Games Left 08-05-2021

[Pegojack]

Has Derby changed its name officially to "Wayne Rooneys Derby County" yet. I'm figuring they must have as I haven't heard them called anything else since Christmas.

Wayne Rooney's Derby County lose again, but neither Rotherham.or Wycombe can buy a win.

Vaulks sent off for the scummers in the 94th minute, one minute after coming on.

 

[mrploppy]

Can't say I agree with that, but then you've had an anti-Cooper agenda for a while. When things don't go to plan on the field I tend to blame the players. Grimes slows everything down in midfield and he has 2 types of pass in his locker - one to the left wingback/fullback, and one to the right wingback/fullback. Hourihane is a waste of a shirt - if I had a penny for every hospital pass he's given ... Fulton's been our best midfielder by a country mile this season. Lowe traps the ball further than I can kick it - scores a goal very now and then, but basically doesn't play well with others. Ayew - well, he's undroppable because he's on £80K a week. Whitaker's not really ready for this level yet. Smith is OK, but often anonymous. Dhanda - another waste of a shirt. Routledge is way past it. Woodman, either lumps it long to nobody or straight into touch - and he's suspect at set pieces. Add to that a lack of movement, and a lack of desire to be brave on the ball and you get pretty sterile football. Basically, a lot of our players are just not good enough. But, yes, it's Cooper's fault.

Otherwise ok?

Guehi's outstanding. Bennet, Cabango, Naughton and Roberts are plenty good enough - although Bennet and Cabango's distribution isn't the best. Bidwell and Manning are OK. Cullen would have played more but for his injury and is a natural goalscorer. Is that what you were asking?

 

[legoman]

Otherwise ok?

Guehi's outstanding. Bennet, Cabango, Naughton and Roberts are plenty good enough - although Bennet and Cabango's distribution isn't the best. Bidwell and Manning are OK. Cullen would have played more but for his injury and is a natural goalscorer. Is that what you were asking?

Sorry, just my sense of humour
https://youtu.be/RDQ-iaSf4mw

 

[J_B]

He’s finally got a dose of what he’s done to us then. Most players are probably well fucked off with the idiot and his ridiculous selections, formations and tactics by now too. Who the hell wants to waste their career going backwards and leathering the ball as far as they can forwards. Hardly the stuff of dreams of a young footballer.

Can't say I agree with that, but then you've had an anti-Cooper agenda for a while. When things don't go to plan on the field I tend to blame the players. Grimes slows everything down in midfield and he has 2 types of pass in his locker - one to the left wingback/fullback, and one to the right wingback/fullback. Hourihane is a waste of a shirt - if I had a penny for every hospital pass he's given ... Fulton's been our best midfielder by a country mile this season. Lowe traps the ball further than I can kick it - scores a goal very now and then, but basically doesn't play well with others. Ayew - well, he's undroppable because he's on £80K a week. Whitaker's not really ready for this level yet. Smith is OK, but often anonymous. Dhanda - another waste of a shirt. Routledge is way past it. Woodman, either lumps it long to nobody or straight into touch - and he's suspect at set pieces. Add to that a lack of movement, and a lack of desire to be brave on the ball and you get pretty sterile football. Basically, a lot of our players are just not good enough. But, yes, it's Cooper's fault.

Who’s job is it to change those things, to try other players who aren’t as bad? He’s coming to the end of his second season here. This is his team playing the football he asks them to play. The buck stops with him.

 

[mrploppy]

Can't say I agree with that, but then you've had an anti-Cooper agenda for a while. When things don't go to plan on the field I tend to blame the players. Grimes slows everything down in midfield and he has 2 types of pass in his locker - one to the left wingback/fullback, and one to the right wingback/fullback. Hourihane is a waste of a shirt - if I had a penny for every hospital pass he's given ... Fulton's been our best midfielder by a country mile this season. Lowe traps the ball further than I can kick it - scores a goal very now and then, but basically doesn't play well with others. Ayew - well, he's undroppable because he's on £80K a week. Whitaker's not really ready for this level yet. Smith is OK, but often anonymous. Dhanda - another waste of a shirt. Routledge is way past it. Woodman, either lumps it long to nobody or straight into touch - and he's suspect at set pieces. Add to that a lack of movement, and a lack of desire to be brave on the ball and you get pretty sterile football. Basically, a lot of our players are just not good enough. But, yes, it's Cooper's fault.

Who’s job is it to change those things, to try other players who aren’t as bad? He’s coming to the end of his second season here. This is his team playing the football he asks them to play. The buck stops with him.

You can't make Routledge younger, or stop Dhanda from being cr@p. Hourihane's 30 and not ours anyway - he's not changing. He'll go back to Villa, not get game time, and move on. Grimes is so slow of movement and thought, and so one-footed - he's not changing. Ayew wouldn't listen to anyone anyway. Woodman isn't quite good enough - and probably never will be. Fulton has definitely improved under Cooper. Smith has always been a bit meh. Cullen and Whitaker will improve as they get older. Someone said it in commentary (O'Leary?) that they're working hard with Lowe in training to improve the things he's not good at.

This team are maybe trying to play the football that Cooper wants them to play, but they're not managing it because they're just not good enough. Imagine if Brendan Rodgers was in charge and was asking them to be brave on the ball, to accept the ball in tight spaces, play out from the back, keep the ball, pass teams to death, etc. Do you think they could do it?

 

[J_B]

Who’s job is it to change those things, to try other players who aren’t as bad? He’s coming to the end of his second season here. This is his team playing the football he asks them to play. The buck stops with him.

You can't make Routledge younger, or stop Dhanda from being cr@p. Hourihane's 30 and not ours anyway - he's not changing. He'll go back to Villa, not get game time, and move on. Grimes is so slow of movement and thought, and so one-footed - he's not changing. Ayew wouldn't listen to anyone anyway. Woodman isn't quite good enough - and probably never will be. Fulton has definitely improved under Cooper. Smith has always been a bit meh. Cullen and Whitaker will improve as they get older. Someone said it in commentary (O'Leary?) that they're working hard with Lowe in training to improve the things he's not good at.

This team are maybe trying to play the football that Cooper wants them to play, but they're not managing it because they're just not good enough. Imagine if Brendan Rodgers was in charge and was asking them to be brave on the ball, to accept the ball in tight spaces, play out from the back, keep the ball, pass teams to death, etc. Do you think they could do it?

Of course not but after two years in charge Brendan would have made sure that the players here could play his style and he would have made sure those coming in fitted the bill.
Or do we just shrug our shoulders and keep Cooper for ever whilst constantly blaming his players for not being good enough to play his style?

What is his style anyway? It’s certainly not pass and move football.

 

[mrploppy]

You can't make Routledge younger, or stop Dhanda from being cr@p. Hourihane's 30 and not ours anyway - he's not changing. He'll go back to Villa, not get game time, and move on. Grimes is so slow of movement and thought, and so one-footed - he's not changing. Ayew wouldn't listen to anyone anyway. Woodman isn't quite good enough - and probably never will be. Fulton has definitely improved under Cooper. Smith has always been a bit meh. Cullen and Whitaker will improve as they get older. Someone said it in commentary (O'Leary?) that they're working hard with Lowe in training to improve the things he's not good at.

This team are maybe trying to play the football that Cooper wants them to play, but they're not managing it because they're just not good enough. Imagine if Brendan Rodgers was in charge and was asking them to be brave on the ball, to accept the ball in tight spaces, play out from the back, keep the ball, pass teams to death, etc. Do you think they could do it?

Of course not but after two years in charge Brendan would have made sure that the players here could play his style and he would have made sure those coming in fitted the bill.
Or do we just shrug our shoulders and keep Cooper for ever whilst constantly blaming his players for not being good enough to play his style?

What is his style anyway? It’s certainly not pass and move football.

But what do you do when your players can't, or don't, do it? We're in no position to be having a big turnover in players. And, as useful as he's been, we're somewhat hampered by Ayew's wages.

I've heard Cooper say he wants players to be brave on the ball and play "the Swansea way" without using those exact words. If you take our third goal against Millwall - I'm sure he'd like us to play like that all the time. Sometimes it's simply because players don't show for the ball - they hide, in the way that Fulton used to do. I'm pretty sure that Brendan's philosophy (or maybe it's Pep's, but regardless) is that when a player has the ball he should always have 3 options. Well, if you watch our midfield closely, often they only have one (and sometimes none).

 

[J_B]

Indeed. After two seasons Cooper hasn’t got them passing and moving into space. It’s the most basic of football philosophies He’s failed.

 

[sainthelens]

Now 9/2 outsiders to win play offs. Wont carry a penny of my mine but in the hope we get Barnsley first then that price looks ok as wed be less than half that price should we make it to the lottery of a final.

 

[Pegojack]

Now 9/2 outsiders to win play offs. Wont carry a penny of my mine but in the hope we get Barnsley first then that price looks ok as wed be less than half that price should we make it to the lottery of a final.

I'm afraid, when you look at the remaining fixtures, it looks very much like Brentford against Barnsley and us against Muff.

 

[monmouth]

Cooper’s ‘succeeded’ now apparently anyway, so he won’t give a shit and we’ll probably surrender like last year at Griffin Hole.

Which means we might as well have finished 10th if reaching play offs is really seen as a success. We wasted our time laughing our arses off when Cardiff lost to Blackpool. They’d had a successful season.

 

[Longlostjack]

Cooper’s ‘succeeded’ now apparently anyway, so he won’t give a s**t and we’ll probably surrender like last year at Griffin Hole.

Which means we might as well have finished 10th if reaching play offs is really seen as a success. We wasted our time laughing our arses off when Cardiff lost to Blackpool. They’d had a successful season.

Cheer up Mr Meldrew ! Go and see if there’s some Bristol Cream left.

 

[monmouth]

Has Derby changed its name officially to "Wayne Rooneys Derby County" yet. I'm figuring they must have as I haven't heard them called anything else since Christmas.

Wayne Rooney's Derby County lose again, but neither Rotherham.or Wycombe can buy a win.

Vaulks sent off for the scummers in the 94th minute, one minute after coming on.

Sheff Weds play WRDC on the last day and have a better GD I think. If they can get a draw or win next week and we beat WRDC then they can send them down in the last game. Or if Rotherham get a draw and a win and WRDC lose both.

How sweet would that be?

 

[monmouth]

Cooper’s ‘succeeded’ now apparently anyway, so he won’t give a s**t and we’ll probably surrender like last year at Griffin Hole.

Which means we might as well have finished 10th if reaching play offs is really seen as a success. We wasted our time laughing our arses off when Cardiff lost to Blackpool. They’d had a successful season.

Cheer up Mr Meldrew ! Go and see if there’s some Bristol Cream left.

Bristol Cream? Pfft. Child's play. I'm on the Advocaat.

 

[Baron Goblet]

Quote

This team are maybe trying to play the football that Cooper wants them to play, but they're not managing it because they're just not good enough. Imagine if Brendan Rodgers was in charge and was asking them to be brave on the ball, to accept the ball in tight spaces, play out from the back, keep the ball, pass teams to death, etc.

:...

I used to laugh at Scott, Tayls and Angel at times, good at what they did with some glaring weaknesses. Borini and Sinclair really pushed that team above its natural level, without Borini we would have lost more games

Brendan has the gift of the gab, though Steve does too and is also a good coach, some of Steve's pitch side instructions to Jay have helped the team to pivot around Jay, we saw it yesterday again when Jay started the move that lead to Jamal scoring

The team is performing as well, possibly better than, Brendans short era

there is just an air of ownership grievance that still hangs over us and of course Covid, whereas when Brendan was here, we really had no expectations and decades of decent and good players like Denis Lawrence to guide us

Then we found ourselves at Wembley and just held on, as much to do with Garrys sensational block when Reading were about to turn us over as any of our attacking play that fine day