Dean Smith - Confirmed

[Jon Crofts]

This 10 man struggle started against West Ham at Villa Park last season if I remember rightly?

[LukeJames]

Yeah it did, I think we've only beaten one team when they're down to 10 men since that West Ham game, Sheff Utd at home.

[Duncan Shaw]

Yeah it did, I think we've only beaten one team when they're down to 10 men since that West Ham game, Sheff Utd at home.

And West Brom

[Ads]

And Brighton.

[Duncan Shaw]

I nearly said and Crystal Palace as well - but that was us!!!

[Ads]

That was our last excellent performance. We've done elements of the game well in patches since and totally dominated a few sides without being convincing.

But what a performance Palace was.

[sid1964]

I am just hoping that now we are safe that the players aren’t thinking about their summer holidays

[Bobby Boy]

We've definitely come a long way this season but my fear is that we could see this as a huge opportunity missed which results last night certainly don't help.

There is no guarantee that the upward trajectory will continue and some of our players will be attracting interest this summer.

Will they stay? Who knows but making a statement by getting into Europe would definitely do no harm in making them want to stay.

We seem to be on the verge of a major step this season and then blow it. It is encouraging of course but still frustrating.

[Ads]

FFP constraints are loosened now aren't they for us? I recall Ourslow saying we couldn't welly the wallet around as we like as we were constrained by year previously.

I seriously don't think there's anybody outside of Man City that has the financial muscle we do and the willingness to flex it.

[tomd2103]

We've definitely come a long way this season but my fear is that we could see this as a huge opportunity missed which results last night certainly don't help.

There is no guarantee that the upward trajectory will continue and some of our players will be attracting interest this summer.

Will they stay? Who knows but making a statement by getting into Europe would definitely do no harm in making them want to stay.

We seem to be on the verge of a major step this season and then blow it. It is encouraging of course but still frustrating.

Kind of where I am with it really.  This season has definitely exceeded my expectations, but just feel that there is a great opportunity this season that we look like we are not going to take advantage of. 

[dave.woodhall]

Every club down to fourteenth in the table probably feels the same but none of the others went into the season hoping they'd be safe before the final day.

[OCD]

We haven't looked the same to me since the Covid outbreak. Only in the first half against Burnley have we looked excellent.

[nick harper]

We haven't looked the same to me since the Covid outbreak. Only in the first half against Burnley have we looked excellent.

Burnley were way off the pace and left loads of space in that first half. That game should have been  over after 45 mins. Teams are getting better at nullifying us I think.

Smith needs to help the team evolve again - shape, personnel, flexibility. We are starting to find it harder to to be as creative and dynamic as we were before Xmas and this was happening before Grealish got injured.

[Mister E]

We haven't looked the same to me since the Covid outbreak. Only in the first half against Burnley have we looked excellent.

Burnley were way off the pace and left loads of space in that first half. That game should have been  over after 45 mins. Teams are getting better at nullifying us I think.
Smith needs to help the team evolve again - shape, personnel, flexibility. We are starting to find it harder to to be as creative and dynamic as we were before Xmas and this was happening before Grealish got injured.

When a team plays 2 obviously-wide players (Traore and AEG), it is easy to defend and less flexible during the game. Take Liverpool: they have 2 obviously-wide players in Mane and Salah, but these 2 have licence to play wherever the game demands it. All this means that they can play between the lines of defence and midfield and provide overloads where an advantage can be gained.
We've become predictable and lack the players to create a more flexible approach to games. I'm hoping that over time Sanson, Barry, Philigene-Bidace and others can provide greater flexibility in our play.

[ChicagoLion]

With both wingers staying on the wrong side, every time the defenders are happy to funnel them towards more defenders.
They should swap sides to give the defense something else to think about.
It also means when they cross the odds massively  favour the defenders.