Ruud van Nistelrooy - New Manager - Official

[Les-TA-Jon]

17 hours ago, Claudio Fannieri said:

Have a look at Man United absolute basket case of a club and despite appointing a world class manager in Anorim, they are also going through an horrific run of form, it shows that whilst appointing a top manager it’s not always the silver bullet, it will take time, a couple of transfer windows and a pre season to really stamp your mark on a club especially when they have been so poorly run. 
 

Now take a look at Leicester City who have gone along a similar path of scattergun managerial appointments and player recruitment which has left us with massively unbalanced, overpaid mash up of a squad. Over the last 2.5 seasons we have had 5 managers, Rodgers, Smith, Enzo, Cooper and now Ruud, where is the continuity in those appointments, each time we change manager we have gone from one style to another which suggests zero succession planning, therefore we see differing styles, different profiles of players and as a consequence a bloated squad of average players who signed to suit a specific style at the time. 
 

We are so poorly run now, we have no long term plan, identity and style of play which means that at least our recruitment would be sustainable and in the event of a change of manager who is we aligned to our style of play the squad would be fit for purpose. 
 

We are already seeing 3/4 of this summers recruits bench warming, there is zero long term strategy or planning we are literally winging it and hoping we get lucky. 
 

We are so far away from the club we were where teams like Brentford, Brighton and Bournemouth aspired to emulate, we have now become the Man United of the also rans, lazy and scatter gun in our approach, no discerniable plan or identity and resting on our Premier League and FA Cup laurels.
 

Absolutely pitiful how we have fallen away and it is the Manager, who has only just joined, been hit hard for injuries and has a lack of quality and depth in certain positions due to appalling recruitment, who is being questioned rather than the common denominators in all of this who are the DoF and Owner who have been culpable in our demise. 

Hang it in the Louvre 

[Fox92]

19 hours ago, trooky said:

Against champions league teams in Newcastle, Liverpool, Man City and Villa with a reserve keeper and  no Fatawu, Ndidi or Ricky P. 

 

The only thing Cooper had going for him was luck and he's used it all up for the season gaining 10 points in 12 games. 

 

Considering the injuries and run of games 4 points from 7 isn't that bad. 

 

The only real blip was the Wolves game which was totally on Ward who would still have player under Cooper.

 

I'm more confident under RVN than Cooper because at least he has a tactical plan whilst Cooper offered nothing and relied on luck which was already on the turn before he was sacked. 

 

 

 

It's just the same excuses.

 

When we beat Southampton under Cooper "it's because Southampton are shit" or "we are lucky" yet when we lose under Van Nistelrooy "it's because they're better than us".

 

Before Newcastle beat us 4-0 (and it could / should have been at least 5-0) they were without a win in 4 games which included losing to West Ham at St James' Park. We lost to an out of form Manchester City team who, in the previous game, couldn't beat Everton at home. They also drew away at Palace in the same month.

 

So what exactly is this tactical plan of Van Nistelrooy's? 7 goals scored and 17 goals conceded in 7 games with now 5 defeats on the bounce. Even in his only win we were "lucky", which is how you described Cooper's wins, against West Ham.

 

"4 points from 7 isn't that bad". What has happened to our fanbase!? No wonder our players don't look like they care.

 

The lack of squad depth, the lack of quality in the squad, is effecting Van Nistelrooy just like it effected Cooper. We have a lot of terrible players and I was always surprised people said, under Cooper, "a better manager would have us higher in the league table". If we finished outside the relegation zone, which we were never in under Cooper, then I'd have taken it. We need someone to totally rebuild this squad and we need people above the manager, for example the director of football, sacked. I wouldn't be surprised if it's true that Graham Potter turned us down twice. I wouldn't want to work for a clueless board and clueless director of football.

Edited 6 January by Fox92

[trooky]

17 hours ago, Claudio Fannieri said:

Have a look at Man United absolute basket case of a club and despite appointing a world class manager in Anorim, they are also going through an horrific run of form, it shows that whilst appointing a top manager it’s not always the silver bullet, it will take time, a couple of transfer windows and a pre season to really stamp your mark on a club especially when they have been so poorly run. 
 

Now take a look at Leicester City who have gone along a similar path of scattergun managerial appointments and player recruitment which has left us with massively unbalanced, overpaid mash up of a squad. Over the last 2.5 seasons we have had 5 managers, Rodgers, Smith, Enzo, Cooper and now Ruud, where is the continuity in those appointments, each time we change manager we have gone from one style to another which suggests zero succession planning, therefore we see differing styles, different profiles of players and as a consequence a bloated squad of average players who signed to suit a specific style at the time. 
 

We are so poorly run now, we have no long term plan, identity and style of play which means that at least our recruitment would be sustainable and in the event of a change of manager who is we aligned to our style of play the squad would be fit for purpose. 
 

We are already seeing 3/4 of this summers recruits bench warming, there is zero long term strategy or planning we are literally winging it and hoping we get lucky. 
 

We are so far away from the club we were where teams like Brentford, Brighton and Bournemouth aspired to emulate, we have now become the Man United of the also rans, lazy and scatter gun in our approach, no discerniable plan or identity and resting on our Premier League and FA Cup laurels.
 

Absolutely pitiful how we have fallen away and it is the Manager, who has only just joined, been hit hard for injuries and has a lack of quality and depth in certain positions due to appalling recruitment, who is being questioned rather than the common denominators in all of this who are the DoF and Owner who have been culpable in our demise. 

Yes, great post and totally agree nothing changes until Rudkin goes. 

 

I thought the club was supposed to have learnt after the Rodgers debacle and they had a new strategy and succession plan which started with Enzo?

 

Unfortunately the new plan ended with the panic appointment of Cooper, who's the polar opposite of Enzo. 

 

At least Ruud is more aligned with Enzo but needs time,  even if it's in the EFL. 

[LCFCJohn]

1 hour ago, jayfox26 said:

I'm not so sure. I'm also not convinced we'd be able to attract a decent manager as people would be put off by how badly run the club is plus the points deductions etc. Any new manager would be on a hiding to nowhere, and I can't see Ruud sticking around for long if things get worse. 

Not all managers would. 
 

People like Rohl at Sheffield Wednesday. Worked under a maniac, Thai man child (sound familar), little budget and got Wednesday from cut adrift (5 points at the end of November when he took over) to safety and now pushing for the playoff positions little over a year on.

 

Other managers who are doing the yards at a lower level. Even someone like our own Richy Wellens who has taken Leyton Orient from the lower reaches of League 2 to just outside the playoffs in League 1, winning the league and playing good football on the way. 
 

Guys like these can work on difficult circumstances without a blank chequebook and would see us as a step up. 

[trooky]

2 hours ago, Fox92 said:

It's just the same excuses.

 

When we beat Southampton under Cooper "it's because Southampton are shit" or "we are lucky" yet when we lose under Van Nistelrooy "it's because they're better than us".

 

Before Newcastle beat us 4-0 (and it could / should have been at least 5-0) they were without a win in 4 games which included losing to West Ham at St James' Park. We lost to an out of form Manchester City team who, in the previous game, couldn't beat Everton at home. They also drew away at Palace in the same month.

 

So what exactly is this tactical plan of Van Nistelrooy's? 7 goals scored and 17 goals conceded in 7 games with now 5 defeats on the bounce. Even in his only win we were "lucky", which is how you described Cooper's wins, against West Ham.

 

"4 points from 7 isn't that bad". What has happened to our fanbase!? No wonder our players don't look like they care.

 

The lack of squad depth, the lack of quality in the squad, is effecting Van Nistelrooy just like it effected Cooper. We have a lot of terrible players and I was always surprised people said, under Cooper, "a better manager would have us higher in the league table". If we finished outside the relegation zone, which we were never in under Cooper, then I'd have taken it. We need someone to totally rebuild this squad and we need people above the manager, for example the director of football, sacked. I wouldn't be surprised if it's true that Graham Potter turned us down twice. I wouldn't want to work for a clueless board and clueless director of football.

Yes we've been lucky all season, Mads has won our 14 points on his own. 4pts  in 7 is where we are at the moment. 

 

We're a newly promoted championship team with a shit squad, shit DoF, novice manager and going down unless he can work miracles which is still more hope than we had under Cooper. 

Edited 6 January by trooky

[Iwebema]

17 hours ago, Claudio Fannieri said:

Have a look at Man United absolute basket case of a club and despite appointing a world class manager in Anorim, they are also going through an horrific run of form, it shows that whilst appointing a top manager it’s not always the silver bullet, it will take time, a couple of transfer windows and a pre season to really stamp your mark on a club especially when they have been so poorly run. 
 

Now take a look at Leicester City who have gone along a similar path of scattergun managerial appointments and player recruitment which has left us with massively unbalanced, overpaid mash up of a squad. Over the last 2.5 seasons we have had 5 managers, Rodgers, Smith, Enzo, Cooper and now Ruud, where is the continuity in those appointments, each time we change manager we have gone from one style to another which suggests zero succession planning, therefore we see differing styles, different profiles of players and as a consequence a bloated squad of average players who signed to suit a specific style at the time. 
 

We are so poorly run now, we have no long term plan, identity and style of play which means that at least our recruitment would be sustainable and in the event of a change of manager who is we aligned to our style of play the squad would be fit for purpose. 
 

We are already seeing 3/4 of this summers recruits bench warming, there is zero long term strategy or planning we are literally winging it and hoping we get lucky. 
 

We are so far away from the club we were where teams like Brentford, Brighton and Bournemouth aspired to emulate, we have now become the Man United of the also rans, lazy and scatter gun in our approach, no discerniable plan or identity and resting on our Premier League and FA Cup laurels.
 

Absolutely pitiful how we have fallen away and it is the Manager, who has only just joined, been hit hard for injuries and has a lack of quality and depth in certain positions due to appalling recruitment, who is being questioned rather than the common denominators in all of this who are the DoF and Owner who have been culpable in our demise. 

Spot on, we will never get back to what we were until there's a major shake up at board level.

 

If Top doesn't want or wont sell, which given the emotional ties feels like he won't, he has to hold those around him to account for the poor performance of the last 5 years.

 

Until he does that we are done being a serious club. I think relegation will be so catastrophic for us that it might finally happen, but if we go down and we just carry on as if it's fine then I really don't know what else it will take.

[jayfox26]

1 hour ago, LCFCJohn said:

Not all managers would. 
 

People like Rohl at Sheffield Wednesday. Worked under a maniac, Thai man child (sound familar), little budget and got Wednesday from cut adrift (5 points at the end of November when he took over) to safety and now pushing for the playoff positions little over a year on.

 

Other managers who are doing the yards at a lower level. Even someone like our own Richy Wellens who has taken Leyton Orient from the lower reaches of League 2 to just outside the playoffs in League 1, winning the league and playing good football on the way. 
 

Guys like these can work on difficult circumstances without a blank chequebook and would see us as a step up. 

Good to see some people still have optimism but for me, until the board is removed and we actually have people running the football club that are capable, the club will never get back to any kind of successful period. And by successful period, I don't mean winning the league again, I mean fighting towards the top end of the table rather than the bottom and the potential of decent cup runs. Its not all about money and prs etc, the likes of Brighton and Brentford have proven that you can be a top half prem club on a small budget, you just need the club to be run properly, which ours unfortunately hasn't been for a while now. 

[Number 6]

4 hours ago, jayfox26 said:

I'm not so sure. I'm also not convinced we'd be able to attract a decent manager as people would be put off by how badly run the club is plus the points deductions etc. Any new manager would be on a hiding to nowhere, and I can't see Ruud sticking around for long if things get worse. 

That's fair. To be honest my working assumption is that Ruud sticks around. I think that gives us the best chance and to be honest he'd need to have a good season for his own reputation. Admittedly we need to make a fist of it in the Prem for him to get that chance I think.

[Mickyblueeyes]

From now (ignoring QPR) up and until the 15 Mar, absolutely critical for the club if we are to stay up. We have 9 games and think we need to win at least 3 with possibly 1 draw. April, Wolves aside is a right off - we've everyone who is anyone in this league. You then go from 26th April to 25 May with 5 games (maybe Forest aside) where we have to be looking for another 3 wins. Two of those at home against direct rivals. That still takes us to 31 - probably 6 or 7 points away from safety. Our problem this first half the year hasnt neccessarily been that we havent won enough games (we havent) but that where we havent won, we have been unable to turn them into draws. Palace, Everton and Ipswich all have more draws than us. Getting hard to beat in 1 or 2 in this second half is massive. 

 

Going to say it, this is still very possible. The manager does need 2 or 3 signings and we need some luck, starting with Palace. We can't lose another game at home to a direct rival. Home games are critical. 

[em9999]

It all depends what Leicester city turn up , if its the wolves Leicester city we are doomed if its the man city , Leicester city then I fancy us 

 

It's out of our control 

[LCFCJohn]

2 hours ago, jayfox26 said:

Good to see some people still have optimism but for me, until the board is removed and we actually have people running the football club that are capable, the club will never get back to any kind of successful period. And by successful period, I don't mean winning the league again, I mean fighting towards the top end of the table rather than the bottom and the potential of decent cup runs. Its not all about money and prs etc, the likes of Brighton and Brentford have proven that you can be a top half prem club on a small budget, you just need the club to be run properly, which ours unfortunately hasn't been for a while now. 

Oh I don’t particularly have faith that the board and Top will make the right decisions, they will more likely go for someone who is a yes man and have the dreaded ‘experience’. But I was just making the point that their are young, up and coming managers who are working in restricted circumstances and are earning their stripes in the leagues just below where we will be next season (or the league itself in Rohl’s case but I do think he’ll have better offers soon).

[Mickyblueeyes]

He’s about to make us adore him. Somethings about to click. 

[FoxinNotts]

If he gives us two convincing wins against QPR and Palace, that would give us some real momentum tbf. 

[Stevosevic]

5 minutes ago, FoxinNotts said:

If he gives us two convincing wins against QPR and Palace, that would give us some real momentum tbf. 

Three for me.

 

Beat QPR, Palace and Fulham alongside what I feel have been better recent performances we might turn a corner.

 

Big IF though 

[justfoxes]

On 06/01/2025 at 13:32, LCFCJohn said:

Oh I don’t particularly have faith that the board and Top will make the right decisions, they will more likely go for someone who is a yes man and have the dreaded ‘experience’. But I was just making the point that their are young, up and coming managers who are working in restricted circumstances and are earning their stripes in the leagues just below where we will be next season (or the league itself in Rohl’s case but I do think he’ll have better offers soon).

You would have thought that Top would have walked over broken glass bare foot to protect his fathers legacy his fathers dream of owning a successful Premier League team a team we once were, but for the boards incompetence to run the club how Vichai wanted it run but for Rudkin and Co to waste money on stupid contracts allow contracts to run down so we lose players on the cheap or for nothing, to fail to remove Rodgers when they should have to actually give us the chance to have staved off relegation to miss out on signing players because they hadn’t got a Scooby Do how to bring in quality players to allow our opposition teams to beat us to signings that we should have got over the line a long time before them!!

 

Rudkin and Co are turning us into a laughing stock a team destined for failiure a team heading for relegation only for the piranhas of the EFL waiting to to throw every fine and sanction they can, Top needs to put his foot down stop trying to be mates with Rudkin and relieve him of his duties at LCFClet him look after his horses ffs but keep him the hell away from our club get in a DOF who actually knows what they are doing actually get a board in place who know how to run a football club rather than let it implode on itself.

 

Is it time to Let Top know how we truly feel at every game until he grabs the little schitt by the balls and remove him from the club, not the occasional We Want Rudkin out but more demonstrations more vocal more Visual demonstrations let them know how we truly feel about the board and Rudkin time to give RVN a DOF who can serve him to his best how to run this club not run it into the ground !

 

Top sort this mess out before it’s far too late before we are totally ruined by this Joke of a board and DOF Sort it NOW !

[Graceroad]

On 06/01/2025 at 09:23, Fox92 said:

It's just the same excuses.

 

When we beat Southampton under Cooper "it's because Southampton are shit" or "we are lucky" yet when we lose under Van Nistelrooy "it's because they're better than us".

 

Before Newcastle beat us 4-0 (and it could / should have been at least 5-0) they were without a win in 4 games which included losing to West Ham at St James' Park. We lost to an out of form Manchester City team who, in the previous game, couldn't beat Everton at home. They also drew away at Palace in the same month.

 

So what exactly is this tactical plan of Van Nistelrooy's? 7 goals scored and 17 goals conceded in 7 games with now 5 defeats on the bounce. Even in his only win we were "lucky", which is how you described Cooper's wins, against West Ham.

 

"4 points from 7 isn't that bad". What has happened to our fanbase!? No wonder our players don't look like they care.

 

The lack of squad depth, the lack of quality in the squad, is effecting Van Nistelrooy just like it effected Cooper. We have a lot of terrible players and I was always surprised people said, under Cooper, "a better manager would have us higher in the league table". If we finished outside the relegation zone, which we were never in under Cooper, then I'd have taken it. We need someone to totally rebuild this squad and we need people above the manager, for example the director of football, sacked. I wouldn't be surprised if it's true that Graham Potter turned us down twice. I wouldn't want to work for a clueless board and clueless director of football.

Very well balanced post

[funkyrobot]

On 06/01/2025 at 09:23, Fox92 said:

It's just the same excuses.

 

When we beat Southampton under Cooper "it's because Southampton are shit" or "we are lucky" yet when we lose under Van Nistelrooy "it's because they're better than us".

 

Before Newcastle beat us 4-0 (and it could / should have been at least 5-0) they were without a win in 4 games which included losing to West Ham at St James' Park. We lost to an out of form Manchester City team who, in the previous game, couldn't beat Everton at home. They also drew away at Palace in the same month.

 

So what exactly is this tactical plan of Van Nistelrooy's? 7 goals scored and 17 goals conceded in 7 games with now 5 defeats on the bounce. Even in his only win we were "lucky", which is how you described Cooper's wins, against West Ham.

 

"4 points from 7 isn't that bad". What has happened to our fanbase!? No wonder our players don't look like they care.

 

The lack of squad depth, the lack of quality in the squad, is effecting Van Nistelrooy just like it effected Cooper. We have a lot of terrible players and I was always surprised people said, under Cooper, "a better manager would have us higher in the league table". If we finished outside the relegation zone, which we were never in under Cooper, then I'd have taken it. We need someone to totally rebuild this squad and we need people above the manager, for example the director of football, sacked. I wouldn't be surprised if it's true that Graham Potter turned us down twice. I wouldn't want to work for a clueless board and clueless director of football.

The lack of quality in the squad is in part down to Cooper though. He wanted premier league experience, he wanted BDCR, Ayew, Skipp. There’s absolutely no way that those players would be with us if Enzo was still here or if Ruud joined in the summer. There’s no way Ward would’ve been our back up keeper except he was promoted to the position by his fellow Welshman. There’s no way we would’ve denied Ricardo game time despite Justin being awful from the very beginning ensuring he sat on his arse during a lot of preseason and early season, probably contributing to his hamstring problem. There’s no way anyone else would’ve mismanaged Fatawu so badly other than Cooper before his injury. Cooper’s influence is all over this squad sadly. 

[justfoxes]

Totally agree a knee jerk appointment by Rudkin etc because they mismanaged the other candidates or never felt like approaching the other candidates they incompetently appointed Cooper because he used to do well with Forest til he Fuched up that along the way !

[justfoxes]

55 minutes ago, funkyrobot said:

The lack of quality in the squad is in part down to Cooper though. He wanted premier league experience, he wanted BDCR, Ayew, Skipp. There’s absolutely no way that those players would be with us if Enzo was still here or if Ruud joined in the summer. There’s no way Ward would’ve been our back up keeper except he was promoted to the position by his fellow Welshman. There’s no way we would’ve denied Ricardo game time despite Justin being awful from the very beginning ensuring he sat on his arse during a lot of preseason and early season, probably contributing to his hamstring problem. There’s no way anyone else would’ve mismanaged Fatawu so badly other than Cooper before his injury. Cooper’s influence is all over this squad sadly. 

Totally agree a knee jerk appointment by Rudkin etc because they mismanaged the other candidates or never felt like approaching the other candidates they incompetently appointed Cooper because he used to do well with Forest til he Fuched up that along the way !

[Dan]

I do find it hard to get enthusiastic when we keep losing games and I do think a couple of the performances have been seen very much through rose tinted glasses. I think the last two games for example were quite good opportunities, caught both of them at very decent times and we ended losing both, without disgracing ourselves in the performances.

 

But I do think he's been dealt a terrible hand. I do think he's been unlucky. It was Cooper who promoted Ward back to second choice and I can see how he fell into the trap of playing him at Newcastle. I can't forgive Wolves, terrible judgement and real lack of attention to detail. It's also the single worst fixture of the 38 that it could've happened in. I feel like every corner he's tried to cut has been penalised whereas Cooper it never quite happened for. Cooper had a lot of luck. Van Nistelrooy's had very little, bar the opening game.

 

What on earth is going on regarding his staff by the way? I can't escape this idea that this era is just never going to quite get going and that with slightly different timing it would work differently. He got a crap hand of fixtures, a crap hand with injuries and now is about to get the Rudkin special transfer window of which I'm almost certain his expectations won't be met. I'd say it's quite likely he regrets this already.

[blue army 1988]

I get that behined the scenes we are a shambles. But on the pitch at the weekend is where we need to look at Ruud and I think he makes some massive mistakes.

 

First of all playing Ward. It doesn't matter what number he is in the goalkeeper pecking order. Just because he's number 2 or 3 doesn't mean he has to be played when the other keepers are out. I personally would have started Iverson in those games Ward did play.

Ward is either great in training and poor on match day or Ruud hasn't done his research on the players past time at the club.

 

Secondly Justin. He's made way to many mistakes. Any manager would have dropped him by now or put him on the bench to make him worry and think he needs to perform better.

 

There's a few others like his starting team and the fact he keeps taking Vestergard off and putting Faes on. What's the deal with that? I get one or two games if the striker is quick and it seems a mistake for Vestergard to play, but not every game.

[daddylonglegs]

10 hours ago, funkyrobot said:

The lack of quality in the squad is in part down to Cooper though. He wanted premier league experience, he wanted BDCR, Ayew, Skipp. There’s absolutely no way that those players would be with us if Enzo was still here or if Ruud joined in the summer. There’s no way Ward would’ve been our back up keeper except he was promoted to the position by his fellow Welshman. There’s no way we would’ve denied Ricardo game time despite Justin being awful from the very beginning ensuring he sat on his arse during a lot of preseason and early season, probably contributing to his hamstring problem. There’s no way anyone else would’ve mismanaged Fatawu so badly other than Cooper before his injury. Cooper’s influence is all over this squad sadly. 

In fairness, I don't think the OP is necessarily saying that Cooper is exempt from criticism.

 

I think they're attempting to balance the aggressive criticism of Cooper with the particularly generous criticism that Ruud has received. They're right - Man City were there to be beat. Newcastle weren't on a good run of form. The West Ham win was fortunate. Ruud also deserves enormous criticism for selecting Ward. Borderline unforgiveable. 

 

None of that, in my opinion, takes away from the fact that Ruud's hand is significantly worse *than* Cooper's, and also significantly worse *because* of Cooper. His hand is worse in that he's had tougher fixtures & injuries to our best players. His hand is worse because of Cooper, in that the squad he has inherited was coached out of any form of confidence over the first 10 games. His hand is worse because of Cooper because of the caliber of player that Cooper was a) able to bring in and b) wanted to bring in.  

 

Ruud is doing a fine job but the next month is make or break. Ipswich & Wolves will likely pick up very few points over the next 4 games. There's an argument all of our next 4 are all winnable. 

[Kinowe Soorie]

I rate Cifuentes as manger. Beat us at home last season, and on a good bit of form currently, after a slow start this year.

 

[Chelmofox]

27 minutes ago, blue army 1988 said:

I get that behined the scenes we are a shambles. But on the pitch at the weekend is where we need to look at Ruud and I think he makes some massive mistakes.

 

First of all playing Ward. It doesn't matter what number he is in the goalkeeper pecking order. Just because he's number 2 or 3 doesn't mean he has to be played when the other keepers are out. I personally would have started Iverson in those games Ward did play.

Ward is either great in training and poor on match day or Ruud hasn't done his research on the players past time at the club.

 

Secondly Justin. He's made way to many mistakes. Any manager would have dropped him by now or put him on the bench to make him worry and think he needs to perform better.

 

There's a few others like his starting team and the fact he keeps taking Vestergard off and putting Faes on. What's the deal with that? I get one or two games if the striker is quick and it seems a mistake for Vestergard to play, but not every game.

With Ward, he was given a situation where both our no 1 and 2 keepers were injured. Iversen is shocking playing out the back (far worse than many of us care to admit), and we don't know how close Jakub was to starting against Wolves. I think it's likely that everyone assumed changing the defensive setup to accommodate Iversen was counter productive, especially is Jakub was out for at maximum one more game. The bigger issue is that Ward and Iversen are still at the club.

 

With JJ - we have no one else. Riccy is injured, and many forget that Hamza has big mistakes in him every game.  If he had played Hamza, I can guarantee everyone would be listing that as one of his biggest mistakes. We need to sign for this position desperately. 

 

He swaps the defenders when he wants pace, which makes sense to me. Also makes sure that everyone is getting minutes. Furthermore, Vesty got injured last game hence was subbed off earlier.

[Sol thewall Bamba]

3 minutes ago, Chelmofox said:

With Ward, he was given a situation where both our no 1 and 2 keepers were injured. Iversen is shocking playing out the back (far worse than many of us care to admit), and we don't know how close Jakub was to starting against Wolves. I think it's likely that everyone assumed changing the defensive setup to accommodate Iversen was counter productive, especially is Jakub was out for at maximum one more game. The bigger issue is that Ward and Iversen are still at the club.

 

With JJ - we have no one else. Riccy is injured, and many forget that Hamza has big mistakes in him every game.  If he had played Hamza, I can guarantee everyone would be listing that as one of his biggest mistakes. We need to sign for this position desperately. 

 

He swaps the defenders when he wants pace, which makes sense to me. Also makes sure that everyone is getting minutes. Furthermore, Vesty got injured last game hence was subbed off earlier.

I am pretty confident that if Hamza had played all this season's games at right back we would be in no worse a position than we are now. He wouldn't have directly cost us any more than 19 goals like JJ has imo.