The silver cloud is ........

Free Yorkshire puddings and curry in the Peacock... my new favourite pub!

 

It's ok, i always say to my kids 'revenge is a dish best served not warm'

 

ten games dude then I will judge.

 

I think the term is 'Every cloud has a silver lining' ............. in which case the thread should be more about the lining, not the cloud ?
But, yeah .... Great !! As you say, it's all about what we see on display on the pitch, not that which is hidden, assumed or suspected. Happy days.

 

I'd rather be greedy and wanting Platinum.

 

Really ?
I was expecting four - one from yesterday.

 

The Silver lining for me is knowing the Season is not lost in your first five games, more likely the last five.

 

Quite looking forward to looking for silver clouds for the rest of the season. After being glad to have a team, getting behind the lads and going again.

 

Sorry, NM ......... I responded immediately, but soon realised I was late to the game.

 

Going to post this now as dont want to be perceived as jumping on any bandwagon in a few weeks depending on whether things are developing in a good, bad or indifferent way. I fully expect us to be up and down these first few weeks due to new management team, new players, uncertainty of system we are playing (more on this in a minute) etc.

For context, I am a Level 2 FA Coach but I am nowhere near the level MC is at. But last season I had the benefit of spending some time with Woking FC, they had a young coach called Anthony Limbrick who had a background with West Ham youth set up. He was a bright young man, an impressive communicator and had ideas on how he wanted the team to play. So some similarities with where we are now. Woking got off to a decent start but as the season went on AL had a problem adapting to a drastic downturn in form and results, and in my opinion getting the players to buy into a system and style they could see was not working. For the record the Board stuck with AL until the spring but they left is too late to make a change and were relegated to Conf South.

So move onto City, first job for MC is to find a system the players are comfortable with, thats suits their abilities and that they can buy into. Yes you need a plan B and possibly C for when things need amending - but first and foremost you need a plan A. In pre-season and the league games so far we seem to have tried numerous formations and styles - all I am going to say is the lower down the leagues you go the more the players need a simplicity to the system you play.

A friend who was at the game yesterday told me he was fascinated watching Edin's re-action and said there was a lot of headshaking. We all know about 'Edin knows football' and the coaches are really just a front to his own involvement - but my own additional question would be that they have not shown a lack of ambition by releasing significant funds to build a new team but they have done so in the hands of a relative novice and without a pre-determined style of play that everything could fall into place in. This is not a dig at MC and there is no doubt he is doing all he can to influence things and hopefully these key areas will start to fall into place in the weeks ahead.

Final point would be we desperately need another good striker at the club (and this was the case before Charlie left). My own view would be Kai and Omari need to go out on loan at a level they can currently cope with and hopefully start doing what they are in a team for - to score and create goals! We have Doyle as 1 and Miller is ok as number 2 of 4 - but this leaves Jones as 3 and can we honestly trust what we can get from him? But having spent so much time (and cost) on his rehab we have to go with him for this season at least - but this leaves us urgently needing 1 more who can play at League 1 level.

I really hope we go for it on Tuesday in the Cup as a good run could not only help the financial coffers but also the settling in and confidence of the players for the sterner league challenges ahead. I don't think any of us really has much of a clue how the next couple of months are going to go but I just hope MC can quickly find the system and format he and the players are most comfortable with whilst everything beds down

Sorry its a bit of a long one! (ooer missus!)

 

Have we?

Thought he could have done better for the first goal. The ball went in the air, 5 yards out, and he stood on his line. We headed it 10 yards and then the ball came back in.

 

You are wrong!

 

Amazing,suppose you didn't notice the numerous saves he made that, had Doyle been our keeper would have resulted in more Barnsley goals.
A far superior keeper.

 

He may have made saves. Very rare you could pin a goal on Doyle though.

 

Interesting post. Thanks for sharing.

 

Impossible. I've already been wrong once this year. My quota is filled.

 

We were never going to go the season unbeaten, home and away. Strangely for me, facing Barnsley this early is a great barometer for the management and players of some of the top standard there is in this division this season, and therefore I’m not overly disappointed to how Saturday went. If it highlights some things, good and bad, then results and performances (from what I’ve read - wasn’t there) like Saturday at this stage in the season, almost become a positive to me.

It’s what we do with it and how we bounce back, I’m more interested in.

 

He couldn’t come for that. It was a powder puff header from the defender. Better communication needed.