Kilo and Sema were both good in the first half, not so in the second and taken off, I felt we were Lacking in the centre of the park, something for the manager to sort out, but a win is a win is a win and three points this evening come in very handy!
I think when someone comes on here after a game like today and says, 'we were bad but we got the win and the players that played did their best but the club is a joke off the pitch', that it's not a bad thing to say. To some, it seems, that to look at things critically is tantamount to treason and react accordingly. That's why the back and forth starts. 'Bedwetters' was coined as a description of certain fans long before 'happy clappers' was. As for gloating, I hate my team losing. I'm sure it's the same for others who speak critically of the club. I'm happy to be wrong but I don't think any of that 'group' has ever gloated after a defeat. I can't say that's the same the other way.
Yes - and it looked it. They need more time together. I liked some of the stuff they trying to do, especially early on.
None of the 'ill' players were seen at the game where as some of those 'unfit' or 'injured' were. Are the club really crafty enough to come up with different lies based on whether or not the players were at the game? I doubt it.
We know now that Ivic is indeed a genius getting a win with that line up. Might even last till January.
Having a different viewpoint to you is embarrassing. Okay......... The fact is you’re just being results orientated. And it’s one result out of 46. If you don’t understand that you’re a bit limited and there is not much point continuing debate as you’ll just keep saying “but we won”. Goodnight.
Yes. Because everything is going so swimmingly currently. Even Ivic wasn't happy with the way we played today. Ivic out! Traitor!
Yes, at least going forward. Slightly suspect defensively but it's a new system for him that I don't think he's played under before so I expect him to get a bit more familiar in the next few games. Confident he'll be one of the first names on the team sheet for the rest of the season.
This is the list of players unavailable Suarez - Unwell apparently? Estupinan - picked up a knock? Janmaat - injured Dawson - ?? Delefeou - Injured Deeney - Just returning from injury? Was he there tonight? Masina - Injured Penranda - ?? surely better than Sinclair Gray - injured Hughes - injured Success - injured Sarr - not match fit Bashiru - ??? Perica - Presumably not match fit Capoue - Injured? Welbeck - I suspect we don't want to pay the extra £50k if he plays Pereyra - ??? 8 of the 17 with question marks about why they didn't play which is very worrying but so is that injury list already
Did I mention...another fascinating thing about the bedwetters is that even when everyone ( including happy clappers ) has generally agreed we played ***** they think they’re the only ones that have seen it and feel compelled to emphasise that point .
The issue seems to be that we either sell them or they sit on strike for the season. Is that how it will be? Or will we ship them off somewhere on loan? Why is Capoue 'not fit to train'? Is that his choice, he was pictured training a few weeks ago smiling away. The way that our players can seemingly decide whether they are involved, and Ivic has hinted at this in his comments, is unacceptable. As for Suarez and Estupinan, if they play against Wednesday next week I'll be the first to say I was wrong but for them to be so heavily involved with preseason and then suddenly not be available is questionable to say the least.
I think the situation with those two has always been that we’d hope they stay, but if a big offer comes in they’ll go. I’d be disappointed if they do go, but I guess it’s the reality of our situation.
Penaranda was listed among the newly unavailable players, alongside Perica. Perica has obviously just arrived, so his unavailability is more than likely genuine, and I would expect the same for Penaranda. AP is a) surely not good enough to attract proper interest in the same way as Suarez and Estupinan, and b) could be useful as back-up, so I highly doubt we get rid of him
We're not even close to the end of the window yet, I'm sure someone will lose their nerve and pick up our unwanteds. Saw an article saying Roma are interested, we initially quoted €12m apparently but they're gonna see if they can knock the price down a bit, I'm sure we can both come to an agreement there
Completely agree on Suarez and Estupinan. For Capoue, we don't really know what the story is. To me, it looks like he is someone we can't afford and sadly that means we can't afford to let him get injured either. I think he picked up an injury at the end of last season so chances are the club don't want to aggravate that while there is some interest in him (Valencia). If Valencia decide against going for him, then it seems we are stuck with him and will have to integrate him into the side and somehow deal with the financial impact (probably by selling a view of our better assets...). The club have to take a risk either way. If he ends up going to Valencia next week, the decision to leave him out of the squad will have been a good one. If he ends up being here when the window closes, the risk won't have paid off.
Anyway, I'm not getting carried away, but I am very pleased with that. I didn't expect us to play well, it's the kind of game I was fearing we'd drop points in at this stage in the season so it's great to get the win and lay down a marker to our challengers. Looked a bit weak in midfield, but I fully expect us to improve there as we get players back. Looked organised in defence, which is more than anyone has been able to say about us for aaaaaaages, and although we didn't sparkle going forward, you'd hope that better us to come as the players get more accustomed to Ivic-ball
Not sure what to think. Happy with the result. Hoping the early season cobwebs will be brushed off. But if we have highly paid players who are either unwilling to play or not being risked by the club in case they get injured before offloading them, I find that unacceptable. If you are paid to play football, play football. We could pick up a decent points haul by playing our strongest players until they are sold and integrate the newbies when they arrive. Maybe there is a raft of injuries, so it may be that I am being unfair to them.
In his presser Ivic said Estupinan had a small problem and as he wasn't 100% he made the decision to leave him out. However, he expects him to be back 'fast'.
Might be total rubbish but I've heard the reason Suarez and a couple of others weren't there tonight (Pereyra I think is another) is because they've tested positive for COVID-19. Just sharing what I've heard.
Gods sake Jumbo, give it a break mate. Chill out and go and do something that cheers you up instead of investing all your energy into "I Told You So" pointless arguments.
It was an extremely frustrating game to watch we did look solid and oganised in defence Kabasele had a wonderul game, I also thought Kiko done well. Great header from Cathcart and an excellent ball in from Sema. Pedro looked lively although I am not convinced that he should be playing down the middle. I think a better team than Middlesbrough who in fairness were fairly crap would have got something from that, The squad we had out tonight is nowhere near good enough for automatic promotion probably not even enough quality for a top 6 finish so I am praying that we start to see a few of the players soon. On a side note it was good to see Daniel Phillips get on again even if it was right at the end, I always like to see young lads that have been with us since they were young given a chance.
OK tonight we had 17 players unavailable for one reason or another, so as we only have 35 players with squad numbers, that left us with just 18 players to pick from. Therefore it is a virtual miracle we actually managed a win tonight, and that miracle worker was Vladimir because of the way he coached and organised the players he had left to grind out a result. Foster - 8 - Was as reliable as ever and never looked troubled all night. Ngakia - 4 - Was very disappointing compared to the pre-season he had, but I think he will bounce right back. Wilmot - 4 - Did OK but faded as the game went on. Cathcart - 7 - Put in a decent shift and was pretty steady all night. Kabaselle - 8 - Had a good night and had Asombalonga in his pocket for most of the game. Kiko - 5 - Started well but faded as the game went on. Cleverly - 6 - Put in a decent shift in the middle of the park. Quina - 4 - Another who was disappointing considering the pre-season he had, but like Ngakia I expect him to bounce back. Chalobah - 7 - I thought he looked a bit more like his old self and hopefully he will only get better still. Sema - 6 - He started really well, but faded, hopefully with a few more games under his belt his stamina will improve. Joao Pedro - 8 - Looked good for most of the game, although he tired a little in the later stages, but overall he was impressive. Murray - 4 - Did not impress overall, though he did rough up one or two of their players. Navarro - not really on long enough to give score, but did OK with the follow up to his free kick and was unlucky to be blocked. Phillips - Not sure if he actually touched the ball, not on long enough. Vladimir - 8 - Got what was basically a scratch team to play to some sort of system and grind out a win.
Oh that first XI wouldn't go up, but with the players to come in to the team, there something to work with. Phillips is the first youth product to play for us in the league since 2017 I believe, but I feel differently about him, he's obviously there to make up the numbers in one sense, but he does look like he belongs in senior football, fingers crossed he can continue to make progress and, fingers crossed, maybe become a regular for us in a year or two
They probably aren’t, but if the reasons are negative, player A maybe up for sale, player B is unsettled etc, what would be gained by airing them publicly? What could we, the fans, do with that information? So Suarez could well be up for sale, probably is unless we can shift a few bods, but is just as likely to stay and if he does would be a main focus. What’s the point of us knowing he would prefer to be elsewhere if circumstances demand he isn’t? In three months he could be delighted he stayed. Estupinan looks like he his genuinely part of the squad, so probably is injured. But if we are so hard up we would sell anyone and he may go, why advertise how broke we are? Not good negotiation. Just see how it pans out. Looking across the squad the plan must have been for significant churn with sales allowing for stability and a little investment. Players will have understood they will be off, but few clubs can splash out. It’s a very, very odd time and lots of players in limbo is the consequence.
That was our first 1-0 win since February 2019 (Everton). One before that was March 2018. A rare scoreline for the Hornets. Compare that to Leeds who won 9 games 1-0 last season. Winning games when you're not at your fluid best but keeping defensively organised is so important. I think Ivic deserves a lot of credit for that. Recognised the attack wasn't really working and had nothing on the bench to change it so just made sure we stayed organised and kept a clean sheet with ease. Winning football.
I did actually see a tweet a couple of days ago mentioning Penaranda not being available due to Covid. Not sure if it was that he had it, or someone he'd been around as it's translated. https://twitter.com/carlostaracher/status/1304180992475791370 Before speculations lead I advance that Adalberto Peñaranda will NOT be in the game this Friday at the start of the #Championship with the Watford vs Boro for simple CAUTION. Part of the club delegation tested positive for #COVID_19 (he does not). @SOLOVENEX_ Seems to read that someone in the club has Covid. Possibly Suarez? Or a coach?
