The Schedule - Going to be difficult!

[Major Isewater]

4 minutes ago, Robbored said:

was overvalued by the managers who signed him.

Which doesn’t make him the marauding mercenary that you make out . 
It’s hardly Flint’s fault if his future managers don’t do their homework on the guy before buying him in.

 

[mozo]

3 hours ago, Major Isewater said:

The assertion that we should beat Derby concerns me a bit view the fact that the training ground is closed until two days before the game and we may still have a reduced number of players to choose from.

What sort of preparation will the team have ?

 

Yeah it all depends on circumstances. You could argue that Reading are an easier opposition than Derby at the moment. 

[sludge]

10 hours ago, joshthomson said:

Big, big month ahead. Pretty much define whether we will be challenging or surviving come the 2nd half of the season. Wins will be expected v Derby (covid dependant) QPR, Birmingham, Rotherham and Millwall. 15 points. Bang in a further 4/5 points we will be very close to the top. Home form needs to improve to ensure we are competeting.

21/11/2020- Derby H

25/11/2020- Watford H

28/11/2020- Reading A

01/12/2020- QPR A

05/12/2020- Birmingham H

09/12/2020- Blackburn- H

12/12/2020- Rotherham- A

15/12/2020- Millwall H

19/12/2020- Preston A

Interesting that the fixtures you’ve highlighted as ones we’d expect to win are all fixtures we’ve not got a very good record of winning in recent years. 

[richwwtk]

21/11/2020- Derby H - Draw

25/11/2020- Watford H - Lose

28/11/2020- Reading A - Win

01/12/2020- QPR A - Win

05/12/2020- Birmingham H - Draw

09/12/2020- Blackburn- H - Win

12/12/2020- Rotherham- A - Win

15/12/2020- Millwall H - Win

19/12/2020- Preston A - Draw

 

18 Points - would be very happy with that

[GrahamC]

5 hours ago, Garland-sweden said:

Mariappa, Walsh and Williams in the squad is a big plus. So far so good and Im optimistic. One game at the time and hope we beat Derby on saturday. The leauge is difficault and can change with 3 defeats. Bournemouth and Norwich no points, then Hudds and Cardiff wins. We have a good team but the results can change quikly. Some luck have to be If we should be in the top. Bentley and the defence have a big role to play. Bentley- Moore debacle must be avoid. COYR!!!

We don’t know that the latter two are fit yet, as for obvious reasons now there have been no updates in the last week or so.

What is clear though is we need as many players fit & available to pick from during this period, as we cannot expect the same 15 or so that saw us through the last month coping with this ridiculous schedule.

Despite the cynicism of a few that is why Mariappa was a smart addition, if Bakinson & Diedhiou can return to health & the two long term injured midfielders & possibly Sessegnon & Baker get fit before the transfer window, then that will be huge.

Not going to predict results, as that is almost impossible in The Championship, but having a squad of 21 rather than 16 to pick from will be key until January.

[Robbored]

On 04/08/2020 at 02:31, Mr Popodopolous said:

Going to be a tight squeeze, isn't it!

I make it a mere 35 weekend slots between Game 1 and the final League Game- that's exclusive of 3 International breaks and 1 FA Cup so it could be as many as 15 midweek games?

Knock off one for a League Cup early rounds game, however that may play out.

Knowing how these International breaks work it's usually more like a fortnight in practice. ie Play Saturday 3rd October and next game Saturday 17th October.

Difficult enough with a manager- without one appointed with all a new manager needs to do, I fear it could be a wasted year!

It’s not City that have a tough schedule. It’s pretty much the same for all Championship clubs and obviously the ones with the greatest strength in depth will cope best

[Numero Uno]

5 hours ago, Major Isewater said:

The assertion that we should beat Derby concerns me a bit view the fact that the training ground is closed until two days before the game and we may still have a reduced number of players to choose from.

What sort of preparation will the team have ?

 

Very limited is the answer!! Our players would have been doing fitness work given to them by the club and will have a day to work on things they would normally have worked on over a week whereas Derby will have had most of their squad at the training ground for two weeks working on shape, watching videos of us etc.

So we will do well to get a result on Saturday tbh........not that certain posters will take that into account if we go a goal down or lose etc. Holden gone by Christmas posts if we don’t beat bottom of the league no doubt.

[sludge]

1 hour ago, sludge said:

Interesting that the fixtures you’ve highlighted as ones we’d expect to win are all fixtures we’ve not got a very good record of winning in recent years. 

Just because I'm interested in this type of stat - we haven't won away at Rotherham in the last 7 visits 

[Davefevs]

1 hour ago, Numero Uno said:

Very limited is the answer!! Our players would have been doing fitness work given to them by the club and will have a day to work on things they would normally have worked on over a week whereas Derby will have had most of their squad at the training ground for two weeks working on shape, watching videos of us etc.

So we will do well to get a result on Saturday tbh........not that certain posters will take that into account if we go a goal down or lose etc. Holden gone by Christmas posts if we don’t beat bottom of the league no doubt.

Don’t forget Derby have sacked their manager so formation, personnel, system may change massively from Cocu’s set up.  We just don’t know, and won’t until Saturday at 2pm.  It’s made my preview tough!

Derby have 7 players on international duty:

https://www.dcfc.co.uk/news/2020/11/seven-rams-set-for-international-duty

Marshall (SCO)

Jozwiak (POL)

Knight (IRE)

Buchanan (ENG) u21

Lawrence (WAL)

all regular starters....so half a team out.

plus:

Sibley and Whittaker.  Sibley burst into the scene last season, but hasn’t got going this.

Will be interesting to see if Rooney picks himself.

 

[Major Isewater]

7 minutes ago, Davefevs said:

Will be interesting to see if Rooney picks himself.

Nah , the fat boy is always the last pick.

 

[BigTone]

4 hours ago, Major Isewater said:

Which doesn’t make him the marauding mercenary that you make out . 
It’s hardly Flint’s fault if his future managers don’t do their homework on the guy before buying him in.

 

One thing that I always admired him for was that despite transfer speculation he didn't let his contract run down. Instead he signed a new one which meant we made some money along the way.

[phantom]

39 minutes ago, Davefevs said:

all regular starters....so half a team out.

Apologies, but why are all those players "out"?

[Davefevs]

1 minute ago, phantom said:

Apologies, but why are all those players "out"?

Out = away from training, i.e. can’t be part of Saturday’s prep until they return.  @Numero Unowas suggesting they had a two week head-start on us.  

[TonyTonyTony]

50 minutes ago, Davefevs said:

Will be interesting to see if Rooney picks himself.

He will probably want to play, but be unable to write 32 on the team sheet. 10 is all he has learned up to

[phantom]

14 minutes ago, Davefevs said:

Out = away from training, i.e. can’t be part of Saturday’s prep until they return.  @Numero Unowas suggesting they had a two week head-start on us.  

Ahh, for a moment thought you meant that they were not available Saturday

[MarcusX]

14 hours ago, And Its Smith said:

15-16 points from these 9 games would be a decent return.  Not a single game there that looks really difficult. 

Except first and second in the league?

[joshthomson]

8 minutes ago, MarcusX said:

Except first and second in the league?

True. 

Reading will fall away now. Awful footballing team. 

[RUSSEL85]

4 hours ago, richwwtk said:

21/11/2020- Derby H - Draw

25/11/2020- Watford H - Lose

28/11/2020- Reading A - Win

01/12/2020- QPR A - Win

05/12/2020- Birmingham H - Draw

09/12/2020- Blackburn- H - Win

12/12/2020- Rotherham- A - Win

15/12/2020- Millwall H - Win

19/12/2020- Preston A - Draw

 

18 Points - would be very happy with that

1 defeat in 9. Yes id take that too!!

[Sheltons Army]

1 hour ago, Davefevs said:

Will be interesting to see if Rooney picks himself.

Reading the Derby forum , it appears he’s injured ?

From what I’ve seen of them , Id rather he played tbh

[Numero Uno]

2 hours ago, Davefevs said:

Don’t forget Derby have sacked their manager so formation, personnel, system may change massively from Cocu’s set up.  We just don’t know, and won’t until Saturday at 2pm.  It’s made my preview tough!

Derby have 7 players on international duty:

https://www.dcfc.co.uk/news/2020/11/seven-rams-set-for-international-duty

Marshall (SCO)

Jozwiak (POL)

Knight (IRE)

Buchanan (ENG) u21

Lawrence (WAL)

all regular starters....so half a team out.

plus:

Sibley and Whittaker.  Sibley burst into the scene last season, but hasn’t got going this.

Will be interesting to see if Rooney picks himself.

 

It cannot be an advantage to us though to have no training as a squad. At least players on international duty are training. Fitness won’t be an issue as no doubt the players are doing something on their own but sharpness might be which is what proper daily training should give you.....an obvious example being Bentley who would have been very limited in what he can do on his own compared to Marshall training with Scotland.

Not saying we can’t or won’t get a result at the weekend but it’s going to be a lot tougher than some think in my view. But no doubt people will look at it simplistically as we are fifth playing bottom so anything less than a comfortable win is abject failure!!

[phantom]

47 minutes ago, Sheltons Army said:

Reading the Derby forum , it appears he’s injured ?

From what I’ve seen of them , Id rather he played tbh

Agree, I have a feeling if he plays he will be trying to do too much

Interesting that it sounds like a team of four (including Liam Rosenior) are coaching the side

[Davefevs]

9 minutes ago, Numero Uno said:

It cannot be an advantage to us though to have no training as a squad. At least players on international duty are training.

was only suggesting they won’t be as prepared as they might’ve been had they had two weeks with the same manager and all squad members training.

Fitness won’t be an issue as no doubt the players are doing something on their own but sharpness might be which is what proper daily training should give you.....an obvious example being Bentley who would have been very limited in what he can do on his own compared to Marshall training with Scotland.

Not saying we can’t or won’t get a result at the weekend but it’s going to be a lot tougher than some think in my view. But no doubt people will look at it simplistically as we are fifth playing bottom so anything less than a comfortable win is abject failure!!

Totally agree....the best mindset is to think every game is tough.  Results in the Championship prove that.  Boring as it sounds, every point earned in this league is a good point.  Appreciate 46 draws might get you relegated (in case some wise Alec responds as such) but you get the point.

When was the last time we won easily?  Luton (h)?  We might’ve beaten Huddersfield 5-2 but at 2-1 after the bounce around was cut short in its tracks it was looking anything but a 3-goal winning margin.  So 1 game in a whole year that was easy!!

 

[Numero Uno]

2 minutes ago, Davefevs said:

 

No we don’t do comfortable wins as a rule. Using your comment about any point is a good point in the Championship I wouldn’t be throwing my toys out the pram, in the circumstances, if we come away with a draw on Saturday. We might be in a minority thinking that way however.

[Mr Popodopolous]

6 hours ago, Robbored said:

It’s not City that have a tough schedule. It’s pretty much the same for all Championship clubs and obviously the ones with the greatest strength in depth will cope best

Absolutely yeah, I suppose our depth and numbers- Covid notwithstanding- can stand us in decent stead for it as you say.

I generally made the thread with a City perspective.

3 hours ago, joshthomson said:

True. 

Reading will fall away now. Awful footballing team. 

Reading are an odd one. Think they have reasonable number of players who are talented as INDIVIDUALS but are definitely better suited without the ball or initiative, as a team particularly.

Would also add, unsure about their depth once a few injuries or suspensions kick in.

[And Its Smith]

3 hours ago, MarcusX said:

Except first and second in the league?

Watched both of those teams a few times this season and both have achieved results above their performances I’d say. Reading especially.  Both got injuries now as well to key players. 

Dont think they are anything to be scared about. In previous seasons there have been a fair few times I’ve thought ‘how are we going to get anything out of this game’.  I don’t see that with these set of fixtures.  

 

[Davefevs]

1 hour ago, Mr Popodopolous said:

Absolutely yeah, I suppose our depth and numbers- Covid notwithstanding- can stand us in decent stead for it as you say.

I generally made the thread with a City perspective.

Reading are an odd one. Think they have reasonable number of players who are talented as INDIVIDUALS but are definitely better suited without the ball or initiative, as a team particularly.

Would also add, unsure about their depth once a few injuries or suspensions kick in.

 

24 minutes ago, And Its Smith said:

Watched both of those teams a few times this season and both have achieved results above their performances I’d say. Reading especially.  Both got injuries now as well to key players. 

Dont think they are anything to be scared about. In previous seasons there have been a fair few times I’ve thought ‘how are we going to get anything out of this game’.  I don’t see that with these set of fixtures.  

 

Amazing how a club can suffer with one injury (Liam Moore) and it really impact them, unlike us with 15,000 injuries.  I know Meite has been out but without Moore they’ve started shipping goals.

[And Its Smith]

1 minute ago, Davefevs said:

 

Amazing how a club can suffer with one injury (Liam Moore) and it really impact them, unlike us with 15,000 injuries.  I know Meite has been out but without Moore they’ve started shipping goals.

Correct 

[tin]

9 hours ago, richwwtk said:

21/11/2020- Derby H - Draw

25/11/2020- Watford H - Lose

28/11/2020- Reading A - Win

01/12/2020- QPR A - Win

05/12/2020- Birmingham H - Draw

09/12/2020- Blackburn- H - Win

12/12/2020- Rotherham- A - Win

15/12/2020- Millwall H - Win

19/12/2020- Preston A - Draw

 

18 Points - would be very happy with that

I’d be happy with that, too, but I can’t see it for one minute. 

I actually think it’s a bad time to play Derby after they sacked Cocu and with the virus running through our camp. If they’d kept him, I fancy us.

Last two visits aside, we rarely get anything at QPR and haven’t even got a point at Preston in recent years.

We also struggle against the likes of Millwall, Blackburn and Birmingham. A lot of those games will go either way. Just got to hope our luck continues. 

[Mr Popodopolous]

On 17/11/2020 at 17:50, Davefevs said:

 

Amazing how a club can suffer with one injury (Liam Moore) and it really impact them, unlike us with 15,000 injuries.  I know Meite has been out but without Moore they’ve started shipping goals.

Bound to have had an impact but they were surely over performing in any case.

I look at their side, squad. Possibly quite top heavy but Joao and Puscas as strikers good players, Meite and Ejaria attacking wise, Swift CM. All pretty good to name 5! Think their depth falls away though, seems more variable beyond say top 15 players. 

Take GK. No Rafael, their quality and experience falls off a cliff as Plan B in goal. 

Reading I think have several of these I listed plus we can add Moore and then...a lot of 5-6/10 players at this level, or young ones who either can do a job but nothing amazing or who may rise but lack the experience and know how at this time.

Definitely not a top 6 side though. Some individuals of that calibre but not enough pedigree or experience for them as a team.

[Bar BS3]

On 17/11/2020 at 14:31, Sheltons Army said:

Reading the Derby forum , it appears he’s injured ?

From what I’ve seen of them , Id rather he played tbh

Based on our game against them at the back end of last season, I'd say that Rooney not being involved would be great for us. 

He oozed class, was streets ahead of ever player on the pitch and totally controlled their fightback which could easily have resulted in then turning around a 3 goal deficit. 

Not the rampaging attacker that he once was, but absolute quality and coolness personified.