I have a sneaky feeling................

[bill taylors apprentice]

We are not going to see the signing of the type of players we need in defence by the start of the season.

There's 3 weeks until the dress rehearsal against CP, surely the club have learned from the mistakes of previous seasons and intend to recruit the right players at the right time?

There's no point at this time trying to come up with a combination that will do a job out of what we have for the season to come because it wont be good enough.

Jokanovic may have the coaching skills to improve the organisation after last seasons shambles but we are still lightweight and lack leadership.

Yes ! I'm sure there will be more signings before the start but I doubt it will be enough and in time to ensure a bright start!

And why do I think this? 

We've seen it all before and while I will be happy to be proved wrong I sense a lack of dynamic leadership throughout the club.

Its like painting by numbers, you can produce an inoffensive, neat looking product without any real passion but it has no heart, guts and it lacks quality and real technique.

[JPCL]

We have leadership with Stearman at the back, I personally think if we have a good system in place Madl & Stearman would be a good fit if we don't get another centre half in. Problem is we can buy a great centre half but if we're open as last year will have same problems, for me system is the problem, if slav sorts that out Stears and Madl would be a decent championship pairing.

[bill taylors apprentice]

We have leadership with Stearman at the back, I personally think if we have a good system in place Madl & Stearman would be a good fit if we don't get another centre half in. Problem is we can buy a great centre half but if we're open as last year will have same problems, for me system is the problem, if slav sorts that out Stears and Madl would be a decent championship pairing.

Really?
Did you actually see Stearman struggle last season?
You are right about the the system i.e. the team defending as one.

[cookieg]

Someone mentioned it on another thread but perhaps we had too many defenders and with the constant changing never had a settled partnership. Perhaps having just 2-3 centre backs would be helpful.

[WORTHINGFULHAM]

I feel a couple of changes at the back would surfice, we don't need a whole new back 4 that would be too much change and potentially damaging. Speed and flair have been missing which we are now addressing, I see 3 or 4 more players joining before the season starts.

[colinwhite]

We need a new keeper and dominant,vocal Cb ,if you ask me,as well as a left back ,right back and defensive midfielder . joka has stated this himself more or less on several occasions.

[Lighthouse]

I think a full back or two is greater priority than centre backs.  We lacked pace and seem to be trying to correct that. Yes we will struggle if we allow players to cross so many times or pass through us. But as I have said before. It is not just the defenders who are to blame for the defence.

[bill taylors apprentice]

I've mentioned on here many times that I think it fairer to judge Stearman on his CV than on his performances for us last season, for numerous reasons.

I'd be more than happy to see him in our starting XI next year, be it at CB or even RB.

There's currently an article of the offal about how much he loves being captain. To me it would be strange them writing an article like that if we weren't contemplating making him captain next season. That would also make sense because Parker (hopefully) won't be playing as much and McCormack is a poor alternative.

BUT with all that said even I wouldn't be happy with Madl and Stearman in a pair at CB. They're both lightweight and We need at least one big, strong CB to defend set pieces, surely.

Logic suggests to me you could be right about Stearman and I'm only too aware of how disorganised we have been defensively.

Maybe I'm just worn down by seeing all the basic errors week  after week with little or no improvement that makes me expect the worst.

Even a pub team manager would see the problems and try to put them right while we have fiddled about without seeming to even recognise where the problem is.

Two good FB's and the right CM in front of the back four could be a revelation !

[JPCL]

I appreciate Stearman was useless last year but he did a job for Wolves in the prem, if we had a system which helped out the back line think HE could flourish. Not saying Id want him as number 1 centre half but he has captain attributes and has proved he can do a job in this division, he hasnt all of a sudden become crap since joining us. I think a vocal keeper who commands box is needed more.

[hovewhite]

I hope SJ  sorts it out as we are loaded with defenders,but they look like a bunch of strangers playing together and look useless to a man defensively.

[Riverside]

Someone mentioned it on another thread but perhaps we had too many defenders and with the constant changing never had a settled partnership. Perhaps having just 2-3 centre backs would be helpful.

That would have been me
I am sure the constant changing is the real issue . They have been strangers to each other .
Let there be constant team selection and formation and I am sure our defensive will improve

[David I]

So all of a sudden the same defenders that leaked so many goals last year are all of a sudden going to come good....
Poor defence and a very poor keeper... Bettinelli is a major concern for me as he cannot command his defence coupled with poor judgement is another recipe for disaster.
I hope we sign a keeper in the next week or so.

[Scrumpy]

I'm a bit more optimistic. SJ is keeping the right sort of player and off-loading the weaker ones or expensive ones. We're linked with Odio from Belgium who looks to be a pretty handy left-footer and we're also looking at a new keeper (McCarthy from Palace and the Italian lad at Leeds).

As others have said, I think a dominant CB is essential and then we're not too far away.

If you include Madl, the 3 signings so far have all been an improvement on what we had in the squad. All seem to have good character too.

I'm cautiously optimistic at the moment, but my 'back of fag packet' calculations reckon we should be able to make a couple of really decent signings, if Khan is speaking the truth.

[toshes mate]

To defend successfully you need the ability to pressure the opposition all over the pitch and force play into channels where harm is limited.  It is when systems break down when, through loss of possession there is no covering player to hold up play.  I remember when Ray Wilkins was in charge just how well the team kept its shape no matter what.  We need that kind of discipline all over the pitch with players willing to cover and know how to get opponents to play the ball into non-critical areas because options are not available.   It's a matter of a lot of hard work all over the pitch and comes from having the passion not to concede anything cheaply.

[f321ffc]

We have leadership with Stearman at the back, I personally think if we have a good system in place Madl & Stearman would be a good fit if we don't get another centre half in. Problem is we can buy a great centre half but if we're open as last year will have same problems, for me system is the problem, if slav sorts that out Stears and Madl would be a decent championship pairing.

Maybe this is ties in with the McDonald rumours, he may be the one that Stearman needs in front of him to Prove his quality.

[jarv]

Maybe, with all the attacking flair linked with Fulham, the coaches instructions are if they score 3 we need to score 4. 082.gif

[filham]

Last season Spearman was given a long run at centre back with many different partners and failed. Also Jocanovic tried all possible combinations of defenders and all failed. Only Madle finished the season looking like a reasonable championship defender.

Two centre backs have left , to try to repeat all of last seasons experiments with the remaining defender swoul be fatal , a new centre back and left back must be a priority if we are not quickly to be involved in a relegation battle.

[Jims Dentist]

Again agree with Wooly on both posts.
Stearman is too easily bullied.