Kings Man

The worrying thing is that Olson has done no preseason. If Alex Neil has the same argument with not starting Cameron Jerome due to lack of preseason, then Olson, assuming he is recovered from the operation will need a couple of under 21 matches under his belt - which means 3 more first team games until he''s ready.

That would be fine if our first seven games weren''t among the easiest, hence the need to pick up points early; I think that''s why people are nervous after yesterday''s result.

i think part of Johnson''s problem was that Olson wasn''t there. Brady has barely played at left back so I''m sure Johnson half had on his mind what was going on with Brady. Brady wanted to get forward so I''m sure this was a restrictive factor. Johnson is effective getting into the box, but he needs solid defence behind him either in Olson, or in other holding midfielders.

There may be some medical/science behind Jerome and Redmond not starting as they are a few weeks back in match fitness, but why not start with them and bring others on at say 60 mins. Grabban may be more effective coming on after Jerome as given the centre halves something to think about. As it happens Palace''s centre halves pretty much dominated, or didnt really have too much to worry about yesterday.

Typical - bloomin fake accounts. I guess it depends who we are upgrading. I''d like to think we''re upgrading a new number 1 forward (ie Jerome) but serious ££s will be needed for that, and I can''t see that McNally has been saving the big deal for last given how long it took to secure Brady. If we''re in the £5-7m category then that is Gayle, perhaps Fletcher (though saw he played for Sunderland yesterday and scored)

One thing from yesterday''s matches is that you have to play your match winners and in the right places. I''d therefore play toffolo at lb, so Brady can play left midfield and ping some balls in box. If you''re doing that you have to play Jerome (or this new striker appearing reportedly tomorrow) to get on end of it. For me that means unfortunately Johnson dropping out, unless Hoolihan doesn''t play as its away match. Perhaps Ruddy, Wisdom, Martin, Bassong, Toffolo Tettey, Howson, Dorrans/Johnson Redmond Jerome, Brady

Much of today''s press saying Norwich weren''t much good vs palace the premier league mainstays, though I wasn''t that impressed by them, and their own supporters on the train yesterday said they thought was worst they''ve played in a long time. I guess it is that simple - Martin not good enough for us to be solid for 90 minutes, and up front with Grabban you have to put one out of two chances away, which is no good for Grabban since he needs three or four per game.

Gayle just announced by MK Dons as joining on season long loan so it aint Gayle. Looks like has to be Mkobani, or someone we''ve not heard of before now.

There was no choice in changing - the whole negativity around the results, team, manager etc meant that the crowd were also so negative that it affected the players such that they couldn''t pass even sideways to each other! There was also no choice in the manager. Usually the assistants step in when manager goes, but here many thought they were part of the problem. Lets hope Neil Adams can get the players motivated. However the stats I think often reported when sackings are done and whether there is an immediate effect are pretty much 50/50. Depends on whether Fulham will be better than have been of late, or the season average.

I think someone''s earlier post is key. If we hit the bottom three he''ll be sacked.  Essentially as long as we are above bottom three we only need to do as much as (or better than) those below us.  A win against Hull keeps us out of the bottom three for a bit longer.  The problem with this strategy is the last four games - essentially we have to get ahead of the others below by sufficient amount before then - that''s tricky when you think we probably have to win 5 games - and probably at least one, maybe two of those might need to be away games.  

This is why everyone says we are missing Tettey. Using Tettey as the defensive screen allowed Fer, and howson to be more creative, get forward which appears their forte.

Sorry gotta get the 5.30 back to London.

I would say that we are still significantly more likely to stay up than go down - say 80%, but we must start winning the obvious games. The Fulham result, in particular, was very poor and we can''t afford repetitions of this. I am rather nervous about the Hull game! I agree - we need to win the Hull game - Jan is about winning home matches, Feb is about not losing the away ones, March back to the home matches. I''m breaking down each month and thinking of the small targets - the squad needs to have the same mentality. I think this is what Hughton is doing. If we panic about the ifs and buts over the next 17 you can get bogged down confidence wise.

"Yeah and if we lose we will probably be in the relegation zone. Or may be still not given several of those below us will need to turn around their own form and beat many of the top 6 sides!

Neil Lennon won''t come to a bottom half team - not mid way through the season at least - may be in summer when he has commitments re buying new players. Malky has said he''s not available until sorts out legal issues so that would be another end of season job. Clarke and Zola are possibilities, but left on the back of worst series of results that we are on - do we really want to do this? I''m sure there are others, but realistically an appointment mid season will be compromised - a short term decision. More realistically a caretaker from within, but everyone on these boards are just as unhappy with the coaches as Houghton. Neil Adams is quoted, but again do you want someone with no managerial experience trying to save us. We''re best getting behind Hughton, hopefully add a signing or two as we''ve done previously to refresh in January and scrape through. The debate should take place at end of season, but of course if we''re safe again he''s done the job expected and will be given another go. If he fails we''ve got to start again. We don''t have much choice - we must give the manager and this group of players all the support for the last 17 games or so.