Would a "Hammering" tomorrow be such a bad thing ?

[Riversider]

As strange as it may seem , would West Ham cruelly exposing our back four and our painfully slow midfield be such a bad thing ?
I think the majority agree we need two more defenders and two in midfield and yet once again the club have acted slow in the transfer window, maybe a timely defeat tomorrow would hurry things along,
Did anyone watch the excellent Netflix series on Sunderland, which followed their season in The Championship following relegation, the hope and expectation for promotion in episode one was very similar to how many on here feel about our chances this season, then Sunderland played Celtic at home in their final friendly and they got annihilated by 5 goals to nil, and suddenly the whole mood at the club changed, they hadn't brought in enough players and they hadn't brought in the right players, the scramble at the end of the window right up to the final minute has got a real Fulham feel about it,
We're running out of time with the Sessegnon transfer (and doesn't Levy know it !) Our midfield isn't good enough (far too slow) and the worst defence in The Premier League isn't suddenly good enough for The Championship ten or eleven weeks later,
So in a macabre way , defeat tomorrow would hurry things along and ensure we don't make the same mistakes that Sunderland did.

[Andy S]

This is a training game and nobody gets a hammering

[The Rock]

MF is not a worry. The 2 defenders we refuse to sign however many years later are. I am not sure what the Khan's, Parker, or anyone else is thinking, and it is shocking.

We may still go up with our current defence, but one would think the chance probability far greater if we would sign defenders. Unless we are playing 4 wing backs and 2 wingers. I think we are covered there.

[ALG01]

In listening to TK's podcast it was apparent he is a good bloke with fine intent but delusional about what needs to be done. The two forwards are good signings but are not going to make this a promotion year and I am very worried that if come October we are bottom third then squad moral will collapse and Parker replaced thus wasting another season. We need quality full backs immediately, we need another center hapf and center forward and we need a proper defensive midfielder fully committed to the cause that doesn't give up.

[Fernhurst]

Our defence is primarily  the same as per Newcastle in our last game in the Premier League.
I expect the same result 0-4.

[Chutney]

In listening to TK's podcast it was apparent he is a good bloke with fine intent but delusional about what needs to be done. The two forwards are good signings but are not going to make this a promotion year and I am very worried that if come October we are bottom third then squad moral will collapse and Parker replaced thus wasting another season. We need quality full backs immediately, we need another center hapf and center forward and we need a proper defensive midfielder fully committed to the cause that doesn't give up.

This is spot on, unless we sort out our weak spots we will not be near the promotion race.

[ealex40]

We could get thumped by West Ham and again still do well in the Championship. We might not care. It's only a pre-season meaningless friendly.

However, two years ago, just before our promotion season began, we had a Friendly game with Chelsea. We lost 2-8 and even though it turned out to be a successful season for us, we probably thought that defeat didn't mean much. I wonder how much value the game had for Chelsea. Did they have to try very hard to thump us?  Maybe these games do emphasise the difference between us and established Premier league teams and as we found out last season, we just were not good enough in the majority of the games.

I wonder how much we can learn from these friendlies, to prepare for the future now. Can't leave everything until the last moment as we do each transfer window.

[Lighthouse]

Win 10 - 0 or lose 10-0 it will not make a blind bit of difference to what the powers that be do or the haste they have adopted in bringing in or not bringing in players. Whatever is or is not in the pipe line re defenders or players going or not going doesn't change because of a training friendly.

[Camel Club]

I understand the sentiment but getting caned tomorrow would only serve to damage the confidence that's been built up over the last few weeks and we need to get off to a decent start this season.

I cannot believe that we won't make at least 2 significant defensive signings in the next couple of weeks, for the simple reason that to not would be to negate the significant financial investment in extending Mitro's contract and securing the loan signings of both Cavaleiro and Knockaert.

As happy as Mitro may be living in south west London I'm not sure he'd have been persuaded to stay unless he believed the club was serious about an immediate return to the PL. And you don't need to know that much about football to realise that for that to happen our defensive/defensive midfield frailties need to be addressed during this window. 

[BigbadBillyMcKinley]

Regardless of whether it's a friendly or not, I never want to see us tanked. It won't help us in any respect but especially confidence.

[bobby01]

Regardless of whether it's a friendly or not, I never want to see us tanked. It won't help us in any respect but especially confidence.

Nor me, I saw enough of that last season.

[Woolly Mammoth]

A hammering does nobody any good. It Reduces confidence and sows seeds of doubt in the minds of players and the Manager, and increases the pressure. A friendly is a friendly but they are there for a purpose, to improve match fitness, to restore the timing and polish up the first touch.
But that is just for starters. It's all about good habits, and being hammered does not come within the framework of good habits, or good anything.
It should not take a hammering to make the recruitment team aware of our shortcomings, they should already know where we need to improve, and which positions need strengthening.
So it's not just a case of it does not matter it's only a friendly, that is naive and thoughtless.
Neither the Manager nor the players will think like that, and a successful team will need and want a strong mentality, whereupon they won't even want to lose the toss let alone the game.

[BigbadBillyMcKinley]

Speaking of hammerings.....Real Madrid vs Athletico Madrid!! Wow. They're already calling for zidanes head.

Exactly why I don't want a hammering from Wet Spam. 

[The Rational Fan]

Win 10 - 0 or lose 10-0 it will not make a blind bit of difference to what the powers that be do or the haste they have adopted in bringing in or not bringing in players. Whatever is or is not in the pipe line re defenders or players going or not going doesn't change because of a training friendly.

Spot On, It won't make any difference, all that matters is we don't have any money after the Seri and Anguissa options were given due to writedowns. The only way we can spend and compile with FFP is sell Betts, Cairney or R.Sess, hopefully the later as he only has one year at the club. A big fee could change everything, but right now i'm pretty sure we have to sell a profitable player to compile with FFP. On the other hand if Ryan Sessegnon gets 40m, i cannot see us not getting promoted as we could buy two PL backs and loan a top bench championship players.

[Woolly Mammoth]

Win 10 - 0 or lose 10-0 it will not make a blind bit of difference to what the powers that be do or the haste they have adopted in bringing in or not bringing in players. Whatever is or is not in the pipe line re defenders or players going or not going doesn't change because of a training friendly.

Spot On, It won't make any difference, all that matters is we don't have any money after the Seri and Anguissa options were given due to writedowns. The only way we can spend and compile with FFP is sell Betts, Cairney or R.Sess, hopefully the later as he only has one year at the club. A big fee could change everything, but right now i'm pretty sure we have to sell a profitable player to compile with FFP. On the other hand if Ryan Sessegnon gets 40m, i cannot see us not getting promoted as we could buy two PL backs and loan a top bench championship players.

I would like to agree with you, but if I did we would both be wrong.

[ALG01]

just got the headline joke. i must be getting old.