| Our progress and January 10:16 - Nov 5 with 1952 views | JakeITFC |
On the face of it another frustrating evening but actually think we are starting to look better. Our left hand side continues to be our strength (and perhaps with a fit Leif last night may just have made the difference even if Johnson did ok) but it's nice to see a bit of balance to our play with Walle Egeli starting to make the other wing dangerous too. We are creating many more chances than we did at the start of the year and you feel that (as McKenna mentioned in his presser) at least one of Azon, Akpom or Szmodics has to start firing soon and it might be lift-off once they do.
I think with January around the corner the obvious areas for upgrade are centre midfield and centre forward but they remain from the summer and it's even harder in January to do that business. Cajuste is sadly the Championship midfielder that we thought he would be - flashes of class but not enough bite or end product. If all of football was just turning he would be a multiple Ballon D'Or winner but sometimes you need to pass or shoot too. I watch players like Hackney and even Louza last night and want somebody like that to grab a hold of the game at times. Taylor is functional and Matusiwa is a good defensive player but goes hiding in build-up. Perhaps Nunez is the answer there but he looks more impactful further forward.
Up front even tougher - think most of us would have been happy to drop big money on Ivanovic at Millwall who has scored once this season so far and other big in stature forwards that we were linked with (even if just on this board) haven't really torn it up. Hirst for my money has done alright - he's on course for a 15-20 goal season and runs his socks off. That sacrificial type running is more rewarded when your number ten and right winger are in the goals and so it is a shame that we are yet to see an open play goal for any of those players.
All in all it's been below standard so far but we should be in the mix just by virtue of it being a very competitive division this year. |  | | |  |
| Our progress and January on 10:20 - Nov 5 with 1637 views | tractorboy1978 |
Grab hold of a game like Sam Morsy? |  | | |
| Our progress and January on 10:23 - Nov 5 with 1611 views | JakeITFC |
| Our progress and January on 10:20 - Nov 5 by tractorboy1978 |
Grab hold of a game like Sam Morsy? |
Think there are different methods of grabbing hold of it but yes, his bravery is definitely missed. I think we need a more competent ball progresser in there either way. | | | |
| Our progress and January on 10:31 - Nov 5 with 1547 views | gsoly |
Agree broadly Jack, but I'd be astonished if we go out and buy a CM in January. The ship has sailed on that now. We may have plenty of cash to spend, but you can't add an expensive recruit to Matusiwa, Cajuste, Nunez and Taylor. Just doesn't work.
A striker, a deputy left back, and a top level 10 is all we need in January. |  | | |
| Our progress and January on 10:49 - Nov 5 with 1472 views | TractorJack |
By the way Louza is utter class. That's what you call making things look effortless while still having end product. |  | | |
| Our progress and January on 10:53 - Nov 5 with 1435 views | homer_123 |
| Our progress and January on 10:49 - Nov 5 by TractorJack |
By the way Louza is utter class. That's what you call making things look effortless while still having end product. |
Their No 10.?
What was his end product last night? |  |
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| Our progress and January on 11:01 - Nov 5 with 1406 views | JakeITFC |
| Our progress and January on 10:31 - Nov 5 by gsoly |
Agree broadly Jack, but I'd be astonished if we go out and buy a CM in January. The ship has sailed on that now. We may have plenty of cash to spend, but you can't add an expensive recruit to Matusiwa, Cajuste, Nunez and Taylor. Just doesn't work.
A striker, a deputy left back, and a top level 10 is all we need in January. |
If you go up it's the first priority and so I don't think it's wild to do it in January. I'm not sure any of them are good enough to start in the Prem in a midfield two. | | | |
| Our progress and January on 11:02 - Nov 5 with 1393 views | SomethingBlue |
| Our progress and January on 10:53 - Nov 5 by homer_123 |
Their No 10.?
What was his end product last night? |
A goal! | |
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| Our progress and January on 11:11 - Nov 5 with 1345 views | Pinewoodblue |
Unless KMc is distracted by being linked to every vacancy that comes along he cannot be happy with our end results.
Another game with 20+ crosses into the box and nothing to show for it.
We are significantly underachieving and that has to stop.
Tenth in the table and we have not beaten any of the teams above us in the table.
Our failure to convert chances into wins isn’t down to tenacious defending.
We need to own the problem and get it sorted . We need to go back to the one match at a time philosophy |  |
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| Our progress and January on 11:14 - Nov 5 with 1323 views | Kieran_Knows |
Did Cajuste come out for the second half last night? See also most of his games this season. |  |
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| Our progress and January on 11:17 - Nov 5 with 1303 views | glasso |
| Our progress and January on 11:02 - Nov 5 by SomethingBlue |
A goal! |
I think the Watford commentators said he's scored 4 in 4 now... | | | |
| Our progress and January on 11:18 - Nov 5 with 1286 views | itfcsuth |
We could easily be 15 points from the top 2 by January, which would be absolutely horrendous.
I wouldn't drop big money on anyone, don't trust the club to get it right at all with big money.
The rebuild needs a renovation though, squad will need to shape up in January something like:
GK: Palmer, Walton, Button
RB: D.Furlong, H.Clarke, A.Young
CB: D.O'Shea, J.Greaves, C.Kipre
LB: L.Davis
CDM: A.Matusiwa, J.Taylor, J.Cajuste, M.Nunez
RM: W.Burns, S.Egeli
CAM: C.Chaplin, S.Szmodics
LM: J.Clarke, J.Philogene
ST: G.Hirst, C.Akpom, I.Azon
McAteer & Johnson to depart, really not in favour here it would appear.
Lineup:
Walton
Furlong - O'Shea - Greaves - Davis
Matusiwa - Taylor
Burns - Chaplin - Philogene
Hirst
Subs: Palmer, Kipre, Young, Cajuste, Nunez, Sindre, J.Clarke, Szmodics, Akpom
That team could 'cook'. All other answers are wrong. [Post edited 5 Nov 11:19]
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| Our progress and January on 11:22 - Nov 5 with 1254 views | backwaywhen |
| Our progress and January on 10:49 - Nov 5 by TractorJack |
By the way Louza is utter class. That's what you call making things look effortless while still having end product. |
Let’s buy him them ? A cheeky bid in Jan perhaps. | | | |
| Our progress and January on 11:23 - Nov 5 with 1244 views | tractorboy1978 |
| Our progress and January on 10:23 - Nov 5 by JakeITFC |
Think there are different methods of grabbing hold of it but yes, his bravery is definitely missed. I think we need a more competent ball progresser in there either way. |
Nunez was the second only to Hackney in terms of 'ball progressing' wasn't he? | | | |
| Our progress and January on 11:28 - Nov 5 with 1191 views | MrPotatoHead |
| Our progress and January on 10:53 - Nov 5 by homer_123 |
Their No 10.?
What was his end product last night? |
He scored their goal, he's now on 6 for the season from midfield. Also put a couple of really nice balls through to find his teammates in space. |  | | |
| Our progress and January on 11:30 - Nov 5 with 1162 views | JakeITFC |
| Our progress and January on 11:23 - Nov 5 by tractorboy1978 |
Nunez was the second only to Hackney in terms of 'ball progressing' wasn't he? |
Yup, which is why I think he should be playing alongside Matusiwa. | | | |
| Our progress and January on 11:34 - Nov 5 with 1135 views | Steve_M |
I think I'm more ambivalent at the moment, our good bits are much better than they were at the start of the season but we are still a fair way from being a really effective team at this level.
Midfield and defence still look disjointed and that shows in the number of incredibly soft goals we've given away. We don't give up many chances but we seem to concede far too high a percentage of them. Midfield you've addressed so I won't add to it here except to say I finished last season with more questions about Cajuste than I would have liked.
A lot comes back to our Summer transfer window, despite knowing what we needed to do in central midfield and up front we failed (again) to get the right players in.
If we do start taking more chances then I think the whole team looks better but the combination of variable intensity and conceding poor goals isn't one that gets a team into the top two. Maybe we just need to stay with the pack until January but it feels a little unsatisfactory at the moment. |  |
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| Our progress and January on 12:15 - Nov 5 with 991 views | JakeITFC |
| Our progress and January on 11:34 - Nov 5 by Steve_M |
I think I'm more ambivalent at the moment, our good bits are much better than they were at the start of the season but we are still a fair way from being a really effective team at this level.
Midfield and defence still look disjointed and that shows in the number of incredibly soft goals we've given away. We don't give up many chances but we seem to concede far too high a percentage of them. Midfield you've addressed so I won't add to it here except to say I finished last season with more questions about Cajuste than I would have liked.
A lot comes back to our Summer transfer window, despite knowing what we needed to do in central midfield and up front we failed (again) to get the right players in.
If we do start taking more chances then I think the whole team looks better but the combination of variable intensity and conceding poor goals isn't one that gets a team into the top two. Maybe we just need to stay with the pack until January but it feels a little unsatisfactory at the moment. |
I don't think it's that far away personally, but I take the point.
It's very easy to say x player just has to start performing better and we have to stop conceding rubbish goals but harder to do in practice. I would however say it is much harder to become a team that creates loads overnight so we are at least on the right track now.
Think I'd agree that we a probably a way away from being a steamrolling force at this level (that perhaps our outlay justifies on paper) but I also don't think it is an absolute disaster if we don't go up this year in the manner that we've invested (i.e. it isn't a one season punt at over-the-hill type players) and that you'd expect Walle Egeli, Matusiwa and McAteer to be better with time. Just to be clear though, it would obviously be a significant failure of something (recruitment, management, players or all three) should we not be in the promotion shake-up. | | | |
| Our progress and January on 12:15 - Nov 5 with 983 views | homer_123 |
| Our progress and January on 11:02 - Nov 5 by SomethingBlue |
A goal! |
I swear I must have a different player in mind! | |
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| Our progress and January on 12:15 - Nov 5 with 984 views | southnorfolkblue |
| Our progress and January on 10:20 - Nov 5 by tractorboy1978 |
Grab hold of a game like Sam Morsy? |
Morsy and Matusiwa?
Yes please | |
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| Our progress and January on 12:20 - Nov 5 with 944 views | WestStanderLaLaLa |
| Our progress and January on 11:22 - Nov 5 by backwaywhen |
Let’s buy him them ? A cheeky bid in Jan perhaps. |
My Watford mate says he’s contracted to 28 but put in a transfer request in the summer, they persuaded him to stay 1 more season however his performances have been such that he’s expecting bids and he’ll leave in Jan. |  |
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| Our progress and January on 12:21 - Nov 5 with 942 views | peterleeblue |
| Our progress and January on 11:34 - Nov 5 by Steve_M |
I think I'm more ambivalent at the moment, our good bits are much better than they were at the start of the season but we are still a fair way from being a really effective team at this level.
Midfield and defence still look disjointed and that shows in the number of incredibly soft goals we've given away. We don't give up many chances but we seem to concede far too high a percentage of them. Midfield you've addressed so I won't add to it here except to say I finished last season with more questions about Cajuste than I would have liked.
A lot comes back to our Summer transfer window, despite knowing what we needed to do in central midfield and up front we failed (again) to get the right players in.
If we do start taking more chances then I think the whole team looks better but the combination of variable intensity and conceding poor goals isn't one that gets a team into the top two. Maybe we just need to stay with the pack until January but it feels a little unsatisfactory at the moment. |
I think you are about right.
I think it will be a bit hit n miss for most of the season.
Big win followed by indifferent result perhaps.
Hopefully the undoubted individual quality will keep us in the mix. |  | | |
| Our progress and January on 12:56 - Nov 5 with 866 views | Illinoisblue |
| Our progress and January on 11:34 - Nov 5 by Steve_M |
I think I'm more ambivalent at the moment, our good bits are much better than they were at the start of the season but we are still a fair way from being a really effective team at this level.
Midfield and defence still look disjointed and that shows in the number of incredibly soft goals we've given away. We don't give up many chances but we seem to concede far too high a percentage of them. Midfield you've addressed so I won't add to it here except to say I finished last season with more questions about Cajuste than I would have liked.
A lot comes back to our Summer transfer window, despite knowing what we needed to do in central midfield and up front we failed (again) to get the right players in.
If we do start taking more chances then I think the whole team looks better but the combination of variable intensity and conceding poor goals isn't one that gets a team into the top two. Maybe we just need to stay with the pack until January but it feels a little unsatisfactory at the moment. |
I think KM would agree with every word of that. |  |
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| Our progress and January on 13:20 - Nov 5 with 761 views | Vic |
| Our progress and January on 12:15 - Nov 5 by JakeITFC |
I don't think it's that far away personally, but I take the point.
It's very easy to say x player just has to start performing better and we have to stop conceding rubbish goals but harder to do in practice. I would however say it is much harder to become a team that creates loads overnight so we are at least on the right track now.
Think I'd agree that we a probably a way away from being a steamrolling force at this level (that perhaps our outlay justifies on paper) but I also don't think it is an absolute disaster if we don't go up this year in the manner that we've invested (i.e. it isn't a one season punt at over-the-hill type players) and that you'd expect Walle Egeli, Matusiwa and McAteer to be better with time. Just to be clear though, it would obviously be a significant failure of something (recruitment, management, players or all three) should we not be in the promotion shake-up. |
The vibes coming out from the club after what ended up being an almost total rebuild in the summer were very definitely to limit expectation this season. Of course promo is the target, but i wonder if deep down they are on a two year plan?
FWIW - if we start to get it right in the 2nd half of the season I think we'll be in a good place to go up via the P/O's. |  |
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| Our progress and January on 13:24 - Nov 5 with 734 views | itfcsuth |
| Our progress and January on 13:20 - Nov 5 by Vic |
The vibes coming out from the club after what ended up being an almost total rebuild in the summer were very definitely to limit expectation this season. Of course promo is the target, but i wonder if deep down they are on a two year plan?
FWIW - if we start to get it right in the 2nd half of the season I think we'll be in a good place to go up via the P/O's. |
Just because the club look to control the narrative, it does mean it's actually correct - failure to gain promotion this year, after astronomical numbers invested in to a Championship squad would be a horror show.
The club probably curtailing expectations because they know what a balls up of the rebuild they made. | | | |
| Our progress and January on 13:44 - Nov 5 with 646 views | JakeITFC |
| Our progress and January on 13:24 - Nov 5 by itfcsuth |
Just because the club look to control the narrative, it does mean it's actually correct - failure to gain promotion this year, after astronomical numbers invested in to a Championship squad would be a horror show.
The club probably curtailing expectations because they know what a balls up of the rebuild they made. |
Astronomical is probably a bit strong, we are probably quite short of net neutral at worst I would have thought this summer? | | | |
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