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Thread | Where are we at the moment?
at 22:37 23 Apr 2024
After a string of inconsistent results we found ourselves needing to beat Leicester to stand an outside chance of automatic promotion and we got hammered by one of our promotion rivals. At present it appears that the two top spots will be between Leeds, Leicester and Ipswich with probably Leeds and Leicester going up automatically. That leaves a playoff group of Saints, Ipswich, Norwich and WBA which is just about as bad as it can get. We certainly wouldn't be the team going into this on a high.
But where has it gone wrong. As you will be aware I wasn't the greatest fan of Russell Martin's style of football particularly the pointlessly precarious playing out from the goalkeeper at all costs. Having said that we went on a 26 game unbeaten run when at times we looked far and away the best team in the division.
The main issues as I see it though aren't the style of football but the striker and goalkeeper positions which have been the problem since Ralph was manager if not before.
It might be argued that being the joint top scorers in the division with Adam Armstrong on 20 goals and Che Adams on 18 that scoring isn't the problem but it is. Looking at the chances that particularly Che Adams has spurned this season I think both players could be on 37 to 40 goals.
In addition despite the apparent love for Gavin Bazunu I just don't think he's ready to be number one. Statistically last year he was the 2nd worst goalkeeper in the Premier League and this season he's statistically the worst goalkeeper in the Championship and you can't afford that if you're a promotion contender.
If there is a criticism of Russell Martin it’s his team selections and often puzzling substitutions that are usually reactive rather than proactive. One of the defining points of this season was Russell Martin's baffling decision to swap the defence around to enable the inclusion of Jack Stephens. We were on a 26 game unbeaten run when Martin decided to shoehorn him in. Before Stephens inclusion the defence conceded 7 goals in 12 games. After his inclusion we conceded 22 goals in the following 12 games. I'm not saying that this is entirely due to Stephen’s performances but we had a settled defence and there was absolutely no need to change it.
I've heard people say that we're unlucky that Leicester, Ipswich and Leeds have had such good campaigns but as far as I'm concerned our team and our squad are equal if not better than all of those teams apart possibly from Leicester. If you look at the list of games that we should have won and threw away we could easily have been promoted by now. If you look at the following results where we should have won or drawn we'd have an extra 20 points.
Sunderland (a) 0-5 – should have been at least drawing there (1 pt dropped)
Ipswich (home) 0-1 – should at least have drawn – (1pt dropped)
Rotherham (h) 1-1 - should have won convincingly (2pts dropped)
Huddersfield (a) 1-1 - should have won (2pts dropped)
Bristol City (a) 1-3 - should have drawn at least (1pt dropped)
Hull City (h) 1-2 - should have won (3pts dropped)
Millwall (h) 1-2 - should have won (3pts dropped)
Middlesbrough (h) 1-1 - should have won (2 pts dropped)
Blackburn (a) 0-0 – should have won (2pts dropped)
Cardiff (a) 1-2 - should have won (3pts dropped)
My biggest concern is what happens next. If we fail to get promoted we will lose KWP, Harwood-Bellis, Bednarek, Che, Downes and probably Fraser, Stuart Armstrong, Brooks, Rothwell, Sulemana and Aribo. McCarthy and Lumley are at the end of their contracts. We will need Sports Republic to completely rebuild the squad, which after the previous two transfer windows fills me with dread.
If we go up it will be a similar situation because this team is not good enough to stay up and particularly if we try and play possession football in the PL we’ll get annihilated.
The issue with a major squad rebuild under Martin is that it took 2½ months for the team to get to grips with the system so we’ll always be in catch up mode. I think whatever happens it will be time to look for a new manager.
[Post edited 23 Apr 22:41]
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Reply | Bazunu
at 12:13 2 Apr 2024
The reason 3 managers have played him is the alternative is Lumley or old man McCarthy |
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Thread | Mateusz Lis
at 18:12 31 Jan 2024
Still on loan at Goztepe. Played 19, conceded 14 and 10 clean sheets
Made some good saves against us in the pre-season game.
Is he worth recalling as I'm not keen on Lumley if Baz gets injured |
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Reply | FA Cup ! Do We ?
at 14:35 4 Jan 2024
No 2 Nick
Even if we progress a couple of rounds at some point we’re going to play one of the top 4 who will have £100m worth of talent on the bench. The days of Championship clubs winning the FA cup has gone
I’d be happy to give some of the fringe players an outing and if we go out it’s no big deal |
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Reply | Charly Alcaraz
at 14:22 2 Jan 2024
He’s misplaced a few passes that have not lead to goals. Virtually everyone else in the team has misplaced passes. What Alcaraz brings is that maverick aspect. I think he’s misplaced passes because he’s naturally a forward thinking player and he’s being shackled by the possession at all cost system.
I really think if we’re going to start putting these disappointing results to bed we have to play Charly instead of Smallbone who in my opinion offers absolutely nothing other than a sideways or backwards pass. |
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Reply | Rooney Sacked
at 14:02 2 Jan 2024
Grannies talking dirty is going to get record hits tonight 🤣🤣🤣 |
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Reply | Charly Alcaraz
at 13:55 2 Jan 2024
Happy new year Grumps
What I don’t get is having brought on Charles and Smallbone with 12 minutes left (including injury time) in what was clearly an attempt to close up shop and preserve a point then why did he bring on Alcaraz on 90 minutes. Had he changed his mind and decided to go for all three points?
I think this tactic of keeping possession to wear the opposition down is seriously flawed . It fails more often than it succeeds and we’ve dropped points we wouldn’t have done if we’d gone for more goals |
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Thread | Charly Alcaraz
at 08:40 2 Jan 2024
What does he have to do to get selected
He was the one positive out of last season’s debacle. Tim Vickery said he was shocked that Saints managed to procure his signature as he was one of the hottest prospects in Argentinian football yet he’s struggling to get a game under Martin
Against Plymouth he gave a man of the match performance, scored a great goal and was subbed off with over a third of the game left and then doesn’t get on until the 90th minute against Norwich in a game that was crying out for his moments of quality that none of the rest of the squad possess
I just don’t get it
Martin brought on Smallbone and Shea Charles just after they equalised. We should have been pushing for the win but Martin went for the draw.
Don’t get me wrong I agree we’re on an excellent unbeaten run but then again with our team and depth of squad we should be. There’s no reason we shouldn’t be out in front with Leicester but we’re too negative
Come on Martin, unleash Charly and give him free rein. At the moment he’s playing with shackles on |
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Reply | Ross Stewart’s medical
at 09:40 23 Dec 2023
Meanwhile that useless donkey Tall Paul is banging goals in for Trabzonspor
So every club he’s been given a chance at he’s been prolific and more importantly injury free
What an absolute shambles our transfer policy has been under Ankersen and co |
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Reply | Mid season assessment
at 10:46 15 Dec 2023
Hey Grumps how are you doing
Totally agree about Tall Paul. Just think Stewart seems to be a very similar style only more injury prone. If Tall Paul didn’t work how will Stewart |
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Reply | Mid season assessment
at 10:40 15 Dec 2023
Secretly they’re praying we go up so they don’t get two humiliating defeats next season like their women just have
Saw one of the Pompey players brought her brother and father to the game. His name was Geoff 😉 |
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Reply | Mid season assessment
at 09:31 15 Dec 2023
Can someone smell fish??
Must be Lemon sole cause it’s very bitter |
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Reply | Danny Ings
at 08:51 15 Dec 2023
If we could guarantee he stayed fit I think he’d be a good option as long as we weren’t paying much more than £5m or got him on loan
He’s an intelligent striker, he’d find space and has good close control. I think he could fit into the Rustyball style
I don’t think the same about Ross Stewart if he ever gets fit. Ross looks like a player who relies on crosses into the box and we don’t do that. He seems very similar in style to Tall Paul and Martin binned him off |
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Reply | Mid season assessment
at 14:05 14 Dec 2023
I'm not calling for him to be sacked just saying his style of football is not going to get us up. As for whether you enjoy it or not that's a personal opinion. Do I enjoy seeing us in the attacking third then 5 or 6 passes later we have Smallbone passing it back to Bazunu then no
If RM would cut back on possession for possessions sake and play more direct sometimes then I think we could really kick on
As for if or when we get promoted, we'll get annihilated playing this style of football in the PL. Rustyball is massively reliant on keeping the ball and trying to wear the opposition down. Does anyone seriously think we will do that in the PL? |
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Reply | Mid season assessment
at 11:05 14 Dec 2023
I think we could easily lose KWP, Alcaraz and Sulemana at Christmas. If Alcaraz went I wouldn't blame him. You can see how playing Rustyball has hamstrung him this season. Last season Alcaraz was one of the bright sparks of our season and looked a brilliant prospecy even in the PL with decisive attacking football, willing to have a shot at every opportunity. This season you can see when he gets into a promising position he holds back and looks for a Rustyball short sideways pass |
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