfield today either.

Utterly dreadful today, our U23's must be so bad if they aren't any better than Bjarnasson. If we can get a midfielder in this week and he can replace Birkir next Saturday it would make such a massive difference to this team. The same could be said for Hourihane but at least his stats came out half decent today and he gives the team goals and assists. A passing average of 55% for a centre midfielder is shambolic. He seems to have gone backwards this season and can't even do the basics right. I would rather see Doyle-Hayes be given a chance next week rather than have to sit through that type of performance again.

Personally I would also recall Tshibola from his loan now. He's 24 so not an U23 needing first team appearances. We are stuggling in the midfield and so the worst we could do is bring him back and let Smith and the team have a look at him in training. I would rather give game time to Tshibola than relying on players that don't fit the team mould. Tshibola would be a good fit in a pressing style of play, ability wise I haven't seen enough of him...

At some point we have to pull the plug on buying Championship players for high prices or aging Premiership players on high contracts. Smith is a coach that will develop players, as he has done for Brentford in the past. It seem's we are now going down this route and long term it will be for the best. I'm sure we are looking to develop our own youth players but unfortunately some may not be good enough. In terms of a left back I don't believe we have another at the club.

Going to book a city break for a few days to Paris, then the plan is to get a train over to Belgium for 2 nights before flying home. Would people reccomend Bruges or Brussels?

Realistically... and I'm going to take some flack for saying this... We could get by without a left back until the summer, but a midfielder is a priority to get the team playing the way we were playing before Grealish's injury. Obviously Grealish coming back will massively help. If we don't have any other options than Rico Henry I would prefer to wait until the summer and find some rather than splash out 10-12 million on him. There must be left backs around the world we can pick up for 3-4 million that would improve our team. Using the Derby and Middlesbrough games as markers, Taylor played in both and we kept clean sheets. The only significant changes are Tuanzebe and Grealish. Hause and Elphick are now available at centre back, and Grealish will soon be back (but a midfielder would help ensure that this situation doesn't happen again with an injury in the midfield)

This is our problem and has been since we have been in the Championship, out rectruitment plans have just been to buy the best players that are available in the Championship. Other teams are buying from outside of the Championship or using their academys and then developing those players. However in saying this if our only option is to buy from Brentford this season then we don't really have a choice as we desperately need a left back and a midfielder...

I actually think these statistics are 100% down to Grealish and not a lot to do with Hourihane. Hourihane plays the defensive midfield role and for the most part passes the ball to Grealish who is actively looking for the ball in the midfield, if he's not he's dragging players around to create space for Hourihane to pass to others. When Grealish isn't playing the midfield are completely static and the job of the DM is far harder.

I like what you've done there. Transfer ROMers... ROMaine Sawyers...

I would be really tempted to try something different for this game. The current formation is just not working, and if Grealish or Lansbury aren't fit and able to play at least 70 minutes then chances are it won't work again. Kalinic Chester Elphick Hause Bree/Hutton Bjarnasson Taylor/Hutton McGinn Hourihane El Ghazi/Bolasie Abraham The defence is currently our weakness, we now have 3 centre backs and it may be time to utilise them all and sure things up. Full backs are also a problem, having 3 at the back will allow the full backs the chance to get forward as they seem to want to do. Bjarnasson in at holding midfield, I don't think he's the best for the job but Whelan hasn't looked great and Jedinak seem's to be gone this season. El Ghazi or Bolasie in behind Abraham, or Smith can gamble and play O'Hare or a second stiker in Hogan or Davis. I assume Kodjia is injured and out of this one. The wingers in our current formation are completely pointless as we just aren't using them, we need to get some numbers in that midfield until we have players who can carry and pick passes to the wide man (aka Grealish)

We were already shipping goals for fun before Bruce left. Under Bruce we managed 1 clean sheet this season Under Smith we have had 5 clean sheets. It's not Smith that is the problem, it's the defense he has inherited from Bruce.

It's a good point and all very true. But there is a reason why we have stopped pressing as a team, and there is a reason why the team looks so tired all of the time. When we have the ball we don't have anyone who can get their foot on it and hold it, play the passes that help to retain possesion, carry the ball forward; when you have players who can do this it gives the whole team a breather as the high pressing they have been doing is stopped. Instead we now spend most of the game without possesion, or when we do have it we completely waste it; it means that our players spend more time trying to play a high pressing game early on and then can't see it through for the entire game. The problem is, as I have said before, we haven't changed our game plan since Grealish and Tuanzebe have been out and we now don't have a team capable of playing in the way we are trying to get them to play.

I imagine the Bradford fans weren't too sad to see him go... in fact I bet they didn't give a toss seeing as though he was managing Brentford. Since Smith left Brentford they have nosedived down the league table, although over the last 5 games they have picked up a fair few points to drag them away from a relegation battle. The honeymoon period is definately over, by DS hasn't been a massive failure at all. He's shown exactly why we brought him in as manager, he just doesn't have the squad to implement the football style he wants. He has been massively let down by the lack of squad depth in certain areas, something we were all aware of over the Summer transfer window and the dealings Bruce made. It's far too early to be saying it's the final straw, it could well be the kick up the arse that the players need.