Some observations from today

[dannyboi-ffc]

We are only 2 games in so please just give your views and not get too political. I promised myself I would bite my tongue until the window closed to give my verdict on both signings and our tactics. So these points aren't throwing the toys out, more constructive criticism.

1) Ross McCormack is borderline a disgrace for returning from his break overweight and unfit. To the naked eye a few pounds shouldn't be that noticeable but I would say a good stone is being carried from May. Also clearly not fit enough, he has one of those body shapes like Rooney where they aren't naturally built as an athlete but I'm sorry, a professional should be just that. I wouldn't turn up for work drunk or with a massive hangover so I don't expect an injury free footballer to turn up fat and off the pace. For me the main reason we have 1 point and not 6 is down to him, others get the blame far too easily.

2) As much as I want to give Kit a clean slate I still see the quiet least inspiring man stood on the touchline. I just really hope his team talks have more drive and confidence than his body language. It doesn't fill me with belief and passion so God knows what it does to the players. I just hope they are so focused on the game that they are oblivious to it anyway.

3) To make point two even worse we lack a captain. Ross isn't a leader, Parker is to an extent but not consistently and in my opinion Burn makes too many mistakes to be the leader. He just about gets by worrying about his own game. For me our captain should be O' Hara. Inspiring, makes us tick, leads by example and puts in 100%. I think the team look to him already as their answer to winning.

4) No pace!!!!!! Boa was my favourite ever player and watching Pringle, kaca, Kavanagh and co on the left is torture. Brighton had the 3 things we didn't today, PACE, ORGANISATION and PRESSING. Our players go side wards and back until the ball falls to O' Hara with half a yard to pick a pass. We are too slow and often too predictable. I am hoping today was a bad day at the office for Pringle because he was shocking, made even more of a worry because Kaca is absolutely useless. I am half tempted to start George once fit, to me he is what a winger should be.

5) I love Smith, so this is hard to say but for me we need pace up top. When we knock it long it is hoofed to Smith, when other teams like Brighton play long it goes into the channels for fast players to stretch the game and create space. Our players aren't technically good enough to play in tight spaces and they are too slow to play on a big pitch so I hope this is addressed before the window closes. Gayle would be ideal for us, we cant and wont drop Ross so sadly I think Smith has to sit on the bench. Smiths best two games I have seen were Watford away and Wycombe away both as a sub. There's something about his presence that makes him a massive weapon in the last 20 mins when teams are tiring. He isn't a lump, he is a good ball player too but he is slow and at the moment that seems to be our Achilles heel. Smith is the best impact sub in the championship though in my eyes.

6) We need those centre half's. Hutch didn't play that bad today but that challenge at the end was ridiculous. I heard the thud from the half way line. No matter how much he improves we cant afford a liability in the heart of our defence and IMO Burn, Hutch and Bodurov are all liabilities and none deserve to start. Two centre half's in before Huddersfield please and I would be tempted to drop Hutch for such a stupid costly mistake.

The season is still young so not much to panic about yet. I am very confident Dunk not starting means he is basically our player and I also think we will sign another centre half and a top striker. Signing Matilla now seems a way of saving funds for a more important weakness. With FFP I would imagine we couldn't sign McDonald as well as the others so the club prioritised and compromised on a cheaper holding midfielder. If it doesn't pay off at least the club didn't pay10million plus like they did for the success stories of Marlet, AJ, Ruiz and Mitroglou.

Kit is on borrowed time I feel and wont get much longer than Magath to prove his worth but I hope he's does. Anyway that's a few points I spotted today that need to change and be changed now

[laurencecapel]

Completely agree with the McCormack comment - he was blowing after 50 minutes. That said, a fit McCormack is needed but I'm not sure where when Cairney, O'Hara and Pringle all want the ball in that position.

We lack forward runners and pace in the wide areas, so many midfielders means we are too narrow. Then you're left with Smith winning the ball and having zero around him to follow it up.

[Nero]

Get Felix back to get him fit

[davew]

Get Felix back to get him fit

Get Felix back to play for us............we have ways of vinning!

[DeuceBigelow]

Put some cheese on his belly

[Buffalo76]

An observation of mine is why do they keep playing that crap Clash song? Just cos its got London in the title. Crap song by a crap band  :031:

[beijing ben]

An observation of mine is why do they keep playing that crap Clash song? Just cos its got London in the title. Crap song by a crap band  :031:

I hope this is a joke!!

[Scrumpy]

Dan

A remarkably level-headed post considering how disappointing that was, and how much you (and all of us) care about the Club. What made it harder to accept was the feeling of hope and confidence that we had before kick off. Absolutely gutted.

Agree with a lot of what you say.
1 - If I'm being kind, Ross does seem to take time in getting 'up to speed' at the start of a season and he does seem genuinely annoyed with himself for playing pretty crap for 3 games.
2 - I'm not convinced that a motivational Manager is needed in this day and age. The current thinking seems to be that a team is as good as its players; they should be able to motivate themselves at this level surely.
3 - I agree that O'Hara should be captain, but I can understand why Kit appointed Ross in Parker's absence. Before a ball was kicked, I think we all would have agreed with this.
4 - I've seen Pringle at Cardiff and Wycombe, and he impressed me at both. Today was definitely an 'off day'.
5 - I'm a fan of Smith too but agree with everything you say.
6 - In fairness, Kit knows our weakness at CB. He must be incredibly frustrated that it hasn't been sorted yet.

Trying not to write off the season after just 2 league games, but today was a HUGE disappointment.

[jarv]

I used to like afternoon delight. I think it was the only record they had. Still like it when on the radio....I think of the cottage.

[Twig]

An observation of mine is why do they keep playing that crap Clash song? Just cos its got London in the title. Crap song by a crap band  :031:

Have to say that is a bit contentious.

[colinwhite]

Thanks for that post Danny . I have only been able to listen to jim but to me you seem to be spot on ,particularly when it comes to our centre backs . They are all liabilities in their own ways .
We also need pace. We have been lacking in this department for a good few seasons.
If we can get Dunk and Gayle as well as Ream then things could start looking up ,but i still don't think that we are going to have an easy time even with these signings . The question is how much Kit can turn things around , and i am also not over confidant in this regard ,but would like to see him do it .
I understand there were interviews with Allardyce in the papers last week , maybe that is an ominous sign for kit.

[dannyboi-ffc]

Dan

A remarkably level-headed post considering how disappointing that was, and how much you (and all of us) care about the Club. What made it harder to accept was the feeling of hope and confidence that we had before kick off. Absolutely gutted.

Agree with a lot of what you say.
1 - If I'm being kind, Ross does seem to take time in getting 'up to speed' at the start of a season and he does seem genuinely annoyed with himself for playing pretty crap for 3 games.
2 - I'm not convinced that a motivational Manager is needed in this day and age. The current thinking seems to be that a team is as good as its players; they should be able to motivate themselves at this level surely.
3 - I agree that O'Hara should be captain, but I can understand why Kit appointed Ross in Parker's absence. Before a ball was kicked, I think we all would have agreed with this.
4 - I've seen Pringle at Cardiff and Wycombe, and he impressed me at both. Today was definitely an 'off day'.
5 - I'm a fan of Smith too but agree with everything you say.
6 - In fairness, Kit knows our weakness at CB. He must be incredibly frustrated that it hasn't been sorted yet.

Trying not to write off the season after just 2 league games, but today was a HUGE disappointment.

Nice one Scrumpy! 

1) you're being very kind lol
2) in modern football it might not mean much to the players but when we are playing terribly I think it's important for the fans to see the man spearheading our promotion push show a bit of passion and leadership.

3) I think you're spot on about this. O hara should be captain but that is with hindsight.  Before the game I wouldn't have said it, just think after 3 games he is so impressive that he deserves the honour and I think he would do a good job.

4) I went both away games and Pringle did look quite good but today against a decent team he looked awful. I just hope he puts it behind him and steps up. As for Kaca oh my! Absolutely useless. He can jog on if he wants a new contract. Not worth the paper it is written on. At his age he should be doing better than he is.

5) Glad you feel the same, mind you I think the signs are so obvious to be honest.

6) The club aren't stupid, they know what we need and I won't judge until deadline day. But when we sign them I will be very disappointed and angry if they aren't an improvement on what we have. We need quality.

Thanks for taking the time to reply to the actual post

[colinwhite]

Thanks for that post Danny . I have only been able to listen to jim but to me you seem to be spot on ,particularly when it comes to our centre backs . They are all liabilities in their own ways .
We also need pace. We have been lacking in this department for a good few seasons.
If we can get Dunk and Gayle as well as Ream then things could start looking up ,but i still don't think that we are going to have an easy time even with these signings . The question is how much Kit can turn things around , and i am also not over confidant in this regard ,but would like to see him do it .
I understand there were interviews with Allardyce in the papers last week , maybe that is an ominous sign for kit.

[dannyboi-ffc]

Thanks for that post Danny . I have only been able to listen to jim but to me you seem to be spot on ,particularly when it comes to our centre backs . They are all liabilities in their own ways .
We also need pace. We have been lacking in this department for a good few seasons.
If we can get Dunk and Gayle as well as Ream then things could start looking up ,but i still don't think that we are going to have an easy time even with these signings . The question is how much Kit can turn things around , and i am also not over confidant in this regard ,but would like to see him do it .
I understand there were interviews with Allardyce in the papers last week , maybe that is an ominous sign for kit.

Cheers Colin. Sometimes I wish I didn't have to watch when they play like that so I wouldn't envy me just yet lol. Fingers crossed the club make easier work of these signings than the typical fulham always do.

[colinwhite]

Where do you stand on the goalkeeping issue ? To be perfectly honest i am not totally convinced by Bettinelli . He makes too many mistakes for my liking . My gut feeling is that we are more solid with Longran .

[laurencecapel]

An observation of mine is why do they keep playing that crap Clash song? Just cos its got London in the title. Crap song by a crap band  :031:

Have to say that is a bit contentious.

I remember they played that Lostprophets song before well....anyway....

[dannyboi-ffc]

Where do you stand on the goalkeeping issue ? To be perfectly honest i am not totally convinced by Bettinelli . He makes too many mistakes for my liking . My gut feeling is that we are more solid with Longran .

I don't know is the honest answer to that one lol. I think both have flaws in their games but Lonergan makes for a great dilemma. Unlike the clown in the pyjamas Last season. I would probably stick with Bettinelli after committing his future to the club but I wouldn't hesitate to drop him if he doesn't do well enough. It's nice to have that option now but to be fair it is probably the closest call in our whole squad and I wouldn't disagree with people preferring Lonergan.  It's fine margins

[laurencecapel]

Where do you stand on the goalkeeping issue ? To be perfectly honest i am not totally convinced by Bettinelli . He makes too many mistakes for my liking . My gut feeling is that we are more solid with Longran .

I don't know is the honest answer to that one lol. I think both have flaws in their games but Lonergan makes for a great dilemma. Unlike the clown in the pyjamas Last season. I would probably stick with Bettinelli after committing his future to the club but I wouldn't hesitate to drop him if he doesn't do well enough. It's nice to have that option now but to be fair it is probably the closest call in our whole squad and I wouldn't disagree with people preferring Lonergan.  It's fine margins

Yesterday there was a major issue with Betts and his communication across the back four - this led to giving away throws in dangerous positions and a number of corners. That and what was his header about first half?!

Either way, there's potential there but it would benefit him greatly having a settled and experienced back four in front of him. Perhaps Lonergans experHence may be better for us as it stands what with toilet defenders and all.

[MJG]

Good post Danny can't really fault any of it.

[ffc73]

Agree with your post Danny.  Very reasoned when I was very very frustrated yesterday evening and looking to 'kick the cat'.   

On the GK issue.  Lonergan for me.  I had him MotM last Saturday at Cardiff not just for his 3x crucial saves but for his communication and organisation of the defence.  Lonergan is not a Stockdale (don't get me started on that) but Lonergan is a safer more experienced pair of hands at the moment than Betts