How much of our stagnation?

[VicHalomsLovechild]

I do not think we are stagnating and I also think if ross and demblee were here we would be a rather worse team

We have a team that works hard, refuses to lose or give up, defends from the front and capable of some brilliant football. BUT we have lost the knack of scoring and i do think that the manager needs to kick (nicely) a couple of appropriate backsides. I think once we click we will motor up the table again. we are two goals from being second, that's how far we have come. last season we were relegation fodor even if we did score loads. I trust this team to win more than they lose, i trusted last seasons team to be a disaster!

:plus one:

[Apprentice to the Maestro]

Far from scientific but on the player rating and also from my own view, t the two players whos performances have differed a lot in the last 3 have been Cairney and McDonald.
They were key to how we played first 5 games but McDonald while better on Saturday was very poor in the two home games. and Cairney has not really done much in any of the 3 games. the marking out the game against Birmingham and his loss of form have been the most dramatic.
Martin has not hit the ground running but then neither Smith or Woodrow were exactly pulling up trees.
maybe players like Aluko  are more important than many see and has been an consistent performer prior to this run.
Defence has pretty much held firm, but issue is the three behind the striker. Its finding the balance there.

This for me is the best explanation of the disappointing recent results.

The passing in midfield has been too slow and inaccurate, too much side-to-side rather than driven with forward runs and through passes. McDonald and Cairney have not played as well as they did in the earlier games.

Yes, the new forwards have not fully clicked yet, individually or collectively. A growing understanding and a few goals should increase their confidence and bring better movement.

One unresolved problem is playing Cairney wide right in a midfield four does not make the best use of his attacking skills and leaves the right back, Odoi, exposed. He really needs to play in  a more attacking and central position.

[Whitesideup]

I do not think we are stagnating and I also think if ross and demblee were here we would be a rather worse team

We have a team that works hard, refuses to lose or give up, defends from the front and capable of some brilliant football. BUT we have lost the knack of scoring and i do think that the manager needs to kick (nicely) a couple of appropriate backsides. I think once we click we will motor up the table again. we are two goals from being second, that's how far we have come. last season we were relegation fodor even if we did score loads. I trust this team to win more than they lose, i trusted last seasons team to be a disaster!

Pretty good assessment. It's not all negative is it?

[J]

I do not think we are stagnating and I also think if ross and demblee were here we would be a rather worse team

We have a team that works hard, refuses to lose or give up, defends from the front and capable of some brilliant football. BUT we have lost the knack of scoring and i do think that the manager needs to kick (nicely) a couple of appropriate backsides. I think once we click we will motor up the table again. we are two goals from being second, that's how far we have come. last season we were relegation fodor even if we did score loads. I trust this team to win more than they lose, i trusted last seasons team to be a disaster!

Pretty good assessment. It's not all negative is it?

This is how I see it too - I'd rather we are drawing 0-0 than losing 3-2 at this stage (as boring as 0-0 can be!). Stopping the other team scoring gives us a much better platform to build on than scoring lots but always seeming vulnerable as we were last season.

[Barrett487]

I haven't been to any games this year, so far, but nonetheless have an opinion on what makes a good striker. Read this and ask how many boxes are ticked by our current strikers. It's not an easy job, but some have managed it. Don't get me wrong, i am positive about the strides we have made since last season, but i can't grasp the strategy on buying a striker. Maybe the Chelsea Brazillian will be the answer?

A good striker (ideally) will

1/ know what's coming from his team
2/ predict what his team will expect him to do
3/ be able to hit the target more times than not
4/ have the ability to be unpredictable to the opposition
5/ have the speed, fitness and ability to create opportunities for himself and others by constant movement
6/ want the ball at every opportunity
7/ not be out-muscled
8/ know when to be selfish and when to be unselfish
9/ gel with team-mates
10/ close down and work hard

I'm sure i've omitted some things, but hey!

[cmg]

A good striker (ideally) will

1/ know what's coming from his team
2/ predict what his team will expect him to do
3/ be able to hit the target more times than not
4/ have the ability to be unpredictable to the opposition
5/ have the speed, fitness and ability to create opportunities for himself and others by constant movement
6/ want the ball at every opportunity
7/ not be out-muscled
8/ know when to be selfish and when to be unselfish
9/ gel with team-mates
10/ close down and work hard

I'm sure i've omitted some things, but hey!

Unfortunately Roy Race had his left foot amputated following a helicopter crash in 1993.