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Thread | JCS - player of season…so far
at 12:46 18 Feb 2024
Never thought I’d say it, as he seemed just another one that was bordering on taking the piss out of the club.
But, this season, he’s shown the player he is. Commanding at the back, with an eye for a pass and an even better reader of the game than I ever game him credit for.
Even something as simple as a perfectly timed little nick yesterday sent us on our way for the only goal.
He looks a great influence on the boys too, regularly calling out both good and bad moments. His form over the last couple of months has been so consistently high.
The surprise story of the season. Bound to get injured now. |
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Reply | ITK Big boys it's time to OUT yourselves!!!
at 12:42 27 Jan 2024
This sounds ridiclous but shows what a mad bastard club we are.
Travelling home from work and getting on the overground from Shepherds Bush into Clapham, I found myself a couple of seats down from Phil Beard, who was clearly having a conversation with Kia Joorabchian.
He was spilling a few things, but confirmed we were signing Nedum and also that we were good for Taiwo too. Cue a very quick search of Taiwo's on google to conclude it was Taye, I told my mate, who put it on the message boards. Didn't feel it was right at the time to mention that this had come from Beard talking about it at normal volume on an overground train, he was still employed. But just goes to show what a shit show we were.
I did take a photo of Beard in the train reflection to show, but my flash went off, so definitely not cut out for detective work. |
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Reply | Worst signing of the Sir Les DOf era
at 16:16 25 Jan 2024
Great question, so many to choose from. For me, Conor Washington, spunking the Austin money pretty much in full for someone who'd just had a Stuart Wardley hot streak at Peterborough, was some doing.
Their chairman played a blinder |
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Reply | Injury Time
at 12:24 2 Jan 2024
So true, gave away a couple of stupid free kicks too. One for a needless shirt pull, headed a ball out as well unchallenged.
Same against Soton, and Millwall before they got their second. Brain dead. |
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Reply | Early thoughts on Marti's QPR and what he needs in January
at 09:55 2 Jan 2024
I think defensively we've been a lot better, certainly in open play. Goals conceded count shows that, however, seems like we've had problems from set pieces for years. Who remember Mark "we don't work on corners" Bowen!! That is unforgivable for me, it's a huge part of the game now, especially in the Champ. The two goals conceded yesterday were unforgivable.
Today was Marti's first mistep for me. With no footballers in the team, we insisted on playing the same way, we should have mixed it up a lot more and gone a bit more direct, as Cardiff were shite. Try and win second balls higher up the pitch. PLaying out from the back can work when you have Chair and Willock to take pressure off, but you're not getting that with Larkeche and Smyth (unless the latter has a free run at the full back). The second goal was symptomatic of it. So slow taking the ball out, we lose it (no options), and then give away a ridiculous corner.
I think more than a striker is someone who links the play from midfield and joins the forward line with runs. Our 3 midfielders v Cardiff would drop so deep to receive the ball, there was no way of getting out. Dozzell was disgraceful, dropping in next to Dunne or JCS so often if was painful. I think he dropped in between midfield and attack, once and we moved it forward with menace for once. Someone who can drive us forward with the ball from midfield is a must, it'll make such a difference to Dykes too (who is shocking atm to be fair) but is so isolated.
I'd be looking for that and then a striker. Ideally both. |
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Reply | Still without a club…..
at 18:37 30 Dec 2023
We have been anything but ruthless in every single transfer window and it’s been our downfall. As fans I don’t think we’ve helped either. Pretty much everything we asked for we got, not selling willock/chair/bright, re-signing Austin/johansen/Adomah. Fernandes, Les and Bhatia were far too easily swayed, binning Warbs, bringing in Ollie and ainsworth as fan favourites etc.
Amos was already an injury case and a four year deal? Long term deal for stef too on the other side of 30. Top prem clubs don’t give more than a year to someone of that age. We’ve got a great manager now on the pitch, he’s going to get his way in transfer market, if he’s as good at recruiting as he is at coaching, maybe we can turn the corner and start to build some foundations with some sound decision making. |
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Reply | Dykes
at 20:50 26 Dec 2023
And he was to blame for the first goal. Abysmal control to give the ball straight back to millwall, for them to break on us. Getting worse by the game. |
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Reply | Willock - Last Night
at 10:25 20 Sep 2023
Definitely true on that, persistent hamstring injuries generally change players more than any other, Michael Owen springs to mind more than anyone on that front. |
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Thread | Willock - Last Night
at 10:19 20 Sep 2023
I found it quite sad watching Willock last night. I didn't see a lack of effort, just a player that looked completely bereft of anything. Maybe we haven't realised what the injuries have done to him. He didn't want to take a player on, couldn't find that slight burst of speed when turning to take him away from the tackle, Just looked completely lost, sad to see.
Don't know if others think the same, I hope it's confidence. But, maybe he'll never be close to being the same player again, whether that's with us or somewhere else next season. |
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Reply | Kenneth Paal
at 11:13 6 Aug 2023
My thoughts entirely. People talk about likes of Gubbins and Kelman being out of their depth, sorry I have him in the same category. He was caught out of position over and over, drifting into midfield and their winger would just drop into the space. Must have happened 5 or 6 times in the first 40 alone. The full back area for me is the biggest problem for us. Has been for a long time, our centre halves are pulled out of position so often because of it. |
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Thread | Kenneth Paal
at 19:35 5 Aug 2023
Really? Why does this guy get a pass (maybe move him into midfield is what I’ve heard recently)
He won’t close down, gets caught out of possession continuously, portrays the mannerisms of someone who couldn’t give a flying fk. I just don’t get it. |
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Reply | South of the river – Awaydays
at 13:21 24 Jul 2023
As always, a great read.
And good for calling our Paal on that pathetic non challenge which almost led to a goal in the first half. He worries me massively from a defensive point of view, should have closed down their cross for the goal too. So many times last season he was painfully slow to react to danger, particularly rebounds.
We talk about CB and lack of CF being issues, but full backs for me is right up there too. |
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Reply | Dickie off
at 20:54 5 Jun 2023
Ball playing centre half? Was I watching a different player the last season and a half when he was shanking balls out into the stands both ways, or playing leg breaking half hit passes into Sam field. We are the greatest set of fans at rewriting history. |
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Reply | Bust up between Ainsworth with Willock, Johansen and Laird
at 14:15 21 Apr 2023
Well he came in towards the end of that first season, set us up differently, kept us up.
Then added to that group with Kenny, Hill, Derry, Mackie, even Bradley Orr. Big personality players that would be first teamers, what this current group doesn't have. Mad to call it haphazard, makes it sound like we got lucky that season winning the league.
Most balanced squad we've had in years. Then decided to rip it up in the Premier League, which we've been paying for ever since. |
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Reply | Bust up between Ainsworth with Willock, Johansen and Laird
at 12:20 21 Apr 2023
I agree with a lot of this, but Warnock still had a lot of generals. Hill, Gorkks, Derry, Faurlin, Helguson. It was a brilliantly assembled group. This lot are absolutely rudderless. When I see them all running around to high five each other because someone has made a very basic challenge, it's a little grating. I would give GA the summer to rebuild.
Since Ollie part 2 we've been a team that's managed to go on some quite incredible losing runs. No wins in 8,9,10 etc, etc. Teams don't generally do this, it indicates a lack of leadership and accountability. We need such a reset it's untrue. Ollie in 2001 re built with Birch, Shittu, Rowlands, Ainsworth, Furlong, Gallen, Cook etc,etc. Big personalities. We need to do that again, and stop trying to find ex premier league academy graduates who are soft as shit. |
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Reply | Bust up between Ainsworth with Willock, Johansen and Laird
at 18:48 20 Apr 2023
Big thing on that is Hill and Derry and Kenny ran the team on the pitch. We don't have any leaders so GA making these calls, leaves him exposed in how the players look at him. If he does stay, and I'm absolutely not fussed either way, he'll bring in some big characters who will call this nonsense out and create much more of a team ethos, I'm pretty certain of that. They won't have the quality that some of these wasters had. Willock shouldn't play for this team again this season, after his "cameo" v Coventry. It was a disgraceful performance. And personally I might have shot Laird if I had a gun, after he whipped out the crowd following his 10 yard run and cross that hit the first man and went out for a corner. |
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Reply | Tyler Roberts injury update
at 16:51 6 Mar 2023
Our brilliant recruitment policy is thinking that an untapped pot of gold in the transfer market, and the pathway to eternal happiness, is a crocked player who suddenly isn't crocked anymore.
We do it time and time again. If it looks like a duck etc....
We've had 3 abysmal transfer windows in a row and you can not do that at any level. |
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Reply | Sky reporting we're in talks with Wild Thing
at 13:43 21 Feb 2023
The whole attractive football thing is a strange one. I actually think the best football we played over past x amount of years was under Di Canio. Quick and attractive possession football, it was brief though.
Our most successful sides have been fairly straightforward, though great fun. Gerry was all about getting ball wide and crosses in, whether it was full backs or wingers.
Olly was hitting target man (generally Furs) and playing off.
Warnock was getting it to Taarabt and making things happen.
There was obviously a bit more to it than that. But no way would you call our 3 best teams of last 30 years (1993, 2004, 2011) progressive. What they each had was a superb work ethic sprinkled with talent (Ollie, Barker, Penrice with Wilkins, Les and Wilson as an example). This is where I'm confident we'll move to, if Ainsworth keeps us up. Because at the moment there isn't enough steel or bollocks in this team.
If we get a couple of wins, it will be a very different recruitment process in the summer for next season in the Champ. 2 x Wingers, 2 x CM ball winners, Big man and little man up top. 4 arseholes in defence. We'll be okay. |
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