' Malkys Tactics. '

A lot of talk on here about them. Most of it very negative due to his defensive thinking.

However just how much defensive is it considering what we are up against this season. Last season he applied the same logic but obviously against lesser opposition. The result was us winning the league comfortable like QPR the 2 seasons before but well down on the entertainment value. This season survival will be considered a bigger achievement than winning the championship but are these defensive procedures good enough this time around.

I will come right out with it and say I am totally bored with this type of play. The the first time in many years I am not looking forward to the 90 minutes of football we are playing right now. Last season was not much different but at least I felt we were going to get a result. This season it feels like we are going to get hammered without trying. This is something that is making me see the light at the end of the tunnel and that is the fact we are not getting hammered.

We have played 11 games this season and it has been boring football we have produced. However just look at the opposition. Most of those teams could be considered light years ahead of us. Even though we have spent £35 million it does not buy you minutes beside years. If we do survive this season then I feel we might have caught up by a decade or so. So lets look at the opposition we have played.

Lets start with those that we all agree are just well beyond our means to get anything. Man City, Everton, Tottenham and Chelsea. We all would agreed we should have had 0 points return from them but amazingly we got 4 and it could have been a bit more but for a last minute goal. Lets move onto the teams I put in the category if lady luck is on our side we could come away with a result and that being West Ham, Newcastle, Aston Villa and Swansea. I would say the 3 points we got there makes up for the 3 loses. Finally it is the teams we need to get a result from and they were Norwich, Fulham and Hull. All of these games away and a return of 5 from 9 points should give us all confidence we will survive.

So overall the system seems to be working but as some say for how long. Well as the list shows above most of the teams we have played are well ahead of us. Those teams we feel we can catch up now we have only played 3 of them and they have been away. Our defensive tactics at Fulham created some 20 chances, some are saying we should have come away with the win at Hull ( I was not there) but the Norwich game made up for that as we were lucky to come away with anything there. I personally feel looking at the Fulham game just perhaps the tactics are right.

The defencive line we are employing at the expense of an attack is needed because most of the teams we will play this season are a lot better than us. For the teams we feel we can get a result against I personally feel will struggle to score against us which will allow us to attack them like we did at Fulham. I don't think some of us are seeing this and that is because we have not played many of these lesser teams and we have not entertained any of them at home yet. I just wonder if some of us are expecting too much.

I forsee some boring football in the near future. The next 2 games are going to be nail biting. All we can hope for is to avoid an onslaught. The tactics we are playing I feel will achieve that. We will then go into the easy part compared to what we have gone through till now and hopefully the boredom will ease off like it did at Fulham.

Great post.

I think once Cornelius is back and playing the tactics may work slightly better.

Great post.

I think once Cornelius is back and playing the tactics may work slightly better.

Yep great post, and as I will keep saying we are yet to play the bottom three, and the weakest team at home is Swansea and we bet them.

We have had a tough start and have done really well with our £8Million striker to come in and transfers in January.

Judge the team and tactics at the end of December

Great post.

I think once Cornelius is back and playing the tactics may work slightly better.

Yep great post, and as I will keep saying we are yet to play the bottom three, and the weakest team at home is Swansea and we bet them.

We have had a tough start and have done really well with our £8Million striker to come in and transfers in January.

Judge the team and tactics at the end of December

There are not many teams in the league we are above so I think we should all expect a lot more of what we are being served.

Dacember is the time to take serious stock of the situation. Hopefully we will be a little bit higher than what we are.

Regarding Cornelious I am one of many who is not sure about him. If I am wrong I feel we will end up a lot higher than I am expecting.

I can honestly say that yesterday was the worst 90 minutes of football I have watched from us in a long time. We never looked like scoring, had no cutting edge or creativity at all [why no Kimbo when we went a goal down?] and let a very poor Villa side dominate us in the second half when we had gone in looking the more capable of winning at half time despite the paucity of efforts in the first half. In the end we were lucky it wasn't more. We simply cannot go on letting teams have so many shots against us without reply. I can understand us keeping it tight for the first half an hour or so, especially against the better teams, but even at 2-0 down our best chance was a clearance from one of their defenders that hit his own player and rebounded past the post. Campbell is quick and hard working but he is not a lone striker. A truly horrible performance imo.

Yesterday was 3 bonus points for the taking, up to the 1st goal the stats were saying that we had 60% possession and Villa were playing like the away team on the counter. There were 3 factors to yesterdays crash back down to earth:

1) Needless fould by Gary that presented Villa the free kick (Whitts IMO had the run covered)
2) Moment of brilliance by Bacuna, you will not see many free kicks better than that this season albeit Marshall was caught a little flat footed. The ball moved from way outside of the post.
3) I do not like having a pop at Malky but with all of the possession I think he should have gone more attacking rather than havng 5 across the middle. The 5 across the midle is making our lone striker look awful at times (whether it is Peter or Fraser) as with no support they are just being swallowed up by the defenders.


Our lack of goals from the strikers is rather worrying, we will not survive in this league banking on set pieces, we need to create more chances from open play. We need two pacey tricky wingers, Bellers has not got the legs anymore and I think we should go back for Montero in the transfer window.

If we can secure two creative wingers then we will be OK, but with 2 mamouth tasks ahead of us (UTD and Arsenal) we could find ourselves back in the drop zone should other results go against us.

Can't disagree with the post however our squad was always going to struggle compared to some of the premership teams especially as some of them have squads so good that they could field a b team that would have more quality than us. There are teams though in the prem who have not got the abundannce of talent running through their squads but the advantage they have over us newbies is that they know how to survive in this league.
I would like to see Malky change things but in all fairness he has limited options at present. Adding one or two players in January is going to be key for us and if we do not strengthen and the teams around us do then we could be in for a rough ride.

Great post.

I think once Cornelius is back and playing the tactics may work slightly better.

Yep great post, and as I will keep saying we are yet to play the bottom three, and the weakest team at home is Swansea and we bet them.

We have had a tough start and have done really well with our £8Million striker to come in and transfers in January.

Judge the team and tactics at the end of December

No, I will judge them now. If they clearly aren't working and not of a high enough standard, I will judge them. The simple fact is we are so f*cking lucky to be where we are now, and if it wasn't for our strength in set pieces we would be truly fucked. We have no proper attacking threat and I swear to God if Turner loses another aerial duel which results in another goal conceded then we need an extra defender.

If tactics are a bit hit and miss, they need changing. You don't keep doing the same shit hoping for the best. The tactics need to change, and we need to actually bring in players to add creative flair and defensive abilities if we have any hope of surviving.

Fair play, some of you are completely clueless! We were the better team and controlled the majority of the game until Villa scored a world class free kick that no keeper could have saved. Then Malky throws Maynard on, goes more attacking, we lose our shape and Villa get the second thanks to poor defending from Turner. We didn't really threaten their keeper, but apart from a long shot which went straight at Marshall in the first half and a header in the second half, I don't think they had a shot on target until the free kick.

I'm disappointed with the result, but I'm not disappointed with our performance. For 78 minutes, we were the better team, if we pinched a goal, I have no doubt we would have gone on to win and then we would all be praising Malky for getting it tactically spot on. The problem is those of you slating Malky for his defensive, negative, boring play would still slate him if he set us up to be open, attacking, exciting and we get hammered! Malky can't win with your unrealistic, knee jerk reactions!

Blinded by a fistpump

Not good enough.

In the Championship teams weren't as fit and teams didn't have the belief or true skill to go at you constantly in waves until you eventually broke. There were spells where they would turn it on but only 1 or 2 sides really upped the ante and they still didn't possess the quality needed to break us down and we managed to pick up points even against them.

In the Premier League inviting pressure upon yourself is suicide plain and simple. Spurs kept going until the death and took 3 points from us. Whether a goal is scored in the 1st minute or 93rd minute it doesn't matter. We conceded and we lost 1-0. Now, can I understand what Malky is trying to do? Totally, but he shot or Moody, or both of them, messed up in the summer. They didn't sign the attacking outlets needed to relieve pressure on the back 4 and its telling. Wave after wave of attack is coming at us.

People say 'most of these shots come from distance' as an excuse. Its a terrible excuse. In the PL players have true quality and as Ruiz, Bacuna and others have shown, even Mutch of our own, they can and will find the net from distance and make you pay. Rarely did a goal of Ruiz's calibre hit the back of the net in the Championship or a free kick of Bacuna's quality. In this league the likes of Cabaye, the likes of Suarez, the likes of Nani, the likes of Richardson, the likes of Arteta, etc. will make you pay and punish you for such.

If you are constantly defending you are far more likely to give away not only penalties but free kicks in areas where you can and will be hurt. You are also far more likely to also give away corners where again teams of quality will hurt you. Some can't see that the best form of defence is attack. The fact we have to put up THREE DEFENDERS at set pieces to stand a chance of scoring is laughable. AREN'T STRIKERS SUPPOSED TO BE THE MAIN THREAT? Malky knew Cornelius had issues before the window was closed and could have entered the loan market to get a target man. Carlton Cole was available late on FFS yet nothing.

For 78 minutes, we were the better team,

If it wasn't for Caulker and Marshall bailing the team out we could have been 4 or 5-0 down at that point. We weren't the better team at all. They had a few shots on target, one of which Marshall saved and Benteke nearly slotted home and would have done if it wasn't for a last gasp interception by Caulker.

The closest we came to scoring was an own goal from one of their players. Make of that what you will.

Not good enough.

In the Championship teams weren't as fit and teams didn't have the belief or true skill to go at you constantly in waves until you eventually broke. There were spells where they would turn it on but only 1 or 2 sides really upped the ante and they still didn't possess the quality needed to break us down and we managed to pick up points even against them.

In the Premier League inviting pressure upon yourself is suicide plain and simple. Spurs kept going until the death and took 3 points from us. Whether a goal is scored in the 1st minute or 93rd minute it doesn't matter. We conceded and we lost 1-0. Now, can I understand what Malky is trying to do? Totally, but he shot or Moody, or both of them, messed up in the summer. They didn't sign the attacking outlets needed to relieve pressure on the back 4 and its telling. Wave after wave of attack is coming at us.

People say 'most of these shots come from distance' as an excuse. Its a terrible excuse. In the PL players have true quality and as Ruiz, Bacuna and others have shown, even Mutch of our own, they can and will find the net from distance and make you pay. Rarely did a goal of Ruiz's calibre hit the back of the net in the Championship or a free kick of Bacuna's quality. In this league the likes of Cabaye, the likes of Suarez, the likes of Nani, the likes of Richardson, the likes of Arteta, etc. will make you pay and punish you for such.

If you are constantly defending you are far more likely to give away not only penalties but free kicks in areas where you can and will be hurt. You are also far more likely to also give away corners where again teams of quality will hurt you. Some can't see that the best form of defence is attack. The fact we have to put up THREE DEFENDERS at set pieces to stand a chance of scoring is laughable. AREN'T STRIKERS SUPPOSED TO BE THE MAIN THREAT? Malky knew Cornelius had issues before the window was closed and could have entered the loan market to get a target man. Carlton Cole was available late on FFS yet nothing.

yes they did one problem though is hes injured coming back soon from what ive heard here.

I can honestly say that yesterday was the worst 90 minutes of football I have watched from us in a long time. We never looked like scoring, had no cutting edge or creativity at all [why no Kimbo when we went a goal down?] and let a very poor Villa side dominate us in the second half when we had gone in looking the more capable of winning at half time despite the paucity of efforts in the first half. In the end we were lucky it wasn't more. We simply cannot go on letting teams have so many shots against us without reply. I can understand us keeping it tight for the first half an hour or so, especially against the better teams, but even at 2-0 down our best chance was a clearance from one of their defenders that hit his own player and rebounded past the post. Campbell is quick and hard working but he is not a lone striker. A truly horrible performance imo.

i take it you didnt go to Norwich................but agree it was dour..AGAIN.....id love it to change..and change with Malky at the helm.................but dont think its going to....

yes they did one problem though is hes injured coming back soon from what ive heard here.

We've been hearing this forever.

yes they did one problem though is hes injured coming back soon from what ive heard here.

We've been hearing this forever.

well sorry you cant just dismiss it can you

he is injured, he cant play.

when he can play hopefully he will answer your frustrating comments

its the reason we signed him a goal scorer the one thing we are struggling to do

when he came on against Man City (it was only 5 minutes or so) but I saw what we needed in that time hungry and not afraid to have a go

but of course you will ignore it

well sorry you cant just dismiss it can you

he is injured, he cant play.

when he can play hopefully he will answer your frustrating comments

its the reason we signed him a goal scorer the one thing we are struggling to do

when he came on against Man City (it was only 5 minutes or so) but I saw what we needed in that time hungry and not afraid to have a go

but of course you will ignore it

If he's not playing he's of no value to the team so yes I can dismiss it. We can't afford to pay record fees and high wages for injury prone players. Also, Malky knew he was injured before the window closed so why was no cover sought? That's on Malky and Moody, no one else.

well sorry you cant just dismiss it can you

he is injured, he cant play.

when he can play hopefully he will answer your frustrating comments

its the reason we signed him a goal scorer the one thing we are struggling to do

when he came on against Man City (it was only 5 minutes or so) but I saw what we needed in that time hungry and not afraid to have a go

but of course you will ignore it

If he's not playing he's of no value to the team so yes I can dismiss it. We can't afford to pay record fees and high wages for injury prone players. Also, Malky knew he was injured before the window closed so why was no cover sought? That's on Malky and Moody, no one else.

we had already spent our quota by the owner in fact we spent more, we already have cover for Cornelius hes called Rudy Gestede, now if the manager feels we should not play Gestede despite Cornelius' injury thats a tactical decision nothing to do with alleged failings in the transfer window (your original point)

is Cornelius injury prone?or is he just unlucky with this injury? because when he signed I dont remember anyone complaining about how injury prone he was

we already have cover for Cornelius hes called Rudy Gestede

we already have cover for Cornelius hes called Rudy Gestede

does Rudy not play in the same position as Cornelius then?

does Rudy not play in the same position as Cornelius then?

Yes he does but he's hardly adequate cover. A record signing being replaced by a player many wanted to leave whilst we're in the Championship. Again, the lack of adequate back up is on Malky. Cole was a free agent at the time and could have been purchased instead of the likes of Brayford who was another waste of money.

does Rudy not play in the same position as Cornelius then?

Yes he does but he's hardly adequate cover. A record signing being replaced by a player many wanted to leave whilst we're in the Championship. Again, the lack of adequate back up is on Malky. Cole was a free agent at the time and could have been purchased instead of the likes of Brayford who was another waste of money.

adequate or not hes cover so blows your why havent we got any cover out of the water.

Rudy hasnt been sold yet maybe the manager sees something in him, I dont know im not the manager (neither are you)

So we do have cover for Cornelius

Cornelius is not injury prone (I presume the reason you didnt answer that question is because you cant)

players get injured (not sure how long youve been watching football I presume long enough to realise this fact) and they play again.

So I still dont see where your going with this Transfer arguments

Jonny your wasting your breath on the chameleon.

adequate or not hes cover so blows your why havent we got any cover out of the water.

Hes not PL level cover and thats a fact. It blows nothing out of the water as hes not good enough.

Rudy hasnt been sold yet maybe the manager sees something in him, I dont know im not the manager (neither are you)

1) Maybe nobody wants him
2) If Malky see's something in him then its further proof he needs sacking and possibly help

So we do have cover for Cornelius

Not Premier League level cover. We could get anybody off the street on that notion and say 'we have cover'. If the cover isn't adequate its as good as useless.

Cornelius is not injury prone (I presume the reason you didnt answer that question is because you cant)

Look at his track record abroad as well. He was injured for a period of time at Copenhagen as well.

players get injured (not sure how long youve been watching football I presume long enough to realise this fact) and they play again.

1) Injured at Copenhagen
2) Injured here
3) Rumours he's not up to it
4) Record signing for our club
5) A lot of our transfer budget spent on him

Forgive me for not being happy about it.

Jonny your wasting your breath on the chameleon.

Says the guy who was once a proud bluebird and is now happy to follow Tan around and buy his lovely merchandise. Blue to red. Oh well, looks like I'm not the only chameleon here and won't be the last will I whipping boy?

adequate or not hes cover so blows your why havent we got any cover out of the water.

Hes not PL level cover and thats a fact. It blows nothing out of the water as hes not good enough.

Rudy hasnt been sold yet maybe the manager sees something in him, I dont know im not the manager (neither are you)

1) Maybe nobody wants him
2) If Malky see's something in him then its further proof he needs sacking and possibly help

So we do have cover for Cornelius

Not Premier League level cover. We could get anybody off the street on that notion and say 'we have cover'. If the cover isn't adequate its as good as useless.

Cornelius is not injury prone (I presume the reason you didnt answer that question is because you cant)

Look at his track record abroad as well. He was injured for a period of time at Copenhagen as well.

players get injured (not sure how long youve been watching football I presume long enough to realise this fact) and they play again.

1) Injured at Copenhagen
2) Injured here
3) Rumours he's not up to it
4) Record signing for our club
5) A lot of our transfer budget spent on him

Forgive me for not being happy about it.

see now your picking apart your own argument

you said no cover, we have whether hes good enough or not is irrelevant and not pertinent to this conversation.

so youve got proof that Cornelius has been injured in the past, let me just clarify your point, your worried by the fact a professional athlete is injured, these people are still human and they are not machines,when a human being breaks down its not as simple as tapping them with a spanner a few times.

im still waiting on proof hes injury prone and has been labelled as such, now im ignorant to this point because I havent gone to find out since you are the first person to my knowledge to label him as such.

Also I wouldnt look too much into our record breaking signings weve moved up to the prem by definition players are going to be a lot more expensive.

i take it you didnt go to Norwich................but agree it was dour..AGAIN.....id love it to change..and change with Malky at the helm.................but dont think its going to....[/quote]

I was at Norwich mate, but I thought yesterday was worse as at least we created a few chances at Norwich