Agreed.

As happy as I was to beat Derby, it very much verified OC's selection of KD which is the only negative. Hoofing the ball up plays to the strengths of 1 man in our team and neglects the strengths of about 3/4 (Chungy, Mavies, Sordell) which completely baffles me.

Playing KD will occassionally work but if we're looking for consistency to get us out of the league, it has to Afobe/Sordell/N'Gog.

Davies & Sordell play too much a similar role to be together. Davies wasn't ineffective vs Derby it was due to the fact that until Afobe came on there was nobody upfront with him who could play off him properly.

Lets not forget that Kevin Davies was still on the pitch when we DID start playing to feet mainly due to the fact Derby pressed us less meaning we had more time to pick out a pass or get a midfielder in the space.

Also this hoofing it when Davies is in the side is a myth. We hoofed it up top sometimes when he was out the side to only it didn't work as well.

That's because N'Gog was in the side, Zat, who can do almost the same job as Davies. With Afobe and Sordell in there is no way longball could work and surely even our players would realise then that they should stop playing them.

Derby are notorious for slowing down and not being able to keep the pressure on for 90 minutes. Surely we should be bringing KD on as a battering-ram after 60-70 minutes against tired legs rather than starting him and encouraging long-ball all game.

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Shall we just call it now then strett? Save your lads the journey across?

On a serious note though, would you say your team plays better against a strong, longball team or a quick, shortball team?

I'm happy SKD scored on Tuesday but as I predicted that means an automatic spot for the next 6 games .... carp or not. It's not right or progressive thinking but we are stuck with it at least through this season.

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So it is no surprise that once you start passing quickly and moving into spaces around them that they can't stand up to it.

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Absolutely spot on.

Also, whoever said that playing Davies neglects othe players like CYL, Mavies and Sordell is absolutely spot on too. I don't care whether Davies puts in a good shift or whether he is the captain. He is not the right choice. The game is too slow, too predicable and downright boring with him on the pitch.

I am going to be a little confrontational here, but I have to disagree.

I didn't think that we played as much long ball in the second half - I admit the 1st half was awful tho. The trick is for a midfield player helping out the defender so the defender has options. Andrews was playing to high and not being available to collect the ball, hence Zat's usual hoof. They sorted this in the second and we played much better and SKD was on the pitch throughout.

Sometimes its really easy to say its SKD's fault that we are going long, but you need to look more closely.

I'm all for having a starting line of Sordell and Afobe as I think it will create chances and they could be the most formidable strike force in the division. Their time will come but I would rather see that after SKD has done as much as he can do.

Personally, I think we will see the Sordell and Afobe partnership at some point tonight and I would rather see that partnership after SKD has barraged and dragged the 2 CBs all over the place for 60 mins than if those CBs were fresh.

All fair points, JAH.

Perhaps the answer to that midfielders not coming short option is to play 5 in the middle. We have just been quoted £3m though for Spearing which I would be a little disappointed to see us pay.

Playing a 4-5-1 with whichever DM we get, Afobe on the left wing instead of Eagles (who I thought was awful on Tuesday, but seem to be alone on that opinion) and Sordell up front alone also sounds like quite an exciting line up to me.

What about Wylde on the left if Petrov is going through a bad patch?

Not sure what's going on with Petrov, last I knew he was easily our best player in pre-season and now he's been dropped for someone that doesn't play in his position. Anyone have any more info on this?

I learnt something new yesterday(on this forum), it's not actually shoe-in its shoo-in. Don't want to be arsey, just thought i'd share my new found knowledge.

I did think that as I was typing it actually. Having said that I thought until recently that it was "back him to the hill" rather than hilt. Stupid language.

I liked to hit the middle ground on this one.
I feel SKD merits his place tonight. Sordell did nothing to impress and missed his chance whereas SKD took his. On that how do you tell SKD he is not being picked over a guy who was worse?

However when he does play the rest of the team are clearly told to go long as much as possible. Not once did we see anything from the touch line about keeping it on the ground during the first half volleyball session on tuesday. If they had been told to keep it on the ground then I expect to see that told well before half time if they have. The fans were the ones against it not the coaching staff. So therefore it will be long again tonight.

On another note I wish Sunderland were after our players £14m for Fletcher phew never

SKD, Was largely responsible for winning the game for us on Tuesday so why all the negatives. He has to start tonight. I'm not saying he should be first on the team sheet every week but until he plays absolutely carp and contributes nothing, he should be given his chance like every other player in the squad.