A week and a half…

[formerly known as ivan]

… to get:

Goalkeeper - MOL is a liability. Gets an easy ride as he came through the youth team. In reality he is not good enough to start championship football week in week out. Distribution is shocking, put us in trouble a number of times today. A myth that be commands his box. We need an upgrade asap

Scott replacement - We all knew he would leave for big money. Plans for his replacement surely must have been under discussion months ago. Knight was not Scott’s replacement. If anything he was HNM. We cannot create anything and have three identical midfielders starting.

Striker - Bell is not a striker as shown today. Wells is three years past being anywhere near the standard needed. An option off the bench but should not be starting. Conway’s injury was bad luck but he will be out for a while.

We have a squad barely capable of competing. Pinching 1-0 wins here and there will cover over cracks, not fix them.

If paying fees are out the question then NP needs to swallow his pride and look at the loan market for quality.

[The Swan and Cemetery]

Think whatever anyone thinks of Max it’s difficult to argue that he lacks competition. A Ruddy-esque late in career, solid but unspectacular, keeper would hopefully be affordable. 

Think Scott can only be replaced by the team as whole and how that improves, as too unique to find anyone plausibly like for like. His combination of talent and consistency was amazing, maybe either a talented but unproven youngster or someone solid/experienced, but less exciting. 

Striker - don’t see it as realistic to significantly improve things until we improve our final ball. We’d need Rush/Fowler in their pomp to convert chances at a high enough rate and we can’t afford that. Again, maybe a lower league player might be worth a gamble, but if spending, think it needs to be on chance creation first and foremost. Mehmeti coming good or Benarous returning to fitness maybe our best chances. 

Not sure loans are financially much better than buying given fees/wages these days. 

Overall we need to suss how to play at home, but as NP said, more concentration/precision in general would make a big difference. Often very sloppy today and think we could have pushed them much harder with more care. 

[Scrumpys Dietary Advisor..]

Yes, there were a few errors, but not in dangerous areas like usual so, marginally better(?)...

Someone should have given Harry Cornick a shout at the end of the 1st half. The ball was going harmlessly behind for a goal kick do the corner shouldn't have happened and led to their opening goal 

Teams sit in and know exactly what we're going to do and just pick us off, we have no clue how to break them down 

[joe jordans teeth]

41 minutes ago, formerly known as ivan said:

… to get:

Goalkeeper - MOL is a liability. Gets an easy ride as he came through the youth team. In reality he is not good enough to start championship football week in week out. Distribution is shocking, put us in trouble a number of times today. A myth that be commands his box. We need an upgrade asap

Scott replacement - We all knew he would leave for big money. Plans for his replacement surely must have been under discussion months ago. Knight was not Scott’s replacement. If anything he was HNM. We cannot create anything and have three identical midfielders starting.

Striker - Bell is not a striker as shown today. Wells is three years past being anywhere near the standard needed. An option off the bench but should not be starting. Conway’s injury was bad luck but he will be out for a while.

We have a squad barely capable of competing. Pinching 1-0 wins here and there will cover over cracks, not fix them.

If paying fees are out the question then NP needs to swallow his pride and look at the loan market for quality.

Are these loan markets free,if so cmon Nige don’t be so stubborn 

[Charlie BCFC]

43 minutes ago, formerly known as ivan said:

… to get:

Goalkeeper - MOL is a liability. Gets an easy ride as he came through the youth team. In reality he is not good enough to start championship football week in week out. Distribution is shocking, put us in trouble a number of times today. A myth that be commands his box. We need an upgrade asap

Scott replacement - We all knew he would leave for big money. Plans for his replacement surely must have been under discussion months ago. Knight was not Scott’s replacement. If anything he was HNM. We cannot create anything and have three identical midfielders starting.

Striker - Bell is not a striker as shown today. Wells is three years past being anywhere near the standard needed. An option off the bench but should not be starting. Conway’s injury was bad luck but he will be out for a while.

We have a squad barely capable of competing. Pinching 1-0 wins here and there will cover over cracks, not fix them.

If paying fees are out the question then NP needs to swallow his pride and look at the loan market for quality.

His kicking isn’t the greatest but if you don’t think he commands the area well then you must be watching a different team. More than good enough as number 1 and is constantly improving imo

[nickolas]

46 minutes ago, formerly known as ivan said:

… to get:

Goalkeeper - MOL is a liability. Gets an easy ride as he came through the youth team. In reality he is not good enough to start championship football week in week out. Distribution is shocking, put us in trouble a number of times today. A myth that be commands his box. We need an upgrade asap

Scott replacement - We all knew he would leave for big money. Plans for his replacement surely must have been under discussion months ago. Knight was not Scott’s replacement. If anything he was HNM. We cannot create anything and have three identical midfielders starting.

Striker - Bell is not a striker as shown today. Wells is three years past being anywhere near the standard needed. An option off the bench but should not be starting. Conway’s injury was bad luck but he will be out for a while.

We have a squad barely capable of competing. Pinching 1-0 wins here and there will cover over cracks, not fix them.

If paying fees are out the question then NP needs to swallow his pride and look at the loan market for quality.

THIS!!!! Couldnt have written it better myself.

Obviously we wont replace Scott as hes the best ive ever seen in a city shirt, but there just MUST be an alternative to our ageing, slow and ponderous midfield. 
 

I’m not even sure i’d play Bell as hes like a small child on the field and gets outmuscled every time he takes a man on. 
Fed up of the love in of academy graduates. Max is not good enough for us and regardless of the nice storyline of being in the team, we need an alternative. 

[formerly known as ivan]

14 minutes ago, joe jordans teeth said:

Are these loan markets free,if so cmon Nige don’t be so stubborn 

Obviously not, what’s your point?

[Dr Balls]

7 minutes ago, nickolas said:

THIS!!!! Couldnt have written it better myself.

Obviously we wont replace Scott as hes the best ive ever seen in a city shirt, but there just MUST be an alternative to our ageing, slow and ponderous midfield. 
 

I’m not even sure i’d play Bell as hes like a small child on the field and gets outmuscled every time he takes a man on. 
Fed up of the love in of academy graduates. Max is not good enough for us and regardless of the nice storyline of being in the team, we need an alternative. 

Can’t blame Max for the 2 goals conceded. He actually made 2 goal-stopping saves today. It’s not that he’s the weakest link, more that we don’t have a viable Championship level keeper if anything happened to him. 

[formerly known as ivan]

11 minutes ago, Charlie BCFC said:

His kicking isn’t the greatest but if you don’t think he commands the area well then you must be watching a different team. More than good enough as number 1 and is constantly improving imo

His flapping at one corner allowed Birmingham to win another corner from which they scored!

It’s also not just his kicking. At least twice he throw the ball out that was intercepted and led to attacks.

He really isn’t a very good keeper.

[JoeAman08]

5 minutes ago, nickolas said:

THIS!!!! Couldnt have written it better myself.

Obviously we wont replace Scott as hes the best ive ever seen in a city shirt, but there just MUST be an alternative to our ageing, slow and ponderous midfield. 
 

I’m not even sure i’d play Bell as hes like a small child on the field and gets outmuscled every time he takes a man on. 
Fed up of the love in of academy graduates. Max is not good enough for us and regardless of the nice storyline of being in the team, we need an alternative. 

Bell is so out classed physically it is a joke. He isn’t a good player. Sure you wanna just play balls down channels and let him run him self into the ground so he gets on the end of one or two of them, sure he is useful. Of the defender gets back with him that is the end of the attack. Same goes with Cornick on the other side. Neither can beat a man and get a decent cross in. 2 of our depth players restricting us from signing anyone else apparently.
 

Bell had one quality touch and pass and I am sure that’ll be the defence of him this evening. Thought countless promising attacks died with him though. Surprised Mehmeti come off instead of Bell. Not that Mehmeti set the world alight today(who did?) but he has linked well with Roberts in the past I thought. 

[formerly known as ivan]

Just now, Dr Balls said:

Can’t blame Max for the 2 goals conceded. He actually made 2 goal-stopping saves today. It’s not that he’s the weakest link, more that we don’t have a viable Championship level keeper if anything happened to him. 

I think he was at fault for not dealing with an earlier corner which then led to the next one

[Port Said Red]

[ChrisBW]

Agree with this. A GK. CAM. striker 

[nickolas]

9 minutes ago, formerly known as ivan said:

I think he was at fault for not dealing with an earlier corner which then led to the next one

Correct. 

[nickolas]

32 minutes ago, Dr Balls said:

Can’t blame Max for the 2 goals conceded. He actually made 2 goal-stopping saves today. It’s not that he’s the weakest link, more that we don’t have a viable Championship level keeper if anything happened to him. 

So he did his job then!

He cant master the other part of commanding his area or keeping the ball on the pitch when kicking though!

[Gratz260689]

49 minutes ago, Charlie BCFC said:

His kicking isn’t the greatest but if you don’t think he commands the area well then you must be watching a different team. More than good enough as number 1 and is constantly improving imo

Not sure what your watching, good shot stopper apart from that absolute time bomb, defenders must dread it, 

[Not Banksy]

Best keepers are the ones you don’t notice… seem to be noticing max’s mishaps a little too often personally.. seems others share that sentiment.. not sure if he looks like he’s got much better and he’s coming into his prime now.

That being said if he is our number one for the year I wouldn’t worry about it that much.. he’s decent enough.. but do think we would need to improve that position in becoming a serious promotion contender. 
 

Today he did a bit of a Frankie Fielding impression with some of those kicks to touch

[MelksRed]

10 hours ago, Not Banksy said:

 

Today he did a bit of a Frankie Fielding impression with some of those kicks to touch

Not just today. He kicks it into touch at least 3-4 times a game. Distribution is soooo poor. 

[Lakeside Red]

Max is an average goal keeper at championship level we need an upgrade but can’t see it happening 

[NewquayRed]

12 hours ago, nickolas said:

THIS!!!! Couldnt have written it better myself.

Obviously we wont replace Scott as hes the best ive ever seen in a city shirt, but there just MUST be an alternative to our ageing, slow and ponderous midfield. 
 

I’m not even sure i’d play Bell as hes like a small child on the field and gets outmuscled every time he takes a man on. 
Fed up of the love in of academy graduates. Max is not good enough for us and regardless of the nice storyline of being in the team, we need an alternative. 

Totally understand that the club won’t knee jerk and spend big on players that don’t improve us,  biggest frustration for me is that we knew all of this end of last season and up to now haven’t dealt with it.

Feels like we’re always late to deal with the obvious, original poster has nailed it and if we don’t recruit in these areas we have another bottom half season to look forward too. 

[Shauntaylor85]

14 hours ago, formerly known as ivan said:

… to get:

Goalkeeper - MOL is a liability. Gets an easy ride as he came through the youth team. In reality he is not good enough to start championship football week in week out. Distribution is shocking, put us in trouble a number of times today. A myth that be commands his box. We need an upgrade asap

Scott replacement - We all knew he would leave for big money. Plans for his replacement surely must have been under discussion months ago. Knight was not Scott’s replacement. If anything he was HNM. We cannot create anything and have three identical midfielders starting.

Striker - Bell is not a striker as shown today. Wells is three years past being anywhere near the standard needed. An option off the bench but should not be starting. Conway’s injury was bad luck but he will be out for a while.

We have a squad barely capable of competing. Pinching 1-0 wins here and there will cover over cracks, not fix them.

If paying fees are out the question then NP needs to swallow his pride and look at the loan market for quality.

Max is an OK keeper, he did well yesterday with some deflected strikes, but his playing from the back and overall ability to command his box is questionable. He isn’t a keeper who is going to get you up the table, it is probably the weakest we have been at GK for many years. Surprised we haven’t acted on this. The Forest keeper on loan at Luton last year would be perfect. Cardiff also did well to get Runnarson, highly rated by Arsenal coaches. 

[Bristol Oil Services]

1 hour ago, Lakeside Red said:

Max is an average goal keeper at championship level we need an upgrade but can’t see it happening 

If Max was much better than average, we'd only be selling him and then have to find another keeper, who would likely be "average" himself ....

[bexhill reds]

3 hours ago, MelksRed said:

Not just today. He kicks it into touch at least 3-4 times a game. Distribution is soooo poor. 

I suspect that is more to to with how we’re set up in as much as he’s always having to go to either touchline for the flick on down the line for Sykes or Bell to run onto rather than up the middle to a ball winning CF. Unless you are precise then that smaller target will invariably mean more balls in touch, the alternative is to go short and we just don’t have the creative midfielders for that type of game 

[Fuber]

15 hours ago, formerly known as ivan said:

… to get:

Goalkeeper - MOL is a liability. Gets an easy ride as he came through the youth team. In reality he is not good enough to start championship football week in week out. Distribution is shocking, put us in trouble a number of times today. A myth that be commands his box. We need an upgrade asap

Scott replacement - We all knew he would leave for big money. Plans for his replacement surely must have been under discussion months ago. Knight was not Scott’s replacement. If anything he was HNM. We cannot create anything and have three identical midfielders starting.

Striker - Bell is not a striker as shown today. Wells is three years past being anywhere near the standard needed. An option off the bench but should not be starting. Conway’s injury was bad luck but he will be out for a while.

We have a squad barely capable of competing. Pinching 1-0 wins here and there will cover over cracks, not fix them.

If paying fees are out the question then NP needs to swallow his pride and look at the loan market for quality.

Judging the comments in regards to wage bill as Nige has mentioned - think you need to look upstairs as for why they aren't happening.

That with SLs comments (Luton comparisons) have me greatly concerned we may not bring anyone in, or if we do it'll only be one, likely to replace Scott.