Premier League - West Ham United vs Ipswich Town Preview & Matchday Thread

[arana peligrosa]

Not a nice team to lose to. Or in other words I don't like them very much but they were value for victory. We didn't perform, the defense and Muric in particular looked at times erratic and highlights were painful to view. Had Greaves put in that chance when scores were level the game may have taken a different direction but by the end of it we were a well beaten side. On the whole of it, can't help thinking we largely orchestrated our own downfall.

Smodzics once again didn't get to start, why go again to bring in a player like that and not let loose on opposition teams from the very off and surprised once more to see Chaplin and Hirst reduced to sub roles when they should have been utilized from the start. Playing 4-2-3-1 each and every game in this season's EPL with key players omitted from the beginning just isn't going to work for us. Clearly McKenna sees a method or some direction to this but some fans will argue it can only cause us a certain disadvantage. Delap after initial skepticism is proving a very astute purchase but clearly imagine there's not nearly enough players in our team set-up quite like that to eventually keep the club name above the relegation line by time of end of season.

[Charnwood]

Yes obviously Harry Clarke, he was OK last season, ok premiership is a different kettle of fish.Why question my support for the club,alot of people have problems getting tickets & don't like the premiership, I think it s corrupt.Man city have over 100 cases against them & will probably get away with it.

Sorry Mariner but I’d question anyone’s support for the club if they’d be happy to see the club relegated just so they could get a ticket easier next season. Try selling that one to the owners, Mark Ashton, Kieran McKenna, the players or even the 26,000 + town fans who pay their money and pile into Portman Road for every home fixture desperate to watch their team win.

[Bluemike]

I think my team for Everton would be a bit different...

Walton

H. Clarke
Woolfenden
Greaves
Davis

Morsy
Phillips

Hutchinson
Szmodics
Clarke

Delap


I think our defence looked ao weak, I'm not Walton's biggest fan but Muric is a car crash waiting to happen every game, the defence can have little confidence in him. Tuanzebe is injured and Johnson looks poor so Harry with some passion at RB, Woolfenden started the season with Three excellent performances and shouldn't have been dropped, give Hutchinson another chance in his favoured position, bring the lively Szmodics into his favoured central position and Jack Clarke gets another crack to see if he can find his second half against Villa form.

[Mariner67]

Yes obviously Harry Clarke, he was OK last season, ok premiership is a different kettle of fish.Why question my support for the club,alot of people have problems getting tickets & don't like the premiership, I think it s corrupt.Man city have over 100 cases against them & will probably get away with it.

Sorry Mariner but I’d question anyone’s support for the club if they’d be happy to see the club relegated just so they could get a ticket easier next season. Try selling that one to the owners, Mark Ashton, Kieran McKenna, the players or even the 26,000 + town fans who pay their money and pile into Portman Road for every home fixture desperate to watch their team win.

NO I didn't say I'd like us to get relegated,also didn't like your response much,thought you we nit picking,move on.

[hallamblue]

I think McKenna will stick with the current fit defence. He won't panic. Not sure how he'll see the keeper situation.

Looking ahead (the players onhtge pitch on sat ), neither wing backs had much protection in my view. Burns really isn't offering anything going forward, of covering defensively when not in possession of the ball, just in front of the right back (an old issue Ive got with him). On the left, we had young Clarke. A big step up for him and step learning curve.
Midfield woefully over run by whu all game I thought. Maybe time for Taylor or Luongo to oing Morsy / Phillips to make a three man Midfield?

Without doubt it was a bad day at the office for us defensively, but when you look at the power and physicality of every whu player compared to ours, (their striker was a beast), I honestly don't think Woolfenden has it in his locker to deal with that at this level. There's a reason why McKenna has ditched both Burgess and Woolfenden.

With regard to the GK, from memory, he wasnt even our primary target if I remember rightly? We dont get every transfer right, but we haven't done too bad considering how quickly we had to recruit have we.

Axel is without doubt major loss ( his class for me has always shone through), but I dont think we yet have adequate cover for him . H Clarke has passion its true, but that will count for little at this level week in week out, and Johnson maybe the 2nd iffy signing of the sumner, as he doesn't quite reach that level does he.

[ITFC2024]

I think my team for Everton would be a bit different...

Walton

H. Clarke
Woolfenden
Greaves
Davis

Morsy
Phillips

Hutchinson
Szmodics
Clarke

Delap


I think our defence looked ao weak, I'm not Walton's biggest fan but Muric is a car crash waiting to happen every game, the defence can have little confidence in him. Tuanzebe is injured and Johnson looks poor so Harry with some passion at RB, Woolfenden started the season with Three excellent performances and shouldn't have been dropped, give Hutchinson another chance in his favoured position, bring the lively Szmodics into his favoured central position and Jack Clarke gets another crack to see if he can find his second half against Villa form.

I definitely agree, H. Clarke should replace Johnson and Woolfy deserves to play. Sure I'm fine with Hutch moving to the right, but I still think it would do him some good if he starts on the bench. Walton works for me too!

[Dubai Blue]

Wouldn't disturb the CB pairing. It will take time to get it right.

[Shed on tour]

So far this season we have only managed to score more than one goal only once in a game in the league. In the same period we have only kept one clean sheet. Obviously if this continues we aren’t going to win many games whether they be at home or away. Certainly needs to be an improvement at both ends of the pitch.

[Bluemike]

I think its understandable that we are going to have days like Saturday, surely we all expected it although maybe not against West Ham. However you have to learn from these lessons and to do nothing is careless in my opinion.

Rossi was spot on, we are in danger of KM becoming a bit of a One trick pony IF he continues along the same lines of playing out from the back and the subs almost bang on the same time, it was crying out for change around 30-35 minutes and a sub or Two at HT, he did nothing.

I get what people are alluding to with Burns but I thought second half he did ok going forward, there could be a case that he left Johnson exposed but it wasn't just that that worried me with Johnson, it was pretty much all aspects of his performance.

Muric is a big concern, Burnley fans said one week you'll love him the next he'll drive you mad and cost you points, it's working out exactly like that, the problem is we CANNOT afford to gift anyone these chances from howlers, Imagine one of those against Everton! I was kind of questioned when I ripped in to him after Man City, it looks like it was justified, I'm just not rating him right now.

It's all well and good having a decent size squad but you need to play players in position and players in form, Szmodics baffles me, chase him for 3 months and then shove him on the bench, we are crying out for goals, he's a goalscorer, Hutchinson over seven games has done little of note and cannot play the Ten role, get him on the wing where he creates things and looks so dangerous.

From what I'm hearing we have a bit of unrest within the squad which is disappointing and a tad worrying, we need to address this ASAP, get our first win, settle things down and get back to keeping players happy.

[The Odious Mr Rossi]

I think its understandable that we are going to have days like Saturday, surely we all expected it although maybe not against West Ham. However you have to learn from these lessons and to do nothing is careless in my opinion.

Rossi was spot on, we are in danger of KM becoming a bit of a One trick pont IF he continues along the same lines of playing out from the back and the subs almost bang on the same time, it was crying out for change around 30-35 minutes and a sub or Two at HT, he did nothing.

I get what people are alluding to with Burns but I thought second half he did ok going forward, there could be a case that he left Johnson exposed but it wasn't just that that worried me with Johnson, it was pretty much all aspects of his performance.

Muric is a big concern, Burnley fans said one week you'll love him the next he'll drive you mad and cost you points, it's working out exactly like that, the problem is we CANNOT afford to gift anyone these chances from howlers, Imagine one of those against Everton! I was kind of questioned when I ripped in to him after Man City, it looks like it was justified, I'm just not rating him right now.

It's all well and good having a decent size squad but you need to play players in position and players in form, Szmodics baffles me, chase him for 3 months and then shove him on the bench, we are crying out for goals, he's a goalscorer, Hutchinson over seven games has done little of note and cannot play the Ten role, get him on the wing where he creates things and looks so dangerous.

From what I'm hearing we have a bit of unrest within the squad which is disappointing and a tad worrying, we need to address this ASAP, get our first win, settle things down and get back to keeping players happy.

That is indeed worrying, Mike, but given some of the mysterious positional selections coupled with people being left out when thay have done well smacks of favouritism - and that needs to change quickly.

[Charnwood]

Yes obviously Harry Clarke, he was OK last season, ok premiership is a different kettle of fish.Why question my support for the club,alot of people have problems getting tickets & don't like the premiership, I think it s corrupt.Man city have over 100 cases against them & will probably get away with it.

Sorry Mariner but I’d question anyone’s support for the club if they’d be happy to see the club relegated just so they could get a ticket easier next season. Try selling that one to the owners, Mark Ashton, Kieran McKenna, the players or even the 26,000 + town fans who pay their money and pile into Portman Road for every home fixture desperate to watch their team win.

NO I didn't say I'd like us to get relegated,also didn't like your response much,thought you we nit picking,move on.

“I don't care if we do go down, at least I'd get to see Ipswich play more often.”

Apologies if I misread this

[Charnwood]

I think its understandable that we are going to have days like Saturday, surely we all expected it although maybe not against West Ham. However you have to learn from these lessons and to do nothing is careless in my opinion.

Rossi was spot on, we are in danger of KM becoming a bit of a One trick pony IF he continues along the same lines of playing out from the back and the subs almost bang on the same time, it was crying out for change around 30-35 minutes and a sub or Two at HT, he did nothing.

I get what people are alluding to with Burns but I thought second half he did ok going forward, there could be a case that he left Johnson exposed but it wasn't just that that worried me with Johnson, it was pretty much all aspects of his performance.

Muric is a big concern, Burnley fans said one week you'll love him the next he'll drive you mad and cost you points, it's working out exactly like that, the problem is we CANNOT afford to gift anyone these chances from howlers, Imagine one of those against Everton! I was kind of questioned when I ripped in to him after Man City, it looks like it was justified, I'm just not rating him right now.

It's all well and good having a decent size squad but you need to play players in position and players in form, Szmodics baffles me, chase him for 3 months and then shove him on the bench, we are crying out for goals, he's a goalscorer, Hutchinson over seven games has done little of note and cannot play the Ten role, get him on the wing where he creates things and looks so dangerous.

From what I'm hearing we have a bit of unrest within the squad which is disappointing and a tad worrying, we need to address this ASAP, get our first win, settle things down and get back to keeping players happy.

If there is unrest in the camp it usually stems from a trouble maker who needs to be isolated. Even the biggest clubs in the EPL rotate players as we saw last weekend when Liverpool started with their leading goal scorer Diaz on the bench. There are in fact very few Premier League teams which start with the same 11 players two weeks running. Apart from Woolfie I can’t think of any of our players who can complain when they’ve lost their place.

[Bluemike]

You are spot on Charny, but it seems Broadhead isn’t overly happy either following the Broja thing. Woolfy's gripe stems from when he was left out of the squad entirely, I'll leave it at that.

[AzzurroMark]

It may be just me, and yes debate is what a forum is all about, but I feel time is still the order of the day. KM has said you are probably not going to see this team at their best for a while. New partnerships are being worked on all the time and understandings do take time to build up.
Yes, I was bemoaning Johnson from what I heard of the 2nd half Radio Suffolk commentary. It was his first start and while training should have every player up to a standard where they can seemlessly fit into the first 11 when called upon, you still can struggle to get up to match speed.
Yes, Tuanzebe is probably a far better RB, but he too, like the rest of our defence and midfield to an extent have cost us goals already. Last season I recall a lot of teams targeting Harry Clarke's side as the most likely weak spot. At this stage Premier league wingers would be licking their lips to see his name on the starting team sheet i feel.
As for Muric, I feel that Johnson's passback was suicidal when coupled with West Ham's high intensity attack. Maybe I missed something, but don't see how he can really be held accountable for that?
If you look at the official Premier League goalkeeper stats, Arno features a lot higher in the lists than our relative league position would suggest he should. A lot does depend on the style of play used by a team, for example Muric sits joint 14th when it comes to 'sweeper clearances', but then you look down the list to see that Arsenal's David Raya sits below him in joint 17th. Muric leads the way in 'High Claims' holding the No.1 position just ahead of Raya.
Of course it's not wrong to pick holes in the team and coaching staff. I think that KM felt he'd misjudged West Ham when he said "West Ham played differently than anyone we've played so far, to be honest. They were very direct. That was what we struggled with." (EADT)
I think for the premier league bargain basement which we're are shopping in we should be lucky we've picked some pretty decent players up. Yes, mistakes through the team (and I include attacking players not converting chances) have cost us in games, but I prefer to trust in the process.

[ITFC2024]

I’m not ready to blame KM for the players performances yet. How goals have we conceded due to silly mistakes? Also, how many shots on target or assists has Hutchinson accrued? Like somebody said the other day, most Prem squads are valued at over 500-mil. Team spirit and enthusiasm can only take you so far.

[Charnwood]

You are spot on Charny, but it seems Broadhead isn’t overly happy either following the Broja thing. Woolfy's gripe stems from when he was left out of the squad entirely, I'll leave it at that.

I think Woolfy was very unfortunate but some of that stems from McKenna not usually having a CB on the bench which means in his position you go from playing well to not even being part of the squad. That must have been hard to take.

It was interesting that at West Ham on Saturday McKenna broke that rule and included Woolfy on the bench which may have been his awareness of the players unrest.

I guess this is all new stuff to McKenna dealing with a much larger squad and everyone wanting to be involved, it’s also much harder with guys brought in on higher earnings and £10m + transfer fees which they may think entitles them to being selected. Managing players at this level is very different to managing a League One squad which means McKenna is also on a new learning curve.

As long as we can avoid relegation this season we’ll have done ok. 17th place will achieve that and should be our main focus. At the moment we’re still on course but desperately need our first win.

[Bluemike]

Exactly, we all said 17th would do nicely, a few forget that very quickly. I do feel though that we are making it harder for ourselves with certain players in odd positions with others on the bench. McKenna is no fool and I hope he tinkers with it very quickly.

[RRanger]

I didn't watch Match of the day last night preferring to watch the whole match on Town TV today .( I went to Brentford/ Wolves yesterday as I live in SW London and have always had a soft spot for The Bees)
My reflections on the Ipswich match yesterday for what they are worth:
Ben Johnson must have been pretty nervous and apart from that horrendous back pass to Muric I though did OK and in Tuanzebe's absence I'd prefer him to keep the right back position rather than Clarke.
I think ,Blue Mike ,you are rather harsh in your early dismissal of Muric who I think once bedded in will gain us more points than he will lose us and I thought he played pretty well yesterday although he admittedly made a couple of questionable short passes .
I suspect Szmodics will start against Everton,with either Omari or Burns(if fit) or Ogbene on the right and Jack Clarke on the left.
I agree that Woolfendon hasn't done that much wrong but personally I think O'Shea and Greaves should be our No.1 pairing as CBs.
I'd like to fit Chaplin in but I don't know how but I did think that he played well when he came on.
In all, I thought we were better value than the scoreline suggested against the Hammers although West Ham deserved their win.
Incidentally, my first live Ipswich league match this season will be at Brentford where I'll have to sit on my hands as I have a ticket as a Brentford member and will be in the East Stand amongst all the Brentford supporters. We should attack Brentford as ,at the moment, they are very reliant on Mbuemo as Wissa is not fit. Our defence will have to be on their game against them as they make a lot of crosses and yesterday Wolves couldn't cope with them. The Brentford CBs are tall but not quick and look vulnerable when players run at them. Sorry if I've gone a bit off topic but as they are our next but one opponents I thought it was worth these notes.

[AzzurroMark]

I went to Brentford/ Wolves yesterday as I live in SW London
Ben Johnson must have been pretty nervous and apart from that horrendous back pass to Muric I though did OK and in Tuanzebe's absence I'd prefer him to keep the right back position rather than Clarke.
Muric who I think once bedded in will gain us more points than he will lose us and I thought he played pretty well yesterday although he admittedly made a couple of questionable short passes .
I think O'Shea and Greaves should be our No.1 pairing as CBs.
We should attack Brentford as ,at the moment, they are very reliant on Mbuemo as Wissa is not fit. Our defence will have to be on their game against them as they make a lot of crosses and yesterday Wolves couldn't cope with them. The Brentford CBs are tall but not quick and look vulnerable when players run at them.

Agree with your points made above. I guess only time will tell but one thing for sure, all of us want each player to succeed.
As for the Brentford game at the weekend, what a fantastic spectacle that must've been! I thought the Bees look very good going forward and they seem to have a knack of scoring very early goals. We need to win the first 'battle' against them, and that is the toss of the coin , making sure we kick off the match. The match stats suggest that Wolves had a really good go at them, something which should give us heart and who knows, maybe even a less expected 3 points!

[Mariner67]

Sorry Mariner but I’d question anyone’s support for the club if they’d be happy to see the club relegated just so they could get a ticket easier next season. Try selling that one to the owners, Mark Ashton, Kieran McKenna, the players or even the 26,000 + town fans who pay their money and pile into Portman Road for every home fixture desperate to watch their team win.

NO I didn't say I'd like us to get relegated,also didn't like your response much,thought you we nit picking,move on.

“I don't care if we do go down, at least I'd get to see Ipswich play more often.”

Apologies if I misread this

NO I don't care if we go down,that's different to I want to see us get relegated, I'm enjoying seeing us compete in the premiership, that does not mean I like the prem.We might stay up,yes that's good,gives us more chance of rebuilding the team.Shall we have a poll,who likes the premiership?I might be the only one that doesn't but I doubt it.

[hallamblue]

I hate it!
It's pretentious sh*t, full of vastly over paid, over rated cheats.

[Charnwood]

NO I didn't say I'd like us to get relegated,also didn't like your response much,thought you we nit picking,move on.

“I don't care if we do go down, at least I'd get to see Ipswich play more often.”

Apologies if I misread this

NO I don't care if we go down,that's different to I want to see us get relegated, I'm enjoying seeing us compete in the premiership, that does not mean I like the prem.We might stay up,yes that's good,gives us more chance of rebuilding the team.Shall we have a poll,who likes the premiership?I might be the only one that doesn't but I doubt it.

I’m sure you won’t be the only one that doesn’t like the Premier League Mariner but that will have as much to do with Sky TV, broadcasting rights and money as it has to do with the League itself. As far as the standard of football is concerned it’s recognised as being probably the best league in the world which is why it attracts so many of the best players in the world and the top managers. One of the biggest problems however is the gulf between the EPL and the Championship is now so wide it’s now almost a closed shop. However that doesn’t stop most Championship clubs from still wanting to get there which in itself makes the Championship the best second tier league in the world. Like it or not the EPL has given a massive boost to English football which is now at the highest level it’s ever been in my lifetime.

[Cabanas Blue]

I don't like the Premier league but I do want Town to stay in it, I would like the big clubs to go and join a super league which I wouldn't watch and for the other clubs to have a fair Premier league.
As to Muric I also have worries about him but saying that how many of the crosses would Walton have taken we ease the way Muric has.
We need to pick up some points in the next few games and hopefully we will.

[Bluemike]

I didn't watch Match of the day last night preferring to watch the whole match on Town TV today .( I went to Brentford/ Wolves yesterday as I live in SW London and have always had a soft spot for The Bees)
My reflections on the Ipswich match yesterday for what they are worth:
Ben Johnson must have been pretty nervous and apart from that horrendous back pass to Muric I though did OK and in Tuanzebe's absence I'd prefer him to keep the right back position rather than Clarke.
I think ,Blue Mike ,you are rather harsh in your early dismissal of Muric who I think once bedded in will gain us more points than he will lose us and I thought he played pretty well yesterday although he admittedly made a couple of questionable short passes .
I suspect Szmodics will start against Everton,with either Omari or Burns(if fit) or Ogbene on the right and Jack Clarke on the left.
I agree that Woolfendon hasn't done that much wrong but personally I think O'Shea and Greaves should be our No.1 pairing as CBs.
I'd like to fit Chaplin in but I don't know how but I did think that he played well when he came on.
In all, I thought we were better value than the scoreline suggested against the Hammers although West Ham deserved their win.
Incidentally, my first live Ipswich league match this season will be at Brentford where I'll have to sit on my hands as I have a ticket as a Brentford member and will be in the East Stand amongst all the Brentford supporters. We should attack Brentford as ,at the moment, they are very reliant on Mbuemo as Wissa is not fit. Our defence will have to be on their game against them as they make a lot of crosses and yesterday Wolves couldn't cope with them. The Brentford CBs are tall but not quick and look vulnerable when players run at them. Sorry if I've gone a bit off topic but as they are our next but one opponents I thought it was worth these notes.

Thing is we all have opinions which we are entitled to have. Regarding Muric, I didn't rate him before we signed him, I think he's too inconsistent and error strewn, yes he has moments of brilliance but they are tempered with bad things. It isn't just the main points I refer to, yes the errors that lead to goals are bad enough but his general distribution is nothing short of woeful and all too often pass possession to our opponents, again at times it's very good but it's far too in and out.

Personally I would have thought Ben Johnson would have been well up for Saturday, more than any other game but for me he may as well have put a West Ham shirt on.

I accept players need time etc but the basics should be there, I have no idea how many times Omari has made the wrong decision or lost possession but it's becoming too frequent and it's 100% because he is out of position, I blame Mckenna for that.

Regarding Woolfy, we can all pretend all we like that O'Shea is better but nothing I have seen so far suggests that to be true, if it had been Woolfy on the pitch when Watkins headed home under zero pressure he would have been lambasted, I've never been his biggest fan but fairs fair, he did nothing wrong in the first Three games and the opposition was hardly easy.

Finally the one that really baffles me is Szmodics, comfortably our best player at Man City, scored a goal and since he's really not been afforded many chances while Hutchinson struggles in a non favourable position.

There is nothing wrong with criticising Mckenna, what has gone in the last Two years is history and as has been pointed out he too is learning, I'm totally convinced he'll suss it out but in my humble opinion at this time he is doing a couple of odd things and looking pretty one dimensional.

[Mariner67]

“I don't care if we do go down, at least I'd get to see Ipswich play more often.”

Apologies if I misread this

NO I don't care if we go down,that's different to I want to see us get relegated, I'm enjoying seeing us compete in the premiership, that does not mean I like the prem.We might stay up,yes that's good,gives us more chance of rebuilding the team.Shall we have a poll,who likes the premiership?I might be the only one that doesn't but I doubt it.

I’m sure you won’t be the only one that doesn’t like the Premier League Mariner but that will have as much to do with Sky TV, broadcasting rights and money as it has to do with the League itself. As far as the standard of football is concerned it’s recognised as being probably the best league in the world which is why it attracts so many of the best players in the world and the top managers. One of the biggest problems however is the gulf between the EPL and the Championship is now so wide it’s now almost a closed shop. However that doesn’t stop most Championship clubs from still wanting to get there which in itself makes the Championship the best second tier league in the world. Like it or not the EPL has given a massive boost to English football which is now at the highest level it’s ever been in my lifetime.

Yes I remember life before the sky money,it was more of an even playing field.thats probably why Ipswich did well,even back in 2000 when we had that good run,silly money was about,Man city,Arsenal & a couple of other big clubs should have their own league, then have a few more championship teams coming in,I love to see Man city put in leauge 2,Like Rangers in the Scottish leauge.

[Ricco]

Yeah I like that Mike, it should be printed out in size 36 bold and glued to McKenna's desk.

[Ricco]

Before I get slaughtered I will say that McKennas has been as good as any manager in the English game over the past couple seasons, but as Mike points out, that doesn't make him immune to criticism and it doesn't mean he gets everything right.

Man City had 14 shots against us, Liverpool I think 16, whereas WH had 23, that's a big drop off in performance levels I feel.

One other thing I would say I'm disappointed in is the subs this year. Last year it felt like a real dangerous wave of fresh legs coming on, now it just feels like some players shoehorned on to finish the minutes because the starters are tired, or even bits of desperation. I don't know how Taylor is getting near the team when he was used probably less frequently last season. I don't know why he has suddenly jumped ahead of Luongo when he was never remotely close to taking his place in the team last year.

And Huthcinson too, he was often a sub last season, but now he can do no wrong, he's McKennas first name on the team sheet, problem being he sneezes every time he writes his name and sticks him in the middle.

There will be ups and downs this season, of course things aren't nearly as bad as they feel after a big loss, but I do hope this is a wakeup call, we cannot be one dimensional this season, this game felt lazy on all fronts.

[ITFC2024]

I finally got to watch the whole match. To be honest, I think there’s been a bit of an overreaction. Phiilips was unlucky when his tackle gifted the ball to WH, they still had a lot do after that. Muric was fine in the first 35 mins, good distribution to Davis and he had a presence in the box.

Johnson actually made a few good tackles and I thought he did ok, save for he poor clearance for their third goal. Their second goal was just pure class. The 4th, terrible defending by the whole back line.

We created several scoring chances especially from Burn’s crosses, so I’m still baffled by people’s insistence that Omari plays in that position. Hutch is a 20 mil player he should be able to adapt. Like I said before, he’s struggling with premier league quality players. He’ll figure things out though. You guys really think his form will magically improve substantially if he starts on the right? What happens to Burns then?…our best right winger!

COYB!!

Davis made some brilliant runs on the left, and I think Clarke just had a bad day. He wasn’t useless like some have suggested.

Come on folks, go back and read Mark Ashton’s interview at the beginning of the season. We all need to stick behind the squad and manager because there will be tough times.

[Ricco]

I think if it were just Hutchinson out of posistion that would be one thing, but it's displacing Szmodics which is the bigger issue I think. He has to be brave enough to drop Hutchinson or Burns.

Fact remains Hutchinson has offered nothing in the centre and to not change things up or try something different strikes me as very odd indeed. It feels like there's an agreement in his contract to play a certain number of games centrally.

I dont think anyone is over-reacting or calling for McKenna's had or anything mad, but it's bloody frustrating to perform that way and it's perfectly reasonable to vent about that.

Hutchinson 7 games 0 goals, 1 assist, let's give others a chance ey?

[ITFC2024]

Well I certainly agree with you Ricco regarding Hutch, I’ve already stated I think it would do him some good to be benched. I think Szmodics is better in the middle than Hutch, but I feel like many believe Hutch should also play which means Burns would be sacrificed. I just can’t agree with that because I think Burns is much better than Hutch on the right.

Nothing wrong with criticizing the manager’s decisions, I just haven’t reached that point yet. One thing I think we can all agree on is Delap should start every match!