| Koki Saito 21:28 - Mar 8 with 5666 views | 1JD |
Clearly only playing due to Nourry’s influence and directive.
Been woeful for months.
4m up in smoke. Add that to the celar bonfire. At least 6m down the drain. |  | | |  |
| Koki Saito on 15:19 - Mar 10 with 1954 views | R_from_afar |
| Koki Saito on 08:52 - Mar 10 by TheChef |
Young or not, it's amazing how the players train nearly every day but don't seem to improve (or want to improve)?
It's like they make it as a professional footballer and just decide "I've made it now, that'll do." |
Great point, and yet our finishing remains poor, our passing accuracy is terrible, our closing down and tackling is pathetic and there are only two players in the entire squad who can deliver a decent set piece, Vale and Madsen  .
It has got to the point where we are crying out for yet another coach, Head of Football Basics.
Poor  . |  |
| "Things had started becoming increasingly desperate at Loftus Road but QPR have been handed a massive lifeline and the place has absolutely erupted. it's carnage. It's bedlam. It's 1-1." |
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| Koki Saito on 15:54 - Mar 10 with 1861 views | Burnleyhoop |
Our front four consists of two midgets that get flattened as soon as they get the ball, a striker that can’t run or trap a ball and an ex Chelsea academy player with a good left peg, but hasn’t got an aggressive bone in his body.
Add to that the two wall flowers in midfield and it is no wonder we are cannon fodder for most teams in this division in our current guise
I think McClaren was right….we need a “team of men”, instead we have no choice but to throw on more kids like lambs to the slaughter. | | | |
| Koki Saito on 18:39 - Mar 10 with 1648 views | BrianWilson |
He plays cos there is no one else available. Smyth has had injuries recently. Dembele, Chair, Poku, Burrell. I was wondering how we would accommodate everyone in the team at one point  |  |
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- Lester Bangs on The Beach Boys |
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| Koki Saito on 19:17 - Mar 10 with 1589 views | W12Mikey |
| Koki Saito on 09:15 - Mar 10 by Markofthegrove |
Remember last season he played in a 4-3-3 system which is his strength and his position. We bought him because this was the system we played.
We also played it at the start of this season and changed to a 4-4-2 after getting gubbed at Cov.
Our wingers in the current system are essentially defensive wingers, that release on the counter. That is not his game. His game is getting him the ball high up out wide and in half spaces in the final third. And because of injuries we have had to run him into the ground as well.
They should have held fire if Stephan was changing the system after Cov. But they went and done it anyway. Knee jerk. |
IMHO your 3rd paragraph is spot on. Saito is a very talented attacking player who I think often shows a good footballing brain. But he needs to play in a team that gets lots of possession with team mates who can play an accurate pass. Put him in Middlesbrough’s side and he would get a hatful of goals and assists. Put him in a team that gets 30% possession and constantly misplaces passes and ask him to scrap defensively to win the ball from players much bigger and stronger than him and you are going to be disappointed. However, we are not blessed with many alternative options so Stephane keeps picking him. I also suspect he was brought back too soon from his injury sustained at West Ham and is not 100% fit. | | | |
| Koki Saito on 19:59 - Mar 10 with 1534 views | JordanFoster |
| Koki Saito on 19:01 - Mar 9 by WestonsuperR |
I don’t get why we signed him and said that at the time. His stats last year were pretty dreadful and we are apparently signing players based on data. Simple put, why spend 2M on a player that had a very good amount of game time with us and wasn’t very good? |
Can't get my head round this either, even looking at the whole "profile" thing they do now - I just can't see it for him or Ronnie Edwards (if you're looking at it completely objectively without any emotion).
But add in the fact they' are/were both fan favourites.... | | | |
| Koki Saito on 20:54 - Mar 10 with 1483 views | Loyalitat |
| Koki Saito on 19:17 - Mar 10 by W12Mikey |
IMHO your 3rd paragraph is spot on. Saito is a very talented attacking player who I think often shows a good footballing brain. But he needs to play in a team that gets lots of possession with team mates who can play an accurate pass. Put him in Middlesbrough’s side and he would get a hatful of goals and assists. Put him in a team that gets 30% possession and constantly misplaces passes and ask him to scrap defensively to win the ball from players much bigger and stronger than him and you are going to be disappointed. However, we are not blessed with many alternative options so Stephane keeps picking him. I also suspect he was brought back too soon from his injury sustained at West Ham and is not 100% fit. |
Steady. Spoiler alert: Koki Saito would be nowhere near Middlesbrough's 1st team squad. He shouldn't be starting for us.
Chris Willock in his final season, when crocked, still managed more goals and assists than smiling Saito has in each of his season's with us. Neverthless, the all-knowing DoF saw it fit to part with over £3m for a player who is so ill-suited to championship football.
Kolli has manged two goals in the league and one in the League Cup, having been afforded only about a third of the number of minutes that Saito has played. We would have been better off giving him more game time this season and spent the £3m in areas of the pitch where we still remain deficient. [Post edited 10 Mar 21:26]
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| Koki Saito on 21:54 - Mar 10 with 1401 views | W12Mikey |
| Koki Saito on 20:54 - Mar 10 by Loyalitat |
Steady. Spoiler alert: Koki Saito would be nowhere near Middlesbrough's 1st team squad. He shouldn't be starting for us.
Chris Willock in his final season, when crocked, still managed more goals and assists than smiling Saito has in each of his season's with us. Neverthless, the all-knowing DoF saw it fit to part with over £3m for a player who is so ill-suited to championship football.
Kolli has manged two goals in the league and one in the League Cup, having been afforded only about a third of the number of minutes that Saito has played. We would have been better off giving him more game time this season and spent the £3m in areas of the pitch where we still remain deficient. [Post edited 10 Mar 21:26]
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We clearly have differing views on the abilities of both Saito and Kolli - which is fine. IIRC Kolli’s league goals this season came against Sheffield Wednesday so aren’t convincing evidence for me that he is the answer to our problems. Nonetheless I would like to see him getting more minutes, both to allow us to give Kone some rest and to see what Kolli can do.
My real point, which I think is not so different from your view, is that Saito, rather than being a bad player per se, is the wrong player for our current situation/formation/collective level of footballing ability, and that is partly at least down to the DoF/CEO’s naivety. | | | |
| Koki Saito on 22:14 - Mar 11 with 1160 views | 1JD |
Must be moved on in the summer. Need to desperately try and get some money back. A very very expensive flop.
Nourry is cooking. | | | |
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| Koki Saito on 22:19 - Mar 11 with 1121 views | ozexile |
| Koki Saito on 22:14 - Mar 11 by 1JD |
Must be moved on in the summer. Need to desperately try and get some money back. A very very expensive flop.
Nourry is cooking. |
This will be a season long loan somewhere and a release at the end of his contract. No one's paying a penny. Bit like Celar. No one's as dumb as us. | | | |
| Koki Saito on 22:26 - Mar 11 with 1061 views | KensalT |
| Koki Saito on 19:17 - Mar 10 by W12Mikey |
IMHO your 3rd paragraph is spot on. Saito is a very talented attacking player who I think often shows a good footballing brain. But he needs to play in a team that gets lots of possession with team mates who can play an accurate pass. Put him in Middlesbrough’s side and he would get a hatful of goals and assists. Put him in a team that gets 30% possession and constantly misplaces passes and ask him to scrap defensively to win the ball from players much bigger and stronger than him and you are going to be disappointed. However, we are not blessed with many alternative options so Stephane keeps picking him. I also suspect he was brought back too soon from his injury sustained at West Ham and is not 100% fit. |
I think you make a good point about Saito being more comfortable in a possession based team.
It's ironic that we brought him back just before Charlton at home which was the game where we switched away from possession football to a more direct style!
Our recruitment doesn't seem to have adapted to the more direct style we've adopted. I wonder if deep down Nourry still wants to try possession football | | | |
| Koki Saito on 22:32 - Mar 11 with 990 views | QPunkR |
| Koki Saito on 22:19 - Mar 11 by ozexile |
This will be a season long loan somewhere and a release at the end of his contract. No one's paying a penny. Bit like Celar. No one's as dumb as us. |
I still wouldn't put him in the same bracket as Celar (shudders) |  |
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| Koki Saito on 22:36 - Mar 11 with 959 views | Watford_Ranger |
| Koki Saito on 22:26 - Mar 11 by KensalT |
I think you make a good point about Saito being more comfortable in a possession based team.
It's ironic that we brought him back just before Charlton at home which was the game where we switched away from possession football to a more direct style!
Our recruitment doesn't seem to have adapted to the more direct style we've adopted. I wonder if deep down Nourry still wants to try possession football |
Given he’s now regressed to the point he can’t trap the ball or pass ten yards under no pressure I’m not sure he’s suited to any sort of team. Embarrassing of Stephan to keep picking him. There’s no good option but he’s the worst option. | | | |
| Koki Saito on 23:08 - Mar 11 with 864 views | 1JD |
| Koki Saito on 22:36 - Mar 11 by Watford_Ranger |
Given he’s now regressed to the point he can’t trap the ball or pass ten yards under no pressure I’m not sure he’s suited to any sort of team. Embarrassing of Stephan to keep picking him. There’s no good option but he’s the worst option. |
Been clear to me for some time that his selection is mandated by Nourry. Nourry, of course, having sanctioned a huge investment on Saito is self-invested in any big money signing.
It was Madsen last season, who kept getting picked again and again, but was incredibly poor, until Cifuentes finally pulled him out of the side. Probably another reason why their relationship went south.
And as it is Varane this season also. Not deserving of starting games, but looks like the coach is operating under strict guidance. | | | |
| Koki Saito on 06:47 - Mar 12 with 656 views | PunteR |
Saito looked a great little player last season , worked really hard and used to course the opposition problems.
Whats happened.?
Varrane, at times looked like we had a real player on our hands... whats happened to him?
Kone, looked a decent signing at the start of the season, but now a shadow of the player he was.
Dunne, regressing...
Whats going on.. ? Players dont look happy. |  |
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| Koki Saito on 07:02 - Mar 12 with 620 views | PlanetHonneywood |
| Koki Saito on 06:47 - Mar 12 by PunteR |
Saito looked a great little player last season , worked really hard and used to course the opposition problems.
Whats happened.?
Varrane, at times looked like we had a real player on our hands... whats happened to him?
Kone, looked a decent signing at the start of the season, but now a shadow of the player he was.
Dunne, regressing...
Whats going on.. ? Players dont look happy. |
I think this is such a good point you raise.
The visable regression of players who have looked very good at times, is cause for concern. We don't know, but something is clearly off down there. I wonder if, in addition to clearly being unfit, they are just plain confused by all the data clerks.
Football is essentially a simple game made difficult by idiots. I think Pele said that and he was right. We're making this look bloody difficult.
Nearly 40 games in all I know: our formation doesn't work that well for the players we've got; we can't seem to set ourselves up for away games; and I have no effing clue what our strongest Starting XI us, and I dont think anyone at the Rangers knows either, and a lot of good players are turning to dross beforeour very eyes! [Post edited 12 Mar 7:03]
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| Koki Saito on 09:44 - Mar 12 with 441 views | TheChef |
He cannot start the next game. |  |
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| Koki Saito on 10:09 - Mar 12 with 385 views | Padulas_Shampoo |
| Koki Saito on 06:47 - Mar 12 by PunteR |
Saito looked a great little player last season , worked really hard and used to course the opposition problems.
Whats happened.?
Varrane, at times looked like we had a real player on our hands... whats happened to him?
Kone, looked a decent signing at the start of the season, but now a shadow of the player he was.
Dunne, regressing...
Whats going on.. ? Players dont look happy. |
I don't have any time for speculative excuses but if there is substance behind the rumours that the fitness and preparation at the club is so bad that the likes of Chair and Frey felt they had to go rogue and employ their own trainers... That will without doubt descend into these sorts of occurrences.
This league is so tight that if you turn up with 98% effort in any game at all you'll get beat 3-0 or worse. If the players themselves - even subconsciously - are worried about getting injured and / or don't feel 100% tuned then you simply won't get their best effort. They won't be able to give it. That's not me condemning the players or their psyche by the way - it's just the nature of sport at this level.
Here's another speculative conspiracy for you by the way. Cook was supposed to have had the hump with the club before yesterday. Almost guaranteed to not be here next season. Possibly / probably got an axe to grind. Get's picked. Goes down injured in second half. Could that be his way of trying to force the hands on the tiller to act as a parting shot? |  | | |
| Koki Saito on 12:37 - Mar 12 with 275 views | GroveR |
| Koki Saito on 14:40 - Mar 9 by WestbourneR |
Good to own a mistake. I thought he was a good signing for £2 million (I see some people are saying it was £4M which I very much hope isn't true)
And for the first few games back the player I thought I'd seen from the end of last season was there - sharp devastating bursts into the box, two footed, good shot.
But WOW.
He is just utterly utterly useless now. He serves absolutely no purpose at all.
A total and complete waste of space.
He seems to be far too deep, getting bullied and knocked over down by the halfway line. He can't pass, he can't dribble, he can't tackle. Spends most the time tripping over his own feet.
He is, in short, currently, an abject disaster. |
Everyone sees different things in different players at different times - I thought Ledesma was a world-class talent off the back of a hat-trick at home to Carlisle and was going around asking where I could get one of those t-shirts.
I'd love to see a hat-trick against anyone these days. Even a goal would be a novelty. |  | | |
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