The Tykes Thread

[Harry Genshaw]

Personally, I'd love to see us play 4-4-2 with 2 exciting wingers and 2 mobile goal poachers. Trouble is we dont have the defence, football has changed and we dont have a David Lee, Andy Walker & John McGinlay in the juniors coming through.

Capt Chaos spent most of our remaining budget on players who cant even get in the first XI now.

Those of you who dont like/rate SKD had better suck it up. He's going to be playing for a while yet

[officer_dibble]

Just for tonight, you are Dan.

Well im on about 10 pints so its about right. I"m no bell end though!

[bobo the clown]

Coyle signed coyle apparentley! wow!

He's so fckg pleased with himself that I think, had he been abled, he would have done.

[Wandering Willy]

I'd like to debate this with you, but really, have you got any clue about football at all?

This was the comment of a knob.

Took my frustration at yesterday's piss poor result out on HG, for which I apologise.

[Dave of Flimwell]

If we do not beat Brighton next Sat we can look forward to a season of mid-table mediocrity. We MUST start picking up 3 points away if we cannot beat the likes of Barnsley at home who are a serious candidate for the drop. Maybe that's the mentality we need. Do we think we are too good to go down? It seems that Barnsley think like that and are fighting for the right to stay up.We cannot continue to rely upon KD. Will this be his last season?

[Harry Genshaw]

I'd like to debate this with you, but really, have you got any clue about football at all?

This was the comment of a knob.

Took my frustration at yesterday's piss poor result out on HG, for which I apologise.

No worries WW. Man hugs all round

Until you speak ill of SKD again

[Ianmooreslovechild]

If we do not beat Brighton next Sat we can look forward to a season of mid-table mediocrity. We MUST start picking up 3 points away if we cannot beat the likes of Barnsley at home who are a serious candidate for the drop. Maybe that's the mentality we need. Do we think we are too good to go down? It seems that Barnsley think like that and are fighting for the right to stay up.We cannot continue to rely upon KD. Will this be his last season?

A draw at Brighton would be a good result. We dont have must win games at present,we have must keep improving and looking like we could win games. I dont think there is any point thinking about promotion. If we are near enough to the playoffs come the time then that will be a major achievement and if we get in the playoffs it would be a bonus.

If by some fluke we went up it would take a miracle to build a squad from what we currently have with the ability to stay up. It's time to start seeing this as a two year plan.Progress this year, bringing in players with mental strength and rebalancing the squad, getting some professional values in place then maybe at the end of next season we will have something capable of competing at the top level.

Time to dig in and take a reality check. I believe freedman will prove to be a very good manager but no manager could be expected to take what he has walked into and turn it into a premiership team within 3/4 of a season.Anybody wanting to believe that is going to have a very disappointing year.

[BL3]

We MUST start picking up 3 points away if we cannot beat the likes of Barnsley at home who are a serious candidate for the drop.

Barnsley are a decent striker away from being a 'top half team' according to someone on here. You couldn't make it up. Apparently it's now good enough to 'look like' we could win games that we don't actually win.

[TANGODANCER]

I'd like to debate this with you, but really, have you got any clue about football at all?

This was the comment of a knob.

Took my frustration at yesterday's piss poor result out on HG, for which I apologise.

While you're in a good mood:

"Kevin Davies was outstanding, terrific. I told the young lads to watch him. It was a master-class in holding the ball up"....Dougie Freedman.

Dougie Out?

[Ianmooreslovechild]

We MUST start picking up 3 points away if we cannot beat the likes of Barnsley at home who are a serious candidate for the drop.

Barnsley are a decent striker away from being a 'top half team' according to someone on here. You couldn't make it up. Apparently it's now good enough to 'look like' we could win games that we don't actually win.

According to me my dear troll but only based on their results being tight and them failing to score. I'm unable to see games without streams so I can only go on the bits I see and the views of people on here.

It's not a question of it being good enough not to win. Of course everyone wants to see the team win but following the shambles of what your man owen has left I think looking competent and not winning is a giant leap forward from looking shambolic,incapable of picking up points away and being totally unpredictable at home.

Three weeks in from taking over from Saint Owen for me any sign of progress regardless of the actual result is a plus. I know had owen been here of course he's be turning these draws into wins and there's no way on earth we'd be surrendering the lead in any game. His tactical genius would have ensured a promotion stroll. All he needed was a bit more time and a change of fortune.

[Wandering Willy]

I'd like to debate this with you, but really, have you got any clue about football at all?

This was the comment of a knob.

Took my frustration at yesterday's piss poor result out on HG, for which I apologise.

While you're in a good mood:

"Kevin Davies was outstanding, terrific. I told the young lads to watch him. It was a master-class in holding the ball up"....Dougie Freedman.

Dougie Out?

I saw that.

It's Coyle in a DF mask.

[BWFC_Insane]

Bottom line is that whoever we play up front in this system is seriously lacking in one or more departments based on the choices we currently have available.

It's criminal that Coyle spent 7M on strikers as a premiership club who seemingly aren't good enough to start regularly even in the championship.

But we are where we are. And we need a striker who can offer more up front than anything we've currently got.

If we don't get one I can't see things getting much better anytime soon.

but do you think out current best lineup is KD up front and Ngog out wide? (or - indeed - how we lined up today?)

Probably not. I can kind of see the logic of doing it at home. Sam Allardyce esque, play a striker out wide to get in on the far post and give us more options in the box.

Trouble is and TD has a point here, NGog may give us more options up front and more movement, but Davies scored yesterday and generally is probably more likely to score than NGog, certainly if we take stats into account. Neither is likely to score enough for promotion. But I guess the problem yesterday was not scoring enough and taking our chances. I'm not convinced Ngog up top would have improved that particular problem.

What concerns me more is why Petrov was left out the squad. I can see why he isn't in the side every week, but I think he's worth a place on the bench at least.

However I think generally Dougie knows what hes doing. I certainly feel more positive at the games.

I suspect it will be a pretty bumpy ride for a while with plenty of ups and downs.

Best thing to do is not get too excited by the ups and not get too depressed by the downs.

I've overestimated the squad and feel a bit stupid.

I'm resigned to mid table at best this season to let Dougie sort it out and build his team over time.

However I genuinely believe we are only one or two ingredients away from the magic recipe so you just never know......

[TANGODANCER]

Leaving the why's and wherefore's out, the bald fact is that five teams are already on 30 points or more, we're on 21. How we play or get the points is a bit immaterial right now, just that we start doing it pretty quick. Football's always boiled down to which side gets the ball in the net one more time than the opposition. The rest is just talk.

[PC1978]

Trying to add a bit of positivity on what appears to be a gloomy Sunday on here! But did anybody else think that Spearing was immense yesterday? I thought that the way he broke up play and got stuck in were amazing. And he even won headers!!!

[Worthy4England]

I think most folks recognise that KD isn't getting any younger.

I don't believe we have a viable alternative in our squad right now.

Sordell can't make the bench, Afobe looks lightweight, N'Gog tends to play more like he did yesterday than in the Cardiff game (which he undoubtedly turned around).

[TANGODANCER]

I think most folks recognise that KD isn't getting any younger.

I don't believe we have a viable alternative in our squad right now.

Sordell can't make the bench, Afobe looks lightweight, N'Gog tends to play more like he did yesterday than in the Cardiff game (which he undoubtedly turned around).

I'll make this a question as I didn't see the game. That KD isn't getting any younger is beyond doubt; if we should go back up he may not even make the side due simply to that fact, and certainly not as first choice front man. Yesterday, seeing the selection, I assumed (foolishly) that KD and N'gog would be middle men up front, or at best, in the absence of a right winger, KD would drift right and leave N'gog around the box..Going back a while, Anelka said he always enjoyed playing with KD. Anelka was able to drift wide and come in as well as playing down the middle, N'gog obviously isn't happy with that. So why did Dougie stick him out there? Leaving one of them on the bench to come on fresh would make more sense surely, even if it meant starting with Afobe? Found that a bit baffling.

[bobo the clown]

I think most folks recognise that KD isn't getting any younger.

I don't believe we have a viable alternative in our squad right now.

Sordell can't make the bench, Afobe looks lightweight, N'Gog tends to play more like he did yesterday than in the Cardiff game (which he undoubtedly turned around).

I'll make this a question as I didn't see the game. That KD isn't getting any younger is beyond doubt; if we should go back up he may not even make the side due simply to that fact, and certainly not as first choice front man. Yesterday, seeing the selection, I assumed (foolishly) that KD and N'gog would be middle men up front, or at best, in the absence of a right winger, KD would drift right and leave N'gog around the box..Going back a while, Anelka said he always enjoyed playing with KD. Anelka was able to drift wide and come in as well as playing down the middle, N'gog obviously isn't happy with that. So why did Dougie stick him out there? Leaving one of them on the bench to come on fresh would make more sense surely, even if it meant starting with Afobe? Found that a bit baffling.

It didn't seem like that was the instruction N'Gog had, Tango. He switched wings a couple of times, but there was no 'drifting in' being done.

Given that we have Petrov and Lee available it was a baffling decision.

He was completely a fish out of water and was, to all intents & purposes, a spare part while he was on.

[Worthy4England]

I think most folks recognise that KD isn't getting any younger.

I don't believe we have a viable alternative in our squad right now.

Sordell can't make the bench, Afobe looks lightweight, N'Gog tends to play more like he did yesterday than in the Cardiff game (which he undoubtedly turned around).

I'll make this a question as I didn't see the game. That KD isn't getting any younger is beyond doubt; if we should go back up he may not even make the side due simply to that fact, and certainly not as first choice front man. Yesterday, seeing the selection, I assumed (foolishly) that KD and N'gog would be middle men up front, or at best, in the absence of a right winger, KD would drift right and leave N'gog around the box..Going back a while, Anelka said he always enjoyed playing with KD. Anelka was able to drift wide and come in as well as playing down the middle, N'gog obviously isn't happy with that. So why did Dougie stick him out there? Leaving one of them on the bench to come on fresh would make more sense surely, even if it meant starting with Afobe? Found that a bit baffling.

It didn't seem like that was the instruction N'Gog had, Tango. He switched wings a couple of times, but there was no 'drifting in' being done.

Given that we have Petrov and Lee available it was a baffling decision.

He was completely a fish out of water and was, to all intents & purposes, a spare part while he was on.

Yup - I'd agree with that Bobo. It was quite baffling. KD was largely "lone striker" albeit the formation was announced as 4-4-2.

Said to Boris at half time, I might have been tempted to bring CYL on for N'Gog as it was fairly pointless him being there and put Eagles more central with Davo.

Could have done the same by bringing CYL on for Davo and pushing N'Gog more central, still supported by Eagles.

Either way it was all fairly baffling to me.

[officer_dibble]

We played a 5 man midfield against a 4. Where it the other way round you could see us taking a pasting. We did not control midfield in the manner teams have against us. Very dissapointing.

Spearings a battler but poor when he has the ball. Andrews is...well I dont know but whatever he is supposed to do its not very good. Mark Davies flits in and out of the game. Butterfield isnt fit...and didnt look like the kind of player we need...an all action Frandsen type.

[officer_dibble]

Chungys bottle has gone as well. He got rattled by a tackle and wouldn't try to beat the fullback thereafter.