" CARL CURTIS WRITES FOR THE ECHO and SPEAKS HIS MIND "

" CARL CURTIS WRITES FOR THE ECHO and SPEAKS HIS MIND "

Carlos still believes we will finish about 10th, but would love to be proved wrong.
link

http://www.walesonline.co.uk/footballna ... -29967134/


Your comments/opinions please




Some of Carl Curtis previous stories.


http://www.walesonline.co.uk/topics/carl-curtis/

I think Carl's assessment is pretty fair. All and sundry know we need to strengthen to stand any chance of promotion/play offs. Once injuries/suspensions kick in, we will be stretched. Out an out goalscorer would be handy. Also, as Carl has said, teams are closing Whitts down and preventing us playing our normal game. Our season centres around January. If we can bolster the squad we are in with a shout. Whatever happens, Malky and the boys deserve the utmost credit for bringing respectability back to the club. The fans now feel they have a team that will give 100% for the full 90 minutes. Well done City and good luck for the rest of the season.

you can't really say where we will finish when we're only half way through the season. there is no reason why we can't achieve promotion..but theres about 10 other teams that will be saying the same. i honestly think we will finish 4th. BUT if we do invest in 2-3 players in january then maybe that position could be higher.

you can't really say where we will finish when we're only half way through the season. there is no reason why we can't achieve promotion..but theres about 10 other teams that will be saying the same. i honestly think we will finish 4th. BUT if we do invest in 2-3 players in january then maybe that position could be higher.

Lewis, how is it that no-one else can say where we think we will finish as we are only halfway through the season yet you honestly think we will finish 4th.

Is it because your prediction is a more positive one than mine, therefore yours is allowed but mine is not ?

This is all about opinions and I respect that but I do not agree we need to find our scoring tough Why?

After 22 games we have scored 34 goals exactly the same total as last season however we have only failed to score in 9% of our games and that compares with 23% last season when we had ALL that supposed talent.

What we have this season is a different playing system and it has made us harder to beat, 3 defeats this season compared with 6 at the same stage last season. Would I change what we have this season for last, ABSOLUTELY NOT.

I would like us to sign a few more players, who doesn't, but if we go on your prediction last season Carl where you said if we were within 2 points of the top 2 at the end of February we would get promoted. Then this season where we have a team who score more consistently, who score the first goal more often than any other team in the Championship, a team who have lost half the games we had at this stage last season and who have a defence conceding fewer goals than last season. Why the prediction of finishing 10th.

I will wait until after Watford away on boxing day before making a prediction, but even now I would say we will place higher than 10th. Why? Becauseof the system we play, the consistenty of scoring, the consistency of scoring the first goal and our better defensive record.

Just my opinion.

keep the faith carl we are going to the promised land under malky's leadership.a couple of signings in Jan we be there

This is all about opinions and I respect that but I do not agree we need to find our scoring tough Why?

After 22 games we have scored 34 goals exactly the same total as last season however we have only failed to score in 9% of our games and that compares with 23% last season when we had ALL that supposed talent.

What we have this season is a different playing system and it has made us harder to beat, 3 defeats this season compared with 6 at the same stage last season. Would I change what we have this season for last, ABSOLUTELY NOT.

I would like us to sign a few more players, who doesn't, but if we go on your prediction last season Carl where you said if we were within 2 points of the top 2 at the end of February we would get promoted. Then this season where we have a team who score more consistently, who score the first goal more often than any other team in the Championship, a team who have lost half the games we had at this stage last season and who have a defence conceding fewer goals than last season. Why the prediction of finishing 10th.

I will wait until after Watford away on boxing day before making a prediction, but even now I would say we will place higher than 10th. Why? Becauseof the system we play, the consistenty of scoring, the consistency of scoring the first goal and our better defensive record.

Just my opinion.

Gary I still believe if certain players had not gone on the lash before the 'Boro game last season then we would have been promoted automatically, I couldn't legislate for that happening.

The point about the goals was a headline written by the Echo, it was not mine, please read through the article again and it is goal scoring chances that I think are not at a premium, I say that we are hard to beat and long may that continue but I do envisage us having a difficult time if we do not create more chances during a game.

This is all about opinions and I respect that but I do not agree we need to find our scoring tough Why?

After 22 games we have scored 34 goals exactly the same total as last season however we have only failed to score in 9% of our games and that compares with 23% last season when we had ALL that supposed talent.

What we have this season is a different playing system and it has made us harder to beat, 3 defeats this season compared with 6 at the same stage last season. Would I change what we have this season for last, ABSOLUTELY NOT.

I would like us to sign a few more players, who doesn't, but if we go on your prediction last season Carl where you said if we were within 2 points of the top 2 at the end of February we would get promoted. Then this season where we have a team who score more consistently, who score the first goal more often than any other team in the Championship, a team who have lost half the games we had at this stage last season and who have a defence conceding fewer goals than last season. Why the prediction of finishing 10th.

I will wait until after Watford away on boxing day before making a prediction, but even now I would say we will place higher than 10th. Why? Becauseof the system we play, the consistenty of scoring, the consistency of scoring the first goal and our better defensive record.

Just my opinion.

Gary I still believe if certain players had not gone on the lash before the 'Boro game last season then we would have been promoted automatically, I couldn't legislate for that happening.

The point about the goals was a headline written by the Echo, it was not mine, please read through the article again and it is goal scoring chances that I think are not at a premium, I say that we are hard to beat and long may that continue but I do envisage us having a difficult time if we do not create more chances during a game.

The echo writing the headline explainsa lot and goes to the core of my belief that they ALL only look to concentrate on the negative.

We will always disagree over the reasons for last seasons failure Carl as I will never change my opinion that DJ would have found one way or another to mess it up. You could have given that man the entire Chelsea first team squad and hewould of messed it up, should the players have gone on the lash, of course not, but all they achieved was to give DJ an alibi to cover up his own failings.

I did read the article and it's just my opinion that scoring first, scoring in so many games is just as important as creating chances. Keep it up and this team WILL surprise you.

A tenth place finish and League Cup Winners, I'd settle for that

you can't really say where we will finish when we're only half way through the season. there is no reason why we can't achieve promotion..but theres about 10 other teams that will be saying the same. i honestly think we will finish 4th. BUT if we do invest in 2-3 players in january then maybe that position could be higher.

Lewis, how is it that no-one else can say where we think we will finish as we are only halfway through the season yet you honestly think we will finish 4th.

Is it because your prediction is a more positive one than mine, therefore yours is allowed but mine is not ?

Piss off carl. lol:

People are forgetting where we have come from.

Let MM build a team his way as opposed to loaning players DJ style.

I don’t like to sound negative as we are doing so well, but what I have noticed is that despite being hard to beat we are also a side who do not produce many goal-scoring opportunities. We lack creativity, especially when teams come and man-mark our chief playmaker Peter Whittingham.

This was the main statement in the article that I felt was wrong because I thought we were actually doing OK in the amount of goalscoring opportunities we have been creating. It does highlight how as individual fans we see things differently so I thought I'd take a look at the official match stats for this season and last after 22 games. The comparison is very interesting as I think most would agree that goal scoring chances come from attempt at your opponents goal, so how does this season compare to last.

After 22 games last season the team had achieved 139 attempts on target or an average of 6.31 per game. We also had 133 attempts off target or an average of 6.04 per game. In total thats 272 attempts at goal an average of 12.36 per game.

This season we had 152 attempts on target or an average of 6.90 per game. We have also had 129 attempts off target an average of 5.86 per game. Overall thats 281 attempts on target an average of 12.77 per game.

In overall goalscoring terms we have scored 36 goals this season against a total of 37 last season. So overall we are more than a match for a team that had all the alledged fire power last season.

Sorry but the facts suggest that we are a team who are hard to beat but still carry a goalscoring and creative side to the team to match what many feel was the best squad at this club in decades.

Also Peter Whittingham is our top goalscorer and the number 1 rated player for shooting in the Championship so our opponents are doing a pretty poor job stopping the creative side of his game.

I don’t like to sound negative as we are doing so well, but what I have noticed is that despite being hard to beat we are also a side who do not produce many goal-scoring opportunities. We lack creativity, especially when teams come and man-mark our chief playmaker Peter Whittingham.

This was the main statement in the article that I felt was wrong because I thought we were actually doing OK in the amount of goalscoring opportunities we have been creating. It does highlight how as individual fans we see things differently so I thought I'd take a look at the official match stats for this season and last after 22 games. The comparison is very interesting as I think most would agree that goal scoring chances come from attempt at your opponents goal, so how does this season compare to last.

After 22 games last season the team had achieved 139 attempts on target or an average of 6.31 per game. We also had 133 attempts off target or an average of 6.04 per game. In total thats 272 attempts at goal an average of 12.36 per game.

This season we had 152 attempts on target or an average of 6.90 per game. We have also had 129 attempts off target an average of 5.86 per game. Overall thats 281 attempts on target an average of 12.77 per game.

In overall goalscoring terms we have scored 36 goals this season against a total of 37 last season. So overall we are more than a match for a team that had all the alledged fire power last season.

Sorry but the facts suggest that we are a team who are hard to beat but still carry a goalscoring and creative side to the team to match what many feel was the best squad at this club in decades.

Also Peter Whittingham is our top goalscorer and the number 1 rated player for shooting in the Championship so our opponents are doing a pretty poor job stopping the creative side of his game.

well that pretty much concluded the debate.
I've also noticed theirs only been a couple of times this season when we have had less efforts than the opposing side

Nice one castle, you gotta love a reality check

Cheers Carlos, fair play for speaking your mind.