MATCHWATCH : Brentford (a) sponsored by injury problems

[Hound]

Need to start playing players in their proper positions. We had a RB and a LB in the squad, yet we played a CB at RB and a RB at LB. It isn’t good enough I’m afraid

Seems to be following the trend of his predecessors of choosing players to a certain style rather than adapting his style to the available players

The injury excuse can only go so far too, you deal with it and make the most of what you have, and if that includes having to use some U23, so be it, I really dislike using players in their wrong position

Most of our losses we’ve given it a right good go but that’s two in a row where the tactics and implementation of them have been generally poor. Need to see a reaction next game

I very much doubt east or Watson are anywhere near the required level tbh. There’s zero chance of their contracts being renewed and they be nowhere near the squad normally

[Royalwaster]

Considering we only have 2 on loan right now, do we see if we can get some more loan signings in Jan to patch up our depleted squad?

It’s three I think. Gibson, Esteves and Semedo but yes absolutely let’s bring some more loanees in. I would question whether we also keep all three existing loanees as well.

No those three should be sent back as not good enough.

Haha and play who instead?

[Westwood52]

Didn’t watch the game.How bad was it ?

[bcubed]

Didn’t watch the game.How bad was it ?

Like the last game but without any structure

[Westwood52]

It’s three I think. Gibson, Esteves and Semedo but yes absolutely let’s bring some more loanees in. I would question whether we also keep all three existing loanees as well.

No those three should be sent back as not good enough.

Haha and play who instead?

Get three better players in.Or is no one in the Senior Leadership Team even looking ?None of the three have justified their position. Remember Ejaria was the weakest of our last loanee shopping spree.

[Zip]

Didn’t watch the game.How bad was it ?

As with Norwich we gifted them a very early goal with Rafael letting one in which was hit straight at him. A real howler. They scored two well taken goals before half an hour was up but again the defending was poor.
We huffed and puffed and had a couple of decent chances. Brentford three shots in the entire half and three up.

Second half was an improvement. Laurent did well and Olise sent over a good cross for Aluko to nod home. Ejaria had a couple of good chances but his efforts were at a good height for the keeper to save. Brentford hit the woodwork and Holmes made a great tackle to prevent a very likely fourth goal.Fair result.

[URZZZZ]

Need to start playing players in their proper positions. We had a RB and a LB in the squad, yet we played a CB at RB and a RB at LB. It isn’t good enough I’m afraid

Seems to be following the trend of his predecessors of choosing players to a certain style rather than adapting his style to the available players

The injury excuse can only go so far too, you deal with it and make the most of what you have, and if that includes having to use some U23, so be it, I really dislike using players in their wrong position

Most of our losses we’ve given it a right good go but that’s two in a row where the tactics and implementation of them have been generally poor. Need to see a reaction next game

I very much doubt east or Watson are anywhere near the required level tbh. There’s zero chance of their contracts being renewed and they be nowhere near the squad normally

Wasn’t on about East or Watson

Play Bristow at LB, I.e natural position
Play Esteves at RB
If they’re not to be trusted with so much responsibility, play a third CB (Holmes)
Stop playing Semedo CAM to push Olise out wide
Think of playing two up top so Baldock isn’t isolated all the time, no harm in chucking a second striker on today for the last 15/20

Little things like that

[Hound]

Need to start playing players in their proper positions. We had a RB and a LB in the squad, yet we played a CB at RB and a RB at LB. It isn’t good enough I’m afraid

Seems to be following the trend of his predecessors of choosing players to a certain style rather than adapting his style to the available players

The injury excuse can only go so far too, you deal with it and make the most of what you have, and if that includes having to use some U23, so be it, I really dislike using players in their wrong position

Most of our losses we’ve given it a right good go but that’s two in a row where the tactics and implementation of them have been generally poor. Need to see a reaction next game

I very much doubt east or Watson are anywhere near the required level tbh. There’s zero chance of their contracts being renewed and they be nowhere near the squad normally

Wasn’t on about East or Watson

Play Bristow at LB, I.e natural position
Play Esteves at RB
If they’re not to be trusted with so much responsibility, play a third CB (Holmes)
Stop playing Semedo CAM to push Olise out wide
Think of playing two up top so Baldock isn’t isolated all the time, no harm in chucking a second striker on today for the last 15/20

Little things like that

None of those things fill me with any more confidence than what he did tbh

Bristow no experience at all against one of the best Rws in the division. Where are you playing Semedo instead - out wide? Or Aluko out wide where he has been rubbish?

Who’d you have thrown on as second striker? Sounds like we did ok second half and created the odd chance and at least stayed in the game

Pauno hasn’t really used the injuries as an excuse but seriously you lose Swift, Joao, Meite, Yiadom, Puscas, Richards and replace with the likes of Aluko, Holmes, Semedo and Baldock - with a bench of kids....there really is only so much you can do

[Snowflake Royal]

Agreed it was a bad game but Birmingham played well

They did. Or I thought they did. But looking at the rest of their results this year gives a clearer pic of how good they are. Ie not very good at all

We played poorly as much as they played well I think

Seems they excelled themselves against us

That's the thing about the Championship, the gap is quite small and about form and application not quality, for the most part.

Birmingham were excellent. The reason they are struggling is because they normally aren't. They were helped to be excellent by some errors and rather passive play by us. But they were still excellent.

[Sutekh]

They did. Or I thought they did. But looking at the rest of their results this year gives a clearer pic of how good they are. Ie not very good at all

We played poorly as much as they played well I think

Seems they excelled themselves against us

That's the thing about the Championship, the gap is quite small and about form and application not quality, for the most part.

Birmingham were excellent. The reason they are struggling is because they normally aren't. They were helped to be excellent by some errors and rather passive play by us. But they were still excellent.

And a goal that could be argued as offside.

[Westwood52]

Need to start playing players in their proper positions. We had a RB and a LB in the squad, yet we played a CB at RB and a RB at LB. It isn’t good enough I’m afraid

Seems to be following the trend of his predecessors of choosing players to a certain style rather than adapting his style to the available players

The injury excuse can only go so far too, you deal with it and make the most of what you have, and if that includes having to use some U23, so be it, I really dislike using players in their wrong position

Most of our losses we’ve given it a right good go but that’s two in a row where the tactics and implementation of them have been generally poor. Need to see a reaction next game

I very much doubt east or Watson are anywhere near the required level tbh. There’s zero chance of their contracts being renewed and they be nowhere near the squad normally

I have to admit I have never seen East play.But TBF he plays in a position where we have enough cover.I did see Watson play 1st team a couple of years ago and he looked better than Gunter.Then Yids came and that was that.Has he regressed so much he is worse than Estevez ? Or at least at RB ? Not sure why Estevez played LB today; Mick said he appears to be totally right footed.You can mess around playing right and left as attackers but not with defenders.I am totally right footed and played LB against Reading Uni once and gave away about twenty free kicks as I just could not adjust.

[Sutekh]

Need to start playing players in their proper positions. We had a RB and a LB in the squad, yet we played a CB at RB and a RB at LB. It isn’t good enough I’m afraid

Seems to be following the trend of his predecessors of choosing players to a certain style rather than adapting his style to the available players

The injury excuse can only go so far too, you deal with it and make the most of what you have, and if that includes having to use some U23, so be it, I really dislike using players in their wrong position

Most of our losses we’ve given it a right good go but that’s two in a row where the tactics and implementation of them have been generally poor. Need to see a reaction next game

I very much doubt east or Watson are anywhere near the required level tbh. There’s zero chance of their contracts being renewed and they be nowhere near the squad normally

I have to admit I have never seen East play.But TBF he plays in a position where we have enough cover.I did see Watson play 1st team a couple of years ago and he looked better than Gunter.Then Yids came and that was that.Has he regressed so much he is worse than Estevez ? Or at least at RB ? Not sure why Estevez played LB today; Mick said he appears to be totally right footed.You can mess around playing right and left as attackers but not with defenders.I am totally right footed and played LB against Reading Uni once and gave away about twenty free kicks as I just could not adjust.

For someone who is as good as Esteves is touted to be it shouldn’t be much of an issue to adjust. Trouble is he’s still very young and is therefore only just starting to find out whether he is as good as he is touted to be.

[Zip]

I get the feeling Esteves was very confident when he joined us but is finding out the harsh realities of Championship football. I’m sure he will learn a lot from his time with us but it will be to another teams benefit longer term and not our own. Not fussed whether he stays in January. Feel the same about Semedo and Gibson too.

[South Coast Royal]

Need to start playing players in their proper positions. We had a RB and a LB in the squad, yet we played a CB at RB and a RB at LB. It isn’t good enough I’m afraid

Seems to be following the trend of his predecessors of choosing players to a certain style rather than adapting his style to the available players

The injury excuse can only go so far too, you deal with it and make the most of what you have, and if that includes having to use some U23, so be it, I really dislike using players in their wrong position

Most of our losses we’ve given it a right good go but that’s two in a row where the tactics and implementation of them have been generally poor. Need to see a reaction next game

I very much doubt east or Watson are anywhere near the required level tbh. There’s zero chance of their contracts being renewed and they be nowhere near the squad normally

I have to admit I have never seen East play.But TBF he plays in a position where we have enough cover.I did see Watson play 1st team a couple of years ago and he looked better than Gunter.Then Yids came and that was that.Has he regressed so much he is worse than Estevez ? Or at least at RB ? Not sure why Estevez played LB today; Mick said he appears to be totally right footed.You can mess around playing right and left as attackers but not with defenders.I am totally right footed and played LB against Reading Uni once and gave away about twenty free kicks as I just could not adjust.

Would you please be my witness when I take up this question of right-footed left backs again with vision.
Actually defensively it shouldn't have mattered much because their right-winger was left-footed and Esteves really should have put a tackle in to prevent him from shooting, and scoring.

Where it did show up, and picked out by Dellor and Mick, was when Esteves struggled to cross the ball with his left foot in an attacking position.

As for the game as a whole-they took their chances in the first half and then made changes and sat back in readiness for the big Carabo Cup game they have in the week.
We really aren't creating many chances and the coming weeks will most likely continue to struggle and possibly slip away from being play-off contenders especially as some other sides from mid table are now showing a bit of form.

It may well be a season where we have played some of our best football for some years but don't end up challenging because of injuries to our best players and only generally having inexperienced youngsters as back-up.

[Crowbar6753]

I see a few mentioning the gaffer being out of his depth and having to look over his shoulder's. The last thing this club needs right now is another change of manager and back room staff. The guy has been pretty good so far and seems to be a good motivator and manages the players well.
Yes, we are on a bad dip in form but this injury crisis is probably the worst i've seen at the club, and i've been watching for nearly 40yrs now.
We've numerous injuries to key players in the squad leaving us a bench full of junior players with no experience.

That being said, i'm a firm believer that players shouldn't be played out of position. Take left back for instance, surly we have a specalized left back in the juniors? So what works best, playing a young Portugese right back out of position in the left back spot, or do you play a specalized left back who plays for the U23s and has no previous first team experience instead?

I think Aluko should get the nod over Semedo, especially after his goal today, he's way more of an attacking threat until we can get Switfy back.

And finally, the team is pretty much picking itself at the moment due to injuries, but there is one position which is in need of a change and thats the keeper. Rafael is clearly or was a good keeper but at the moment he's just not on his game.
There was talk of teams being interested in him at the start of the season and maybe this is playing on his mind, but he needs replacing right now and in Southwood we seem to have a good young keeper who's ready to take his chance!! And for me Luton would be a great game for Southwood to start.

[URZZZZ]

I very much doubt east or Watson are anywhere near the required level tbh. There’s zero chance of their contracts being renewed and they be nowhere near the squad normally

Wasn’t on about East or Watson

Play Bristow at LB, I.e natural position
Play Esteves at RB
If they’re not to be trusted with so much responsibility, play a third CB (Holmes)
Stop playing Semedo CAM to push Olise out wide
Think of playing two up top so Baldock isn’t isolated all the time, no harm in chucking a second striker on today for the last 15/20

Little things like that

None of those things fill me with any more confidence than what he did tbh

Bristow no experience at all against one of the best Rws in the division. Where are you playing Semedo instead - out wide? Or Aluko out wide where he has been rubbish?

Who’d you have thrown on as second striker? Sounds like we did ok second half and created the odd chance and at least stayed in the game

Pauno hasn’t really used the injuries as an excuse but seriously you lose Swift, Joao, Meite, Yiadom, Puscas, Richards and replace with the likes of Aluko, Holmes, Semedo and Baldock - with a bench of kids....there really is only so much you can do

There really is so much you can do? Agree to a certain extent

But looking at the team, we have 5 players in the XI (half the outfield XI) playing in positions/roles they’re not fully accustomed to. Holmes, Esteves, Semedo, Olise, Baldock

We had 1 left footed player in the team, and I know the relevance isn’t great but I always feel when you have so many right footed players (at LB especially) you lose out

Aluko did OK on Wednesday night and we lost our (limited) threat when he came off. Why weaken two players/positions (Semedo at CAM instead of Olise and Olise at RW instead of CAM) when you don’t need to?

Melvin Lambert could have joined Baldock up top. A far fetched suggestion, but we know Baldock isn’t up to much as a lone striker so why keep it for 90 minutes?

[windermereROYAL]

Just seen the goals, more f*cking shockers, Raphael must surely be in the last chance saloon now, and third goal, every centre back anywhere in the world knows you should be tight to your man and don`t give him space to turn, FFS the guy had the freedom of west London.

[John Smith]

The goalkeeper has to go! When are you all going to wake up and realise?!

[Crowbar6753]

On a better note, we've all been singing the praise's of Olise, Joao and Richard's and the impact they've made to the side and also the fact we need to be wary of offer's for these players during the fast approaching transfer window.

I would just like to add "Josh Laurent" to that list. This guy has come in on a free transfer from Shrewsbury and has over the past month been on a different level to everyone else. This guy is a machine!! and a very good footballing machine at that....he is also young and learning his trade and has made a seemless transition from league two to Championship football.

So far he has flown under the radar, however, if he keeps performing at this level we might just need to throw a cheeky price tag on him to fend off the transfer vultures.

[Lower West]

On a better note, we've all been singing the praise's of Olise, Joao and Richard's and the impact they've made to the side and also the fact we need to be wary of offer's for these players during the fast approaching transfer window.

Joao is so obviously injury prone. How many games has he now missed since he arrived last summer? Despite his talent of winning a game single handedly not going to be a transfer target anytime soon.