The striker situation is really where the current problem is and yes, no Batshuayi means fighting relegation at best, maybe, or probably relegation. But what do we do with Benteke? Keep playing him without playing to him?

Something has to change on the striker, the tactics, or the manager. Up to the club and Roy to decide.

COYP

If they decide to get shot of Roy, in all honesty, who could we get in? Do you/we really think a new manager would help??? I have my doubts.

Getting Zaha to play to be precise. I don’t think Zaha isn’t interested. I think it’s because he’s not a supporting forward, or any forward, we’ll not in this team.

The formation needs to go as well. 4-4-2 is so s*** for us, and we have however many central midfielders. We have 2 wide players, 1 of which he plays as a supporting striker.

It’s all fvcked. Either Camarasa comes in and it clicks, the formation is changed, we supply lots of early crosses to Benteke or we sack Roy and get someone in who will.

I’d go 4-2-3-1 asap. Oh no, that’s probably Freedman’s pitch to Parish.

But my money is on trying to keep it tight and somehow getting enough 1-0 wins either side could’ve won. But will it work? Man I’m bored with it.

Edited by Rudi Hedman (19 Aug 2019 9.35am)

COYP

Play Ayew I say. Won't score like Batshuayi but he's at least comfortable with the ball at his feet, works hard to win the ball, always seems to draw a lot of fouls and yellow cards. I think 4-3-3 with Zaha-Ayew-Andros up top is what's going to get the best out of our players.

I think the time has come for Parish who indeed was the saviour of the club for him once again to save the club by looking to sell his holdings in CPFC as its quite obvious it is now beyond his capabilities and financial clout to manage this project any longer. The same could be said about Roy who has started to look old and tired with no tactical awareness when things are going wrong , it is no longer acceptable for a team to go out looking for a draw every game , ESPECIALLY when Hodgson after match interviews starts saying he thought the team did well, this is a manager trying to justify his decisions which we all know were wrong . The sporting director should be sacked as a waste of space with nothing to contribute in the past , present and most likely the future.

The players if chosen and fit will play its up to the manager or coach to determine who plays and how they play and to what plan, Roy fails in all 3 of these areas as 4-4-2 seems to be the limit of his coaching.

Finally Mr Parish has gone extremely quiet over the last few months any ideas why?.

But we did tend to have a 4-3-3 shape at the end of last season. The difference was that we had a striker whom Roy could rely on.

Yes, Roy can be infuriatingly stubborn sometimes, but on the whole I don't think he can do much more than try to squeeze enough points out of a squad with major deficiencies.