Muff away , Thursday night F.A.Cup tie .

The Blobster

The Blobster

Prediction Champ
Thursday night is my darts night and the pub does not have Sky TV , so this is another game I'll not be able to provide wooooohooooo's !

Let's hope we put out a strong team ,a cup run would be a boost for the team and supporters.

A draw would be a good result , let's hope they've learnt something on the training ground and the defence doesn't play so deep .

COYJB do us proud!
 
ivoralljack

ivoralljack

Grizzled Veteran
Staff member
Too much of everything for us. A draw is the very best we can expect and that's a distant hope. However, I'd settle for a fighting performance and more evidence that Williams is making good progress with the squad.
 
Yankee_Jack

Yankee_Jack

Key Player
Latest out of Williams ... Lowe is likely out for a little while, but not as badly injured as originally feared ... and the admission that "Cullen has been playing out of position".

So, what's the odds of Cullen starting at #9.
 
ivoralljack

ivoralljack

Grizzled Veteran
Staff member
I suppose he must have some regard for Cullen if he continues to pick him knowing it's never in his best position. Remains to be seen if Williams is that much smarter than his predecessors by selecting Culls up front where he can do the most damage.
 
Yankee_Jack

Yankee_Jack

Key Player
@ivoralljack ... there is clearly some flakey logic at play here. Why pick a finisher and play him 30 or more yards from goal when there are players on the bench (Allen, Patino, Cooper) who could do a better box-to-box job in that role.
 
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ivoralljack

ivoralljack

Grizzled Veteran
Staff member
Yankee_Jack said:
@ivoralljack ... there is clearly some flakey logic at play here. Why pick a finisher and play him 30 or more yards from goal when there are players on the bench (Allen, Patino, Cooper) who could a better box-to-box job in that role.
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I suppose Cullen's brief is to try and get into the box when we're attacking where he's way better than the three you mention. But, for me, Cullen is a 'between the posts' player, which is not to say he shouldn't take a wander in and around the box when his instincts and the situation demands. But, primarily, a finisher like Cullen (of course there are many different types of finisher) should be sniffing near the six yard box.
 
jackodiamonds

jackodiamonds

Set-Piece Specialist
Staff member
You all know I agree re: Cullen, but it's interesting that Pato's goal vs Saints probably would not have happened if Lowe were on the wing and Cullen at 9 the way we would've wanted.

Lowe was big, tall and brave enough to challenge the keeper for it (and get hurt in the process) and then Cullen had the technique and composure to control it and dink it back in the middle for Pato to head into the empty net.

Reverse the roles and either the keeper punches the ball clear when Cullen doesn't challenge for it, or it falls to Lowe who lashes it over while Pato stands there with his hands out.

Having said all that, if Cullen were at 9 all the time then the Swans would be scoring a lot more goals anyway 🤷‍♂️ Hope he finally gets his chance, but rather in the league than against a Prem team which won't be a fair proving ground for him to make his case.
 
CroJack

CroJack

Key Player
ivoralljack said:
I'd settle for a fighting performance and more evidence that Williams is making good progress with the squad.
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Victoria Swan said:
how we play tomorrow will tell us a lot about the progress Williams is making with the squad.
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Unfortunately, I haven't seen any progress yet, and I'm afraid we won't see any progress as long as Williams starts games with three at the back and two of our centre-backs pushed wide and high. A total of 5 shots against Birmingham and 2 in the first half against Southampton is not a good read. Throwing the kitchen sink and chasing results, as we did in the second half against Southampton, is not progress in my book.

What worries me is that Williams does not seem to know what the problem is. He said in his post-match interview after the Saints game that we played too deep in the first half, which isn't true. When we had the ball and Soton didn't press us high up, we played a high back line and Soton had a lot of space on the flanks to (counter) attack us. That's where the vast majority of their chances came from.

The other thing I've noticed is that we don't release the ball early enough, especially when we cross, and we're missing good chances as a result.
 
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KVetch

KVetch

Key Player
Cullen may have to start, the Lowe injury is concerning. They say he avoided a more serious 6 month injury but will be out a month. I miss Whittaker too. I'd like to see how Kuhkarevich performs, I know nothing about him except he's a big lad. Maybe the Cherries play a weak side and we can steal a win.
 
KVetch

KVetch

Key Player
We lost the EFL cup match against Bournemouth in late August on Ryan Christie's extra time goal. Grimes scored an early penalty. The stats did not favor us, especially in attack. Rushworth had 7 saves, I am expecting him to get similar work tonight.
 
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