pmcla26

It’s fine if the idea is to have the wingers play high as an outlet - draw the opposition out then use them to break. Enzo’s 3-2-4-1 chance creation was built a lot around that, the way opposition teams would mark us meant that Mavididi and Fatawu could get really high and then often only have to beat their full back to get in.

Yeah I should have said as well in a possession based side, too. To be fair you don’t see many sides use a single pivot if they aren’t playing a slower build up style.

Really don’t think we need to sign a full-back, even if one leaves. All of them are good enough for the Championship and we also have Aluko coming through. We’re well stocked there.

People saying he’s not good enough for the Premier League, I think he is in the right system, but we haven’t used a system that suits him. He’s not great in a double pivot, he’s better as a stand alone 6 where he can drop deeper in the build up and with two 8s ahead of him as passing options. Soumare has obviously been preferred due to his physical attributes making him more suited to playing in the double pivot.

If we get Russell Martin looking forward to watching us play a similar style of football to 23/24 at the top end of the Championship

I agree with everything you said there. I think trying to combining the two styles (not going extreme either way) is the best way to get success in the Championship - Leeds did that well this season, I think Farke having an extra year has helped him to coach that. Pearson did it with us as well after our play-off defeat at Watford and we won the league, where some games we’d be super aggressive with Dyer and Vardy then in others we’d need Knockaert and Mahrez to be a bit cuter.

Look at how deep Rotherham are as well throughout that - that’s how most teams will try to do us next season. Having a style that beats that is important.

Depends, they could spend c. £150m like Villa, Fulham, Forest and Ipswich have done upon promotion and if they do well with it then they can give themselves a chance. As far as I’m aware they’re in a decent position financially after changing the model over the last 5 years?

Don’t know if it’s a great barometer what the fans say after a poor season given some of ours seem to think we’ll get relegated next season. I expect Ipswich will still have Jack Clarke, Jacob Greaves, Leif Davis, Dara O’Shea, Axel Tuanzebe and Alex Palmer who are all very good players at that level. If Hutchinson stays too that’s another very good player there. Cameron Humphrys coming back from Wycombe is a good prospect in midfield, as well. They might struggle at striker but Hirst is decent enough for the Championship. It’s similar when you analyse our team and some of the prospects, it’s hard for me to see a scenario where either team aren’t battling for promotion, unless the window goes horrifically wrong for both.

And with Rodgers it worked for 2 and a half seasons. We don’t need Martin to be forever, just get us back into the Premier League and develop the younger players we have coming through. Most teams are going to play a low block style of football against us next season, we need a manager that can coach how to break that down - which is exactly what Martin does well. It worked with Maresca so can see it working again.

Any idea why he didn't get in at Fiorentina?

I think he’ll be a big player for them next season, special talent. With no disrespect to Bournemouth, I thought he would have gone to a bigger club.

Without him they’ll be screwed.

I don’t disagree with expectations it’s more just you’d expect Martin to be better equipped to guide a side back up when he’s already been there and done it.

If he’s our first-choice striker next season how many goals do we think he’ll get? 15?

Martin would get the best out of McAteer, Mavididi and Fatawu. at Southampton, he often used two 10s (rather than a 10 and a 9) in the build up that create a box in midfield and pushes the wingers really high and wide as an outlet to attack the space centrally that’s vacated when centre-backs try to push on to mark the two 10s. LW RW 10. 10 8. 8

I’m confused as to why some people are all for Rohl and totally against Martin when one has a promotion from the Championship on their CV and the other one doesn’t.

Which just proves why it’s such a flawed system. You compete against yourself rather than your rivals, which means that a team that finishes two places above ourselves will be allowed to spend £200m or so this summer to try to get back to where they want to be whilst we’ll be fighting court battles. Makes 0 sense.

I’m surprised at how many people seem to be more against the club than they do the authorities, in this situation. They’ve ripped up their own rule book to come back for more after losing a case. They’re acting on spite. All whilst failing to deliver the final verdict on Man City - because going against a state will inevitably unearth all the corruption beneath the surface.

Did they really change the rules just to charge us? Doesn't set a great precedent for football if this is what they can do, even if we are in the wrong, too.

Now is the perfect time to give Stolarczyk the confidence and freedom to develop as number 1. I don’t want the club to bring in a goalkeeper that is anything other than firmly a number 2 (I wouldn’t be opposed to one of Ward or Iversen staying for this reason). It never works well if you have two keepers and neither know if they’re the number 1. He didn’t have his best game in possession against Ipswich but I think we’ve seen enough to say he’s fine for the Championship with the potential to develop into a good Premier League goalkeeper.

Villa definitely have more depth than we did then.

I don’t see anything than a Leicester win and at least one Vardy goal. Some things are just meant to be, right?

His movement is so bad. He’s either offside or nowhere near close enough to the last man to break the line, never in the right place. Thing is with good strikers is that they keep putting themselves in the right positions to make amends if they miss chances. Hojlund doesn’t even get the opportunity to miss the chances because he’s not in the right spot. His xG this season must be so low for a 9 that has played as many games as he has.

Only have to look at our own history when King Power first come in to see how it doesn’t guarantee success.