hippo Posted July 24, 2021 Share Posted July 24, 2021 1 minute ago, est1874 said: Top 8 is a realistic ambition for us this season. I honestly feel sorry for anyone who would happily settle for less. Agree mate. But should we fall short 12th wouldn't be abject failure. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
nick76 Posted July 24, 2021 Share Posted July 24, 2021 11 minutes ago, hippo said: In the heat of the moment (me included) !!!!! . We need to improve on the already good players we have. Some signings just won't work out - so long as we don't repeat the Lerner era and just give up - perhaps the progress will be more incremental from here. I think that’s realistic, I really do I just don’t think what most fans thinks will happen based on what the club have telling us. If we don’t then achieve it fans on here will be having a meltdown and then they’ll be stupid calls for Smith to sacked by Xmas I bet you. You can see it from a mile off. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Big Salad Posted July 24, 2021 Share Posted July 24, 2021 Asides from Wesley auditioning for UFC I thought we were decent overall. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sulberto21 Posted July 24, 2021 Share Posted July 24, 2021 1 hour ago, Paulie said: buendia giving mcginn an earful after that looping angled pass across field in the final third. so wasteful. So Buendia sees it too. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dom_Wren Posted July 24, 2021 Share Posted July 24, 2021 Football team in lose pre season match with nowhere near best eleven and players easing back into fitness not trying to get hurt shocker. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Delphinho123 Posted July 24, 2021 Share Posted July 24, 2021 1 hour ago, Indigo said: Christ lads it's only the second game of pre-season like. I don’t get these kind of posts (no offence). I’m well aware it’s a pre season game. I know it’s worth nothing if we win/lose/draw. I don’t care if we lose. I don’t even really care how we play as a team. But. I do care about individual performances as several of those players will be first team regulars this season or certainly pushing for a starting place and it just reinforces the fact we need two more signings this summer to really push on. We need a defensive midfielder and an attacking midfielder/wide forward. It will be negligent if we don’t sign two more first team players because we have a real opportunity to push Arsenal and Spurs out the way on our quest for the top 4. We can play and win/lose another 50 pre season games and my opinion won’t change. We need two more first team players in midfield. 4 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
hippo Posted July 24, 2021 Share Posted July 24, 2021 4 minutes ago, nick76 said: I think that’s realistic, I really do I just don’t think what most fans thinks will happen based on what the club have telling us. If we don’t then achieve it fans on here will be having a meltdown and then they’ll be stupid calls for Smith to sacked by Xmas I bet you. You can see it from a mile off. TBF not many owners of club will come on and promise fans a mid table finish.!!! Imo keep doing what we are doing and we will get there. But there's going to be setbacks along the way. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mikeyjavfc Posted July 24, 2021 VT Supporter Share Posted July 24, 2021 Shame for Wes. He is clearly hot headed and totally lost in a game that means literally nothing. ‘emotional control’ is really important to Dean Smith, he talks about it a lot, so he really won’t be impressed by this. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ponky Posted July 24, 2021 Share Posted July 24, 2021 Two very disjointed, makeshift lineups played in a very disjointed, makeshift way. Even combining the strongest players of the two lineups together we were missing 4 automatic starters so it's pretty hard to respond with anything but "meh". I would like my fiver back though... 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
thunderball Posted July 24, 2021 Share Posted July 24, 2021 55 minutes ago, Aston_Villan4 said: I watched the whole thing. It’s a pre-season friendly. Not exactly sure what people were expecting from a team half-filled with kids who won’t come close to first-team time this season. I agree, but I was suggesting why some views might be as they were. vs Walsall however there were periods of slick interplay and clever running, the goals were also well worked. Thats wasnt present today, even accepting the better opposition. I am not sure they learned much today other than maybe what or who doesnt work. We do need a general improovement in quality, and I know we are missing a few very good players. Unlike Walsall I did think that Freddie tried to impress, and probably did.. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
thunderball Posted July 24, 2021 Share Posted July 24, 2021 1 hour ago, Awol said: Surprised McGinn was back in so early instead of having a proper rest. Seemed to be a general feeling that he was playing at less than full fitness for a long time, would rather he rested, got right and came back as the player we know he can be. Was great at the end of last season, too. Turned up a week early apparently. Good man. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
chappy Posted July 24, 2021 Share Posted July 24, 2021 Interesting afternoon out. Nice to be back in an away atmosphere. Definitely felt weird to be in a no restrictions/masks situation surrounded by thousands of people for the first time again. Hope there isn’t much pinging going on for those in attendance! Not really sure what happened for their first goal, hard to tell if anyone was at fault defensively or if Steer was just in a weird position. Rest of the first half was pretty pedestrian. Their second goal was a class finish that I don’t think even Emi would’ve got to. We made 11 changes. Wes lost his head, interested to hear what was said to him. We just weren’t at it. Good to get this performance out of the way and hopefully they’ve built some fitness out of it. Watkins did well off the scraps he was fed. Konsa looked class as ever. Marv was alright. Nice to see Ashley Young again but felt he was playing way within himself? Buendia didn’t get on the ball much but some lovely touches. Did anyone catch the words to the Matty Cash song, couldn’t really hear them? Main positive is I’ve ticked the Stoke ground off now and never have to go back! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
foreveryoung Posted July 24, 2021 Share Posted July 24, 2021 38 minutes ago, hippo said: They might not be happy with mid table (who is). I'm just saying it wouldn't be a total surprise or disaster should it happen It would be digression though. Like I said, if we are happy with a midtable finish, we may as well sell Grealish and start building a team which will reach European places in a couple of seasons, instead of delaying the inevitable. You wanna keep Jack, we need to be aiming for Europe this season, or winning trophies, take your pick!! 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
thunderball Posted July 24, 2021 Share Posted July 24, 2021 59 minutes ago, nick76 said: I don’t agree So our aim is 10th, hoping everything goes our way! Not sure the owners, management and especially our fans think that’s our target. The clubs ambition (if it is to retain the best players) must be Europe this season. As we have only replaced Barkley I think there remains a lot to do as Arsenal, WHU, Spurs, Leeds, Leicester, Everton all finished above us and will improve and strengthen, and Brighton wont have the bad luck they suffered ast season also. We have a big task ahead of us - we need a strong start and can't go missing mid season like we have done for the last three seasons. 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Awol Posted July 24, 2021 Share Posted July 24, 2021 4 minutes ago, thunderball said: Turned up a week early apparently. Good man. I like him as a player and a bloke, but think another week’s rest might have done no harm. I want Championship McGinn back, the all action ball of fizzing energy who runs so much he meets himself coming back. He’s been off his best (with glimpses here and there) for a long while, imo. Could see him losing his place this season and I don’t want that. 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
thunderball Posted July 24, 2021 Share Posted July 24, 2021 1 minute ago, Awol said: I like him as a player and a bloke, but think another week’s rest might have done no harm. I want Championship McGinn back, the all action ball of fizzing energy who runs so much he meets himself coming back. He’s been off his best (with glimpses here and there) for a long while, imo. Could see him losing his place this season and I don’t want that. I think thats why we bought Sanson. Even Chuck will make a claim this season, but Smith seems prepared to give McGinn plenty of slack, I guess he's earned it during his time here, although there is no room for sentiment. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
hippo Posted July 24, 2021 Share Posted July 24, 2021 8 minutes ago, foreveryoung said: It would be digression though. Like I said, if we are happy with a midtable finish, we may as well sell Grealish and start building a team which will reach European places in a couple of seasons, instead of delaying the inevitable. You wanna keep Jack, we need to be aiming for Europe this season, or winning trophies, take your pick!! Grealish in the team last season got us 11th. Ok he got injured - great player though he is - he does always seem to miss a chunk of the season through injury. Personally I don't think we will get Europe next season (whether we 'aim' for it not) We had fine seasons from Martinez, Grealish, Watkins last season - El Ghazi chipped in with goals when needed , Target , Konsa stepped up a level. - will all those factors that fall in our favour next season ? Will we get more injuries . Lots went right last season. We still only got 11th. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
hippo Posted July 24, 2021 Share Posted July 24, 2021 11 minutes ago, Awol said: I like him as a player and a bloke, but think another week’s rest might have done no harm. I want Championship McGinn back, the all action ball of fizzing energy who runs so much he meets himself coming back. He’s been off his best (with glimpses here and there) for a long while, imo. Could see him losing his place this season and I don’t want that. Agreed. Another thing about Mcginn is he always needs a few games to get into the groove. He like has to play himself into form. That's why I think DS doesn't drop him. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Paulie Posted July 24, 2021 Share Posted July 24, 2021 I’m not really concerned about the aggregate performance or the score line. We were missing 3 of our starting back 4, our captain, and started an 18 year old youth player. I think Nakamba’s early form is a positive, I think Buendia and Watkins form both is positive. I think the striker depth is going to be an issue hopefully resolved by Alvarez and/or Bailey. El Ghazi is still who he is - lacks a consistent touch and lacks the eye for a creative pass, will churn out goals because of his finishing but can be a net negative to Ollies output. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Awol Posted July 24, 2021 Share Posted July 24, 2021 1 minute ago, hippo said: Agreed. Another thing about Mcginn is he always needs a few games to get into the groove. He like has to play himself into form. That's why I think DS doesn't drop him. I think that’s right. It’s obvious there’s a high degree of trust between Smith and a handful of players. Jack is in a class of his own on that front, but McGinn and Tyrone probably aren’t far behind. Martinez (who is a flipping warrior btw) and Ollie too after last season. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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