The right back situation

KingKieffer

KingKieffer

Star Player
Is something that doesn’t get spoken about enough. How can a PL squad have three right backs in it and Adam Smith still be the first choice?

Spoke to a couple of Brighton fans on the way out of the ground after the game today, they were actually pretty complimentary about our overall game today, remarking that we were a lot more competitive than a lot of sides that they had faced this season and that we were only let down by poor finishing.

They were however very keen to comment on one player that didn’t impress them, that player of course being Adam Smith. One of them even commented that he felt that he was the worst player he had seen from any opposition side this season, I don’t think he is wrong either. He also pointed out the glaringly obvious fact that no matter how well we play, that we are always going to be vulnerable due to having a player that bad in our back four.

I actually feel sorry for Smith at this point, it looks as though he doesn’t want to be out there, and why would he? The poor guy knows that he barely has the legs for the championship anymore, and we are asking him to compete against some of the best wingers in the world. It’s written all over his face every time he loses his man and it results in a goal, it’s just a look of pure resignation.

At this point in his career Adam Smith should be sitting on a bench of a mid table championship team, it’s pure incompetence of the highest order that the club have allowed this situation to develop. It’s also a great shame for a club stalwart that it has come to this point, a classic case of hanging onto a club legend for too long.

In the summer we decided to award Smith a totally unnecessary new contract, while simultaneously signing a permanently injured right back to compete with him. It’s total incompetence. If ever there was a situation that proves that Blake and Hughes need to go then it’s this one, fair play to them for spending tens of millions of pounds in January on players that look out of their depth at this level, but enough is enough. These two are the common denominators for years of mismanagement and if we ever want to have a hope of emulating the likes of Brighton and Brentford then they need to be shown the door as soon as humanly possible. The fact that Blake earns the salary he does is a total joke. We need a new start with competent people running the footballing operations. And no, before you say, getting promoted from the championship while losing £55m isn’t competent, it really really f****g isn’t. Blake out. Hughes out. Rant over.
 
I’d take a few more “years of mismanagement” if it produced the results of the last decade
 
borisatha said:
What was the main topic of conversation at the back of the east stand?
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Ask someone who sits there, I sit in the North stand. I can confirm that multiple people in the North stand around me displayed their disgruntlement in the direction of Smith throughout the game, it was sad to see. The poor guy shouldn’t be here anymore, he’s long past it and most can see that.
 
KingKieffer said:
Ask someone who sits there, I sit in the North stand. I can confirm that multiple people in the North stand around me displayed their disgruntlement in the direction of Smith throughout the game, it was sad to see. The poor guy shouldn’t be here anymore, he’s long past it and most can see that.
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Well makes a change from moaning about Kelly passing it backwards I guess.

Smith is still a quality RB, I’d imagine a RB will be high on our priority list regardless of league next season. He kept a highly rated Ethan Laird out the team all last season, and when fit, an experienced Fredericks this season too.

Stacey is obviously not up to it and Fredericks can’t stay fit so not entirely sure of the solution you’re wanting at this stage of the season.
 
blandford_cherry said:
Well makes a change from moaning about Kelly passing it backwards I guess.

Smith is still a quality RB, I’d imagine a RB will be high on our priority list regardless of league next season. He kept a highly rated Ethan Laird out the team all last season, and when fit, an experienced Fredericks this season too.

Stacey is obviously not up to it and Fredericks can’t stay fit so not entirely sure of the solution you’re wanting at this stage of the season.
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The fact that you believe that Smith is still a quality right back is staggering, absolutely staggering. What on earth have you been watching? He’s dreadful and he costs us time and time again. And of course he keeps Fredericks out of the team, he is never bloody fit enough to play! You’re hanging onto the past, he’s gone now, accept it.
 
I must watch a different game as didn't think Smith was that bad at all. Didn't actually think the 1st goal was necessarily his fault as it was a clever switch of play by them between winger and full back .....when ball played in our CB's were like statues though!

Do think it is a bit poor though that we have no RB's good or fit enough to replace or even cover him in the squad
 
Smith ...the longest serving now of the original Championship team that got us promoted.
The amount of times he as shone in games since then is phenomenal...although not too many of late as befits his natural deterioration with age.
All in all, one of the biggest player successes in our history..so I hope he goes out on a high by helping us to stay up.
A legend who has never let us down in terms of effort.
 
Seems whenever we lose there has to be a scapegoat, at the moment is Smith.
It's staggering that someone thinks his opinion is not accepted by everyone
 
When I suggested Stacey KK:
"And Stacey in the team?! Smith is past it but the sad reality is that he’s still a better option than Stacey."

Fredericks is currently injured, although I'd have him in and around the 11 if fit in a heartbeat.

So what do you suggest?
 
I agree that sadly he doesn’t have the pace needed at this level. Also slightly worried by the fact he seems to head straight for the tunnel at every full time whistle now- a symptom of unhappiness?
 
KingKieffer said:
The fact that you believe that Smith is still a quality right back is staggering, absolutely staggering. What on earth have you been watching? He’s dreadful and he costs us time and time again. And of course he keeps Fredericks out of the team, he is never bloody fit enough to play! You’re hanging onto the past, he’s gone now, accept it.
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It may well be staggering, no one can reason with you. He’s not as bad as you are making out.

You haven’t seemed to answer what the solution is.
 
There's a sensible point within this but it's wildly over the top.

Smith is a decent PL squad player. Shouldn't be playing against the likes of Mitoma but he's not 'dreadful' and he's not a mid table championship bench player. The need to exaggerate in order to make a point is tiresome. That's the sort of *** you get on the Forest type forums.

A lack of respect and selective memory. Was Smith dreadful against Wolves? Liverpool? Fulham?

A fair point is we need a pacy option for games like today and Fredericks was a poor signing.
 
I don’t think Smith is as bad as people are making out, he has had some outstanding games this season. He was up against a bloke that will go to a top four club soon and has torn every full back a new a hole all season. Time isn’t on his side but there’s no other options better unless another top signing by Hughes Fredericks can prise himself away from playing FIFA with Stan.
 
blandford_cherry said:
It may well be staggering, no one can reason with you. He’s not as bad as you are making out.

You haven’t seemed to answer what the solution is.
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There is no solution, that’s the problem. We decided to use up a space in our 25 man squad on a right back who was never going to be fit, despite having two average championship right backs in the squad already. One of whom we decided to give a new contract to, ensuring that we are lumbered with him for another year. The solution was to not mismanage the right back situation so horrifically in the summer. Any old idiot could have told you that Fredericks would never be fit, yet we signed him anyway.
 
AFCB_Liam said:
There's a sensible point within this but it's wildly over the top.

Smith is a decent PL squad player. Shouldn't be playing against the likes of Mitoma but he's not 'dreadful' and he's not a mid table championship bench player. The need to exaggerate in order to make a point is tiresome. That's the sort of *** you get on the Forest type forums.

A lack of respect and selective memory. Was Smith dreadful against Wolves? Liverpool? Fulham?

A fair point is we need a pacy option for games like today and Fredericks was a poor signing.
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He cost us a goal Vs Fulham through his failure to keep up with his marker.

He gifted Liverpool an opportunity to get back into the game by stupidly raising his arms in the box, something he has form for.

Yes he was poor in both games, he is consistently directly contributing to our opponents scoring.

He was okay at Wolves though yes, although they didn’t really pressure him at all.
 
KingKieffer said:
There is no solution, that’s the problem. We decided to use up a space in our 25 man squad on a right back who was never going to be fit, despite having two average championship right backs in the squad already. One of whom we decided to give a new contract to, ensuring that we are lumbered with him for another year. The solution was to not mismanage the right back situation so horrifically in the summer. Any old idiot could have told you that Fredericks would never be fit, yet we signed him anyway.
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Thank you for clearing that up.
 
northstandmark said:
When I suggested Stacey KK:
"And Stacey in the team?! Smith is past it but the sad reality is that he’s still a better option than Stacey."

Fredericks is currently injured, although I'd have him in and around the 11 if fit in a heartbeat.

So what do you suggest?
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I suggest that we are f*****d. Adam Smith is way off of the required level but the guy competing with him is even worse, Fredericks doesn’t even count, if we’re considering him as an option then we may as well also start discussing Stan as an option to play too.
 
KingKieffer said:
There is no solution, that’s the problem. We decided to use up a space in our 25 man squad on a right back who was never going to be fit, despite having two average championship right backs in the squad already. One of whom we decided to give a new contract to, ensuring that we are lumbered with him for another year. The solution was to not mismanage the right back situation so horrifically in the summer. Any old idiot could have told you that Fredericks would never be fit, yet we signed him anyway.
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It was another exceptionally dumb Hughes and Blake move. It would be like someone signing Stan next year, except the only board members that would are with us, so he has a problem.
 
KingKieffer said:
The fact that you believe that Smith is still a quality right back is staggering, absolutely staggering. What on earth have you been watching? He’s dreadful and he costs us time and time again. And of course he keeps Fredericks out of the team, he is never bloody fit enough to play! You’re hanging onto the past, he’s gone now, accept it.
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Why does every opinion of yours have to be so extreme? A player can't have a bad game they have to be the worst player to have ever played the game. Smith kept that Mitoma guy quiet for most of the game but got done a couple of times. By a bloke who has scored or assisted in every single game he's played recently. We didn't give them loads of chances until the last 20 when O'Neil had removed his cover in Christie. He was always going to be isolated from then on.
 
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