Doodle Posted February 11, 2018 Share Posted February 11, 2018 I don’t think we’ve had too many draws. I would say our form as dipped ( certainly not slumped) this year, as it as in previous promotion campaigns. The big difference though, this time instead of losing, we are gaining points. This has 2 major advantages, firstly we are still in the fight for automatic promotion but more importantly. The confidence hasn’t drained from the team, like in previous seasons. Yesterday was a good draw, Bristol a bad one. It’s still in our hands Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bris Vegas Posted February 11, 2018 Share Posted February 11, 2018 Too many draws and we will fail to get automatic promotion. Having said that, four points from 2 games against Norwich is decent. The same can be said against Brentford. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
t'oldu Posted February 11, 2018 Share Posted February 11, 2018 Like the season we went up second with Jim Smith............ seemed to be satisfied with draws and Sunderland won their games in hand and went flying past us to take the Championship Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ram8 Posted February 11, 2018 Share Posted February 11, 2018 Against the better teams (Bristol City, Norwich, etc.) and even the lesser, stubbornly defensive ones (Millwall, Ipswich, etc.) a promotion chasing side needs a centre forward who can hold the ball and bring the midfield into play (and score goals too) and a midfield player, similar to Maddison (Norwich yesterday) .. Oh, hold on, haven’t we (or our manager) foolishly and short sightedly, given one away to Reading, and the other to Watford .. And left us with NO-ONE in the creative forward midfield position, and significantly inferior players for the centre forward slot .. and before anyone mentions Vydra for EITHER positions, NO, his position lies BETWEEN the two, and he’s doing a good job, but it’s not enough, and we could regret the manager’s rash decisions if both Wolves and Villa leave us trailing in their wake .. And does Lawrence deserve the amount of patience currently being granted him at present ? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sparkle Posted February 11, 2018 Share Posted February 11, 2018 4 minutes ago, Ram8 said: Against the better teams (Bristol City, Norwich, etc.) and even the lesser, stubbornly defensive ones (Millwall, Ipswich, etc.) a promotion chasing side needs a centre forward who can hold the ball and bring the midfield into play (and score goals too) and a midfield player, similar to Maddison (Norwich yesterday) .. Oh, hold on, haven’t we (or our manager) foolishly and short sightedly, given one away to Reading, and the other to Watford .. And lft us with NO-ONE in the creative forward midfield position, and significantly inferior players for the centre forward slot .. and before anyone mentions Vydra for EITHER positions, NO, his position lies BETWEEN the two, and he’s doing a good job, but it’s not enough, and we could regret the manager’s rash decisions if both Wolves and Villa leave us trailing in their wake .. Half and half, hughes was leaving his choice basically ( still sad about the fee) but Martin had contributed this season and would still in this season in my opinion but he is now not here until the play offs if we are in them and Reading have finished their season, if Martin going on loan was all about the wages saving and we would have failed FFP without it then fair enough but that would surprise me. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CapeTownRams Posted February 11, 2018 Share Posted February 11, 2018 Of course that is correct. Just look at the stats in the league table and compare our number with the other teams at the top. 10 is just too many. Unbeaten runs are great but we all know that in truth it’s actually better to just have continual consecutive one game - albeit winning- unbeaten runs, accepting that you only ever have one game losing streaks in between as well..... We’ve done great but these draws have hurt us. Symptomatic in my view of the fact that certain teams playing certain shapes seem to cause us problems. Part of that is down to the type of players we have and don’t have. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mafiabob Posted February 11, 2018 Share Posted February 11, 2018 20 minutes ago, Ram8 said: Against the better teams (Bristol City, Norwich, etc.) and even the lesser, stubbornly defensive ones (Millwall, Ipswich, etc.) a promotion chasing side needs a centre forward who can hold the ball and bring the midfield into play (and score goals too) and a midfield player, similar to Maddison (Norwich yesterday) .. Oh, hold on, haven’t we (or our manager) foolishly and short sightedly, given one away to Reading, and the other to Watford .. And left us with NO-ONE in the creative forward midfield position, and significantly inferior players for the centre forward slot .. and before anyone mentions Vydra for EITHER positions, NO, his position lies BETWEEN the two, and he’s doing a good job, but it’s not enough, and we could regret the manager’s rash decisions if both Wolves and Villa leave us trailing in their wake .. And does Lawrence deserve the amount of patience currently being granted him at present ? If you think Chris Martin would make the difference to this team, he’d be in it already, and not in Berkshire plying his trade there..... Biggest waste of money giving him another contract whilst he was out on loan somewhere else. He hasn’t fit the system we now play all season (another reason why Bryson ain’t here also). Foolish? I think guiding this team up to 2nd/3rd in just under a year or so of being the boss is a masterclass..... way beyond I’d say 95% of the fans imaginations. We are on the best run since 95/96..... we are scoring, we are keeping a lot of clean sheets..... we are tough to beat, harder to pick off, and sit a unbelievable position in the table. Majority of that down to Martin not getting hardly a sniff. Foolish? Really???? You can’t deny that Hughes had to go in the Prem sooner or later, it’s a shame it won’t be with us. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DRBee Posted February 11, 2018 Share Posted February 11, 2018 People criticised MacClaren unfairly for no plan B - where is our plan B now? Rowett made 2 substitutions yesterday and they had little effect - we looked no more likely to get another goal. Players were changed but that didn't alter the way we were set up in a positive way. Putting Nugent up front with Jerome would have put more pressure on their back 3 , who with Rowetts too cautious approach, were very comfortable most of the time. Rowett blames the team for not pressing forward enough - he's the coach and the responsibility is his if this is a recurrent problem. We are not playing as well as in December and all the draws since Christmas show a problem. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bris Vegas Posted February 11, 2018 Share Posted February 11, 2018 11 minutes ago, Mafiabob said: If you think Chris Martin would make the difference to this team, he’d be in it already, and not in Berkshire plying his trade there..... Biggest waste of money giving him another contract whilst he was out on loan somewhere else. He hasn’t fit the system we now play all season (another reason why Bryson ain’t here also). Foolish? I think guiding this team up to 2nd/3rd in just under a year or so of being the boss is a masterclass..... way beyond I’d say 95% of the fans imaginations. We are on the best run since 95/96..... we are scoring, we are keeping a lot of clean sheets..... we are tough to beat, harder to pick off, and sit a unbelievable position in the table. Majority of that down to Martin not getting hardly a sniff. Foolish? Really???? You can’t deny that Hughes had to go in the Prem sooner or later, it’s a shame it won’t be with us. The biggest waste of money giving Martin a new contract can only be said with hindsight though. At the time we all wanted him back as we knew how important he was for McClaren’s system. Hughes would probably still be here if McClaren wasn’t sacked either. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sith Happens Posted February 11, 2018 Share Posted February 11, 2018 3 minutes ago, Bris Vegas said: The biggest waste of money giving Martin a new contract can only be said with hindsight though. At the time we all wanted him back as we knew how important he was for McClaren’s system. Hughes would probably still be here if McClaren wasn’t sacked either. Not sure @Ninos would agree with this Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rampage Posted February 11, 2018 Share Posted February 11, 2018 In the real world, Aston Villa were going to be too much for Brum. In the real world, they were. Norwich were better than us. We got a point. We are one point behind Villa. Pressure to stay second has gone. Villa have Fulham next. If Villa win, then we have to beat Fulham. That is the way the cookie crumbles. 45 points to play for................. Bring it on. ps. If an opposing player is dominating a game, put someone on him big time even at the expense of a front player !!!!!!!!!!!!! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ImARam2 Posted February 11, 2018 Share Posted February 11, 2018 Whoops !!! My mistake, of course in a 20 game run unbeaten we didn't lose a game. However, can someone tell me how many we won and drew? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Carnero Posted February 11, 2018 Share Posted February 11, 2018 2 minutes ago, ImARam2 said: Whoops !!! My mistake, of course in a 20 game run unbeaten we didn't lose a game. However, can someone tell me how many we won and drew? Won 13 and drew 7 First 11 of the 20, we won 10 and drew 1 so won 3 and drew 6 of the final 9. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mafiabob Posted February 11, 2018 Share Posted February 11, 2018 44 minutes ago, Paul71 said: Not sure @Ninos would agree with this Or me. I’m on record on here the day it was announced. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jagerbob Posted February 11, 2018 Share Posted February 11, 2018 i think our front players really have to step up to the mark now Losing Winall is massive, as is losing Johnny. Wasnt always his biggest fan but was consistantly better than lawrence or weimann this season. We really need Anya, and Palmer to step up to the mark now, and if Jerome is to start every game ahead of Nugent then we need to see the real him too. If these things dont happen, then 2nd will be a bridge too far for us to live with Villa thats just won 7 in a row! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Seaside Sam Posted February 11, 2018 Share Posted February 11, 2018 2 hours ago, Yani P said: Villa will have a bad spell, they will feel pressure as they are not a standout team by any stretch. But they are finding a professional way to close out games and win by not playing well when it matters. Key is how we play not how they play - and we need to get that put right ASAP as we are not currently in automatic promotion form. I am convinced we can still get it back as we are a point behind. What we need to be careful of is having an average run while another team or 2 have stormers because we could quickly be 5 or 6 points back and out of it. perspective here,Villa have won seven on the trot yet are only one point in front of us ,perspective. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RoyMac5 Posted February 11, 2018 Share Posted February 11, 2018 1 minute ago, Seaside Sam said: perspective here, Villa ... are ... one point in front of us, perspective. So they're 2nd then? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Carl Sagan Posted February 11, 2018 Share Posted February 11, 2018 There will be twists and turns. We need to go on a decent winning run ourselves and hope it puts us back in the driving seat. Now is the time to stay strong. It's probably good we're away on Tuesday so not playing in front of an anxious Pride Park crowd. Let's stuff Wednesday and put the campaign for second spot back on track. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rab a dab doo Posted February 11, 2018 Share Posted February 11, 2018 They're 2nd for now it doesn't mean they are guaranteed to be there at the end of the season. They are up there to be shot at now. This should spur our boys on more. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
WhiteHorseRam Posted February 11, 2018 Share Posted February 11, 2018 The club, the team, the fans ... we're finished Villa are one point ahead Rowett Out C'mon - its 11th February COYR Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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