next 4 games?

[lcfcalan]

Out of the next four games, I am expecting a minimum of 9 points, if this is not achieved, then I think it is about time we all looked honestly at our club/team and removed the blue tinted specs , and admitted that we r a spent force (even in this league) . It hurts me to say it , but the results are showing us to be a very ordinary side and I cannot see where the 'push' will come from. No real team spirit, no cash, no 'will to win' at the moment is how I see things .

Be honest , Stoke took us on and showed us the fighting spirit that we used to be so good at , but lack so much now.

[Milky]

i'm actually going to be able to watch the next set of games, and they couldn't be any more important. i'm looking for 9 points also, but 7 wouldn't be that bad i suppose.

[Manwell Pablo]

i'm actually going to be able to watch the next set of games, and they couldn't be any more important. i'm looking for 9 points also, but 7 wouldn't be that bad i suppose.

would want nine but we will never get it, It wouldnt suprise me if we came out with 5

[lookwhaticando]

Spent force, yeah right.

We got relegated, we had a lot of player turnover, we had a dreadful, inadequate recruitment policy which lead to a team filled with ageing, woefully inadequate stop-gap measures on a tight budget. That's a spent force.

We've since had a change of staff (more turnover, more turmoil) which attempted to steer us thru the remains of the previous season with the same basic team and little or no room to move at all in that respect. Finally when the summer rolled around, more changes were made - some of the aging deadwood was removed, some of our well liked and respected players also had to go for ecomonic reasons mostly (Walker, anyone?). That's a little more turnover in the mix, and a whole raft of incoming players once again. We cut 6 or 7 and brought in 7 or 8 - that's half of your regular match day squad. Not easy.

Yeah Yeah, we've heard it all before, manager needs time, players need to gel, that's where you're thinking this is all heading.

And yes, to an extent that's true - the team is still a work in progress, anyone who thought you could slap together a team of 16 or more players overnight for less than 3 million quid needs a serious wake up call. Chelsea under Ranieri spent tens of millions on single players, and clearly didn't have the final product.

The manager does need time. Why, since he's been here over a year now?

It's his job to build a team, a task that takes many more than just 12 months. And let's face it, some of Levein's signings have been questionable (Gilbert, anyone?) and still others are currently looking like complete disasters (Sylla springs to mind and his incredibly laid back attitude to being part of the game at all). Perhaps Levein has realized that Sylla is woefully unwilling to do anything at all. Perhaps Levein is looking for a winger to sign in January? Perhaps Williams is on his way out, freeing up some budget to find competition for Sylla (as he so clearly needs it). Who knows?

Given time Levein may/should see the errors of some of his ways and take corrective action. He appears recently to have cottoned onto the fact that camping in your own box is a bad idea wether you're trailing by 10 goals or leading by 2. He also appears to appreciate the fact that a decent attack will help (tho not guaranteed) to win games (Hume and Hammond have started together recently) .

We're not the finished article, as stated earlier, and we wont be this season, that's for sure. We've got a bunch of players whose contracts expire at the end of the season. Will we renew them? (I for one, sincerely hope we renew Joey's contract). Will we say thanks for the service but we don't want you any more? (Dion is surely at the end of the line at the end of this season, at least as a player). We have a few potential exits in January already (Wright to Blackpool? Lee Morris to... Kegworth, maybe? ) so there's room for a lot more change in the team before the start of the next season. Also, our first choice left winger is only on loan - so there may soon be a need to bring in another left winger (someone save us from Tiatto the left winger, please!)

We're not spent, we're still in transition - the next few games wont determine whether we're a force to be reconked with, or a force which failed to exist several years ago. This season could be a little tricky if we dont grab some more points now and then, but this season was never going to be a walk in the park.

As for the next 4 games, 7 points is my estimate. 9 would be nice, and isn't completely out of reach, actually.

[Thracian]

Out of the next four games, I am expecting a minimum of 9 points, if this is not achieved, then I think it is about time we all looked honestly at our club/team and removed the blue tinted specs , and admitted that we r a spent force (even in this league) . It hurts me to say it , but the results are showing us to be a very ordinary side and I cannot see where the 'push' will come from. No real team spirit, no cash, no 'will to win' at the moment is how I see things .

Be honest , Stoke took us on and showed us the fighting spirit that we used to be so good at , but lack so much now.

Sorry to disagree.

Stoke were looking dead and buried up to their second goal - second to the ball, short of ideas, unable to combat our ball-to-feet passing and City were inches away from taking what would have been a decisive 3-1 lead.

I saw no evidence of a lack of team spirit just, perhaps, a collective feeling of "oh no, we've been here before" when we conceded the equaliser.

Someone mentioned leadership on the pitch (cos Stoke's dramatic comeback happened too late for Levein to have direct motivational impact though he should have prepared their minds for this at half-time).

No, in that last 15 minutes we desperately needed a captain, a genuine leader, and it wasn't Kisnorbo, that's for sure, cos he was having enough trouble doing anything right.

We needed someone capable of directing and focusing people on their jobs. Someone to get the last ounce of energy from folks, someone who recognised where any leaks were and who could make sure they were patched.

Kisnorbo did none of that. Captain? Come on Craig. You are joking, surely.

If you want a young captain then Stearman and Sheehan would both be far, far better but, really, we need someone older, wiser and naturally inspirational.

[shen]

If you want a young captain then Stearman and Sheehan would both be far, far better but, really, we need someone older, wiser and naturally inspirational.

The only candidates that spring to mind are Paddy and Maybury.

[Katy]

We basically gifted yet another team who had no hope of winning the game three points - I know its the season of goodwill but thats taking things a bit too far. After the brilliance of the Shefiield United game, im back to thinking we will struggle to beat second bottom Crewe. The next couple of games are winnable but whether we will win them is another matter

All this fluctuation of emotions isnt healthy!

[Matt]

Out of the next four games, I am expecting a minimum of 9 points, if this is not achieved, then I think it is about time we all looked honestly at our club/team and removed the blue tinted specs , and admitted that we r a spent force (even in this league) . It hurts me to say it , but the results are showing us to be a very ordinary side and I cannot see where the 'push' will come from. No real team spirit, no cash, no 'will to win' at the moment is how I see things .

Be honest , Stoke took us on and showed us the fighting spirit that we used to be so good at , but lack so much now.

I did, I said it at the start of last season (When we got relegated) I said "We are just turning into a mid-table division 1 team" I suppose people thought I was just moaning when I said that, but its true, I was right, obviously I would have loved it to have turned out I was moaning, because I don't wanna be where we are now, but I removed the blue tinted specs nearly 2 years ago now!

[Thracian]

We basically gifted yet another team who had no hope of winning the game three points - I know its the season of goodwill but thats taking things a bit too far. After the brilliance of the Shefiield United game, im back to thinking we will struggle to beat second bottom Crewe. The next couple of games are winnable but whether we will win them is another matter

All this fluctuation of emotions isnt healthy!

I am utterly bewildered by how many points we SHOULD have had this season and how many we've actually collected.

If I had to suggest one reason it is "90 minutes".

We don't seem to have a 90 minute mentality and that is a major factor with winning teams.

They are so focused on the job that they don't even think of relaxing until the final whistle blows.

It is not just a physical thing, it's a mental thing... being prepared to forever search for work, for something useful to do within the side.

Look at Sylla when he was nutmegged. Not only did he challenge square on instead of side-on but he did so when he had no support whatsoever and therefore should have been jockeying the opponent to win time.

Finally when he was beaten, did he turn round a la Stearman and show determination to recover. No and neither did he in another incident a few minutes later.

I'm not looking to crucify Sylla over this, cos his weren't the only mistakes by any means - they are just instances to illustrate my point that there's not sufficient determination for 90 minutes to do the bread and butter work.

Seasoned winners always go the last mile but ours is too young a team to be full of winners so it is an attitude which Levein has to instil. I mentioned it a bit concerning the reserves the other night.

Losing just didn't hurt enough. We have to have the winning mentality THROUGHOUT the club. McCarthy epitomises it but is still learning. Joey has it - you can tell by everything he does - Hume and Stearman too. But there's not much more of it about.

Playing as an entertaining football team doesn't mean being nice. It means being ruthless (like the Tottenham team of the early 60's or the United team when Giggs and Scholes were young. We're not ruthless and we're going to have to change pretty quickly....

[PompeyFox]

I know it's off the subject a bit, but they train from 10am til 2pm max. How many of you can earn 5k+ a week for so little hours. I would have them in from 9/10am till 4am, obviously not all out on the pitch. I would allow fans to come and vent their frustration for an hour to let them know how WE feel. After that shocking collaspe last night i would dump rab, sylla and kisnorbo, untill they can EARN their shirt. Make them sit in the crowd to hear comments of how passionate and angry we feel. After all we pay their wages. Rant over. Make joey captain, looks like humme and hammond are starting to link up well.

[lcfcalan]

I am utterly bewildered by how many points we SHOULD have had this season and how many we've actually collected.

If I had to suggest one reason it is "90 minutes".

We don't seem to have a 90 minute mentality and that is a major factor with winning teams.

They are so focused on the job that they don't even think of relaxing until the final whistle blows.

It is not just a physical thing, it's a mental thing... being prepared to forever search for work, for something useful to do within the side.

Look at Sylla when he was nutmegged. Not only did he challenge square on instead of side-on but he did so when he had no support whatsoever and therefore should have been jockeying the opponent to win time.

Finally when he was beaten, did he turn round a la Stearman and show determination to recover. No and neither did he in another incident a few minutes later.

I'm not looking to crucify Sylla over this, cos his weren't the only mistakes by any means - they are just instances to illustrate my point that there's not sufficient determination for 90 minutes to do the bread and butter work.

Seasoned winners always go the last mile but ours is too young a team to be full of winners so it is an attitude which Levein has to instil. I mentioned it a bit concerning the reserves the other night.

Losing just didn't hurt enough. We have to have the winning mentality THROUGHOUT the club. McCarthy epitomises it but is still learning. Joey has it - you can tell by everything he does - Hume and Stearman too. But there's not much more of it about.

Playing as an entertaining football team doesn't mean being nice. It means being ruthless (like the Tottenham team of the early 60's or the United team when Giggs and Scholes were young. We're not ruthless and we're going to have to change pretty quickly....

[lcfcalan]

So basicaly Thrac, you agree with my opening post ?.........(yeh i screwed up the quote and reply thing......)