bluebruce

Well Man U won. Still a couple of teams below who could overtake by winning their game in hand though. Tight league up at the top. With us doing so well in a league full of Premiership resources and squad players dropping down from the Prem now and then, you have to wonder who is next on the conveyor belt and when they'll be broken in. Our most urgent need of course is in defence, but that's always a tricky area for youngsters to be tested, and the u23s' best in that area haven't been able to stamp their mark indelibly when given the chance over the last year. I'd say the attacking and midfield areas are unlikely to see more than a bench cameo from the youngsters before the season is out unless injuries actually worsen, if even Dolan can't earn himself a start. Davenport struggling to make the first team despite a goal too. On reflection, I think we might want to look at some loans for a choice few in Jan to continue their development. I think that should include one of the keepers if possible, we don't need that many at that level and its inevitable at least one will stall their progress otherwise.

Reading didn't impress me. They were just another organised, efficient side that had the better of us. No different to the others who have done us, they just happened to be top of the table at the time so people jizzed about it a bit more.

Those subs won't achieve anything. 3 players happy to just move the ball around. If we are lucky, Buckley might find a killer pass.

Lucky bastards.

Yep that's a part of what I'm talking about - in fact I've pointed it out on numerous threads before. I was about to post at the start of the half, watch how Norwich players move around when they have the ball in our third compared to how ours do, but then we started moving a bit better. I maintain that it is about us, as an outfit, being more interested in keeping it than doing anything dangerous with it. The lack of movement is part of that psychology. I don't feel like we focus much of our coaching on getting the players moving. As long as we keep possession TM seems happy with how we attack.

Great hit from Gally, unlucky.

We are more interested in keeping possession than doing anything dangerous with it. For all the pretty football, and the genuine potential this side has, that's our biggest weakness this season.

That description, and saying the comments so far are OTT, seems incongruous. I do generally agree that some of the comments are a little excessive. They are looking more formidable than us, but they're also the top side in the league so far. Still, we have to be trying to get something today.

Their goal actually looked offside on that replay. Hadn't even occurred to me at the time.

I still can't fathom why we call ourselves a possession side, but every kickoff the tactic is to belt it to no mans land and thereby lose the ball every single time.

Armstrong could do to watch that. I'm not one of those who slam him whenever he has an off game, and he does create sometimes, but the other night he let his self interest take to the fore. That video shows you how even the greatest goalscorers have to weigh up the options and know when to pass instead.

I don't think we need to replace Brereton's direct goal threat. He only has 3, which is the same as SG who hasn't played as much. It's the way BB helps us stretch defences and can find that ball through to the likes of Arma. That's what we need back.

I agree, so far he is showing he is a good backs to the wall centre half, but the jury remains out on dealing with counter attacks. I think he should improve as he sharpens up with more games though, if he can get a run without injury anyway.

He's not always like that. Most shots from distance I can remember him trying in a game for a while. I think he was a bit too obsessed with regaining his top scorer mantle. Plus he is probably aware he hasn't scored a worldie from outside the box this season. Manager should have been telling him to cut that shit out well before we got to the hour mark, it was obvious he wasn't wearing his super goal boots.

Well you were right about that last bit.

Phil, the game has moved on a lot in recent years financially. £4,700 a week for a RB of Nyambe's quality is not a lot of money, even in the Covid climate. https://www.888sport.com/blog/football/championship/how-much-do-championship-football-players-get-paid That wage doesn't even price out some League One clubs. According to this article, the average in League One (mean of course, with some high earners from relegated clubs stretching it) is a little under 5k. The average in the Championship is 29k per week, which is probably more than we pay any of our players. So no, it isn't pricing out all except the types of sides you mention. That's before considering the new riches in the game over in the Middle East and China. The average Eredevisie wage is also in the ballpark of Nyambe's current deal. No fee involved either. Any foreign side can also agree a deal as soon as January starts. I'd be surprised if he doesn't expect an extra 3k per week or more to sign a new deal here, especially given his inconsistent treatment regarding starting games.

If he does, I'll forever consider him a legend. Even if next week he has to buy a stair lift.

Ok come on, finish this up now. I know you're all having a whale of a time but I can't sea the point.

Fantastic! Almost like he saw my posts the other day and said 'fuck you Bruce I'm fine'. Hopefully he holds up well, been horrendously unfortunate and it must be so frustrating for him. Probably be a first team regular or semi regular by now without the injuries.

Well, that graph was posted before yesterday's game, at which point Arma had 14 goals in 15 games. Which I make 0.9333 goals per game. The graph says he has had about 0.8 expected goals per game. Not a fan of this newfangled expected goals per game stat though. Feck knows what or who decides if it is 'expected'.

At your age? Fair play.

He made himself feel nervous at RB. You could tell from his body language. He was poor there. He tried but he was very rocky indeed. Even several misplaced passes, which isn't really like him usually. I try to avoid saying this kind of thing normally, but if you think he was outstanding as anything other than a very generous kindness on account of him being out of position, I don't know what game you were watching. Or at the very least you weren't paying him much attention (I'm guilty of this sometimes with some players, as I focus more on the way we are working as a team, but I was specifically watching out for what Buckley did because it had me very worried that he was even tried there). But, opinions, I guess. The stats say he made one interception and one tackle. Not 'several ball winning interceptions'. His pass completion rate was only 50%, which is terrible considering how tidy he normally is. May he never play there again as far as I'm concerned. Hell for me the jury is out on how good he is in his actual position, but I've seen enough to think he can develop into a fine technical player there. But almost nothing about his game suits him to being a fullback, and it showed.

Wrong thread Phil but Buckley was terrible. Not his fault, not where he plays and he has none of the attributes for the role, but in no way was he outstanding.

It would be harsh if I was telling him. I'm not writing him off per se, anyway, I'm just not holding out a great deal of hope he will be able to beat his injury issues. He looks an exciting player, I'm just not going to expect anything as that looks very likely to lead to disappointment. I think he has had something else minor in between (but you will after a long layoff, see Dack), but the fact it's mostly been his back makes it less likely, not more, that he will move past it. Very troublesome area like Tyrone says. Best of luck to him though and it will be great if I'm wrong.

Millwall goal was a rocket, and not where you would expect him to have aimed it. No fault on TK for me on that one. My concern with him remains his love of punching or clawing the ball when he could just catch it. I think his handling might be a little suspect and he knows it, so he opts for moving it away instead. Good points raised by some about how with his sweeper keeper style he is susceptible to a lobbing from a good technical player who snatches the ball unexpectedly. But overall he has been great and a terrific calming influence for our defence. His distribution may have been affected for the same reasons even the likes of Holtby were - those bastard green and white shirts! Even more difficult to pick your man over long distances (although more time to look in his position). You're right, total disgrace to have suffered poor keepers since coming down (Raya apart, for me, though I'd have liked a reliable experienced competition for his more eccentric spells). Especially when it tends to be the cheapest, most underrated position on the pitch. Always thought the market values them totally wrong. Friedel was worth his weight in gold.