Barberphobia

https://youtu.be/FBnSWJHawQQ

This was actually something that Jos brought up. He said that Dutch players are taught from an early age to analyse the situation on the pitch and alter tactics accordingly, which is one of the reasons he was not very animated on the touchline. He said UK players need telling all the time what to do. You see this all the time at Hillsborough, when it seems obvious what players should be doing, but stick to what they have been told.

Might have been a struggle 30 years ago......

As it’s been said many times on here, you can prove anything with statistics, but out of interest I wondered how Adthe’s stats stacked up against another famous “non-scoring striker” – Emile Heskey. Games Played (minutes per game), Goals Scored (per minute), Assists (per minute) Emile Liverpool 223 (70), 60 (261), 9 (1,743) Career 720 (72), 152 (342), 33 (1,576) Adthe SWFC 227 (51), 37 (311), 24 (479) Career 426 (48), 78 (262), 36 (568) Data from transfermarkt.co.uk I know - different clubs, leagues, eras; but (per minute on the pitch) broadly similar in front of goal, however Adthe much more effective in providing chances for teammates. Make of it what you will. *Goes away, hides and puts on tin hat and awaits: “Yer, he were sh*te as well.” comments!*

I'm not downplaying its importance, but like every other part of the game, the individual will manage that aspect how they see fit. If Mr Reach thinks that he has the balance right between the effectiveness of his tackling and self preservation, that is a discussion that needs to be had between him, his colleagues and management. I'm sure if Garry Monk thinks he is being a fanny, words will be had. I like players to get stuck in, as long as they can do it properly. Some players are great at it (a tacke by Zico Sterland comes to mind when the attacker went six foot up in the air and you could hear the thud from the back of the Kop), others not so. I'm sure he can improve, but is it worth it being a detriment to his fitness if he starts flying in willy-nilly?

He has been available for nearly every game since he signed. If he "got stuck in" and tackled like Sam Hutchinson, we'd be lucky to get 20 games a season out of him. Is being fit for 40+ games a season price worth paying for "neshing" a few tackles?

Cue unrealistic optimism or rabid pessimism. No room for a measured view here!

It is often stated that the league begins to sort itself out after ten games and that the league positions then will be there or thereabouts come the end of the season. Are there any stattos out there with evidence to support or debunk this for SWFC or the league in general?

He was known in his early management days as "Professional job seeker" Steve Bruce. Seems nothing has changed.

Always wondered why we don't get the likes of Waddle in on an ad hoc basis to take some "Masterclasses". One of the first he could do is "How to Cross a Ball". Others: Lee Chapman on "how to Head", Lawrie Madden on "How to Clear a Loose Ball from Your Penalty Area".

Based on Boyd's last few performances, I certainly wouldn't be picking him. Hutchinson is a player I like, but is a booking or injury waiting to happen; unless his recklessness can be coached out of him (for his own protection and the team's benefit) I can't see Jos picking him.

The reason that VHS won the battle was because it was the medium of choice for the USA muck industry. Make of that what you will for a supposed "conservative, christian" country.

I don't have vast amounts of spare cash, but paid for the five year season ticket and iFollow so am not going to play the "can't afford to" card. However I do think it is a poor decision. The only time I use iFollow is if I'm working away from home and can't get RS, or if the match is not being broadcast by RS. iFollow is OK when I'm listening in a hotel room, but a real pain at hme as I usually have other stuff to do around the house, garden, garage, driving etc. It's easy to have a radio in evety room or outside and it doesn't really matter if it starts raining - carrying a laptop around will be a real pain, or having to fork out for a tablet just to listen to one programme once a week at most is another expence I can live without and another bit of kit to think about charging, updating searching for where it's been left by other people......

I remember Brian Clough talking about injured players coming back to play; the conversation went somethng like: Brian "Are you fit to play on Saturday lad?" Player "Yes Boss, raring to go." Brian "Well you're not playing." His reasoning being that players would always exagerate their fitness and would play with injuries if they could. Keeping them out for an extra week would help to make sure that when they came back they were actually ready.

I think you can trace his decline back to the match where he had a tooth knocked out - never really looked like he wants to get stuck in since.