Frank Give him time or get rid?

[Muttley]

Because of the two extra league stage games after Xmas, everything has been pushed along to early Feb. I think the rejiggle comes then.

I even thought that we still had Slavia to play and beating them would near enough guarantee a playoff game....but we've already done that! Jeez my memory.

Yeah, I just saw CL as a free hit this year. I had no expectations at all to be in the top 8. Turns out we have Dortmund and Frankfurt left, trhen playoff probably. No doubt that will be a team like Barca.

 

[billyiddo]

LOL, I need to look again myself. I know it all changed to Feb with this new CL system. I have a feeling if we don't finish in the top 8 in the league format then we get a two legged play-off to get through to the knockout stage. I have no clue whether Solanke could be part of that playoff.

It's not really a playoff It's just a knockout round that the top 8 get a bye from, so Solanke will be available and any other changes we wish to make post group stage

 

[Muttley]

It's not really a playoff It's just an additional knockout round that the top 8 get a bye from, so Solanke will be available and any other changes we wish to make post group stage

Yeah, but Solanke isn't in this week's squad and can't come back in for Tel yet. Can he come back in for the Frankfurt game? Don't think so.

So Solanke can come back in for the knockout round along with our other 3 changes?

 

[billyiddo]

Yeah, but Solanke isn't in this week's squad and can't come back in for Tel yet. Can he come back in for the Frankfurt game? Don't think so.

So Solanke can come back in for the knockout round along with our other 3 changes?

Yeah the latter - changes are set till the end of the group stage. I assume at that point Solanke auto swaps with Tel then we can make the 3 additional changes should we wish

 

[braineclipse]

Frank definitely needs as much slack in the UEFA comps in Jan. He might even go into Tuesday with only one fit double pivot midfielder if Gray and Palhinha don't make it. If not he'll be patching these guys up and they won't be 100%. He's also playing with a very lightweight forward line and he's naturally without Dragusin, Gallagher, Solanke because of UEFA squad quotas. Kudus, Bents, Kulu, Madds, Richi etc all injured and Sarr probably not back in time. In one scenario Scarlett might be the only "senior" sub or Olusesi may have to start.

I think we might see on Tuesday a team and squad very comparable to Ange's January ones. I mapped Ange back to mid Feb and the Utd game before I really felt he had a squad. We then beat them 1-0 and went on to beat Ipswich a week later. That was about the best week of the second half of the league season from memory. Difference is, when it comes to Burnley Frank will have a stronger squad than Ange was operating with in January.

Any which way you look at it, it's been the lack of our best attacking players and the assimilation of new players in parallel that has been our Achilles heal. Because of this, Tues will be the straw that breaks the camel's back with Frank and his job, Nobody will be factoring in the depleted squad and the inability to compete.

I think it's very possible the camel's back is already broken. A lot of people have been factoring in the depleted squad, and will continue to.

Tuesday will probably be the first time (and hopefully only time) Frank will have to deal with squad depletion on the level Ange had to deal with for weeks and weeks last season (from memory).

 

[Bishop]

I like a manager to get a season at least as a matter of principle but he's been a dead man walking for a while. I said it after the Sunderland game, the match going fans were done with him and that's a position that is untenable.

We aren't seeing any progress on the pitch or a reaction that says he might be able to fix it so I definitely understand moving him on. He's not hitting a par with what has.

 

[SteveAWOL]

Going 5-0 up!…. I can’t even imagine going 2-0 up under this manager!…

We can but dream

If only the promoted sides were as atrocious as last season though, at this stage last January that woeful Southampton side had already racked up a half century of goals conceded



Russell Martin had that team so badly coached that even the Frank Engine got a 5 goal haul at SCBC!!!!!

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[Bishop]

Brentford have been doing better without TF and despite losing Mbuemo and Wissa.

Sometimes managers look better than they are because the right players were bought in.

Imagine the concept of the right players being brought in.

 

[Muttley]

I think it's very possible the camel's back is already broken. A lot of people have been factoring in the depleted squad, and will continue to.

Tuesday will probably be the first time (and hopefully only time) Frank will have to deal with squad depletion on the level Ange had to deal with for weeks and weeks last season (from memory).

My only defence of Frank over Ange is putting myself in their shoes. It is way easier as a coach to put a makeshift well drilled defence together as long as you have your engine room and forward line working. You see teams up and down the country with poor defences on paper but very good ones on grass. From what I remember, Ange mostly got by with his engine room being fit but it did take him a long time to stop burning them out and putting them in the red zone. We still had all 3 pressing at the same time and doing these incredible sprints back when it went wrong. Ange didn't use his smarts there at all in season 2. Ange also only lost Solanke and Johnson around this weekend of the season and Kulu much later in the season. Even though numerically he had less players than Frank has now, he at least had some very good midfielders and forwards available. It was probably tougher in season 1 in the midfield. We had way too high a dependency on Hojbjerg in that injury crisis.

Based on what I've seen, I do think a fit Solanke makes such a difference to Frank across this season. Ditto with Kulu. It's not about Solanke's goals either. It's about the way he leads the line and enables others to play.

What I'm thinking will happen is that Frank gets replaced. Then the new guy, caretaker or not, gets access to a mostly full suite of players (the right players) and we all wonder what the problem was. That should bring some optimism back.

 

[yiddo37]

If we're that short of midfielders maybe stick Romero in there next to Begvall and put Draguisin next to Danso with Spence rb and Udogie lb. Either rest Porro or stick him on the right side of the 3 up top next to Randall and Tel.
Fill the bench with youth and give them a run out for the last 30 minutes of Frank's reign.
2-1 Spurs Randall with both.