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As in players unavailable? Or does that factor in players who’s minutes we’re managing making them unavailable to play a full 90 but technically able to be in the squad?
Even accepting that for what it is, we’re bottom half still. After the past two years.
If we have any ambition and any standards it just needs to be accepted we have had an injury problem for 2 and a bit seasons now, and rather than try to argue there is no problem, we focus on the fix.
Hopefully, behind closed doors, that’s what the club are doing. And if it doesn’t improve this season, surely you have to act with regards to who leads that whole function?
Stephan is doing a good job. We need to give him the tools to succeed.
Is Dembele full training?! I’ve missed that. I thought he was out until much later this year.
Also, there’s a nuance with a number of our players as to whether they are fit to start and do 90. We need that improving so Stephan doesn’t have his hands tied.
I said it after the West Brom game; I really like how he speaks in these post match conferences. He’s bang on and not afraid to call a spade a spade. He seems to have standards and is trying to lift them across the squad. He definitely seems more confident and secure in his role now. I think he made mistakes today with that starting line up and that is probably what ultimately cost us the 3 points, but I think he knows that. And he obviously did a great job at HT to inspire the second half performance.
Yeah, someone shared a reply with me at HT, not the same angle as the Sky highlights and the boot he goes in with never makes contact with the Preston player. It is high (after striking the ball first and cleanly) but it misses their fella’s leg entirely. Cirkin’s body then collides with his leg as both players’ momentum carries them into each other.
It isn’t a red card. The player’s reaction and the Preston players’ reactions got him sent off. He strikes the ball with his laces in a hard kicking motion whilst sliding and as will happen when you do that your foot follows through on the up, but he does not catch their lad at all with that foot.
I felt a red was very harsh at the time, and having seen that reply, it’s the wrong decision. It’s not even a foul. He gets their first. Strikes it cleanly first and his studs do not go high into any part of their player. They just come together. It looks a lot worse in real time than it was. And I felt it was harsh in real time.
Did anyone else also note that their fella wasn’t asked to leave the field to return after having treatment? Basic rules not enforced. And he took the free kick!
That’s your inference!! I meant boundless enthusiasm! As a loveable trait. Albeit not one that makes him a great footballer. I can accept I could have been clearer, but I had hoped the points about wanting him to score would have showed that.
I genuinely like him as a pro. I’m don’t think he’s Championship calibre player (yet) but I like his effort. I love players that give everything (Smyth, Field, etc).
And I still think it’s a terrible miss. But that doesn’t make any of the above untrue.
I’m genuinely confused. I like Lloyd. I genuinely do. He has boundless enthusiasm (hence the Labrador simile). I like that about him. I think my post has been misunderstood. I think he’s genuinely useful off the bench.
But it’s a shocking miss. It was harder to miss than score. As I said, I really hope he scores soon to get that monkey off his back. I think he’s feeling the missed chances, as you’d expect.
The OP didn’t mention Kolli. Whatever people’s views, Connell didn’t make any comparison. Ned’s made an unnecessary comment to bring it up and create division. There was no need.
What is particularly harsh?! The miss is up there like Dykes’ from a few years back, maybe worse, imo.
The second half was superb. The character shown, the fight, the effort, the tempo, the intensity, with 10 v 11, was outstanding. We could and should have scored 3 or 4. We deserved to win the game off the back of it. Battered them. It was exhilarating. The players should take heart from a display like that with 10 men. Fantastic. And what a response Stephan got from them. Kamara was superb in tiny spaces. Madsen controlled the game. Saito and Smyth improved us enormously. Adamson was excellent. Edwards super. Dunne woke up. And Poku was the threat we hoped we’d signed the whole time. Superb.
However, we can’t gloss over how bad that first half was. It was one of the worst in years, probably since the Blackburn home loss under Ainsworth just before he got the sack. Dunne had a shocker. Scarlett was thrown in the deep end and found himself way out of his depth. The defending for the 2nd from a host of players was awful. But the major issue was, from the whistle, well before the red, there was no tempo, no intensity, no snap to our passes, hardly any movement. We looked like we’d rolled out of bed hungover and had just arrived at the ground. Stephan was right to call that first half “unacceptable”, because it was, for any professional football side. But he also got the starting line up wrong. Vale’s injury is unfortunate, but Varane was not the right replacement. It put Kamara at 10, where he looked lost, and Varane at 8 where he looked half arsed. And Scarlett, who I’m sure will become a very accomplished footballer, showed he is a very long way from being a starter. His off the ball positioning is miles off where it needs to be. There is a reason Preston kept trying to attack that side.
So a proper “Jekyll and Hyde” performance. 1/10 to 9/10. Bizarre. Preston were and are a terrible side. That context is important.
Play like we did second half more often than not and we will be top 6, let alone top 8. Play like we did first half more often than not and we’ll finish much lower than 15th.
Likewise we both lost two points and gained one point.
Unnecessary and unhelpful. No mentioned Kolli and no need for you to.
Lloyd is loveable, like a Labrador. God loves a trier, but that header was an appalling miss. It looks even worse on reply as he doesn’t even need to jump much at all. For his own sake, I really hope he scores soon to get the monkey off his back. He must be feeling it.
Yeah, I don’t know where this narrative about other players complaining about him has come from and why it has taken hold. Well, I can hazard a guess but let’s park that.
From what I had heard he’s quite popular and liked.
The obvious flaw being that a settled side means you are not getting injuries on an ongoing basis necessitating a change in personal and more minutes for the rest of your squad.
Injuries will mean you can’t rotate through choice as much due to lack of options to a point. It might be valid at the start of the season or at a given point in time after incurring a load of injuries. But, fundamentally, a settled side with a greater % of minutes for your most played players MUST mean those players aren’t getting injured in the games you play from that point onwards.
Injuries necessitate a change in personal, and greater spread of minutes across your squad. That is a fact. No team plays with less than 11 players (outside red cards in game). A settled side does not equal more injuries just that a settled side is the opposite to rotation. Not all rotation, as we know very well, is through choice.
As you say “why” we’re giving more minutes to squad players and rotating the team more than anyone else is the question. I’d also point out that when you look at your “first 7” or “first 11” players, it’s not actually those who would be chosen in our genuine first team if everyone was fit (e.g. Smyth, Vale). Same could be said for other teams, and so hard to compare, but worth pointing out.
It could be injuries (necessity) or it could be deliberate rotation (choice) in order to either reduce injury risk OR because many in the squad aren’t fit enough to play 90 mins regularly yet (necessity).
None of these 3 possibilities reflect particularly well on the Performance function. If it’s injuries, that’s their remit. If it’s to prevent injuries, it’s not working. And, if it’s because the squad aren’t fit enough to be able to play without this level of rotation, then that’s also isn’t a great look for the Performance or Recruitment departments.
Here’s hoping it improves. As others have said, it may be our injuries are not bad, long term ones, so it will improve/settle down. And we know the club took a decision to have a punt on the likes of Lamptey. Equally though, repeat injuries has been a theme the last couple of years, so that might indicate it won’t settle down and there is an underlying problem.
Whatever way you cook it, we’re not doing well on this front. And that should be the aim. Not persuading us it’s not a problem specific to us.
I really like the way he’s speaking in these interviews. He’s a lot more open and insightful than last season. Not sure if that’s the language barrier reducing, more confidence, or the team playing better, but it’s really encouraging how spot on he is with his analysis.
Football wasn’t great, but character and result good. Rightly praised Edwards who was superb and important for him to cover Scarlett given his performance but also being subbed as a sub. Hopefully that quashes anything there.
I tried this at the cricket a month or so back. It’s cooking lager. Certainly not as good as Frontier from them, and that’s pretty middle of the road. Not a patch on the decent craft lagers. Don’t expect much.
Very harsh on Scarlett. Vale has been very poor today. A proper ‘2’ rather than an ‘8’. I think he has a bit of class about him and is technically quite good, but he does throw in some absolute stinkers now and again.
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