Hello! Yes, the Reviews are finally back- it's been way too long. I wasn't anticipating having such a big gap this Month, but a combination of the International Break and me being way too tired to do a RAW Review last week- and well, here we are. Last Weeks RAW wasn't great, it was just a load of stuff that happened, but it was a Taped Show which took away any ounce of unpredictability that there still is in the WWE (more later). The Ratings/Viewership for last weeks show definitely reflected the general state of the product for last week, but with last night being the Go-Home for Survivor Series you had to hope there'd be an upswing.
The Brothers of Destruction & The Wyatts Promo
I didn't mind this segment. As far as Opening Segments go it's far from the worst one we've had this year, that almost goes without saying. Especially in the case of Taker and Bray's Promos they're so "out there" in the build for this match that they can be quite hit and miss. With that said I thought they both did a good enough job to sell the match. The Druids stuff was a bit weird, there'll inevitably be a "Did You Know?" "X" was a Druid and now he's Main Eventing Wrestlemania in 6 or 7 Years- but I'm convinced the Druids were actually children given their size. It's stupid that pretty much everything Bray does is make him look a bit shit.
The idea that they DIDN'T do a Survivor Series match between The Wyatts, The Brothers of Destruction and others is ridiculous. Instead we're getting a standard Tag Match where Bray may not even be involved. Not only that, it's The Undertaker and Kane- neither exactly work an "up tempo" style and a Survivor Series match will have given the opportunity to balance that out. I'm not saying the match will be bad on Sunday, but the idea of Kane wrestling Strowman/Rowan doesn't exactly excite me.
Kevin Owens v Neville- WWE Title Tournament
I don't think saying this match was good would surprise anyone. I know I say this a lot when it's "Good Worker A v Good Worker B" but it genuinely would be more of a surprise if they delivered a bad match.
It was arguably the main talking point from RAW along with the stuff they said in the Main Event, but the stuff with Owens being called "lazy" by Sabrina the Teenage Witch was quite funny. I'm not saying it's funny and she doesn't know what she's talking about, because to an extent I agree with her. I've made reference to it, without making it a big thing- but Owens isn't getting "lazy" but he's regressing slightly. When Owens debuted against Cena he was the leanest he's probably ever been as a Wrestler. Since then he's put a noticeable amount of weight back on- and while I don't care, he's just begging for Vince to take a disliking to him. That more than anything else is what's annoyed me about Owens over the last few months.
Tyler Breeze v R-Truth
They're really pissing me off with this Summer Rae/Tyler Breeze pairing. It is literally the easiest thing in the world to make these two seem like a "proper" pairing. FLUFFY STUFF. GET SUMMER RAE A PAIR OF FLUFFY BOOTS, GIVE HER A FLUFFY SLEEVELESS HOODIE AND HAVE SUMMER AND TYLER COLOUR COORDINATE. Of all the things I thought I'd be doing when I started this Blog about a Year and a Half ago- I didn't think I'd have to give Wardrobe Advice. Oh Yeah, there was a match- it was standard really.
Dean Ambrose v Dolph Ziggler- WWE Title Tournament
I liked this match, without ever getting close to any sort of "big" reaction/feeling toward it. The crowd weren't into much last night, but this match being Babyface v Babyface in-front of the crowd they had last night wasn't the best idea. They didn't know who they wanted to win, so they just randomly cheered stuff and never got that invested into the match. There isn't really much to talk about for this match, there was a load of moves, Dolph didn't nearly kill himself with a Headbutt this time- and Ambrose won. That's pretty much it.
The Ambrose Promo after was unnecessary. I rarely like After-Match Promos because they're usually quite "breathy" and the Ambrose Promo wasn't an exception. It just annoyed me more than anything else, and the "Ambrose Asylum" line was horrendous.
New Day v Ryback & The Usos
Can someone, anyone explain the logic of having Ryback being the focal point of this match? While it's not been announced I think it's accepted we're getting New Day v The Usos this Sunday. Then we've got Ryback who isn't even going to be on the card and just lost to Kalisto. Logic would have been to have New Day win with shenanigans/The Usos win by pinning Xavier. Instead the guy who isn't even on the card for Survivor Series ON THE GO-HOME SHOW destroying the Tag Champs. Sometimes I hate this show.
Triple H & Cesaro Backstage
The little Backstage things they did with Cesaro, Del Rio and Owens were pretty good all things considered. I'll talk about it more in the next segment, but the idea that Triple H needs "a guy" is an interesting angle and one they should/could still act upon with Roman.
Roman Reigns v Cesaro- WWE Title Tournament
The match was good, I'll start with that. The thing is, with these two in terms of a number of fans if it hadn't have been good all the blame would have been on Roman- and if it was then Cesaro "carried" him. But, it was a good match- and one that was quite fun. The problem with this match- and the tournament in general is it's just way too predictable. If anyone didn't have the four Semi-Finalists as the four Semi-Finalists when they predicted it then there's something wrong with them.
The thing is, they could easily have made this Tournament infinitely more interesting in an instant if Cesaro had won here. Every Tournament needs either an Underdog Story or an Upset to increase interest. Recent example being Japan beating South Africa in the Rugby World Cup. This Tournament hasn't had anything like that, and as already said it's been ridiculously predictable.
It's not even like Cesaro winning here meant Roman couldn't get the Title. It would have been such a simple angle to do, Roman loses and panics thinking he's lost his chance at the Title (again), takes Triple H's offer and gets inserted into the Final of the Tournament late on in the match (fucking over Ambrose in the process) and gets the Title. Then he says it was fair game seeing as the same thing happened to him at Mania, and it all goes from there. I don't like "short-term" booking designed to spike interest usually- but this is a case where I'd not only have encouraged it, but begged for it.
The Dudleys v The Ascension
To be blunt, why are The Dudleys still on the road? It's New Day and The Usos for presumably Survivor Series and TLC at the absolute minimum- although it may be The Dudleys, New Day and The Usos as a TLC Triple Threat next month thinking about it. The problem in that scenario is The Dudleys have lost so much momentum since they've been back- and New Day are as good as they are it's not even worth putting the Titles on The Dudleys at this point. One thing I'm certain about, having The Dudleys squash The Ascension again isn't going to change my mind about that.
Alberto Del Rio v Kalisto- WWE Title Tournament
The match was fun, but again it was way too predictable. They could have easily had Kalisto win this- again they need an upset in this Tournament, if nothing else than to shake the predictable feel of the Tournament. Del Rio's already back to his Pre-Return levels in-terms of interest because of this awful MexAmerica angle. I'm not saying they should be beating Del Rio left, right and centre- but seeing as they've abandoned the Swagger angle they could easily turn Kalisto and Del Rio into an angle. Then later down the road have Sin Cara turn on Kalisto and join Del Rio and Zeb and go from there. Again, this is not hard to do- so why WWE don't do it is beyond me.
Paige & Charlotte Contract Signing
Right then, this is going to be interesting. Firstly, this segment shouldn't have been the Main Event segment. I even said that before what happened, happened. The Divas have to be built to the point where they fit into a Main Event segment- they can't just be shoe-horned in as they were last night. It's stupid, nothing about the build for this match has indicated that it should be anywhere near the Main Event of RAW. I refuse to accept them being put in the Main Event, it's like that weird time-period last year where Mark Henry "rallying America" against fucking Rusev was in the Main Event. It just doesn't "fit".
Now onto what actually happened in the segment. I've seen varying reactions when it comes to the Reid comments. Call this a cop out, but I'm genuinely on the fence about it. For people saying how Charlotte and Ric must have agreed to it, I direct you to the Paul Bearer stuff where his Kids consented to Punk and Taker doing the angle. Then Punk did the urn stuff with Bearer's "ashes" which they knew about- and then hated in execution. Also, Charlotte's been on the Main Roster for around about 6 Months- she wasn't saying "no" to anything the writers suggested once they said she was Main Eventing. At the end of the day, it's Wrestling- there isn't much room for personal feelings and if it convinced one person to either buy the PPV or sign up for the WWE Network then it did it's job. I didn't like it, not for the Reid comments- but it was just a generally shit angle with bad execution.
Overall this RAW wasn't great. It might be because I've been a bit under the weather recently- but I just struggled to really engage in the show last night. There was just a load of stuff happening with varying degrees of stupidity. With that said, we can only hope for the best from Survivor Series where we've got another two Reigns matches to look forward to! Oh the joy!
Thanks for reading as always, I'm sorry for missing last weeks Review- but there really wasn't much to be said about it and it would have been rushed because I was tired to the point where I slept right through until about an Hour before I try and put these up. Anyway, they're back now- and hopefully here to stay. November was always going to be a bit of a slow month, but December promises to be a busy one- and you'll see the return of The Sammy Awards. So that's something to look forward to.Thanks again for reading, I'll be back with the Survivor Series Predictions on Sunday- in the mean time have a good week AND SOMEONE GET SUMMER RAE SOME FLUFFY BOOTS FOR FUCK SAKE.
Tuesday, 17 November 2015
Friday, 6 November 2015
Fulham v Birmingham Preview: A Big Test
Hello! We're back already. It's been a quick turnaround of games in the last week, but with the International Break just around the corner and Kit's job not exactly being secure at the moment a result tomorrow is an absolute must. The positive on that front is Birmingham, however good they are- they're in the middle of a "blip" at the moment. In that respect it's a good time to be playing them, or at least it is on paper. In the respect of a "blip" it's similar to the Reading and Boro games in that they're really good teams, but we caught them at a good time.
Despite the Bristol City and Reading games, Kit's job is still far from secure- and should we lose tomorrow the questions will most definitely start to be asked again with regard to his future. I'm not saying the Reading (2nd Half) and Bristol City games weren't good performances, but they haven't cancelled out the vast majority of 2015. A negative result tomorrow and I genuinely wouldn't rule out Kit getting sacked in spite of the two games prior to Burnley. I'm not saying Birmingham should be a game where we win, but if we're serious about the Playoffs as Khan has stated we should be (as has Kit) we need to be trying to make up the gap between us and the teams above us ASAP.
It's funny, not so long ago I was praising us for having good strength in depth- but a few games later and we're looking pretty bare in some areas. It's definitely going to be interesting to see how we patch them up, specifically in one position. One position where we're missing a few players is Goalkeeper, but as I said in my Burnley Review I'm perfectly happy for Joe Lewis to be playing in Goal in Andy Lonergan's absence. Even though Lewis hasn't kept a Clean Sheet for us, it's not been for the lack of trying and in general I thought he's played decent when he's been given the opportunity.
Right then, the Right-Back problem. We've got Ryan Fredericks out injured after Wednesday's game. I said it in the Burnley Review, Fredericks is a very capable player- but he's gotten injured three times in just over 2 Months that he's been at the Club. Then we've got Jazz Richards who according to Kit won't be back until the MK Dons game, this of course leaves us without our two main Right-Backs- a situation that I'll admit I didn't actually see coming. The problem for us now is, with Jack Grimmer nowhere near being ready after the Wycombe game and Kay Voser not being with the squad at the moment we're ridiculously thin at Right-Back now.
The way I see it we've got three potential options for the Right-Back role tomorrow, and really none of them are ideal. A lot of it comes down to the Formation Kit uses, because we're already struggling when it comes to "normal" Right-Backs let alone Wing-Backs. I think our problems at Right-Back necessitate moving back to a 4-at-the-Back Formation for tomorrow, and the likely option I think is Liam Donnelly making his debut. Without knowing how long Kay Voser's been out with his "family problem" I think Kit recalled Donnelly from Crawley with this scenario in mind. It's not ideal for Donnelly to be making his debut in the way in which he may well end up doing so- but that's Football sometimes. The other likely option is using Richard Stearman in a role he used to play for Wolves a while ago. I'd personally be against this, because for me we can't afford to sacrifice Stearman in the heart of the defence however short we may be at Right-Back. Then the third option is keeping to Kit's new formation and playing a Wing-Back, most likely Christensen- which I'd be against just on the basic reason of form.
I've seen some people suggesting simply playing Garbutt and Husband, with one of them at Right-Back- but that doesn't work for me. It's very rare that a Left-Back, especially in someone like Garbutt's case who's as one-footed as he is can convert to the other side of the defence. With that in mind it's a lot more likely Garbutt and Husband will be fighting it out for one spot again, and nothing's changed with regard to my preference with Husband an Garbutt- and it won't until Husband does something to make that change. Should we be playing Stearman at Right-Back it'll open up a Centre-Back spot, and as it's on the Right-Hand side of the defence it's likely we bring in Shaun Hutchinson. However, as I've already said I don't want/think that'll happen either way. One thing I'd like to see explored if Kit's intent on playing this new formation would be to have Stearman as the Central Centre-Back with Ream and Hutchinson either side- but for now I'll leave that one because all signs point to 4-at-the-back tomorrow with Stearman and Ream in the middle.
Returning to a 4-at-the-back also means the return to "conventional" wingers in Midfield. As I've said a number of times at this point, I want Kacaniklic to get a run in the team. I'm not guaranteeing Kacaniklic getting a run in the team will be fruitful, but he earned a chance at doing so with his performance against Reading. A player who I'm starting to be unsure about really is Jamie O'Hara, and I didn't think I'd be saying that not so long ago. His performance levels are definitely dipping at the moment, I'm not sure if he's playing with a few knocks- or his fitness levels are a problem but there's been a noticeable dip. I'm not going to suggest dropping him, but it wouldn't surprise me if Parker starts starting in place of him for some games in the pretty close future. The other side of the Midfield is business as usual with Tom Cairney and Ryan Tunnicliffe continuing. We just have to hope- especially in Cairney's case that they can make an impact we know they're capable of making.
Reverting to a 4-4-2, or a variation on it will also hopefully mean Ross McCormack playing in his "proper" position. The First-Half at Burnley was so frustrating with regard to McCormack because he was playing so deep it in turn completely isolated Dembele. But hopefully that won't be a problem tomorrow, especially when considering Birmingham's general robustness. We're not any clearer at this stage when it come to Moussa Dembele and a potential new contract. I think that it'll be going on for a while this season, so while it's obviously something we need to be keeping an eye on- I think putting it firmly in the back of our minds will be ideal for the sake of our own sanity. I've already spoken multiple times over with regard to Matt Smith and how he's best used coming off the Bench, and I'll maintain that view until either Dembele or McCormack are injured, dead (although that may be classed as an injury) or ridiculously out of form.
Team for Birmingham
Despite the Bristol City and Reading games, Kit's job is still far from secure- and should we lose tomorrow the questions will most definitely start to be asked again with regard to his future. I'm not saying the Reading (2nd Half) and Bristol City games weren't good performances, but they haven't cancelled out the vast majority of 2015. A negative result tomorrow and I genuinely wouldn't rule out Kit getting sacked in spite of the two games prior to Burnley. I'm not saying Birmingham should be a game where we win, but if we're serious about the Playoffs as Khan has stated we should be (as has Kit) we need to be trying to make up the gap between us and the teams above us ASAP.
It's funny, not so long ago I was praising us for having good strength in depth- but a few games later and we're looking pretty bare in some areas. It's definitely going to be interesting to see how we patch them up, specifically in one position. One position where we're missing a few players is Goalkeeper, but as I said in my Burnley Review I'm perfectly happy for Joe Lewis to be playing in Goal in Andy Lonergan's absence. Even though Lewis hasn't kept a Clean Sheet for us, it's not been for the lack of trying and in general I thought he's played decent when he's been given the opportunity.
Right then, the Right-Back problem. We've got Ryan Fredericks out injured after Wednesday's game. I said it in the Burnley Review, Fredericks is a very capable player- but he's gotten injured three times in just over 2 Months that he's been at the Club. Then we've got Jazz Richards who according to Kit won't be back until the MK Dons game, this of course leaves us without our two main Right-Backs- a situation that I'll admit I didn't actually see coming. The problem for us now is, with Jack Grimmer nowhere near being ready after the Wycombe game and Kay Voser not being with the squad at the moment we're ridiculously thin at Right-Back now.
The way I see it we've got three potential options for the Right-Back role tomorrow, and really none of them are ideal. A lot of it comes down to the Formation Kit uses, because we're already struggling when it comes to "normal" Right-Backs let alone Wing-Backs. I think our problems at Right-Back necessitate moving back to a 4-at-the-Back Formation for tomorrow, and the likely option I think is Liam Donnelly making his debut. Without knowing how long Kay Voser's been out with his "family problem" I think Kit recalled Donnelly from Crawley with this scenario in mind. It's not ideal for Donnelly to be making his debut in the way in which he may well end up doing so- but that's Football sometimes. The other likely option is using Richard Stearman in a role he used to play for Wolves a while ago. I'd personally be against this, because for me we can't afford to sacrifice Stearman in the heart of the defence however short we may be at Right-Back. Then the third option is keeping to Kit's new formation and playing a Wing-Back, most likely Christensen- which I'd be against just on the basic reason of form.
I've seen some people suggesting simply playing Garbutt and Husband, with one of them at Right-Back- but that doesn't work for me. It's very rare that a Left-Back, especially in someone like Garbutt's case who's as one-footed as he is can convert to the other side of the defence. With that in mind it's a lot more likely Garbutt and Husband will be fighting it out for one spot again, and nothing's changed with regard to my preference with Husband an Garbutt- and it won't until Husband does something to make that change. Should we be playing Stearman at Right-Back it'll open up a Centre-Back spot, and as it's on the Right-Hand side of the defence it's likely we bring in Shaun Hutchinson. However, as I've already said I don't want/think that'll happen either way. One thing I'd like to see explored if Kit's intent on playing this new formation would be to have Stearman as the Central Centre-Back with Ream and Hutchinson either side- but for now I'll leave that one because all signs point to 4-at-the-back tomorrow with Stearman and Ream in the middle.
Returning to a 4-at-the-back also means the return to "conventional" wingers in Midfield. As I've said a number of times at this point, I want Kacaniklic to get a run in the team. I'm not guaranteeing Kacaniklic getting a run in the team will be fruitful, but he earned a chance at doing so with his performance against Reading. A player who I'm starting to be unsure about really is Jamie O'Hara, and I didn't think I'd be saying that not so long ago. His performance levels are definitely dipping at the moment, I'm not sure if he's playing with a few knocks- or his fitness levels are a problem but there's been a noticeable dip. I'm not going to suggest dropping him, but it wouldn't surprise me if Parker starts starting in place of him for some games in the pretty close future. The other side of the Midfield is business as usual with Tom Cairney and Ryan Tunnicliffe continuing. We just have to hope- especially in Cairney's case that they can make an impact we know they're capable of making.
Reverting to a 4-4-2, or a variation on it will also hopefully mean Ross McCormack playing in his "proper" position. The First-Half at Burnley was so frustrating with regard to McCormack because he was playing so deep it in turn completely isolated Dembele. But hopefully that won't be a problem tomorrow, especially when considering Birmingham's general robustness. We're not any clearer at this stage when it come to Moussa Dembele and a potential new contract. I think that it'll be going on for a while this season, so while it's obviously something we need to be keeping an eye on- I think putting it firmly in the back of our minds will be ideal for the sake of our own sanity. I've already spoken multiple times over with regard to Matt Smith and how he's best used coming off the Bench, and I'll maintain that view until either Dembele or McCormack are injured, dead (although that may be classed as an injury) or ridiculously out of form.
Team for Birmingham
Games like tomorrow are interesting games, and even more interesting tests of the team. I've always said the Playoffs aren't attainable this season, but I'm willing to play along for now and as such we really need a win tomorrow to close the gap on Birmingham to 2 Points. I highly doubt Birmingham would remain in 6th should we win tomorrow, but if we can remain within touching distance of the teams who are likely to be fighting it out for those Playoffs spots there's always a chance. The game tomorrow is a massive test for us, because while Birmingham did get a Point on Tuesday Night- they're currently in their bad phase, of which every team has at one stage of the season. The job we need to do is get stuck into Birmingham early and not let them settle into the match. Much in the way of the Bristol City game, but obviously it's going to be a lot harder to do so given the standard of players difference.
Losing tomorrow really isn't an option, I know that usually goes without saying- but it's especially true here. I said heading into the Bristol City game that if we lose all three or two out of our next three then I'd be sacking Kit- and however great the Bristol City game turned out to be, it was still just three points on the board. A return of 9 Points out of a possible 21 (24 if we lose tomorrow) since the QPR game simply isn't good enough if we want the Playoffs, especially considering among that run and dropped points were Charlton and Leeds. I'll cross the bridge of who I'd have come in to replace Kit should we lose tomorrow, but if we lose that bridge will definitely be crossed by me- and hopefully those in decision making positions at the Club.
Thanks for reading as always, the Review will be up tomorrow as usual. Where hopefully I'll be celebrating a great performance and a win as opposed to making a Managerial Shortlist. If nothing else I'm desperate for us to actually perform to a high-level for two halves of the same game. If by chance Kit and the Players are reading this YES, THERE'S TWO HALVES! I KNOW RIGHT? Thanks again for reading, hopefully we can head into the Internationals with a win- it'll make watching England so much more bearable.
Wednesday, 4 November 2015
Burnley v Fulham Review: Returning to Normality
That's more like it! We don't want 4 Goals per Game and happiness, we want to be losing 3-1 away to Burnley on a Tuesday in November. I wasn't expecting much in fairness, so my expectations were definitely matched- and in a way it's a good thing. We're Fulham, we can't let ourselves get carried away with this winning thing- if you win too much it loses meaning. On a more serious note, I think my lack of expectations going into the game today has made the loss sort of just "happen" as opposed to getting too worked up about it. The game tonight didn't tell us anything we don't already know, let's put it that way. It's definitely a return to earth after the last two games, but heading into the Birmingham that could be a good thing- because they seem to be losing pace at the minute and if we properly go for them we may well be heading into the Internationals with a win.
Right then, onto the goals. Unless I'm wrong, I don't think Andre Gray scored against us last season- so in that regard at least it could have been worse. When Andre Gray was rumoured to be going to Bristol City people were throwing stats about his conversion rate and all of that stuff. I've said it before, I don't like stats in general because they're used as the basis of an argument- but seeing as we're going with them he's the Top Scorer in the Championship now. You don't get there by accident, and up against Dan Burn tonight it wasn't pretty. I'll have to watch the first Andre Gray goal back, but I think Joe Lewis may have been able to do better for it. As I said, I'm not saying that with 100% certainty, but that's the impression I got. What Dan Burn's doing for Andre Gray's second I just don't know. The ball is played through with the intention of going through to Gray and Burn didn't go with it in favour of pushing up and I think trying to play offside- god knows why. I'm not putting it 100% on Burn because Tim Ream should have covered the run better- but he wouldn't have had to if Burn had defended it better.
Then the 2nd Half happened. Ross McCormack scores goals, it's mental to think he hadn't even scored for nearly the whole first month of the season. Now I think he's (joint) 3rd Top Goalscorer in the Division. It was a quality finish, and it's just a shame we couldn't get another one with all the pressure we had in the 2nd Half. Burnley's 3rd was against the run of play in the 2nd Half, so in a way it was completely going to happen- because we're Fulham. I think it was Arfield who gave Christensen a bit of a run around before he put the ball in and Taylor finished it off.
I don't have any objection to Joe Lewis starting, it caught me a bit off guard- but with Andy Lonergan being revealed to be out for "4-6 weeks" it makes a lot more sense and I'm fine with it. As I said, my first impression was Lewis should have done better for Andre Gray's first goal- but on the whole I'm fine with his performance today. There was definitely a lot worse.
We're not going to be playing against Andre Gray every week, I'll open with that. With that said, if we're serious about the Playoffs as Kit keeps insisting we have to be playing players who are capable of going toe to toe with the best players in the Division. Dan Burn simply isn't. Andre Gray must have thought it was Christmas when he saw Burn in the line-up, and sure enough he destroyed him. He did make a good goal-line clearance at 2-1, I'll give him that- but when we properly went for the Formation change bringing on Kacaniklic I'd have taken off Burn instead of Ream. Also, I've just seen Dan Burn's "Haters" tweet- is it really so hard to admit you should have done better and move on? If you're a Professional Footballer and you play badly do you really think you won't get criticism?
It wasn't the best night from a defensive standpoint, I think this was much better indicator as to how Kit's new formation will work against proper quality opposition- of which we should be taking points off if the Playoffs are our goal as Kit has kept saying. I've already had my say with regard to Ream doing better for Andre Gray's second, but I do think it was harsh for him to be taken off instead of Burn. Before people talk about Ream and Burn, and Ream getting more leniency because he's a new signing (an argument I've seen on Forums)- I've criticised Tim Ream a lot since we signed him. In fact I've criticised Tim Ream to the point where he blocked me on Twitter. I just need Stearman and all Three Centre-Backs from today will have done so.
James Husband was pretty much a non-entity in today's game, he got down the line well but he was shut down pretty well for the most part- so credit to Burnley on that front. Ryan Fredericks has shown what he's capable of on the pitch, but his body seemingly doesn't like doing it that often. I make that three injuries in around 2 Months. This is the first time it may properly come back to bite us though with Jazz Richards out until after the International Break as well. SEND FOR KAY!
The Midfield was almost non-existent in the First-Half. That's really all that can be said about it, in the 2nd Half when we switched to a 4-4-2 we immediately got more into the game, and that allowed us to put a substantial amount of pressure on Burnley. Tunnicliffe did "ok" today, he was by no means the worst player on the pitch today- and in general I thought he did fine. The thing with Tunnicliffe, a lot of the work he does goes unnoticed. I was talking about it when he first came back into the team, his role as an individual is almost secondary to the role he plays in balancing the team and doing the leg-work that others may not necessarily be doing. Cairney got the Assist for McCormack, and in the 2nd Half I thought he did pretty well as we tried to press them and get back into the game. Jamie O'Hara was another pretty neutral party in the game today. His performances are definitely dropping a bit as of late, which is one of the primary reasons I didn't want him playing today because I don't think his fitness levels are great.
Ross McCormack's such a weird player for us to have. We were effectively playing 5-4-1 in the First-Half as a result of McCormack dropping too deep and that in turn isolated Dembele. He's obviously being asked to play that role, which is fine when we're on the front foot- but the First-Half showed the other side of that and it isn't a good one. As I've already said, Dembele was completely isolated in the First-Half. In the 2nd Half he definitely got into the game more and looked a lot more dangerous, he just couldn't quite get a break.
Matt Smith coming on and giving us another option up-front was a good move from Kit. Smith's the sort of player where the direct impact he has on the game can vary a lot, but he ALWAYS gives Defenders something to think about which is why he's best coming off the Bench and changing the Striker dynamic. Kacaniklic came on and I thought did fine, unfortunately he didn't have the impact he did coming off the Bench against Reading- but I'm still quite Pro-Kacaniklic getting a run in the team and tonight hasn't dissuaded me from that point of view. As I've already said, Christensen should have done better for the 3rd Goal- and apart from that there wasn't much of note from his performance.
I've been a lot more critical than I thought I'd be to be perfectly honest. Despite what I've said, we definitely weren't awful- and playing against almost any other team we'd have gotten another goal in the 2nd Half. We also showed in the 2nd Half we can compete with the best teams in the Division, the problem being it was just the 2nd Half. You just have to give credit to Burnley for remaining as defensively sound as they did. I'm willing to give Kit's new formation some more time, but as I said at the time during my Bristol City Review- it really wasn't a good indicator. If we are serious about getting the Playoffs we need to turn our pressure into goals in the sort of situation we found ourselves in during the 2nd Half.
Thanks for reading as always, we've got the quick turnaround of games- and the Birmingham Preview's going up on Friday. I said it in the Preview as well, the Birmingham game is much more winnable- especially considering the current run they're in the middle of. Similar in many ways to Reading and Boro- and if we don't at least get a point off of them the questions over Kit have to be asked. Thanks again for reading, I hope you have a good rest of your week and come back again on Friday. WE GET TO DO IT ALL AGAIN!
Tuesday, 3 November 2015
RAW Review: 2nd November
Hello! It's another RAW Review, so far we're 1 out of 1 for November. As we're getting closer to Survivor Series there obviously needs to be a good build for it- and with the limited time there's been to develop a number of new feuds these last couple of RAW's have definitely been interesting. With there just being last night's RAW and then next week (EDIT: There's actually two RAW's left) before Survivor Series I had reasonably high expectations from a storyline progression standpoint. So the question is, did it deliver?
Roman Reigns, Seth Rollins, Authority Promo
I believe last week I started my campaign to STOP FUCKING GIVING ROMAN REIGNS SCRIPTS/BULLSHIT DIALOGUE. The campaign has not started on the right foot. I'll be perfectly honest, I was only half paying attention during the Reigns Promo- until he just decides to go "fuck it" one day and rip up the script his Promos are never really going to be worth watching. The annoying thing is, I'm 99% sure if they just told Reigns to go out and sell a match with Rollins he'd be able to do it a million times better than their scripts allow him to. The Rollins Promo was, well a Rollins Promo- as was the Authority Promo an Authority Promo. There isn't really a necessary descriptive word for them now, they're just what they are.
I was torn when they announced the Survivor Series match for the Main Event. On the one hand they blew one of the main Survivor Series selling points, but on the other the way they treat the show as if new people are watching every week if anyone new signed up for the Network then job done.
Kevin Owens v Dolph Ziggler
The match wasn't as good a match between these two as it could be. I think that was a lot to do with the fact Owens was wrestling twice, combine that with the fact the crowd were pretty flat throughout and a pretty shaky shenanigans finish it wasn't the best. This isn't anyone's fault other than Kevin Dunn, but they pretty much blew the finish by cutting to Breeze too quickly and that took away from what was already a pretty standard match.
Seth Rollins & Kevin Owens Backstage
In the fantasy world where the WWE actually follow through on all of the things they set a premise for- the "Rollins owing Owens one" angle could potentially be a really good one. Then again, it's WWE and I doubt the angle will even be a thing by December.
Becky Lynch & Brie Bella Backstage
They're really trying their best to make us hate Becky aren't they? All of the NXT vignettes she got made her come off as a genuine, driven character. Then on the Main Roster every time Becky does an Interview it just comes off as so fake. I don't want Becky being all wacky and acting like she's drank 47 Cans of Red Bull, is that too much to ask for? By the time Brie showed up I was just done with this segment. Seeing as this whole thing was about "B"s- here's a one word Review, BAD.
Cesaro v The Miz
While I want Cesaro higher up the card, in some ways I don't- because Cesaro was just a ridiculous amount of fun in this match. He was legitimately having fun in this match, and Miz was really the perfect foil for him and sold all of his stuff impeccably. I picked up on this on Twitter as well, Miz sold the Swing the "right" way by just keeping his arms out as opposed to flailing or holding his head- and it just made it look so much better. I'm not quite sure when they're going to progress from the Stardust Section to a fully-fledged feud, but I'm enjoying it on the whole.
Bray Wyatt Promo
I loved this Promo. It's not necessarily the first thing you'd show someone who's new to wrestling, especially if they're coming in with the "you know it's fake, right?" mentality. With that said, as far as pre-existing Wrestling fans go this Promo was just great. It was cheesy, ridiculous, laughably fake- and I just loved it. It was the best Bray Wyatt Promo for a while, because crucially he's actually got something he can properly sink his teeth into both Promo and Character wise at the moment. This isn't exclusive to Bray, if the WWE played to the performers strengths and gave them proper motivations the show would be so much better. The only thing that I didn't like about this segment was the fucking "What?" chants. Can those just die now? I was sick of them ages ago. Especially when people are doing the "What?" stuff during a segment that's actually good, it just makes it even more annoying.
The Lucha Dragons v Sheamus & King Barrett
This segment was good on the whole. I'm not quite sure where The Lucha Dragons fit into the Tag Team dynamic now between the returning Usos and The Dudleys- although The Dudleys may have finished their current run. The fact we got our first Lucha Dragons vignette 6 Months after they made their debut was a bit hilarious, and them seemingly finally getting on the Lucha Dragons train just as they've re-hired Del Rio for mega money is infuriating. The match was good though- if not a bit too long, and for a match with hardly any direction story-wise that's all that can really be asked of it.
Zeb Colter, Jack Swagger & Alberto Del Rio Backstage
This was the obvious feud upon Del Rio's alignment with Zeb, and on the whole I'm fine with it. As pretty much a place-holder two PPV feud before Cena's back at the end of December the feud's good. It has a solid enough base for it to actually make sense, and crucially the matches should be really good.
Alberto Del Rio v R-Truth
I didn't watch the Smackdown version of this, but I can't imagine it was much different. It was basically just a pretty standard RAW match, the only thing that may be considered a bit "out there" is Truth getting in as much offence as he did on Del Rio. I don't like the fact they're appearing to settle on the Corner Stomp thing as Del Rio's finish, because there's way too much set-up required and it looks awkward really. Hopefully he'll be using the Kick or the Cross Armbreaker alongside/instead of the Corner Stomp soon.
Seth Rollins & The New Day Backstage
I really liked this segment. Everything involving New Day is just great, and the Rollins and New Day dynamic is a really fun one. The idea that New Day seemingly believe they're kindred spirits with Rollins, all while Rollins can't stand the only people other than The Authority who want to be "friends" with Seth is just great. I thought Xavier was missing another week at first, but as soon as Rollins said "there needs to be a fifth" and Kofi and Big E started smiling I also started smiling and it was all great.
Sasha Banks Backstage Promo
SASHA WAS IN-FRONT OF A MIRROR, SHE'S TURNING.
Paige v Becky Lynch v Brie Bella v Sasha Banks- #1 Contender 4-Way
This was a match. It was most definitely a match, the less said about the match the better- but it was a match. I had no idea what was going on half the time, no clue who I should have been wanting to win. In many ways this match summed up the Divas Division, a match that was a bit of a mess and not having any clue who the Babyfaces and Heels were apart from Paige. I suppose in that regard at least the right person won, in that the only one who actually has a clear character/motivation is the one to be wrestling for the Title.
Charlotte Backstage Promo
I was out of the room for this Promo, but I can pretty much guess what she said. Something about her Dad and how Paige is good but she's a Flair- which makes her better. Am I close?
The Reigniacs v Team "We're the only good things about RAW"
This wasn't great, I wasn't expecting a 5 Star amazing match- especially when Team Reigns was revealed to be Ryback, The Usos and Dean Ambrose (that one shocked me), but I was still expecting more than what we got. On the whole it was a pretty standard multi-man Main Event. Especially with the speed at which Kofi, Xavier and The Usos got eliminated they may as well have made it a 6-Man Tag. The finish was probably the best one they could have gone for once they decided on doing the Survivor Series match. In their minds the Survivor Series match will have been so much fun, but ruined by Seth that they'll HAVE to sign up to watch Survivor Series and get a decisive finish from one. I'm not saying that'll work, but that's what they were thinking.
The finish was a bit annoying, they tried to have a "balanced" finish- when really with having the RAW last night and the go-home (EDIT: There's next week as well) I'd have preferred if they just decided to go for it and get the heat firmly on Rollins. They didn't even have to have Seth kill Reigns necessarily, for example Seth could have handcuffed Reigns and then beat the shit out of Ambrose with the Chair. You know why? BECAUSE AMBROSE IS FUCKING TURNING.
Overall this RAW wasn't the best. Especially in the first Hour or so it felt like there was a lot of stuff happening way too quickly and none of it really being able to sink in. There was some storyline progression last night, but not nearly enough given the tight turnaround between Hell in a Cell and Survivor Series.
Thanks for reading as always, as already said we've only got next weeks Go-Home Show (EDIT: We've got two RAW's left) before Survivor Series- so hopefully you'll be coming back for the Reviews and Predictions next week. Thanks again for reading, as I said hopefully you'll be staying tuned for the Survivor Series Review and more- BECAUSE AMBROSE IS FUCKING TURNING.
Roman Reigns, Seth Rollins, Authority Promo
I believe last week I started my campaign to STOP FUCKING GIVING ROMAN REIGNS SCRIPTS/BULLSHIT DIALOGUE. The campaign has not started on the right foot. I'll be perfectly honest, I was only half paying attention during the Reigns Promo- until he just decides to go "fuck it" one day and rip up the script his Promos are never really going to be worth watching. The annoying thing is, I'm 99% sure if they just told Reigns to go out and sell a match with Rollins he'd be able to do it a million times better than their scripts allow him to. The Rollins Promo was, well a Rollins Promo- as was the Authority Promo an Authority Promo. There isn't really a necessary descriptive word for them now, they're just what they are.
I was torn when they announced the Survivor Series match for the Main Event. On the one hand they blew one of the main Survivor Series selling points, but on the other the way they treat the show as if new people are watching every week if anyone new signed up for the Network then job done.
Kevin Owens v Dolph Ziggler
The match wasn't as good a match between these two as it could be. I think that was a lot to do with the fact Owens was wrestling twice, combine that with the fact the crowd were pretty flat throughout and a pretty shaky shenanigans finish it wasn't the best. This isn't anyone's fault other than Kevin Dunn, but they pretty much blew the finish by cutting to Breeze too quickly and that took away from what was already a pretty standard match.
Seth Rollins & Kevin Owens Backstage
In the fantasy world where the WWE actually follow through on all of the things they set a premise for- the "Rollins owing Owens one" angle could potentially be a really good one. Then again, it's WWE and I doubt the angle will even be a thing by December.
Becky Lynch & Brie Bella Backstage
They're really trying their best to make us hate Becky aren't they? All of the NXT vignettes she got made her come off as a genuine, driven character. Then on the Main Roster every time Becky does an Interview it just comes off as so fake. I don't want Becky being all wacky and acting like she's drank 47 Cans of Red Bull, is that too much to ask for? By the time Brie showed up I was just done with this segment. Seeing as this whole thing was about "B"s- here's a one word Review, BAD.
Cesaro v The Miz
While I want Cesaro higher up the card, in some ways I don't- because Cesaro was just a ridiculous amount of fun in this match. He was legitimately having fun in this match, and Miz was really the perfect foil for him and sold all of his stuff impeccably. I picked up on this on Twitter as well, Miz sold the Swing the "right" way by just keeping his arms out as opposed to flailing or holding his head- and it just made it look so much better. I'm not quite sure when they're going to progress from the Stardust Section to a fully-fledged feud, but I'm enjoying it on the whole.
Bray Wyatt Promo
I loved this Promo. It's not necessarily the first thing you'd show someone who's new to wrestling, especially if they're coming in with the "you know it's fake, right?" mentality. With that said, as far as pre-existing Wrestling fans go this Promo was just great. It was cheesy, ridiculous, laughably fake- and I just loved it. It was the best Bray Wyatt Promo for a while, because crucially he's actually got something he can properly sink his teeth into both Promo and Character wise at the moment. This isn't exclusive to Bray, if the WWE played to the performers strengths and gave them proper motivations the show would be so much better. The only thing that I didn't like about this segment was the fucking "What?" chants. Can those just die now? I was sick of them ages ago. Especially when people are doing the "What?" stuff during a segment that's actually good, it just makes it even more annoying.
The Lucha Dragons v Sheamus & King Barrett
This segment was good on the whole. I'm not quite sure where The Lucha Dragons fit into the Tag Team dynamic now between the returning Usos and The Dudleys- although The Dudleys may have finished their current run. The fact we got our first Lucha Dragons vignette 6 Months after they made their debut was a bit hilarious, and them seemingly finally getting on the Lucha Dragons train just as they've re-hired Del Rio for mega money is infuriating. The match was good though- if not a bit too long, and for a match with hardly any direction story-wise that's all that can really be asked of it.
Zeb Colter, Jack Swagger & Alberto Del Rio Backstage
This was the obvious feud upon Del Rio's alignment with Zeb, and on the whole I'm fine with it. As pretty much a place-holder two PPV feud before Cena's back at the end of December the feud's good. It has a solid enough base for it to actually make sense, and crucially the matches should be really good.
Alberto Del Rio v R-Truth
I didn't watch the Smackdown version of this, but I can't imagine it was much different. It was basically just a pretty standard RAW match, the only thing that may be considered a bit "out there" is Truth getting in as much offence as he did on Del Rio. I don't like the fact they're appearing to settle on the Corner Stomp thing as Del Rio's finish, because there's way too much set-up required and it looks awkward really. Hopefully he'll be using the Kick or the Cross Armbreaker alongside/instead of the Corner Stomp soon.
Seth Rollins & The New Day Backstage
I really liked this segment. Everything involving New Day is just great, and the Rollins and New Day dynamic is a really fun one. The idea that New Day seemingly believe they're kindred spirits with Rollins, all while Rollins can't stand the only people other than The Authority who want to be "friends" with Seth is just great. I thought Xavier was missing another week at first, but as soon as Rollins said "there needs to be a fifth" and Kofi and Big E started smiling I also started smiling and it was all great.
Sasha Banks Backstage Promo
SASHA WAS IN-FRONT OF A MIRROR, SHE'S TURNING.
Paige v Becky Lynch v Brie Bella v Sasha Banks- #1 Contender 4-Way
This was a match. It was most definitely a match, the less said about the match the better- but it was a match. I had no idea what was going on half the time, no clue who I should have been wanting to win. In many ways this match summed up the Divas Division, a match that was a bit of a mess and not having any clue who the Babyfaces and Heels were apart from Paige. I suppose in that regard at least the right person won, in that the only one who actually has a clear character/motivation is the one to be wrestling for the Title.
Charlotte Backstage Promo
I was out of the room for this Promo, but I can pretty much guess what she said. Something about her Dad and how Paige is good but she's a Flair- which makes her better. Am I close?
The Reigniacs v Team "We're the only good things about RAW"
This wasn't great, I wasn't expecting a 5 Star amazing match- especially when Team Reigns was revealed to be Ryback, The Usos and Dean Ambrose (that one shocked me), but I was still expecting more than what we got. On the whole it was a pretty standard multi-man Main Event. Especially with the speed at which Kofi, Xavier and The Usos got eliminated they may as well have made it a 6-Man Tag. The finish was probably the best one they could have gone for once they decided on doing the Survivor Series match. In their minds the Survivor Series match will have been so much fun, but ruined by Seth that they'll HAVE to sign up to watch Survivor Series and get a decisive finish from one. I'm not saying that'll work, but that's what they were thinking.
The finish was a bit annoying, they tried to have a "balanced" finish- when really with having the RAW last night and the go-home (EDIT: There's next week as well) I'd have preferred if they just decided to go for it and get the heat firmly on Rollins. They didn't even have to have Seth kill Reigns necessarily, for example Seth could have handcuffed Reigns and then beat the shit out of Ambrose with the Chair. You know why? BECAUSE AMBROSE IS FUCKING TURNING.
Overall this RAW wasn't the best. Especially in the first Hour or so it felt like there was a lot of stuff happening way too quickly and none of it really being able to sink in. There was some storyline progression last night, but not nearly enough given the tight turnaround between Hell in a Cell and Survivor Series.
Thanks for reading as always, as already said we've only got next weeks Go-Home Show (EDIT: We've got two RAW's left) before Survivor Series- so hopefully you'll be coming back for the Reviews and Predictions next week. Thanks again for reading, as I said hopefully you'll be staying tuned for the Survivor Series Review and more- BECAUSE AMBROSE IS FUCKING TURNING.
Monday, 2 November 2015
Burnley v Fulham Preview: Managing Expectations
"I think we're going to have a really rough August, leading to a few panic buys before the Window shuts and we'll eventually stabilise getting to high Mid-Table with the ambitions of Playoffs- but then around March/April time we'll completely go off the rails and settle at around 10th-14th."
Fair to say we're now at the "high Mid-Table with ambitions of Playoffs" part of my Pre-Season Prediction. If we can perform as we have in the last two games for every game between now and the end of the season- we will go up, I don't think that's even disputed. But, we won't- yes the last two games have been great. But does it completely cancel out everything that happened before it in this Calendar Year? No. The thing about being unbeaten in October, while factually accurate is annoying to me- because if we are serious about Playoffs we wouldn't be blowing two goal leads to Charlton and relying on our Goalkeeper to keep us in the game at Home to Leeds. With that said, you also have to say if we're serious about Playoffs we have to be taking points off of the teams above us as we have done with Boro and Reading. It really is a mixed bag- hence why Mid-Table is the most likely outcome.
Tomorrow's game is definitely an interesting one, as just said if we are serious about Playoffs we have to be taking points off the teams above us. But, I can't shake the feeling that tomorrow's game is a complete write-off. Historically we're never good up at Burnley, and with the quality Burnley have I can't see that luck changing tomorrow. With Birmingham on Saturday, especially with the current blip Birmingham are in that game is much more winnable- and it comes down to game management.
A lot's been made of the new system we used against Bristol City, and while it (obviously) worked- it's hard to say whether it'll work long-term because of it possibly being a short-term shock tactic combined with the fact Bristol City were absolutely dire at times. I think it's a fairly safe assumption that Burnley will provide more of a challenge- so it'll definitely be interesting to see if the new system is actually used, and if it is how it holds up.
One selection that isn't really in question is Andy Lonergan. It's annoying because he could and really should have had a Clean Sheet on Saturday, but we'd completely switched off by the time they the Kodjia goal went in. In fact, we'd completely switched off to the point they didn't even catch the Kodjia goal in the 4 Minute Highlight Package they put up. The lack of Clean Sheet isn't enough of a reason to give Joe Lewis a sniff of getting back in the team then.
The defensive selection for tomorrow is definitely going to be interesting. As I said, despite the obvious success with the new system on Saturday I do have my doubts over it being a long-term success- but that'll only be proven with time. The main thing when it comes to the defence is the fitness of Husband and Ryan Fredericks. I'm just going to work under the assumption that both are fit, and with Jazz Richards presumably still out injured there's not really an alternative selection given how both are currently playing. One thing I'm definitely going to be interested in going forward is when Jazz Richards gets a chance in the 5-3-2/3-5-2 and seeing how he plays in the role he plays so well for Wales. If we decide to change formation back to 4 at the back which we might depending on the degree to which we prioritise the Birmingham game, Dan Burn will be the one to drop out with Stearman and Ream carrying on as a pairing.
I've got a really weird feeling that Scott Parker's going to start tomorrow, I'm not even quite sure why to be perfectly honest. I definitely have doubts over Jamie O'Hara's fitness, and with the quick turnaround of games I'd rather he be fully-fit for Birmingham on Saturday. That of course means someone has to come in, and I have this weird feeling it'll be Parker. Cairney and Tunnicliffe aren't "defensive minded" enough to fulfil that role, and frankly I don't want their roles to change based on their performances on Saturday. With that in mind, it really is either Parker or Matilla to come in for O'Hara. As I said, I don't want Cairney or Tunnicliffe's roles to change after Saturday's game and I want it to continue as such should we be keeping to the system we used on Saturday that's that. If we revert to a 4-4-2 or a formation where we're playing with "conventional" wingers it opens the door for Alex Kacaniklic to come back into the team. If there was one thing that looking back I'm annoyed about from Saturday is that Kacaniklic didn't get a minute. I realise he didn't necessarily fit the system- and as already said I acknowledge the system did work, but to me it seems that Kacaniklic simply can't "catch a break" and if we won't give him a run in the team then we might as well just let him go in January.
In a vacuum, Moussa Dembele will be starting tomorrow and hopefully carrying on his impressive scoring run- and I do think he will. But we definitely have to be wary of overworking Dembele, because that's what I think happened with Christensen last season to be honest. Christensen was one of the best players in the league at one point, and then he got a knock that wasn't really anything just before the New Year- we tried rushing him back and he hasn't really been the same since. I'm not saying Dembele will tail off, and touch wood he won't get injured- but it's definitely something we need to be aware of and hopefully Kit's learned from Christensen. As such I do think Matt Smith is an option for tomorrow, but as I've said throughout the season- Matt Smith is best used coming off the bench and changing the Striker dynamic late-on. McCormack is a given, everyone is susceptible to being overworked- but the difference between McCormack and Dembele is McCormack's done the Championship song and dance so many times now- while this is Dembele's first proper season of any kind at senior level.
Team(s) for Burnley
The fact we do have the players to play multiple systems, in it's infancy successfully is an invaluable asset for us in the Championship. It can keep us relatively unpredictable, and crucially we have the depth in the squad to pull it off. The system we used on Saturday is one Kit knows, in fact the only way I knew how to lay out the "new" formation was to check how the Wales version was laid out. With that in mind, I am quite hopeful of it being a success for us- and as previously said we've got players like Jazz Richards who know the system and have shown they can perform in it. But, as already said- Bristol City isn't definitive proof that it does/will work. Especially when you consider we were effectively matching their formation- and I don't think any Bristol City fans would argue we have better quality players.
When it comes to Fulham, I'm almost always a pessimist. Even on Saturday when we were 4-0 up and running riot I was worried about us somehow managing to blow it. But, if we're still on this much talked about unbeaten run in a week's time- I think I'll be much more optimistic about our future. Whether or not we will be- well only time will tell.
Thanks for reading as always, the Review will be at Midnight tomorrow like usual so stay tuned for that. Tomorrow's game is definitely going to be an interesting of us, because despite the unbeaten run and general good feeling around the Club after the last two games- Kit's position and our confidence are still quite fragile at the moment. Anyway, as I said where hopefully I'll be celebrating another 4 Goals- Thanks again for reading, and let's just hope for the best eh?
Fair to say we're now at the "high Mid-Table with ambitions of Playoffs" part of my Pre-Season Prediction. If we can perform as we have in the last two games for every game between now and the end of the season- we will go up, I don't think that's even disputed. But, we won't- yes the last two games have been great. But does it completely cancel out everything that happened before it in this Calendar Year? No. The thing about being unbeaten in October, while factually accurate is annoying to me- because if we are serious about Playoffs we wouldn't be blowing two goal leads to Charlton and relying on our Goalkeeper to keep us in the game at Home to Leeds. With that said, you also have to say if we're serious about Playoffs we have to be taking points off of the teams above us as we have done with Boro and Reading. It really is a mixed bag- hence why Mid-Table is the most likely outcome.
Tomorrow's game is definitely an interesting one, as just said if we are serious about Playoffs we have to be taking points off the teams above us. But, I can't shake the feeling that tomorrow's game is a complete write-off. Historically we're never good up at Burnley, and with the quality Burnley have I can't see that luck changing tomorrow. With Birmingham on Saturday, especially with the current blip Birmingham are in that game is much more winnable- and it comes down to game management.
A lot's been made of the new system we used against Bristol City, and while it (obviously) worked- it's hard to say whether it'll work long-term because of it possibly being a short-term shock tactic combined with the fact Bristol City were absolutely dire at times. I think it's a fairly safe assumption that Burnley will provide more of a challenge- so it'll definitely be interesting to see if the new system is actually used, and if it is how it holds up.
One selection that isn't really in question is Andy Lonergan. It's annoying because he could and really should have had a Clean Sheet on Saturday, but we'd completely switched off by the time they the Kodjia goal went in. In fact, we'd completely switched off to the point they didn't even catch the Kodjia goal in the 4 Minute Highlight Package they put up. The lack of Clean Sheet isn't enough of a reason to give Joe Lewis a sniff of getting back in the team then.
The defensive selection for tomorrow is definitely going to be interesting. As I said, despite the obvious success with the new system on Saturday I do have my doubts over it being a long-term success- but that'll only be proven with time. The main thing when it comes to the defence is the fitness of Husband and Ryan Fredericks. I'm just going to work under the assumption that both are fit, and with Jazz Richards presumably still out injured there's not really an alternative selection given how both are currently playing. One thing I'm definitely going to be interested in going forward is when Jazz Richards gets a chance in the 5-3-2/3-5-2 and seeing how he plays in the role he plays so well for Wales. If we decide to change formation back to 4 at the back which we might depending on the degree to which we prioritise the Birmingham game, Dan Burn will be the one to drop out with Stearman and Ream carrying on as a pairing.
I've got a really weird feeling that Scott Parker's going to start tomorrow, I'm not even quite sure why to be perfectly honest. I definitely have doubts over Jamie O'Hara's fitness, and with the quick turnaround of games I'd rather he be fully-fit for Birmingham on Saturday. That of course means someone has to come in, and I have this weird feeling it'll be Parker. Cairney and Tunnicliffe aren't "defensive minded" enough to fulfil that role, and frankly I don't want their roles to change based on their performances on Saturday. With that in mind, it really is either Parker or Matilla to come in for O'Hara. As I said, I don't want Cairney or Tunnicliffe's roles to change after Saturday's game and I want it to continue as such should we be keeping to the system we used on Saturday that's that. If we revert to a 4-4-2 or a formation where we're playing with "conventional" wingers it opens the door for Alex Kacaniklic to come back into the team. If there was one thing that looking back I'm annoyed about from Saturday is that Kacaniklic didn't get a minute. I realise he didn't necessarily fit the system- and as already said I acknowledge the system did work, but to me it seems that Kacaniklic simply can't "catch a break" and if we won't give him a run in the team then we might as well just let him go in January.
In a vacuum, Moussa Dembele will be starting tomorrow and hopefully carrying on his impressive scoring run- and I do think he will. But we definitely have to be wary of overworking Dembele, because that's what I think happened with Christensen last season to be honest. Christensen was one of the best players in the league at one point, and then he got a knock that wasn't really anything just before the New Year- we tried rushing him back and he hasn't really been the same since. I'm not saying Dembele will tail off, and touch wood he won't get injured- but it's definitely something we need to be aware of and hopefully Kit's learned from Christensen. As such I do think Matt Smith is an option for tomorrow, but as I've said throughout the season- Matt Smith is best used coming off the bench and changing the Striker dynamic late-on. McCormack is a given, everyone is susceptible to being overworked- but the difference between McCormack and Dembele is McCormack's done the Championship song and dance so many times now- while this is Dembele's first proper season of any kind at senior level.
Team(s) for Burnley
When it comes to Fulham, I'm almost always a pessimist. Even on Saturday when we were 4-0 up and running riot I was worried about us somehow managing to blow it. But, if we're still on this much talked about unbeaten run in a week's time- I think I'll be much more optimistic about our future. Whether or not we will be- well only time will tell.
Thanks for reading as always, the Review will be at Midnight tomorrow like usual so stay tuned for that. Tomorrow's game is definitely going to be an interesting of us, because despite the unbeaten run and general good feeling around the Club after the last two games- Kit's position and our confidence are still quite fragile at the moment. Anyway, as I said where hopefully I'll be celebrating another 4 Goals- Thanks again for reading, and let's just hope for the best eh?
Saturday, 31 October 2015
Bristol City v Fulham Review: Absolute Treat
Well, that was a pretty standard win overall. Whatever long-term issues there is with Kit Symons- on days like today we can put them to one side. The First-Half was truly great, and the thing is we weren't even ridiculously dominant/on-top- we showed another different side to us in that we were ridiculously clinical today. Between a combination of pressure we put Bristol City under in the First-Half and really pressure they put on themselves- the First-Half was just magical. We did let-up and sat back somewhat in the 2nd Half and we were practically inviting Bristol City to score at times, so the fact we didn't keep the Clean Sheet is a shame- but not really a surprise.
Right then, let's relive it all in great (not really great detail)- starting with the Goals. I should actually say I don't know the exact times of the goals because Bristol City didn't have a scoreboard (I mean really, how does a Championship team in 2015 not have a Scoreboard?!). What I do know for definite is Moussa Dembele is a special player. Husband if you're including winning the Free-Kick got three assists today- and his first one was by far his best. It was great work from Husband to work it through to Dembele and in the form he's in- he simply wasn't missing. I honestly thought we'd blown it for the Second Goal. When we got the break with the ball falling to Tunnicliffe and he laid it off to Cairney with him cutting inside I thought he was going to shoot or any pass he attempted would be intercepted. So when Cairney found Dembele with the pass he did it was a (very) pleasant surprise for Dembele to be found- and as already said, on the form he's on he simply wasn't missing. The Third and Fourth Goals were just "once in a blue moon" type occurrences. It may be because Bristol City were just laughably bad at times in the First Half- or because everything was seemingly "clicking" for us going forward, but I genuinely thought McCormack would score the Free-Kick. The angle for the Free-Kick was perfect, and it was just up to McCormack to actually follow through on it- and he did! Let me just type this out to comprehend it, because I'm running on about 2 Hours Sleep and I've been meeting with a load of relatives. Ryan Tunnicliffe, RYAN TUNNICLIFFE was put through on goal by James Husband and LOBBED the Goalkeeper SUCCESSFULLY and SCORED. Yup. It truly was our day. The Kodjia goal was unfortunate for us, but any realistic Fulham Fan would say the goal was coming. In the 2nd Half we were basically in 1st Gear the whole time, that in turn lead to quite a few mistakes and on another day Kodjia would have rounded Lonergan and just shot and scored a lot earlier than he did.
Speaking of Andy Lonergan, he has a right to be annoyed with the defence when it comes to the Bristol City goal and him losing the Clean Sheet- because by the time they did score we'd completely switched off. On the whole though I thought Lonergan did well, I won't say "good" because despite a few scares I wouldn't say he was properly tested at any point today- and definitely not tested consistently.
The Defence was really weird today, I think we ended up playing about 7 Defenders in the game by the time the Full-Time whistle went. It really is hard to make too much of a judgement on certain players today because Bristol City were generally dire. With that said, you can "only beat what you're up against"- and with that in mind I do have to say Dan Burn did well today. I think the point I've made throughout when it comes to Dan Burn is (through no fault of his own) he's been playing against almost exclusively Strikers who I wouldn't say are Championship quality. See Matt Derbyshire, Marc Antoine-Fortune, That 18 Year Old Blackpool had- and while he has somewhat dispelled that with the Clean Sheet against Boro (although I can't speak for his performance in that game) I think Aaron Wilbraham definitely falls into the prior category. I thought Stearman did pretty well as well today, Stearman and Ream were wearing multiple hats today, with Husband and Fredericks going off it wasn't exactly a settled back line- but for the most part it worked.
As with Stearman, Ream was wearing multiple hats today- but on the whole he coped fine at Left and Centre-Back. I'm not reading too much into it, and Burnley will definitely be a bigger test of us should Kit try and keep as many players who started the game today in the team as possible. Ryan Fredericks was of course coming up against his (very brief) former club today- and on the whole he did really well. I'm hoping he went off in a tactical change as opposed to an enforced one, I haven't looked at much with regard to Post-Match stuff at this moment in time.
The Midfield was quite weird today in all honesty, I was fully prepared to absolutely crucify Kit after he started with Husband at Left-Mid with Ream at Left-Back, but it definitely worked. Husband was absolutely quality going forward today, but that isn't exactly surprising news knowing what we all know. I know Husband went off with a knock, but hopefully it is just that- a knock as opposed to something too bad. I thought Ryan Tunnicliffe did really well today, he of course scored the goal- but then especially First-Half when we were putting the screws to Bristol City and forcing mistakes out of them he was crucial in doing so in the Midfield. I'm honestly not sure what to make of Jamie O'Hara's performance today. I'm in no way saying he played "badly" today, but at the same time I thought he was pretty shaky at times today and (not exclusive to him) he gave the ball away too much at times. Tom Cairney is just a special player really, looking back it may be underwhelming- but at the time I thought the vision from Cairney for the Dembele goal was great, and he just generally played really well going forward.
Right then, we're breaking new ground here- Moussa Dembele is great. I think I may be unique in that opinion- but I'm just going to throw it out there. Dembele is simply just a great Striker- and it's seriously amazing how much he's developed in such a short amount of time. Two or Three Months ago Dembele would have missed the two chances he took today, that isn't an opinion- you just had to be there for the Sheffield Utd game. Dembele really should have had a Hat-Trick today, I was a bit disappointed he came off today in all honesty- especially because it looked like McCormack had a bit of a knock. I wanted him to finally turn his "two goal games" into a Hat-Trick which was there for the taking today- but I won't be complaining too much. McCormack took his Free-Kick today and put it away to perfection- but apart from that he was quite frustrating in my opinion. This was almost perfectly evidenced in the Second Half when he cut inside and then attempted to take on all of the Defenders before actually attempting a shot and had he have just shot we may well have scored 5.
The Subs Kit made were "interesting", but with consolidation being the main priority in the 2nd Half I'm not complaining too much. I'm not sure if the Fredericks Sub was enforced, but either way Christensen came on and was generally fine. I'm not sure I'm comfortable with Stearman playing Right-Back based on today, but I'm definitely not going to focus on the negatives today. Bringing Matt Smith on was good, it gave him an ovation he deserved from the Bristol City fans and from a Fulham perspective it was definitely good to see Smith back on the pitch. As I've already said, I'd have preferred he came on for McCormack- but it's splitting hairs in the grand scheme of things. It was funny with Garbutt coming on, because it looked like we were about to bring on Kacaniklic before he went down and we had to quickly re-shuffle. Either way Garbutt came on and was generally fine, The last few minutes were sort of a blur to be honest- but the goal definitely came from his side although I'm not sure if he could have done any better from it. One for the highlights.
It's hard to read too much into this game, Bristol City at times didn't actually look like they knew what defending was- so while the win and the atmosphere and everything was great it's hard to say whether it'll turn into any long-term success. With that said, we've scored 8 Goals and conceded just 1 since that Orlando Sa goal went in- and some of the goals we scored today were just absolutely sublime.
Thanks for reading as always, we've got a quick turnaround at present- and the Burnley Preview will be going up on Monday so hopefully you'll stay tuned for that one. I stand by my statement that I think the Burnley game is a write-off even after the result today, but I guess we'll just have to wait and see. Thanks again for reading, have a Happy Halloween- it's times like when you're currently stuck on a Motorway, running on 2 Hours Sleep and just generally exhausted when you realise just how much Football means to you and just how great it really is.
Right then, let's relive it all in great (not really great detail)- starting with the Goals. I should actually say I don't know the exact times of the goals because Bristol City didn't have a scoreboard (I mean really, how does a Championship team in 2015 not have a Scoreboard?!). What I do know for definite is Moussa Dembele is a special player. Husband if you're including winning the Free-Kick got three assists today- and his first one was by far his best. It was great work from Husband to work it through to Dembele and in the form he's in- he simply wasn't missing. I honestly thought we'd blown it for the Second Goal. When we got the break with the ball falling to Tunnicliffe and he laid it off to Cairney with him cutting inside I thought he was going to shoot or any pass he attempted would be intercepted. So when Cairney found Dembele with the pass he did it was a (very) pleasant surprise for Dembele to be found- and as already said, on the form he's on he simply wasn't missing. The Third and Fourth Goals were just "once in a blue moon" type occurrences. It may be because Bristol City were just laughably bad at times in the First Half- or because everything was seemingly "clicking" for us going forward, but I genuinely thought McCormack would score the Free-Kick. The angle for the Free-Kick was perfect, and it was just up to McCormack to actually follow through on it- and he did! Let me just type this out to comprehend it, because I'm running on about 2 Hours Sleep and I've been meeting with a load of relatives. Ryan Tunnicliffe, RYAN TUNNICLIFFE was put through on goal by James Husband and LOBBED the Goalkeeper SUCCESSFULLY and SCORED. Yup. It truly was our day. The Kodjia goal was unfortunate for us, but any realistic Fulham Fan would say the goal was coming. In the 2nd Half we were basically in 1st Gear the whole time, that in turn lead to quite a few mistakes and on another day Kodjia would have rounded Lonergan and just shot and scored a lot earlier than he did.
Speaking of Andy Lonergan, he has a right to be annoyed with the defence when it comes to the Bristol City goal and him losing the Clean Sheet- because by the time they did score we'd completely switched off. On the whole though I thought Lonergan did well, I won't say "good" because despite a few scares I wouldn't say he was properly tested at any point today- and definitely not tested consistently.
The Defence was really weird today, I think we ended up playing about 7 Defenders in the game by the time the Full-Time whistle went. It really is hard to make too much of a judgement on certain players today because Bristol City were generally dire. With that said, you can "only beat what you're up against"- and with that in mind I do have to say Dan Burn did well today. I think the point I've made throughout when it comes to Dan Burn is (through no fault of his own) he's been playing against almost exclusively Strikers who I wouldn't say are Championship quality. See Matt Derbyshire, Marc Antoine-Fortune, That 18 Year Old Blackpool had- and while he has somewhat dispelled that with the Clean Sheet against Boro (although I can't speak for his performance in that game) I think Aaron Wilbraham definitely falls into the prior category. I thought Stearman did pretty well as well today, Stearman and Ream were wearing multiple hats today, with Husband and Fredericks going off it wasn't exactly a settled back line- but for the most part it worked.
As with Stearman, Ream was wearing multiple hats today- but on the whole he coped fine at Left and Centre-Back. I'm not reading too much into it, and Burnley will definitely be a bigger test of us should Kit try and keep as many players who started the game today in the team as possible. Ryan Fredericks was of course coming up against his (very brief) former club today- and on the whole he did really well. I'm hoping he went off in a tactical change as opposed to an enforced one, I haven't looked at much with regard to Post-Match stuff at this moment in time.
The Midfield was quite weird today in all honesty, I was fully prepared to absolutely crucify Kit after he started with Husband at Left-Mid with Ream at Left-Back, but it definitely worked. Husband was absolutely quality going forward today, but that isn't exactly surprising news knowing what we all know. I know Husband went off with a knock, but hopefully it is just that- a knock as opposed to something too bad. I thought Ryan Tunnicliffe did really well today, he of course scored the goal- but then especially First-Half when we were putting the screws to Bristol City and forcing mistakes out of them he was crucial in doing so in the Midfield. I'm honestly not sure what to make of Jamie O'Hara's performance today. I'm in no way saying he played "badly" today, but at the same time I thought he was pretty shaky at times today and (not exclusive to him) he gave the ball away too much at times. Tom Cairney is just a special player really, looking back it may be underwhelming- but at the time I thought the vision from Cairney for the Dembele goal was great, and he just generally played really well going forward.
Right then, we're breaking new ground here- Moussa Dembele is great. I think I may be unique in that opinion- but I'm just going to throw it out there. Dembele is simply just a great Striker- and it's seriously amazing how much he's developed in such a short amount of time. Two or Three Months ago Dembele would have missed the two chances he took today, that isn't an opinion- you just had to be there for the Sheffield Utd game. Dembele really should have had a Hat-Trick today, I was a bit disappointed he came off today in all honesty- especially because it looked like McCormack had a bit of a knock. I wanted him to finally turn his "two goal games" into a Hat-Trick which was there for the taking today- but I won't be complaining too much. McCormack took his Free-Kick today and put it away to perfection- but apart from that he was quite frustrating in my opinion. This was almost perfectly evidenced in the Second Half when he cut inside and then attempted to take on all of the Defenders before actually attempting a shot and had he have just shot we may well have scored 5.
The Subs Kit made were "interesting", but with consolidation being the main priority in the 2nd Half I'm not complaining too much. I'm not sure if the Fredericks Sub was enforced, but either way Christensen came on and was generally fine. I'm not sure I'm comfortable with Stearman playing Right-Back based on today, but I'm definitely not going to focus on the negatives today. Bringing Matt Smith on was good, it gave him an ovation he deserved from the Bristol City fans and from a Fulham perspective it was definitely good to see Smith back on the pitch. As I've already said, I'd have preferred he came on for McCormack- but it's splitting hairs in the grand scheme of things. It was funny with Garbutt coming on, because it looked like we were about to bring on Kacaniklic before he went down and we had to quickly re-shuffle. Either way Garbutt came on and was generally fine, The last few minutes were sort of a blur to be honest- but the goal definitely came from his side although I'm not sure if he could have done any better from it. One for the highlights.
It's hard to read too much into this game, Bristol City at times didn't actually look like they knew what defending was- so while the win and the atmosphere and everything was great it's hard to say whether it'll turn into any long-term success. With that said, we've scored 8 Goals and conceded just 1 since that Orlando Sa goal went in- and some of the goals we scored today were just absolutely sublime.
Thanks for reading as always, we've got a quick turnaround at present- and the Burnley Preview will be going up on Monday so hopefully you'll stay tuned for that one. I stand by my statement that I think the Burnley game is a write-off even after the result today, but I guess we'll just have to wait and see. Thanks again for reading, have a Happy Halloween- it's times like when you're currently stuck on a Motorway, running on 2 Hours Sleep and just generally exhausted when you realise just how much Football means to you and just how great it really is.
Friday, 30 October 2015
Bristol City v Fulham Preview: Cliché Halloween Title
Hello! That's right, the Match Previews are finally back. Unless you were one of the (un)lucky ones who read my Charlton Preview before I took it down this'll be the first Preview since the Wolves one. Heading into the Wolves game we were coming off a game where we scored 4 goals at Home and there was all this talk about us possibly putting a run together and pushing for Playoffs- that turned out well. I think we're (rightly) a lot more pessimistic this time, but at the same time- until the inevitable messing up happens there can be some optimism however misguided it'll most likely turn out to be.
I mentioned it in my Reading Review, but it's worth repeating here- the 4-2 win last Saturday is more of a stay of execution for Kit as far as I'm concerned. Kit bought himself some more time with last weeks win, although I'm not even sure how much of that win was down to Kit to be honest. That "more time" is most likely going to extend to the next three games before the International Break. We've got three really tricky games against Bristol City, Burnley and Birmingham and if we lose 2 out of 3- or all 3 then Kit's gone. Kit's position is so unstable at the moment it's really not fair, but at the same time that's Football- and with Kit failing to deliver consistent results the pressure will keep intensifying. In short, the Reading game gave Kit a "three game contract"- and the results will determine if he goes any further.
The game tomorrow is definitely going to be an interesting one, and despite Bristol City's league position they're definitely on an upswing at the moment and we have to be wary. On the Goalkeeper front, it's definitely going to be an interesting selection for tomorrow. I was definitely happy to see Joe Lewis keep his place in the team for Reading- but after Reading the debate definitely has to be revisited. With Andy Lonergan fit again and Joe Lewis not being a "stand out" against Reading I'd be leaning towards bringing Lonergan back in. That's not to say I'll be complaining if Joe Lewis were to continue, but for me Lonergan is still the #1.
The defensive selection is quite interesting, but at the same time also straightforward. With Jazz Richards out injured, Ryan Fredericks is the natural (and only) replacement to come in at Right-Back and hopefully continue what he was doing for the 2nd Half against Reading. A lot of praise has to go to whomever is in charge of transfers in-terms of squad depth- most likely Mike Rigg and we've been left in a situation where we can have someone like Fredericks fill-in and that's great. Last Week James Husband and Luke Garbutt both had 90 Minutes to "prove" themselves and stake a claim for the Left-Back position- and it's not even close. Husband is head and shoulders above Garbutt based on what I've seen from both, and should definitely keep his place in the team. At this moment in time the only way I see Garbutt getting back into the team is when Husband goes back to Boro- but with no announced expiration date on his Loan it's hard to say when that'll be. The one worry I've got with Husband is the fact he lets so many crosses coming in from his side, and with Wilbraham up-front for Bristol City that could cause us some problems. The Centre-Back pairing should continue as is, with Ream and Stearman and all we can do is hope for the best.
When it comes to going forward, with the Midfield and the Forwards- I don't see why Kit would do anything other than keep to the 4-3-3 we were playing for the 2nd Half against Reading. Especially with Bristol City playing on Monday, we should be doing everything in our power to start off in the way "that" 7(ish) minutes happened last Saturday. The obvious question is who Jamie O'Hara comes in for, and basing it entirely off performances it should be Christensen. A Midfield Three of O'Hara, Tunniciffe and Cairney would be ideal to me- although perhaps a bit too attack-minded for an Away Game. But as I've already said, given we've got a couple of days on them in-terms of preparation for tomorrow's game we should be trying to attack them. If we go to a 4-4-2 then Christensen should also be the one to drop out, it would just also mean Tom Cairney on the right. Tunnicliffe and Cairney can't be a Centre-Mid pairing as a two, and it's going to up to O'Hara to stay deeper than perhaps he wants to at times. I saw Kit saying he's going to "use the whole squad" in these next three games, most likely implying Parker will be getting some time in the next few games- and I'd be looking at bringing him on for the last 25-30 Minutes depending on how the game's going tomorrow.
The "rotating" 4-3-3 of Kacaniklic, McCormack and Dembele just "clicked" last Saturday, as such Kit would be an absolute idiot to not continue it as such. Kacaniklic hasn't had the best of it since he came back in January, there's been a few flashpoints but he just hasn't had a proper run in the team at any stage. After Saturday, there won't be a better chance for Kacaniklic to try and build on his last performance and try and turn it into a run. I'm not necessarily saying he will turn it into a run, but if Kit doesn't give him the opportunity to after last Saturday then he might as well start packing his bags. Then of course Moussa Dembele and McCormack will make up the other two of the three and we can only hope they make a similar impact on the game as they had in the 2nd Half last Saturday.
Dembele is going to be one of the main talking points for a long while, at the very least until he signs a new Contract (hopefully ASAP) and even then he'll be talked about with big clubs in the picture right up until he leaves. Dembele has the most genuine potential of any of our Youth Players to make it at a really big club since Chris Smalling. The sad fact is, we aren't a big enough club to keep hold of him forever- eventually he is going to be sold and we just have to hope that sale date is a bit of a way off.
Team for Bristol City
Tomorrow's game is definitely going to be an interesting one, and it really is hard to call as are most Fulham games to be honest. We're such a schizophrenic team there really isn't a "safe" bet with us most weeks other than a 2 Goals or more bet. If we can perform as a team as we did 2nd Half against Reading with players like Dembele performing to the level they did we'll score goals and we'll most likely win- but there's absolutely nothing to say that we will. In fact if we're going by our seeming formula this season, we've scored 4 Goals at Home and everyone's happy so we're going to absolutely abject tomorrow and lose 3-0. The sad thing is, would that honestly surprise anyone at this point? I know I've said this at various points throughout the season, but these next three games truly are make or break for Kit- and while I'd never want us to lose a game if us losing results in Kit going I definitely won't be complaining.
When I say Kit's effectively on a three game contract I truly mean it. Burnley is pretty much a write off from my point of view, which makes tomorrow's game even more crucial for Kit- because if we're coming back to the Cottage with 0 Points from these next two games and Birmingham get the upper hand (which they most likely will) at some point the crowd will be ready to turn after a small mistake. That in-turn will put further pressure onto the players and force further mistakes and just generally result in a bad performance. But that's for next week, and for tomorrow we just have to hope none of those issues will arise and we come out of the game with another 3 Points.
Thanks for reading as always, I really try to be optimistic- especially after a result like we had against Reading last week but with Fulham at this point I really just can't. With that said, there's always a chance the Reading game may give us a spark and we actually go on a run and climb the Table. Thanks again for reading, and can any of you honestly think of a better way to be spending Halloween than watching Bristol City against Fulham? No? Didn't think so.
I mentioned it in my Reading Review, but it's worth repeating here- the 4-2 win last Saturday is more of a stay of execution for Kit as far as I'm concerned. Kit bought himself some more time with last weeks win, although I'm not even sure how much of that win was down to Kit to be honest. That "more time" is most likely going to extend to the next three games before the International Break. We've got three really tricky games against Bristol City, Burnley and Birmingham and if we lose 2 out of 3- or all 3 then Kit's gone. Kit's position is so unstable at the moment it's really not fair, but at the same time that's Football- and with Kit failing to deliver consistent results the pressure will keep intensifying. In short, the Reading game gave Kit a "three game contract"- and the results will determine if he goes any further.
The game tomorrow is definitely going to be an interesting one, and despite Bristol City's league position they're definitely on an upswing at the moment and we have to be wary. On the Goalkeeper front, it's definitely going to be an interesting selection for tomorrow. I was definitely happy to see Joe Lewis keep his place in the team for Reading- but after Reading the debate definitely has to be revisited. With Andy Lonergan fit again and Joe Lewis not being a "stand out" against Reading I'd be leaning towards bringing Lonergan back in. That's not to say I'll be complaining if Joe Lewis were to continue, but for me Lonergan is still the #1.
The defensive selection is quite interesting, but at the same time also straightforward. With Jazz Richards out injured, Ryan Fredericks is the natural (and only) replacement to come in at Right-Back and hopefully continue what he was doing for the 2nd Half against Reading. A lot of praise has to go to whomever is in charge of transfers in-terms of squad depth- most likely Mike Rigg and we've been left in a situation where we can have someone like Fredericks fill-in and that's great. Last Week James Husband and Luke Garbutt both had 90 Minutes to "prove" themselves and stake a claim for the Left-Back position- and it's not even close. Husband is head and shoulders above Garbutt based on what I've seen from both, and should definitely keep his place in the team. At this moment in time the only way I see Garbutt getting back into the team is when Husband goes back to Boro- but with no announced expiration date on his Loan it's hard to say when that'll be. The one worry I've got with Husband is the fact he lets so many crosses coming in from his side, and with Wilbraham up-front for Bristol City that could cause us some problems. The Centre-Back pairing should continue as is, with Ream and Stearman and all we can do is hope for the best.
When it comes to going forward, with the Midfield and the Forwards- I don't see why Kit would do anything other than keep to the 4-3-3 we were playing for the 2nd Half against Reading. Especially with Bristol City playing on Monday, we should be doing everything in our power to start off in the way "that" 7(ish) minutes happened last Saturday. The obvious question is who Jamie O'Hara comes in for, and basing it entirely off performances it should be Christensen. A Midfield Three of O'Hara, Tunniciffe and Cairney would be ideal to me- although perhaps a bit too attack-minded for an Away Game. But as I've already said, given we've got a couple of days on them in-terms of preparation for tomorrow's game we should be trying to attack them. If we go to a 4-4-2 then Christensen should also be the one to drop out, it would just also mean Tom Cairney on the right. Tunnicliffe and Cairney can't be a Centre-Mid pairing as a two, and it's going to up to O'Hara to stay deeper than perhaps he wants to at times. I saw Kit saying he's going to "use the whole squad" in these next three games, most likely implying Parker will be getting some time in the next few games- and I'd be looking at bringing him on for the last 25-30 Minutes depending on how the game's going tomorrow.
The "rotating" 4-3-3 of Kacaniklic, McCormack and Dembele just "clicked" last Saturday, as such Kit would be an absolute idiot to not continue it as such. Kacaniklic hasn't had the best of it since he came back in January, there's been a few flashpoints but he just hasn't had a proper run in the team at any stage. After Saturday, there won't be a better chance for Kacaniklic to try and build on his last performance and try and turn it into a run. I'm not necessarily saying he will turn it into a run, but if Kit doesn't give him the opportunity to after last Saturday then he might as well start packing his bags. Then of course Moussa Dembele and McCormack will make up the other two of the three and we can only hope they make a similar impact on the game as they had in the 2nd Half last Saturday.
Dembele is going to be one of the main talking points for a long while, at the very least until he signs a new Contract (hopefully ASAP) and even then he'll be talked about with big clubs in the picture right up until he leaves. Dembele has the most genuine potential of any of our Youth Players to make it at a really big club since Chris Smalling. The sad fact is, we aren't a big enough club to keep hold of him forever- eventually he is going to be sold and we just have to hope that sale date is a bit of a way off.
Team for Bristol City
Tomorrow's game is definitely going to be an interesting one, and it really is hard to call as are most Fulham games to be honest. We're such a schizophrenic team there really isn't a "safe" bet with us most weeks other than a 2 Goals or more bet. If we can perform as a team as we did 2nd Half against Reading with players like Dembele performing to the level they did we'll score goals and we'll most likely win- but there's absolutely nothing to say that we will. In fact if we're going by our seeming formula this season, we've scored 4 Goals at Home and everyone's happy so we're going to absolutely abject tomorrow and lose 3-0. The sad thing is, would that honestly surprise anyone at this point? I know I've said this at various points throughout the season, but these next three games truly are make or break for Kit- and while I'd never want us to lose a game if us losing results in Kit going I definitely won't be complaining.
When I say Kit's effectively on a three game contract I truly mean it. Burnley is pretty much a write off from my point of view, which makes tomorrow's game even more crucial for Kit- because if we're coming back to the Cottage with 0 Points from these next two games and Birmingham get the upper hand (which they most likely will) at some point the crowd will be ready to turn after a small mistake. That in-turn will put further pressure onto the players and force further mistakes and just generally result in a bad performance. But that's for next week, and for tomorrow we just have to hope none of those issues will arise and we come out of the game with another 3 Points.
Thanks for reading as always, I really try to be optimistic- especially after a result like we had against Reading last week but with Fulham at this point I really just can't. With that said, there's always a chance the Reading game may give us a spark and we actually go on a run and climb the Table. Thanks again for reading, and can any of you honestly think of a better way to be spending Halloween than watching Bristol City against Fulham? No? Didn't think so.
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