Kewell our or relegation

[Elite_Pie]

Saturday is now a huge game for the club.

Why?

[countygump]

Why?

Not really. We're expected to lose and most prob will do.

[LaxtonLad]

Amongst all the hysteria calling for Kewell to be sacked, I have not seen anyone suggest what else he could do. Without Stead and Hemmings there were no credible attacking options. We know how fragile the midfield is, so it was, on paper at least, sensible to play Thomas and Baldwjn as wide midfielders. The problem was that Milsom had an appalling game, Hewitt ran around like a headless chicken, and moving Turley to right back, with Brisley in the centre of defence, left things wide open.

But what else was there he could do? Nolan has bequeathed such an imbalanced squad, that cannot withstand any injuries or suspensions. Kewell clearly has nous, as was demonstrated by bringing Duffy on. It stemmed the flow towards the defence and gave some steel. What was probably not evident on tv was that Duffy acted like a captain and communicated and organised the defence.

Whether or not Dennis should have been kept on is debatable. He did absolutely nothing, but got no service. Something had to give and I think Kewell got the substitution absolutely spot on. Notts could have gone on to win as the Oldham threat was nullified. I expect Duffy to be a first choice and to be captain.

I agree almost totally with this post except Turley did quite a good job at RB.

If anyone was watching Duffy off the ball they would have seen, if not heard, how vocal he was.

The subbing of Dennis for Duffy surprised most of the supporters but I don't think it deserved the boos and it must have had them thinking again when we saw an improvement. Not really fair on Dennis, he was a lone striker and is as good at that as Hewitt is at RB. The shifting of Brisley forward into midfield-ish while Duffy took his regular position in defence actually seemed to work as Boldeweijn was given more service than Dennis had and looked more threatening directly on goal than on the wing.

A thumbs up from me for HK reading the game correctly this time.

[Davy500]

So why indeed is the Director of Football sat on the bench and the GK Coach sat in the stands? Hart is the vulture waiting for Kewell to be axed. Not long now I guess. Saturday is now a huge game for the club.

Yes there could be some truth in this.

I was wondering what the hell Paul Hart is supposed to be doing

But he could be an insurance policy, to replace HK as our next manager

[matt_magpie]

I agree almost totally with this post except Turley did quite a good job at RB.

If anyone was watching Duffy off the ball they would have seen, if not heard, how vocal he was.

The subbing of Dennis for Duffy surprised most of the supporters but I don't think it deserved the boos and it must have had them thinking again when we saw an improvement. Not really fair on Dennis, he was a lone striker and is as good at that as Hewitt is at RB. The shifting of Brisley forward into midfield-ish while Duffy took his regular position in defence actually seemed to work as Boldeweijn was given more service than Dennis had and looked more threatening directly on goal than on the wing.

A thumbs up from me for HK reading the game correctly this time.

Agree no one would can argue the starting 11 or in my mind with Enzio going up front, it actually nearly worked in getting a goal and he did a lot better than Dennis. As for any of the other midfielders at the club I don't think anyone would have backed any of them going into that game at that point. I thought Duffy played well bar his one off theatrics. The problem is the squad is awful, 4 or so midfielders not in the squad because on the face of it their not good enough or suited at this level for and unfortunately Hewitt cannot consistently perform, we needed a left back in the summer, toots is struggling this season and to top it off Duffy and Hall have been injured, Dennis missed pre season, its just been a shambles for many reasons and Kewell has been left to sort it out, his choice but I don't think he realised how bad it was.

[McCullochisGod]

Why?

Call me old fashioned but I tended to think a good FA Cup run was a decent revenue stream

[Pies4u]

The harsh reality - and it is a sad reflection on our current plight - is that Kewell appeared to have surrendered before the kick off last night. Arguably, he picked the strongest team from those available, (I'd question that tbh) but the approach and tactics seemed chaotic at best. After last Sat, surely Etete was worth a look at some stage, Duffy, if fit, would always start ahead of Brisley for my money (despite his lack of mobility and theatricals), he does actually head the ball forwards not just stright up in the air and he is a commanding, vocal, leader.

To replace the lone striker with another centre haf after an hour or so, with the scoreline 0 - 0 against a bottom half the table team is almost like admitting we aren't good enough top push on and win the game. He daren't put Etete on - which begs the question, what was he on the bench for? That was a really bizarre substitution but, paradoxically, we did look better with the vocal and experienced Duffy at the back and Brisley away from that area. Yes, as Elite says, that is in part because we were so dire before but Duffy does ads something despite his critics on here.

We also have to accept that the youngsters Nolan signed seem to be considered inadequate or not ready, so we have to endure Hewitt - a hugely limited footballer who cant pass water and is so easily dispossessed & by-passed by opponents it is painful to watch. I have no confidence that Husin is any better & Vaughan is a damn sight worse, so, we are stuck with Hewitt!

We only ever look dangerous wan Alessandra is firing on all cylinders and the mercurial Enzio occasionally sparks into life, which is a bit too rarely for me. As both were fairly well contained fr the most part last night we offered nothing going forward. Kewell, as I say, appears to accept that he can do nothing with this squad now other than try to cling on for a draw from the start! That is an abject policy even if the players are, in most cases, inadequate. At least try to make a fight of it! In terms of galvanising the players, encouraging and motivating them he seems to have given up the ghost!

Nolan made some shocking signings and Kewell, it seems to me, is being asked to make a "silk purse from a sow's ear". I accept that but the fact is he is making such a hash of it is not very encouraging. I am not convinced about him, not convinced at all. He has made a rod for his ow back now and it is up to him to turn it around. Best of luck with that one Harry.

[Elite_Pie]

Call me old fashioned but I tended to think a good FA Cup run was a decent revenue stream

It is, but in our situation an FA Cup game isn't "huge". That description is more apt for the following Saturday at home to Cheltenham.

[Elite_Pie]

The harsh reality - and it is a sad reflection on our current plight - is that Kewell appeared to have surrendered before the kick off last night. Arguably, he picked the strongest team from those available, (I'd question that tbh) but the approach and tactics seemed chaotic at best. After last Sat, surely Etete was worth a look at some stage, Duffy, if fit, would always start ahead of Brisley for my money (despite his lack of mobility and theatricals), he does actually head the ball forwards not just stright up in the air and he is a commanding, vocal, leader.

To replace the lone striker with another centre haf after an hour or so, with the scoreline 0 - 0 against a bottom half the table team is almost like admitting we aren't good enough top push on and win the game. He daren't put Etete on - which begs the question, what was he on the bench for? That was a really bizarre substitution but, paradoxically, we did look better with the vocal and experienced Duffy at the back and Brisley away from that area. Yes, as Elite says, that is in part because we were so dire before but Duffy does ads something despite his critics on here.

We also have to accept that the youngsters Nolan signed seem to be considered inadequate or not ready, so we have to endure Hewitt - a hugely limited footballer who cant pass water and is so easily dispossessed & by-passed by opponents it is painful to watch. I have no confidence that Husin is any better & Vaughan is a damn sight worse, so, we are stuck with Hewitt!

We only ever look dangerous wan Alessandra is firing on all cylinders and the mercurial Enzio occasionally sparks into life, which is a bit too rarely for me. As both were fairly well contained fr the most part last night we offered nothing going forward. Kewell, as I say, appears to accept that he can do nothing with this squad now other than try to cling on for a draw from the start! That is an abject policy even if the players are, in most cases, inadequate. At least try to make a fight of it! In terms of galvanising the players, encouraging and motivating them he seems to have given up the ghost!

Nolan made some shocking signings and Kewell, it seems to me, is being asked to make a "silk purse from a sow's ear". I accept that but the fact is he is making such a hash of it is not very encouraging. I am not convinced about him, not convinced at all. He has made a rod for his ow back now and it is up to him to turn it around. Best of luck with that one Harry.

Agree with the majority of that. The comment you made that concerns me most is "At least try to make a fight of it! In terms of galvanising the players, encouraging and motivating them he seems to have given up the ghost"! Too many players were simply going through the motions last night. A manager who can send out a motivated team counts for a lot in this division, but Kewell has yet to show that it's a quality he's got. I'm not sure it was the right game for Etete, throwing a 16 year old into that shambles could knock his confidence badly. I was impressed with Enzio, he had obviously been singled out as our danger man and was double marked from the start, but was our only hint of any attacking threat. Some have called him lazy which I can't agree with. Even when he was stuck up front on his own he managed to create a couple of chances through sheer persistence. Kristian Dennis take note - yes you had abysmal service, but you might just get something if you put a bit more effort in.

[LaxtonLad]

Agree with the majority of that. The comment you made that concerns me most is "At least try to make a fight of it! In terms of galvanising the players, encouraging and motivating them he seems to have given up the ghost"! Too many players were simply going through the motions last night. A manager who can send out a motivated team counts for a lot in this division, but Kewell has yet to show that it's a quality he's got. I'm not sure it was the right game for Etete, throwing a 16 year old into that shambles could knock his confidence badly. I was impressed with Enzio, he had obviously been singled out as our danger man and was double marked from the start, but was our only hint of any attacking threat. Some have called him lazy which I can't agree with. Even when he was stuck up front on his own he managed to create a couple of chances through sheer persistence. Kristian Dennis take note - yes you had abysmal service, but you might just get something if you put a bit more effort in.

Enzio was double and sometimes even triple-marked, which asks the question - why weren't our un-marked players finding space? Last night some were just strolling and watching. Compare them to Oldham players who were always looking for, and finding, gaps in the Notts midfield.