4th January 2004: New Year, old
problems, although I did see some slight improvement at Forest. I
thought the ball retention in midfield was much better with the four
men closer together and the defensive link-up through Clement worked
well. Having said that, the front two were drab and dreary and O'Connor
didn't work as the forward link-up and the penetration was non-existent.
In that respect, the shots-on-target statistic for Albion tells all
- I can't remember one.
I've advocated the diamond formation in midfield, but I would put
Koumas at the front of that, rather than wide right. I didn't expect
Clement at the back of the diamond either, and I thought he did well.
If Megson does persist with this formation, which I think he should,
I would think that Gregan is his first choice in that position. I
though Sakiri did well and was perhaps a little unfortunate to be
substituted. However, Dyer did well when he came on and added some
pace to the attack that Sakiri cannot provide.
In my opinion, the weak link was the front two. Hulse and Horsfield
are similar players and neither has the mobility required to exploit
the channles. I think Dobie did enough to reclaim a starting berth
when he came on, and it'd difficult to choose between the other two.
Hulse would probably get the nod from me as I know what he can do
- Horsfield has brought nothing to the side so far.
I'm not too worried about going out of the cup - I'd prefer to lose
in the cup than the league at the moment, although the financial benefits
of a cup run would've been welcome.
Personally, I feel the calls for Megson's head that have been voiced
on message boards are an over-reaction. Some have suggested that Megson
has "lost the dressing room", but personally, I don't see any evidence
of that. Some of the players have looked lacklustre in recent weeks,
which could be seen as not wanting to play for the manager, but I
think there is a lack of confidence and, perhaps, a element that players
are scared to make a mistake. It is Megson's job to sort this out,
whatever the source of the problem, and I believe he will.
An interesting point to note from the weekend is that Jason Roberts
was prevented from playing for Portsmouth in the FA Cup by Albion
- a sign that he may be set to make a return perhaps?
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