21/22: The Official Luton Town v Swansea City Match Thread

[Dr. Winston]

Can you believe Piroe has five goals in this team?

Yes. His quality is obvious. Imagine how much more prolific he'll be if/when the team clicks.

 

[dlr2006]

Saint....or anyone...what price was the draw at ht.

I saw 50/1 for the win at 3-0 down, not sure about the draw

 

[Nocountryforoldjack]

Can you believe Piroe has five goals in this team?

Yes. His quality is obvious. Imagine how much more prolific he'll be if/when the team clicks.

Absolute quality player, a real gem.

 

[dickythorpe]

It was 25/1 for the win at 3-3 and we almost did it!

 

[Risc]

I got to be honest, I was in panic mode when we were 3-0 down.

The second half needs to be the kickstart now, I’m not bothered about play offs or any of that but we are better than what we showed first half and it needs to be nipped in bud. Martin picked wrong team (easy to say in hindsight but I thought it prior to game aswell) and he sorted it at half time. Let this be the start

 

[Albie]

I hope RM is man enough to hold his hands up and says he fcked up with his starting selection and now has a better idea of who to bench.

I despair when I see logic like this. How would the first half be guaranteed to be different because the second half was?

Ntcham was knackered on Weds and needed a rest - similarly Walsh looked tremendous when he came on Weds, yet it was clear he wasn't up to pace from the off - unsurprisingly. Same for Williams - rave reviews about his debut so not unreasonable to start with him.

Decisions have to be made in real time and reactions to those at a later time. Just because reactions happen to give a better outcome, it doesn't make them interchangeable.

This fallacy is known as Monday Quarterbacking in the States.

 

[Dr. Winston]

Another concern is that Grimes looks as undroppable under Martin as he was under Cooper.

 

[jed]

Another concern is that Grimes looks as undroppable under Martin as he was under Cooper.

Agreed. Howewever I think the spot will be Downe's soon. Far more dynamic and looking for space to move into. Not that that is saying much compared to Grimes.

 

[dickythorpe]

Another concern is that Grimes looks as undroppable under Martin as he was under Cooper.

I just don't see any class in anything Grimes does. We should have bitten Everton's hands off if they were interested.

 

[Dr. Winston]

I just don't see any class in anything Grimes does. We should have bitten Everton's hands off if they were interested.

I doubt Everton were interested. £3m from Fulham was absurd money though. Should have bitten their hands off for that.

 

[Skippyjack]

We will not get promoted with Grimes in midfield, he attempts to go forward, then turns either sideways or backwards and plays the easy ball, been doing it for years, and his stats look amazing because he continuously does the above, look at Ntcham if you want, completely different, plays it occasionally sideways or back, but also drives forward with purpose

 

[mrploppy]

I hope RM is man enough to hold his hands up and says he fcked up with his starting selection and now has a better idea of who to bench.

I despair when I see logic like this. How would the first half be guaranteed to be different because the second half was?

Ntcham was knackered on Weds and needed a rest - similarly Walsh looked tremendous when he came on Weds, yet it was clear he wasn't up to pace from the off - unsurprisingly. Same for Williams - rave reviews about his debut so not unreasonable to start with him.

Decisions have to be made in real time and reactions to those at a later time. Just because reactions happen to give a better outcome, it doesn't make them interchangeable.

This fallacy is known as Monday Quarterbacking in the States.

Agree 100% with this. On top of that, RM said in his post-match v Millwall that Piroe is tired because it's been a big step up for him. So ideally he would have wanted to give him a rest today.

Someone else said that we started to "go direct" later in the second half and that's what changed the game. If they'd have been watching in the first half they'd have seen us "go direct" plenty of times but Obafemi was on his own and balls were being played up to him in the air. He had no chance - even if he got a flick-on there was no-one there to run off him. What we did in the second half was work ourselves into better positions, partly because Ntcham was dictating things in the middle (not Grimes, BTW) and partly because Luton sat back, possibly because they thought the game was in the bag, but also because they inevitably ran out of steam because of the high press they played in the first half. I think that's going to be a common theme this season - some teams will employ a high press and as long as we can stop them scoring we should be able to pick them off when they tire in the second half.

 

[Itchysphincter]

Another concern is that Grimes looks as undroppable under Martin as he was under Cooper.

I would have sacrificed him at halftime today but it’s no coincidence that Potter, Cooper and Martin all see him as central to the plan. We’re struggling with movement but it’s not down to Grimes, he’s exposed by it.

 

[JackSomething]

Another concern is that Grimes looks as undroppable under Martin as he was under Cooper.

I would have sacrificed him at halftime today but it’s no coincidence that Potter, Cooper and Martin all see him as central to the plan. We’re struggling with movement but it’s not down to Grimes, he’s exposed by it.

I wonder if Grimes' situation is the inverse of Whittaker's. We see a player that has scored at a decent rate in limited opportunities, but neither Cooper or Martin seem convinced by him and Derby were happy to sell him on the cheap (although their financial situation may have had an impact there to be fair).

Whereas very few people seem to rate Grimes, except the various managers of the club.

 

[Dr. Winston]

I would have sacrificed him at halftime today but it’s no coincidence that Potter, Cooper and Martin all see him as central to the plan. We’re struggling with movement but it’s not down to Grimes, he’s exposed by it.

I'll freely admit that my disdain for Grimes could be totally irrational and unjustified. I don't think so, but it's possible.

He looked OK under Potter. No more than that, but it was enough. In fairness to Cooper, he did have him on the bench a few times and we looked better for it, but it didn't stick. He just seems totally unsuited to the way RM wants to go about things, but maybe he'll adjust given time.