Kev MoM for me with both Fletcher & Eagles a close second. Thought Bikey looked confused, not knowing if he was supposed to be in back four or midfield!! Would have preferred Duff in there although having said that, it would have meant Kev not given a start. How the hell we lost this one I will never know, we had Pompey on the ropes for 65 minutes of this game before they scored.It should have been out of sight by end of first half. Same old maxim,don't take your chances at your peril!
Fulham is going to be a big game, because after that we've got Arsenal at home then another away game.
i didn't go to the game, but I saw the highlights and listened on the radio. Really bad result. We need to win games like this to stay up. They were there for the taking. Our defence only seem to perform at home. Bikey's positioning is good, however he doesn't concentrate enough. its good enough in the championship, not in the PL. As Mikey said, Fulham is a really important game. We need to start picking up some points away from home though, Porstmouth should of been on the calender as a 3 pointer, at least 1.
We could do with full points off the next two home games but neither will be easy. not looking good is it chaps..
I like Mears. I think Carlisle is *just* about good enough to get by, but Jordan costs goals at this level, as does Jensen as much as I hate to say it, and I agree with Bikey. He just looks better in midfield for me. Some signings at the back needed in Jan I think..
Mears has done alright but he gets found out a fair bit away from home and plenty of the goals have come down his side aswell. I'll stick to what i said a few weeks back, Mears has done better than i expected him to but still got big doubts whether he's good enough for the prem. Although hjaving donkeys playing alongside you doesnt help his cause. At least two defenders needed IMO get them on loan if we dont want to pay cash. Anything as long as its somebody who can cope with premiership life game in game out. If we're not going to do that might aswell get set for the championship in Jan
where was graham Alexander playing on saturday cause i thought he was a right back and mears appeared to play there
Jordan,I think gets far too much stick! He has got in some crucial tackles this season and apart from a real off day at West Ham when he was under the weather and should not have played, I think he has been good for us this season. I think though he has to try harder because he is not supported by Blake as much as he should be(and others in midfield down that flank). Mears gets more credit mainly because of the fast pace from Eagles and the like giving him better support but then he is a class act too! Jordan is though another player with Prem experience and that's why I think he gets the nod over Kalvenes at the moment
Question is though do you really think either of our defenders are good enough for the premiership? Seems to be very little understanding at times between any of them. When they play offside for example far too often 3 will step out and another will stop back, or a couple will stay and the others push out, leading to a complete mix up. Happens quite a lot too. Saturday i thought the defence right from he off played like a defence that expected to let goals in
I think Jordan gets a lot of praise on a certain forum. I personally think his positional play is very poor, he often gets dragged around and doesn't keep in line with his fellow defenders too well either - lack of concentration at key times has cost us goals from his side this season. I like Kalvenes but his lack of pace would be exposed at this level which is why I think Coyle is sticking with Jordan.
Kalvanes is NO slower than Jordan for me and imo is a better defender. Played at Stoke first game of the season and overall i thought he played alright. Simple thing really is we NEED better defenders but getting them is a different matter. Its all well and good people (The manager mainly) saying we need to defend better. They've been given long enough to prove themselves and it keeps happening game after game. Points to the fact their just not good enough or got the know how in the premiership. I'm not trying to put a downer on it just calling things as i've seen them so far this season and with the same defence see very little if anything changing. I think Kalvanes reads the game miles better than Jordan too and doesnt get caught too far up the field like him leaving all the other players around him exposed. If it come to a pick between the two i'd have Kalvanes every single time.
Sorry but Kalvanes really is slower than Jordan, it's so noticeable. Also thought Jordan had yet another solid game yesterday, wish people would get off his back. This is the squad we’ve got, a lot of people in it may well not be good enough but it's what we have and we have to get behind the lads.
your talking like Jordan is a flying machine or something put it this way Kalvanes doesnt get caught out as much as Jordan up the field. Btw im not getting on his back just saying what i think and reckon he has more poor games than good ones. Not premiership quality and if he's as good as it gets for us were bolloxed we really are. I'm not going to sit here saying i believe he's this or that when i dont.
No not a flying machine just that he's faster than Kalvanes. And I think that’s one of the main reasons he plays because the pace is so fast in the Prem that Kalvanes would be getting beat often, whereas Jordan can keep up with play. I think Kalvanes’ attacking play is better than Jordan's (tho it was Jordan who whipped in the cross for the goal yesterday). Anyway in Coyle we trust! What’s your view on our current defensive duo? For me Carlisle has been solid the majority of this season and has really coped with the Prem well, but I’m not a fan of Caldwell to be honest and he was caught napping again yesterday, how Coyle is still playing him is beyond me, it's crying out for Bikey (who had a shocker in midfield yesterday) to be put back at centre back and let Big Kev shine in midfield like he's done the last 2 games!
I think Carlisle has done alright. Will say what i've said since last season about Caldwell. Nowhere near good enough and gets caught out far too often wouldnt have him as skipper either tbh. Dont understand why McDonald didnt start yesterday was our best midfield player last week. Never really wastes the ball, good eye for that clever pass and gets forward well. I'm sure it will only be a matter of time before he starts. Against Arsenal id start with him and Nugent and drop Bikey and Blake.
