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ricardo

Ricardo's report v Huddersfield

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I agree with a lot of your report Ricardo apart from much of the second period when I believe we upped the tempo through sheer necessity and probably because of the anger in some parts of the ground.

I don''t think it was controlled football at all and although substitutions were vital, they didn''t improve our degree of football much.

I played golf yesterday afternoon and one of the guys in our fourball said he watched us Tuesday and was disappointed in our football. He remembered us as a team that played entertaining football that a neutral would watch but he wouldn''t be tuning in Friday night. Lucky him.

At the moment I see AN as a cross between Grant and Roeder. Clueless but stubborn. And although you and your sons thoughts may well prove to be accurate, I cannot see why anybody thinks we can turn this around.

Would you give him money to spend next month bearing in mind his bad record in the transfer business?

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Just because he isn''t going to go two up top, doesn''t mean he''s right not to. Plan A fails, it''s then onto Plan A part 2 which is just the exact same formation with different players.

Oliveira was isolated all game while we tried to deal with their high pressing, quick play so what difference (when chasing the game) is sticking with a failing formation going to make? We may not have won the game but trying something different would''ve given us more of a chance. He then seemed to admit as such by throwing Bassong forward....who should''ve scored, and with an actual striker on the end of that cross maybe we would be reflecting differently.

After those substitutions there a few chances where the keeper spilled a shot where you could hear the crowd thinking and vocalising "well Oliveria would''ve been there to tap that in". Hindsights a wonderful thing but you don''t know if you don''t give it a go and losing at home with 25mins to go is a time to give something else a go.

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Indy, I think he already has enough good players at his disposal to do the job. Buying more will only confuse the issue further. Getting shot of two or three like for like midfielders would probably simplify things IMO.

My priority would be a class central defender and a replacement keeper. Anything else would be money spent for no purpose. I remain of the opinion that two of Naisy, Klose and Brady will be gone in January.

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Thanks for the report. No early Xmas present for me except a hoarse voice. Outplayed by a team who wanted it more, had more physicality about them and who made a mockery out of us charging down the centre lots. Not sure there''s much to say other than that. I still want my NCFC bobble hat for Xmas though.

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Ricardo I would agree, for me you can start to see the writing on the wall.

The future must be to trim the wages and sure up the finances.

I''d get rid of all three you mention and add Tettey & Jarvis to that list.

With the likes of Thompson, Gradles, Maddison, Canos, Pritchard in our squad, they now have to gain match time.

Yep write off this season to restructure for the future, my biggest concern those youngsters are not the right players for the AN system! So a new manager who has the respect of these players and good connections is the way forward! Maybe Giggs is the right choice maybe someone more experienced, that''s for our inept board to decide.

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[quote user="Indy"]Strange that you think the subs were the right call, I agree the timing was correct, but at that point, we needed a game changer and Naismith isn''t that, Wes was the man.

As for two strikers, for me it showed when AN threw Bassong up top just how wrong he got that sub, we were chasing the game.

I can''t see how like for like was ever going to work last night![/quote]
I totally agree !!

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I think another thing that was clear was the extra energy Huddersfield had by making 5 changes from their last game.

AN isn''t currently brave enough to make changes. I know some would call him tinkerman but it was clear Mulumbu was done after about 20 minutes so why we started him and wasted a sub on a like for like replacement is beyond me.

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Mulumbu came off with what looked like cramp after around 70 I think in the Villa game.

I assume AN has a team of experts who can advise him on player fitness, and of course the player himself will be consulted, looks like this one was called wrong.

Personally I don''t want to blame him for going with the same team, unless of course he went against the fitness reports he was given. We''ll never know the answer to that one.

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Yes Mulumbu looked like he could barely jog after about 20 minutes- you''ve got to wonder what advice Neil was given before the game.

If I was him I''d have been tempted to bring Tettey on for him after about 25 minutes based on what I''d sign and claim it was due to ''injury.''

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KC, I believe he takes longer to admit he has got it wrong than someone like Lambert. His record of changing a game with subs is his a

Achilles heel IMO. Whether it was luck or skill I don''t know but Lambert was brave and often got the points because of it.

It''s sad to watch a manager slowly die but it''s not like we haven''t been here before.

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The Mulumbu ''thing'' last night, reminded me of when Jacob Murphy was looking flat and tired, just before a 2 week international break, and came back, just as flat!

A vital part of (a) management (team) is to know when players are mentally or physically tired. We''ve all been there, ploughing on, almost wading through treacle, trying to extract the level of (recent) performance. At that level of football, there is a team of specialists who should be ''on'' this all the time.

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Interesting report as always Ricardo. I usually manage to read your reports ,after home games, and read this one this morning. I’m guessing that your rather scornful ‘don’t make me laugh’ point was in regard to the “To little to late” thread and once again I must take you to task for being a little harsh and perhaps just a little arrogant ? The posters on that thread who referred to the remaining possibility of automatic promotion, and that included me, were clearly saying that in hope and not in expectation. Of course, no one was blinkered enough to believe that the ‘autos’ were more than just a rather remote possibility, but after all, without hope there is only despair. Remember too that this followed a solid if uninspiring win at home against promotion contenders Aston Villa and therefore an atmosphere of optimism ahead of the game against Huddersfield. A win against the Terriers would have served to fuel the belief that finally the corner had been turned and we were on an upward trend with the anticipation of a win away at Reading on Boxing Day. (I’ll be there). Unfortunately, of course any residual hopes of automatic promotion were dashed on Friday evening by yet another abject display by our players and it goes without saying that although mathematically it is still possible, our only realistic hope now, regardless of what happens in January, is a place in the play-offs.

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