HampsteadCanary

We''ve tried everything! Those games around Christmas with Brady - Bassong - Bennett - Martin were the best defensive performances. Howson was playing at right mid or left mid to ''protect'' the full backs. ============Ruddy========= ====Bennett Martin Klose==== Pinto ====== O''Neil=== Olsson ==========Howson========= == Redmond ====== Wes===== ========= Bamford ========= I''d like to see this on Saturday. 5 at the back, one holding mid, and a diamond front four.

The three centre halves and wing backs look a lot more solid. Brady might be out injured, are we happy with playing Olsson at wingback? Probably. I can see a return to the back four after Man City as AN tries to force the game. I''d go with Olsson, Klose, Bennett and Martin. And I''d tell our FBs to not leave the half way line. Let our attacking midfielder trio do the work up top.. =========Ruddy======== Martin Bennett Klose Olsson ====Howson O''Neil====== Redmond---Wes------Jarvis ======Mbokani========== And yes I''d leave Naismith on the bench, or maybe play him in the no. 9 role. He''s been awful since his first game, I don''t care how much we''ve spent on him!

Mbokani gets his own "meh" category for being a bit different to what we already had and winning us some games, but not consistent enough.

These are the only two things that will keep us in the league. We don''t have as much quality as other teams in the league, having not bought well in the summer apart from Brady. The only things that will help us beat teams with better players than us is to be better organised, with a good plan, and to work as hard as possible. That means chase everything. If you lose the ball up the pitch, you bloody well chase the guy back to your own box. Because if you don''t, you''ll look lazy and you let your team and your fans down, never mind concede. I think most of the time our plan has been ok, but there are actually a few teams with less established players than us who have beaten us because they were better organised and worked harder. What made the board think there would be a different end result with the same back five this season than our last season in the prem baffles me though, to be honest...

He missed that hilarious lob attempt, can''t remember who it was against, maybe Villa or was it before that? I agree that he''s scored the most goals out of all our strikers and his link up play is much better than Jerome''s. I can''t help but think of that West Brom cup game, the ball he played into Jarvis and Lafferty putting a couple away. Big Kyle score those chances for fun for N.I. so why not give him a go now

Clearly Brady would be snapped up, and I can''t imagine Klose staying. Naismith would probably stay, as I think he''s moved his family here.

Canary One, I''m inclined to agree with you. We need our own strikers who have ability and appetite. Bamford and Mokani aren''t going to be here next season. We only have Jerome and Lafferty on our books now, with the youngsters Loza and Morris. Naismith is good quality alternative for Wes, but hasn''t really pushed on since the Liverpool game where he looked a breath of fresh air. That front four was lethal, Wes, Naismith, Redmond and Mbokani, the movement was amazing. I''d love to see a return to this, with one holding player and the back five. I agree that Lafferty can''t do much worse, and I''m willing to bet he''s scored a higher percentage of his chances than Jerome this season. In the two games he''s played...

We''re going down because we''re rubbish AND we''ve had some poor decisions go against us that haven''t evened out. Several penalties that we should have had, at least one against us that was a dive, the Jerome goal at the start of the season and the offside last night. Can anyone think of any lucky goals that may have evened those out? Nope. And interesting to think that if CamJam''s goal had been allowed, he would have genuinely been a goal of the season contender. They''d probably disallow his entry though...

It''s fair to say that it is possible to organise a poorer set of players into a better team than they should be. Huth and Morgan? The best centre backs in the league? We do not have the quality of other teams, so we have to work harder and be organised. Alex Neil does not seem capable of organising them to be more than the sum of their parts. However, he is certainly the man to lead us back to the prem if we go down.

Only the luck can change!

Because we needed three points, and Mbokani actually helps us keep possession a lot better and is a better finisher. The plan was working well, but not well enough. We should have been 1-0 up at half time but Jerome can''t hit a barn door from 5 yards.

I think it was clear that Jerome wasn''t going to score in this game, where as Mbokani has come of the bench in several previous matches to change the outcome. Mbokani is just as much up for the battle with players like Morgan and Huth, has better control, better vision and execution, and always looks more likely to score. He just doesn''t run around as much.

I think this has been a big concern all season, particularly the fact that we''ve run around less than most teams and conceded the majority of our goals towards the end of the second half. If we''re going to play a high pressing game like we did yesterday, we need a minimum 7 of our players to be able to run a full 90 minutes. We don''t have the quality to coast through games, so we''re going to have to outwork teams. It was a step in the right direction yesterday, lets hope we can continue on this path.

Interesting that he''s left a team where he''s starting every week to join a club where he''ll be playing development football instead. Do we honestly think he''ll make the step up next season when he returns? Is he going to be good enough to displace Howson, Wes, or Naismith in that number 10 role? My guess is that he won''t even make the bench next year, which is a shame for young lad. It''s like Man City on a smaller scale buying up talent and then swallowing them up.

I hope its Mulumbu and O''Neil. I think Mulumbu needs a run in the team to get up to speed and showed glimpses of his ability last night.

--------------Ruddy------------- Wisdom Bennett Klose Olsson --Howson-Mulumbu--Brady ------Naismith--Hoolahan---- -----------Mbokani------------- Subs - Rudd Martin O''Neil Dorrans Redmond Jerome Bamford

He looks more of a unit than Kane did when he was with us at a similar age...could go on to be a great player, lets hope he kicks on this season

Thanks 1902! I get the feeling I''ll probably be the only canary in a pub full of scousers...I''d sacrifice myself for three points though if it came to it

Hey guys, is there a supporters pub in Birmingham? I''m working there on Saturday and was hoping to find somewhere good to watch the game! Cheers :)

obviously I meant no excuses NOT staying up...

With the Grabban money coming in I would guess there''s maybe another 6-8 million sloshing around, as we were heavily linked with Haller. I do think AN wants Pinto, Naismith, Klose AND Haller. We''d have no excuses staying up if we did get another striker in. It would only be poor organisiation/mistakes/motivation as this squad with another CF would be the strongest we''ve ever had. Well done the Alex and the board

Klose says he''s fit in the interview, bodes well for Saturday, even if it just makes our current CBs step it up a notch

But what happens if Lafferty plays and scores a hatrick?

We''ve needed proper cover for Redmond all season, Benno never seemed to be in the picture for some reason or another. He always struck me as a useful player without pulling up any trees. Maybe this opens up a place for some real competition for Redmond. I know Vadis has been doing well recently, but we could always do with another pacey option. We wish Benno the best of luck

Hey guys, just a few thoughts on recent events... Three wins out of four is an incredible return for us, and one that I don''t think any of us were expecting. The best thing about it is that we haven''t really been playing that well, and nowhere near dominating teams in the way that we did in the early part of the season without winning. So if we''re winning now and still not moving the ball around like we did at the start, that bodes well for 2016. We were due a run of good results as well, I felt we were seeing teams like Bournemouth and Watford winning a lot of games and we were falling behind, but its really good to see Alex Neil getting the results he deserves, and he''s clearly got everything he needs to be a top prem manager. I do wonder whether we''ll continue to play our attacking midfielders out of position though. I felt Wes was out of the game on the left yesterday, and we did well to score one of our few chances, and the only one on target. That looks like the mark of a premier league team to me! Maybe AN will realise, like all previous managers that have tried Wes on the wing, that its not really worth it! Jarvis cannot come back quick enough, as Brady had little support on that side yesterday. Once he''s back in, the left hand side will be vital for us, as it gives us a real threat when Redmond is off the boil. Tettey has been frustrating and delightful in equal measures this season, sometimes (in his own words) looking like YaYa bombing through the middle and smashing the ball home, and sometimes woeful with his touch and passing. If he carries on like this then brilliant, but I think we were all expecting Mulumbu to have replaced him by now. Well done Alex for keeping an excellent seasoned premier league midfielder out of the team! OTBC