That's as good as we can play IMHO

Thiams diet of eating takeaways after matches probably doesn't help the fitness side of his game either.

 

Not controversial at all. Our side that got relegated at Derby County was......

30 (G) J Walton
3 (D) Z Fryers
6 (D) L Lindsay
16 (D) E Pinnock
17 (D) A Yiadom
7 (M) A Hammill
20 (M) B Potts (61)
21 (M) C Mahoney (70)
22 (M) G Gardner
15 (F) O McBurnie
19 (F) K Moore

1 (G) A Davies
12 (D) D Cavare
24 (D) M Pearson
10 (M) G Moncur (70)
14 (M) S Mallan
9 (F) T Bradshaw
26 (F) M Thiam (61)

Of our starting line up yesterday probably only Collins, Brown and Mowatt would get in for Walton, Mahoney and Gardner. When we went down last time with 8/11 players better than what we had out yesterday, of course we are right to worry. Lots of people seem happy yesterday going on about effort and commitment, but we lost our big local derby 2-0 for the second time this season and didn't score just like against Wednesday. We shouldn't be positive about yesterday.

 

I thought they played really well yesterday and it was a top performance. I'm not worried at all now. If they apply themselves they'll win enough matches to stay up.

 

That true?

I’ve seen Thiam a few times, and he’s not fat, just built like that. Maybe if anything built too well which is affecting his pace/speed.

Either way, the club will know his stats as they are constantly monitored - they must be happy with them. You can’t hide poor fitness at football clubs these days. Too much data and training to get away with it.

 

Can only go off what my mates told me and he saw Thiam nipping into the chicken shop on Peel Square after the match yesterday.

I do agree though with what you said, with how much sports science and technology that is in football these days you can't pull the wool over the staffs eyes in regards to fitness.

 

Not sure how many successful players at Championship level I`ve seen built like Mama.

 

Harris at Wednesday doesn't seem to be playing too badly.

 

Hindsight's lovely isn't it? I don't recall many extolling the qualities of that group of players during that season as they took us on runs including six straight defeats and one that was something crazy like one win from 16 or whatever it was.
Mahoney was useless, Potts was hammered on this bulletin board as was Gardner at times, Moore barely scored other than a consolation at Boro and a freak cross that went in, Hammill was frankly ineffective, Yiadom wasn't anything like he'd been first season round, Pinnock barely played, Lindsay was slow and immobile, Fryers useless and Walton a kid who played what, three games?

Led by one manager who decided to go all negative on us be that the way the team set up or his boring monologues at press conferences where anyone but him was at fault, and the other was a barmpot who did no better points wise and seemingly lost the dressing room on day one.

It's amazing how time goes by and they all become better.
Better than the current squad who've played seven games.
Forgive me for not getting carried away in September one way or the other but I was pretty clear in the summer that we'd not done enough in the market to be anything but relegation strugglers and so far that's how it appears.

 

Well, I guess chicken is protein! His mate back home owns a few takeaways too. Be surprised to see him in town though that early - Thought Thiam lived up in the new Woolley estate near Hammill?

That’s just it - with the HR/GPS belts they wear, all the body measurements and sports science they use these days, players can’t get away with it. If he was unfit, he wouldn’t be in match day squad. Hence Jennings was often omitted.

The vendetta against Thiam on this forum about him being unfit and fat in ridiculous. I’m not saying he’s our best player or that he’s a match winner etc, but just that he’s not fat. It’s his build and posture.

 

I`m not trying to "body shame" him (I should be the last to do that if you saw me!) - just not sure he fits the physical mould of a footballer.

 

I love hammill but he was poor that season could tell he was no longer championship quality offered nothing, we were unlucky to lose harvey barnes that season as he was great for us in the 1st half but wilks or thomas would get in infront of hammill for me.

 

Sheffield Utd.
Winner announced today, only paid a quid for his ticket. Mind you, now he has to cough up a fair bit more... I reckon it must have been one of them Nigerian lotteries.

 

Last time round I was resigned to relegation being inevitable very early on. This time I'm not.

I do think those in control have left us perilously undermanned/underqualified in a number of areas, but I also think we have a couple of players in Brown and Woodrow who are good Championship players already (Mowatt too if he starts to discipline himself) and a few more that could be up to that standard before relegation is confirmed, who will help get us out of it.

Having said that, I wouldn't put it past the powers that be to sell these players in January should they show the kind of form that moves us out of the relegation dog fight.

On Brown: we've a number of options out wide, we've only Woodrow as a recognised striker. Let's start recognising Brown as a striker, that's where he played throughout his youth career, and play him alongside Woodrow.

 

I was saying to my mate in the second half that we should swap him and Wilks around to give them something else to think about but he said he will get subbed soon as he's only just come back and what not. He was right. I forgot that he, Mowatt, Woodrow and Williams were injured.

But I still like the idea of moving those front and wide players around now and again.
And the fact they all played pretty well despite only just returning from injury adds to my belief there's more to come, from them all.

I'm like you in respect of thinking we were likely relegation fodder going into the season but like you I have this feeling the group will develop soon enough to get things on a competitive keel where we could fight our way out of it.
Time will tell. Saturday will offer further clues against a very decent side again.

 

I think that already this team played better as, err a team, than the relegated lot. Morais was woeful. Football is a team game, as demonstrated Sunday and by sheff u last season / this.

The boards decision making has been piss poor but we still have a decent shout at staying up.

 

Come on guys. Let's take the 'doom and gloom' glasses off. I am not expecting to replace them with the 'rose tinted' ones but for 80 minutes of that game we matched a very good , experienced Leeds side and the score could easily have been 2-2 at that stage (both sides having great chances). We may even have had three since, on two occasions, Wilks had a simple layoff to * EDIT..Woodrow for a tap-in but chose to go for glory. Mama had a great shot well saved and they are just three I can think of. After 80 minutes a stupid foul undid all the hard work and cost us a draw. The penalty added insult to injury and the 0-2 scoreline was not a reflection of the game.

At the start of the season most on here accepted we would struggle at the start and the season would have it's ups and downs. Many seem to have forgotten this and after a couple of losses we are now "relegation fodder" and the "squad is worse than the one that got relegated last time" a statement I vehemently disagree with. The team is gaining in experience and an understanding of what Stendel is trying to do with each passing game. Stendel is also learning what is required in Championship football. We are only mid-September and it seems like some have written the season off already. We have played, with the exception of Luton games against the teams tipped to be in the promotion chase. I know part of the..... err.... 'fun' of the BB is to express opinions and debate stuff but, IMO it is getting weighed down with disproportionate and unnecessary negativity so early in the season. Let's all lighten up a bit eh?
* EDIT at least one of those was Thomas

 

Agree. It was only a ****-up at the back that cost us a point in the Birmingham match as well. Whilst we didn't look like winning that game until the **** up we didn't look like losing it either.