If we take something from that game it's a sensational result considering we'd given possibly the best passing & footballing side in this league a man advantage and they'd scored so early in the second half. The graft & desire from Moore/Pearson/Lindsay/Gardner/Mallan that second half gave me some hope as did the first half where we got amongst them, caused some problems by outworking them and getting shots off. The simple problem is that the players in the squad today aren't good enough. They can work, they can graft, they can press but we've little to no pace, no cutting edge & again yesterday came from a set piece. Whilst the first half was good, you can't outwork teams every week - whenever we've got our noses in front we've looked the same but when we concede first it's a different game entirely and that's where you need your quality. Long 3 months ahead and an absolutely critical 4 days. Looks like we need, to the untrained eye: 2 strikers 2 wingers Central midfielder Full back Goalkeeper And that's just to be on parity with other sides in terms of balance. Remember we're 6 months into the season & still only have 3 strikers, 2 of which have played less than twenty games at this level. That's how big a challenge this is & I can't get my head round how people haven't seen it since August. If he keeps this lot up he's a magician not a football manager.
We need a centre half too. Jackson's knee has flared up again & Pinnock has apparently broken his foot.
Time for the club captain to get another chance then. We've got 5 centre backs & 5 full backs. Other areas need it more.
I was encouraged by the first half performance. Fulham weren’t even in the game and if we play like that every week we’ll easily gain enough points to stay up. I don’t think we need quite as many players as that, as I think the players we’ve got enough to keep us in this division with the current squad, when all fit. The injuries are concerning though, particularly Isgrove’s. If we can keep him fit for the rest of the season I’m convinced we’ll stay up. But given his injury record this season I think it’s the key area we need to strengthen. We were screaming out for a bit of pace on the counterattack in the second half, which the current squad severely lacks.
Spot on, he had a horrid start to the season but I just think he didn't know how to react to the added pressure of captaincy. He was, however, made captain for a reason and is a good player if he gets his head straight. Don't think we've seen the last of him. I also think he will find it more comfortable slotting into a defence that is performing as a unit, taking away organisational pressure which I also think made him flap.
The Pinnock / Jackson injuries look like we are fecked this season. I really think without some quality at CB & central midfield, a goalkeeper to rival Davies, (who is a decent keeper at this level, but is having an awful spell - second goal was a joke) & one more forward player with pace is a minimum, with maybe a couple of loan punts on the wing, if, as it looks like Barnes is staying at Leicester. I think we have to get behind Hecky & the lads whatever & accept, if we go down we'll be probably be in the best position to go up next season. Hope the owners can see that there is a choice to be made in the next few days, as we have not got enough.
Their investment is at risk if we go down & they're only here to make a return on that investment. Be very disappointing start to their ownership if there is no support for Hecky before Thursday.