Birmingham City (H) 28/07/07

[Magic Man Fan]

Sorry Neil --totally agree with tinned. Our lack of pace in the first half was embarrasing.It was only when Ishmel came on that we posed any serious threat.

Would that be against a much better team who have better training facilities, better coaching and play 2 divisions above us

That's the one. ;)

[Exile]

Incredible. When will we learn?

[Neil Ravenscroft]

Sorry Neil --totally agree with tinned. Our lack of pace in the first half was embarrasing.It was only when Ishmel came on that we posed any serious threat.

Would that be against a much better team who have better training facilities, better coaching and play 2 divisions above us

That's the one. ;)

It's also, quite frankly, ridiculous. Does it mean that Blues have no pace in their side, just because they failed to go past a man? Is McSheffrey slow because he didn't get the better of Wrack? Of course not - it's just that we defended well and so did Blues.

I actually thought our centre midfield two looked better than theirs, so I don't know where that comes from either. As for the change in our play, that did not occur when Ishy came on, but when Carneiro came on, because he gave us extra mobility (not pace - there is a difference).

[tinned]

Sorry Neil --totally agree with tinned. Our lack of pace in the first half was embarrasing.It was only when Ishmel came on that we posed any serious threat.

Would that be against a much better team who have better training facilities, better coaching and play 2 divisions above us

I for one didn't make any complaint that we were unable to compete with them, I wouldn't expext us to compete against multi-million pound players.

I still stand by my opinion that our central midfield lacks pace. There is hardly ever any support from the central pair, unless our attacks are slowed down to walking pace to allow them to catch up. I still think it could be the difference between us having a comfortable season and a squeaky bum season.

[m&m]

Neil --It's nothing to do with playing against Blues who I would expect to beat us. Do you really think that our first half team of grandads would do any better against Carlisle? One paced football will not work even in league 1.

[Magic Man Fan]

Neil --It's nothing to do with playing against Blues who I would expect to beat us. Do you really think that our first half team of grandads would do any better against Carlisle? One paced football will not work even in league 1.

That's why we have the lightning quick Ishmel, Deeney and Nicholls.

[m&m]

Correct MMF.But will DD start with any of them. I would love to think so but I fear not.

[Magic Man Fan]

Correct MMF.But will DD start with any of them. I would love to think so but I fear not.

I think they'll be introduced more and more as the season goes on. They don't need to start if our snail paced team can keep it tight for 70 mins (which they're very capable of) then bring on the pace to kill teams in the last quarter. It was something we were very good at last season so why change?

[m&m]

You could be right but it won't be pretty!

[We-ARE-Walsall]

You could be right but it won't be pretty!

Probably not, although having Fox on the left midfield may not be as bad as i thought, was thinking about it today. Now we have a good full back, he will overlap, and Fox is more than capable of covering the gap. Could work ok maybe... Sure we will see more of Ishy, if not then he will be gone before we know it i reckon

I really hope we see Nicholls break through this season, i like this lad a lot, i never actually realised how quick he is, and he has quality on the ball.

[Magic Man Fan]

You could be right but it won't be pretty!

Many said this season wasn't pretty.....but we won't the league.

If those pacy kids aren't introduced for 20 mins every game I'll accept the other 70 mins if we scrape 3 points.

That's what I was trying to say about Nicholls the other week Saus when others were ready to jump off a cliff. He's got tremendous pace which alone can cause problems to a defence if people support him.

[kevwill]

Did someone say they have better coaching? Isn't DD the highest qualified coach in the universe?





Sorry - I know I can't suggest criticism of the guy who got us only our second ever trophy. Option 4 by the way.

[Neil Ravenscroft]

You could be right but it won't be pretty!

Probably not, although having Fox on the left midfield may not be as bad as i thought, was thinking about it today. Now we have a good full back, he will overlap, and Fox is more than capable of covering the gap. Could work ok maybe... Sure we will see more of Ishy, if not then he will be gone before we know it i reckon

I really hope we see Nicholls break through this season, i like this lad a lot, i never actually realised how quick he is, and he has quality on the ball.

Exactly. teams are about balance and having both Nicholls and Demontagnac in the starting line up is likely to completely unbalance the side - Fox is certainly a better option of course, as on Saturday, when you are playing two right wingers on the other side, and you need an amount of solidity somewhere.

[Neil Ravenscroft]

Sorry Neil --totally agree with tinned. Our lack of pace in the first half was embarrasing.It was only when Ishmel came on that we posed any serious threat.

Mmmm, let’s see, first choice central midfielders in the Premiership. Hargreaves – he’s like lightning, isn’t he? – Carrick – 100 metres in about 20 seconds? – Lampard, Ballack, Fabregas, Bowyer, Sissoko, Xavi Alonso, Arteta – Mmmm, not much pace so far – Zakora, Makelele – hardly Linford Christie, are they? – Barton, Nolan, Scholes. Do I really need to go on? The main attribute needed by a central midfield is not pace, but passing ability and, if anything, we have had a big improvement since last season. On the flanks, we have plenty of pace for this level.