M_Afro

With Trez being injured I would now play Barry as the left sided forward. He has done the role before and I think he is up to it. Literally anything has to be better than seeing AEG named in the starting 11 again.

The other very obvious thing to consider when it comes to whether or not Smith gets replaced, is who is/isn’t willing and available to replace him. If the owners are presented with a great opportunity to get a clear upgrade in, then they may go for it no matter where we finish. It’s a possibility because we really are an attractive prospect again. If on the other hand there are no better managers available then smith will stay whatever. No matter where you are in the Smith debate I’m sure most people would be happy to stick with him until a clear upgrade becomes available.

He’s not good enough for the PL. Lacks the size and the pace. We are desperate for both of those things. He has been great for Rangers though this season. Hopefully all players we sign now will be physical and fast. We are so lacking of those qualities in the team. We need set piece specialist too.

Amongst a lot of the negativity of recent months, this guy continues to be a shining light. What a signing he has been. Two or three midfield players to have a similar impact next season and we will be transformed.

But if this continues until the end of the season, it won’t be recent results/ performances that have been poor. It will be over half a season of poor form. The owners will look at that seriously for certain. I don’t want Dean to get the sack. I really want him to be a success. I just think that the past 3.5 months have left him skating on very thin ice. If there are no improvements between now and the end of the season I think there is a fair chance of him getting sacked. Hopefully we will have a strong end to the season. Play some really nice football and bag 3 or 4 more wins. If we do then I think Dean will be safe. If we continue the slide though, questions will be asked. I think the later looks more likely than the former.

Without Jack I would be amazed if we win more than 2. I wouldn’t be all that surprised if we didn’t win any. With him we could get 3 or 4 more wins. I just want to see some consistency of performance to be honest. Some nice patterns to our play. A clear plan. Anything that shows we are on the right path.

I don’t think we have met the targets though. In year 1 he exceeded target. Purslow said that we got promoted a year ahead of schedule. Tick for Smith. Year 2 Purslow said that we expected to finish higher than 17th. Target not delivered. Year 3 is in the balance. I suspect that we were hopeful of a top 10 finish. That looks highly unlikely on current form. If we slide as far as 12th or 13th then based upon what Purslow said about Year 2, I suspect that Dean will have failed to meet expectations again. It’s also not just about league finish though. You can be falsely placed. Performance is a better measure in my view. Our performances were excellent up until Christmas but since then, they have been poor. We pick up points because we have a brilliant goalkeeper and a very good back 4 in front of him. That aside our general play has been rubbish. Barring an absolute disaster between now and the end of the season, I think Dean deserves a final chance next season. But he needs to show significant improvement in team performance, particularly when Jack is absent. If he does not, then I will be amazed if he is still here at Christmas. Let’s hope he gets it right because he is a top top bloke.

This is still our biggest problem. None of our midfield have the confidence/ability to carry the ball forward. They give the ball away too easily, particularly SJM. The are awful at pressing, intercepting, tackling. They do not seem to anticipate the play very well, particularly when it comes to picking up second balls! They also love to give away needless free kicks in dangerous areas. All very frustrating!! I am happy to have SJM and Marvelous in the squad but neither can be regular starters next season. I think Luiz is good enough to start but as an 8 not 6. We need to sign a quality DCM and another 8. If you have ball carrying 8’s and really good wide forwards then you don’t need a 10. This is how I would like to see us play. We would need a better RF though as the current options are way too inconsistent.

POTS for me. He is class. Brilliant attitude too. He must have been worth at least 10 points so far this season. He deserves better protection from the midfield to be honest.

It’s absolutely bizarre what’s happened to him this season. Up until his injury he was class. Since he has looked like a different person! Twin brother?

It is frustrating how profligate he is when in possession! Dean absolutely loves him though and he will continue to be in the first 11 come what may. It could end up being his Achilles heel!

I think the story leaking about Gerrard in the week is interesting. It is probably bs but I wouldn’t be at all surprised if Dean did come under pressure from the board. Purslow stated at the end of last season that the expectation had been higher than a seventeenth place finish. They invested again and would have been happy with the first half of the season. They then invested again in January and we have plummeted! They will not be at all happy with our post Christmas form. They will also not be happy with the fact that no matter how much they give the manager to buy new players we are still totally dependent on a kid who was already at the club when they took over! Taking the above into account, I think they gave Dean a second chance after last season. I think they will give him another one at the end of this season. I do not think he will get another one after that. A poor start next season or another one of his awful long runs next season and I think they will make a change. If the above is true then I would be happy with that. I think that would be fair on all parties concerned. Hopefully he will turn it around and we will fly next season. You can’t help but want him to succeed. Not convinced though to be honest.

I find Smith frustrating. He makes some odd decisions. He is very rigid with his approach and we do have these long spells of being garbage but I honestly thought we were a bit better today. We could easily have won that game. We didn’t but losing 2-1 at anfield is no disgrace. Let’s see how we get on next week!

I thought we were a bit better today to be fair. Disappointing result but if Trez scores we probably win. Hard to take but better.

I think we will end up 11th which will be disappointing but still a decent effort. Leeds will almost certainly finish above us now but they deserve it. They have been constantly good all season.

I saw Savo along with the spectacular girl friend in Sainsbury’s once. The Sainsbury’s in Sutton was the darkest supermarket in history but Savo still had his aviators on. I was suitably impressed! No bandana though!

Goodness me. Cold sweat time! I am convinced that we never even used to watch these people play football before parting with our funds! Kozak is the one the gets me. I’m sure we just happened to notice that he had scored a few goals in Europe and thought that a sound basis for investing. What we failed to notice was the fact that he had the speed of a three legged sloth, the touch of a demented rhinoceros and the structural integrity of a dry leaf!

I’ve got a funny feeling that playing against Liverpool today may well suit us. I have no idea why but I fancy us to get something. Maybe a cheeky 25% possession 0-1 victory. Blimey that would feel good. UTV. COYVB. SOTC.

A heavy tackle from Engels??!!! Ha ha. We can rest easy there. Clearly fake news

But we can play 4-3-3 in a different way. Without Jack we totally lack the ability to pass through the thirds or any player with the capability to carry the ball through the thirds. Therefore we have to adjust the way we play or continue to have limited success until Jack returns. Why not play a narrow 3 with Davis in the middle flanked by Ollie on the left and Bert/Trez on the right. You can then play direct to Davis who can either hold the ball up or flick it on to Ollie/Bert/Trez. This allows the full backs and midfield to get in the final third more easily and helps to build pressure. Non of us want to see this as our main long term game plan but if it brings us short term success, as it did yesterday, until we get jack back and better wide/midfield players in the squad, then why not? Overall Dean has done a very good job but he should not be free of criticism and he should be more open to change in my opinion. Each season we have had long spells of poor results and performances where he has been totally resistant to change. In the first season he was saved by Jack returning. In the second season he was saved by the C-19 break. Who knows whether or not we could have done even better if he had changed things earlier? Anyway, I am very happy with the end result yesterday and with our season as a whole. I also want Smith to be in charge next season but I want him to learn from his mistakes, act quicker and get better. Nothing wrong with that!

But the team and tactics adopted by Smith up until the changes have failed to create chances against anyone in the last 7 games. I would suggest that this is more relevant than the opposition. We couldn’t create against 10 man Sheff Utd. Fulham are certainly much improved but we have struggled against everybody since Jack was injured (and before to be honest). When he did change things yesterday it changed everything. It enabled us to get possession higher up the pitch and get men into the box. The wide men were able to play facing the goal rather than with their backs to it and Fulham couldn’t cope.

I finally broke and allowed myself to get quite emotional yesterday. As soon as the team selection was announced I said we wouldn’t score and would be awful. After Fulham scored, for the first time this season I called for Smith’s head. I have now had time to reflect. I was right about the team selection and tactics. Playing in that manner without Jack, we are sluggish, predictable, awful at regaining possession and quick to give the ball back. Smith got it wrong, again! I was however wrong about wanting Smith sacked. Taking away the emotion, of course we have really progressed under Smith. We have played some magnificent football at times, had some great victories, been promoted, stayed up twice etc etc. but the manager is not above criticism and he is not bulletproof. He seems slow to learn his lessons, although he does seem to get there in the end. Once he changed things yesterday, Fulham could not cope. Their game plan went out of the window and we made them look like a bottom 3 team. Now comes the acid test. Let’s assume that Jack is unfit for Liverpool. Dean needs to select an 11 which can keep Liverpool quiet whilst also asking some questions. Does he revert to type which will almost certainly lead to another insipid performance or try something different? Of course there are no guarantees but we must at least try. This is his greatest weakness for me and the main reason why we get so frustrated. We are safe. Try something different and land a few shots. Whatever happens, Dean has earned the right to start next season as our manager. Hopefully he will still be there at the end of the season too but unless he shows greater tactical flexibility he will continue to come under greater scrutiny and pressure. I hope he passes the test. I want him to continue succeeding so much.

So out of form. I am sure he will come good but he needs to be dropped for a while I think. Totally lost his mojo.

Got nothing against AEG. Will always be thankful for his great play off final performance but I never want to see him play for villa again. He is just not good enough. End of.

No. I, for the first time wanted him sacked for not learning from his many lessons. When he switched to what I wanted from the start, things started to happen. He needs to be more flexible. Anyway I will enjoy the win.