What an amazing run

[HampsteadCanary 0]

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

[JayNCFC 14]

Agree, we have a lot to be positive about at the moment and whilst we aren''t "dominating" teams as we were, we certainly are a lot more solid, which I believe AN eluded to in a recent interview.

On the Tettey point, I think Russ said after the goal against United that he is prone to doing things a little bit different, sometimes it comes off (Man U, Villa assist down the right) sometimes you get something that makes you question his ability. Overall though, he definitely adds something to the team.

[nutty nigel 7,509]

Wes didn''t really play on the left. The three attacking midfielder constantly interchanged. Some times Wes was on the right and sometimes central. It was quite fluid and I hadnt seen us play quite like that before. It did confuse Southampton though. I wonder if we''ll see more of that in the coming weeks.

[Indy 3,283]

To b fair, Bournemouth, Watford & us have had great Decembers.....goes to show what an open league this one is this yet.

For an away win at Stoke, a turkey in the league would be great.

[Mr Jenkins 0]

The fluidity of the mid field is good, the more we play this way the more the players will understand their role.

Yesterday I think the changes may have affected Redmond and there was often a space in fromt of Brady with nobody filling it for him to pass too.

[nutty nigel 7,509]

Exactly what I thought Mr J. At times there was a bit of confusion in the wide areas but it was great to see us try and play that way. Me and my grandson enjoyed watching it from the blankets trying to work out who''d be on the left next :)

[westcoastcanary 173]

[quote user="nutty nigel"]Wes didn''t really play on the left. The three attacking midfielder constantly interchanged. Some times Wes was on the right and sometimes central. It was quite fluid and I hadnt seen us play quite like that before. It did confuse Southampton though. I wonder if we''ll see more of that in the coming weeks.[/quote]

Although as you say the three midfielders did interchange to a degree, if you look at their individual dashboards Wes did play predominantly on the left, fairly wide at that, while Howson and Redmond were predominantly down the right (with Redmond most likely of the three to move centrally). This maybe reflected AN''s assessment of the relative threats from Southampton''s right and left flanks, the main threat being on their left (Tadic and Bertrand). Martina on their right had nobody specific playing ahead of him, relying chiefly on Steven Davis who buzzed back and forth across the midfield. If Mane had been played from the start the pattern might well have been different.

[grefstad 0]

Greeat set of results recently, even if we have not been playing particularly well.

We are harder to beat, more solid, which is pleasing.

It also seems AN has made necessary changes which most fans have been crying for for a long time (Bennett as CB, Martin RB or out of the side, Olsson benched for Brady as LB, etc).

Tactics have been good recently, perhaps with a bit more emphasis on the opposition than ourselves, and it has helped.

Wins against Villa and Soton at home, and with the bonus of not conceding, has been hugely important for the belief, and also important, I believe (and hope) for the recruitment of new players in January.

6 points gap to Newcastle is looking good, but as we know, eventual losses to Stoke and Bournemouth will put us right down in the dump again.

Hopefully VOO will get more game time now. Should be near full fitness, but obviously lack match fitness. Seems a bit heavy though, but I guess that is his natural size(?)

Expecting heavy squad rotation against Man C, as I can not see AN putting too much effort into the FA Cup, to be honest.

For teams fighting relegation, like us, cups seems to be just a distraction these days, and a chance to rotate/rest players. Shame, really, but understandable.