JP doesn't play like a 30m pound player. Sema been good so far this season and no worse than likes of Pedro and Sarr.
In my opinion, as subjective as football is, Sarr turns up once every 4 games and doesn't fancy it the rest of the time. Kamara is enthuastic which makes him seem better than he actually is. Choudry is OK but stands out in a s°°t team. You won't beat anyone with 1 decent player no matter who you're playing.
First game I’ve been to since place away when we went down, same as then just slightly inferior opponents. No real plan to score, trying to play out from the back is heart attack inducing stuff. To think we will be anywhere near the top of this league when there are so many better teams is wishful thinking.
And yet the player we did have playing RB got injured and his replacement was one of the main reasons we conceded again.
Whilst it wasn't a great performance for 70+ minutes and at that moment we were in control at 2-1 and looked like the side most likely to score the next goal . All the substitutions unsettled the team and we offered no attacking threat from thereon. I believe Sunderland felt this and went for it and I think we all could see the equaliser coming. Was Davis injured does anyone know ? The Sunderland CBs who were being bullied seemed to enjoy the game more when he went off
I enjoyed the match for the first time this season, and thought that with 4 at the back we were much improved. Injuries to Kamara and Cathcart forced Edwards' hand. He brought on Bayo to keep the pressure on and to be up to dpeed when Davis or Asprilla went off, as both were tiring. I've never seen Kalu at RWB but if he can't do it, Kabs was the only option.
What a frustrating game. Feels a defeat and that a lot of our short comings have been exposed last few games to their fullest. My view is that the loss today was not because of Edwards but because of injuries biting in the exact positions we do not have suitable players for. This is an issue no matter the formation or preferred style of play. There have been games Edwards has set us up poorly in, but today was not on him and reflects on the gaps in our squad we knew were there being exploited to the hilt with ill timed injuries to the players you did not want getting injured due to lack of cover available. Kamara was stretching on the floor I think before he came off, so to my eye that was a injury / preventative sub. Cathcart was an injury sub and we have no RWB. Can't play Sierralta as that would be suicide, so Kabasele was the only logical choice he had to play there left, despite knowing what would happen. Davis sub did not help us, but I do understand taking him off to prevent potential injuries stacking up. Defence: Bachmann had a meh game. He was not at fault for either goal and did everything expected competently he could. His heroic shot stopping was never sustainable as today was simply a case of high quality chances converted. Kamara at LB looked like a player comfortable in their role and confident in what they tried to do. He intercepted quite a few passes that lead to attacks. Got a deserved assist. I thought he had a fine game and hope his sub was not injury related. WTE looked good. It's no coincidence that when you pair him with anyone other than Kabasele or Sierralta he looks at least OK and I hope this helps rebuild some of his confidence as he was not at fault for either goal. He was notably more positive with his passing than Cathcart or Hause at times and played some good (And not as good) long balls to try and move the ball quicker. Hause looked decent as well. Glad he came through uninjured as a natural left footed passer helps with more fluid attacks down that side. Can't remember any glaring errors. Cathcart I thought had a very good game at RB, and his injury was why we lost. He was a cool head who could win his duels and keep WTE and Hause working well and you could see him visibly lose confidence with Kabasele next to him instead. Midfield: Kayembe had a mixed game, leaning towards poor. He has flashes of brilliance like the shot that went an inch wide marred by regular bad passing and inability to get back in time. I'd drop him for Louza, Cleverley or TDB when they're fit again. Choudhury I thought had a decent game. Playing between the CB's seems to work well, letting him do the dirty work. It's wasted with Kayembe at his side though and his passing is a well known weaker aspect of his play that can be mitigated better. Asprilla I thought was excellent. His pass leading to the first goal was sensational, but additionally he was working tirelessly further up the pitch to win second balls and put their defence under pressure. It was one of his best games for us as he didn't go missing like he has done other games and was a thorn in their side. Attack: Sema grafted as we expect. Didn't do anything exceptionally well or poorly and has his place in the side for me. Not a lot to report off the top of my head. Pedro was poor for me, especially the first half. He did not get on the ball enough but I do remember he was in our box defending an attack which impressed me, even if not what you necessarily want from an attacker. His drifting role backfired as he never really seemed to know where to be to get on the ball enough to hurt them. Davis was superb. He was the reason we looked dangerous going forward today and I cannot wait to see more from him. He was strong, intelligent, and made their defence's life hell. More please. Subs: Kabasele was horrific. Playing at RB because had nobody else who could play there owing to Kamara going off, even with the small time left was catastrophic and justified his benching. He visibly unnerved WTE too and I distinctly remember WTE challenging and barely header and Kabasele putting him off as he gesticulated at Kaba afterwards frustrated. Lovely person but his concentration / defensive ability is costing us a number of points. Bayo was anonymous. Wrong game for his to come on as he's more a poacher than target man and we lost our focal point going forward. Not why we lost, but certainly did not help either. Gosling was meh. I'd have had him on for Kayembe but I don't remember him doing a lot one way or another. The substitutions cost us the win today. No question. I do ask though, what else could Edwards use? When Kamara came off, only Sema could play LB remotely. Bayo came on. I don't agree with this; Kalu may have been a wiser option but he may well have not been fit enough to play. Davis played longer than intended v Blackburn and is clearly being closely watched to prevent injury so I understand subbing him off with only 10 mins left. Nobody on the bench could play his target man role as Bayo is a completely different profile of striker. (And worse quality than Davis) Then Cathcart gets injured. Gaspar is not on the bench which says a lot about where he is in the pecking order. Sierralta and Hungbo cannot play RB so Kabasele was the only logical choice, even if we knew it was going to likely hurt us. Our substitution disasterclass stemmed from a systemic failure to provide Edwards a balanced squad. It's now the International Break. We can get some players back and regroup. Seasons are not won or lost this early on (Look at Derby a few years ago who dropped out of Play-Offs from commanding Auto position at Xmas) so my view is take a step back and get behind Edwards. He has made mistakes but today was a victim of failings not borne from him. We wanted a young, attack minded manager who communicates well and wants to be here. Him being young mean he will sometimes make mistakes in setup or subs. Attack minded means we're more likely to get caught in transitions. He comes over well in interviews and rarely makes statements that go against what we see on pitch and can detail where unlike previous appointments. We implored the board to give someone they wanted time, and that goes with the fans too. We're too used to turn on a head coach now when we hit a sticky patch. Frustration is reasonable but any serious calls for him being sacked just feeds into this cycle we've wanted to break since 2019. I'm not happy we threw away a win but this is barely a 1/4 into the Season so this is by no means insurmountable as in time we will get some high quality players back as well. (Louza, TDB) and hopefully recover others in time for the next game (Kamara, Cathcart) I don't see a lack of effort on the pitch but I do see a team that's heavily Work In Progress. We need to quickly see a more cohesive press. We need to see a greater understanding from our defence and midfielders to link play together. We need to see more belief in our team we will win a game than just compete, which I think is a hangover from where we we’ve been turned over heavily last Season. We may go up. We may not. But I see enough in this team to frustrate us but also hope.
Do you think our defenders leave a player in 10 meters of space at rhe far post twice in one half because Edwards coaches them to do that? Do you think Edwards coaches them to be flat footed and slow to react to balls into the box (even though they've been that way for years)? Do you think he asks them to pass the ball forward like its a loaded grenade that needs to be gotten rid of as quickly as possible, regardless of where it ends up? Because this is what they are. This is their nature. They are crap.
Tbf, when Ivic got the boot and we got Xisco some said "who's he?!" "clueless appointment", "we're doomed" etc. Then we got promoted.
Well we certainly don't want to be going up based on this. I know financially its important but given how bad we were last season. Will we become like a Stoke (or worse..)?
I agree with all of that, that still doesn't mean our squad isn't better than most in this league. As I said, Edwards isn't the main problem, far from it, I just think that he is another problem. I'm all in for backing a manager, I'm just afraid that we don't chose to back the wrong manager, and I'm not convinced he's the right man for the job.
This is it. He's a total unknown quantity that has done absolutely nothing so far. There are lots of problems at the club, but I don't think we'll move forward by backing somebody just for the sake of it
Well basically because he won a league I guess Had FGR lost in the play-offs or something I doubt we'd be hear him.
Me neither but he's not the wrong man either. We're the wrong club. We need to fix that and stop cycling through coaches.
Thought Davis looked great on his first start. Strong, skilful and bringing others into play. And we saw glimpses early in the second half of how well he, JP and Asprilla could play together. A genuine reason to be hopeful that things will get better if all stay fit.
Surprised by the strong negative reaction, it was shyte in parts but thought we played some of our best football so far this season at points. It’s small improvement but as long as I can see some form of improvement I’m happy for us to give Rob time. Even WTE wasn’t disastrous.
I agree with everything but the first sentence. I think he may actually be the wrong man for the job. Seems to me like the worst manager, ability wise we've had for years. Seems like a really good and articulate guy, but tactically clueless and the football we play is woeful to watch.
Fairplay to all the rest, but I do find myself having to ask, once again, what TDB has ever done to lead him to be described as a 'high quality player', or for us to have any particular expectation of his impact being so impressive it elevates the team overall upon his return?
We were really good for the first 20 mins of the second half. Why do we always fall to pieces after scoring? The subs made us worse as well. Not Edwards’ fault, the bench players were all terrible. All changes were due to injury or fitness (due to recent injury), so kind of unavoidable. The lack of squad depth is very concerning though. Haven’t seen any replays yet, but intrigued to see how far over the line their first was, and whether the blatant-looking dive was actually a “stonewall pen” as their knuckle-dragging fans seemed to be convinced of. Frustrating not to hold on, but probably a fair point and an indication that unless we have all of our best players fit and available, we will struggle.
All good people. This is a piddly league and our defenders are members of the best defense in championship history.
Edwards is getting things wrong, if that there’s no doubt. However, i don’t believe for one minute that the hierarchy are capable getting the right man in. A lot of stick flying around about the subs today but I really don’t think he had a lot of choice. Cathcart was injured, we had no RB on the bench as Gaspar was left out for “tactical and technical” reasons. Ie. He’s not good enough. So Kaba had to play there, likewise when Kamara pulled up, the only option was to drop Sema back. He’ll do a job at LWB but he’s no full back! I thought Troost played well considering he’s not played for months. Bachmann was sh*t today, distribution was either too slow or wayward. For their first I’m inclined to think he should be dominating that situation, take the ball and everyone else along with it! We looked so much better getting the ball into a proper no.9 and playing off him, Davis actually looks like a footballer compared to Mogi’s £5M man and the tubby Albanian. I know Edwards wants to play out from the back, it’s the done thing nowadays but when you’ve got no playmaker to take the ball off the CBs, it’s pointless. Kayambe & Choudry are far too similar, hopefully Louza will make a difference but I won’t hold my breath. He’s undoubtedly been hamstrung by generally awful recruitment over the last 2-3 years.
Unfortunately we didn't win though and it was a bit predictable too sadly. Could have lost all points too. BTW ref wasn't giving much was he - could have had a penalty for both teams after a handball and there was a lot of pushing not punished.
Translation: Manager think he is absolutely garbage despite the propaganda to French that he is happy with his RB options.
I see Edwards said Cathcart had cramp. That’s appalling for a professional footballer 10 games into the season who has already been appearing regularly.
Just think how many millions the club have paid Kabasele in wages lol. I'm guessing it's not far shy of £10 million.
And we're in a 'pretty' good position relative to most teams in the league, and dare I say we'll look better when Louza is back. We're definitely not a top 2 level squad, but we're probably around top 6, and we're just behind that at the moment despite a number of injuries to key players
