Top six side

[king canary 7,578]

1 minute ago, wcorkcanary said:

Sone of these  whingers ought to try something truly soul destroying, like working in a sweatshop for two and a half quid an hour.....in England!  The hand wringing  and bleating  is embarrassing, so many after the event experts. We were warned , clearly, before our defensive injury  crisis  that we stood a high chance of relegation , but there was a plan in place that allowed for that. I just dont understand why people are so quick to turn on their own Club. Not sure if I'd want many of them next to me in the trenches.  Gutless. 

Oh god you know we're in full **** mode when we get 'I wouldn't want you with me in the trenches because you disagree with me about football!'

[Number9 272]

3 hours ago, mr footy said:

Next season this squad will without doubt finish top six.With additional players added during pre season ,we can look forward to at least the play offs.This season has been average ,but it has given players and coaching staff a taste of the prem.We now have a system of play which looks great.long may this continue. 

Throwing goals in our net and not scoring any, yeah why not? 

[Number9 272]

2 hours ago, Branston Pickle said:

We had started to find some consistency prior to lockdown, which came at just the wrong time for us - something hasn’t quite clicked since, but it’s not just for us as Bournemouth et al have also struggled.  
It does seem some supporters only have a memory of a couple of games rather than a longer period - thankfully those making decisions do think a bit longer term and see the bigger picture.

We were consistent alright, consistently at the bottom of the League all season. If you want to decry people not looking at the longer period, then consider all the goals we shipped last season as a practice session for this season. 

[hogesar 9,616]

13 minutes ago, king canary said:

Oh god you know we're in full **** mode when we get 'I wouldn't want you with me in the trenches because you disagree with me about football!'

There is a difference between disagreement and some of the absolute rubbish spouted on here mind.

[Capt. Pants 4,195]

The forum police are out as usual hurling insults just because they don't llike fans voicing their discontent. "Tantrums", "Gutless".

Great stuff.

[Foxy2600 297]

I Might be accused of a rant: BUT,

WE have/had some reasonable players that were the engine room for the stars to get us out of "THE Most Difficult League to get out of" 

The Stars are Buendia, Cantwell, Hernandez, Lewis and Aarons. 

I doubt they will be there next season. I wish them well. As 50% of us on PinkUn have said, DF does not know when to Change it Up. He has done a great job in keeping us credible but  seriously, we are better than Burnley, Bournemouth, Villa, WHU and Brighton on yesterdays performance. The flotsam came to us and we just carried on losing. Same old Same old...... 

[Wacky Waving Inflatable Arm Flailing Tube Man 3,777]

26 minutes ago, Alex Moss said:

You’re right, Eddie - there was definite improvement prior to lockdown 

But was there?

If you're using the past six games to measure form, which seems to be the most commonly used standard, our PPG in the six games before lockdown was actually lower than that of the previous 23.

Of course there were some decent performances in that six-match period (Leicester, Liverpool) but there were also some poor ones too (Wolves, Sheffield United). Two of our final three league matches before lockdown (the aforementioned Sheffield United and Wolves games) were poor showings, so I don't think performances were generally improving in the league, although obviously we were doing well in the cup.

That sums up our season really: there have been some good performances but there have been some pretty bad ones too, and even when we did play well we didn't get results, which explains why we're bottom by a pretty big distance.

[KiwiScot 1,436]

Our form at the end of the championship season was a bit iffy and it's only because the had a big lead and Sheffield and leeds similarly went a bit iffy. We could find it harder to replicate previous success. Especially now the players have  tasted humiliation. Can't wait to find oit tho

Edited July 5, 2020 by KiwiScot

[Graham Paddons Beard 2,424]

2 hours ago, nutty nigel said:

The last five games I saw - Leicester, Liverpool, Bournemouth, Palace and Spurs we played great football and we're applauded off at the end.

This is exactly right NN and makes me even more curious about what has happened during and after lockdown ? We have fallen off a cliff! 

[Alex Moss 2,165]

13 minutes ago, Wacky Waving Inflatable Arm Flailing Tube Man said:

But was there?

If you're using the past six games to measure form, which seems to be the most commonly used standard, our PPG in the six games before lockdown was actually lower than that of the previous 23.

Of course there were some decent performances in that six-match period (Leicester, Liverpool) but there were also some poor ones too (Wolves, Sheffield United). Two of our final three league matches before lockdown (the aforementioned Sheffield United and Wolves games) were poor showings, so I don't think performances were generally improving in the league, although obviously we were doing well in the cup.

That sums up our season really: there have been some good performances but there have been some pretty bad ones too, and even when we did play well we didn't get results, which explains why we're bottom by a pretty big distance.

I disagree. Against Sheff Utd and Wolves it is not fair to suggest 90 mins of poor showings. Both games I would say we were excellent in our attacking play the first 45mins compared to the limp of efforts of late - we just run out of steam second half sadly. But both those good 45 mins were excellent examples of how we can play when we’re at it. Wolves barely had a sniff, and neither did Sheff Utd - if we’d have taken our chances then we’d have been out of sight at half time. My point is that we looked very threatening and confident as a team then - nothing like how we were against Brighton (Onel excluded).

Hogesar posted on another thread the results we had prior to lockdown. That ultimately is what matters most, win draws and losses - not stats about goals scored etc. And I’m most certainly not going to exclude our cup games in order to make our series of results look worse because that’s not right - we played those games and they rightfully proved we were getting some better results. They were games we had to play against fellow Prem teams and proved we were doing something right. We were getting some wins and draws, and if we lost it would be only be by a goal or so, we certainly looked defensively better organised than we had.

Not sure what thread Hogesar posted those results on but I don’t know how anyone can say they don’t show an improvement in results. It’s there for all to see.

[Wacky Waving Inflatable Arm Flailing Tube Man 3,777]

1 minute ago, Alex Moss said:

I disagree. Against Sheff Utd and Wolves it is not fair to suggest 90 mins of poor showings. Both games I would say we were excellent in our attacking play the first 45mins compared to the limp of efforts of late - we just run out of steam second half sadly. But both those good 45 mins were excellent examples of how we can play when we’re at it. Wolves barely had a sniff, and neither did Sheff Utd - if we’d have taken our chances then we’d have been out of sight at half time. 

 

Not sure what thread Hogesar posted those results on but I don’t know how anyone can say they don’t show an improvement in results. It’s there for all to see.

I was referring to the most recent games against Wolves and Sheffield United before lockdown. Are you mistaking them for the games in December? If so, that backs up my point about performances pre-lockdown.

Our results from our six pre-lockdown matches yielded four points, 0.67 per game. Our results up to then had given us 17 from 23, which is 0.74 per game. The form prior to lockdown clearly shows that results were in decline.

[wcorkcanary 4,329]

1 hour ago, king canary said:

Oh god you know we're in full **** mode when we get 'I wouldn't want you with me in the trenches because you disagree with me about football!'

Absolutely.  But this doesn't  seem to be about  football as much as peoples feelings  about football ........ ' soul destroying '... give me a break. 

Ever been in a trench?.... If not, lucky you.

[king canary 7,578]

Just now, wcorkcanary said:

Absolutely.  But this doesn't  seem to be about  football as much as peoples feelings  about football ........ ' soul destroying '... give me a break. 

Ever been in a trench?.... If not, lucky you.

I've been in a ditch if that counts....

[wcorkcanary 4,329]

1 minute ago, king canary said:

I've been in a ditch if that counts....

Were  you watching  a game of Hurling? ( Irish  joke) .

hurler in the ditch - Urban Dictionary

Giving advice to people who are actually doing the work and judging them for the work they are doing.

 

In all seriousness  though, watching Southampton  v man city, I'm not ashamed they beat us...look at them dig in even when  they  are  now safe. 

[wcorkcanary 4,329]

Ye gods, I'm agreeing with  Danny Murphy  , Jack Stephen's MOM.

[Mason 47 1,373]

We didn't come back from the break in good shape, but all credit to Southampton and Hasenhuttl for how they've come back. They surely must be pretty much top of the 'restart mini league'- an unfortunate display of exactly what good defensive discipline can get you.

 

[Mello Yello 2,279]

The Saints were resolute....good win.....Not bad for a side that was once bottom and whacked 9-0 by the Foxes....

[City 2nd 191]

4 hours ago, mr footy said:

Next season this squad will without doubt finish top six.With additional players added during pre season ,we can look forward to at least the play offs.This season has been average ,but it has given players and coaching staff a taste of the prem.We now have a system of play which looks great.long may this continue. 

Really! A system of play which looks great. A defence that simply cannot defend, in the championship yet alone the premiership, a midfield totally devoid of any quality even the manager doesn't know who to play there, and strikers who simply cannot score or hit a barn door. A system of play that every team in the prem didn't find too hard to play against at all. The league table doesn't lie. Long may it continue. Really!

[wcorkcanary 4,329]

.

Edited July 5, 2020 by wcorkcanary

[City 2nd 191]

4 hours ago, Thumbbass said:

Before lockdown the only teams we were embarrassed by were Villa at home (makes me sick!) And Man Utd home and away. We were more than competitive against some of the PLs top teams, Wolves, Chelsea, Man City, Leicester, and if you still consider them big, Arsenal, Tottenham. The results didn't necessarily go our way.

I would hope that we can start a new season with a fit back 4, no Drmic or Duda and get back to some performances with guts. Let's face it, a skeleton squad patched up with sub par players was never ever going to compete. It hasn't worked out, but damn we've been unlucky.

I don't see anything that says we can't get back to better form with our strongest 11 on the pitch. We're carrying two players all the time at the moment. Don't forget that there is a good team there, it's just not necessarily on the pitch!

Think you may have overlooked liverpool away and west ham away to name but two!

[nutty nigel 7,509]

56 minutes ago, Graham Paddons Beard said:

This is exactly right NN and makes me even more curious about what has happened during and after lockdown ? We have fallen off a cliff! 

I haven't watched much football since the lockdown. Those that have say we haven't looked as prepared as our opponents. On paper we had winnable home games. But I'm not sure why they are more winnable when they at home. Not now. Maybe other clubs did more training before footballers were allowed back to train? Perhaps we got it very wrong but the circumstances had never happened before.

My point about the last 5 games I saw, which were the last five home games we were allowed in to see, was in response to the poster who claimed we'd been awful. Nobody in the stadium seemed to think we'd been awful. Many thought we'd be relegated but that is completely very different thing. 

 

[nutty nigel 7,509]

12 minutes ago, City 2nd said:

Think you may have overlooked liverpool away and west ham away to name but two!

I never overlook West Ham away. I believe that game cost us many more than the three points on the day. And Sebastian Haller was completely unpunished even with the "it's here for the integrity of the game" VAR presumably in operation.

Edited July 5, 2020 by nutty nigel

[ron obvious 1,498]

4 hours ago, Capt. Pants said:

Season ticket holder and have seen virtually every game this season by courtesy of dodgy streams.

I've lost count of all the goals we have rattled in this year 2020 such has been the entertainment.

Sole destroying stuff, especially since the restart no show.

 

Try buying some better shoes.

[hogesar 9,616]

1 hour ago, nutty nigel said:

I never overlook West Ham away. I believe that game cost us many more than the three points on the day. And Sebastian Haller was completely unpunished even with the "it's here for the integrity of the game" VAR presumably in operation.

Dont remind me of that day 😂😂

[Midlands Yellow 3,928]

12 hours ago, Capt. Pants said:

The forum police are out as usual hurling insults just because they don't llike fans voicing their discontent. "Tantrums", "Gutless".

Great stuff.

Who are the forum police on here?

[Midlands Yellow 3,928]

13 hours ago, king canary said:

Oh god you know we're in full **** mode when we get 'I wouldn't want you with me in the trenches because you disagree with me about football!'

Would you want to be in the trenches with wcork though? He’d kill more of his own than the enemy just for getting his mug of tea not quite right. 

[Duncan Edwards 2,218]

1 hour ago, Midlands Yellow said:

Who are the forum police on here?

Morty and Til1010. 

[Alex Moss 2,165]

14 hours ago, Wacky Waving Inflatable Arm Flailing Tube Man said:

I was referring to the most recent games against Wolves and Sheffield United before lockdown. Are you mistaking them for the games in December? If so, that backs up my point about performances pre-lockdown.

Our results from our six pre-lockdown matches yielded four points, 0.67 per game. Our results up to then had given us 17 from 23, which is 0.74 per game. The form prior to lockdown clearly shows that results were in decline.

You’re totally correct, Wacky - I did get the Wolves and Sheff Utd games mixed up.

However, I look at those results from the turn of the year up until the season being called to a halt and we only got beaten heavily by Man Utd and Wolves in that time. Absolutely no shame in that at all. I maintain our defence has certainly improved - losses were all by a single goal margin rather than 2 or 3. And that was to Liverpool, Sheff Utd and Tottenham. Hardly disgraceful. And does not warrant demanding Webber and Farke out by the usual suspects. We also beat Leicester, Bournemouth, Burnley, Preston and drew with Palace, Newcastle and Tottenham (who we obviously went on to beat). That suggests to me that wins weren’t as rare as has been suggested. I will not leave out cup games just to make us look worse. They were games played in that timeframe and quite rightly have their place therefore regarding our form.

We will have to agree to disagree but since the turn of the year we were not the whipping boys some like to make out. We have been far poorer in our displays since lockdown ended though.

[SplatCat 18]

I’m afraid a year of rebuilding, just finishing in the top 10, is a more realistic and acceptable situation.

Even though last year we won the league, we could easily have been just a top 10 club and no one would have batted an eye lid.

 

[Wacky Waving Inflatable Arm Flailing Tube Man 3,777]

31 minutes ago, Alex Moss said:

You’re totally correct, Wacky - I did get the Wolves and Sheff Utd games mixed up.

However, I look at those results from the turn of the year up until the season being called to a halt and we only got beaten heavily by Man Utd and Wolves in that time. Absolutely no shame in that at all. I maintain our defence has certainly improved - losses were all by a single goal margin rather than 2 or 3. And that was to Liverpool, Sheff Utd and Tottenham. Hardly disgraceful. And does not warrant demanding Webber and Farke out by the usual suspects. We also beat Leicester, Bournemouth, Burnley, Preston and drew with Palace, Newcastle and Tottenham (who we obviously went on to beat). That suggests to me that wins weren’t as rare as has been suggested. I will not leave out cup games just to make us look worse. They were games played in that timeframe and quite rightly have their place therefore regarding our form.

We will have to agree to disagree but since the turn of the year we were not the whipping boys some like to make out. We have been far poorer in our displays since lockdown ended though.

I agree completely that the defence was looking more solid and we weren't conceding as many goals.

The issue was at the other end- we weren't scoring as many goals either, we weren't threatening or creating as many chances as we did in the earlier part of the season, and this was reflected in the points return: it was getting worse and we were gradually getting cast more and more adrift.