Coyles season of blunders

What I think has been key in missing Holden and Lee has been the fact that both players are comfortable with the ball. If we could keep hold of the ball a bit more, our back four would not be under as much pressure and we would not have leaked as many goals as we have. I still believe that the players we have had at our disposal have (a) not done as well as they could have, and (b) not been used as well as they could have. Case in point - Muamba. We have all seen the stats, but he has been subbed when we could have realistically gotten a point, in chase of three points - and have invariably lost all three. I fully expect three points today for reasons I have gone over elsewhere. Here's hoping today is the day we get the lead out of our arses and really kick on to save our place in the Barclays Premier League.

There are two reasons we miss Holden, and they are nothing to do with mythical talent.

1 - He has extraordinary stamina and energy.

2 - He is able to collect the ball from the defence and play a pass.

Natasha said he had as many bad games as good ones, but this is incorrect.

Holden is a great player, if he hadn't been injured I feel sure he'd have been sold for a lot more than Cahill. However, you have to plan for injuries, few teams get through a season without them.

Holden is a very good player but he is not world class. Our eyes have become blinkered because he is the one midfielder we have at our disposal who can actually hold onto the ball. His passing rate is also very high. he rarely gives the ball away and has a good engine. With a small squad like ours, losing Holden to injury was a hammer blow.