The Doctor Posted 13 August 2011 Posted 13 August 2011 I thought 23,000 was really poor for us as well. oh aye, 9k less for the opening day than for a meaningless friendly when the tickets for today were cheaper? Words fail me to describe my disappointment with that.
ramboacdc Posted 13 August 2011 Posted 13 August 2011 just got home from the game. was expecting more fans there but hey ho. to the game. we played well but we didnt seem to have the final 1/3rd worked out. seemed the only way through was pass to konchesky and work from there. didnt deserve to lose 2-0 but we didnt look like a side thats gonna struggle. we were just outplayed twice in the game. didnt think much to danns. i think abe must be scared to head a ball or run at anyone. it was a crash to reality really. meerly a blip.
Heart-Shaped Fox Posted 13 August 2011 Posted 13 August 2011 Current strike force adequate? No chance. As much as I do like Waghorn he didn't anything today that a striker is supposed to. Howard is too old to play a full game and looks to be going out on loan. Vassell is decent but needs to be played on his own up front and even then he won't get 15 + goals. Kermogant......enough said and that just leaves Gallagher and Nugent. We need to sort this out now. It is adequate. Adequate enough to get us within the mix at the end of the season. In 2009-10 we didnt score many but made the PO's because we were oganised and could defend. We probably do need another striker, but other quality players within the squad should be good enough to support the likes of Nugent and chip in with the goals like King did last season, so why he doesnt play I dont know.
Bilbo Posted 13 August 2011 Posted 13 August 2011 You need to grow some balls and stop being so sensitive then. Or is stating the bleeding obvious offensive now. To be fair I thought it was nice to see KP actually gave a s*** however I thought him shouting at the team which then resulted in a few of the players yelling between on another was embarrassing because it just showed the difference between the two teams and who was in control. The Kop clapped but I just sat there and watched Reading have a nice calm/smug sip of water by the sidelines.
Kent Posted 13 August 2011 Posted 13 August 2011 Without going into too much detail for the most part to me it looked like 11 strangers out there apart from 10 or 15 minutes after half time where had Nugents effort had gone in we might be discussing a very different game. Stand out shockers for me were Mills who presumably was put off by the away supporters and Abe who was just poor. I wouldn't say it's all bad, there were some reasonable performances in there - Bamba and Nugent I thought were decent enough, unfortunately though they were the best of a fairly poor bunch (for the majority of the game at least). Not the end of the world, I know a lot of people have probably forgot about the win last weekend but at least we've got an opportunity to make amends on Wednesday night. On a side note, if you're the guy who sat in front of me in SK 4 standing up and shouting at every decision correct or otherwise, kill yourself.
Fox92 Posted 13 August 2011 Posted 13 August 2011 Playing Nugent up front on his own is terrible, especially at home. We have to many midfielders. We need some good wingers. We need a striker to assist Nugent. At the end of the day, we have spent lots on trying to win promotion. Yet Reading have a fairly average team (like Norwich did) and look good. Why? Is it down to man management?
Bob Weasel Fox Posted 13 August 2011 Posted 13 August 2011 A few (many) thoughts on today: 1. I don't think we particularly deserved to lose 2-0 in a fairly dreadful match, but I will make no qualms about such an inept display. Far too many simple passes going astray, appalling defending for the goal and a general lack of quality in the final third. 2. Sven got it wrong from the start - 4-5-1 at home? Two defensive midfielders? With Schlupp on the wing? Erm, not for me thanks. In fairness he quickly realised it wasn't working and changed things around for the better, but all in all I was questioning his logic from the off. 3. Baffles me that we leave our most creative and potent players on the bench in Gallagher and King respectively. Danns, for all his efforts today, was poor and he'll probably know it himself this evening. It's a similar story for Abe who huffed and puffed and was better than his fellow midfielder, but was also let down horrifically by his own passing. 4. Matt Mills - what better way to say "thanks for the £5 million!" with a performance like that. Shoddy, he can do better and must. 5. It's not all bad. Schmeichel has already endeared himself to the home crowd with his eagerness to run 40 yards and shout a lot, but I also thought he was one of the few to do himself a good turn today. Bamba was on hand to mop up where everybody else was going wrong, Fernandes was probably our best player once again and Nugent battled superbly once more. Disappointing for him that he couldn't avoid the post again, and it would have been a different game had that gone in. 6. Reading fans - fuck off. Sit on your arses for 75 minutes silent with the all-too regular and only chant of 'Millsy what's the score'. Embarrassing. It's no time for knee-jerk reactions by any stretch. But that was shite. THIS
Bilbo Posted 13 August 2011 Posted 13 August 2011 It is adequate. Adequate enough to get us within the mix at the end of the season. In 2009-10 we didnt score many but made the PO's because we were oganised and could defend. We probably do need another striker, but other quality players within the squad should be good enough to support the likes of Nugent and chip in with the goals like King did last season, so why he doesnt play I dont know. Mate to be honest do you think Top has splashed £10 million plus to be "in the mix" at the end of the season. We need to be aiming for top two as getting to the play-offs is a lottery anyway. Look at Blackpool and Swansea.
Heart-Shaped Fox Posted 13 August 2011 Posted 13 August 2011 Playing Nugent up front on his own is terrible, especially at home. We have to many midfielders. We need some good wingers. We need a striker to assist Nugent. At the end of the day, we have spent lots on trying to win promotion. Yet Reading have a fairly average team (like Norwich did) and look good. Why? Is it down to man management? I'd say it is down to the players being set up properly, in a formation which suits them. They were organised, and know how to play with the squad they have, on the counter attack. I agree with all your points as well.
sdb Posted 13 August 2011 Posted 13 August 2011 Imagine if we'd sold Bamba and they hadn't sold Long. We'd have lost 3 or 4 today. I know it's early days but almost everything today was wrong. The set up was incredibly defensive. The 2 centre backs were often 20+ yards apart. No width, no penetration. We may have a good side on paper but Reading showed today that more than anything, you need to be a balanced, well drilled unit. I'd love to say "Sven put the cheque book away and concentrate on building a coheisive XI, but I feel we desperately need a winger and probably striker too. Schlupp replaced just as he and all else were getting a hold of the game - bad call. As for set pieces - at both ends - we were well and truly 2nd best. This may sound like an overreaction and every side has hiccups, but what I saw out there was a bottom half side at best. Lastly, 23000? Pretty poor no? All I need now is half my fantasy team to miss pens today...oh
Joe. Posted 13 August 2011 Posted 13 August 2011 Also, why do we insist on playing so wide when we clearly don't have the players to do it? Nugent is so isolated at times, I feel sorry for him.
Guest Col city fan Posted 13 August 2011 Posted 13 August 2011 In kings bar currently with mi mates. General feeling is that svens signings are GOOD players... Danns was great at palace, mills reading captain, nugent was an england international... Etc etc..... If Sven cannot get these players playing well together it's a sorry fookin situation and worrying... We all think that Abe today was gash... Kasper best signing of the summer.. Bar none And WHY have we got one up front? Ridiculous when at home It needs to get better... Sven has signed good players without doubt... Hes gotta get them playing
topharry123 Posted 13 August 2011 Posted 13 August 2011 It is adequate. Adequate enough to get us within the mix at the end of the season. In 2009-10 we didnt score many but made the PO's because we were oganised and could defend. We probably do need another striker, but other quality players within the squad should be good enough to support the likes of Nugent and chip in with the goals like King did last season, so why he doesnt play I dont know. Maybe adequate enough to get us in the mix, but with a couple of really good strikers then we could be above the mix and comfortably in the top 2.
The Year Of The Fox Posted 13 August 2011 Posted 13 August 2011 You need to grow some balls and stop being so sensitive then. Or is stating the bleeding obvious offensive now. Calm down. The bloke may not be far off the mark. It was widely known his dad was quite unpopular with the united squad due to his outspoken nature. Keane lamped him once and cantona came close to doing the same. Ok they're not the most honourable gentlemen theirselves, but they're just two examples.
RowlattsFox Posted 13 August 2011 Posted 13 August 2011 Not going to give a too detailed post about the game today because I can't be bothered. Very disappointing, but I'm not going to judge anyone (especially the new boys) after one poor game. Players need to respond on Wednesday and show this was a one-off bad day at the office. Forget strikers, a good winger needs to be the priority.
Heart-Shaped Fox Posted 13 August 2011 Posted 13 August 2011 Mate to be honest do you think Top has splashed £10 million plus to be "in the mix" at the end of the season. We need to be aiming for top two as getting to the play-offs is a lottery anyway. Look at Blackpool and Swansea. It is extremely hard to get out of thsi division, regardless of how much money we spend we wont be running away with it, I dont think. I agree with you, we do need a new striker to play 4-4-2, but should not be spending silly money to start panic buying. What I'm saying is that if we do not get a new striker in, we could be worse off than we currently are.
Bob Weasel Fox Posted 13 August 2011 Posted 13 August 2011 Also, why do we insist on playing so wide when we clearly don't have the players to do it? Nugent is so isolated at times, I feel sorry for him. Playing that way away is one thing but at home playing that way is not good enough, what a waste of money today? No entertainment whatsoever
Bilbo Posted 13 August 2011 Posted 13 August 2011 On another note why was Waghorn taking the majority of our set pieces today too?? Surely Gally should have been first choice.
topharry123 Posted 13 August 2011 Posted 13 August 2011 Calm down. The bloke may not be far off the mark. It was widely known his dad was quite unpopular with the united squad due to his outspoken nature. Keane lamped him once and cantona came close to doing the same. Ok they're not the most honourable gentlemen theirselves, but they're just two examples. Unpopular maybe but it obviously worked looking at the amount of trophies they won when he was in the team.
tickler28 Posted 13 August 2011 Posted 13 August 2011 Ugh its pathetic if the fans are going to boo at every single loss this season. I am city fan from afar (live in Exeter) but you are not seriously saying fans booed today? If that's the case then those that did are not true supporters. We need to remember that this team have played together twice in the league (Tuesday team different) give them a bloody chance!
Webbo Posted 13 August 2011 Posted 13 August 2011 On the plus side I thought the new style programme was very smart.
Kent Posted 13 August 2011 Posted 13 August 2011 Can I just say to everyone saying "we need another striker to assist Nugent upfront". I disagree. The reason is, Sven has already said that we will mostly be playing 4-3-3 this year. Most premier league teams play 4-3-3 and don't play with a Howard-type target man, so to solve Nugent's isolation we don't need to play 4-4-2, we need either more effective wingers or (and more likely) a striker that will play in the middle, allowing Nugent to play out wide and more effectively than our current wide options (which I think he would be).
Guest shearfox Posted 13 August 2011 Posted 13 August 2011 On the plus side I thought the new style programme was very smart. Should have picked one up but I'm a cheap bastard at times
m00nie Posted 13 August 2011 Posted 13 August 2011 Can I just say to everyone saying "we need another striker to assist Nugent upfront". I disagree. The reason is, Sven has already said that we will mostly be playing 4-3-3 this year. Most premier league teams play 4-3-3 and don't play with a Howard-type target man, so to solve Nugent's isolation we don't need to play 4-4-2, we need either more effective wingers or (and more likely) a striker that will play in the middle, allowing Nugent to play out wide and more effectively than our current wide options (which I think he would be). surely that would be the plan anyway ? a striker up front and nugent and other either side..
Bilbo Posted 13 August 2011 Posted 13 August 2011 I am city fan from afar (live in Exeter) but you are not seriously saying fans booed today? If that's the case then those that did are not true supporters. We need to remember that this team have played together twice in the league (Tuesday team different) give them a bloody chance! The booing was bad but the mass exodus from the ground after their second goal was awful.
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