The way forward

[Porthogs FC]

agree with 5-3-2, Lookman and Mitro up front.

I think Lemina, Anguissa and RLC can play CM together if they have 3 CB's behind them. Reed and Cairney as subs if and when needed. If we play with a back 4, we will need more defensive minded CM's that will track runners.

This is basically what I would want as well. Mitro needs the ball to him in the air, not at his feet. So he needs one or two to play off of. Perhaps this system would do that.

[JimOG]

If you read some of Parker's post-match comments, he did say that he was disappointed with the use of possession, that the easy low-risk passes were chosen too often and there was not enough speed in our play. Let's not forget, Parker did not come up with the term Parkerball; we did. I don't think it is what he wants his team to be doing and you could see clearly in the second half of the Sheff Utd game that he had told them in no uncertain terms to move the ball quicker and with more adventure.

The issue is probably one of confidence. If you are lacking in confidence, you go for the safer pass rather than the high risk/high reward option. In the case of certain players, they can't win. If I take Cavaleiro, when he tries things (flicks etc) they generally don't come off and he gets slaughtered. When he goes for the safer passes he gets slaughtered for slowing down play. The answer is of course not to select low-confidence off-form players but that's not always possible.

Having said all of the above, he does talk often about having control of the match, which seems to managerial speak invented in the last 10 years. Who cares who "controls" the match if you lose 1-0 or 2-1? LVG at United often talked about it and yet the fans found the matches boring and the results uninspiring.

That line stood out for me too. It suggests that he wants his players to attack/create more but have become too conservative. Yet, as many have said, we're playing the same way as in the Championship where we were fourth best & hardly ripped through teams. I like Parker. I think he has integrity. I also think he gets ittle credit for turning around a club in disarray & getting promotion. Rightly, for me, he identified the 'culture' as a problem - Ryan Sess even said in an interview that under Slavisa the new players sat at separate tables. I also believe the recruitment - with a Josh King or Grant - was very good. It hedges bets and gives us a chance to be a very good Championship side if relegated. But the lack of crosses, the cut backs Fredericks used to give and until recently lack of aerial threat means if we concede now we lose. Would Eddie Howe do better with this current squad?

[RaySmith]

But we shouldn't concede so many - usually soft goals.

Hopefully,  we will start to do better defensively when the new players start to bed in.

[I Ronic]

There's nothing wrong with possession if it is maximised. I understand why Parker as the manager is on the back end of some heavy criticism but the players don't come out this smelling of roses either. I'm not convinced they are carrying out the managers instructions to the full and as a result we are seeing what some are calling 'Parkerball' which if I'm being totally honest I find quite tedious. Parker has expressed his frustration on more than one occasion in his post match press conferences without singling out individuals. He can clearly see that the team aren't dynamic and take the safe option too often. So for me the players need to take a bit more responsibility and Parker needs to somehow ensure that his messages to the players are delivered in matches when it counts because if results don't follow there is 50/50 chance he'll be out of a job.

I think there are a lot of well thought and sensible opinions on here (Alfie and Toshes Mate to name but 2).
We seem to be in a very similar position as to the last time we were here. Hiring and firing only made matters worse. Scott kept Josh in the team last season and got enormous stick for it but the player flourished. His goal against  Cardiff in the playoffs being a thing of beauty. I hope the Khans show the same patience with SP.