CroJack
Key Player
Still plays Cullen out of position.
Can we de-bag the Baggies.
- Thread starter The Blobster
- Start date
Yankee_Jack
Key Player
sheehan is still in probation … it’s a work in progress
Yankee_Jack
Key Player
We were good value for the points today, especially with the second half performance. There was nothing about WBA that hinted at distinct superiority.
Sick and tired of tokenism, particularly in football, and I tend to be somewhat in agreement with Joey Barton about this. Listening to some female co-commentators of late and, imo, they are fucking useless!!! 
They've obviously got the gig because of their gender and I don't like it. It's plain WRONG!! I believe in meritocracy in all walks of life and I don't believe anyone should be given ANY position in ANY walk of life because of their gender, religion, skin colour or race. I'm not having a dig at women because there are very many ladies who do excellent work in their chosen profession. For instance in the media you have Gabby Logan, Clare Balding and Hazel Irvine along with lots of others whose work I really enjoy. Likewise there are many splendid examples of people of colour doing excellent work. More power to them all.
But, let's be honest, we are seeing the emergence of far too many others who are just not up to it. They are there purely as window dressing, as a 'token' female, or person of colour, or whatever. And their bosses know it!! In other words we, the majority, are being dictated to by the noisy woke and PC brigade who are forcing us to tolerate sub-standard performances in the name of so-called diversification. They can stick it up their stupid arses in my opinion. Be they female, black, white, gay, of different political/religious persuasion, Martian, aliens from outer space or whatever, the best and most capable person should get the gig. And that is the best way to ensure that standards will continue to rise, in whatever field, instead of plummeting as is now the case. Rant over....... but not ever forgotten.
They've obviously got the gig because of their gender and I don't like it. It's plain WRONG!! I believe in meritocracy in all walks of life and I don't believe anyone should be given ANY position in ANY walk of life because of their gender, religion, skin colour or race. I'm not having a dig at women because there are very many ladies who do excellent work in their chosen profession. For instance in the media you have Gabby Logan, Clare Balding and Hazel Irvine along with lots of others whose work I really enjoy. Likewise there are many splendid examples of people of colour doing excellent work. More power to them all.But, let's be honest, we are seeing the emergence of far too many others who are just not up to it. They are there purely as window dressing, as a 'token' female, or person of colour, or whatever. And their bosses know it!! In other words we, the majority, are being dictated to by the noisy woke and PC brigade who are forcing us to tolerate sub-standard performances in the name of so-called diversification. They can stick it up their stupid arses in my opinion. Be they female, black, white, gay, of different political/religious persuasion, Martian, aliens from outer space or whatever, the best and most capable person should get the gig. And that is the best way to ensure that standards will continue to rise, in whatever field, instead of plummeting as is now the case. Rant over....... but not ever forgotten.
CroJack
Key Player
As long as they choose female comms with good boobs, I don't think they're useless.
Maybe but you don't get to see their boobs do you? You just have to listen to their uninformed voices. That said, as I mentioned, there are many very good female presenters and pundits who are a pleasure to listen to. It's the rest, who are not, that I object to.As long as they choose female comms with good boobs, I don't think they're useless.
You can add Ian Walsh and the Radio Wales commentators to Cullen's admirers. They all agreed he's the most clinical striker we've got and often said as much. The problem is that the coaches keep trying to use him in the same way that Pool use Salah and United use Rashford; playing out wide and cutting inside to score.
But Culls doesn't have anything like their pace nor does he have their skills - he wouldn't be playing for us if he did. What he is good at is poaching in and around the box and he's the best we've got at doing that. Note that today's goal was yet another one-touch effort. He sees, he strikes. Of course he doesn't always score but do it often enough and the goals come. Some stats from today:
POSSESSION: 42-58 SHOTS: 10-10 OT: 4-5 CORNERS: 3-5 FOULS: 10-7 GOALS: 1-0
The first half was none too clever but we rallied in the second period and could/should have scored one or two more. All in all a well earned and welcome three points. I'm still far from convinced about Sheehan but he seems to be allowing the players more latitude to do what comes naturally and we look better when that happens. If he makes more and proper use of Cullen's natural strengths we might get even better.
But Culls doesn't have anything like their pace nor does he have their skills - he wouldn't be playing for us if he did. What he is good at is poaching in and around the box and he's the best we've got at doing that. Note that today's goal was yet another one-touch effort. He sees, he strikes. Of course he doesn't always score but do it often enough and the goals come. Some stats from today:
POSSESSION: 42-58 SHOTS: 10-10 OT: 4-5 CORNERS: 3-5 FOULS: 10-7 GOALS: 1-0
The first half was none too clever but we rallied in the second period and could/should have scored one or two more. All in all a well earned and welcome three points. I'm still far from convinced about Sheehan but he seems to be allowing the players more latitude to do what comes naturally and we look better when that happens. If he makes more and proper use of Cullen's natural strengths we might get even better.
Yankee_Jack
Key Player
Here's the current form table: Championship Form Table
We are mid-table: above Leeds, Ipswich, Plymouth and Cardiff
We are mid-table: above Leeds, Ipswich, Plymouth and Cardiff
Btw, Culls got his goal with his weaker right foot. Many strikers might have missed the chance trying to switch the ball to their stronger side.
CroJack
Key Player
I have a great imagination when it comes to hidden boobs
CroJack
Key Player
The form table for the last 8 games is also interesting. We have just one point less than Leeds and Ipswich.
Yankee_Jack
Key Player
Sheehan has probably been, other than Curt who has a pretty decent record, one of the strongest interim managers we've had.
Sheff Wed have been on fire.
Sheff Wed have been on fire.
CroJack
Key Player
Yes, since they appointed a young German manager.
And Birmingham have sacked Rooney.
Yankee_Jack
Key Player
No shit ... Rooney has been a disaster. 20th in the form table, 20th in the league table. And they thought the previous guy wasn't up to scratch when he had them hovering in/out of playoff positions. Idiots.
Rooney:
Rooney:
How ironic, seems to me he fucked them up quite efficiently.
.... No kidding. Exec's don't forget that quickly
The Birmingham job was a poisoned chalice from the start. They were 6th. Clearly a crazy ownership decision. Reminds me of the time Guidolin got the axe to facilitate The Great Bob Bradley American Marketing Experiment and we all know how that ended.
I hope the new Birmingham hire doesn't take any of Swansea's better options away, although I hear the smart money is on Steve Cooper.
I hope the new Birmingham hire doesn't take any of Swansea's better options away, although I hear the smart money is on Steve Cooper.
I hope that Sheehan and his coaches have finally wised up on how best to use Cullen. Using him as a lesser version of Rashford and Salah is something I've already talked about. A closer comparison would be Jarrod Bowen of West Ham who got there via Hereford and Hull. But Bowen actually prefers to play out wide before making his way into the middle to score. And I must admit that I'm a great admirer as he does it really well.
Like Culls, Bowen hasn't got great pace. He's not tall enough to be dominant in the air. His skills are decent but not exceptional. But he does have a good footballing brain and benefits from playing with quality team mates who provide him with good service and movement. Culls obviously isn't as good as Bowen as an all round striker and doesn't enjoy the same quality service but his own natural instincts make him more than a useful Championship striker providing he gets played where he can do the most damage. Here he speaks about his goal against WBA:
“The goal is a bit of a blur," he said of the winner against the Baggies. "I can remember Harry going up and winning the flick on, and when the ball is landing around him he’s one of the best in the league at winning the ball in the air so I knew I had a chance of it dropping to me.
"I just stayed on the move, and I think it’s a strength of my game getting on the knockdowns and thankfully it landed at my foot and I was able to tuck it away, so a positive for me to start the year.
“I’m really pleased. Everyone knows how much I want to play and score goals for this club, so to score important goals like that is really big for me. So hopefully that’s the start of something good in 2024 for the team and for me."
He showed his instinct when he knew Darling got air-borne and that a flick-on might be on. So he 'stayed on the move' (getting to knockdowns is his strength, he says) and the ball did drop to him as he hoped. Without a second's delay he struck the ball with his weaker right foot and won us three points. Culls thrives on scoring goals and he's excellent at feeding off knockdowns, so where else on the field should he be doing this other than the penalty area? Obviously our coaches think that's either in midfield or the wing!! You couldn't make it up.
Like Culls, Bowen hasn't got great pace. He's not tall enough to be dominant in the air. His skills are decent but not exceptional. But he does have a good footballing brain and benefits from playing with quality team mates who provide him with good service and movement. Culls obviously isn't as good as Bowen as an all round striker and doesn't enjoy the same quality service but his own natural instincts make him more than a useful Championship striker providing he gets played where he can do the most damage. Here he speaks about his goal against WBA:
“The goal is a bit of a blur," he said of the winner against the Baggies. "I can remember Harry going up and winning the flick on, and when the ball is landing around him he’s one of the best in the league at winning the ball in the air so I knew I had a chance of it dropping to me.
"I just stayed on the move, and I think it’s a strength of my game getting on the knockdowns and thankfully it landed at my foot and I was able to tuck it away, so a positive for me to start the year.
“I’m really pleased. Everyone knows how much I want to play and score goals for this club, so to score important goals like that is really big for me. So hopefully that’s the start of something good in 2024 for the team and for me."
He showed his instinct when he knew Darling got air-borne and that a flick-on might be on. So he 'stayed on the move' (getting to knockdowns is his strength, he says) and the ball did drop to him as he hoped. Without a second's delay he struck the ball with his weaker right foot and won us three points. Culls thrives on scoring goals and he's excellent at feeding off knockdowns, so where else on the field should he be doing this other than the penalty area? Obviously our coaches think that's either in midfield or the wing!! You couldn't make it up.
Yankee_Jack
Key Player
The challenge that Cullen as to overcome is that he's not being used as Rashford et al are used. He is in a RM role where he has significant defensive responsibility; almost playing box to box except that he rarely gets into the other team's box unless the play develops down the left side or there's a set piece, or rarely when the play has developed down the right to the side of the box and it is rolled back/inside to Cullen to then cut inside and have a go. And as a box-to-box player when he gets into the box he's had to run the length of the field to get there, so he's not going to participate in quick counter attacks unless the ball is won high up the field.
With the way the team has typically been selected - Grimes/Fulton/Walsh (now somebody else)/Pato in midfield - Lowe has typically been started in preference to Cullen as the #9. Sheehan has to decide that Cullen should be the preferred #9 and use him as high up the field as possible. The temptation is going to be to use Cullen to replace the injured Walsh, which gets Cullen on the field but too far from his point of best use.
Sheehan is also going to be tempted to use Lowe in a RM/LM role and play Yates at #9 leaving Cullen out; which is the height of idiocy IMHO. Such a move is not consistent with performance, abilities and player best use.
Until other players start scoring, the best finisher we have is still Cullen.
This season:
Cullen: 25 appearances (starting/sub), 1,130 minutes, 4 goals, 3 assists, 283 minutes per goal ... from midfield (RW/RM)
Yates: 26 appearances, 1,630 minutes, 6 goals, 0 assists, 272 minutes per goal ... always #9
Lowe: 21 appearances, 1,718 minutes, 5 goals, 2 assists, 344 minutes per goal ... some #9, some LW/M combo.
As you can see from these numbers, Cullen has been playing the deeper of the 3, with arguably the best return in terms of goals and assists. WTF not play him at #9 - his more natural position.
Note, we've been playing mostly 4-2-3-1 under Sheehan, but this is not the same 4-2-3-1 as Rogers who used Sinclair and Dyer as wingers. We have not been using "wingers".
With the way the team has typically been selected - Grimes/Fulton/Walsh (now somebody else)/Pato in midfield - Lowe has typically been started in preference to Cullen as the #9. Sheehan has to decide that Cullen should be the preferred #9 and use him as high up the field as possible. The temptation is going to be to use Cullen to replace the injured Walsh, which gets Cullen on the field but too far from his point of best use.
Sheehan is also going to be tempted to use Lowe in a RM/LM role and play Yates at #9 leaving Cullen out; which is the height of idiocy IMHO. Such a move is not consistent with performance, abilities and player best use.
Until other players start scoring, the best finisher we have is still Cullen.
This season:
Cullen: 25 appearances (starting/sub), 1,130 minutes, 4 goals, 3 assists, 283 minutes per goal ... from midfield (RW/RM)
Yates: 26 appearances, 1,630 minutes, 6 goals, 0 assists, 272 minutes per goal ... always #9
Lowe: 21 appearances, 1,718 minutes, 5 goals, 2 assists, 344 minutes per goal ... some #9, some LW/M combo.
As you can see from these numbers, Cullen has been playing the deeper of the 3, with arguably the best return in terms of goals and assists. WTF not play him at #9 - his more natural position.
Note, we've been playing mostly 4-2-3-1 under Sheehan, but this is not the same 4-2-3-1 as Rogers who used Sinclair and Dyer as wingers. We have not been using "wingers".
Yankee_Jack
Key Player
Question: presuming the news on Walsh is not good, does this mean Allen fills the vacancy? I quite like the look of Grimes/Fulton/Allen/Pato. That's a potent midfield. With a back 4, add Lowe and Cullen and you've got something.