Declaring the Obvious That was highlighted at end of Window.

[FFC1987]

First off Jay, that wasn't true. Posters were openly ridiculed for suggesting anything other than 9/10 and calling the window incredible was deemed to be too pessimistic by a handful of posters. I think the window was good, albeit as called out at the timeC this decision either intentional or circumstantial to not being in a midfielder. I've highlighted it here to show that perhaps, this was why we felt the way we did. Can't remember who, but someone did say maybe it was Silvas decision as he believes in Chalo. Could well be true on his insistence to include and start him where possible.

Secondly, as I told you at the time, this has been posted after a loss which to my opinion, has highlighted a key weakness in our squad to which some, and some did unlike what you've said here, did say was overly cautious and pessimistic and a CM wasn't needed. This wasn't after a lovely victory where we're pretty much all happy, posting on to the board to rub a few posters in it. Very different scenarios. This post was more about suggesting we need to address it in January and it's clearly as issue, rather than pointing at specific posters as it's actually constructive. Not merely going 'we won, what ya worried about hey!' Which as I also said at the time, was too soon to really say.

The most important thing right now is how well this squad can do in October. It's a really important month and I thought a draw from this would of been a great result to be honest. Setting us up nicely for games with lots of potential points. Now. Not really sure what to expect and I'm much less confident than I was prior.

[jayffc]

First off Jay, that wasn't true. Posters were openly ridiculed for suggesting anything other than 9/10 and calling the window incredible was deemed to be too pessimistic by a handful of posters. I think the window was good, albeit as called out at the timeC this decision either intentional or circumstantial to not being in a midfielder. I've highlighted it here to show that perhaps, this was why we felt the way we did. Can't remember who, but someone did say maybe it was Silvas decision as he believes in Chalo. Could well be true on his insistence to include and start him where possible.

Secondly, as I told you at the time, this has been posted after a loss which to my opinion, has highlighted a key weakness in our squad to which some, and some did unlike what you've said here, did say was overly cautious and pessimistic and a CM wasn't needed. This wasn't after a lovely victory where we're pretty much all happy, posting on to the board to rub a few posters in it. Very different scenarios. This post was more about suggesting we need to address it in January and it's clearly as issue, rather than pointing at specific posters as it's actually constructive. Not merely going 'we won, what ya worried about hey!' Which as I also said at the time, was too soon to really say.

The most important thing right now is how well this squad can do in October. It's a really important month and I thought a draw from this would of been a great result to be honest. Setting us up nicely for games with lots of potential points. Now. Not really sure what to expect and I'm much less confident than I was prior.

Well agree to disagree that its ultimately driven by the same thing however its dressed after a win or loss. One is justiying a previous positive opinion...so naturally would proceed a win...the other justifying a negative opinion - so naturally would proceed a loss ....I just patently disagree with the psychology behind it being much different but ya welcome to see it differently.

Anyway, I dont recall anyone ridiculing anyone for rating it less than a 9...people were saying it was wild that people were rating it a 5 and below as I remembe...we even had a 4. Perhaps 1 person said something different but not that I recall.

Anyway...its one result in a game we went down to ten men in minute 4...really think people are going overboard here in Reading too much into this.

Tete Palhinha and Robinson back and were unsuprisingly a better team. Were above Liverpool in 8th and with plenty going for us  Mitro is my main concern really, a key figure and hope he's he's not out for long...

Wilson back, Solomon to come....yeh an extra DM in Jan would be nice but plenty confident and today doesn't change that for me. One positive i hope is that it signals the end for Chalobah for me

[perry geyton]

This was more of a selection issue than a transfer issue. I don't disagree that we are light in midfield, but Cairney is available and Reed is a more than capable DM. In all honesty I would have preferred Onomah to Chalo as well.

Agreed Marco had options, just made the wrong ones

[Facts Not Fiction]

Kurzawa, Mbabu and Chalobah should be good enough cover at this level. Why all 3 were awful yesterday needs to be worked out in training.

[Skatzoffc]

Chalobah wasn't good enough the Championship imo. So not surprised about yesterday.

On the plus side it was not that costly a week pointwise, as the teams who will be around us at the end of the season, didn't make much on us.
8th spot at this time of the season is better than I expected.
We just have to hope the injuries aren't too bad and regroup for next week.
COYW!

[filham]

Was the window a success ?
Eleven players signed, Palhina,Leno and maybe Periera have so far proved their worth , until yesterday we had mainly relied on last season's players with good result.

[alfie]

This was more of a selection issue than a transfer issue. I don't disagree that we are light in midfield, but Cairney is available and Reed is a more than capable DM. In all honesty I would have preferred Onomah to Chalo as well.

Agreed Marco had options, just made the wrong ones

He made what he thought was the correct one at the time, as it often gets said, we do not see them in training, Chalobah may well have been the better option, but he made a tackle that changed the game plan. If Palhinha had not got stupidly booked last game knowing he would be suspended, the need to play Chalobah would not have been needed.

[FFC1987]

First off Jay, that wasn't true. Posters were openly ridiculed for suggesting anything other than 9/10 and calling the window incredible was deemed to be too pessimistic by a handful of posters. I think the window was good, albeit as called out at the timeC this decision either intentional or circumstantial to not being in a midfielder. I've highlighted it here to show that perhaps, this was why we felt the way we did. Can't remember who, but someone did say maybe it was Silvas decision as he believes in Chalo. Could well be true on his insistence to include and start him where possible.

Secondly, as I told you at the time, this has been posted after a loss which to my opinion, has highlighted a key weakness in our squad to which some, and some did unlike what you've said here, did say was overly cautious and pessimistic and a CM wasn't needed. This wasn't after a lovely victory where we're pretty much all happy, posting on to the board to rub a few posters in it. Very different scenarios. This post was more about suggesting we need to address it in January and it's clearly as issue, rather than pointing at specific posters as it's actually constructive. Not merely going 'we won, what ya worried about hey!' Which as I also said at the time, was too soon to really say.

The most important thing right now is how well this squad can do in October. It's a really important month and I thought a draw from this would of been a great result to be honest. Setting us up nicely for games with lots of potential points. Now. Not really sure what to expect and I'm much less confident than I was prior.

Well agree to disagree that its ultimately driven by the same thing however its dressed after a win or loss. One is justiying a previous positive opinion...so naturally would proceed a win...the other justifying a negative opinion - so naturally would proceed a loss ....I just patently disagree with the psychology behind it being much different but ya welcome to see it differently.

Anyway, I dont recall anyone ridiculing anyone for rating it less than a 9...people were saying it was wild that people were rating it a 5 and below as I remembe...we even had a 4. Perhaps 1 person said something different but not that I recall.

Anyway...its one result in a game we went down to ten men in minute 4...really think people are going overboard here in Reading too much into this.

Tete Palhinha and Robinson back and were unsuprisingly a better team. Were above Liverpool in 8th and with plenty going for us  Mitro is my main concern really, a key figure and hope he's he's not out for long...

Wilson back, Solomon to come....yeh an extra DM in Jan would be nice but plenty confident and today doesn't change that for me. One positive i hope is that it signals the end for Chalobah for me

Sure, agree to disagree. I can say with confidence that people who put a 7/10 had laugh emoji's and a small amount of ridicule and 'entitled' fans put their way on social media as well as on here. As for 'psychology behind it being much different', its literally the reverse. Coming on to post along the lines of 'hey, what were ya worried about' is far less constructive and timely, coming on to the board when everyone is pretty much happy to dampen a few peoples days, is very different to say, pointing out a clear squad deficiency on a day that deficiency was plain to see. I'm not here to take away anyone's enjoyment from a 4.1 home loss to Newcastle, there wasn't any, whereas trying to do so when people are elated with a home win to Brighton (or Brentford, I can't quite recall) shows a clearly different tact hence calling you out at the time.   

As for overboard, this is the thing for me. Posters like yourself say that, and its painting over the real issue. And it is painting over it. We just lost 4.1 at home to Newcastle, a team prior who hadn't won a game in 6 attempts prior to playing Forest. If we get an injury to Palinha or even Pereria, we are in serious trouble. Even when you get all those other injuries back fit, we simply don't have the depth in that middle which posters like myself, strongly highlighted during and post window. One of those glaringly obvious observations that just wasn't addressed.

I'm still positive as long as we remain injury free to those two players. If we do suffer an injury to them for a lengthy period of time, I'd be more confident that we get relegated without reinforcements in January than I would otherwise. It's highlighted and I hope we can agree, that the squad depth is the real issue here, not our starting 11 who for the most part, have been superb. Chalobah needs to go to championship and prove himself now and as you sayk, hopefully that's the nail in the coffin. Silva looked quite rightly royally p*ssed with that tackle even though he tried deflecting blame after the match.

[Mullers OG]

Squad strength or otherwise is only clear when injuries and/or suspensions hit. Our first team looks as good if not better than any for some time. It's the back up which worries. Bryan was in my opinion the best replacement left back available to us. He is now at Nice. TC has been mysteriously sidelined. I suspect nearly all the fans would have played him instead of Chalobah yesterday. When we are missing defenders where is Denis?  He's playing champions league and going to the World Cup. Muniz for whom the club paid a substantial fee is put on loan, as is Stansfield.

Let's hope we can get some players fit quickly or this could go pear shaped.

[Logicalman]

This was more of a selection issue than a transfer issue. I don't disagree that we are light in midfield, but Cairney is available and Reed is a more than capable DM. In all honesty I would have preferred Onomah to Chalo as well.

Agreed Marco had options, just made the wrong ones

He made what he thought was the correct one at the time, as it often gets said, we do not see them in training, Chalobah may well have been the better option, but he made a tackle that changed the game plan. If Palhinha had not got stupidly booked last game knowing he would be suspended, the need to play Chalobah would not have been needed.

Agree, just a simple yellow card can have the butterfly effect in subsequent games.

Marco is in the hot seat, an experienced guy, and is the best positioned to determine the right starting line up than any of us. Not that he doesn't make mistakes, but Chalobah's tackle was not really in his character and he made a dreadful mistake, perhaps he was trying too hard to impress. Personally, I don't see how we can bring Marco's decision-making into queston on this, but we all have opinions.

[FFC1987]

This was more of a selection issue than a transfer issue. I don't disagree that we are light in midfield, but Cairney is available and Reed is a more than capable DM. In all honesty I would have preferred Onomah to Chalo as well.

Agreed Marco had options, just made the wrong ones

He made what he thought was the correct one at the time, as it often gets said, we do not see them in training, Chalobah may well have been the better option, but he made a tackle that changed the game plan. If Palhinha had not got stupidly booked last game knowing he would be suspended, the need to play Chalobah would not have been needed.

Agree, just a simple yellow card can have the butterfly effect in subsequent games.

Marco is in the hot seat, an experienced guy, and is the best positioned to determine the right starting line up than any of us. Not that he doesn't make mistakes, but Chalobah's tackle was not really in his character and he made a dreadful mistake, perhaps he was trying too hard to impress. Personally, I don't see how we can bring Marco's decision-making into queston on this, but we all have opinions.

I think you'd have a point on this had the clear majority not felt like this prior to the game. Even if Chalo had made a few decent appearances at some point in his Fulham career. We don;t see training, granted, but selecting Chalo was a clear and obvious error, fleshed out with hindsight. Wrap that with every other appearance he's made and I think its clear as day why the majority of fans were completely deflated when they saw that lineup. It wasn't just Chalo that gave that effect, missing both fullbacks was a huge blow too, but Chalo starting was icing on the cake. A sending off in the first 10 minutes was the cherry on top for evidence against this decision. It was a bad one. Pretending this was a VAR issue rather than a selection decision issue is probably the first time I've watched Silva in a post/Pre match interview, and been left disappointed with him.

[Logicalman]

This was more of a selection issue than a transfer issue. I don't disagree that we are light in midfield, but Cairney is available and Reed is a more than capable DM. In all honesty I would have preferred Onomah to Chalo as well.

Agreed Marco had options, just made the wrong ones

He made what he thought was the correct one at the time, as it often gets said, we do not see them in training, Chalobah may well have been the better option, but he made a tackle that changed the game plan. If Palhinha had not got stupidly booked last game knowing he would be suspended, the need to play Chalobah would not have been needed.

Agree, just a simple yellow card can have the butterfly effect in subsequent games.

Marco is in the hot seat, an experienced guy, and is the best positioned to determine the right starting line up than any of us. Not that he doesn't make mistakes, but Chalobah's tackle was not really in his character and he made a dreadful mistake, perhaps he was trying too hard to impress. Personally, I don't see how we can bring Marco's decision-making into queston on this, but we all have opinions.

I think you'd have a point on this had the clear majority not felt like this prior to the game. Even if Chalo had made a few decent appearances at some point in his Fulham career. We don;t see training, granted, but selecting Chalo was a clear and obvious error, fleshed out with hindsight. Wrap that with every other appearance he's made and I think its clear as day why the majority of fans were completely deflated when they saw that lineup. It wasn't just Chalo that gave that effect, missing both fullbacks was a huge blow too, but Chalo starting was icing on the cake. A sending off in the first 10 minutes was the cherry on top for evidence against this decision. It was a bad one. Pretending this was a VAR issue rather than a selection decision issue is probably the first time I've watched Silva in a post/Pre match interview, and been left disappointed with him.

I'm not going to disagree with all the points you made at all. I wouldn't say this was a VAR issue tbh, I think, had the ref seen the tackle clearly first time, it would have been a straight red, I feel Marco was incorrect in his assessment about not being consistent, giving the red was fully consistent with a previous decision made just an hour earlier, though tbf he was unlikely to have been aware of that when he made those comments.

as for Chalobah and his abilities, he might not have impressed in the past, but he obviously (?) made the right impression during the recent training sessions and Marco felt he fitted into his tactics for this game. I really didn't see it as an issue pre-game, but that's why I'm not a manager/coach, I just look after DBs all day!  :022:

[toshes mate]

Marco Silva selected what he believed was his best eleven from the 'fit' squad he was left with.  He wasn't to know, any more so than Chalobah would have known, what was to happen very early in a game where the team would notably suffer from lack of experience together even if everything else went as planned.  And the cherry on the cake is the only people who could have predicted what happened yesterday would either be gods or a part of some massive and complex conspiracy which is so good nobody sees the subtle evidence of what is really going on.

The connection between yesterday and the transfer window is fictitious because nobody could have predicted we would have the injuries and suspensions we had, not the Khans, not the head coach, and most of all, none of us.  For sure we could/should have more depth but the fact is we do not have the versatility of central midfielders who can double up as something else.  As Silva remarked it his job to find solutions if he can and we are left with no idea what the outcome might have been had Chalobah not been sent off.   

Perhaps we may have lost even more heavily with Chalobah on the pitch since that seems the theme elsewhere on the forum and the gods smiled upon us by having him removed so early ...       

[FFC1987]

Marco Silva selected what he believed was his best eleven from the 'fit' squad he was left with.  He wasn't to know, any more so than Chalobah would have known, what was to happen very early in a game where the team would notably suffer from lack of experience together even if everything else went as planned.  And the cherry on the cake is the only people who could have predicted what happened yesterday would either be gods or a part of some massive and complex conspiracy which is so good nobody sees the subtle evidence of what is really going on.

The connection between yesterday and the transfer window is fictitious because nobody could have predicted we would have the injuries and suspensions we had, not the Khans, not the head coach, and most of all, none of us.  For sure we could/should have more depth but the fact is we do not have the versatility of central midfielders who can double up as something else.  As Silva remarked it his job to find solutions if he can and we are left with no idea what the outcome might have been had Chalobah not been sent off.   

Perhaps we may have lost even more heavily with Chalobah on the pitch since that seems the theme elsewhere on the forum and the gods smiled upon us by having him removed so early ...       

I've seen some hot takes from you before, but this one takes the cake and the cherry. If no one can predict injuries or suspensions, why do you think teams have squads exactly?

So your trying to equate someone predicting a deficiency in the squad, to yesterdays result which culminated in a player playing that most here would say is championship standard at best, (probably)costing us the game and we didn't have the squad depth to not play him, as fictitious? Based on your own frail logic, maybe the Gods gave us the weakness of our midfield squad depth to give us some adversity and test our faith.....Beer me strength.

[Sting of the North]

A lot of posters would have said that using Ream as a starter this season would be a clear and obvious error. If it had actually been that clear and obvious Silva wouldn't have started Chalobah, unless you believe that Silva is either an idiot or intentionally tried to lose the game.

And the red card is only evidence that Chalobah made a poor tackle, not evidence that he was the wrong choice beforehand (unless you believe the red card was inevitable and that Silva should have known that). Or let me ask this: if Reed had gotten the red card, would that have been evidence for Silva's mistake in picking him for this game?

Was it the wrong decision to start Chalobah? With hindsight definitely. Without hindsight, perhaps but we will never really know since Chalobah made sure we never got to see if he could have some sort of positive impact (we already knew he could play poorly).

For what it's worth, I wouldn't have picked Chalobah, and I also felt somewhat deflated when I saw the lineup. I just think the criticism is not proportionate. But that is just my opinion.

[Hugh Gentry]

Marco Silva selected what he believed was his best eleven from the 'fit' squad he was left with.  He wasn't to know, any more so than Chalobah would have known, what was to happen very early in a game where the team would notably suffer from lack of experience together even if everything else went as planned.  And the cherry on the cake is the only people who could have predicted what happened yesterday would either be gods or a part of some massive and complex conspiracy which is so good nobody sees the subtle evidence of what is really going on.

The connection between yesterday and the transfer window is fictitious because nobody could have predicted we would have the injuries and suspensions we had, not the Khans, not the head coach, and most of all, none of us.  For sure we could/should have more depth but the fact is we do not have the versatility of central midfielders who can double up as something else.  As Silva remarked it his job to find solutions if he can and we are left with no idea what the outcome might have been had Chalobah not been sent off.   

Perhaps we may have lost even more heavily with Chalobah on the pitch since that seems the theme elsewhere on the forum and the gods smiled upon us by having him removed so early ...       

I've seen some hot takes from you before, but this one takes the cake and the cherry. If no one can predict injuries or suspensions, why do you think teams have squads exactly?

So your trying to equate someone predicting a deficiency in the squad, to yesterdays result which culminated in a player playing that most here would say is championship standard at best, (probably)costing us the game and we didn't have the squad depth to not play him, as fictitious? Based on your own frail logic, maybe the Gods gave us the weakness of our midfield squad depth to give us some adversity and test our faith.....Beer me strength.

I am amazed you are not running all of the squads in the Premier League, in fact every professional squad, you are a soothsayer, a font of all knowl;edge, predicitng what will happen with teams and individuals and having a plan for every circumstande. Rather than slagging off someone who is clealry a knowledable poster, like Toshes mate, take a breath and consider that maybe other should be allowed to have a different perspective and then be allowed to express it.

[alfie]

Marco Silva selected what he believed was his best eleven from the 'fit' squad he was left with.  He wasn't to know, any more so than Chalobah would have known, what was to happen very early in a game where the team would notably suffer from lack of experience together even if everything else went as planned.  And the cherry on the cake is the only people who could have predicted what happened yesterday would either be gods or a part of some massive and complex conspiracy which is so good nobody sees the subtle evidence of what is really going on.

The connection between yesterday and the transfer window is fictitious because nobody could have predicted we would have the injuries and suspensions we had, not the Khans, not the head coach, and most of all, none of us.  For sure we could/should have more depth but the fact is we do not have the versatility of central midfielders who can double up as something else.  As Silva remarked it his job to find solutions if he can and we are left with no idea what the outcome might have been had Chalobah not been sent off.   

Perhaps we may have lost even more heavily with Chalobah on the pitch since that seems the theme elsewhere on the forum and the gods smiled upon us by having him removed so early ...       

Agree, well said.

[FFC1987]

Marco Silva selected what he believed was his best eleven from the 'fit' squad he was left with.  He wasn't to know, any more so than Chalobah would have known, what was to happen very early in a game where the team would notably suffer from lack of experience together even if everything else went as planned.  And the cherry on the cake is the only people who could have predicted what happened yesterday would either be gods or a part of some massive and complex conspiracy which is so good nobody sees the subtle evidence of what is really going on.

The connection between yesterday and the transfer window is fictitious because nobody could have predicted we would have the injuries and suspensions we had, not the Khans, not the head coach, and most of all, none of us.  For sure we could/should have more depth but the fact is we do not have the versatility of central midfielders who can double up as something else.  As Silva remarked it his job to find solutions if he can and we are left with no idea what the outcome might have been had Chalobah not been sent off.   

Perhaps we may have lost even more heavily with Chalobah on the pitch since that seems the theme elsewhere on the forum and the gods smiled upon us by having him removed so early ...       

I've seen some hot takes from you before, but this one takes the cake and the cherry. If no one can predict injuries or suspensions, why do you think teams have squads exactly?

So your trying to equate someone predicting a deficiency in the squad, to yesterdays result which culminated in a player playing that most here would say is championship standard at best, (probably)costing us the game and we didn't have the squad depth to not play him, as fictitious? Based on your own frail logic, maybe the Gods gave us the weakness of our midfield squad depth to give us some adversity and test our faith.....Beer me strength.

I am amazed you are not running all of the squads in the Premier League, in fact every professional squad, you are a soothsayer, a font of all knowl;edge, predicitng what will happen with teams and individuals and having a plan for every circumstande. Rather than slagging off someone who is clealry a knowledable poster, like Toshes mate, take a breath and consider that maybe other should be allowed to have a different perspective and then be allowed to express it.

Case and point Jay. Here's one of the posters showing exactly what I was talking about. Even with every metric of evidence in front of him, still leans on pathetic arguments from authority points rather than discussing the subject argument at hand.

As for SoTN's point, you make a good point. I did mention to I believe Sommerset before the game, I'd love some Ream humble pie on Chalo, but they're very different calibres of player aren't they. Ream was rightly questioned on his ability to perform in the Prem, something historically, without context, has struggled. But with the right manager and team around him has flourished. An argument could be made, maybe with the right setup, Chalo could of, sure, but as he hasn't shown in in full strength teams in the championship, in cup matches against lower league opposition, its a much harder point to see IMO. Valid no less, so fair point. Each to their own in regards to the criticism. This specific post was more about the lack of depth we have in the middle than slinging mud at Silva or Chalo though. Hope that makes a little more sense.

[Logicalman]

This one did make me giggle a bit ...

[toshes mate]

Marco Silva selected what he believed was his best eleven from the 'fit' squad he was left with.  He wasn't to know, any more so than Chalobah would have known, what was to happen very early in a game where the team would notably suffer from lack of experience together even if everything else went as planned.  And the cherry on the cake is the only people who could have predicted what happened yesterday would either be gods or a part of some massive and complex conspiracy which is so good nobody sees the subtle evidence of what is really going on.

The connection between yesterday and the transfer window is fictitious because nobody could have predicted we would have the injuries and suspensions we had, not the Khans, not the head coach, and most of all, none of us.  For sure we could/should have more depth but the fact is we do not have the versatility of central midfielders who can double up as something else.  As Silva remarked it his job to find solutions if he can and we are left with no idea what the outcome might have been had Chalobah not been sent off.   

Perhaps we may have lost even more heavily with Chalobah on the pitch since that seems the theme elsewhere on the forum and the gods smiled upon us by having him removed so early ...       

I've seen some hot takes from you before, but this one takes the cake and the cherry. If no one can predict injuries or suspensions, why do you think teams have squads exactly?

So your trying to equate someone predicting a deficiency in the squad, to yesterdays result which culminated in a player playing that most here would say is championship standard at best, (probably)costing us the game and we didn't have the squad depth to not play him, as fictitious? Based on your own frail logic, maybe the Gods gave us the weakness of our midfield squad depth to give us some adversity and test our faith.....Beer me strength.

Back in the days... football clubs had two teams - first and reserves - precisely because you cannot predict from eleven players that they will bed in together nicely, always be fit and well, and always be on best form.  Then came the subtleties of substitution and so the squads jumped up in size offering not just replacements for in game knocks and injuries but replacements for tactical (or technical) nuances.  And, of course, since we are all so brilliant at prediction, teams have their 'cost a lot but rubbish fit'.  Nobody can ever be satisfied with their lot as long as they can predict it could be better, and of course it can always be better - that is true in all competitive sport - world cup winners all the way down to toddlers' leagues.