Round 3: Sydney FC - 7:50pm AEST - AAMI Park

[Inchcolm]

Some find it easy to comment on a team that has just been played off the park. I find it difficult because I dislike blaming individuals.

Football players need; passion, aggression, hunger, heart and a desire to win. There was only one team on the park who had these qualities and it was not us. We had it against Victory where did it go?

In my opinion we have played 4:2:3:1 throughout preseason and in the first 2 rounds and played well. Why did Joyce change it today to 4:3:3. Was it to play Vidosic up front alongside Fornaroli it did not look like that? McGree is a tremendous player going forward but he is seriously lacking in his defensive awareness when playing wide. We were getting destroyed down our right.

We had 60% possession sounds great but that was in our half passing it sideways and backwards. For all that possession I think we created 1 chance and had 2 shots on goal.

Defensively we were horrendous and gifted them 2 goals by getting caught in possession. There is a time to play football and there is a time to get the out of the danger area. I believe if we cut out the silly mistakes we will concede fewer goals. But that is only half the problem

Offensively we were non-existent Sydney at times played 6 across the back and a bank of 4 in front of them. They gave us the ball and we could not break them down. One of our main problems was we were too slow getting the ball forward. We need to attack quicker. However our main problem is we do have a creative midfield player.

Joyce assembled the squad, he selected the players, he decided the formation and he chose the tactics. The buck stops there he has to fix it, if he can?

 

[Dylan]

It’s very easy to over react in these situations.  But the performance....jeez I can’t help but feel alarmed. 

First home game of the season, there was probably a lot of anticipation amongst the existing support for it, the club did all they could off the park and it worked, i was shocked at the crowd. 12k with such a below the radar build up was a pretty big deal IMO.

Then for the players and the managers to go out and perform like that? So lack lustre, so insipid, such a lack of effort.. I’m still dumbfounded.

[CityHeart]

8 hours ago, belaguttman said:

The only problem I have with the 'club culture argument' is the 3 trophies won by the women and the 2 won by the youth team. If the problem was organisation-wide then I'd expect the same issues there too.

2 leagues which are at an extremely low level, and can effectively be bought? 

These wins could be argued add to our culture issue in one sense- the a-league, unlike europe, can be 'bought'. Long-term strategy, structure and culture is needed as much as your capacity to buy players. Our 'scouts' seemingly cant even do what we thought our global advantage was. 

One CEO and 3 coaches in a decade or so of, lets be honest, misery. That is culture - our core KPI's do not revolve around ultimate success. 

If this keeps up, 4-5K will be the norm at home games and the club better not complain or shift the blame!

#MunnWazzaOUTBackboneIN

[neio]

Thing I found most alarming about last night is the pedestrian pace of our attack. And it's what we had 2 seasons ago, baccus and Brattan can't play in same midfield, like brats and kilkenny couldn't. They both just pass the ball sideways 90% of the time 

Baccus has been brilliant so I'd be putting Brattan to the bench for a bit and give Griffiths a start and see how he goes. 

[Jovan]

Geez that was bad. I spent most of the night apologizing to a mate that had joined up with his kids with a season membership. 

Not only do I have watch a bunch of fuck nuggets running around pretending to be proffessional players another 12 or 13 times but I'm going to have to deal with the guilt of convincing someone else to endure this shit show.

That performance was worse than anything that was dished up under Aloisi. Unless something drastic occurs we are kidding ourselves.

[malloy]

1 hour ago, neio said:

Thing I found most alarming about last night is the pedestrian pace of our attack. And it's what we had 2 seasons ago, baccus and Brattan can't play in same midfield, like brats and kilkenny couldn't. They both just pass the ball sideways 90% of the time 

Baccus has been brilliant so I'd be putting Brattan to the bench for a bit and give Griffiths a start and see how he goes. 

To be fair yo Baccus, Brattan and the CBs everytime they had the ball and were looking to pass it every midfielder and forward was either literally standing still next to a Syd player or just jogging forward alongside a Syd player.

We have a huge issue with our off the ball movement. Our players aren't looking to receive the ball with their next pass in mind, they aren't moving to create space for others to receive the ball.

[Cloughie]

10 minutes ago, malloy said:

To be fair yo Baccus, Brattan and the CBs everytime they had the ball and were looking to pass it every midfielder and forward was either literally standing still next to a Syd player or just jogging forward alongside a Syd player.

We have a huge issue with our off the ball movement. Our players aren't looking to receive the ball with their next pass in mind, they aren't moving to create space for others to receive the ball.

You have absolutely nailed it. And it is so basic and obvious, and purely down to Joyce.

I've (we've) suffered a lot of soul crushing since game 1 day 1 Melbourne Heart, but somehow - and I dunno why - last night was for me the most dejecting of all. Probably down to a final final realization that there is no accountability at this shambles of an organisation purporting to be a football club

[belaguttman]

2 hours ago, CityHeart said:

2 leagues which are at an extremely low level, and can effectively be bought? 

These wins could be argued add to our culture issue in one sense- the a-league, unlike europe, can be 'bought'. Long-term strategy, structure and culture is needed as much as your capacity to buy players. Our 'scouts' seemingly cant even do what we thought our global advantage was. 

One CEO and 3 coaches in a decade or so of, lets be honest, misery. That is culture - our core KPI's do not revolve around ultimate success. 

If this keeps up, 4-5K will be the norm at home games and the club better not complain or shift the blame!

#MunnWazzaOUTBackboneIN

The W League also has a salary cap. We won in our first season, in part, because we were the only ones to spend up to the salary cap. The other two wins though, particularly the last one where we won the Championship from 4th place, were down the team and the coaching, not the money, I agree with the rest of your points though

57 minutes ago, malloy said:

To be fair yo Baccus, Brattan and the CBs everytime they had the ball and were looking to pass it every midfielder and forward was either literally standing still next to a Syd player or just jogging forward alongside a Syd player.

We have a huge issue with our off the ball movement. Our players aren't looking to receive the ball with their next pass in mind, they aren't moving to create space for others to receive the ball.

We always have, even more so in the front third where the lines become compressed. We have no diagonal runs, no diagonal balls, no change of pace, and so we are so predictable and easy to defend against

[HeartOfCity]

Anyone able to post Dave Davutovics article from this morning?

[Mr MO]

2 hours ago, malloy said:

To be fair yo Baccus, Brattan and the CBs everytime they had the ball and were looking to pass it every midfielder and forward was either literally standing still next to a Syd player or just jogging forward alongside a Syd player.

We have a huge issue with our off the ball movement. Our players aren't looking to receive the ball with their next pass in mind, they aren't moving to create space for others to receive the ball.

I agree 100%, so spot on. I’ve mentioned this before. People keep going on about our side way ball movement but this is 90% of the problem. Bruno stands still waiting a with defender in his back, French, Wales and Vido all make little or mostly wrong inside runs.

[Mr MO]

We can’t even change to another system as we only have 1 striker and 29 midfielders.

[Torn Asunder]

I’m not writing off the season just yet, and normally we bounce back after this type of game, so hoping next game is better.

Sydney and Central Coast employed similar tactics against us, with both overloading our right, to make it hard for De Laet to have an impact, given he is clearly our most dangerous attacking outlet. They let us have it on our left, knowing how slow we would be to attack through Jamo, whilst squeezing the midfield with great discipline, and double teaming Bruno anytime he went near the ball.

At 1/2 time Joyce should have completely changed our formation. 3 at the back, with Ritchie going into midfield, which would have at least asked a different question of Sydney.

The template on how to play us has been worked out, so we have to change our game plan quicksmart, otherwise it’s going to be a high possession, low return season. 

 

[playmaker]

2 hours ago, Jovan said:

Geez that was bad. I spent most of the night apologizing to a mate that had joined up with his kids with a season membership. 

Not only do I have watch a bunch of fuck nuggets running around pretending to be proffessional players another 12 or 13 times but I'm going to have to deal with the guilt of convincing someone else to endure this shit show.

That performance was worse than anything that was dished up under Aloisi. Unless something drastic occurs we are kidding ourselves.

This.

For the free loaders that came to experience a good night out and perhaps entertain the idea of becoming a member, I apologise.

I truly apologise for the abuse and trauma induced by what their eyes saw and the time they used in their lives that they will never be able to get back again.

I will be happy to be a witness incase they want to initiate a class action against the club because surely there is some sort of long term damage that has been done and they will probably suffer some form of post-traumatic stress disorder as a result.

I truly apologise.

[jw1739]

12 minutes ago, Torn Asunder said:

I’m not writing off the season just yet, and normally we bounce back after this type of game, so hoping next game is better.

Sydney and Central Coast employed similar tactics against us, with both overloading our right, to make it hard for De Laet to have an impact, given he is clearly our most dangerous attacking outlet. They let us have it on our left, knowing how slow we would be to attack through Jamo, whilst squeezing the midfield with great discipline, and double teaming Bruno anytime he went near the ball.

At 1/2 time Joyce should have completely changed our formation. 3 at the back, with Ritchie going into midfield, which would have at least asked a different question of Sydney.

The template on how to play us has been worked out, so we have to change our game plan quicksmart, otherwise it’s going to be a high possession, low return season. 

Every time a player is double-teamed  it means we must have a spare man. Joyce should have done what you say, but he isn't on the field and he can't do everything. Our players just aren't smart enough to adapt to the circumstances of the game. And you just can't wait until half-time to change things. The double-teamed man has to lay the ball off, not try to beat the whole defence single-handed. Several of our players were guilty of the latter - Berenguer, De Laet, Bruno, McGree to name a few.

Everyone knows how we play, but worse than that, everyone knows the mentality of CFG, our club, our manager and our players. Even in injury time we were playing the same boring, slow and ineffective way.

IMO it's not actually losing a match that pisses people off. It's not that we have not won a League trophy. It's not that we're not in the ACL. It's that we keep doing the same thing over and over again and it isn't working.

[belaguttman]

27 minutes ago, Torn Asunder said:

I’m not writing off the season just yet, and normally we bounce back after this type of game, so hoping next game is better.

Sydney and Central Coast employed similar tactics against us, with both overloading our right, to make it hard for De Laet to have an impact, given he is clearly our most dangerous attacking outlet. They let us have it on our left, knowing how slow we would be to attack through Jamo, whilst squeezing the midfield with great discipline, and double teaming Bruno anytime he went near the ball.

At 1/2 time Joyce should have completely changed our formation. 3 at the back, with Ritchie going into midfield, which would have at least asked a different question of Sydney.

The template on how to play us has been worked out, so we have to change our game plan quicksmart, otherwise it’s going to be a high possession, low return season. 

 

2

If you look at our win/loss pattern, it's rare for us to bounce back with a win after a loss. We usually lose 2 or 3 in a row. That's one of the metrics I'm looking at to see if we have changed our mentality. I agree that all teams have worked us out. Wazza rarely adapts during games, if we get the starting tactics right then we are competitive, if the opposing coach has worked out how we are going to play then we continue to play the same way. 

[Harrison]

I’ve already come to terms with City having another disappointing season. It frustrates me because I’ve been telling everyone I know that we’ve put together the best squad I’ve ever seen. Seems to me like we’ve got a good squad on paper but the players don’t work well together and/or the manager doesn’t have the skill or knowledge to mould them into an outfit capable of scoring freely and defending resolutely. 

Meanwhile, my most hated team Sydney look like cruising to another championship. They don’t seem to ever put a foot wrong these days (despite losing the Cup) and their signings come in and immediately get to work. Le Fondre looks like a perfect signing and der Linden looks a great partner for Wilkinson. They took Retre for nothing and have him playing consistent football. That one stings, as does Zullo and particularly Redmayne but I’ve accepted that. 

Once again Sydney are the benchmark and we are struggling to keep up with them despite our resources. It’s incredibly deflating.

[playmaker]

49 minutes ago, Harrison said:

I know that we’ve put together the best squad I’ve ever seen.

Totally wrong IMO.

I have been telling this forum the opposite and I stand by it.

Our team is 50% ball carriers with no passing skill nor vision.

A recipe for slow, dumb and inflexible football with a manager who's sole purpose is to develop youth and make CFG some money.

Hope I am wrong but I don't think I am too far off.

[Afif Adam]

28 minutes ago, playmaker said:

Totally wrong IMO.

I have been telling this forum the opposite and I stand by it.

Our team is 50% ball carriers with no passing skill nor vision.

A recipe for slow, dumb and inflexible football with a manager who's sole purpose is to develop youth and make CFG some money.

Hope I am wrong but I don't think I am too far off.

spot on , CFG out Popa In 

[n i k o]

We've put together the best average squad the Aleague has ever seen. 

[Mr MO]

1 hour ago, playmaker said:

Totally wrong IMO.

I have been telling this forum the opposite and I stand by it.

I concur with you on this one. The forum is split with some saying we have such a good squad. I’ve been very critical on our recruitment this year. I don’t see any logic in;

- The absence of a another striker

- Getting a visa player out of the lower French leagues, the guy would struggle in an under 20s squad the way he plays.

- Signing a decent goalkeeper and not play him, there would be cheaper keepers out there to sit on the bench. With the current salary cap you just pick your number 1 and use the money elsewhere.

- Recruiting Baccus and putting hand picked Griffiths on the bench

- Not replacing Halloran.

- The blind faith in an NPL level Delbridge (he wasn’t that bad last night to be fair)

The tone of the season was set in the first half against victory when we couldn’t string 3 passes together. I can only complain at the moment as with the current squad I can’t see a way out.

Edited November 3, 2018 by Mr MO

[jw1739]

Back in November 2016 we beat Sydney to win the FFA Cup. Here are the teams on that day.

How do we compare now?

[neio]

27 minutes ago, jw1739 said:

Back in November 2016 we beat Sydney to win the FFA Cup. Here are the teams on that day.

How do we compare now

From the team that played last night, I'd have Schenkeveld and McGree in for, Malik and Kamau and maybe baccus for Kilkenny 

That probably shows where our squad is 

Edited November 3, 2018 by neio

[JMSTEP123]

Failure to launch.

Failure to capitalise.

Failure. 

Props to active - best atmosphere in a long time. Positive vibe. Shit about the game.

[n i k o]

2 hours ago, Mr MO said:

I concur with you on this one. The forum is split with some saying we have such a good squad. I’ve been very critical on our recruitment this year. I don’t see any logic in;

- The absence of a another striker -Bruno was the main striker so the status quo hasn't changed there

- Getting a visa player out of the lower French leagues, the guy would struggle in an under 20s squad the way he plays. -Harry Novillo??

- Signing a decent goalkeeper and not play him, there would be cheaper keepers out there to sit on the bench. With the current salary cap you just pick your number 1 and use the money elsewhere. - combined salary or Birighitti/Galekovic compared to Sorenson/Bouzanis??

- Recruiting Baccus and putting hand picked Griffiths on the bench -Bacchus been our best utility and arguably most reliable so far

- Not replacing Halloran - Debatable choice being so early in the season

- The blind faith in an NPL level Delbridge (he wasn’t that bad last night to be fair) - Delbridge starting is questionable 

The tone of the season was set in the first half against victory when we couldn’t string 3 passes together. I can only complain at the moment as with the current squad I can’t see a way out.

My counter argument

[GreenSeater]

That was, quite possibly the worst perfoemance I have ever seen from this club, and trust me, I've watched some absolute garbage over the years.

[belaguttman]

17 minutes ago, GreenSeater said:

That was, quite possibly the worst perfoemance I have ever seen from this club, and trust me, I've watched some absolute garbage over the years.

Up there with the 0-3 home loss to WSW 2 or 3 seasons ago, very similar performance and same result. Then there was the game against CCM where even Arnold was perplexed at how his team won

[Jacques Le Cube]

21 hours ago, CityHeart said:

putrid yet again ... No creativity at all - dont even look like scoring. Defense is lucky we aint 3 down.

 

20 hours ago, kingofhearts said:

Pathetic. Our ball movement is shit. 

 

20 hours ago, belaguttman said:

No shape, There's a huge gap between our front three and midfield, we're playing like a broken team.

The smurfs playing between our lines, almost at will

Poor movement off the ball limiting passing options

 

20 hours ago, Afif Adam said:

Why tf do we look more fatigued than Sydney 

 

20 hours ago, haz said:

Why do we just stand flat footed?

 

20 hours ago, mus-28 said:

We're so bereft of ideas when we have the ball it's painful.

 

19 hours ago, CityHeart said:

we seemingly have spent so much on defense, no creativity at all...and cant defend!

 

18 hours ago, benzema23 said:

Our tactics are rubbish... There was no aggression tonight and no fucking plan B.

 

18 hours ago, Originalmeme said:

No creativity, no attacking space, no intensity.

 

18 hours ago, SF33 said:

Completely outcoached tonight and we pretty regularly look like we're not matching the opposition's motivation, that we haven't "come to play". That's on the coaching staff, I'm afraid.

 

18 hours ago, Forever City said:

Fuck me that was depressing. No intent what so ever. Absolute shambles.

Well put everyone. All I can add to that is we have no discernable defensive structure and we have no plan for when we have the ball.

We have a formation but we have no system.

[HughJass]

https://www.ftbl.com.au/news/brattan-were-not-panickingvictory-lost-two-515010

 

Quote

“The mood is fine, it’s our first loss and Melbourne Victory have lost two in a row,” Brattan said.

Who gives a stuff about victory

[Mr MO]

32 minutes ago, n i k o said:

My counter argument

- The absence of a another striker -Bruno was the main striker so the status quo hasn't changed there

I say ''another striker'' we struggle to score remember, evidence of Bruno's poor form was evident last season and in preseason. (don't mention some top corner cup goals as he missed heaps next to penalties).

- Getting a visa player out of the lower French leagues, the guy would struggle in an under 20s squad the way he plays. -Harry Novillo??

What does Harry have to do with it, look at the both their history as a footballer, I can't seen any similarities - Harry is a much better player.

- Signing a decent goalkeeper and not play him, there would be cheaper keepers out there to sit on the bench. With the current salary cap you just pick your number 1 and use the money elsewhere. - combined salary or Birighitti/Galekovic compared to Sorenson/Bouzanis??

This has been fundamentally wrong from the start and proof is there with what has happened to Tommy. 

- Recruiting Baccus and putting hand picked Griffiths on the bench -Bacchus been our best utility and arguably most reliable so far.

Correct, but you don't know that from the start, looking at the team on paper we didn't need him as we spend our money the highly rated Griffiths. Now Griffiths sits on the bench and we have no proper forwards/wingers.

- Not replacing Halloran - Debatable choice being so early in the season

We have no other forwards, again! Let's hope on some youth players, providing a spark!

- The blind faith in an NPL level Delbridge (he wasn’t that bad last night to be fair) - Delbridge starting is questionable 

The tone of the season was set in the first half against victory when we couldn’t string 3 passes together. I can only complain at the moment as with the current squad I can’t see a way out.

Edited November 3, 2018 by Mr MO

[haz]

Wsw and Nix already playing with more attacking intensity then us in cold wind and rain in Wellington currently

[moops]

15 minutes ago, haz said:

Wsw and Nix already playing with more attacking intensity then us in cold wind and rain in Wellington currently

Bloody Wellington look better than us, fucking Wellington.

[Harrison]

5 hours ago, playmaker said:

Our team is 50% ball carriers with no passing skill nor vision.

A recipe for slow, dumb and inflexible football. 

I agree with this now. I still think that our footballers, individually, are the best players in the league in their respective positions but the squad is unbalanced. Too many 8s and 6s, one proper 10 who is limited anyway, one ageing striker and a lack of outside players. 

Combine this with a coach that isn’t tactically adept and we will struggle. 

[haz]

4 minutes ago, Harrison said:

I agree with this now. I still think that our footballers, individually, are the best players in the league in their respective positions but the squad is unbalanced. Too many 8s and 6s, one proper 10 who is limited anyway, one ageing striker and a lack of outside players. 

Combine this with a coach that isn’t tactically adept and we will struggle. 

31 isnt an aging striker

[CityWildcat]

I thought Delbridge was our only half-decent player. 

Otherwise... ^^^^ what you all said.  I was there and it was HEARTBURN again

[Harrison]

35 minutes ago, haz said:

31 isnt an aging striker

I think it is in Bruno’s case. The ankle injury was significant make no mistake. He looks a shadow of his former self in terms of mobility, work rate and even passion. His shooting is a lot more inconsistent.

I don’t think he’ll ever be the player he was and every year he’ll lose a bit of what made him a star. 

[n i k o]

2 hours ago, Mr MO said:

- The absence of a another striker -Bruno was the main striker so the status quo hasn't changed there

I say ''another striker'' we struggle to score remember, evidence of Bruno's poor form was evident last season and in preseason. (don't mention some top corner cup goals as he missed heaps next to penalties).

- Getting a visa player out of the lower French leagues, the guy would struggle in an under 20s squad the way he plays. -Harry Novillo??

What does Harry have to do with it, look at the both their history as a footballer, I can't seen any similarities - Harry is a much better player.

- Signing a decent goalkeeper and not play him, there would be cheaper keepers out there to sit on the bench. With the current salary cap you just pick your number 1 and use the money elsewhere. - combined salary or Birighitti/Galekovic compared to Sorenson/Bouzanis??

This has been fundamentally wrong from the start and proof is there with what has happened to Tommy. 

- Recruiting Baccus and putting hand picked Griffiths on the bench -Bacchus been our best utility and arguably most reliable so far.

Correct, but you don't know that from the start, looking at the team on paper we didn't need him as we spend our money the highly rated Griffiths. Now Griffiths sits on the bench and we have no proper forwards/wingers.

- Not replacing Halloran - Debatable choice being so early in the season

We have no other forwards, again! Let's hope on some youth players, providing a spark!

- The blind faith in an NPL level Delbridge (he wasn’t that bad last night to be fair) - Delbridge starting is questionable 

The tone of the season was set in the first half against victory when we couldn’t string 3 passes together. I can only complain at the moment as with the current squad I can’t see a way out.

Regarding Bruno my point is having a back up striker doesn't change anything. He wouldn't be replaced. 

Harry Novillo came from those lower French leagues is my point. Mentioning it as a point of criticism is void because of this.

We don't know how much Galekovic or Birighitti are on so its only speculation. 

Yeh in hind sight would need a more attacking player. But who would you get as a forward that's at Bacchus price point?

 

Im with you though, we haven't recruited well it seems at this stage. Still waiting for the Mooy replacement. Still waiting for the Novillo and Arzani replacement. 

[Mr MO]

7 minutes ago, n i k o said:

Regarding Bruno my point is having a back up striker doesn't change anything. He wouldn't be replaced. 

Harry Novillo came from those lower French leagues is my point. Mentioning it as a point of criticism is void because of this.

We don't know how much Galekovic or Birighitti are on so its only speculation. 

Yeh in hind sight would need a more attacking player. But who would you get as a forward that's at Bacchus price point?

 

Im with you though, we haven't recruited well it seems at this stage. Still waiting for the Mooy replacement. Still waiting for the Novillo and Arzani replacement. 

Glad we mostly agree.

I take it you mean that Wazza wouldn’t replace Bruno anyway? My point was more towards having extra firepower on the bench when chasing the game.

I can’t agree with Florin Vs Novillo argument, these two players aren’t in the same league regarding talent, how many games did Florin play for France? Novillo was in the lower leagues due to attitude, judging Florin so far he played in the lower leagues due to ability.

You really think there wasn’t anybody else available around the globe to replace Halloran? Where is our scouting network? I think it was a deliberate call from Wazza to get another decent midfielder in as he loves them. I remember reading some where on this topic that Warren has said that he was happy with the forward line and it was not required to replace MoH. Where is Baccus going after December? Are we releasing somebody else instead?

[n i k o]

35 minutes ago, Mr MO said:

Glad we mostly agree.

I take it you mean that Wazza wouldn’t replace Bruno anyway? My point was more towards having extra firepower on the bench when chasing the game.

I can’t agree with Florin Vs Novillo argument, these two players aren’t in the same league regarding talent, how many games did Florin play for France? Novillo was in the lower leagues due to attitude, judging Florin so far he played in the lower leagues due to ability.

You really think there wasn’t anybody else available around the globe to replace Halloran? Where is our scouting network? I think it was a deliberate call from Wazza to get another decent midfielder in as he loves them. I remember reading some where on this topic that Warren has said that he was happy with the forward line and it was not required to replace MoH. Where is Baccus going after December? Are we releasing somebody else instead?

We're getting there. Correct, Bruno would be replaced. So having the added firepower in his position would be void. That player wouldn't have got a minute yet is my point.

You criticised the French lower league specifically. The league is irrespective because Novillo is proof there are quality players there. And that league specifically probably has handfuls of Novillos. 

My point isn't that we can't find players that could replace OHalloran. My point is the club probably won't do so given its so early in the season. For sure there's an arguement to this for and against. 

[Mr MO]

20 minutes ago, n i k o said:

We're getting there. Correct, Bruno would be replaced. So having the added firepower in his position would be void. That player wouldn't have got a minute yet is my point.

You criticised the French lower league specifically. The league is irrespective because Novillo is proof there are quality players there. And that league specifically probably has handfuls of Novillos. 

My point isn't that we can't find players that could replace OHalloran. My point is the club probably won't do so given its so early in the season. For sure there's an arguement to this for and against. 

Read your 3 paragraphs again, there is fundamentally something wrong, not with you but with our club/ first team management in judgement of how a balanced squad should look like;

1. Sticking to an out of form striker but more so building a system around him which doesn't suit him is just madness!
2. If there are a handfull of Novillo quality players in these lower leagues, why don't we pick them up? Somehow we all had high hopes that Florin would be a hidden gem like Novillo, remember we are sacrificing a visa spot here.
3. If think our on field football and unbalanced bench speaks words that loading a team full of midfielders doesn't work. 

I'm so furious still, the time for excuses is slowly running out for Wazza and his team, do you remember all the posts last season about ''yeah but he inherited a squad'' and ''wait until he picks his own players''.  It is early days in a short season but he seems stubborn about switching tactics, as he can't even do it during a game plus doesn't have the bench to do it.

[haz]

Do people forget Bruno saving our arses only a few weeks ago in the FFA cup?