Do Owls poo in the Reebok woods?

[SmokinFrazier]

Indeed. It's not just being scared of attacking teams in the top half, it's being scared of attacking teams at home. As with many a counter-attacking philosophy, the DFensive masterplan might work away, but it's different at home - with disaffected punters and wily visitors alike expecting the home team to take the lead, metaphorically if not actually.

Strikes me that this formation - if it is to be stuck with at all at home - requires a change in the sitters. Instead of Medo and Spearing it needs an incisive and decisive passer (Mavies?) willing and able to release the three in front of him, who should have enough pace to frighten the opposition and enough rope to do so rather than falling into a flat five fearful of losing possession and increasingly isolated from the front man.

Again, part of that is the transformation from defence to attack (and back again) - a transformation we seem to have had trouble with for, oh, the thick end of a decade. But it's certainly Freedman's responsibility now.

Good post, mate.

I think the weak link in the formation is Medo and I'd prefer to see Ream in that role. I do like Medo but, like you said, you need someone with more passing ability and that's one thing I like about Ream. He's more willing to try and cut through a midfield with a pass, whereas Medo will usually play it safe which tends to slow us down and doesn't get the ball to the attacking midfielders. If I was playing 4 midfielders, I'd be happy to have Medo in the team but with 5, I'd go for Ream because I think he's better on the ball and has a better range of passes.

What's the deal with Moritz? It seems that he's either been unfit or injured in all the time we've had him. Strange.

[boltonboris]

"The weak link"

Think your missing an 's' on the end of that, SF!

As for Medo, I'd have him before Spearing.. But I don't want to keep banging that drum

[Dave Sutton's barnet]

Cheers, SF. I doubt Moritz would play in the 2 of the 4-2-3-1, although his presence may free us to play Mark Davies deeper (especially at home).

Hadn't considered Ream although he does, as you say, look capable of passing more than five yards sideways, unlike the Spedo combination at its worst. Troubles are: one, Freedman tended to play him *as well as* Spedo; two, who the clanging buggery do we play at the back?

[irie Cee Bee]

Honestly...not sure what all the fuss is about. Our side is not "premiership quality" as some of us may feel. We have a rebuilding job to do. Many players on big salary are in the last year of their contracts. Thank you and goodbye.

In the meantime, we are now "inching" up the table and unbeaten in 4. Looking more determined, but we are not premiership quality. I am prepared to give the management and team a chance as it was not by chance we got relegated. They have to rebuild and there are little signs of improvement. Manage expectations accordingly.

[Lost Leopard Spot]

Crocklefish?

I reckon it's the Sheff Wed swear filter. Just think, there's some poor sod who is the Owl equivalent of Crazy Hoss (Crazy Owl?) thinking up words to substitute for kitchens.

[Lost Leopard Spot]

^ I thought Moritz was DF's favoured genie in the bottle to help in this defense-attack flow - unlocking the goalscoring dynamite currently hidden inside Beckford.. yet he seems reluctant to use him...

You have to handle dynamite with caution... or is that TNT?

[Enoch]

We have a rebuilding job to do. Many players on big salary are in the last year of their contracts. Thank you and goodbye.

As disappointing as the season has been so far, it's pretty obvious from where I look that this is about where we are.

[Lost Leopard Spot]

We have a rebuilding job to do. Many players on big salary are in the last year of their contracts. Thank you and goodbye.

As disappointing as the season has been so far, it's pretty obvious from where I look that this is about where we are.

It's a bloody shambles, man. One step forward, one back, at best.

[Enoch]

We have a rebuilding job to do. Many players on big salary are in the last year of their contracts. Thank you and goodbye.

As disappointing as the season has been so far, it's pretty obvious from where I look that this is about where we are.

It's a bloody shambles, man. One step forward, one back, at best.

Painful for certain, shambles I couldn't say.

Not knowing the truth of what's going on leaves me suffering the same tough experience as everyone else. DSB made the point earlier with his Owls fans post, few clubs fans are happy with their manager/players/board etc. A constant sweeping it away and hoping the next joker is the magic bullet doesn't interest me.

I will repeat myself. I accept there are no guarantees, but fans wanted Ferguson out for most of his first three seasons and as recently as August this year, folk were clamouring for Wenger to be sacked.

I've seen Freedman teams in full flow and it's a pleasure to watch. The first time he got Palace firing it fell away, in large part, no doubt, to some of the same issues we have here. The second time he got them all facing in the same direction he left whilst it was still going great; it took Holloway best part of a fortnight to f*ck it up.

I'm not advocating blind faith, just patience. So I know I'm pissing in the wind.

[StaffsTrotter]

We have a rebuilding job to do. Many players on big salary are in the last year of their contracts. Thank you and goodbye.

As disappointing as the season has been so far, it's pretty obvious from where I look that this is about where we are.

It's a bloody shambles, man. One step forward, one back, at best.

Painful for certain, shambles I couldn't say.

Not knowing the truth of what's going on leaves me suffering the same tough experience as everyone else. DSB made the point earlier with his Owls fans post, few clubs fans are happy with their manager/players/board etc. A constant sweeping it away and hoping the next joker is the magic bullet doesn't interest me.

I will repeat myself. I accept there are no guarantees, but fans wanted Ferguson out for most of his first three seasons and as recently as August this year, folk were clamouring for Wenger to be sacked.

I've seen Freedman teams in full flow and it's a pleasure to watch. The first time he got Palace firing it fell away, in large part, no doubt, to some of the same issues we have here. The second time he got them all facing in the same direction he left whilst it was still going great; it took Holloway best part of a fortnight to f*ck it up.

I'm not advocating blind faith, just patience. So I know I'm pissing in the wind.

How long do you give him then ? He has no track record of having done it before - the Palace stats you use seem to me to be no more than short runs of form than consistent performance; we have little evidence of improving performance or a plan at work despite almost the entire team being now his.
Fully understand a reluctance for regime change again but at the moment it has to straw clutching or blind faith. Throw me a straw.

[Enoch]

We have a rebuilding job to do. Many players on big salary are in the last year of their contracts. Thank you and goodbye.

As disappointing as the season has been so far, it's pretty obvious from where I look that this is about where we are.

It's a bloody shambles, man. One step forward, one back, at best.

Painful for certain, shambles I couldn't say.

Not knowing the truth of what's going on leaves me suffering the same tough experience as everyone else. DSB made the point earlier with his Owls fans post, few clubs fans are happy with their manager/players/board etc. A constant sweeping it away and hoping the next joker is the magic bullet doesn't interest me.

I will repeat myself. I accept there are no guarantees, but fans wanted Ferguson out for most of his first three seasons and as recently as August this year, folk were clamouring for Wenger to be sacked.

I've seen Freedman teams in full flow and it's a pleasure to watch. The first time he got Palace firing it fell away, in large part, no doubt, to some of the same issues we have here. The second time he got them all facing in the same direction he left whilst it was still going great; it took Holloway best part of a fortnight to f*ck it up.

I'm not advocating blind faith, just patience. So I know I'm pissing in the wind.

How long do you give him then ? He has no track record of having done it before - the Palace stats you use seem to me to be no more than short runs of form than consistent performance; we have little evidence of improving performance or a plan at work despite almost the entire team being now his.
Fully understand a reluctance for regime change again but at the moment it has to straw clutching or blind faith. Throw me a straw.

How long? I have no idea just now. Probably longer than he will be afforded though.

[StaffsTrotter]

bit of a cop out there enoch. Obviously you favour giving him more time, so you must either have a period of time in mind that you think is reasonable to give him to do what he needs to do and then be properly judged result/ performance wise; or you think he should just carry on irrespective of short term results or perfomance in the cold assessment or feverish hope that an upturn is just around the corner.

[jaffka]

At present if he were to be sacked I cannot see any arguments against it.

[Harry Genshaw]

I've seen Freedman teams in full flow and it's a pleasure to watch. The first time he got Palace firing it fell away, in large part, no doubt, to some of the same issues we have here. The second time he got them all facing in the same direction he left whilst it was still going great; it took Holloway best part of a fortnight to f*ck it up.

I'm no 'Dougie outer' but that statement defies belief. Would anyone on this board turn away someone who could come to our club, right now, and f*ck us up in such a way we get promoted too?

[Enoch]

bit of a cop out there enoch. Obviously you favour giving him more time, so you must either have a period of time in mind that you think is reasonable to give him to do what he needs to do and then be properly judged result/ performance wise; or you think he should just carry on irrespective of short term results or perfomance in the cold assessment or feverish hope that an upturn is just around the corner.

'How long? I have no idea just now.' I think that's self explanatory.

As to your second suggestion, I have no need to see much other than a period of stability from which the club can build. I see the club is in a mess. I've seen the club getting into a mess for a long time. I don't expect the club to miraculously find fame and fortune again any time soon.

Is the mess the clubs in of Freedman's doing? No. Is he the man to do the donkey work of stabilising and running the club well, within the current set of circumstances? Quite possibly. Do I think sacking him and grafting on another from the endless list of names that folk pluck from the air would make a massive difference to our lot at the moment ? No.

[Enoch]

I'm no 'Dougie outer' but that statement defies belief. Would anyone on this board turn away someone who could come to our club, right now, and f*ck us up in such a way we get promoted too?

Harry, the form Palace showed after Holloway arrived extrapolated over the full season had them finishing tenth and that doesn't consider the extra points other clubs would have accumulated. If you ignore the first three games he was in charge and the team were still largely playing Freedman's style of football, the same exercise has them around fifteenth.

Hardly an endorsement of his management ability.

[Lost Leopard Spot]

I'm no 'Dougie outer' but that statement defies belief. Would anyone on this board turn away someone who could come to our club, right now, and f*ck us up in such a way we get promoted too?

Harry, the form Palace showed after Holloway arrived extrapolated over the full season had them finishing tenth and that doesn't consider the extra points other clubs would have accumulated. If you ignore the first three games he was in charge and the team were still largely playing Freedman's style of football, the same exercise has them around fifteenth.

Hardly an endorsement of his management ability.

Thing is, Enoch, that Holloway did get them promoted. Maybe, if extrapolated, etc. doesn't take into account maybe he was using s grace period to a) impose his own style, and b) work out who played where why and how before he could impose his own stamp on the team.
A bit like BL3 and Coyle, you seem to have an extraordinary faith in your man Freedman. He's had a year and two transfer windows and we're worse off... That is a fact.

[jaffka]

Three teams out of twenty four were promoted, holloway managed one of them, sounds like he was a success to me.

[Harry Genshaw]

I'm no 'Dougie outer' but that statement defies belief. Would anyone on this board turn away someone who could come to our club, right now, and f*ck us up in such a way we get promoted too?

Harry, the form Palace showed after Holloway arrived extrapolated over the full season had them finishing tenth and that doesn't consider the extra points other clubs would have accumulated. If you ignore the first three games he was in charge and the team were still largely playing Freedman's style of football, the same exercise has them around fifteenth.

Hardly an endorsement of his management ability.

I don't go in for this extrapolating gubbins. He took them over and he got them promoted. His first or second game they won 6-0. Hardly fecked em up did he? Right now I cant imagine any side of Dougie's bagging 6 goals

[bwfcdan94]

I've seen Freedman teams in full flow and it's a pleasure to watch. The first time he got Palace firing it fell away, in large part, no doubt, to some of the same issues we have here. The second time he got them all facing in the same direction he left whilst it was still going great; it took Holloway best part of a fortnight to f*ck it up.

I'm no 'Dougie outer' but that statement defies belief. Would anyone on this board turn away someone who could come to our club, right now, and f*ck us up in such a way we get promoted too?

They only just went up. Keep in mind I think Palace were 2nd when he left and they just made the play offs after an awful run.