Jobyfox

Correct. And currently he is

Yep - I agree with others that JJ was MoTM Abdul was a close second. Good to see that manager confidence is still high

I wished he’d have scored the long range shot when the goalkeeper was off his line. We’d have been talking about that one for years. He can be frustrating at times, but he’s one of the few players we have who is occasionally capable of a moment of high quality

Well not all transfers will work out, but generally I think we’ve recruited pretty well when we’ve been in the Championship. There have been misses but: Fatawu, Mavididi, Winks, Hermansen and James have all been significant pluses. Compare that to our season in the Premier League. Millions spent on Skipp, Ayew and BDCR and the windows immediately further back haven’t been too successful either. I know I’m missing out some of our poorer signings in the Champ and better signings in the PL, but I think the point still stands

That was a joke to someone stating that nobody gives a toss about his opinion. All opinions are valid. The laughing face was a detail you may have overlooked

No. if you’d read my other post match posts elsewhere and even on this thread I’d like to think I’m fairly balanced and far from negative but, equally, I can’t be arsed to do your research for you so think what you like

If you’d read ahead you would see that I’ve already responded to another poster on that point.

Bit greedy. Why doesn’t he just buy one?

Personally I think Marti C is doing a pretty good job so far. It was a difficult start as he didn’t know which players were staying and what signings, if any, we’d be making in the transfer window. His early starting elevens reflected that. Now Winks has settled and James has come in he’s quickly worked out that they are better than both Skipp and Soumare. He knows that Ricky is a better FB than Hamza, but is protecting him with not too many minutes. He’s finally worked out that Ayew can’t lead the line, but that’s not as an obvious conclusion as it should be given our other options. There is an ongoing debate around the CBs, but I think that JV is important at this level. Especially in a side that will dominate possession, but sometimes lack creativity. The case for Faes is less obvious, but he is decent on the ball, although his defensive lapses can be frustrating. I just don’t have the certainty, at present, that Okoli would be that much better and I simply haven’t seen a lot of Nelson. Is it a case of a player’s value increasing when they are absent from the team? Admittedly I may be proven wrong on this one if/when others get a chance, but currently I’m not convinced that it’s a stick I want to beat the manager with. In my opinion Faes and Vestergaard aren’t a reason why we won’t get promoted. A lack of a decent striker might be

I do. Your opinion is as valid as anybody else’s. Especially when I agree with it

Good post and I agree with much of it. The only bit I’m less convinced about is the CB dilemma. Vestergaard, in particular, has proven to be quite adept at this level. In a side that dominates the ball Vesty can be crucial especially in a side that struggles for creativity. Admittedly, back in the Prem, he’s fairly useless in a side that’s playing on the back foot and without the ball. Faes I’m less fussed about but, again, he is decent on the ball. He just has his regular brain farts. Okoli and Nelson might better represent our future, but I’m not convinced they are our here and now. Admittedly, in Nelson’s case, I’m working with very little material to make an assessment and could easily be proven wrong if he were given a run in the side

I’ve been very vocal about the issues with Ayew as the no. 9 but, If anyone still says that, then I don’t think I’ll be debating the issue any further. If they can’t see it now they probably never will

That’s the key. We all know his limitations but, without a top quality striker, we’re going to need somebody who brings others into the game. Daka does that becomes he takes defenders away. Ayew is just very easy to mark

I like the two together and they both have different attributes. Winks and James are very good for this division. If we had a better no.10 and no.9 then we’d probably walk it. Early days, but we will see how Ramsey steps up as he could make a difference. I’ve also not totally written off Carranza yet, although not particularly hopeful

Kind of missing the point really. Of course it doesn’t matter how we score and the post wasn’t intended to be negative. It was just that the playbook was in danger of unfolding exactly as it has done in the last few games up to that point. We never looked back once we were 2-1 up and were in total control. I just think I’d like us to churn out a routine win with some very routine goals, rather than relying on a moment of brilliance. But maybe today isn’t the day to worry about that and we move on to the next game

If we had a decent striker we’d probably be quite comfortably threatening the automatic promotion places this season. We haven’t got one, however, so we have to think how we get the best out of the team without. With Daka at least he pulls the opposition out of shape to allow others to get into goal scoring positions. If our midfielders and wingers can score goals it won’t matter so much that our striker options are so limited. There were times today and against Wrexham that we finally look a decent team at this level. How MC solves the striker conundrum will be the key to keeping us competitive.

I’ll give Carranza a bit more time

Good win in the end. It’s a shame it needed a Fatawu worldie to get us back on track

Thing is you don’t need to do much against us to change the momentum. We’ve seen this in a few games. That’s why it’s so dodgy when we’re leading. Even Huddersfield easily managed to get back into a game by just turning up the aggression a bit

🐕 💩

Ramsey for BDCR looks like the call

That’s my nagging feeling too. Fail to kill the game off Gradually let them back into game They score It’s our new playbook

That’s simply not true. The whole shape of the team looked far better with a striker in it than when we’ve started with Ayew up front. We only lost our way against Wrexham mid way through the 2nd half through poor game management and substitutions. Our striker options are incredibly poor, but at least Daka offers an outlet and somebody the opposition has to mark. Ayew has zero pace and no physicality so is about as effective as a can of baked beans at no.9. Daka is obviously not the long term answer as he’s proven that over many seasons, which is why it’s depressing that he might still be our first or second best striker. Ayew doesn’t even register to be called a striker. Not even a poor one

Occasionally. He’s also incredibly wasteful

Not sure there is much between Okoli and the other options Not sure there is much between Thomas and VK Nelson is benefiting from the classic phase of becoming thought of as a better player due to his absence from the team I’ve only seen Ramsey play for a few minutes and then get sent off Having watched that first half of football against Wrexham I’m more convinced than ever that Ayew should never start for us in the no.9 position ever again Apart from that I agree that’s our best line up