| A few thoughts on where we are now 07:55 - Sep 23 with 6505 views | Steve_M |
Having been away for Fulham and then missed Brighton, Saturday was the first game I managed to see live since the first two, it really doesn't take much to have a big gap between games in this division. That gives us a good amount of time to prepare but longer to get over bad results.
And Saturday was very nearly a bad result, it was a slightly strange game as, on the over all balance of play, a draw was definitely the right result but for much of the second half Southampton had a measure of control that we struggled to break and, until the last couple of minutes, had by far the better chances. It was quite reminiscent of the match last April in that regard - as well as in the conclusion.
Defensively we looked comfortable for much of the time, but also vulnerable out of almost nothing, obviously everyone has seen the goal we conceded, it was a bad one with both O'Shea and Axel missing chances to clear the ball and then Greaves and Davis being beaten by Lallana's excellent pass. It wasn't the only time we seemed to suddenly be under real pressure, some good balls on their part but I don't think we'll be too happy with how we dealt with them.
Individually it was ok, but collectively lacking a bit: Muric did well and looked much more comfortable than a month ago, O'Shea had a poor start to the game IMO but was ok after that and I thought Greaves threw himself into blocks a bit too readily at times. I also wonder if Wolfenden might play in some home games when we expect to have more possession as a lot seemed to go through Greaves at times.
Further forward, we are very much a team in formation, we know that in League One it took a while for players to get up to speed with how we play and that is similarly the case now. Despite a lot of possession we aren't creating a lot of chances from open play at the moment, again individuals are largely ok but the collective result will have to improve.
Omari remains the most threatening of our forward players, he looks like he can make something happen far more often than any of the others. His decision-making is a bit off at the moment and he clearly got frustrated on Saturday, as seen in a pointless yellow card, but it's easy to forget how raw he was a year ago and how much he improved over the season; the improvement he needs to make now is a much smaller one.
Under McKenna, we've consistently used our substitutes effectively and Saturday was no exception, Hirst and Taylor in particular made a big difference the former having two chances (anyone seen a video of the first one, we couldn't tell how good a chance it was?) and the latter getting stuck in as well as playing the key pass to Clarke for the second Hirst chance.
I do wish we had been able to sign Downes in the Summer though, for all Phillips experience FD would be a better option for the medium term, and I thought he was very good on Saturday (at least until Taylor rattled him with that tackle) consistently being first to the ball and breaking forward with it. Phillips staying fit is going to be pretty important to our season I think given his experience.
We have a lot of new players needing to adapt and not a great deal of Premier League experience in the squad so all of this will improve as the season goes on. To that end, it's been important not to start off by falling behind and we've done that with a little bit of good fortune but also a lot of work.
I'm still a bit concerned that we might have given ourselves too much to do to become a good enough team to stay up, three goals from five games obviously needs to improve a bit and we need to win some matches soon before the confidence of promotion drops a bit on and off the field. In that regard getting such a late goal as on Saturday can only help - such an enjoyable moment and a properly manic celebration in the away end.
COYFB. [Post edited 23 Sep 2024 13:50]
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| A few thoughts on where we are now on 08:20 - Sep 23 with 5283 views | PioneerBlue |
Agree with basically everything you say but there is a slight tone of negativity!
There is so much going right not least the speed of adjustment for likes of Leif, Axel, Morsy, Szmodics, Burns, Omari and Delap. I’m not saying they are perfect but they are all contributing at the level. The games played and the points picked up sometimes from losing positions. The reaction to loss. The hard to beat and three draws on the back of losses. Muric. Greaves. Hirst and Broadhead adding to squad depth after injury lay ups. Not currently in the bottom three (on points).
Lots done, massive amount to do and a very long way to go. |  |
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| A few thoughts on where we are now on 08:41 - Sep 23 with 5184 views | JakeITFC |
I think our major problem is a lack of control in games at times - we're much happier to cede possession this season and look to break a bit more, but when Szmodics and Delap don't really have any interest in hold-up play (with a preference for just getting their heads down and running forward) and if Hutchinson/Burns aren't quite at their best in ball retention like Saturday, it can be a long afternoon off the ball.
Both of the last two games I think we've improved with the introduction of Hirst (and to a lesser extent Jack Clarke, who I don't think was brilliant at Saints but did provide the one moment of quality that won us the final corner). Phillips was also a big miss as he has the class to put his foot on the ball and pick a pass more than Morsy/Cajuste. I think at home the Fulham game showed we are probably ready to risk having a shootout again, but the balance just doesn't look quite right away atm. |  | | |
| A few thoughts on where we are now on 08:59 - Sep 23 with 5059 views | PioneerBlue |
| A few thoughts on where we are now on 08:41 - Sep 23 by JakeITFC |
I think our major problem is a lack of control in games at times - we're much happier to cede possession this season and look to break a bit more, but when Szmodics and Delap don't really have any interest in hold-up play (with a preference for just getting their heads down and running forward) and if Hutchinson/Burns aren't quite at their best in ball retention like Saturday, it can be a long afternoon off the ball.
Both of the last two games I think we've improved with the introduction of Hirst (and to a lesser extent Jack Clarke, who I don't think was brilliant at Saints but did provide the one moment of quality that won us the final corner). Phillips was also a big miss as he has the class to put his foot on the ball and pick a pass more than Morsy/Cajuste. I think at home the Fulham game showed we are probably ready to risk having a shootout again, but the balance just doesn't look quite right away atm. |
Let’s review this in a few more weeks. Other than the quality jump, I believe this is where the coaches have decided to emphasise probably due to the way the fixtures have gone and players available eg Hirst, Burns/Ogbene, Phillips starting later and some early org to be done OOP for Gk and defenders. Either way, it’s worked short term if the comparison is points differential versus Soton. I totally agree, possession of the ball and therefore apparent control of the game is a thing that would like to see develop for us but if hard to beat is the first rung of PL survival so be it for me. | |
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| A few thoughts on where we are now on 09:19 - Sep 23 with 4921 views | DinDjarin |
| A few thoughts on where we are now on 08:41 - Sep 23 by JakeITFC |
I think our major problem is a lack of control in games at times - we're much happier to cede possession this season and look to break a bit more, but when Szmodics and Delap don't really have any interest in hold-up play (with a preference for just getting their heads down and running forward) and if Hutchinson/Burns aren't quite at their best in ball retention like Saturday, it can be a long afternoon off the ball.
Both of the last two games I think we've improved with the introduction of Hirst (and to a lesser extent Jack Clarke, who I don't think was brilliant at Saints but did provide the one moment of quality that won us the final corner). Phillips was also a big miss as he has the class to put his foot on the ball and pick a pass more than Morsy/Cajuste. I think at home the Fulham game showed we are probably ready to risk having a shootout again, but the balance just doesn't look quite right away atm. |
We had 48% away from home against a team that likes and usually does dominate possession.
We certainly did not create ourselves a long afternoon off the ball as you say. [Post edited 23 Sep 2024 10:12]
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| A few thoughts on where we are now on 09:20 - Sep 23 with 4921 views | dirtyboy |
Worth noting that Southampton have dominated possession in all of their games so far and we were at 48% for that game and that's without the experience of Phillips.
I thought Cajuste looked okay, obviously didn't want to take any risks or do anything silly, so did his job, showed his strength a few times, but won't be up to speed yet for obvious reasons, pleased to see him get good minutes though as I think there's a good player in there.
I don't think Southampton really controlled the game either.
Away from home, I think that was another performance where we saw some good things happening and that will continue to improve.
Villa this week, again, a draw not a disaster, as long as we continue to see performances (much like Fulham).
Everton and Leicester at home are two we really need to think about getting wins, so after 10 games played we're on around 10 points.
Basically, if we do average 1ppg, we'll have a good chance of staying up. Little bit behind that currently, but have had 3 very difficult games.
Villa look like they can conceded too....at home...who knows?! |  | | |
| A few thoughts on where we are now on 09:29 - Sep 23 with 4842 views | Steve_M |
| A few thoughts on where we are now on 08:20 - Sep 23 by PioneerBlue |
Agree with basically everything you say but there is a slight tone of negativity!
There is so much going right not least the speed of adjustment for likes of Leif, Axel, Morsy, Szmodics, Burns, Omari and Delap. I’m not saying they are perfect but they are all contributing at the level. The games played and the points picked up sometimes from losing positions. The reaction to loss. The hard to beat and three draws on the back of losses. Muric. Greaves. Hirst and Broadhead adding to squad depth after injury lay ups. Not currently in the bottom three (on points).
Lots done, massive amount to do and a very long way to go. |
If it's slightly negative in tone then it's a reflection of the work we need to do to compete consistently rather than feeling negative about where we are, albeit parts of the second half on Saturday were very frustrating,
I'm actually quite optimistic about the medium-term state of the club but this is a hard league and I want us to do more than just make up the numbers - it's not enough just to enjoy the ride, and clearly the club think that too given we've spent a lot of money on new players this Summer. Yes, there's a plan for relegation but the missed opportunity of 01-02 defined so much of the next 20 years for this club. | |
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| A few thoughts on where we are now on 09:36 - Sep 23 with 4790 views | _clive_baker_ |
Agree with your thoughts Steve. I think if you watched Saturday as a neutral you would probably come away thinking they're 2 evenly matched sides who will both be towards the bottom come May, and it would be hard to argue too much with that at this stage. To be fair to Southampton, although we took 6 points off them last season its very fine margins isn't it? I don't think they did a lot wrong at St Mary's and could've easily taken a point, and the same was true at PR where they dominated for long periods but we found a way. Like a lot of games last season they were tight affairs but on those occasions we came out on top. Saturday was equally as tight, and a draw a fair result. I think its testament to how far we've come that we can go away from home to Southampton and be disappointed with a draw, but perhaps more tangibly can match them not just once but pretty evenly in our last 3 meetings. There's not a huge amount of difference between us and them if we're honest, we seem to have a mental strength to find results which is promising.
Where I think we might have a competitive advantage as the season progresses is we've got a better manager, McKenna might just be the difference between us finishing above a few sides this season. We know it'll take time, which is why grinding out points now is massively important. If we're 8 games in to the season and still a couple of points above the bottom 3 then we'll have effectively distilled it to a 30 games season, integrated a heap of new players and got ourselves a little head start. If we can average 1.5 ppg against the rest of the bottom 10 that's 27 points as a baseline, then fight for another 10 on top like that at Brighton.
Of course we'll need to turn draws into wins at some stage but I do think that'll come. I fancy us at West Ham in a couple of weeks, they'll be feeling a lot of pressure infront of an increasingly tetchy home crowd, and while they've got a lot of attacking quality I think we can cause them some problems.
Either way its just enjoyable to have a seat at the top table and be taking points off 3 clubs who have spent most of the past decade in the Premier league. We don't have a right to do it and we shouldn't forget where we've come from. |  | | |
| A few thoughts on where we are now on 09:39 - Sep 23 with 4724 views | artsbossbeard |
Honestly couldn't see where the equaliser was coming from and from my vantage point, I just saw Morsy bring the ball down, the net ripple and carnage ensued.
Think Ol' Russell is correct to be frustrated with his team as they really brought a lot of their issues on themselves in the last 5mins or so - casing point being the ridiculous foul on Johnson deep into stoppage time nr the penalty area, which invited a ball into the 6yd box and then they just looked spooked with players hiding from there on in.
Any away point is a good point. [Post edited 23 Sep 2024 9:41]
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| Please note: prior to hitting the post button, I've double checked for anything that could be construed as "Anti Semitic" and to the best of my knowledge it isn't. Anything deemed to be of a Xenophobic nature is therefore purely accidental or down to your own misconstruing. | | Poll: | Raining in IP8 - shall I get the washing in? |
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| A few thoughts on where we are now on 09:48 - Sep 23 with 4641 views | JakeITFC |
| A few thoughts on where we are now on 09:19 - Sep 23 by DinDjarin |
We had 48% away from home against a team that likes and usually does dominate possession.
We certainly did not create ourselves a long afternoon off the ball as you say. [Post edited 23 Sep 2024 10:12]
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I said it can be, not it was at Southampton - Brighton was a more telling game in that regard, Southampton of course more happy to recycle the ball than immediately go for the jugular.
It definitely won't work for us to not have the ball sticking to our front men all year. | | | |
| A few thoughts on where we are now on 09:54 - Sep 23 with 4565 views | portmanking |
| A few thoughts on where we are now on 09:48 - Sep 23 by JakeITFC |
I said it can be, not it was at Southampton - Brighton was a more telling game in that regard, Southampton of course more happy to recycle the ball than immediately go for the jugular.
It definitely won't work for us to not have the ball sticking to our front men all year. |
I think that's where Hirst is going to become more of an option to start games away from home. Delap just doesn't appear to have the same instincts (or attributes) to bring others into play. He's a bit of a bull in a china shop at times. I do wonder whether he would be better-suited to that Burns role in a Walters-esque style.
However, the problem you then have is lacking a quality replacement for Hirst off the bench, which is still mystifying as to why we didn't get that done before Aug 31st. | | | |
| A few thoughts on where we are now on 09:56 - Sep 23 with 4537 views | itfcjoe |
| A few thoughts on where we are now on 09:36 - Sep 23 by _clive_baker_ |
Agree with your thoughts Steve. I think if you watched Saturday as a neutral you would probably come away thinking they're 2 evenly matched sides who will both be towards the bottom come May, and it would be hard to argue too much with that at this stage. To be fair to Southampton, although we took 6 points off them last season its very fine margins isn't it? I don't think they did a lot wrong at St Mary's and could've easily taken a point, and the same was true at PR where they dominated for long periods but we found a way. Like a lot of games last season they were tight affairs but on those occasions we came out on top. Saturday was equally as tight, and a draw a fair result. I think its testament to how far we've come that we can go away from home to Southampton and be disappointed with a draw, but perhaps more tangibly can match them not just once but pretty evenly in our last 3 meetings. There's not a huge amount of difference between us and them if we're honest, we seem to have a mental strength to find results which is promising.
Where I think we might have a competitive advantage as the season progresses is we've got a better manager, McKenna might just be the difference between us finishing above a few sides this season. We know it'll take time, which is why grinding out points now is massively important. If we're 8 games in to the season and still a couple of points above the bottom 3 then we'll have effectively distilled it to a 30 games season, integrated a heap of new players and got ourselves a little head start. If we can average 1.5 ppg against the rest of the bottom 10 that's 27 points as a baseline, then fight for another 10 on top like that at Brighton.
Of course we'll need to turn draws into wins at some stage but I do think that'll come. I fancy us at West Ham in a couple of weeks, they'll be feeling a lot of pressure infront of an increasingly tetchy home crowd, and while they've got a lot of attacking quality I think we can cause them some problems.
Either way its just enjoyable to have a seat at the top table and be taking points off 3 clubs who have spent most of the past decade in the Premier league. We don't have a right to do it and we shouldn't forget where we've come from. |
We know it'll take time, which is why grinding out points now is massively important. If we're 8 games in to the season and still a couple of points above the bottom 3 then we'll have effectively distilled it to a 30 games season, integrated a heap of new players and got ourselves a little head start.
Fantastic point here Clive, will be stealing this for a Blue Monday pod in the near future as said stuff along similar lines without putting it together as succintly as this!
I think we're in a really good place, lots I agree with in this thread though |  |
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| A few thoughts on where we are now on 10:03 - Sep 23 with 4449 views | NthQldITFC |
| A few thoughts on where we are now on 08:41 - Sep 23 by JakeITFC |
I think our major problem is a lack of control in games at times - we're much happier to cede possession this season and look to break a bit more, but when Szmodics and Delap don't really have any interest in hold-up play (with a preference for just getting their heads down and running forward) and if Hutchinson/Burns aren't quite at their best in ball retention like Saturday, it can be a long afternoon off the ball.
Both of the last two games I think we've improved with the introduction of Hirst (and to a lesser extent Jack Clarke, who I don't think was brilliant at Saints but did provide the one moment of quality that won us the final corner). Phillips was also a big miss as he has the class to put his foot on the ball and pick a pass more than Morsy/Cajuste. I think at home the Fulham game showed we are probably ready to risk having a shootout again, but the balance just doesn't look quite right away atm. |
Not quite the same issue, I know, but I'd say we've been aggressive in about half of our game time (Liverpool 60 mins, Fulham, and Southampton) and the average position of the sides we've played so far is 7th.
I don't think we're ceding control as such in general, just managing our effort levels, and getting players used to what's needed.
I'm pretty happy with where we are, given the start. |  |
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| A few thoughts on where we are now on 10:04 - Sep 23 with 4432 views | Dubtractor |
| A few thoughts on where we are now on 09:36 - Sep 23 by _clive_baker_ |
Agree with your thoughts Steve. I think if you watched Saturday as a neutral you would probably come away thinking they're 2 evenly matched sides who will both be towards the bottom come May, and it would be hard to argue too much with that at this stage. To be fair to Southampton, although we took 6 points off them last season its very fine margins isn't it? I don't think they did a lot wrong at St Mary's and could've easily taken a point, and the same was true at PR where they dominated for long periods but we found a way. Like a lot of games last season they were tight affairs but on those occasions we came out on top. Saturday was equally as tight, and a draw a fair result. I think its testament to how far we've come that we can go away from home to Southampton and be disappointed with a draw, but perhaps more tangibly can match them not just once but pretty evenly in our last 3 meetings. There's not a huge amount of difference between us and them if we're honest, we seem to have a mental strength to find results which is promising.
Where I think we might have a competitive advantage as the season progresses is we've got a better manager, McKenna might just be the difference between us finishing above a few sides this season. We know it'll take time, which is why grinding out points now is massively important. If we're 8 games in to the season and still a couple of points above the bottom 3 then we'll have effectively distilled it to a 30 games season, integrated a heap of new players and got ourselves a little head start. If we can average 1.5 ppg against the rest of the bottom 10 that's 27 points as a baseline, then fight for another 10 on top like that at Brighton.
Of course we'll need to turn draws into wins at some stage but I do think that'll come. I fancy us at West Ham in a couple of weeks, they'll be feeling a lot of pressure infront of an increasingly tetchy home crowd, and while they've got a lot of attacking quality I think we can cause them some problems.
Either way its just enjoyable to have a seat at the top table and be taking points off 3 clubs who have spent most of the past decade in the Premier league. We don't have a right to do it and we shouldn't forget where we've come from. |
I find myself agreeing with pretty much everything you post on itfc clive. Great minds and all that.... |  |
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| A few thoughts on where we are now on 10:26 - Sep 23 with 4276 views | Kev_W |
Your key phrase is that we are a team in formation and this accounts for some but not necessarily all the current shortcomings. We are still short of PL level firepower in attack as evidenced by the attempted signings in the summer transfer window.
I wonder if we will see the formation evolve as the team develops – it feels like we outnumbered in midfield at times, 3 v 2 etc.
Not as convinced about Downes. I think Philips is the better signing for us this season as he offers a bit more control and particularly if Morsy is suspended/injured we need the authority he can provide. | | | |
| A few thoughts on where we are now on 10:29 - Sep 23 with 4236 views | Churchman |
I’ve now watched the game through, but without commentary. I was not there live so your opinion is likely to be more accurate/relevant than mine.
There is a sizeable faction on here that says we were basically a load of rubbish and outplayed - and lucky to steal an undeserved point.
My view is that had we gone in 2-1 or 3-1 up at half time, that would have been a fair reflection. We were stronger for vast majority of it. Second half was more even. Southampton had a good chunk of the last half hour, but looking at the second half and indeed the first, Muric had little to do. In the end a point was the least we deserved.
The Southampton goal? It came from Axel giving the ball away cheaply. From that, the final pass and finish were good and I don’t think there was much the players around them could do. Downes? Good player but I didn’t notice him that much and for me he was less of an influence on the game than some on here think. But that’s just my view watching back on a tablet. At a game, you see far more.
Where can we improve? Final ball. Somehow it just wasn’t happening. Add in disappointing dead ball delivery from Leif on this occasion. He just had a difficult day with those - otherwise I thought he, like the rest of the defence, had a decent game. Delap? Hold up play wasn’t the best but the mush marking him will be recovering from a lot of bruises.
Omari? Fantastic player. It didn’t quite come off for him today but he was a constant thorn in the side and kept going and trying stuff. Our best player though Morsy was our man of the match. Whatever his limitations he makes us tick.
Overall, we were ok, from what I saw. Plenty to improve on, not least players knowing where each other are better. That only comes with time and it will. There is certainly more potential in our team than Southampton’s in my view. A final thought on them - their best skill is rolling around clutching heads and faces after a challenge, even if it’s a nudge in the back.
Mr Oily Martin has schooled them well. I liked the one on about 60 mins when the bloke went down poleaxed only to notice the Ipswich player running into space with the ball. Like Lazarus he rose, recovered and chased after him all in a couple of seconds. As for Martin, what a whiner. Him and his team. The ref? Far too picky and stopped the flow of the game.
So, a draw was a fair result even if we did give them the runaround first half. Some perspective: just two years ago almost to the day we lost 2-1 at Plymouth in League One. The starting team was Walton, Donacien, Woolfy, Fridge, Jackson, Evans Morsy, Davis, Chaplin, Harness, Ladapo. How times change. [Post edited 23 Sep 2024 10:41]
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| A few thoughts on where we are now on 10:42 - Sep 23 with 4129 views | Steve_M |
| A few thoughts on where we are now on 09:39 - Sep 23 by artsbossbeard |
Honestly couldn't see where the equaliser was coming from and from my vantage point, I just saw Morsy bring the ball down, the net ripple and carnage ensued.
Think Ol' Russell is correct to be frustrated with his team as they really brought a lot of their issues on themselves in the last 5mins or so - casing point being the ridiculous foul on Johnson deep into stoppage time nr the penalty area, which invited a ball into the 6yd box and then they just looked spooked with players hiding from there on in.
Any away point is a good point. [Post edited 23 Sep 2024 9:41]
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It was one of those goals where that instant when the ball hit the back of the net is seared into my brain, Reuser against Bolton another one, maybe something about the angle looking across the goal.
They had too many players too deep, missed the warning from the short free kick to Morsy that got blocked, and VAR checked for handball by the looks of it, and let him stand on the edge of the area again.
Two away points from games we could easily have lost is definitely to be enjoyed. That circuitous route back to the centre of Southampton was a good opportunity to bump into loads of people I know to enjoy that ending. | |
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| A few thoughts on where we are now on 10:44 - Sep 23 with 4082 views | Coastalblue |
| A few thoughts on where we are now on 10:26 - Sep 23 by Kev_W |
Your key phrase is that we are a team in formation and this accounts for some but not necessarily all the current shortcomings. We are still short of PL level firepower in attack as evidenced by the attempted signings in the summer transfer window.
I wonder if we will see the formation evolve as the team develops – it feels like we outnumbered in midfield at times, 3 v 2 etc.
Not as convinced about Downes. I think Philips is the better signing for us this season as he offers a bit more control and particularly if Morsy is suspended/injured we need the authority he can provide. |
Agree with you regarding Philips this season, but kind of read the point as if we'd had Downes this season and survived, we'd still have Downes next season as opposed to looking for a Philips replacement, and potentially a Sami replacement too.
As omebody said above, it is fine margins and what was apparent to me on Saturday was the difference between now and after Christmas last season when we had a well drilled side of players who not only knew their role but knew everybody elses so misplaced passes or taking the ball unsure of options were far less common. Of course there is an increased pace adding to that now, but it will continue to improve as the side wears itself a new groove it slots into. |  |
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| A few thoughts on where we are now on 10:52 - Sep 23 with 4008 views | _clive_baker_ |
| A few thoughts on where we are now on 10:04 - Sep 23 by Dubtractor |
I find myself agreeing with pretty much everything you post on itfc clive. Great minds and all that.... |
Likewise Dubs. | | | |
| A few thoughts on where we are now on 11:18 - Sep 23 with 3838 views | giant_stow |
I'm very cross with you lot as my daring fantasy football move of playing a Southampton defender nearly worked, but for your late equaliser. Brutes. |  |
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| A few thoughts on where we are now on 11:48 - Sep 23 with 3693 views | Swansea_Blue |
| A few thoughts on where we are now on 09:54 - Sep 23 by portmanking |
I think that's where Hirst is going to become more of an option to start games away from home. Delap just doesn't appear to have the same instincts (or attributes) to bring others into play. He's a bit of a bull in a china shop at times. I do wonder whether he would be better-suited to that Burns role in a Walters-esque style.
However, the problem you then have is lacking a quality replacement for Hirst off the bench, which is still mystifying as to why we didn't get that done before Aug 31st. |
That's the only disappointment about the window for me. If we'd have got the Greek fella, I think we'd have an extra cutting edge. We've got very little PL/top league experience in our front line (well, none really) and I think that will end up hurting us until players find their feet.
But it's a small gripe and we've obviously had to do a huge amount of work across the whole team. And by and large seem to have done well in signing players with potential. The future's bright as long a we can find a way to survive the present. Which we are, just about. And of course we can strengthen again in January.
It's a tough league. Tougher than I remember from last time, as even the poorer teams are very well organised and the best are on a whole different level. There are 6 teams without a win so far and another two teams with only 1 win. It's brutal. The gaps between the top and bottom are huge.
I was getting a bit carried away in the summer and thought we may surprise a few teams and would cope reasonably well. Based on what we've seen so far, the reality is probably that we will do very well to just stay up. |  |
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| A few thoughts on where we are now on 12:00 - Sep 23 with 3636 views | glasso |
I said this in a WhatsApp group at the weekend with other ITFC fans, but I think it does bear repeating. Our record so far is this:
- Unbeaten in three
- Unbeaten by anyone outside of the top two
- Even if we lose at the weekend, we'll STILL be unbeaten against anyone outside the top three.
- Only lost two of our first five games.
Granted, Southampton was a bit of a bump in the road because it looked like a winnable game on paper, but when we played Southampton last season it certainly wasn't a banker - if anything, it was the game a lot of us were looking at and thinking 'can we lose this game and still go on to get promoted?' The opposition hasn't changed just because the league we're playing them in has.
I think all the doom and gloom is a bit early. We've had one 'easy' game so far - and that was a 'difficult' game about 5 months ago.
If you take out Liverpool and City, we'd probably be looking at our start and saying it's a good start to the season. And in my opinion, there's no better time to play two games you're almost certain to lose anyway - when you're bedding in new players and trying to work out this new league. Far better to lose to them, than it being Everton, Forest etc | | | |
| A few thoughts on where we are now on 12:39 - Sep 23 with 3481 views | ringwoodblue |
Three points from our first five games is ok and we have given a good account of ourselves in every game. There is certainly still a lot to do and many areas to improve but we have to start getting some wins soon otherwise we give ourselves a mountain to climb in the back half of the season. |  |
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| A few thoughts on where we are now on 12:53 - Sep 23 with 3389 views | textbackup |
Paragraph 5. Spot on.
We look like a team of ok individuals in attack, im a little concerned that they don’t really all fit/compliment each other. Hirst coming on brings it together a bit better though I must say.
I mean KM knows more than me, but I don’t see Delap as someone (currently) that can bring others into play as well as GH does.
It’ll take time, but hell of a place to be learning and trying to get things to gel. |  |
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| A few thoughts on where we are now on 12:55 - Sep 23 with 3339 views | textbackup |
| A few thoughts on where we are now on 09:54 - Sep 23 by portmanking |
I think that's where Hirst is going to become more of an option to start games away from home. Delap just doesn't appear to have the same instincts (or attributes) to bring others into play. He's a bit of a bull in a china shop at times. I do wonder whether he would be better-suited to that Burns role in a Walters-esque style.
However, the problem you then have is lacking a quality replacement for Hirst off the bench, which is still mystifying as to why we didn't get that done before Aug 31st. |
Delap on the right was the exact conversation we had in the car on the way home. He’d bully a left back for 75/80mins given the chance. Pure pace and power | |
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| A few thoughts on where we are now on 13:04 - Sep 23 with 3220 views | SuperBobbyPetta |
I agree with most of this and with Clive's response too. We weren't that bad on Saturday, despite some of the comments and are getting better game on game. This'll improve even more so as the group start to understand how McKenna wants them to play and they get to know each other more. Where we do need to get a little better is our creativity and limit those defensive lapses. We could afford the odd one in the Championship but not so in the Premier League. I think OShea's pace will end up making us much more secure at the back and there's little doubt the players we've added are of real quality. My slight reservation is up top. I like Hirst, I love the start Delap has made and I realise that the 'number 9' scoring a bucket load of goals isn't necessarily the KmcK way but I do think we're maybe a little short there, especially as we're not creating the number of chances we were before. on the other hand if anyone can get it going it's the management team we have now! Everything I've seen suggests if we keep working and improving there are at least 3 worse sides than us, if not more. Southampton, Leicester, Everton, Wolves all look vulnerable to me and I'm not convinced by Brentford or Bournemouth either, so plenty of opportunity IMO for a successful campaign | | | |
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