1 hour ago, Rob said:

Everyone been after a striker and its always been him who needs to step up. For me we never invested enough time in him to get to grips with the league. When you hear him talk there is clearly a bit of language barrier and think the tempo of our league probs a bit to get used to. But I think we keep playing him and he will get it .

Was probs perfect time for him to come off and leave on a massive high, he looked pumped up loads after coming off and even coming back on the pitch. Felt like might be a bit of a special moment for him to build on.

Hopefully the next goal not to far away either

In David we trust! (unless you are Plastic Goat)

You dont get to be the goat by having low standards and expectations lol

1 hour ago, Downsouth said:

In David we trust! (unless you are Plastic Goat)

Plastic goat it could be me Billy Goat. Only kidding.😉

5 hours ago, Marz said:

Strelec explaining his goal "I put it in"

Who was the other pundit with Tommy Smith.

4 minutes ago, Erimus 63 said:

Who was the other pundit with Tommy Smith.

Curtis Davies

Ive read a few things on social media from Birmingham City fans saying how impressed they were with us last night. It did surprise me as I felt it was one of our poorer displays. Perhaps I've got so used to Hellball Im blinded by what is a good performance.

1 hour ago, smogsterking the Inspirati said:

Ive read a few things on social media from Birmingham City fans saying how impressed they were with us last night. It did surprise me as I felt it was one of our poorer displays. Perhaps I've got so used to Hellball Im blinded by what is a good performance.

Reading similar on their forums

I thought we were good!

We played differently to how we have been, but we were deffo good value for the win

Brum were rubbish though, so 🤷‍♂️

I'm v.happy to win a few games. ugly - look at our posession last night - 40%. We lost at home to Hull at 71% possession and we had about 73% at Coventry, so y'know.

1 hour ago, smogsterking the Inspirati said:

Ive read a few things on social media from Birmingham City fans saying how impressed they were with us last night. It did surprise me as I felt it was one of our poorer displays. Perhaps I've got so used to Hellball Im blinded by what is a good performance.

That is surprising tbh, we did dominate the first half but it was mainly due to off the ball work. I suppose if you watch that game as a neutral it probably looks like we strolled it and never looked like losing, if you ask brum fans they’ll probably say they’d never have scored even if we’re still playing now.

Have to admit after all the hype about Birmingham I was expecting a bit more. That Ducksch did nothing apart from them 2 shots, Malanda had Vicente in his pocket when he came on and Stansfield had that one moment all game. Very basic attacking team and was only worried from set pieces which we gave them to many.

I think, for now at least, that this formation suits our players best.

People get obsessed about wing-backs but the way we play there is very little difference between a wing-back and a full-back. By playing with 3 central defenders our 2 wing/full-backs have more defensive support which means they can focus more on their attacking duties. If anything, it means they may have to do less running because they won't have to be starting their attacks from a deeper position.

With three CBs and 2 wing-backs we have Brittain, Targett and Ayling who all have Premier league quality in their passing along with Malanda who is infeasibly good at passing from the back. That means we have plenty of attacking potential but, during periods when the other team presses us high, they can fall back to a back five. It also means Ayling can't be isolated by a centre forward.

When it comes to back-ups, we have Brittain, Browne and in an emergency Ayling at right back, Malanda, Fry, Ayling, Jones (when fit), Edmundson, Browne and Targett who can all play CB in a 3 and Targett, Munroe (and when fit) Bangura as a left back. I wouldn't mind betting when chasing a game that Targett gets replaced by Sarmiento who can possibly play as a hybrid winger/wing-back the same way that Izzy did.

Having three up front makes sense given the thinness of our options. We have McGree, Conway, Strelec, Whittaker, Sarmiento and Castledine who appear to be the six that Hellberg actually rates. Silvera will give us a 7th option when fit. We can play with 2 strikers and a #10 or 2 #10s and a striker depending on the match.

Our normal midfield 2 is Hackney and Morris with Gilbert and Browne as first back-ups. We can also switch to 3-5-2 on demand as well. McGree and Gilbert are both perfectly good #8s on the left side.

27 minutes ago, Bruce said:

I think, for now at least, that this formation suits our players best.

People get obsessed about wing-backs but the way we play there is very little difference between a wing-back and a full-back. By playing with 3 central defenders our 2 wing/full-backs have more defensive support which means they can focus more on their attacking duties. If anything, it means they may have to do less running because they won't have to be starting their attacks from a deeper position.

With three CBs and 2 wing-backs we have Brittain, Targett and Ayling who all have Premier league quality in their passing along with Malanda who is infeasibly good at passing from the back. That means we have plenty of attacking potential but, during periods when the other team presses us high, they can fall back to a back five. It also means Ayling can't be isolated by a centre forward.

When it comes to back-ups, we have Brittain, Browne and in an emergency Ayling at right back, Malanda, Fry, Ayling, Jones (when fit), Edmundson, Browne and Targett who can all play CB in a 3 and Targett, Munroe (and when fit) Bangura as a left back. I wouldn't mind betting when chasing a game that Targett gets replaced by Sarmiento who can possibly play as a hybrid winger/wing-back the same way that Izzy did.

Having three up front makes sense given the thinness of our options. We have McGree, Conway, Strelec, Whittaker, Sarmiento and Castledine who appear to be the six that Hellberg actually rates. Silvera will give us a 7th option when fit. We can play with 2 strikers and a #10 or 2 #10s and a striker depending on the match.

Our normal midfield 2 is Hackney and Morris with Gilbert and Browne as first back-ups. We can also switch to 3-5-2 on demand as well. McGree and Gilbert are both perfectly good #8s on the left side.

This is a great post, please repost it in the QPR thread

Edmundson will be our secret weapon for the last 10 mins with his long throws.

5 hours ago, Erimus 63 said:

Edmundson will be our secret weapon for the last 10 mins with his long throws.

hopefully not the other teams secret weapon at the same time

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