4 defeats in last 6 games...on the dip

[alfie]

Yesterday showed that we are in there fighting and providing we have no injuries we wll prove to be a  match against most teams.
Recent games have shown that a number of the summer signings are not up to premier league standard and therefore another bad injury spell could put us in trouble.

I think it's too early to say if the players are up to Premier League standard, the only ones we can be sure of are Onomah and Chalobah as they were proven mid-table Championship players last year. We need to give Mbabu, Vinicius and Kurzawa time to adapt.

the one thing we don't really have is time, we can't throw points away by playing players that are not up to it yet. They should have been signed much earlier in the window, Marco's complaints were justified and have proven to be spot on.

How many players did we attempt to sign that did not want to come here, FFP meant we had to set our sights lower than we wanted, hence finding reasonable players at the FFP level we were allowed to pay,
If you remember Marco said that they were working hard to sign players, it's not just a matter of we want him and deal done.

[WindyCity]

Yesterday showed that we are in there fighting and providing we have no injuries we wll prove to be a  match against most teams.
Recent games have shown that a number of the summer signings are not up to premier league standard and therefore another bad injury spell could put us in trouble.

I think it's too early to say if the players are up to Premier League standard, the only ones we can be sure of are Onomah and Chalobah as they were proven mid-table Championship players last year. We need to give Mbabu, Vinicius and Kurzawa time to adapt.

the one thing we don't really have is time, we can't throw points away by playing players that are not up to it yet. They should have been signed much earlier in the window, Marco's complaints were justified and have proven to be spot on.

How many players did we attempt to sign that did not want to come here, FFP meant we had to set our sights lower than we wanted, hence finding reasonable players at the FFP level we were allowed to pay,
If you remember Marco said that they were working hard to sign players, it's not just a matter of we want him and deal done.

I've seen this FFP argument before.  I will firstly admit that I really don't know that much about how it works/figures in.  That said, we see teams spending wildly, Newcastle and Forest prime examples, as well as many other teams.  Scratches head...

HOWEVER, regardless of FFP analysis, FFC was absolutely linked with many top players early and mid stream within the transfer, and yet couldn't push players through.  (The exception being, and thank God, the two midfield P's.)  We ended up taking 2nd, 3rd, 4th choices to fill out the roster and still left a midfielder or two short.  I thought the Duffy and James pickups were good last minute acquisitions.  But some of these other players just have not impressed, such as Vinicius, Karzawa, Diop, Mbabu.  Granted, several of these on limited play.

[hovewhite]

Will be interested to watch it is before the CBs start being rotated because as a poster shot me down on another thread  who was crowing that diop was a Marco signing,so think if that's the case then another loss or two it will tell us all if he wanted Diop.

[Sting of the North]

Will be interested to watch it is before the CBs start being rotated because as a poster shot me down on another thread  who was crowing that diop was a Marco signing,so think if that's the case then another loss or two it will tell us all if he wanted Diop.

If only the real world was that binary. How easy everything would be if we could draw certain conclusions based on just a minimum of circumstantial evidence.

But really, just within that little post there are so many unknown factors. For some examples:

- Has Diop been as good in training as they expected him to be?

- These potential "another loss or two" could come about in many, many different ways, for all we know Tosin and Ream is our two best players in both losses. Would it still be reasonable to assume then that Marco didn't want Diop?

But more importantly, Marco Silva himself has told us repeatedly that he has been heavily involved in recruitment. He has also told us that Diop was a target from the start. Maybe he is just lying to please the owners, but that is not the impression I get of Silva.

My conclusion is that we will be non the wiser on whether or not Silva wanted Diop even if He persists with Tosin and Ream for the next 10 games. It only tells us that he for some or several reasons preferred some players over another for some games. We can of course speculate on the wider picture, but that is all we can do.

[toshes mate]

Ream's target last season was to be fit and available for every game.  I doubt it has been any different for Tim this season.

The Issa Diop recruitment situation may be an example that Marco Silva uses as a measure of how long some signings take to complete when they were agreed as important from the outset.  Marco's words just before the start of the season were about players who are PL ready to play - which is also the criteria he presumably uses for Ream and Adarabioyo.  If we have been fragile this season (apart from injuries) it has been midfield deficiencies which were essential requirements from the moment promotion was secured.


My take on it would be recruitments lack of network knowledge and framework to prepare for an approach which dots the 'i's' but not quite crosses the 't's'.  Who is to blame for that?   

[alfie]

Ream's target last season was to be fit and available for every game.  I doubt it has been any different for Tim this season.

The Issa Diop recruitment situation may be an example that Marco Silva uses as a measure of how long some signings take to complete when they were agreed as important from the outset.  Marco's words just before the start of the season were about players who are PL ready to play - which is also the criteria he presumably uses for Ream and Adarabioyo.  If we have been fragile this season (apart from injuries) it has been midfield deficiencies which were essential requirements from the moment promotion was secured.


My take on it would be recruitments lack of network knowledge and framework to prepare for an approach which dots the 'i's' but not quite crosses the 't's'.  Who is to blame for that?   

Maybe no one is to blame, because as you say it's just your take on it.

[toshes mate]

Ream's target last season was to be fit and available for every game.  I doubt it has been any different for Tim this season.

The Issa Diop recruitment situation may be an example that Marco Silva uses as a measure of how long some signings take to complete when they were agreed as important from the outset.  Marco's words just before the start of the season were about players who are PL ready to play - which is also the criteria he presumably uses for Ream and Adarabioyo.  If we have been fragile this season (apart from injuries) it has been midfield deficiencies which were essential requirements from the moment promotion was secured.


My take on it would be recruitments lack of network knowledge and framework to prepare for an approach which dots the 'i's' but not quite crosses the 't's'.  Who is to blame for that?   

Maybe no one is to blame, because as you say it's just your take on it.

The guy who should take the blame is the one who heads recruitment and fouls up on contracts thus producing the FFP problem which drags on until the losses are no longer there.  The guy who hasn't the same reputation, perhaps, as other longer term network players as a person you can deal with out and in windows.  We always struggled with TK to get replacements for McCormack and Dembele and with centre back partners for Ream other than loanees.  Took a long time for Mitro to fall into our laps and for Adarabioyo (and Andersen to a lesser extent) to break the mould of poor decision making.  If TK says he is in charge then he should be the fall guy for the messes he created and creates.
 

[Woolly Mammoth]

It's a long hard season in the top tier, and there will be good and bad days and we will lose future matches, but we will also win and draw.
Nothing is certain and every match is a cup final no matter who we play or where we play.
The key is consistency and not too many injuries which can be decimating for some clubs, plus a rub of the green from referees who do not allow themselves to be intimidated by players and big clubs and Sky and don't want to upset their sparing partner in the VAR vehicle parked down the road. 
Apart from that we should be fine and can finish in a more comfortable position than perhaps any of us thought before the commencement of the season. 

[Woolly Mammoth]

Having said all that a win tomorrow with an encouraging performance against a team that could be rivals in this league will not only earn us three points but allay any current doubts and increase moral and confidence.
It will not be easy as the opponents will fancy their chances, but they will also fear us, and time a referee showed complete impartiality and give Fulham the benefit of the doubt for a change.

[filham]

The performance against Newcasle was bad but otherwise we have suffered injuries and bad luck.
However, pressure is on the players tomorrow for a win and the possible absence of Tete and Mitro is not going to help.

[hovewhite]

At the end of the day it's a judgement managers make don't think the CBs have not been up to standard but will come a time when rotation will happen in the CBs,and we have to trust Silva and his staff.

[colinwhite]

even 6 points from 6 games on average would probably keep us up.

[Woolly Mammoth]

I would much prefer 3 points from one game on average but i take your point.
I feel we should just try and keep above half way if we can for as long as possible, and certainly by Christmas and that should be the goal.
Teams are beating each other and when a couple of rivals draw it means they have both lost precious points, even though they have gained one each.
I know i am stating the bleeding obvious, but a win and a defeat means we gain 3 points, two draws mean we only gain 2 points.
That is why wins are precious but then again continuing to pick up a point or three on a regular basis no matter who the opponents are signifies consistency and that is the key to survival and a comfortable spot round about half way up the Division.

[Somerset Fulham]

They were saying on Sky last night that even teams like Brentford and Brighton are likely to go on four game losing streaks.

At this point in time we're fine and hopefully with the return of Williams and Williand and the main man on the mend, we're heading out of our injury problems and can begin to look up again.

[Twig]

They were saying on Sky last night that even teams like Brentford and Brighton are likely to go on four game losing streaks.

At this point in time we're fine and hopefully with the return of Williams and Williand and the main man on the mend, we're heading out of our injury problems and can begin to look up again.

I think the return of Tete is what we badly need now and sadly that looks to be weeks away.

[Steeeeeeeeeed]

1-0 down to Bournemouth within 2 minutes of the start

[Somerset Fulham]

And?

We're looking good at the moment and thats what I want to see.