The Only way is Up? - The Gooners match thread

[Wandering Willy]

I agree with a lot of this as well. We are as soft as shi'te and the team selection is awful. My comment about attack being the best form of defence is logical provided we play a balanced team. In the case of today, second half involved being in our half for most of the time with no outlet apart from Davies. Pointless.
Coyle certainly needs to man up. I'm not sure it's in his nature.
We will not get anything from Chelsea unless you are talking about a few nebulous Sammy Lee type positives. Our season will start after Sunderland - too late, I'm afraid.

We had 10 men.

[Hoboh]

And the last time we garnered three points away to Arsenal or Liverpool was?

Not going to take issue with that but its the total hamerings we are picking up at least in the recent past we made a fist of it!

Coyle is a naturally attack minded manager like keegan was minus the funds he has to start striking a better balance to the team he puts out. Our seeming relience on *Stu" turning everything around is rediculous the other ten have to play their part also.
Kevin Davies is now a spent force and I'd offer him to BSA in January along with Robinson, Jussi should be told sign or bench your choice, he just seems too cosy by half. If we dont start getting results soon I'd start looking for a new gaffer but not Megson

[Wandering Willy]

At some point in time, not too far from now, we will look back with much head shaking on the fact that we ever started a 4-4-2 game with Klasnic and Davies upfront.

Especially the "total hammering" we got at the hands of the scum.

[bedwetter2]

I agree with a lot of this as well. We are as soft as shi'te and the team selection is awful. My comment about attack being the best form of defence is logical provided we play a balanced team. In the case of today, second half involved being in our half for most of the time with no outlet apart from Davies. Pointless.
Coyle certainly needs to man up. I'm not sure it's in his nature.
We will not get anything from Chelsea unless you are talking about a few nebulous Sammy Lee type positives. Our season will start after Sunderland - too late, I'm afraid.

We had 10 men.

Yep. We had 10 men or 9 depending upon how you look at things.

[a1]

That's not the point. The point is 5 straight losses. And 5 straight losses at the Fortress Reebok. The point is one win in 11.

its gonna be six . theyve either bin against moneybags teams or in "garbage time" at the end of last season when they were punch drunk from the stoke defeat.

the norwich defeat came after conceding 8 goals to moneybags teams in the two games before, that could be down to punchdrunkedness as well. we've done stuff like that plenty uder sammy allardyce.

the next home game is sunderland and i still get flashbacks of the 'megson out after the first game season' result from that season a few years ago. so they'll lose that too. maybe.

but in real terms we've probably dropped nine expected points from the stoke game onwards. but gained three from the arsenal win. and got three from qpr when an away defeat was like as regular as clockwork.

currently the fixtures are fcukin' us over.

:/

[officer_dibble]

Its just too depressing supporting that lot at the minute.

tango...i respect your hardy defence of super kev but im afraid he is finished. fecked. useless. every time he starts its a wasted place.nowt to do with refs and all to do with his lack of pace movement and ability!

I see stoke put up a fight.today. Anyone who wouldnt swap xis now!?

It is a bastard run of games but i dobt see us having the confidence and balls to turn it round. Up to coyle to motivate them out it.

One more defeat and we're good.to.go. bopefully.

[a1]

Its just too depressing supporting that lot at the minute.

tango...i respect your hardy defence of super kev but im afraid he is finished. fecked. useless. every time he starts its a wasted place.nowt to do with refs and all to do with his lack of pace movement and ability!

I see stoke put up a fight.today. Anyone who wouldnt swap xis now!?

It is a bastard run of games but i dobt see us having the confidence and balls to turn it round. Up to coyle to motivate them out it.

One more defeat and we're good.to.go. bopefully.

the bolton xi - stoke city xi comparison is a bit unfair.

its like comparing stoke to man city.

[officer_dibble]

There was a topic pre season about who would swap teams and i think there were a few bullish posters re our team....that lot have balls...

[Worthy4England]

We knew these first seven games would be tough. Surprisingly enough it has been.

We've been beaten by 4 teams who've spent more this year than we have ever. And a newly promoted Norwich. Which was a bit shit.

I'm not losing any sleep just yet.

Agreed, I was hoping for 6 points, expecting 3 or 4....

That said, the manner of some of the defeats has been a bit shit.

[Wandering Willy]

Don't turn up at my training ground if you want to feel sorry for yourself

The Gaffer


Still think we'll come good.

OD - you've been on the BWFC rollercoaster long enough to know that it's the shitty days that make the good ones so much better.

COYWM

[officer_dibble]

True...been there since div 3 or 4...i forget!

[Prufrock]

OC seemed fecked off in the BBC interview. Fair bit of gnarling stick to the interviewer. Some fight needed. We were better today. Need to get Chelsea over with, then keep XI on the pitch for some biiig games.

[aussie_wanderer]

THE ONLY WAY IS NOT UP. we can go down to championship, give us a hard fixture why dont they,

[Vertigo]

Davies isn't finished. He still wins a lot of 50/50 long balls in mid air. But that just isn't enough for us to work with. Finished with Bolton maybe, not as a footballer.

[Annoyed Grunt]

Just seen the highlights on MOTD.....soft sending off, Walcott made the most of what ever contact there was. Unfortunate about N'Gog, if it was him instead of Eagles in that position I'm sure it would have been 1-1 and a different game...but it isn't and wasn't.

[Ianmooreslovechild]

Davies can still do a job coming on for the last half hour but he needs someone to play off him otherwise it's a waste of time.His only strength is winning the ball in the air and without someone to knock it down to it's a complete waste of time.Wigan and Swansea definitely look worse than us,Blackburn too perhaps then the rest apart from the big 6 are all beatable.This is a stronger squad than we've had before but the run of games has hammered confidence and we've had little of the ball so not much chance for creative players to click and plenty pressure to make the defence look poor.The Norwich result was worrying but in the context of the run of results/opponents not a massive shock.

There is promise in the mobility of Kakuta and N'gog up top,Reo Coker is a good signing and there is better options and depth in midfield than we've had before.Ricketts and Holden coming back will be a big boost at a time when we can expect to be picking up points.(although anyone who watched The Shining should beware of expecting Holden to change the world) Gardner,Wheater,Boyata,Ricketts when fit can all improve our back four as can a more rational approach to the midfield balance.

You need to win the ball and keep hold of it to have a chance and Eagles and Petrov dont seem to do either.I really cant see how 424 can work except occasionally at home as a last resort.It's time to grind out some resultsd and make the team harder to beat.451 has to be the way forward in the circumstances.Eagles and Petrov,like Klasnic and K Davies should not be starting games,rescuing them maybe but rationally how can a team starting with those 4 expect to win the ball and retain it enough to create chances.

So there is plenty hope for the season provided Coyle wises up a bit and starts using what is a genuinely strong squad at it's highest potential.The fixtures meant it was always going to be difficult,poor refereeing and bad luck with injuries have compounded it as has Coyle's naively optimistic use of 442, the increasingly suspect form of Jussi,a complete failure to defend crosses and every team we play focussing on exploiting our left side.He said yesterday we have the personel to sort this and he blamed the defence for the result so maybe he will now start to take the bold decisions necessary regarding Robbo,Knight(who did ok against Arsenal but still not well enough),Jussi and K Davies.

They can still play a part but have got to be at a low ebb now and need a break while fresher less shell shocked players can be given a chance in a more compact system with less passengers.
So enough with the doom and gloom,we're still a lower mid table side and we will still punch above our weight.

[hisroyalgingerness]

I agree with a lot of this as well. We are as soft as shi'te and the team selection is awful. My comment about attack being the best form of defence is logical provided we play a balanced team. In the case of today, second half involved being in our half for most of the time with no outlet apart from Davies. Pointless.
Coyle certainly needs to man up. I'm not sure it's in his nature.
We will not get anything from Chelsea unless you are talking about a few nebulous Sammy Lee type positives. Our season will start after Sunderland - too late, I'm afraid.

We had 10 men.

Maybe next time we're down to ten we just shake hands with the opposition and leave the pitch, eh?

[officer_dibble]

Im in two minds as to whether we should chuck the towel in now against chelsea and not bother turning up. all it will serve is further hits to the gd; and the way things are going at the moment bring injuries and suspensions.

[beer_swiller]

Davies is no longer effective against teams as they know how to play him. Also he aint that quick neither.

Van persie was a class above anything else on the pitch yesterday regardless off what fans think of Jussi conceding at the near post.

What needs to be re-addressed are the soft challenges resulting in players being sent off, Walcott should have been shown red for his theatricals, as should that **** last week for Norwich. I noticed they avoided mentioning it on MOTD.
These challenges are ruining football as a spectator sport and will eventually become a none contact sport especially the way Reffs are being told to deal with Wheaters un-deserving sending off.

[BWFC_Insane]

Friend just texted me to say that Coyle now has a worse PPG record in the premiership than Colin Todd and Gary Megson. No idea if it's true but if it is it's a shocking statistic!