| Please remember how positive everyone is feeling now.... 16:56 - Feb 12 with 5761 views | Philothesuperhoop |
...because I can see us dropping drop three or four places tomorrow as Forest, Huddersfield and Coventry could all get results that push them above us!
Then it is very likely that we will lose to Brentford next Wednesday, with another tricky fixture against Bournemouth to come.
After those two games we could be right back in trouble...but nothing much will have changed.
So please remember how we are feeling now as I don't think I can stand another round of "Warbs out" and "we are doomed" posts. Let's see where we are after the Preston and Birmingham games?!
Just saying, we are a very fickle bunch. |  | | |  |
| Please remember how positive everyone is feeling now.... on 22:15 - Feb 13 with 1830 views | enfieldargh |
Blackburn are another odd lot.
always better than us(yes we won) but cant seem to string results together even with a multi million pound set of forwards/attacking players |  |
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| Please remember how positive everyone is feeling now.... on 22:52 - Feb 13 with 1779 views | Northernr |
| Please remember how positive everyone is feeling now.... on 22:15 - Feb 13 by enfieldargh |
Blackburn are another odd lot.
always better than us(yes we won) but cant seem to string results together even with a multi million pound set of forwards/attacking players |
They’re underperforming for the players they’ve got this season. That’s a top six team in this league. |  | | |
| Please remember how positive everyone is feeling now.... on 23:35 - Feb 13 with 1743 views | BrianMcCarthy |
| Please remember how positive everyone is feeling now.... on 22:52 - Feb 13 by Northernr |
They’re underperforming for the players they’ve got this season. That’s a top six team in this league. |
I think their centre-backs are dreadful, though, Clive. And they have to sit deep as a result and the midfield have to sit back to protect them.
Lenihan is really poor at the basics and James Acaster beside him has never been inside a gym. |  |
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| Please remember how positive everyone is feeling now.... on 23:45 - Feb 13 with 1725 views | Northernr |
| Please remember how positive everyone is feeling now.... on 23:35 - Feb 13 by BrianMcCarthy |
I think their centre-backs are dreadful, though, Clive. And they have to sit deep as a result and the midfield have to sit back to protect them.
Lenihan is really poor at the basics and James Acaster beside him has never been inside a gym. |
You see I think that about Lenihan too but every time I see Blackburn play their fans reckon he’s been their best player, including last week. | | | |
| Please remember how positive everyone is feeling now.... on 00:20 - Feb 14 with 1681 views | BrianMcCarthy |
| Please remember how positive everyone is feeling now.... on 23:45 - Feb 13 by Northernr |
You see I think that about Lenihan too but every time I see Blackburn play their fans reckon he’s been their best player, including last week. |
They do?
I keep an eye on him as he's Irish and we could really do with a great centre-back. He's brave and he's committed, but at this level he lacks pace, athleticism, aerial ability, footballing ability and reading of the game, and while his positioning is good I think he either gets too tight and gets rolled or he gets scared and stands off.
I think they have to build their team around his weaknesses. And the thing is, he's at peak age for a centre-back. He should be much better than he is.
Last week was the best I've ever seen him play. He played a nice through-ball for Armstrong, he cleared a lot of ball and got some lovely stats. I was actually happy for him.
But look at his involvement in our goal - he's static for the Chair free kick, on his heels, Austin loses him with ease as a result, he wins the header (luckily, as he doesn't attack it), he heads down into the ground (major error) and when Barbet lays it back to Cameron he's statuesque. When the goal is scored he's a centre-back with five team-mates closer to the goal then he is, and there's no reason for it in the world.
P.S. I think James Acaster looked promising. If he eats something.
[Post edited 14 Feb 2021 0:28]
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| Please remember how positive everyone is feeling now.... on 00:42 - Feb 14 with 1646 views | CliveWilsonSaid |
BM
“he lacks pace, athleticism, aerial ability, footballing ability and reading of the game”
Has potential then ;) |  |
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| Please remember how positive everyone is feeling now.... on 00:54 - Feb 14 with 1630 views | BrianMcCarthy |
| Please remember how positive everyone is feeling now.... on 00:42 - Feb 14 by CliveWilsonSaid |
BM
“he lacks pace, athleticism, aerial ability, footballing ability and reading of the game”
Has potential then ;) |
But here's the thing, I said "at this level". He's clearly an excellent footballer. Only 1% of Irish lads who go to England for trials get a youth contract. Only 1% of the that 1% become established professional footballers. I think the stats for English youths is similar-ish. He's beat those odds. That's how good he is. He's excellent by most standards. But, for all that we knock it, the Championship is one of the World's best Divisions. That's the context I probably should have added. | |
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| Please remember how positive everyone is feeling now.... on 01:35 - Feb 14 with 1594 views | FredManRave |
| Please remember how positive everyone is feeling now.... on 21:50 - Feb 13 by terryb |
I heard his voice when my wife flicked over to Soccer Saturday & was mightily relieved that I was playing Bridge online! She did know better than to leave him on in the background though!
I did watch a few minutes of the Friday night game & can report that Preston are still far better playing away from home! Their record between home & away is quite exceptional! |
I bet you were both slagging off John Terry, the fsacist cnútist. |  |
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| Please remember how positive everyone is feeling now.... on 10:38 - Feb 14 with 1484 views | hantssi |
| Please remember how positive everyone is feeling now.... on 00:20 - Feb 14 by BrianMcCarthy |
They do?
I keep an eye on him as he's Irish and we could really do with a great centre-back. He's brave and he's committed, but at this level he lacks pace, athleticism, aerial ability, footballing ability and reading of the game, and while his positioning is good I think he either gets too tight and gets rolled or he gets scared and stands off.
I think they have to build their team around his weaknesses. And the thing is, he's at peak age for a centre-back. He should be much better than he is.
Last week was the best I've ever seen him play. He played a nice through-ball for Armstrong, he cleared a lot of ball and got some lovely stats. I was actually happy for him.
But look at his involvement in our goal - he's static for the Chair free kick, on his heels, Austin loses him with ease as a result, he wins the header (luckily, as he doesn't attack it), he heads down into the ground (major error) and when Barbet lays it back to Cameron he's statuesque. When the goal is scored he's a centre-back with five team-mates closer to the goal then he is, and there's no reason for it in the world.
P.S. I think James Acaster looked promising. If he eats something.
[Post edited 14 Feb 2021 0:28]
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I thought James Acaster was a stand up comic?
No wonder he doesn’t look too good as a professional footballer!
Avid Kettering Town fan! |  | | |
| Please remember how positive everyone is feeling now.... on 11:08 - Feb 14 with 1455 views | Superhoop83 |
| Please remember how positive everyone is feeling now.... on 10:38 - Feb 14 by hantssi |
I thought James Acaster was a stand up comic?
No wonder he doesn’t look too good as a professional footballer!
Avid Kettering Town fan! |
K and an E and a T and a T... |  |
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| Please remember how positive everyone is feeling now.... on 11:47 - Feb 14 with 1406 views | switchingcode |
| Please remember how positive everyone is feeling now.... on 20:57 - Feb 13 by Myke |
It is without doubt one of the worst ever Championship standards ever, which if one was a pessimist, would make our '16th' position seem even more depressing. But trust me, you don't want to get promoted this year. Only Brentford, after years of careful management, will have any chance of surviving next year.
Despite many clubs being on abysmal runs (Huddersfield/Bristol City/Birmingham etc), for the most part, managers are not going to be sacked for a number of reasons.
(A) Many clubs just going through the motions
(B) Too expensive to pay lump-sum compensation
(C) A genuine understanding of the ridiculous circumstances managers are working in
'Big' clubs like Derby, NF and SW had to, to ensure they maintained Championship status and 'Wealthy' clubs like Bournemouth and Watford all did, but apart from that, who has? Cardiff? For the most part people just want to write off the whole sorry mess and press the 'reset' button in September.
* You can be sure now that Bristol City/Huddersfield/Birmingham will all have new manager bounce by the time we play them. |
I agree with all that,even though we are on a great run we are 12 points better off than at this time last year with an inferior team.The ridiculous number of games being played means injuries are playing a bigger part than in other seasons teams like Huddersfield Bristol city and Reading have had horrendous injury lists.
The remainder of the season will see even more unpredictable results as this gruelling fixture list takes its toll.It’s no wonder the quality has dropped. | | | |
| Please remember how positive everyone is feeling now.... on 11:48 - Feb 14 with 1412 views | hantssi |
| Please remember how positive everyone is feeling now.... on 11:08 - Feb 14 by Superhoop83 |
K and an E and a T and a T... |
To the E to the R to the ING! | | | |
| Please remember how positive everyone is feeling now.... on 12:23 - Feb 14 with 1345 views | Noelmc |
| Please remember how positive everyone is feeling now.... on 00:54 - Feb 14 by BrianMcCarthy |
But here's the thing, I said "at this level". He's clearly an excellent footballer. Only 1% of Irish lads who go to England for trials get a youth contract. Only 1% of the that 1% become established professional footballers. I think the stats for English youths is similar-ish. He's beat those odds. That's how good he is. He's excellent by most standards. But, for all that we knock it, the Championship is one of the World's best Divisions. That's the context I probably should have added. |
Speaking of Irish players, Brian. What do you make of Aiden McGeady? I know he was born in Scotland, but represented Ireland. Saw the highlights of the Sunderland game yesterday and he had 4 assists for the 4 Wyke goals with 4 excellent crosses. Reminded me of Lee Cook at his peak. Is he still only League 1 standard? |  | | |
| Please remember how positive everyone is feeling now.... on 12:27 - Feb 14 with 1331 views | Maggsinho |
| Please remember how positive everyone is feeling now.... on 00:54 - Feb 14 by BrianMcCarthy |
But here's the thing, I said "at this level". He's clearly an excellent footballer. Only 1% of Irish lads who go to England for trials get a youth contract. Only 1% of the that 1% become established professional footballers. I think the stats for English youths is similar-ish. He's beat those odds. That's how good he is. He's excellent by most standards. But, for all that we knock it, the Championship is one of the World's best Divisions. That's the context I probably should have added. |
I used to play football against someone who was rejected by Oldham when he was 15 and he was head and shoulders above anyone else on the pitch, ridiculously so. Always reminds me just how good pro footballers are really. |  | | |
| Please remember how positive everyone is feeling now.... on 12:35 - Feb 14 with 1312 views | BrianMcCarthy |
| Please remember how positive everyone is feeling now.... on 12:23 - Feb 14 by Noelmc |
Speaking of Irish players, Brian. What do you make of Aiden McGeady? I know he was born in Scotland, but represented Ireland. Saw the highlights of the Sunderland game yesterday and he had 4 assists for the 4 Wyke goals with 4 excellent crosses. Reminded me of Lee Cook at his peak. Is he still only League 1 standard? |
Savage talent, Noel, and had some great moments for Ireland. Never rated him, though, or - worse - never respected him. On the field his work rate was often terrible. Off the field he has either been unlucky with injuries or he hasn't worked hard enough on his fitness. A frustrating enigma who's career was a shell of what it could and should have been.
Manning is going the same direction, albeit with far less talent. | |
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| Please remember how positive everyone is feeling now.... on 12:49 - Feb 14 with 1279 views | Noelmc |
| Please remember how positive everyone is feeling now.... on 12:35 - Feb 14 by BrianMcCarthy |
Savage talent, Noel, and had some great moments for Ireland. Never rated him, though, or - worse - never respected him. On the field his work rate was often terrible. Off the field he has either been unlucky with injuries or he hasn't worked hard enough on his fitness. A frustrating enigma who's career was a shell of what it could and should have been.
Manning is going the same direction, albeit with far less talent. |
Thanks Brian. | | | |
| Please remember how positive everyone is feeling now.... on 12:54 - Feb 14 with 1267 views | denhamhoop2 |
| Please remember how positive everyone is feeling now.... on 12:35 - Feb 14 by BrianMcCarthy |
Savage talent, Noel, and had some great moments for Ireland. Never rated him, though, or - worse - never respected him. On the field his work rate was often terrible. Off the field he has either been unlucky with injuries or he hasn't worked hard enough on his fitness. A frustrating enigma who's career was a shell of what it could and should have been.
Manning is going the same direction, albeit with far less talent. |
Always reminds me of Peter Beagrie happier nut megging a full back 3 times than actually creating a goal or having a shot. Has seen an inferior player in James McLean picked ahead of him regularly for Ireland purely because he does the basics better | | | |
| Please remember how positive everyone is feeling now.... on 13:46 - Feb 14 with 1203 views | BrianMcCarthy |
| Please remember how positive everyone is feeling now.... on 12:54 - Feb 14 by denhamhoop2 |
Always reminds me of Peter Beagrie happier nut megging a full back 3 times than actually creating a goal or having a shot. Has seen an inferior player in James McLean picked ahead of him regularly for Ireland purely because he does the basics better |
Very true, on both counts. | |
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| Please remember how positive everyone is feeling now.... on 14:33 - Feb 14 with 1145 views | daveB |
| Please remember how positive everyone is feeling now.... on 21:10 - Feb 13 by terryb |
Surely Forest can't be that bad. I recall quite a few posters on this site informing us that they would make the play offs when Hughton was employed as manager!
Seriously, I'm sure their cast of thousands care even less about Forest than our mercenaries did for us between 2011 & 2016.
Mind you, I can't imagine what pocessed you to pay to watch Birmingham play Luton! |
I thought they could make the playoffs when he took over, he's a really good manager at this level and will get them there if given the time but obviously not this season |  | | |
| Please remember how positive everyone is feeling now.... on 16:02 - Feb 14 with 1066 views | PinnerPaul |
| Please remember how positive everyone is feeling now.... on 19:43 - Feb 13 by Northernr |
Well I sat through three games today, Forest v Bournemouth, Brum v Luton and Derby v Boro.
The big thing for me, apart from most of the results going as we'd have liked, is just what a rotten league this is this year. We've still got to play five of those teams, we're playing two of them imminently, and they were all varying degrees of fcking dreadful today.
Forest, we are still to visit, are a depressing watch. They're basically trying to draw their way out of it. It's like watching Geoffrey Boycott on a flat track on a baking hot day, three days into a five day test. Straight bat, get past that, zero ambition, zero creativity, zero fcks given about what you might think watching them. Bournemouth, today, a perfect opponent. Ambling through the motions, disillusioned and distinterested. David Brooks came on for the last 25 minutes and honestly if there's anybody less interested in what they're doing with their life than he is with his atm anywhere in this country I'll be amazed. They, and he, will of course suddenly break free of the mental shackles and let rip on us next week but if they play like they played today we'll beat them. Bournemouth were there for the taking, Forest were delighted with their 0-0. They made zero subs out of five. Loyal Taylor and Lewis Grabban, £50k a week between them, unused subs, giggling and fcking about in the main stand.
Derby actually started well. They, unusually under Rooney, suddenly started all their strikers - CKR, Waghorn and Gregory - rather than one up front and really rather went for Boro to start with. That seemed to catch Boro completely unawares, which is fair enough even the Derby accounts I follow weren't expecting it. They were 2-0 up early off a very clever corner routine, and a piledriver from Richards. These were the only two moments of genuine quality I saw all day across three games. Boro got one back against the run of play before half time and the second half descended into an arm wrestle on a dreadful pitch.
None of it, but none of it, was as bad as Birmingham. My fcking God. One win in 13 for them now. They conceded a Sunday League goal off a long throw, a trick they almost repeated in the second half, and never looked like doing anything other than see out a 1-0 defeat from the moment it went in. Collins and KDH were good for Luton as they often are, and they won far more comfortably than the scoreline suggests. If I didn't know better I'd say Birmingham were actually happy to protect their one goal defeat. They didn't pose a single goal threat all afternoon, which is just as well because whenever he had to field a tame long ranger of a speculative cross that clown Sluga needed two attempts at it every time. If karanka is still in charge when we get there next week I'll be very surprised, and again I think we'll go there and win if that is the case.
Every team I watched today looked tired. I wonder how much of our recent uptick has actually been caused by the three postponements giving us decent gaps between games - of course this could come back to haunt us with a crowded fixture list later. The three pitches the games were played on were in varying degrees of disrepair. It looks and feels like three quarters of the division is just in the mode of getting through this season without any big disasters, getting away for the summer and forgetting all about it. Some - Huddersfield, Bristol City, Birmingham - seem to have just clocked off altogether.
Every post match interview was the same, talking about consistency and blaming referees and moaning about fixtures and trotting out trite nonsense about 'going again' and 'looking for a response'.
There's plenty here for us if we can keep stringing results together. Cardiff, six defeats in a row when we won there, have now won three in a week and are seventh!
Just such a dreadful league though. Basics. Things like ball control, completing passes, showing ambition in attack. Awful, awful football across all three games. I actually feel pretty good about us tonight, we're better than every team I've watched today.
This post has been edited by an administrator |
Thanks Clive.
Agree about the division this year, as you may remember I was always sceptical about 'strong', 'weak' years but have to agree with you on this.
Watching Barnsley v Them it was amusing listening to the astonishment in the BBC commentary team's voices when Barnsley, under no pressure, simply put the ball out of play.
As we all know if that doesn't happen at half a dozen times in ANY Championship game, its a shock.
You could well be right about the gaps between fixtures helping, obviously hoping you're very right about that on Wednesday! | | | |
| Please remember how positive everyone is feeling now.... on 16:06 - Feb 14 with 1062 views | PinnerPaul |
| Please remember how positive everyone is feeling now.... on 22:05 - Feb 13 by Northernr |
That’s no surprise watching them, but I do find it weird that teams are still playing home and away games like they’re home and away games even though there’s no fcker there. |
Stats are still mixed though - some divs home/away turned on its head, some much the same %s as with crowds - makes predicting/betting even more hazardous. | | | |
| Please remember how positive everyone is feeling now.... on 16:09 - Feb 14 with 1051 views | PinnerPaul |
| Please remember how positive everyone is feeling now.... on 12:27 - Feb 14 by Maggsinho |
I used to play football against someone who was rejected by Oldham when he was 15 and he was head and shoulders above anyone else on the pitch, ridiculously so. Always reminds me just how good pro footballers are really. |
Yes agree.
If you watch some of those training shots on the offy, you wonder why
a) We're not top of the league
b) Why they can't do that on matchday - but of course b) is THE big question for all players/teams I guess. | | | |
| Please remember how positive everyone is feeling now.... on 17:23 - Feb 14 with 961 views | Myke |
| Please remember how positive everyone is feeling now.... on 12:23 - Feb 14 by Noelmc |
Speaking of Irish players, Brian. What do you make of Aiden McGeady? I know he was born in Scotland, but represented Ireland. Saw the highlights of the Sunderland game yesterday and he had 4 assists for the 4 Wyke goals with 4 excellent crosses. Reminded me of Lee Cook at his peak. Is he still only League 1 standard? |
Yes | | | |
| Please remember how positive everyone is feeling now.... on 19:01 - Feb 14 with 877 views | Myke |
| Please remember how positive everyone is feeling now.... on 12:35 - Feb 14 by BrianMcCarthy |
Savage talent, Noel, and had some great moments for Ireland. Never rated him, though, or - worse - never respected him. On the field his work rate was often terrible. Off the field he has either been unlucky with injuries or he hasn't worked hard enough on his fitness. A frustrating enigma who's career was a shell of what it could and should have been.
Manning is going the same direction, albeit with far less talent. |
One great moment for Ireland Brian - Georgia. He was once - rather hilariously - likened to Best. A legend in his own head | | | |
| Please remember how positive everyone is feeling now.... on 21:13 - Feb 16 with 714 views | MrSheen |
Things going our way tonight. Stoke beat Wednesday late, Boro are now leading Hudds and Wycombe have equalised against Derby. |  | | |
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