Leicester 1 Crystal Palace 1

[Cate Fox]

Hooray, the elephant-buggering gimps are back in town.

Thanks, I'm now wiping coffee off my monitor :icon_lol:

 

[H T B]

Opposing manager looks at our team sheet: -
Ricardo in goal, put crosses in the box lads.
Weale in goal, shoot from range.

 

[fahey]

just imaging if sousa was still gaffer we could have been the preston/shuff united this season so even if we dont make it play offs, next season be our champion year. i dont no what weale was doin last night i think he had a bet on first scorer to be honest.

 

[Mike - True Blue Tinter]

What about when he flapped lamely at a cross that would have had the crowd fuming if it was Ricardo?

Or his abysmal distribution - trying to play the ball out quickly often to players totallly unprepared for the ball or in very poor positions?

Or his total lack of any communication with his defence at all times?

Sven dropped a right bollock by giving in to the pressure to bring him back in. A scandalous example of a crowd influencing a manager. I think we'd have several more points right now if both he and Bruma had been nowhere near our team in recent games. Two major errors of judgement from Sven there when neither change needed to be made.

I don't want either Ricardo or Weale in goal at the beginning of next season but I sure know which of the two is the better keeper unlike most of the morons chanting 'Weale, Weale' last night.

I saw no sarcastic/wink smilie here so I assume this is a genuine comment. Frankly I would be astonished if Sven chose his team on the basis of boos/cheers from the fans. If the back four tell him they are not getting on with so and so, that is different.

I know that often with loan players there are a contractual number of games included that can make it embarrassing if the player is then off form.

I would like to think that Sven picks his teams on the basis of what he sees in training and an analysis of the likely opposition line-up/strengths/strategy.

 

[David Gwilliam]

Sven dropped a right bollock by giving in to the pressure to bring him back in. A scandalous example of a crowd influencing a manager. .

Clearly whoever Sven picked in goal the choice would be controversial. The news that the decision was influenced by the crowd is indeed scandalous. Do you have a shred of evidence for this?

 

[Kingy_85]

A few years ago I was playing Football Manager as the Man City boss.

I brought a lot of youth through to my first team over a few seasons and both Kieran Trippier & Ben Mee became top Premiership players.

I did some research and found that they had both been instrumental in lifting the F.A Youth Cup the season previous and that they had big futures.

Last night I saw a player that has grown in confidence and maturity in the short time he has been with us and I'm looking forward to following Mee's career.

Definitely looks like a top player in the making.

 

[spionfox]

Kamara very poor, Gallagher dreadful, Yak not good

Indeed. But I wonder what odds you would have got before kick-off for those three to be substituted.

Anyone not knowing the details of the game might have thought we were three or four up if we subbed that trio!

 

[pds]

Weale has been poor at times this season. Which is surprising as in the previous 2 seasons he was almost faultless.

How much trouble can you get in to on the Bristol City treatment table?

 

[Hazzman]

Definitely looks like a top player in the making.

For the sixth hundredth time, he needs to learn how to pass a ball rather than 'scooping' it.

Saying this it applies to about every English centre-back going.

 

[Motown Fox]

Not a great day all round. Was in Mablethorpe the night before so had to travel by train from Grimsby Town station where the guy overcharged me for the ticket for the Lincoln/Leicester leg.

Then at Lincoln as I was looking at my phone 2 lads went past me cursing as I was in their way and then as they looked back said oh it's only a ****ing Leicester fan.
Just made it in time for the game only for it to be almost as crap as the Pompey game.Very disappointing!!

Then just to top it off whilst we were waiting for the bus to my mums a guy approaches us and says in a sarf London accent 'thanks for the point laaads'

 

[camberwell fox]

Abject.

I thought we were lucky to go in only one down. Oakley, who on the whole I think has been unfairly criticised recently, simply wasn't covering them breaking quickly in the first half. But it wasn't just his rubbish passing that gave the ball away constantly.

The regularity with which Weale lets in these long range efforts/flaps at crosses makes me wonder if he's got a clinical perspective/long range vision problem. Send him to an optician, preferably Saturday afternoon.

At least getting a point last night cleared up one thing. Sousa's league record was w1d2l6. Against the same teams, with only Reading to go, SGE can boast a w1d3l4 return.

Clearly he is the better manager.

Neil?

 

[TornadoShaunUK]

I thought the guy on BBC radio London made a good point. We have 3 midfielders who are good passers of the ball but none of them are capable of dribbling with the ball and beating a man. Consequently, when teams sit back we find it hard to break them down. Sven couldn't change the team last night due to the Burnley performance but perhaps players like Vassell and Dyer are the type of players needed to break down teams that sit back. Just a thought.

This is why I think we struggle against less talented teams because there is less space, we don't really have any attacking players who have the ability to run at people and create problems that way, we are nearly always trying to pass through the opponents.

Like I say, I love the way we play but it doesn't always work and Sven needs to get cracking on a plan B for when fancy football is not likely to yield results. I'd probably go for 4/3/3 and get the two wing forwards to run at the fullbacks in these instances. Maybe Dyer would suffice for the left but not sure we've really got anyone at the minute that might work on the right, Kamara with Yak in the middle? Even then we don't know if they will be here next year....

 

[Thrax]

Our midfield look jaded and confused. King has been shocking for several weeks now and is clearly out on his feet mentally and physically. Wellens is running on empty and giving up on chases he;d normally achieve. Oakley is a poor player nowadays but was holding the midfield together last night. That speaks volumes.

must admit, I noticed a couple of times when a palace player skipped past him with the ball all too easy. which caused me to scratch me head a bit

 

[Motown Fox]

must admit, I noticed a couple of times when a palace player skipped past him with the ball all too easy. which caused me to scratch me head a bit

Wasnt just Wellens that happened to!
We looked like statues at times last night.

We could have been more than 1-0 down at the break - I mean what was King doing letting the Palace player get the ball when they broke from our corner.

Oakley had a good 2nd half but he was as bad as the other 2 in the first half.

What with the Chuckle brothers up front we need to be more decisive near/in the box.

PVA not so effective and he pulled out of a couple of challenges. Mee had a good game though, still needs to improve his long passing. Passing not too hot by Bamba either and him joining the attack late on was more hindrance than help tbh.

Weale - why does he always get caught out by long shots?

Vassell did well when he came on but Dyer - was surprised he was so ineffective.

In fact a lot of crosses did not beat the first defender or were overhit! Vitor was one of the culprits, he's not got the pace of Naughton either.

 

[Thrax]

Still..... I'm suprised at the lack of "doom" on the forum.

 

[Nottingham Fox]

How much trouble can you get in to on the Bristol City treatment table?

Eh?

Did Weale not play for us in the previous 2 seasons :icon_conf

 

[Brown Nose]

Ricardo is shit. Simple as that pal.

A tad harsh but I'm certainly not claiming that Ricardo is a world beater.

However, he is better in almost all aspects of goalkeeping than Weale.

The only area I think Weale is superior at is close range shot stopping.

Ricardo wouldn't have been beaten by that shot last night. All too often Weale concedes to piss poor efforts from distance.

 

[Brown Nose]

Clearly whoever Sven picked in goal the choice would be controversial. The news that the decision was influenced by the crowd is indeed scandalous. Do you have a shred of evidence for this?

Your question is pointless. Do you have any evidence that he wasn't?

Many managers are influenced by crowd reactions. How many times have we seen subs brought on when the crowd sing for a certain 'sub favourite'. Steve Howard got cheered for last night and was on the pitch shortly afterwards. Although goodness only knows how anyone thought him more likely to score a goal than Yak.

I'm not saying the crowd is the only influence, just that it is an influence. It would be crazy to think otherw*s*, these managers are human after all. For me it is much worse to be influenced by other players as some suggest over the keeper choice than supporters.

Sven knows that Ricardo is unpopular with the crowd and if there is little in his mind between the two keeper options, why is it so odd to suggest that popularity would be a significant factor in his choice of one over the other?

Throughout his time in charge of England, Man City and Leicester, Sven has wanted to be popular and has largely succeeded. This doesn't happen by accident.

 

[TornadoShaunUK]

A tad harsh but I'm certainly not claiming that Ricardo is a world beater.

However, he is better in almost all aspects of goalkeeping than Weale.

The only area I think Weale is superior at is close range shot stopping.

Ricardo wouldn't have been beaten by that shot last night. All too often Weale concedes to piss poor efforts from distance.

That's bollacks mate. IMO Weale is far more confident dealing with crosses into the area (both from open play and set pieces) whereas Ricardo is quite possibly the worst keeper I have seen at City in that regard. I reckon he's a better kicker as well. The one thing I like about Ricardo's game is he has an attacking brain - if that makes any sense, he is good distributing the ball quickly to start counter attacks and he allows us to build better from the back, but I would happily forgo that in exchange for a more commanding presence defensively.

Weale is mistake prone every now and then, but at the same time peole are quick to forget he is capable of moments of brilliance too such as effectively earning us 3 points by himself in the Sheffield United game not too long ago.

 

[Brown Nose]

must admit, I noticed a couple of times when a palace player skipped past him with the ball all too easy. which caused me to scratch me head a bit

I think that the piss poor pre season preparation that saw the likes of Hobbs and Waghorn as shadows of their former selves has also showed in recent weeks with other players. The likes of Wellens and King are totally knackered. They are playing on memory. Gallagher is also showing signs of heading the same way.

I'd rotate Wellens and King for the remaining games so that they don't play together and get plenty of breathers. I'd also play Dyer in the centre three midfielders for his energy for the last few games.

Dyer always starts the season well, then goes shit, then comes on strong towards the end. He's done this every year with us.