Its only two games into the new season and far too early for any rash decisions but that doesnt mean there cant be concerns.
We have played two very different opposition and struggled against both, against Bolton we had all the ball and did little with it, against Forest we had the chance to play on the counter but were slow and ponderous it was never an option and instead we resorted to hoofing it (bar the last 5 minutes)
Don Goodman said he couldnt see what Albions style or system was or what they were trying to do and i totally agree with him, said the same Saturday. Its not the finished article i expect to see but something towards what identity we want to have, i saw the friendly vs Coventry and was very positive (abeit it was a friendly) yet the two leagues games just seem to be carbon copies of most of the last two seasons.
It makes me wonder what the six weeks of preseason were spent doing if the last two games are the outcome, its still early days but watching Leeds on Sunday you could see what they were trying to do, it may go t**s up for them but you could see something, the same went with Derby second half vs Reading, Swansea the same they all have the same issues we have and brought in new players and manager the same time yet you could see what they were trying to do, even if they werent great at it, i cant actually see what we are trying to do so far.
I have now seen 11 championship teams and we are the worst by far with Stoke the second worst, again its still early though.
I saw Big Daves interview and that worried me, i am hoping he said one thing to the cameras and something different to the players but he seemed happy with the game plan and it seemed we setup for a draw. David Johnson the pundit seemed genuinely shocked and said we should be going to Forest with the players we have, also last season from the league above, taking the game to them, winning and laying down a marker, instead it feels like we are happy to of got lucky with a point.
Again i am hoping this setup / performance was just to get points on board and build from there but i have my doubts. I like to give managers a fair crack but i think a good time to judge Big Dave will be 8-10 games, speaking as a fan i dont expect us to be winning the league, or even be top half but if when watching you could see we are trying to build something, even if it takes time then i will be happy, but what i dont want is another season like the last 2 or 3, especially this season where even with a relegated team, we should have stronger players.
I was told by a very good source that Moore wanted to keep most of last seasons squad if he could, so his managerial career at Albion will succeed or fail on that, its his choice to keep that group.