Match thread.

[Making Plans 940]

[quote user="City 2nd"]The gut wrote the following post at 2017-02-08 2:05 AM:

Mulumbo is never the right decision. He is right up there on our list of biggest waste of money. I''d rather play someone out of position

Really! Didn''t he come free having been out of contract at WBA!![/quote]So we''re paying him no wages thenThere''s more than one way to waste money on a player.And for the record, Jarvis is another example

[morty 0]

Alex Neil just praised Mulumbu for his performance.I know whose opinion I trust more....

[Buh 0]

Seattles?

[morty 0]

[quote user="Buh"]Seattles?[/quote][Y]

[Buh 0]

I remain vigilant

For his wisdom

[The gut 0]

Ok City 2nd it is always hard to know if reports/rumours are accurate but I believe because we got Mulumbo on a free we were prepared to pay him 40k per week.

Perhaps I should have said if Mulumbo is getting paid that he is right up there on our biggest waste of money.

In my opinion he has maybe earned (loose term) 5 or 6 weeks of his wages. He has been an awful signing in my opinion. Some games he hasn''t even looked like a professional footballer let alone a premier league player.

[hogesar 9,745]

Mulumbu did well enough in the first half but I''ve never seen a midfielder consistently look so unfit, particularly after 60 minutes in a game that didn''t involve tons of running. Coincidentally we lost control after 60 mins.

For everyone criticising him though, he was far more involved in the game than howson who worked hard but didn''t disrupt Wigans midfield nearly as much.

Look, a draw isn''t a good result against Wigan because as far as home teams go in this league that is as bad as I''ve seen. Just because we would have lost to them a few weeks back doesn''t mean drawing is worth celebrating as we should be beating these teams.

However it''s 4 points in 2 away games and all it does is increase the pressure slightly on the upcoming home games. If we win on Saturday and then on Tuesday we will not be complaining about the point at Wigan. If we don''t then questions will be asked of AN again.

[Orly 277]

Dunno what this Mulumbu bashing is about. He put in a good shift, breaking up play. Distribution was ok too.

[The gut 0]

I make no judgement on Mulumbo''s performance tonight. I didn''t see it.

[nutty nigel 7,624]

Seriously, why is Mulumbu getting so much stick for tonight. He''s been a disappointment overall but he really put in a shift tonight. Got loads of blocks and broke things up for us but it was difficult to move the ball around on the deck. Both teams were only really dangerous from hoofs. Decent point in the end. Will be interesting to see what Lakey has to say.

[Alfie54 76]

[quote user="morty"][quote user="Alfie54"]Just don''t think you can have both Murhpys, Jerome and Oliveira on together, and of course Godfrey should have played instead of Mulumbu[/quote]So the manager gets criticised when he doesn''t make changes to try and win the game, then gets criticised when he does?Brilliant[Y][/quote]

No, he gets critised when he makes the wrong changes, a fairly obvious difference I think!

[morty 0]

[quote user="hogesar"]Mulumbu did well enough in the first half but I''ve never seen a midfielder consistently look so unfit, particularly after 60 minutes in a game that didn''t involve tons of running. Coincidentally we lost control after 60 mins.

For everyone criticising him though, he was far more involved in the game than howson who worked hard but didn''t disrupt Wigans midfield nearly as much.

Look, a draw isn''t a good result against Wigan because as far as home teams go in this league that is as bad as I''ve seen. Just because we would have lost to them a few weeks back doesn''t mean drawing is worth celebrating as we should be beating these teams.

However it''s 4 points in 2 away games and all it does is increase the pressure slightly on the upcoming home games. If we win on Saturday and then on Tuesday we will not be complaining about the point at Wigan. If we don''t then questions will be asked of AN again.[/quote]As has already been said, if you had offered 4 points from these two away games, before they were played, we''d have been happy with it.And Wigan have certainly improved themselves, obviously especially with the purchase of Bogle.Some people will never stop asking the questions, either fairly or unfairly.

[Essjayess 307]

I think the problem is...7th place. All season we have been playing as a 8th to 12th place side, suddenly we  just about nudge into 7th and to many get grandiose ideas about the top 6 again.Really cannot see how so many think we will achieve top 6, but that at least is not as far fetched as a few who think we are headed for L1. Really hope in the summer Alex can finally lose some more of the old guard and bring  in more  new faces. In my opinion, we are not top6, and certainly a way off top two, but even so, not a million miles away.Get a couple of signings at center defence, maybe 1 midfielder and another striker to back up Cam and Nelson and we  could have the makings of a team that will definitely challenge for top next season.

[Rogue Baboon 0]

[quote user="morty"][quote user="Alfie54"]Just don''t think you can have both Murhpys, Jerome and Oliveira on together, and of course Godfrey should have played instead of Mulumbu[/quote]So the manager gets criticised when he doesn''t make changes to try and win the game, then gets criticised when he does?Brilliant[Y][/quote]

Is it that clear cut?

Making changes to win a game doesn''t have to mean leaving yourself completely open. We tried both Murphys in a 4231 (was it Barnsley?) and it didn''t work, so in a 442 the risks were bigger, but we were chasing the game.

For what it''s worth I wouldn''t have started 442 anyway, I would have stuck 4231.

I think it was between Wigans goals that Goreham mentioned we had switched to a 4231 with Jerome on the right, so we were clearly disjointed. Why the sudden change away from the formation that had helped us win the last 3?

[morty 0]

[quote user="Alfie54"][quote user="morty"][quote user="Alfie54"]Just don''t think you can have both Murhpys, Jerome and Oliveira on together, and of course Godfrey should have played instead of Mulumbu[/quote]So the manager gets criticised when he doesn''t make changes to try and win the game, then gets criticised when he does?Brilliant[Y][/quote]

No, he gets critised when he makes the wrong changes, a fairly obvious difference I think![/quote]The wrong changes in your opinion, yeah?

[morty 0]

[quote user="Rogue Baboon"][quote user="morty"][quote user="Alfie54"]Just don''t think you can have both Murhpys, Jerome and Oliveira on together, and of course Godfrey should have played instead of Mulumbu[/quote]So the manager gets criticised when he doesn''t make changes to try and win the game, then gets criticised when he does?Brilliant[Y][/quote]

Is it that clear cut?

Making changes to win a game doesn''t have to mean leaving yourself completely open. We tried both Murphys in a 4231 (was it Barnsley?) and it didn''t work, so in a 442 the risks were bigger, but we were chasing the game.

For what it''s worth I wouldn''t have started 442 anyway, I would have stuck 4231.

I think it was between Wigans goals that Goreham mentioned we had switched to a 4231 with Jerome on the right, so we were clearly disjointed. Why the sudden change away from the formation that had helped us win the last 3?[/quote]Availability of players for a start.Mulumbu was never going to give you what Tettey has been doing.Lets face it, we were an offside(?) goal away from victory tonight.

[morty 0]

Funny how its all so easy after the fact. When the team was announced, I didn''t see many complaints.

[The gut 0]

It was quite hard to accurately know what team had been selected

[Alfie54 76]

[quote user="morty"][quote user="Alfie54"][quote user="morty"][quote user="Alfie54"]Just don''t think you can have both Murhpys, Jerome and Oliveira on together, and of course Godfrey should have played instead of Mulumbu[/quote]So the manager gets criticised when he doesn''t make changes to try and win the game, then gets criticised when he does?Brilliant[Y][/quote]

No, he gets critised when he makes the wrong changes, a fairly obvious difference I think![/quote]The wrong changes in your opinion, yeah?[/quote]

Clearly, who else''s opinion would I be expressing!

[morty 0]

[quote user="The gut"]It was quite hard to accurately know what team had been selected[/quote]Oh gutty, you tinker[:)]

[hogesar 9,745]

Agreed Morty some will always ask questions but it''s certainly fair when we aren''t putting results away against teams like this in what has been a poor season so far with the squad at his disposal.

Saying that I''m not sure what you can say AN done wrong today. I actually thought the two strikers worked well because it was never going to be a fluid midfield with Wigans hoof ball and poor pitch conditions. We decided to go direct too and Oliveira in particular caused a lot of problems through simple long balls.

I was also pleased with how stuck in Pritchard got. Not seen that side of him enough this season and it certainly gives him a shout for Saturday. I was disappointed we took him off really as he was our only real quality through the middle, and I''m far from his biggest fan.

[morty 0]

[quote user="Alfie54"][quote user="morty"][quote user="Alfie54"][quote user="morty"][quote user="Alfie54"]Just don''t think you can have both Murhpys, Jerome and Oliveira on together, and of course Godfrey should have played instead of Mulumbu[/quote]So the manager gets criticised when he doesn''t make changes to try and win the game, then gets criticised when he does?Brilliant[Y][/quote]

No, he gets critised when he makes the wrong changes, a fairly obvious difference I think![/quote]The wrong changes in your opinion, yeah?[/quote]

Clearly, who else''s opinion would I be expressing![/quote]I always find, with something like this, it has far more credibility if you actually express it at the time, rather than after the fact[Y]

[morty 0]

[quote user="hogesar"]Agreed Morty some will always ask questions but it''s certainly fair when we aren''t putting results away against teams like this in what has been a poor season so far with the squad at his disposal.

Saying that I''m not sure what you can say AN done wrong today. I actually thought the two strikers worked well because it was never going to be a fluid midfield with Wigans hoof ball and poor pitch conditions. We decided to go direct too and Oliveira in particular caused a lot of problems through simple long balls.

I was also pleased with how stuck in Pritchard got. Not seen that side of him enough this season and it certainly gives him a shout for Saturday. I was disappointed we took him off really as he was our only real quality through the middle, and I''m far from his biggest fan.[/quote]Pretty much everyone was delighted with the starting line up, and with limited options in a few positions, not sure what else he could have done.I reckon we''ll see Hoolahan back on Saturday, and probably Godfrey in for Mulumbu, I just don''t think hsi fitness is up to two close games like this.

[hogesar 9,745]

Hard to say with Mulumbu. Playing might be good for him fitness wise and maybe he will play. He''s a bit untidy and doesn''t control a ball well but he does disrupt the opposition midfield well and get stuck in. The only thing I''d be concerned with is you''d like to think we''d pass it about more and play through the midfield on Saturday and Mulumbu would definitely slow us down in that sense.

[morty 0]

[quote user="hogesar"]Hard to say with Mulumbu. Playing might be good for him fitness wise and maybe he will play. He''s a bit untidy and doesn''t control a ball well but he does disrupt the opposition midfield well and get stuck in. The only thing I''d be concerned with is you''d like to think we''d pass it about more and play through the midfield on Saturday and Mulumbu would definitely slow us down in that sense.[/quote]I think with the amount of football he gets, we''ll never see him fully fit now.If we go with one striker again, it sounds like Oliviera could be favourite, the commentators were positively gushing about him.

[hogesar 9,745]

Would be very harsh on Jerome but saying that Oliveira did stand out. But when you''re a front two it''s very much about workload and Oliveira did benefit from Jerome''s constant running. Not that Oliveira was lazy by any stretch of the imagination.

[danielsroundabout 9]

I haven''t seen or heard coverage of tonight''s game but have seen the criticism being heaped on Mulumbu on here. I assume from the way in which he is being singled out, that he was badly at fault for both Wigan goals. Can somebody confirm this as being the case?

[Greavsy 2,426]

Can anyone join this convo?

[The gut 0]

I think it''s reasonably clear how much Alex rates him also. He only seems to put him in the starting line up of a league game when there isn''t much choice.

[daly 509]

Morty will you be posting all through the night???