We don't need a striker we need Malky

[Tumbleweed 106]

Well I for one have only really now been able to think about what happened between 4pm and 5pm on Saturday. I just felt crushed, desolate, hopeless, I couldn''t face reading the sports pages on Sunday or take any interest in the other matches. I wanted those three points so badly.

However I had two thoughts above all else during the match:

1. Svensson was excellent and I think he proved that he can perform at this level. To buy any better we would need around £4m probably. Some of the attacking play on the first half was very good and we could easily have been a couple up. Sven held the ball up for what little support was offered and got back to tackle and harry. If his partnership with Leon develops it could be very effective.

2. We are cryiong out for authority at the back. Drury struggled but although Flem and Charlton have won the plaudits I fail to understand why people rave about this partnerhsip- they are too similar in my book, give away too many free headers and lose their man too often. Individually I think they are good but together I don''t believe they work very well. I am afraid that we need strength, authority and understanding- the sort of things that Malky gave us. I firmly believe that had Malky been alongside Flem, Dickov would have got nowhere near that ball. He also gave us some height at set pieces and corners. If its not Doherty (just what did we buy him for?) then we need to bring someone in of the same ilk.

Malky isn''t going to come back now but this is where I would like some money spent in January.

Other thoughts:

3. The defence is way too deep. Its obvious to us so how come Nigel can''t sort it?

4. The midfield sits right on top of defence at times creating a huge vacuum in midfield for the opposition to control possession and create. Again, its there for all to see.

5. The last couple of games Hux has looked tired, seeking free kicks in no mans land on the left. He seems to have lost a bit of spark- maybe he''s feeling the effects of being our one true route through midfield except when Francis decides to have a go when he''s in the mood. A fiery Hux is very important to us.

6. Organisation. This is where Nigel comes in. At times we run around like headless chickens trying to close down men and forgetting about others running into space or peeling away. There is no point in having a work ethic and running till you die unless you do it properly. We don''t need to make every tackle, we don''t need to chase every man on the ball. We just need to do it when its needed, this means cooler heads and an understanding of who is picking up whom.

7. Why Hendo for Jonson? Jonson was doing well in the first half and I would have though Paul McV would have been the logical choice. Proven experience, goal against Man Utd already, keen. Hendo was a huge risk and while I like him he did not add much to the side, time after time attacks broke down.

8. We might stay up but on the evidence of those 45 minutes we won''t. I am now heartily fed up with the "let''s take the positives and the results will come" attitude. I don''t think they will unless the organisation is sorted and we get that defender. When we sort ourselves out we look like quite a reasonable team with the current strikers we have, but too often its just for a few minutes per game. We cannot play well for 25 minutes in a match and hope to win. We need a settled team, pattern of play, stick to it, and only change things when absolutely necessary.

32 points from 26 games looks a way off this drizzly Monday morning. Anyone got some happy pills?

[DumbleDelia is Magic 0]

[quote]Well I for one have only really now been able to think about what happened between 4pm and 5pm on Saturday. I just felt crushed, desolate, hopeless, I couldn''t face reading the sports pages on Sunday ...[/quote]

I agree with most of that Tumbleweed, except the Malky bit.  Come on!  Yes he''s good in the air but can you imagine him against Dickov?  He would have got absolutely ripped to shreds.  I thought Dickov was superb all afternoon.  I''m not a big fan of the bloke but he''s a damn good footballer.  He could turn Charlton inside out.  Against Malky it would have simply been embarrassing.  IMO pace is far more important at the back than height.  Far more important.  I don''t know why the Doc isn''t given a go.  Surely this is why he was brought to the club?

I agree that Svensson was magnificent.  I don''t know what he''s been on in the last few weeks but I hope he takes more of it!  Him and Leon have looked like a real Prem strike force

I agree too about Hucks.  At Man City he was poor and on saturday he was poor also.  Maybe at Man City it was because he was playing with Brennan on the left, and against Blackburn Drury wasn''t fully fit?  I don''t know. But you''re right- A fiery Hucks is vital to us

I can see why Worthy took Jonson off.  It was no surprise to me.  The lad had already been booked and made a couple of tackles afterwards.  He could well have been wound up by the Rovers players and fans and it would have been 10 against 10.  Why he brought Hendo on though is beyond me.  I don''t know what he does in training to get a place on th bench but he sure as hell doesn''t do it on the football pitch

[Tumbleweed 106]

We all know that Malky wasn''t the fastest but he still managed to get the tackles in and my point was really more about the way he worked with Flem. I don''t see that Doc has any more pace than Malky had, but that special understanding and never say die attitude got us out of countless scrapes last year. An unmarked Dickov scoring with a header? Its not as if he was through on goal and had to cover 50 yards leaving defenders for dust. The ball was pinging around and even Thierry Henry''s pace would have made no difference. Change for change''s sake as they say.............

[ZLF 335]

I agree with DDiM that Malky is not the answer but what we do miss his a malky ''type'' organiser to pull the defence to some shape and order.

OTBC

[BedsCanary 0]

RE all the Hucks talk: Blackburn were clearly out to get him on Saturday and I think Nigel probably told him to take it easy at half time or risk getting his legs broken. If he gets injured remember, we''re screwed and it would have been in Blackburns interest to take out fellow relegation rivals in any way they can. He wasn''t getting any protection from the ref either and every time he got the ball there was a two footed challenge coming in from somewhere or another so thats why he wasn''t his trademark self.

Flem and Charlton do make a great partnership but Monday and Saturday proved just how vulnarable we are at the back in the air. Let''s get the doc fit and challenging for a place in the team, Worthy!