Marlon Pack

It's a real shame Pack got injured when he did yesterday, but doesn't it speak volumes about Warnock's transfer business this summer if the team's prospects hinge on the availability of a player who was apparently signed with only minutes of the transfer window remaining?

The defence at Reading looked absolutely woeful. Morrison appears to have got slower and the fact that he's already conceded two penalties in three games doesn't bode well. Meanwhile, Flint looks a real carthorse by Championship standards. You can see that pair being beaten for pace time and time again this season. Without Pack in front of them, you have to fear the worst.

The lack of creativity going forward yesterday was hardly a shock, but I was genuinely surprised by how poor the defence looked. If Reading had won 5-0 it wouldn't have flattered them. City didn't concede a single goal in the first three matches of the 2017/18 campaign. They've conceded seven already this season and it could easily have been a few more.

It's mad to me that our last 2 summer deadline days have seen us sign Pack, Camerasa and Arter.

We would have been completely ****ed each season if we hadn't got them in.

It saddens me how much I've read about Marlon Pack in the last 24 hours like he's Diego Maradona ffs.

It severely highlights Warnock's limitations in the transfer market if we're completely dependent on a guy Bristol City were more than willing to unload.

We are regressing rather than progressing as a squad and he seems to still think that football can be played without a midfield as long as you have a squad with 26 wingers!

It was not only our defence that was frightening yesterday but the gaps in our midfield and the distances between them.

Add to this how easy it is to get down the sides of our centre backs and it tells me that Warnock has got a massive job ahead of him if he's gonna stop the rot.

I suggest he starts with abandoning the strategy of adopting long throw ins as our only way to create.

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Originally Posted by The Lone Gunman

It's a real shame Pack got injured when he did yesterday, but doesn't it speak volumes about Warnock's transfer business this summer if the team's prospects hinge on the availability of a player who was apparently signed with only minutes of the transfer window remaining?

The defence at Reading looked absolutely woeful. Morrison appears to have got slower and the fact that he's already conceded two penalties in three games doesn't bode well. Meanwhile, Flint looks a real carthorse by Championship standards. You can see that pair being beaten for pace time and time again this season. Without Pack in front of them, you have to fear the worst.

The lack of creativity going forward yesterday was hardly a shock, but I was genuinely surprised by how poor the defence looked. If Reading had won 5-0 it wouldn't have flattered them. City didn't concede a single goal in the first three matches of the 2017/18 campaign. They've conceded seven already this season and it could easily have been a few more.

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Agreed we looked lost without him and so vulnerable when we send everyone up for a corner or long-throw, we leave Vaulks and Bacuna back and when they break the opposition can fly passed them with absolute ease, it looks like out biggest strength (set plays which have been terrible) is our biggest weakness!

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Originally Posted by Croesy Blue

It's mad to me that our last 2 summer deadline days have seen us sign Pack, Camerasa and Arter.

We would have been completely ****ed each season if we hadn't got them in.

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To me, the craziest thing about the Pack transfer is the fact that he was playing for a club based just 40 miles away, and yet signing him was apparently a last-minute job. That screams poor preparation to me, especially as it seems the player concerned is already integral to the team.

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Originally Posted by Bluebina

Agreed we looked lost without him and so vulnerable when we send everyone up for a corner or long-throw, we leave Vaulks and Bacuna back and when they break the opposition can fly passed them with absolute ease, it looks like out biggest strength (set plays which have been terrible) is our biggest weakness!

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That struck me too - Reading looked at their most dangerous when City had a set-piece, and that's before they were chasing the game.

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Originally Posted by Bluebina

Agreed we looked lost without him and so vulnerable when we send everyone up for a corner or long-throw, we leave Vaulks and Bacuna back and when they break the opposition can fly passed them with absolute ease, it looks like out biggest strength (set plays which have been terrible) is our biggest weakness!

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There's more chance of the opposition scoring indirectly from our own long throws, than is of us scoring from them.

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Originally Posted by Bluebina

Agreed we looked lost without him and so vulnerable when we send everyone up for a corner or long-throw, we leave Vaulks and Bacuna back and when they break the opposition can fly passed them with absolute ease, it looks like out biggest strength (set plays which have been terrible) is our biggest weakness!

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We've always been susceptible to that under Warnock. Remember his first few months we got done on the break constantly. Barnsley 4-3 springs to mind.

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Originally Posted by The Lone Gunman

That struck me too - Reading looked at their most dangerous when City had a set-piece, and that's before they were chasing the game.

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I think in the past, Gunner, Bamba and especially Manga has given us a bit of protection and losing them has left a massive hole.

I wrote this on another forum yesterday and I think it applies here

(There's*a reason why teams play "tippy tappy" short passes that a lot of our fans seem to frown upon.*

The reason is so you're not so exposed in transition. If you*have 3 or 4 men within 10 metres of the ball then you're less likely to be exposed on the counter attack.

Teams in the championship (apart from us) have top quality analysts who study the weaknesses in the opponents and teams are set up positionally to exploit you. (Swansea have just appointed a guy who was head analyst for Man City for*7 out of the last 8 years)

When we launch a long throw in, teams know where the ball is likely to go and they know where the spaces are left,*hence why we are so vulnerable.*

Our midfield looked all over the place, why do people think that is?

We're fragmented cos they're asked to chase balls which have travelled 60 yards and it's much harder to do this with*cohesion.)





I don't think Pack is as big a saviour as is being made out. Yes we were in the game for the first 20 but the game was still in its feeling out phase.

As soon as the game got a bit stretched and we started continuously started launching 50 yards throw ins the the inevitable gaps appeared in our defensive unit and unless Pack can run like Usain Bolt with the stamina of Mo Farah I don't see much changing.

When relegation from the Premier League was confirmed Dalman said of the season “I think we should have planned much, much more ahead than we have done. That’s something we have learned”.

Unfortunately that just about sums the club up and there’s no evidence anything has changed. The club appears to make it up as it goes along without any long term strategy. Warnock gets away with anything because the club has failed to appoint anyone who could credibly challenge him.

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Originally Posted by Delbert

When relegation from the Premier League was confirmed Dalman said of the season “I think we should have planned much, much more ahead than we have done. That’s something we have learned”.

Unfortunately that just about sums the club up and there’s no evidence anything has changed. The club appears to make it up as it goes along without any long term strategy. Warnock gets away with anything because the club has failed to appoint anyone who could credibly challenge him.

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:thumbup:

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Originally Posted by Delbert

When relegation from the Premier League was confirmed Dalman said of the season “I think we should have planned much, much more ahead than we have done. That’s something we have learned”.

Unfortunately that just about sums the club up and there’s no evidence anything has changed. The club appears to make it up as it goes along without any long term strategy. Warnock gets away with anything because the club has failed to appoint anyone who could credibly challenge him.

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Dalman is just a schmoozer. Full of soundbites.

He said we were going to keep our best players and give it a right good go this season.

Well if this is giving it a right good go then god help when we bring in a Russel Slade type to cut costs.

The thing I couldn't understand is on sky they were saying our squad was stronger than the last time we went up. Then as soon as pack goes off we have to replace him with a centre half signed on a free from Oxford.

Let's be honest, there was no real effort to sign players that would have kept us in the Premier League and the signings for this season show an equal lack of ambition. Tan has gone from being profligate to doing things on the cheap - and it shows.

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Originally Posted by Croesy Blue

The thing I couldn't understand is on sky they were saying our squad was stronger than the last time we went up. Then as soon as pack goes off we have to replace him with a centre half signed on a free from Oxford.

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A lot of TV commentators talk a lot of drivel, of course.

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Originally Posted by Croesy Blue

The thing I couldn't understand is on sky they were saying our squad was stronger than the last time we went up. Then as soon as pack goes off we have to replace him with a centre half signed on a free from Oxford.

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I was just speaking to a City fan who has been talking to an Oxford United fan about Curtis Nelson - he was told that we've got ourselves a very good central defender, but he isn't a defensive midfield player or a right back, he's just a good centre half.

I may have missed him playing there of course, but in my experience, Nelson has never been considered as anything other than a centreback until he arrived at Cardiff.

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Originally Posted by Delbert

When relegation from the Premier League was confirmed Dalman said of the season “I think we should have planned much, much more ahead than we have done. That’s something we have learned”.

Unfortunately that just about sums the club up and there’s no evidence anything has changed. The club appears to make it up as it goes along without any long term strategy. Warnock gets away with anything because the club has failed to appoint anyone who could credibly challenge him.

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Ever since we won promotion, we've been a club that gives the impression that our manager has a job until he decides he no longer wants it - nothing that happened last season and so far this time around justifies such an approach.

Superb player.
Funnily enough I can’t remember the last time he was ever injured!

Sure he must have been, but I can only remember him sitting out because of suspensions....

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Originally Posted by Taunton Blue Genie

Let's be honest, there was no real effort to sign players that would have kept us in the Premier League and the signings for this season show an equal lack of ambition. Tan has gone from being profligate to doing things on the cheap - and it shows.

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Completely agree.

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Originally Posted by Jursset_BrisCity

Superb player.
Funnily enough I can’t remember the last time he was ever injured!

Sure he must have been, but I can only remember him sitting out because of suspensions....

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My fault, I said yesterday before he got injured that he hasn't been injured for 7 years and has been averaging 45 games a season which is an outstanding statistic.

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Originally Posted by the other bob wilson

I was just speaking to a City fan who has been talking to an Oxford United fan about Curtis Nelson - he was told that we've got ourselves a very good central defender, but he isn't a defensive midfield player or a right back, he's just a good centre half.

I may have missed him playing there of course, but in my experience, Nelson has never been considered as anything other than a centreback until he arrived at Cardiff.

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I thought that was what we signed him for and then the signing of Flint came out of left field. Do you think that NW would admit he was wrong/lose face by dropping the ponderous Flint and playing Nelson ?

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Originally Posted by The Lone Gunman

To me, the craziest thing about the Pack transfer is the fact that he was playing for a club based just 40 miles away, and yet signing him was apparently a last-minute job. That screams poor preparation to me, especially as it seems the player concerned is already integral to the team.

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It screams desperation, although we were told that the club had planned well in advance for either scenario (Premier League or Championship).
I can only think that the players they aimed to sign went elsewhere (for whatever reason), but to me it’s like the self-destruct button was pressed in the transfer market.

Pack seemed to be an afterthought of a signing in the manner similar to Camarasa, our early signings which you would think were planned and well thought out have turned out to be regrettable as far as Neil is concerned.

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Originally Posted by Croesy Blue

It's mad to me that our last 2 summer deadline days have seen us sign Pack, Camerasa and Arter.

We would have been completely ****ed each season if we hadn't got them in.

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We were still ****ed last season.

This is not against you personally, but there seems a general consensus on this board that the club, the team and the manager get a pass for last season.