Vydra is never going to cut the mustard, Hart should perhaps take up volleyball, Brady just isn't going to be the player he was and, if we let Gibson go, which sounds as if it's quite likely, we are in big trouble if anything happens to Tarkowski or Mee.

It's not SD that isn't interested in the FA Cup, it's the players.

From the sublime of beating Leicester and Manchester United, to the ridiculous of losing to (soon to be Championship) Norwich.

Some of our players today should be embarrassed at taking their wages for today's performance!

I learned today that we have NO strength in depth..

Definitely lacked energy after Wednesday, which is understandable from those who played at Old Trafford.

With the exception of Lennon, the players who came in were very poor.

dermotdermot wrote: ↑

Sat Jan 25, 2020 5:42 pm

Vydra is never going to cut the mustard, Hart should perhaps take up volleyball, Brady just isn't going to be the player he was and, if we let Gibson go, which sounds as if it's quite likely, we are in big trouble if anything happens to Tarkowski or Mee.

Can’t disagree with any of that personally - but I would just counter it by saying that we clearly weren’t motoring for the win today. I am not suggesting that Dyche tells the players in these games to make less effort etc, but the lack of intensity in the Cups is clear to see and it’s been that way under Dyche since he came.

Bearing that in mind I find it hard to make many firm judgments from these games. Agree on Vydra and Brady though as it’s just carry over from what they’ve shown in the league in my eyes.

I learnt that keeping my money in my pocket for cup games is the best option

If we get a couple of injuries we could be in serious trouble, we have too much deadwood ( Hart, Lennon, Brady, Lowton) on top of the players that not really prem quality but we need to bolster the squad numbers ( Pieters, Bardsley, Hendrick) and the decision not to include the likes of Vydra, Gibson a serious clearout is needed and some younger/quality playersneed to be brought in. A big ask I know but this is the reallity of not drip feeding in quality at each window, Dyche spent to much time shopping in poundland buying 1 million pound players.

After the Lord Mayor's Ball......Which I thoroughly enjoyed.

That you can’t see the big screen from the back of the BL as well as from our normal seats in the JHU

That the "strong bench" isnt that strong

Worth backing our cup opponents regardless of league or venue played at, you'd turn quite a profit.

Save your money

Basically nothing most people didnt learn 2 or 3 years ago.

Anyone who attended cant honestly be upset, angry or feel the need to complain.

As others have pointed out, we didn't really learn anything we didn't already know. Our squad is paper thin in some areas and a lot of our backup players aren't up to it.

claretgimmer wrote: ↑

Sat Jan 25, 2020 5:54 pm

If we get a couple of injuries we could be in serious trouble, we have too much deadwood ( Hart, Lennon, Brady, Lowton) on top of the players that not really prem quality but we need to bolster the squad numbers ( Pieters, Bardsley, Hendrick) and the decision not to include the likes of Vydra, Gibson a serious clearout is needed and some younger/quality playersneed to be brought in. A big ask I know but this is the reallity of not drip feeding in quality at each window, Dyche spent to much time shopping in poundland buying 1 million pound players.

Buying 1million pound players at inflated prices.....but that's commonplace these days.

That as there is no squad rotation, all those on back up or sub bench are very shirt of match practice. Or and more probably Dych sees them in 11 v 11 in training and sees what we have seen today.

Didn't learn a single thing today other than Tarks was head and shoulders above everyone else on the pitch

One thing I will admit, I thought Norwich were good and probably played some excellent football today.

Cirrus_Minor wrote: ↑

Sat Jan 25, 2020 6:03 pm

One thing I will admit, I thought Norwich were good and probably played some excellent football today.

Yes good point, worth crediting the opponents today as they showed a great attitude and legitimately could and probably should have scored four or five.

That Garlick needs to get his cheque book out and the club needs to stop with the tireless rhetoric of its impossible to sign players.

The thought of some of our squad players having to play an extended amount of games in the first team is frightening.

Cirrus_Minor wrote: ↑

Sat Jan 25, 2020 6:03 pm

One thing I will admit, I thought Norwich were good and probably played some excellent football today.

I wonder if they'll care about some of the excellent football this season once they've been relegated?

Hopefully the Vydra appreciation society have seen today what every else spotted last season.

Our fringe players aren’t good enough, with the exception of one or two. My worry is that we’ll ship out fringe players and replace them with fringe players, when actually we need to be feeding new players in at the top! Dyche often keeps the same side and this inevitably will have a detrimental effect on the fringe of the squad.

Vegas Claret wrote: ↑

Sat Jan 25, 2020 6:02 pm

Didn't learn a single thing today other than Tarks was head and shoulders above everyone else on the pitch

We learnt a few things.

We need to keep hold of Gibson.

We need to offload Hart and use BPF as back up.

We need to sign a minimum of two players, a midfielder and forward because we what have as back up isn't good enough.

As for those embarrassing fans lauding Vydra at Stamford Bridge when he was warming up and the sarcasm when he has come on as sub, have a look at yourself. He is our 4th best striker...

The same idiots were calling for Dyche out on the way out of the Bridge too...

Don't play Pieters unless we want our defence to collapse. And when the defence cracks the players in front start to get a bit jittery.

Long had to do his own job today and cover for Pieters, which he struggled to do.

Tarks had to do his own job and cover for Long when he was covering for Pieters, which he did superbly.

The poor positional play of Pieters made Mee look worse than he is at the beginning of the season and today he made Long look worse than he is. Our defense was woeful without Taylor and it was woeful again today. At this level it is hard enough for the players to do their own job, never mind the job of the bloke next to them.

Pieters tries hard and puts in a shift. His heart seems to be in the right place, but he isn't good enough for this level. We did well buying Bardsley from Stoke for a low price ( he has done more than enough to earn his money and place ), but Crouch and Pieters should have been left at Stoke.

Hopefully, we won't lower their wage bill again and add to their cash reserves by signing Joe Allen in this window.

Not a shocking starting 11 and three relatively early substitutions, so seems to me it’s the players and not Sean to blame- can’t explain that. Hart was simply not good.

That we can't 'rotate' as other clubs do(including our opponents today) because there is a marked lack of quality outside those that are first choice.

I learned today that watching England dismantle South Africa in the test match was a much better way of spending my Saturday.

Brady is shot. Long is not a left sided player.

And Peiters isnt good enough.

Silkyskills1 wrote: ↑

Sat Jan 25, 2020 6:35 pm

That we can't 'rotate' as other clubs do(including our opponents today) because there is a marked lack of quality outside those that are first choice.

I wouldn't be using Norwich as a good model to follow in terms of squad depth (As I look at the Prem table ).

I also learnt that I should have worn one of my many woolly hats and not a baseball hat. It was really cold in JH upper tier.

The players in our starting XI know they're place is safe so don't have to pull up trees in the cup.
The players who aren't getting a look in know even if they pulled up trees they're not going to get in the squad so don't try to.

We were also playing against a squad with absolutely nothing to lose.
Norwich will go down and some of the talent such as Pukki & Cantwell could be poached. So for some this was a first team audition either for a last ditch survival run or next season in the champ.

That our recruitment for the last two years has been abysmal

Our "strongest" squad in decades is nowhere near good enough

SD once again insisted on RL tonight that he does take the cup seriously. The rest of his interview suggested otherwise: “If that’s the only thing missing from my achievements at Burnley, I’d take that.” Or words to that effect.

Also, I learnt that some of Norwich’s second string players are excellent on the ball, and we should be having a good look at the end of the season.

scouseclaret wrote: ↑

Sat Jan 25, 2020 7:03 pm

SD once again insisted on RL tonight that he does take the cup seriously. The rest of his interview suggested otherwise: “If that’s the only thing missing from my achievements at Burnley, I’d take that.” Or words to that effect.

Also, I learnt that some of Norwich’s second string players are excellent on the ball, and we should be having a good look at the end of the season.

I would hope we will be looking at their first team if they go down and we stay up

Brady is finished. Really sad to see - maybe in a different system he'd be more effective, but that's ultimately irrelevant when McNeil is a better and vastly more valuable footballer.

Vydra is nothing but a bargaining chip for Championship players, and should be used as such. He's still highly regarded down there, so we should use that to our advantage.

Pieters still can't defend.

Spijed wrote: ↑

Sat Jan 25, 2020 6:49 pm

I wouldn't be using Norwich as a good model to follow in terms of squad depth (As I look at the Prem table ).

I'm basing it on what I witnessed today. Should have been one up in first ten seconds and their technical ability(control, pass, dribble) was,at times, impressive.

Summing up comments from all threads today (and some previous) we have learned we need to replace the following
Hart
Lowton
Long
Peiters
Lennon
Brady
Vydra
Add to that
Bardsley
Wells
Gibson

Quite a shopping list for the summer - unless some are swapped in Jan

jojomk1 wrote: ↑

Sat Jan 25, 2020 7:47 pm

Summing up comments from all threads today (and some previous) we have learned we need to replace the following
Hart
Lowton
Long
Peiters
Lennon
Brady
Vydra
Add to that
Bardsley
Wells
Gibson

Quite a shopping list for the summer - unless some are swapped in Jan

Replacing all of those in one transfer window is never going to happen and doesn’t need to.

claretdj wrote: ↑

Sat Jan 25, 2020 5:51 pm

I learned today that we have NO strength in depth..

Took you till TODAY to find that out?

jojomk1 wrote: ↑

Sat Jan 25, 2020 7:47 pm

Summing up comments from all threads today (and some previous) we have learned we need to replace the following
Hart
Lowton
Long
Peiters
Lennon
Brady
Vydra
Add to that
Bardsley
Wells
Gibson

Quite a shopping list for the summer - unless some are swapped in Jan

I reckon we could get about 30 million for that lot. And we would need to buy at least a RB CH LB RM STR x 2. If we add say 30 mill to the sale price that gives us 10 mill per signing average. Gonna be a fun Summer window

We are in big trouble if Pope has an injury

Brady needs to go out on loan to get match sharpness back

We don’t take cup games seriously enough

We need a First choice right winger (for last 5 years and counting )

We don’t have strength in depth

I'm glad I spent the afternoon at home drinking beer.

Why the hell is Hart playing ahead of BPF when Hart will be gone in summer and BPF will likely be Pope's replacement if/when he eventually leaves. Surely better to give the latter some first team game time? Or is BPF injured?

Brady Joe Hart and Vydra are not good enough
Sean will never play BPF and any U23 squad members despite at least 6 first team players clearly in need of a rest

I'm surprised such a negative post has lasted 3hours.

dermotdermot wrote: ↑

Sat Jan 25, 2020 5:42 pm

Vydra is never going to cut the mustard

Coleman's? All makes sense now.

We live to fight another day, where points count.

Also we need to find a way with ticketing that there are limited knuckle draggers/ morons from other stands allowed to have their cup final treat and sit in the Bob Lord.

I’d limit it to no more than 20.

Spijed wrote: ↑

Sat Jan 25, 2020 6:49 pm

I wouldn't be using Norwich as a good model to follow in terms of squad depth (As I look at the Prem table ).

Haven't they had over 15 players out injured at one time this season?

Hibsclaret wrote: ↑

Sat Jan 25, 2020 6:17 pm

As for those embarrassing fans lauding Vydra at Stamford Bridge when he was warming up and the sarcasm when he has come on as sub, have a look at yourself. He is our 4th best striker...

The same idiots were calling for Dyche out on the way out of the Bridge too...

Some “foreigner” from another stand treating himself to the Bob Lord today almost ejaculated when Vydra came on and clapped his every touch. Even though the majority of his touches lost the ball or bounced off him.

dermotdermot wrote: ↑

Sat Jan 25, 2020 5:42 pm

Vydra is never going to cut the mustard, Hart should perhaps take up volleyball, Brady just isn't going to be the player he was and, if we let Gibson go, which sounds as if it's quite likely, we are in big trouble if anything happens to Tarkowski or Mee.

Pretty much spot on for me. I've been a big advocate of giving Vydra more game time previously, but the more times I see him the poorer he performs and the less interested he looks - he loses the ball so easily.

Is Brady out of contract? If so he adds to the growing list of replacements we are going to need this summer - it's certainly going to be interesting.