Our 'Deck' (4 Viewers)

[alexccfc99]

In the immediate aftermath of the game Wednesday I said the only player I would be sad to see leave us is Wright, probably a little bit hasty and wholly unrealistic, I think we are wedded to some of these players for a few years due to length of contracts and money spent on them etc.

Had a little sift through our squad and these are my full and honest opinions on them, definitely a recurring theme amongst the defence and midfield... forwards are probably getting off lightly - prepared to take a beating for some of these shouts but hey ho

Dovin - Should be playing, don't know why he isn't, at least with him when he drops a clanger you can excuse the fact he is 22 and will develop and get better, as opposed to who we are playing at the moment who is 5 years older and is showing no signs of being any better

Wilson - Good servant, doesn't get credited enough for his Golden Glove the other year (Yes we had a good defence but he still had to be good in his own right) would be happy for him to stay as a second choice if he wanted to but if he wants to go and play wouldn't stand in his way either

Collins - Poorest goalkeeper I have seen in a City shirt in a long time, that save % stat is no coincidence we look completely susceptible to conceding whenever he is on the pitch, he would struggle to get a game in our League 1 and sides, would drive him to where he wanted to go if an offer come in

Binks - Think he has been massively overrated, wouldn't have been too bothered eitherway in the summer had he come back or not and stand by it, that being said I would be starting him at the moment

Dasilva - It has not worked, shown glimpses but not anywhere near enough

Thomas - On his day he is good but we do not see it enough

Kitching - Gets a lot of stick (partly understandable due to the fee we probably overpaid for him) but in all seriousness, is he actually much worse if at all than what we have had to put up with this season, he should be given another shot it can't get any worse

Bidwell - Been a bloody good servant and over 100 Championship apps for us is no mean feat but starting to feel he is on the decline now, a new LB would be my priority in January

Latibeaudiere - Another one who flatters to deceive and talks a good game, has the odd game where he looks very useful and follows it up with a stinker - However I do think in a better side, owing to his versatility he would be a decent squad option

Van Ewijk - I do not know whether he is carrying a knock or he has something going on in his private life but he hasn't even looked half the player he did last season, if we can't get him back to those levels he should be moved on as I still think we could get a decent fee for him

Rudoni - His stats are okay but they are probably a little bit deceiving, but I am struggling to work out what he actually is? Is he a no. 10? Is he a central midfielder, is he a wide player?

Sakamoto - He hasn't looked the same player since an admittedly horrible injury, but even so I do feel Championship defenders have ever so slightly sussed him out

Allen - Good servant, a little bit overhated for me when he was getting regular game time but let's be honest we would all be amazed to see him here after the summer

Sheaf - Seems to have shrunk with the responsibility of the armband, but that being said I do not believe he has been fully fit at any point this season, you do not just turn into a bad player overnight there has to be something more to it - Easy to say in hindsight and after losing COH on a free it would not have gone down well one bit at the time, but we should have probably cashed in on him in the summer

Eccles - I think he has had an alright season, I have no issues with him being here and his new deal

Torp - I think we are a better side with him in it, shows glimpses (Watford away he was the best player on the pitch) but like the rest of the side will follow it up with absolute guff

Simms - I don't dislike him, but starting to get the feeling it probably isn't going to work out - Shame as I think when he is on it and full of confidence he can be a good player, I wouldn't be surprised if we let him go and he went and did alright elsewhere

Mason-Clark - I have stuck up for him and I think he will prove a decent buy, no issues with him being around

Wright - Best player at the club and the only one who currently could play at a higher level, without his goals we would be relegation fodder and he cannot come back quick enough

Raphael - Who?

Thomas-Asante - In the minority but I don't mind him, you can find the thread where I said he will be a good signing for us if you care to dig that far and I stand by it, I like his effort and think he could be an okay squad player as I have said before he was top scorer for a better side than us last season, he can't have just turned into a donkey

Tavares - Okay option to bring on against tired legs but again he isn't gonna be here much longer

Bassette - Raw, he will be good but I think he has got a lot to learn

 

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[Viktor17]

Fair assessment.

As always everyone is overreacting and just need to step back, let FL have some time with squad then assess.

by start of Jan will be little clearer, is it confidence or are some just not what we need.

think a bit of both. One thing for sure, FL won’t be taken as a fool by DK telling him it’s a top 6 squad if he doesn’t think so.

suspect we may need to flip couple of suppose better players now to try and rebuild a little more rounded. MVE/Simms/Sheaf in summer candidates.

also still maintain a dynamic midfield presence and some experience - right back or centre half really would make big bloody difference to this team!

 

[harvey098]

Agree with pretty much every opinion @alexccfc99

I would say I’d also be sad to lose Sakamoto though. Football is about results as a business but for us as fans it is meant to be an enjoyable hobby and he’s the only player that I feel remotely excited by when he gets the ball. lose him and my word we have a one dimensional, boring pass to death team.

 

[Sky Blue Harry H]

I think Sakamoto is showing signs of his old self. Wish we would get the ball in the box more frequently from out wide, rather than the constant recycling. Gives opponents less time to regroup, plus our forwards will get in the box more if they know a cross is likely.

 

[alexccfc99]

Fair assessment.

As always everyone is overreacting and just need to step back, let FL have some time with squad then assess.

by start of Jan will be little clearer, is it confidence or are some just not what we need.

think a bit of both. One thing for sure, FL won’t be taken as a fool by DK telling him it’s a top 6 squad if he doesn’t think so.

suspect we may need to flip couple of suppose better players now to try and rebuild a little more rounded. MVE/Simms/Sheaf in summer candidates.

also still maintain a dynamic midfield presence and some experience - right back or centre half really would make big bloody difference to this team!

The thing that annoyed me so much about the other night was the fact in my opinion that was a 0-0 game… a 0-0 game where we gave two shit goals away yet again

I’ve never seen a side give so many cheap goals to the opposition

 

[SBAndy]

Hadn’t really thought about Collins’ save percentage. 37.5%. You’d be better off having an actual fucking traffic cone in goal.

 

[shmmeee]

If I were given a blank slate and said I could have any of our players for free when building a new squad, I’d take Wright, MvE, Sheaf, Saka, and Bassette and Rudoni as prospects.

Now considering we are likely to lose Sheaf, MvE and Wright in the summer, we’re basically starting again in terms of first team.

I’d sell anyone we got an offer for and build from scratch. Some of the younger players might be worth keeping about, some like Rudoni might even break into the team with some consistency. But we need a lot better across the board if we lose our three best in the summer.

 

[stevefloyd]

Desperately need someone who can move the ball forward quicker WITH ACCURACY to at least give our 'strikers' a chance before the opposition get back to defend or should I say intercept another shite inaccurate ball going forward

 

[Jamesimus]

In the immediate aftermath of the game Wednesday I said the only player I would be sad to see leave us is Wright, probably a little bit hasty and wholly unrealistic, I think we are wedded to some of these players for a few years due to length of contracts and money spent on them etc.

Had a little sift through our squad and these are my full and honest opinions on them, definitely a recurring theme amongst the defence and midfield... forwards are probably getting off lightly - prepared to take a beating for some of these shouts but hey ho

Dovin - Should be playing, don't know why he isn't, at least with him when he drops a clanger you can excuse the fact he is 22 and will develop and get better, as opposed to who we are playing at the moment who is 5 years older and is showing no signs of being any better

Wilson - Good servant, doesn't get credited enough for his Golden Glove the other year (Yes we had a good defence but he still had to be good in his own right) would be happy for him to stay as a second choice if he wanted to but if he wants to go and play wouldn't stand in his way either

Collins - Poorest goalkeeper I have seen in a City shirt in a long time, that save % stat is no coincidence we look completely susceptible to conceding whenever he is on the pitch, he would struggle to get a game in our League 1 and sides, would drive him to where he wanted to go if an offer come in

Binks - Think he has been massively overrated, wouldn't have been too bothered eitherway in the summer had he come back or not and stand by it, that being said I would be starting him at the moment

Dasilva - It has not worked, shown glimpses but not anywhere near enough

Thomas - On his day he is good but we do not see it enough

Kitching - Gets a lot of stick (partly understandable due to the fee we probably overpaid for him) but in all seriousness, is he actually much worse if at all than what we have had to put up with this season, he should be given another shot it can't get any worse

Bidwell - Been a bloody good servant and over 100 Championship apps for us is no mean feat but starting to feel he is on the decline now, a new LB would be my priority in January

Latibeaudiere - Another one who flatters to deceive and talks a good game, has the odd game where he looks very useful and follows it up with a stinker - However I do think in a better side, owing to his versatility he would be a decent squad option

Van Ewijk - I do not know whether he is carrying a knock or he has something going on in his private life but he hasn't even looked half the player he did last season, if we can't get him back to those levels he should be moved on as I still think we could get a decent fee for him

Rudoni - His stats are okay but they are probably a little bit deceiving, but I am struggling to work out what he actually is? Is he a no. 10? Is he a central midfielder, is he a wide player?

Sakamoto - He hasn't looked the same player since an admittedly horrible injury, but even so I do feel Championship defenders have ever so slightly sussed him out

Allen - Good servant, a little bit overhated for me when he was getting regular game time but let's be honest we would all be amazed to see him here after the summer

Sheaf - Seems to have shrunk with the responsibility of the armband, but that being said I do not believe he has been fully fit at any point this season, you do not just turn into a bad player overnight there has to be something more to it - Easy to say in hindsight and after losing COH on a free it would not have gone down well one bit at the time, but we should have probably cashed in on him in the summer

Eccles - I think he has had an alright season, I have no issues with him being here and his new deal

Torp - I think we are a better side with him in it, shows glimpses (Watford away he was the best player on the pitch) but like the rest of the side will follow it up with absolute guff

Simms - I don't dislike him, but starting to get the feeling it probably isn't going to work out - Shame as I think when he is on it and full of confidence he can be a good player, I wouldn't be surprised if we let him go and he went and did alright elsewhere

Mason-Clark - I have stuck up for him and I think he will prove a decent buy, no issues with him being around

Wright - Best player at the club and the only one who currently could play at a higher level, without his goals we would be relegation fodder and he cannot come back quick enough

Raphael - Who?

Thomas-Asante - In the minority but I don't mind him, you can find the thread where I said he will be a good signing for us if you care to dig that far and I stand by it, I like his effort and think he could be an okay squad player as I have said before he was top scorer for a better side than us last season, he can't have just turned into a donkey

Tavares - Okay option to bring on against tired legs but again he isn't gonna be here much longer

Bassette - Raw, he will be good but I think he has got a lot to learn

 

[RobinsSkyBlues]

We didn't do as badly against WBA as many are saying other than the result. They capitalised on a defensive mistake near the end but otherwise mainly kept to long range shots where they got lucky with one of them. They had 2 shots on target and got 2 goals. The story of our season.

If they hadn't got lucky with their first goal and we had taken at least one of our good chances this place would have been full of praise for the away performance. But luck wasn't on our side. This becomes our players are not good enough.

We're not far off being a good side. We just need to start taking our chances and stop letting soft goals in. Let's see where we are after the next 3 games. It could easily change our season.

 

[alexccfc99]

We're not far off being a good side. We just need to start taking our chances and stop letting soft goals in. Let's see where we are after the next 3 games. It could easily change our season.

Mate as recently as even a few weeks ago I’d have agreed with you here, but we are almost at Christmas, it’s not early season anymore - Unfortunately we are in a position where the play offs are pretty unattainable and the best we can realistically hope for is a mid table finish

This side has been given ample opportunity to prove themselves as a decent outfit but we are still making the same basic, shit, embarrassing errors and it is showing no sign of changing - My patience, which has been way more than some have afforded them has drained

 

[RobinsSkyBlues]

Mate as recently as even a few weeks ago I’d have agreed with you here, but we are almost at Christmas, it’s not early season anymore - Unfortunately we are in a position where the play offs are pretty unattainable and the best we can realistically hope for is a mid table finish

This side has been given ample opportunity to prove themselves as a decent outfit but we are still making the same basic, shit, embarrassing errors and it is showing no sign of changing - My patience, which has been way more than some have afforded them has drained

I agree with what you're saying. But we need to keep our faith in Lampard. He was never going to turn things around straight away. Other than the last result I have liked what I have seen so far.

We still have Wright to come back. The sooner the better. Let's also see what happens in January. I've only seen us play badly twice so far this season. There may be a gap between us and where we want to be in the table, but other than the top 3 there's a lot of inconsistency. We now have a run of easier games. If we can get a run going we will quickly climb up the table.

 

[alexccfc99]

I agree with what you're saying. But we need to keep our faith in Lampard. He was never going to turn things around straight away. Other than the last result I have liked what I have seen so far.

We still have Wright to come back. The sooner the better. Let's also see what happens in January. I've only seen us play badly twice so far this season. There may be a gap between us and where we want to be in the table, but other than the top 3 there's a lot of inconsistency. We now have a run of easier games. If we can get a run going we will quickly climb up the table.

I have full faith in Lampard, I don’t in some of our players though

 

[Mucca Mad Boys]

Look at Sunderland. Finished 15th last season and the same players are sitting prettily in 4th this season. All they’ve done is added a new manager and a couple of experienced players.

That’s all we need. Cut out the BS goals that we concede and we’ll be fine.

 

[RobinsSkyBlues]

I have full faith in Lampard, I don’t in some of our players though

Which is why I say let's wait and see what happens in the January window. Wouldn't take a lot to change things.

 

[RobinsSkyBlues]

Look at Sunderland. Finished 15th last season and the same players are sitting prettily in 4th this season. All they’ve done is added a new manager and a couple of experienced players.

That’s all we need. Cut out the BS goals that we concede and we’ll be fine.

They also had a great young player come through the ranks. Now he is injured their results have changed.

 

[chiefdave]

Seems slightly mental that people were talking about this 'deck' being good enough for automatic promotion in the summer and now we're talking about basically getting rid of everyone and starting again!

 

[Sky Blue Goblin]

Don’t disagree with any of the views here.

I don’t actually think it’s a bad squad and I do believe that at least top half should be the ambition.

But we haven’t we managed this squad well enough, they are young lads most of them and anytime they can build confidence like Simms at Watford, we just booted them out of the squad.

Now we are in a vicious circle with them as they need confidence to get wins but need to get wins to start getting confidence. Genuinely think if we can get a run together we’ll start to fly.

Would get a couple of additions in January to help us with our heads in matches tho, Egan would be a target and potentially a club captain. Not sure on midfield but an Alan Browne type could be a great fit. Maybe Sunderland would sell and we can go cap in hand to him.

 

[Mucca Mad Boys]

Seems slightly mental that people were talking about this 'deck' being good enough for automatic promotion in the summer and now we're talking about basically getting rid of everyone and starting again!

Emotional knee jerking. The team has done well against some of the best teams in the division, our record against the top 8 is respectable, better than it was last season at least.

We knew the team was a bit short in areas going into the season. 2-4 signings in Jan could really lift the team to get us up the table.

We’ve got Hull and Pompey up next and they’re two games we need to looking to get 6 points from. Plymouth, Millwall and Cardiff in the Xmas and New Year period are all winnable games. The next 5 games could really catapult us up the table and turn the season around going into Jan.

 

[Sky Blue Goblin]

Emotional knee jerking. The team has done well against some of the best teams in the division, our record against the top 8 is respectable, better than it was last season at least.

We knew the team was a bit short in areas going into the season. 2-4 signings in Jan could really lift the team to get us up the table.

We’ve got Hull and Pompey up next and they’re two games we need to looking to get 6 points from. Plymouth, Millwall and Cardiff in the Xmas and New Year period are all winnable games. The next 5 games could really catapult us up the table and turn the season around going into Jan.

My hope exactly, get a run together and get confidence back into them and we’ll go on a tear (maybe just me coping at this point ).

 

[chiefdave]

We’ve got Hull and Pompey up next and they’re two games we need to looking to get 6 points from. Plymouth, Millwall and Cardiff in the Xmas and New Year period are all winnable games. The next 5 games could really catapult us up the table and turn the season around going into Jan.

Exactly this. For whatever reason we've been slow starters for years now but with fucking around spending weeks on a recruitment process to end up with the person everyone knew it was going to be before Robins even lost his job appears to have delayed are usual upturn in fortunes.

We've got winable games now against some teams who are pretty terrible. Can't be anymore excuses really, needs to be 6 points from the next 2 games and then a decent run of form over Xmas.

Things will look a lot different if we're going into the January window pushing into the top half of the table and brining a couple of quality loans in, not sure January is really the time for big signings but lets make use of Lampards connections and get some decent loans in.

 

[covcity4life]

Lol stop being so panicky.

 

[Mucca Mad Boys]

My hope exactly, get a run together and get confidence back into them and we’ll go on a tear (maybe just me coping at this point ).

100% I do think Lampard needs to get Simms and Kitching back in the side. Rudoni at RM ahead of Sakamoto for Hull may make sense because there’s definitely a tactical instruction for Sakamoto to play more narrowly which I’m not sure suits him.

 

[Sky Blue Goblin]

100% I do think Lampard needs to get Simms and Kitching back in the side. Rudoni at RM ahead of Sakamoto for Hull may make sense because there’s definitely a tactical instruction for Sakamoto to play more narrowly which I’m not sure suits him.

Might be an idea, if it’s the current set up could play torp in the cam role. With Eccles with sheaf

 

[harvey098]

This side has been given ample opportunity to prove themselves as a decent outfit but we are still making the same basic, shit, embarrassing errors and it is showing no sign of changing - My patience, which has been way more than some have afforded them has drained

What I have to keep reminding myself though is that it’s literally the same squad / team that finished 9th and got to an FA Cup semi final only a few months ago. Why does it feel so different this year!?

Of the 16 players that played a part in the fa cup semi final “win” over Man Utd… 14 of them are still here. (Only O’Hare and Godden have left)

 

[clint van damme]

Look at Sunderland. Finished 15th last season and the same players are sitting prettily in 4th this season. All they’ve done is added a new manager and a couple of experienced players.

That’s all we need. Cut out the BS goals that we concede and we’ll be fine.

We shouldn't need to be adding experience, they should already be here.

 

[clint van damme]

What I have to keep reminding myself though is that it’s literally the same squad / team that finished 9th and got to an FA Cup semi final only a few months ago. Why does it feel so different this year!?

Of the 16 players that played a part in the fa cup semi final “win” over Man Utd… 14 of them are still here. (Only O’Hare and Godden have left)

And Allen hasn't really played due to injury.

 

[Alkhen]

Look at Sunderland. Finished 15th last season and the same players are sitting prettily in 4th this season. All they’ve done is added a new manager and a couple of experienced players.

That’s all we need. Cut out the BS goals that we concede and we’ll be fine.

Yep 100% this, we are far off being a really good side. Desperate for cover for MvE and a few quality calmer/experienced heads and we'd look far better.

 

[Mucca Mad Boys]

We shouldn't need to be adding experience, they should already be here.

For whatever reason, we couldn’t sign Browne and Worrall. You add those two to our team and we’re gonna be doing a lot better.

Every team needs strong leader and in hindsight, would’ve kept Kelly around. Of course we didn’t plan to not sign a CM.

 

[Wyken Sky Blue]

Yep 100% this, we are far off being a really good side. Desperate for cover for MvE and a few quality calmer/experienced heads and we'd look far better.

It shouldn't be 'cover' for MvE, it should be competition

MvE knows he is a guaranteed starter and won't get subbed unless injured, his performances this season have shown that

 

[Warwickhunt]

We didn't do as badly against WBA as many are saying other than the result. They capitalised on a defensive mistake near the end but otherwise mainly kept to long range shots where they got lucky with one of them. They had 2 shots on target and got 2 goals. The story of our season.

If they hadn't got lucky with their first goal and we had taken at least one of our good chances this place would have been full of praise for the away performance. But luck wasn't on our side. This becomes our players are not good enough.

We're not far off being a good side. We just need to start taking our chances and stop letting soft goals in. Let's see where we are after the next 3 games. It could easily change our season.

We need a bit of do or die attitude from our defenders and DM's and put their bodies on the line, this would stop those silly goals being given away

 

[Alkhen]

It shouldn't be 'cover' for MvE, it should be competition

MvE knows he is a guaranteed starter and won't get subbed unless injured, his performances this season have shown that

Bit of a harsh assessment considering there is literally no other specialist RB or RWB options. The guy is knackered and it shows, no need to insinuate he doesn't care

 

[Wyken Sky Blue]

Bit of a harsh assessment considering there is literally no other specialist RB or RWB options. The guy is knackered and it shows, no need to insinuate he doesn't care

It not harsh at all, we've seen in numerous times over the years and this is just another example

He is 24 he shouldn't be knackered

I put it down to potentially having his head turned during the summer and knowing he won't be dropped so gives him a leeway to lower standards whether he realises this or not. Every other position in the pitch has competition (or backup in the some cases like Jamie Allen) except RB

 

[Sky Blue Goblin]

It not harsh at all, we've seen in numerous times over the years and this is just another example

He is 24 he shouldn't be knackered

I put it down to potentially having his head turned during the summer and knowing he won't be dropped so gives him a leeway to lower standards whether he realises this or not. Every other position in the pitch has competition (or backup in the some cases like Jamie Allen) except RB

I don’t know on the shouldn’t be.

He left the Netherlands last year to the championship which we know is very physically demanding league and has played pretty much everyone of our games including cup games.

He needs a break, mentally and physically must be knacked. Doesn’t strike me as someone who would stop giving his all.

 

[Wyken Sky Blue]

He left the Netherlands last year to the championship which we know is very physically demanding league and has played pretty much everyone of our games including cup games.

Same as last season then playing nearly 50 games and was one of our better and most consistent players

For me he needs competition