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Reply | an absolutely bonfire night of a show....
at 16:31 6 Nov 2024
Well you mentioned before that just being good on the ball, isn't the whole picture, which I agree with and you went on to say "If you have someone who doesn’t find space and provide an option for a pass to feet, who doesn’t press, doesn’t tackle, doesn’t track runners, does not read the game, doesn’t want physical contact, barely breaks into anything more than a trot"... I'd say the majority of those descriptions Adel would meet. I agree, he was great at demanding the ball, which is massive, but he didn't track runners, didn't ever tackle and he barely broke into anything more than a trot, (when he didn't have the ball). You've focused on one element of Adel without the ball - his willingness to receive it -, but clearly there's other parts which he lacked in.
If Madsen involved himself more, which I do think is partly down to the brand of football we're playing and poor confidence among the Team, and we found a more attacking role for him - he's not a holding midfielder or an 8 - some of the off the ball things he lacks in and which people are rightfully calling out wouldn't be such an issue. |
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Reply | an absolutely bonfire night of a show....
at 15:41 6 Nov 2024
That's all fair of course. Possible challenges to it being the Adel's of this world that wouldn't' (excuse the pun) pass a 'without the ball test' but was arguably the best we've had in recent years.
Now Madsen is not Adel and clearly needs to do more without the ball. But for balance, the Team is playing poorly, and not playing a brand of football which will get the most from this type of player. That first half, in terms of quality, was up there with one of the worst of the season. So many misplaced passes, so many unforced errors. When you're a team playing like that you need some roll up the sleeves types to fight for you and Madsen just isn't one of them. I do think it would be interesting how he plays in a team with more confidence, with 2 full backs that offer genuine attacking threat, a forward that can keep the ball and bring people into the game, centre backs having the confidence to ping it into feed and lots of movement and people wanting the ball, but in the middle of absolute chaos, Madsen is clearly not your man. |
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Reply | an absolutely bonfire night of a show....
at 11:10 6 Nov 2024
I disagree with this. I don't think he's playing well, not suited to both the Championship and how we're playing, but he can clearly play football. A pass last night he played was at a level nobody else in the team could play. But, I fully agree, that's not enough. His biggest problem is that he hides and doesn't work hard enough. But he can clearly play football he just needs to adapt to Championship and our style of play much quicker than what he's doing. |
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Reply | MC has got to go
at 10:54 6 Nov 2024
It's clear to everyone there are major problems with the Team. As a MC fan and someone that really wants him to succeed and remain Manager for many years to come, I have to admit he's made mistakes, Santos left back with Field alongside in the back 4 and a half arsed Chair providing wing cover was a recipe for disaster and that is on the Manager. But do you think the odd tactical error like that is why we're in this mess?
Surely, when you spend the money we have this summer and you end up with a right back at left back, an 18 year old academy boy in centre mid and your most hardworking centre mid playing centre half, something has gone seriously wrong. Throw in the increased injuries this season, and I'm not sure there's a Manager that can get us out of this hole but the one I'd trust most to do it, as he's managed it before, is the one still in charge.
Celar and Frey. How can people look at that as our striking options and be anything other than disgusted. We've just survived relegation and we're going into the new season with 2 strikers, both unproven at this level.
Now for the slightly controversial bit, but I think all our new signings, with the exception of Santos, and possibly Celar (I'm one that still thinks he could be a good striker played in a different setup), look like they have something to offer if part of the right team, and style of play etc. But a club as disjointed as us, and with so many new toys that aren't used to the Championship, with injuries biting and confidence at a very low level, they look even worse than they actually are.
A Manager that is trying to piece a team together without the quality of JCS, the experience and ability of Jack Colback, the on his day ability of Paal, the natural ability of Dembele, is going to struggle massively. Throw in the one physical striker we have also being injured and I'm not sure what people expect MC to get out of this team. That's all on the recruitment. [Post edited 6 Nov 10:55]
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Reply | Larkeche
at 13:47 5 Nov 2024
Thanks for the update which is good to hear and how a loan should work - player goes to another club to play games and develop with a view to returning and being a better player. It's what should have happened with Sinclair last season and Lloyd this. At least with Larkeche, he seems to have got a good club which is the most important thing, and they appear to be helping him develop, and he "should" return a much better player, although whether he's good enough remains to be seen. |
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Reply | Celar - Nothing Again
at 18:33 2 Nov 2024
Based on today. Feels harsh to dig out Celar too much. We need to try and get the most from our players even if they haven’t delivered for us and possibly weren’t the right signings. Keep up that level and it’s only good for the team. |
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Reply | Celar - Nothing Again
at 13:06 1 Nov 2024
Am definitely worried by Celar and it’s not looking good but I’m surprised how quickly he has been written off. His last 2 appearances have been very poor, but Burnley away…really? Did anyone expect anything from him? Especially when we were setting up to just get a point.
Quite a few substitute appearances have resulted in long hopeful punts to him - embarrassing service - yet Celar seems to be getting it for not being better in the air or closing down more. No doubt we needed a striker that didn’t rely on service and could instigate his own chances a bit but our recruitment didn’t read the obvious memo. But now we do have a striker that’s service dependent, let’s at least try and make it work and not let our midfielders and full backs off the hook for a lack of decent quality into him.
Play tomorrow with decent delivery/clever passes in behind and Celar is found wanting…fair enough, I’ll be first to admit he was rubbish but let’s demand more from our midfield too. We need more control and better service. Don’t let them off the hook by focussing on the one fit striker. |
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Reply | Just back
at 22:47 22 Oct 2024
Not perfect but bringing a youngster on when you’re searching for a point is brave, and the fact he got the equaliser probably entitles the Manager to a few more pats on the back then what he’s getting. |
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Reply | Celar - Nothing Again
at 22:38 22 Oct 2024
I thought his hold up play wasn’t great and some of his runs weren’t timed that well. Gave away 1 or 2 cheap fouls as well. Look, I’m not saying Celar was good, just want to calm down some of those saying Lloyd ahead of him, as based on what I’ve seen Lloyd has done his best work out wide and hasn’t looked great upfront. For me it’s Frey, and if he’s not around, then pluck a name out the hat. |
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Reply | Celar - Nothing Again
at 22:30 22 Oct 2024
Fair enough on Celar but Lloyd made absolutely no difference when he came on and I’d say made us worse. I think a poster summed it up saying we’re one of the worst clubs for buying strikers as I can’t think of the last decent one - Austin, perhaps Wells? although Frey may disagree. I haven’t given up on Celar just yet though. |
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Reply | Is this on Nourry?
at 09:19 20 Oct 2024
We were a poor side last season, but what was a major factor in getting us over the line was fitness - we actually had one of the best injury records in the league. This season we’re not being so lucky, and it is having an impact. I think if we’d retained the same fitness levels, we’d be in a different league position and wouldn’t be having this debate.
That said, last season I thought we were starting the season with one of the most worrying set of strikers we’ve had and didn’t think it was possible to be in a worse position, but somehow this season we’ve achieved that, with one of the most worrying forward options in many a year. That’s on the recruitment team.
Everyone fit, I think we’ll be ok. Injuries continuing to bite and I worry…a lot. |
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Reply | Sam Field substitution
at 22:59 19 Oct 2024
Surprised Fox survived and Field didn’t move back there. I get frustration, but ultimately Fox and his rustiness/lack of ability cost us. We needed a win, regardless of performance, and but for Fox, I think we’d have got it. I’m not sure what the Manager sees in him tbh, think I’d fancy my chances in a foot race with him. |
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Reply | Colback
at 18:05 18 Oct 2024
He’s a big loss and think there’s a few fans that are now starting to realise what Colback offers us. He was under appreciated with people too quick to moan at his yellow cards which is funny when so many moaned about us being soft and never getting a yellow. For a team that rarely tackles, seems a bit soft to me, we miss him massively.
All these injuries have made the decision to not sign a top pro like Hayden even more damaging to us. Hindsight I know but he would have made a huge difference. Field and who tomorrow?
Edit: didn’t mean to reply to Mick but yes, Andre starting tomorrow will inevitably end badly for us. [Post edited 18 Oct 18:08]
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Reply | Hull Reflection
at 12:42 2 Oct 2024
Of course, we all hope it works out, and good chance it won't, but we should give him more time than what he's had so far before forming a judgement. There are precedents.
Go back to when HH was first with us, pre-Warnock, missed a lot of chances and was sent out on loan, a lot of fans, not sure if you were one, thought he was rubbish and should be sold. Warnock wanted him back, and the rest is history. Les Ferdinand, took a good chunk of time before he established himself. Away from Rangers, Harry Kane really struggled when out on loan, and took a bit of time to establish himself. Not a number 9, but Jack Clarke was written off by a lot of people because he failed to break into our side while on loan, now look at him?
Point being, we've written players off before and they've turned out to be pretty decent. The amount of time Celar has had on the pitch isn't sufficient to form a view of him yet. Dykes had countless minutes, people are more than entitled to take a view on him as a Rangers player - good or bad reviews. Celar is in a team with a lot of new players, all lacking in Championship experience, I'm willing to give him more time, especially when I've seen some glimpses - like how he approached the first 10 mins of being on the pitch yesterday - that he could add something. |
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Reply | Hull Reflection
at 12:22 2 Oct 2024
I think this is a fair reflection. For all the negativity and concerns about our shape and positioning when we didn't have the ball, within the first 15 minutes we should have been 1 or 2 up. Hull didn't really have much of a chance and we played some good football and looked dangerous. A goal, quite good one at that, goes in, and we seem to change, become hesitant in our play and lose our discipline - be it going long too soon or not tracking runners etc, which is surprising given some decent comebacks we've put together this season.
With the ball in the first half there was a lot to like for me. Saito looked v good at times, I thought Madsen looked really good at times too, lovely, intelligent passing, picking gaps and some decent first time inventive one touch passing too - and I'm not his biggest fan.
But then heads drop and it all goes wrong and everything we did well, stops, subs that come on don't really make a positive impact as you expect - thought Smyth was poor - and chasing the game just leaves you even more exposed. |
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Reply | Hull Reflection
at 12:06 2 Oct 2024
On Celar, I think people are being harsh, did some decent link up play when it came into feet, a decent bit of movement, but obvious rustiness made him do a weak left footed finish, but he looks lively to me and someone you can coach and improve.
The real problem, and not sure why people aren't focussing in on it as much, is the quality of service into him. If you have Celar up top, you should not be pinging 50 yard aerial balls to him to fight with 2 centre backs, Frey much more effective in that battle. We played some good stuff first half at times, then we seemed to revert (for a decent chunk of time in the second) to hopeful punts and I felt for Celar trying to deal with that. People judging him based on that type of service is unfair. |
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Reply | Madsen
at 21:50 1 Oct 2024
Harsh. Actually thought first half was the best he’s played for us. Struggled second half but saw some decent use of the ball and clever passing in the first half to see what sort of player he could be, and I’m someone that’s not really warmed to him. Yes he still hides, yes he needs to do more off the ball but shouldn’t be writing him off just yet. Think he suffers as does Celar when we start going long and the decent play on the deck goes out the window for some reason. |
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Reply | Kelman
at 10:44 25 Sep 2024
He's playing regular football, at a better level than a lot of the other loans we've sent out in the past have done. That's only a good thing. I'm not sure he'll make it with us, but a Kelman with a full season playing for Orient under his belt, will definitely be a better player than the one we saw last season, so there is still hope.
I know he's not Harry Kane, but Kane struggled a fair bit in his early days, had a few unsuccessful loans, around 22 when he really kicked on I think. Would be relaying that message to Charlie and see whether he can push on. |
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Reply | 6 games in
at 09:34 24 Sep 2024
The major positive so far, and as others have alluded to, we’ve managed to pick up points while clearly being very disorganised and trying to work out our best team. We’ve come from behind to claim a point or more on a few occasions already this season – that’s massive for us. How many times last season and the season before, the opposition scoring first was pretty much game over. We’ve changed the narrative there. However, there’s no getting away from the fact somethings not right in our style. No composure, no guts to take the ball under pressure and play a pass that can split the lines. On occasions it’s just the very basic ability to control the ball and pass 5 feet which is going wrong. Home form has also been a major issue for some time.
But, a year of this team developing and learning about the Championship, making a call on those players not up to the level in the summer, and if required some further tweaking should be the plan. I think a Varane and a Saito in a year’s time will be very different players, better players, as will Dembele. The jury is out on Celar and Madsen but they too have shown glimpses. It’s not going to be a great season, it’s about putting the building blocks in place, but taking a look at what we’re like in a year’s time should be when we really judge the Manager, the signings and new structure at the club.
PS – I appreciate if we start dropping points, then the ‘next season plan’ is likely to be shelved but I hope we hold our nerve. |
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