And putting yesterday down to a bad day at the office again, I am still positive about most things BFC. We have 9 days or so to recruit a couple of players - preferably asap - and get them tuned into our game-plan for the Derby fixture. I am led to believe that Korey Smith is one of them, and without too much knowledge, I can only go on the opinions of Canaries I have asked since yesterday, and the odd bit of research from around the web. And he looks, and sounds a Drinkwater type. Box to box, tall, athletic and with pace - sumat we badly need. Of course, its just a rumour, albeit a strong one, so we will wait and see on that. Jim O'Brien will hopefully return for the visit of Derby, and while the loss of Butterfield has been massive, and slightly less so Drinkwater, the lack of width, graft and quality down the right ahead of Bobby has been a key blow of late. We are too narrow without him, and the ball spends too much time on the left with the weak-link. I take no pleasure in picking out individuals, but why the hell does McEveley keep getting picked? Surely, McNulty, Wiseman or Hassell could play there? And what has Rob Edwards done wrong? He wouldnt have been bullied by Hendo yesterday, at least not to the extent that Fozzy was, bless him. Think he needs a rest tbh. And, maybe we do need a new center half..? Until now I believed 100% that our fragility was more a case of a bad LB, and poor midfield defensively. But as bad as JaysCrap is, the goals against column points to a **** back four. Soft is a fitting adjective. And looking at the Lions - they really were as well - I was hugely impressed by Darren Ward. Immense, a towering presence at the back. Wish we had him. And boy would I love Hendo up top. And anybody who believes Millwall had the best of the conditions, and just lumped it, needs an head-shake. They mixed it up well, passed it better than we ever do, and defended with desire to win it at all costs. We looked beaten from the first goal. Soft, and our lack of ideas once behind is another negative that Hillcroft need to work on. . But lets be fair. We have just lost our 2 midfield stars, who when forming that triumvirate with Perkins, were a match for anything in this division. Take Lallana and Cork off Soton and tell me it wouldnt make a difference... And as bad as our finances are, and our luck with injuries, by and large, Keith has recruited well. So I have faith on that score. We are still well clear of the drop, and a top half finish could still happen, and that would be an amazing result when all is considered. And we know that the atmosphere against Derby will be better, and its a night game, which usually helps. Im not sure why, but the atmos was dead again yesterday, and does not help these lads at all. I know its a 50/50 thing, where we wait for them to play, and vice versa, but jeez it was quiet. . An interesting week lies ahead
Can't disagree with much of that, Whitey. However, is anything very much different to the last 4-5 seasons? There's going to be no money put in, which is entirely Patrick Cryne's right. True, Keith may identify more good recruits, but if any of them shine, they'll be off. If they don't, then they'll probably do a good job but be susceptible to the odd collapse like yesterday. Yes - we're doing well to maintain our Championship status, but there is no sense of there being any sustained progress. That's why the crowd is so small, which in turn is why the atmosphere is non-existant. On top of all that, casual attenders are being asked to stunp up 30 quid for the same product. Difficult to avoid the conclusion reached by others on here, that having done a sterling service in stabilising the club, it's now time for Patrick to try and pass it on to those who can take it forward.
I wont go out of my way to defend the club on ticket pricing, but tbf to em, they have cut the 30 quid games since Bristol. And while we are having a similar season in terms of points and league position, Keith isnt being given the funds to acquire Harewood, McShane, Nouble, O'Connor, Mellis or Hill, unlike Robins 12 months ago. And we didnt really 'need' them either, wheras now, we need bodies badly. I only wish we had given Keith the same backing but fair play to Paddy, its his money, and we would more than likely have no club but for his money.
Hope everybody doesn`t think Jimbo coming back will solve the problem because his last 3 games he hasn`t seen the ball because everything goes to Vaz Te we either don`t have no width down the right or we dont utilise it.
Very good point that frustrates me a lot actually. I lost count of the times Jimbo was stood with nobody within 20 yards of him. We faff about on the weakest side far too often
Id like 5 or 6 in personally. And Keith probably does too. But I reckon 2 will be the limit before Derby
