Results will come.

[Daniro]

4 hours ago, Super said:

If we could get a decent fee for Semenyo i would let him go. Hopefully some of the money would be used to strengthen the squad.

he looked dynamite when he first came back from injury but he's been a bit quiet recently and so I tend to agree with you - however, we'd have to replace him immediately with someone better because we ain't exactly  scoring goals for fun at the minute so we'd have to replace him.

[JoeAman08]

4 hours ago, Rob k said:

So a LJ or Holden type for you then? I’ve no issues with that approach by the way and would be my preference moving forward but it comes with risk.

I think an NP type was the correct appointment when it was made though.

I can differentiate the two I think. I can’t fault NP getting us through the tough time. Perhaps I am harsh considering he has steadied the club at a tricky time. I was a big fan of the hiring and while my frustrations started last season I understood why a lot more.
 

Now don’t get me wrong, he has not had the backing LJ had as we could not give it. I just think with what we already had when he arrived and what he has brought in we should be a bit further along. I don’t give that much credit for shredding the wage bill. If you look at most who we lost, think we could agree on most of them it was time to go. Also, Richard Gould would have been the one working the finances on these things which you could argue was the harder job imo. 
 

I think if you made a list of the good things NP has done over his tenure I would agree. I would probably give less credit than many others give but that is just a matter of opinion and I’ll argue my point. The things I don’t like are things like not having a plan B other than throwing on a different set of strikers and midfielders. How I view it the negative is outweighing the positive. 
 

As far as next manager, I think we should get through the season with NP anyway if we can. This is part financial and part we may end up in the bottom part of the table and I would want experience anyway. He knows the team and that is useful. However, at season’s end, we should be looking more lifelike in the transfer market and I would rather go the young hungry manager route. Let them mould the side in their vision. I think if you look across the division there has been a bit of movement. Most of the sackings have been older managers. Edwards was at Watford they sack everyone. Schofield was hired quickly after Coberan left Huddersfield. Morrison at Cardiff had a good spell as interim which they hired him off of. So there is risk involved with a younger man but the trend seems to be going this route. 

[Davefevs]

3 hours ago, JoeAman08 said:

I can differentiate the two I think. I can’t fault NP getting us through the tough time. Perhaps I am harsh considering he has steadied the club at a tricky time. I was a big fan of the hiring and while my frustrations started last season I understood why a lot more.
 

Now don’t get me wrong, he has not had the backing LJ had as we could not give it. I just think with what we already had when he arrived and what he has brought in we should be a bit further along. I don’t give that much credit for shredding the wage bill. If you look at most who we lost, think we could agree on most of them it was time to go. Also, Richard Gould would have been the one working the finances on these things which you could argue was the harder job imo. 
 

I think if you made a list of the good things NP has done over his tenure I would agree. I would probably give less credit than many others give but that is just a matter of opinion and I’ll argue my point. The things I don’t like are things like not having a plan B other than throwing on a different set of strikers and midfielders. How I view it the negative is outweighing the positive. 
 

As far as next manager, I think we should get through the season with NP anyway if we can. This is part financial and part we may end up in the bottom part of the table and I would want experience anyway. He knows the team and that is useful. However, at season’s end, we should be looking more lifelike in the transfer market and I would rather go the young hungry manager route. Let them mould the side in their vision. I think if you look across the division there has been a bit of movement. Most of the sackings have been older managers. Edwards was at Watford they sack everyone. Schofield was hired quickly after Coberan left Huddersfield. Morrison at Cardiff had a good spell as interim which they hired him off of. So there is risk involved with a younger man but the trend seems to be going this route. 

I can disagree (have a different opinion to you) on some of your points, but I can also see why you take the side of the fence you do in the examples you give.

Re Finances, pretty confident Nige doesn’t get involved with contracts, so I see why you could say RG has the harder job….but Nige is the one who has to put up with the outcome.  And he seems to understand his position, the situation and get on with it.  He will try to put together the best squad he can with the resources he has.  Those resources are pretty thin.  Whether he gets beyond the summer window, who knows, but at that point it’s his squad.  Every player with the exception of Joe Williams will either have been signed by him, contract extended by him or come through academy.  The make up of that squad will tell us a lot about where the club stand, ie have we been able to re contract the OOC players he wants to keep on agreeable terms or we’ve met the go and he’s brought in new players.  We can judge whether it looks like progress.  He will’ve been in job for 2y6m at that point (slightly less as permie manager)…but that shows how long it can take to build foundations and start to embed progress.  Of course the financial situation could mean we are still nowhere near to where we’d want to be.

We can continue to judge all the way through.

Re a replacement in future, if we want a younger type, then we have to provide the experience elsewhere in the structure to support them, not like with Holden…although you could argue Simpson and Downing were the solution there…personally I think it was the link between him and the board that had the glaring hole.

 

[eardun]

On 01/11/2022 at 22:01, Fordy62 said:

No two ways about it. We keep playing like that and we will win miles more than we lose. All over that game from the first minute and lady lucky (and the officials) were against us. 

We also shouldn’t forget that we’re without a whole back line that wouldn’t look out of place at the top end of the division.

There really is no need to panic here. We’re slowly turning into a really good team to watch, the results will come. Trust in Nige. 

Agree with this. I’m watching the recording of the match and it was even more one sided than I thought on the night - there was only one team in it. And that was against a team that is currently third. Plus their goal should have been ruled out for offside and Norwood should have been sent off. 

My only slight concern is that Wells and Semenyo are not as clinical as they have been, and Weimann hasn’t looked his usual self for a while now. Need them back on song. 

[Ivorguy]

1 minute ago, eardun said:

Agree with this. I’m watching the recording of the match and it was even more one sided than I thought on the night - there was only one team in it. And that was against a team that is currently third. Plus their goal should have been ruled out for offside and Norwood should have been sent off. 

My only slight concern is that Wells and Semenyo are not as clinical as they have been, and Weimann hasn’t looked his usual self for a while now. Need them back on song. 

Not sure about Weimann.  Last season may have been his swan song.

[Guest]

On 02/11/2022 at 13:43, Offside said:

We played well last night and deserved to win, but I am concerned about being dragged into a relegation battle. We find points hard to come by. 

Being only 3pts now ahead of Wigan who have a game in hand are we not already very close to a relegation battle? need something from our next 2 difficult games v Boro and Watford. "Playing well" matters not, its points we need and soon.

[Guest]

On 01/11/2022 at 22:17, Kibs said:

The problem is, relatively dominant performances like that are rather uncommon for City, so to say “keep playing like that and we’ll win far more….” is a bit pointless tbh, because it’s a performance that shows up only a handful of times a season. That’s the reality. 
 

Goals have dried up and confidence is starting to drain which is such a big part of it. Id love to be wrong but I think some are kidding themselves if they don’t think we could be amongst those scrambling for safety. 
 

The World Cup break can’t come soon enough. We need players back and a reset mentally. 

Grasping at straws come to mind as the last break made us worse not better. We can play as much pretty football as we like, useless if we are not getting any actual points on the board. We are on the slide, stuff the performance we need something from Boro/Watford beat Boro or a point from each min requirement.

[Davefevs]

3 hours ago, gl2 said:

Grasping at straws come to mind as the last break made us worse not better. We can play as much pretty football as we like, useless if we are not getting any actual points on the board. We are on the slide, stuff the performance we need something from Boro/Watford beat Boro or a point from each min requirement.

I guess the question I’d be asking is “was it the international break or something else?”.

Not saying these are the reasons, but…

• we lost Matty James ahead of QPR (first game after the break) for 5 games
• we lost Kal Naismith during the Coventry game (second game back)
• To a lesser degree we lost Scott and Williams in successive games through yellow card suspensions 

I think they are a part of it.  Naismith not yet back.

[Guest]

5 hours ago, Davefevs said:

I guess the question I’d be asking is “was it the international break or something else?”.

Not saying these are the reasons, but…

• we lost Matty James ahead of QPR (first game after the break) for 5 games
• we lost Kal Naismith during the Coventry game (second game back)
• To a lesser degree we lost Scott and Williams in successive games through yellow card suspensions 

I think they are a part of it.  Naismith not yet back.

Yes understand that but I recall ( without trawlling back through posts/threads) Naismith getting a lot of stick for his forward runs and even the blame for some goals, so yes a miss but not a magic cure for our definate decline.

Massengo has also been touted by many as a great young prospect now he can hardly get a game, thankfully imo.

I dont know why we have dropped off while playing at times superb footie, Weinmann (spel?) another who was on fire and scoring for fun, now barely registers being on the pitch

Poor team selection? injuries? unlucky? whatever it is we have to turn it around and soon.

[Bodiesaffer]

On 02/11/2022 at 07:21, mozo said:

I think there's a lot more to it than that. For example Semenyo (who is Premier League quality when he's in the groove) has temporarily lost his golden touch.

I thought he was okay until the crucial moments which is the story of his recent form.

The ones that hit the woodwork were pretty speculative efforts and Semenyo slipped when he took the shot. 

Is Semenyo distracted by the World Cup or a move way?  Or is he not 100 fit yet?

[Mr Popodopolous]

Tuesday aside, we have definitely carried a greater threat with Naismith in the side IMO. Although there was a good threat v Preston, 1st half v West Brom and played well v Swansea.

The shot data proves this point over the fullness of time.

We had 130 in the 11.5 games that Naismith was on the pitch. He went off just before half-time v Coventry on matchday 12. Or 11.30 per game.

We had 68 in the remaining 7.5 games. Or 9.067 per game.

[Davefevs]

2 hours ago, gl2 said:

Yes understand that but I recall ( without trawlling back through posts/threads) Naismith getting a lot of stick for his forward runs and even the blame for some goals, so yes a miss but not a magic cure for our definate decline.

Massengo has also been touted by many as a great young prospect now he can hardly get a game, thankfully imo.

I dont know why we have dropped off while playing at times superb footie, Weinmann (spel?) another who was on fire and scoring for fun, now barely registers being on the pitch

Poor team selection? injuries? unlucky? whatever it is we have to turn it around and soon.

Whilst Naismith made some individual mistakes and criticised for it, it is just one aspect of how we were playing and what we have missed is his speed at moving the ball between the lines.  I only referenced this and the word “penetration” (or lack of) a few days ago, and it was pretty much exactly what Nige said in his interview.

Only Taylor Harwood-Bellis (Burnley) across the whole of the Champ has made more passes that break the lines than Naismith.

Naismith helps Andi play facing forward.  Naismith helps us play through the centre of the pitch.

Thats not saying Naismith solves all our problems, but him missing is definitely a factor in the way we are playing.  We are playing some nice stuff, but a lot more of it is in front of our opponents.  They are forcing us wide and hitting percentage crosses.

I hope he’s back soon.  That doesn’t turn us into a top 6 side overnight, but I do think it improves our effectiveness.

[Marina's Rolls Royce]

On 01/11/2022 at 22:01, Fordy62 said:

No two ways about it. We keep playing like that and we will win miles more than we lose. All over that game from the first minute and lady lucky (and the officials) were against us. 

We also shouldn’t forget that we’re without a whole back line that wouldn’t look out of place at the top end of the division.

There really is no need to panic here- I am- we're 20th and looking like fodder for other teams. We’re slowly turning into a really good team to watch Bar a few isolated yet exceptional performances  I dont see that we are, the results will come At what point is this and will it be too little too late?. Trust in Nige I've always struggled with this. He's not just unlucky- he appears to have come to the end of his own road.

 

[Harry]

On 02/11/2022 at 11:54, Harry said:

Anyway, I know this is unlikely, so it’s only an observation, but based on games in hand, we could be 23rd. As I say, that won’t happen as those games in hand need to be won, but it does give us an idea of how perilously close we are to the drop. 
 

Hate to say it, but the games in hand haven’t really gone in our favour. 
 

I mentioned in the above post that we could end up 23rd with the other teams having games in hand over us. It was unlikely. But…..

Last night went totally against us. 

It’s now very plausible that we could be in the relegation zone by the time the World Cup break arrives. 
 

If we lose to Watford and West Brom beat Stoke we’re in the bottom 3. 
Because Wigan and Blackpool play each other. If either team wins they go above us, if it’s a draw Blackpool go above us. 
 

Therefore it’s highly likely that we could be 22nd going into the break. 
 

Not good. 
 

Edit. Sorry, slightly incorrect. Wigan and Blackpool could come down to goal difference which might keep us above either of them. 
But still, not good! 

Edited November 9, 2022 by Harry

[bs3]

On 01/11/2022 at 22:13, bs3 said:

Disagree with the op . We are mentally weak and our defence is awful. 

I still of the opinion we will be relegated.

My opinion haven’t changed since early November 

[bs3]

21 minutes ago, Tafkarmlf said:

Disagree with the mentally weak.however the np apologists and acolytes have some explanations 3 wins in 16.and a shocking performance against West Brom

 

We don’t have a winning mentality so this is why I question our mentality.

[Fordy62]

Feel like I’m gonna dig this thread out. The good football is becoming more frequent.  

[MarcusX]

On 26/12/2022 at 17:06, bs3 said:

My opinion haven’t changed since early November 

And gone quiet since we started doing well again

[mozo]

1 hour ago, Fordy62 said:

Feel like I’m gonna dig this thread out. The good football is becoming more frequent.  

The football wasn't that good today, mind.

The run in January has been excellent though and we'll deserved for manager and players.

I'd love to see us kick on now.

[David Brent]

On 26/12/2022 at 17:13, Tafkarmlf said:

Disagree with the mentally weak.however the np apologists and acolytes have some explanations 3 wins in 16.and a shocking performance against West Brom

 

How do you like them explanations?

[GrahamC]

 

1 minute ago, mozo said:

The football wasn't that good today, mind.

The run in January has been excellent though and we'll deserved for manager and players.

I'd love to see us kick on now.

Sometimes that’s down to the other team.

Play a Swansea, QPR, Huddersfield they let you play, on occasions you’ll be better than them but as QPR showed at our place, on their day they are too good.

Preston are a niggly, spoiling team, who play off Ched Evans & turn the game into a fight.

We have lost a lot of games to sides (Millwall, Luton) like this. It is a sign of progress that we won an ugly game against spoilers like them.

[mozo]

4 minutes ago, GrahamC said:

 

Sometimes that’s down to the other team.

Play a Swansea, QPR, Huddersfield they let you play, on occasions you’ll be better than them but as QPR showed at our place, on their day they are too good.

Preston are a niggly, spoiling team, who play off Ched Evans & turn the game into a fight.

We have lost a lot of games to sides (Millwall, Luton) like this. It is a sign of progress that we won an ugly game against spoilers like them.

Very true and I thought Preston were good second half.

I think we were careless at times though.

Commitment and desire exceptional. Execution a little ragged at times. 

 

Edited February 4, 2023 by mozo

[Malago]

12 minutes ago, mozo said:

Very true and I thought Preston were good second half.

I think we were careless at times though.

Commitment and desire exceptional. Execution a little ragged at times. 

 

Winning ugly away from home is a prerequisite of a successful side.  What I’ve found encouraging is the upturn in the quality of home performances, particularly last week and against Brum.

[mozo]

6 minutes ago, Malago said:

Winning ugly away from home is a prerequisite of a successful side.  What I’ve found encouraging is the upturn in the quality of home performances, particularly last week and against Brum.

I love winning ugly. It's inviting pressure and riding our luck that I don't enjoy so much.  

[Davefevs]

47 minutes ago, mozo said:

Very true and I thought Preston were good second half.

yep, got the extra man down the right too often.

I think we were careless at times though.

we were, but partly (like @GrahamCsays) because they force you to be careless.  They want to make us have gaps between defence / midfield and midfield / attack, so every pass is longer than you want, easier to intercept etc.  It makes for what feels like a frantic game, in fact it was pretty frantic. That suits Preston on a rotten surface.

Commitment and desire exceptional. Execution a little ragged at times.

yep.

 

[Malago]

34 minutes ago, mozo said:

I love winning ugly. It's inviting pressure and riding our luck that I don't enjoy so much.  

Max’s mistake certainly made the afternoon more difficult than it should have been, but I didn’t see a team riding its luck, I saw a team defending to a man.