Mason

[baggieal]

Glad to see you still posting Al!
We of all teams should know that possession isn't everything. When we were in the Premiership and winning some games, how many of those did we have little over 20% possession in and still manage to snatch a win through a rare set piece? (if only we were as good at converting corners now &#128512

Mason has spoken earlier about getting the defence sorted first and to be fair, the acquisition of Phillips and Mepham has improved it and, defensively at least, Campbell is better than Furlong. Our problem remains-as many see it-our lack of goals and this is particularly hampered by over slow build ups in our attacking play and lack of creativity.

Like many, I believe that we do have players within the squad that can improve this but agree with you that Mason is over-cautious and whilst we may well see Mikey start on Fri, I would be (very pleasantly!) surprised if he actually played Taylor at LB to allow Styles to play in place of Mowatt or Molumby for example or at least started Maja alongside Heggabo. Collyer I can see making an appearance as a sub and possibly Iling Junior but I think a lot of the changes we would like to see will be slow in coming.

His selection on Friday will be interesting but if he doesn't make more of the changes many would like to see but we continue to lose or draw games that we should have got results from then, however "well" we played and regardless of possession and stats, patience will wear thin. My personal belief is that Mason, despite his inherent caution, will not allow us to get to this stage. Hope I am not proved wrong!

Returned Omeg because Bomber did and enjoy posts and debates with your good self, Matt etc. I agree with your points and can?t see you being proved wrong. Fridays team will be interesting.

[baggiematt]

Returned Omeg because Bomber did and enjoy posts and debates with your good self, Matt etc. I agree with your points and can?t see you being proved wrong. Fridays team will be interesting.

Thats it for me Im leaving 😆

[baggieal]

I get you have never bought into the appointment and thats your view. But do you not think there are 6 squads better than ours? I think there are. So realistically a top 10 finish in my mind is ok. Below top 10 would be an underperformance.

I would challenge the notion of selecting players out of position. The only player that has done that is Campbell, who I think has been our best player. Hes been very capable while Gilchrist gets up to speed.

The premier league way is just modern football. Not many direct sides are doing that well any more and most clubs now get the ball on the ground and play. Luton are proof that the direct model is obsolete.

I hope Im right; I think he has the makings of being a very good, long term manager for us. Mason is a bit like Rosenior, who also made mistakes but was overall a great young coach.

Our next few fixtures are really tough so I doubt we will have win after win. But a win against Leicester would be a huge result.

Totally agree and for me it?s top 10 and anything above will be a huge bonus. It?s work in progress and a win against Leicester will be huge. I just hope Mason experiments with players that have been brought in and gives Collyer a start, Wallace will be gone at the end of the season so rather see Junior or even Bostock given an opportunity. Squad player/sub that?s fine for this season.

Molumby/Swift don?t work together as there?s a lack of creativity and talent.

Mason needs to be brave for sure and keep the fans on his side. The worry for me is Mason thinks nothing was wrong with Friday and we were unlucky. Wrong selections and no cutting edge would sum up that match.

[baggiematt]

Just wondering if your perspective has changed on Mason after that game Bordering? To me we were extremely well drilled, had a threat going forward and the players didnt stop running.

Leicester had very good wingers, who caused issues but generally were nullified until the last few minutes.

Its night and day if you compare to Mowbray.

Keep doing that and we will be fine.

[bordering]

. No my perspective on Mason hasn't changed .

Still a 1-0 nil is enough mindset - look at our post 90 minutes results .

And I note that several posters are now talking of a top 10 finish- a drop from play off contention.

It is about expectations and a top half championship side is maybe what we are ......................just like Peace said way back in the day.

With parachute payments helping the 3 relegated sides every year I think we are getting further asway from premiership contention.

A mid table championship side is no good for Mason's career either .So he needs to go for it take more risks in an effort to get more than 1 goal a game ot he will be gone sooner , later I don't know but mid table 1-0 football will soon disenchant the Hawthorns

[baggiematt]

. No my perspective on Mason hasn't changed .

Still a 1-0 nil is enough mindset - look at our post 90 minutes results .

And I note that several posters are now talking of a top 10 finish- a drop from play off contention.

It is about expectations and a top half championship side is maybe what we are ......................just like Peace said way back in the day.

With parachute payments helping the 3 relegated sides every year I think we are getting further asway from premiership contention.

A mid table championship side is no good for Mason's career either .So he needs to go for it take more risks in an effort to get more than 1 goal a game ot he will be gone sooner , later I don't know but mid table 1-0 football will soon disenchant the Hawthorns

I think you have got to look at the context of what players we have. Quality-wise against Leicester, we were not comparable. To think we will go and outplay them is illogical. However, we had by far the best chances and we should have been 2 or 3 up.

Its good tactics that allowed us to have the best chances and attacking Leicester would have led to us getting pumped. That would have happened under Mowbray.

I think we will be top 10 and I dont think that will be underperformance by the manager. It is a simple assessment of what he has at his disposal.

Next season though, with more good additions and now we have the right manager, maybe it will be different.

[Leicesterbaggie]

The reason why we may look a mid-table Championship side has nothing to do with Mason. The simple reason is our inability to convert chances made. Last night was a prime example as we wasted far too many goal scoring opportunities. It is as simple as that!

[stargazer_1962]

Mason talks about having 2 strikers out, Grant and Dike, so he feels he's restricted in his options though I don't think those two are the answer either.

[Omegstrat6]

I think you have got to look at the context of what players we have. Quality-wise against Leicester, we were not comparable. To think we will go and outplay them is illogical. However, we had by far the best chances and we should have been 2 or 3 up.

Its good tactics that allowed us to have the best chances and attacking Leicester would have led to us getting pumped. That would have happened under Mowbray.

I think we will be top 10 and I dont think that will be underperformance by the manager. It is a simple assessment of what he has at his disposal.

Next season though, with more good additions and now we have the right manager, maybe it will be different.

Agree with a lot of what you have said Matt, although I still believe we have a chance of top 6-IF we can learn to convert our chances more, as Leics pointed out.

I still feel that Mason can be a bit overly cautious towards making changes but he did so for last night's game and we were better defensively, looked well organized and had more energy in our attacking play.

Leicester are a good side and, as you say, it would have been folly for us to have tried to out play them and agree that Mason got his tactics right. We were also perhaps fortunate that until their goal Leicester were poor with their final ball for most of the match but we could have won it had Maja converted. C'est la vie and all that. It's a work in progress and I felt that last night's game did show improvements against a decent side and the goals will come.

[Omegstrat6]

Mason talks about having 2 strikers out, Grant and Dike, so he feels he's restricted in his options though I don't think those two are the answer either.

In terms of them scoring goals, no but I think that Grant particularly can offer other attributes with his energy and work rate. He is not a centre forward like Maja or Heggabo but still offers options as an attacking player. No doubting Price's abilities but he has been disappointing in a few games now and, dare I say it, whilst not having Isaac's quality, Grant may have had more of an impact?

As for Dike, I would dearly like him to be able to come back from injury and show that he can score goals but sadly doubt it. Heggabo is better at holding the ball up and Maja (despite last night's miss) more likely to put the ball in the back of the net.