I think it should be emphasised that Wigan were very good and played extremely well.
There was no lack of effort on our part but they made it impossible to play our usual game
They matched us for technical skill, had more energy and were about 8 inches taller and 2 stone heavier all over the pitch. It's an old cliche but the second half looked like men versus boys.
When we needed two high impact subs to turn things around we had Konza and Doodo and the first goal followed shortly after the substitution.
I thought Kashi was immense in the first half. Holmes never stopped trying but got frustrated , lost his head and was lucky not to be sent off. Still think Clarke is too powder puff for Tuesday nights in the rain and big Josh looked about as mobile as a container ship.
First 11 is quite good but that's it and we only have one game plan. Lost to a much better team tonight. Top 10 if we stay injury free.
A fairly disparate jotting down of thoughts incoming, as I'm a bit too tired to write a cohesive bit of text. Bullet points:
- We were asleep for about three minutes, where they could've scored once or twice. We then went toe-to-toe with them until the goal. I thought the football for the first half hour or so was much better than League One quality.
- If we'd scored when JFC hit the bar, it's a completely different game.
- Them scoring knocked us off stride. Worse, them coming out guns blazing at the start of the second half made us panic. We lost our shape: Kashi; Clarke; and Fosu in particular looked to lose what composure they had. They scored again, and then we started to panic further. Ultimately, we need to address the mental problems that come with 1) going a goal down; and 2) a side pressing us high up, and pressuring us, thereby stifling our plan A.
- Following on from that, we need a plan B. Playing attractive football is good - and I like that we continued to try to do so - but when the going gets tough, we need someone tough to get us going, and that was lacking. Indeed, we looked a bit tired. No energy in that second half. Holmes/Magennis looked particularly weary.
- All credit to Wigan. They knew our game plan and sussed it out. They pressed us high and made us panic. Also, they have a great back four. Burn was immense, and Byrne wasn't too bad either. Their back four allowed their central midfield that bit more creativity. It allowed the wingers to pressure us both in terms of size and speed, too. Also, credit to Will Grigg, whose movement kept both Bauer and Pearce occupied. This led to Nick Powell dropping between our lines into gaps, and pulling the strings deep in our half. He looked threatening - and looks a class above League One. They moved the ball quickly and fluidly.
- Amos kept us in the game with several good saves. Can't distribute, so he needs to work on that. Dasilva was decent but made the wrong decision once or twice, and his size showed a bit today. Solly wasn't great - had a good tricky player to worry him in Jacobs, to be fair. Bauer and Pearce had their work cut out for them, too - despite keeping Grigg quiet, they wouldn't have been able to keep both him and Powell under wraps, and did not.
- Kashi played like a god for 25 minutes, then alright, then lost it in the second half. He frankly looked a liability in the 10/15 before he was substituted. Beside him, JFC had a decent game. Unlucky not to score. Did well both with the ball and without. He's clearly been told not to venture too far forward, and he slowed play up a little at times, which I think is unnatural for him.
- Fosu was quiet. He made two fairly minor mistakes fairly early on, and that knocked his confidence. On the other side, Holmes worked hard - but they knew how good he was, and marked the hell out of him, doing a great job of it too. Between them - Clarke wasn't great. Some flashes of his intelligence, but fluffed his lines once or twice which frustrated.
- Up top, it is clear we need a viable Magennis alternative. He looked knackered and wasn't really in it - he didn't see much of the ball, either. Don't think we're quite using him right, either. His strength lies in physicality, rather than intricate unlocking, and while he's been in good nick, we don't quite get the best out of him.
- Dodoo and KAG weren't great. They both looked quiet - and in some aspects, generally not good enough. Also, it's clear Konsa wasn't being thought about as someone to complement the system in pre-season, and thus might need time to re-familiarise himself. Looks decent as ever though.
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I am not too disheartened though. Wigan were, simply, the better side. Other than sorting out the potential mental fallout of going behind/being pressured and bullied, and needing a backup plan for when tiki-taka doesn't come off, I'm not too worried. We still looked very good in flashes, but Wigan looked serious.
Jesus Christ, we just got stuffed at home by one of our main rivals for automatic promotion.......it's going to take a good bit of getting over wouldn't you say! Doesn't it bother you then?
Some poor individual performances from us, Kashi in particular was way below his normal standard. Thought Wigan were excellent though, physically strong, solid defensively and good going forward. They'll finish above us this season, let's hope there's not many others as good as them in what is generally a piss poor league.
Main concern for me is how many chances we give away. Our defence, on paper, is probably just about Championship standard but we could have been 2 down in the first five minutes. Recurring theme, tonight the position were good enough to punish us.
Honestly didn't think the refereeing was that poor. We're all fine with time-wasting against Southend on Saturday, but not today. I feel it's a larger issue that needs to be acted upon by the FA in order to more easily hand out yellows for it.
That's top 2 form. Lots of negativity tonight and the lack of a proper striker to play 4-4-2 is frustrating but keep the faith, I think we might have played the Champions tonight
Wow what a disappointment after Saturday. I was looking forward to tonight's game, in fairness Wigan were far superior all over the pitch. I personally don't think any of our players had a good game, never mind let's move on to Gillingham & hope for some improvement.
Whingers back posting. End of the world is nigh bla bla bla. We were outclassed by a much better team. Conceding 3 goals at Oldham was the alarm bell. Team has to be a work in progress. We were beaten by the champions tonight.
Strange comments masicat......don't see too many whingers as you put it, more disappointers I'd say. I don't think many of us saw that coming........I know I didn't.
I didn't expect us to be so comprehensively outclassed in L1 - it was worrying how poor we were across the pitch. We look like a mid table league 1 side and made a lot of very basic mistakes.
Not sure how much we've improved since last season?
My first leauge game this season. Turned up expecting, flair, pace, skill, attacking football a team playing in cohesion with a manager who knows how to do the job. Well I got what I expected, except it was from Wigan.
Other than Holmes, I thought the rest looked as shit as the side I watched last season. I am very underwhelmed !
Jesus Christ, we just got stuffed at home by one of our main rivals for automatic promotion.......it's going to take a good bit of getting over wouldn't you say! Doesn't it bother you then?
Not really sound as. Just played one of the best teams in the league. I don t think we were that bad in the 1st half. Just checked the table still above Bradford and Wigan need to win thier game in hand to go above us. And the plus is we don't have to play Wigan every week.
Win or lose have a booze, Wigan better in all areas, poor performance by us, we move on. Gillingham a game we can/should win, average 4 points per 2 games and we go up. Have to admit tactically I thought we were poor throughout and set up was crying out for an old fashioned 4-4-2, we gave them far too much width and room all 3 goals were virtual tap ins.
Wigan did look a quality Div 3 team and Shrewsbury march on.
Wigan were good, but simply they had done their homework and knew the style we played, to bully us, chase down and that would stop us in out tracks. A few players weren't at their best.
My worry is our ability to only play one system and if that isn't working we can't adapt, magennis up on his own just wasn't working tonight. Add to that - the bench. Konsa OK, but the other two were average and that probably being kind.
Out fought, out played, out bullied and out planned. They were simply better in almost every department.
I'm not overly worried, just like I wasn't overly getting excited before tonight. It's a long hard season and we will lose games, we need to toughen up.
We were found out tonight. Within 40 seconds of kick-off it was patently obvious that Wigan are a class above us: swift, fluent moves on the wing, skinning our defenders and hammering dangerous crosses.
Our opponents were beaten by Shrewsbury on Saturday, an indication of how tough we will find it at the top. Wigan sent perfectly weighted 20-yard balls down the channels to runners with instant control. Accurate shots: hard and low.
We were rubbish in the second half, did not force a save from the keeper in the entire 45 minutes. We regressed to the ponderous midfield bumblings of last season: frightened back-passes, suicidal hospital balls, acres of space on the flanks for the opponents to attack. Clarke was out of touch, DaSilva a toddler against men. Holmes was our only player with any guts and fire.
This will happen again when our midfield is outplayed: Magennis was willing as ever, but a formation with just one striker offers no credible outlet to advance and occupy opposing defences. Dodoo, as sub, made no impression on the game whatsoever.
Tonight was a harsh lesson. Robinson must learn quickly.
One personal positive to come from tonight..... I saw two fellow charlton fans get off at Stamford Brook station. Never seen anyone get on or off there on my way to and from matches during my time here. Always nice to see a fellow addick
I don't know anything about Paul Cook, but he is earning his wages. I had a bad feeling from the first 30 seconds when they attacked with purpose and almost scored before half our lot had realised we had kicked off. They were all,over us for the first 20, and Amos showed he is a good shot stopper, one save in particular was top drawer. After a while some of the fluency I have seen on the streams came in to our play, but they knew where the danger lies, didn't give Holmes a second on the ball and started to wind up Clarke. Second half, same story at the start, they came at us from the off, covered end silenced and we were taken apart. And Will Grigg wasn't even on fire.
Oh well. I think this looks like a much better team than last year, but tonight it looked fragile, physically, and as everyone has said, there was no Plan B. And there is no credible second striker, which is just ridiculous if you want to challenge.
Stuck with 8th as my prediction in the poll. Gives me no pleasure whatsoever to say that this showing confirms my prediction.
Jesus Christ, we just got stuffed at home by one of our main rivals for automatic promotion.......it's going to take a good bit of getting over wouldn't you say! Doesn't it bother you then?
The failure to bring in another high quality striker has ramifications. Not only does it mean that we are over-reliant on Josh and unable to cope with his inevitable injuries and suspensions, but it doesn't allow Robinson to mix it up a bit when we need a change.
That said, the team have done really well so far this season and this is the first major disappointment (we could have won at Plymouth had we taken our chances). The test now is how we respond. A win at Gillingham and a return to form and three points against Bury will repair the damage. Its a test of character, of team spirit, of Robinson's motivation skills. I think and hope tonight was an aberration and not us finding our true level.
We could have conceded 2 in the first five minutes as we started the game asleep. We spent the first half passing it backwards constantly. The only times we made incursions forward with pace we came close but that was few and far between. 1-1 at half time would have been just about right although, as I say, they had some good chances early doors. They got us on the overlap down our right side far too often.
Second half we were turd. They started with intent again. We passed into spaces where we thought people should be, not where they were. There a few occasions where our players seemed to notice no one was where they wanted to pass to and they passed there anyway! Wigan could have had 5. Holmes has the poorest half of football I have seen from him. He was clearly frustrated and just ran himself into trouble so many times, seemingly refusing to pass.
No way can we blame the ref but he was very poor. It was his show. He didn't hand any cards out for most of the first half but you could just tell that as soon as the first one came he'd be dishing them out like sweets and that he did.
They took their goals very well.
KR made a double substitution but didn't change the formation when they came on. It has been levelled at him before but why didn't he try something different when his plan A was quite patently failing miserably?
We've won 5 games this season which is a good start but Wigan were worlds ahead of us tonight
I don't know anything about Paul Cook, but he is earning his wages. I had a bad feeling from the first 30 seconds when they attacked with purpose and almost scored before half our lot had realised we had kicked off. They were all,over us for the first 20, and Amos showed he is a good shot stopper, one save in particular was top drawer. After a while some of the fluency I have seen on the streams came in to our play, but they knew where the danger lies, didn't give Holmes a second on the ball and started to wind up Clarke. Second half, same story at the start, they came at us from the off, covered end silenced and we were taken apart. And Will Grigg wasn't even on fire.
Oh well. I think this looks like a much better team than last year, but tonight it looked fragile, physically, and as everyone has said, there was no Plan B. And there is no credible second striker, which is just ridiculous if you want to challenge.
Stuck with 8th as my prediction in the poll. Gives me no pleasure whatsoever to say that this showing confirms my prediction.
Excellent summary of tonight's game but we'll be top six at least come May
That is a wake up call tonight that's all. If we don't wake up and bounce back then we can all forget about going up. Wigan will be up there at the end of the season and we need to toughen up in certain areas if we want to be up there too and learn to match these types of teams. We have the quality but do we have the strength and stubbornness which is required in this league? I think we do but we need to use it to our favour against tough teams like Wigan.
So glad the Ha'way The Lads screening meant I couldn't go to the match. Sounded like a horrible one to watch against a horrible team, and we played horribly. Bloody horrible.
A few people have contacted me because they missed the screening. We're wondering if they might be enough interest to arrange another screening in the museum some time? Let me or @Henry Irving know if you're interested. Stay positive 100%!
Well thumped and no complaints. To be fair I had a nasty feeling about this one and thought we might do well to get a draw. Wigan certainly worked hard at winding our boys up - never seen Billy Clarke react like that. And how come the ref didn't blow for a foul for Ricky just before their first goal when their guy grabbed his 'man bun'? Have been told by a very reliable club source that we came close to signing a striker just before the deadline but the selling club decided to up the price at the last minute. However, the money is still available and if we are still in touch around January then it will be given to KR. Just have to stay in the top 10 and time our run at the right time; but as others have said, I really worry about the lack of depth in the squad. Having watched A. Grant I am afraid he isn't going to make it; certainly not at a higher level, hope the lad proves me wrong.
Comments
There was no lack of effort on our part but they made it impossible to play our usual game
They matched us for technical skill, had more energy and were about 8 inches taller and 2 stone heavier all over the pitch. It's an old cliche but the second half looked like men versus boys.
When we needed two high impact subs to turn things around we had Konza and Doodo and the first goal followed shortly after the substitution.
I thought Kashi was immense in the first half. Holmes never stopped trying but got frustrated , lost his head and was lucky not to be sent off. Still think Clarke is too powder puff for Tuesday nights in the rain and big Josh looked about as mobile as a container ship.
First 11 is quite good but that's it and we only have one game plan. Lost to a much better team tonight. Top 10 if we stay injury free.
- We were asleep for about three minutes, where they could've scored once or twice. We then went toe-to-toe with them until the goal. I thought the football for the first half hour or so was much better than League One quality.
- If we'd scored when JFC hit the bar, it's a completely different game.
- Them scoring knocked us off stride. Worse, them coming out guns blazing at the start of the second half made us panic. We lost our shape: Kashi; Clarke; and Fosu in particular looked to lose what composure they had. They scored again, and then we started to panic further. Ultimately, we need to address the mental problems that come with 1) going a goal down; and 2) a side pressing us high up, and pressuring us, thereby stifling our plan A.
- Following on from that, we need a plan B. Playing attractive football is good - and I like that we continued to try to do so - but when the going gets tough, we need someone tough to get us going, and that was lacking. Indeed, we looked a bit tired. No energy in that second half. Holmes/Magennis looked particularly weary.
- All credit to Wigan. They knew our game plan and sussed it out. They pressed us high and made us panic. Also, they have a great back four. Burn was immense, and Byrne wasn't too bad either. Their back four allowed their central midfield that bit more creativity. It allowed the wingers to pressure us both in terms of size and speed, too. Also, credit to Will Grigg, whose movement kept both Bauer and Pearce occupied. This led to Nick Powell dropping between our lines into gaps, and pulling the strings deep in our half. He looked threatening - and looks a class above League One. They moved the ball quickly and fluidly.
- Amos kept us in the game with several good saves. Can't distribute, so he needs to work on that. Dasilva was decent but made the wrong decision once or twice, and his size showed a bit today. Solly wasn't great - had a good tricky player to worry him in Jacobs, to be fair. Bauer and Pearce had their work cut out for them, too - despite keeping Grigg quiet, they wouldn't have been able to keep both him and Powell under wraps, and did not.
- Kashi played like a god for 25 minutes, then alright, then lost it in the second half. He frankly looked a liability in the 10/15 before he was substituted. Beside him, JFC had a decent game. Unlucky not to score. Did well both with the ball and without. He's clearly been told not to venture too far forward, and he slowed play up a little at times, which I think is unnatural for him.
- Fosu was quiet. He made two fairly minor mistakes fairly early on, and that knocked his confidence. On the other side, Holmes worked hard - but they knew how good he was, and marked the hell out of him, doing a great job of it too. Between them - Clarke wasn't great. Some flashes of his intelligence, but fluffed his lines once or twice which frustrated.
- Up top, it is clear we need a viable Magennis alternative. He looked knackered and wasn't really in it - he didn't see much of the ball, either. Don't think we're quite using him right, either. His strength lies in physicality, rather than intricate unlocking, and while he's been in good nick, we don't quite get the best out of him.
- Dodoo and KAG weren't great. They both looked quiet - and in some aspects, generally not good enough. Also, it's clear Konsa wasn't being thought about as someone to complement the system in pre-season, and thus might need time to re-familiarise himself. Looks decent as ever though.
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I am not too disheartened though. Wigan were, simply, the better side. Other than sorting out the potential mental fallout of going behind/being pressured and bullied, and needing a backup plan for when tiki-taka doesn't come off, I'm not too worried. We still looked very good in flashes, but Wigan looked serious.
Onwards and upwards!
Doesn't it bother you then?
Main concern for me is how many chances we give away. Our defence, on paper, is probably just about Championship standard but we could have been 2 down in the first five minutes. Recurring theme, tonight the position were good enough to punish us.
8
That's top 2 form. Lots of negativity tonight and the lack of a proper striker to play 4-4-2 is frustrating but keep the faith, I think we might have played the Champions tonight
Not sure how much we've improved since last season?
Other than Holmes, I thought the rest looked as shit as the side I watched last season. I am very underwhelmed !
Just played one of the best teams in the league.
I don t think we were that bad in the 1st half.
Just checked the table still above Bradford and Wigan need to win thier game in hand to go above us.
And the plus is we don't have to play Wigan every week.
Wigan did look a quality Div 3 team and Shrewsbury march on.
My worry is our ability to only play one system and if that isn't working we can't adapt, magennis up on his own just wasn't working tonight. Add to that - the bench. Konsa OK, but the other two were average and that probably being kind.
Out fought, out played, out bullied and out planned. They were simply better in almost every department.
I'm not overly worried, just like I wasn't overly getting excited before tonight. It's a long hard season and we will lose games, we need to toughen up.
Our opponents were beaten by Shrewsbury on Saturday, an indication of how tough we will find it at the top. Wigan sent perfectly weighted 20-yard balls down the channels to runners with instant control. Accurate shots: hard and low.
We were rubbish in the second half, did not force a save from the keeper in the entire 45 minutes. We regressed to the ponderous midfield bumblings of last season: frightened back-passes, suicidal hospital balls, acres of space on the flanks for the opponents to attack. Clarke was out of touch, DaSilva a toddler against men. Holmes was our only player with any guts and fire.
This will happen again when our midfield is outplayed: Magennis was willing as ever, but a formation with just one striker offers no credible outlet to advance and occupy opposing defences. Dodoo, as sub, made no impression on the game whatsoever.
Tonight was a harsh lesson. Robinson must learn quickly.
I had a bad feeling from the first 30 seconds when they attacked with purpose and almost scored before half our lot had realised we had kicked off. They were all,over us for the first 20, and Amos showed he is a good shot stopper, one save in particular was top drawer. After a while some of the fluency I have seen on the streams came in to our play, but they knew where the danger lies, didn't give Holmes a second on the ball and started to wind up Clarke. Second half, same story at the start, they came at us from the off, covered end silenced and we were taken apart. And Will Grigg wasn't even on fire.
Oh well. I think this looks like a much better team than last year, but tonight it looked fragile, physically, and as everyone has said, there was no Plan B. And there is no credible second striker, which is just ridiculous if you want to challenge.
Stuck with 8th as my prediction in the poll. Gives me no pleasure whatsoever to say that this showing confirms my prediction.
That said, the team have done really well so far this season and this is the first major disappointment (we could have won at Plymouth had we taken our chances). The test now is how we respond. A win at Gillingham and a return to form and three points against Bury will repair the damage. Its a test of character, of team spirit, of Robinson's motivation skills. I think and hope tonight was an aberration and not us finding our true level.
We could have conceded 2 in the first five minutes as we started the game asleep. We spent the first half passing it backwards constantly. The only times we made incursions forward with pace we came close but that was few and far between. 1-1 at half time would have been just about right although, as I say, they had some good chances early doors. They got us on the overlap down our right side far too often.
Second half we were turd. They started with intent again. We passed into spaces where we thought people should be, not where they were. There a few occasions where our players seemed to notice no one was where they wanted to pass to and they passed there anyway! Wigan could have had 5. Holmes has the poorest half of football I have seen from him. He was clearly frustrated and just ran himself into trouble so many times, seemingly refusing to pass.
No way can we blame the ref but he was very poor. It was his show. He didn't hand any cards out for most of the first half but you could just tell that as soon as the first one came he'd be dishing them out like sweets and that he did.
They took their goals very well.
KR made a double substitution but didn't change the formation when they came on. It has been levelled at him before but why didn't he try something different when his plan A was quite patently failing miserably?
We've won 5 games this season which is a good start but Wigan were worlds ahead of us tonight
Bloody horrible.
A few people have contacted me because they missed the screening. We're wondering if they might be enough interest to arrange another screening in the museum some time? Let me or @Henry Irving know if you're interested. Stay positive 100%!
Have been told by a very reliable club source that we came close to signing a striker just before the deadline but the selling club decided to up the price at the last minute. However, the money is still available and if we are still in touch around January then it will be given to KR.
Just have to stay in the top 10 and time our run at the right time; but as others have said, I really worry about the lack of depth in the squad. Having watched A. Grant I am afraid he isn't going to make it; certainly not at a higher level, hope the lad proves me wrong.