Substituting Gibson for the useless Windass????
Gibson wasn’t playing badly either.
Roberts was totally goosed again so should have been a straight swap for McMannaman but oh no let’s just make him labour on for 45 mins FFS!! Felt sorry for him. Evans stunk and is so negative. Grigg would have had to come on for Massey. Totally toothless and outclassed by a side playing with two strikers. How they do that I just don’t know.[/quote]Windass has shown he can be a very useful player. But he needs to be playing in the No.10 position feeding Grigg, and with support from a pacey pair of wingers. Basically set-up how we started the season. Injuries have hurt but the killer has been the defensive play and selections. We showed against West Brom and Derby what we can do when we go all out.

I don’t understand why Cook has done a complete 180 on how we played at the start of the season. It’s like he was spooked by those 3-2 games (for and against) and has killed our attacking game to shore up the defence. The lack of goals is the real killer. When playing better quality opposition they’re always likely to get one, if not two.

Who wants 442?

Our form went to shit because Cook messed around with the formation and our approach to play once injuries hit. Massey’s pace was a loss but all other positions could have been covered with the existing squad. We are unrecognisable from the team that started the season, irrespective of personnel. The closest we got was when down to ten men against Derby. The shackles came off and we looked better than at any other game these past 2-3 months.

The Premier League is a massive gulf in quality over the Championship. Excellent sides can still be relegated given the resources of the opposition. In the Championship only poor sides go down. There isn’t the strength in depth. The odd season you get an outsatanding side or two, but most can beat each other on their day.

Our form the last few months has us bottom of the league. Below sides like Bolton, Ipswich, Rotherham and Millwall. While the likes of QPR and Hull are now pulling well out of sight. The better managers will learn from their mistakes. When you hit a 2-3 month slump and see no signs of improvement, no signs of adapting, then you have to worry.

Are we creating chances?

We where toothless today. The closest we got was James’s cheeky free-kick. Very rarely do we put together sustained pressure. We stumble upon a break or cross. We can’t even rely on set-pieces any longer. It’s as if we don’t practice them……along with throws-in’s. Evermore we resemble the ineptitude of the Joyce era. Since mid-October we’ve been saying we’ll turn it around. If anything we are getting worse by the week.

Powell can’t lace Dack’s boots.

To be considered in such high esteem you need to be playing regularly, and contributing, most games. Powell’s done nothing for us since Bristol City at home. Well before his injuries kicked in. Dack’s been a pivotal figure for Blackburn, week in, week out. He’s also signed a long-term deal ensuring they’ll get a big pay-off if someone does come sniffing. Powell’s sat on his backside and 2 weeks away from being able to walk on a free. If he does sign a new deal, fair enough, we can be patient and wait for him to get back to 100% fitness. If he just doesn’t fancy it and running his deal down, we need to move him on, bring in someone who can stop the slide into the bottom three.

Can we also stop with the BS about injuries costing us. They’ve undoubtedly been a factor. But Cook has done a 180 on our style of play. Earlier in the season we where a joy to watch. Conceded a few but always liable to get a couple ourselves. After some narrow away defeats he switched to this agricultural long-ball crap and watched over the worst run of away form in the country. To make matters worse this style of play’s been adopted at home. We had a nice mix of our passing game and hitting it long when needs be. In the last month it’s been long-ball at all costs and resulted in our home form also taking a dive.

PS, I’m not one who thinks McManaman is a world beater. But with the absence of Massey and Jacobs it’s clear Cook doesn’t rate him. We have Byrne like a fish out of water on the right wing, and on the other side, Roberts doing his best, but he’s not a winger. I’d like to think Cook would have identified James’ attacking qualities and used him further up field. Push him on and slot Byrne into the right-back position. Stick McManaman on the left. In the absence of Powell we need to look at putting Roberts in the middle. Morsy and Evans are playing too deep and creating little.

We were dreadful.

We’ve become the kind of long-ball cloggers everyone hates to watch. Difference if this team can’t score, can’t defend, and are easily bullied.

A manager who appears clueless as to how to rectify things. Sure, we’ve had some injuries. But that’s no excuse to abandon our attacking, attractive, football. For the past month and a half we’ve been getting progressively worse. Yet the manager continues to pick the same players and employ these awful tactics.

I would hope 1 point in 27 away from home is not the criteria of any team. If it wasn’t for exceptional home form we’d be bottom three. So what is it? Either we’re an excellent team with unexplainable away form. Or we’ve rode our luck at home. Either way it points to serious issues.

We rolled into Ipswich yesterday emphasising the importance of the game to THEM. The result puts them back in the running and drags us into a relegation battle. QPR, Preston, Millwall, Reading, Bolton, Ipswich. Capitulations every last one of them. Outfought, and sometimes outplayed, by the worst sides in the division.

So they have us picking up 1pt from 18pts on offer.

Over the same period they have Brentford picking up 12pts, Bolton 10pts and Ipswich 9pts.

OK.

Congrats on breaching that[/quote]Which has nothing to do with those dates. They’re published on IEC’s website. No one can yet put a date on the final completion date.