Defensively we were a disaster, Sarr, Bauer and Konsa looked lost at sea on multiple occasions and as a defensive unit (bearing in mind we play two mainly defensive centre mids), we looked awful. Could have been a Fraeye team and was a spell in first half you expected Posh to score every time they attacked.
Offensively, we are simply the Ricky Holmes show. And everyone now knows it and are preparing for it. Looks like they are doubling up on him but showing him inside, and already have their defensive line set up for his inswinging cross. 9 out of 10 attacks come from Ricky but for one reason or another had no real threat tonight.
Dasilva had a reliable game and Djiksteel impressed when he come on, but cracks have been papered over and it was a disjointed, awful performance for much of it.
Offensively, we are simply the Ricky Holmes show. And everyone now knows it and are preparing for it. Looks like they are doubling up on him but showing him inside, and already have their defensive line set up for his inswinging cross. 9 out of 10 attacks come from Ricky but for one reason or another had no real threat tonight.
Because his delivery has been on the whole dreadful this season? As good as his dribbling and shooting is, his crossing has been mystifyingly bad. And his set-pieces, Wimbledon aside, even worse. I guess you take the rough with the smooth. If he could cross as well as he can run with the ball he wouldn't be our player
Apparently we signed Leon Best yesterday morning, but didn't announce it until today to keep it a secret from Peterborough. Well don't worry Karl, your secret's still safe.
This idea of getting or not getting what you deserve in football is an interesting one, we scored two, they scored two, so we got what we deserved, but strangely Peterborough didn't. Go figure. Despite the Posh keeper having a magic spell mid way through the first half, and them even getting one off the line from a Holmes shot, we could easily have been four down as we entered the ninety first minute. Posh had a terrible mess up one on one before they scored, and were denied what seemed a certain penalty at 2-0, and generally were cutting through us pretty easily in the second half, yet we get a wonderful point.
Next time we think we're unlucky, remember the end to this game.
Looking at the game as a whole we were much worse than Peterborough, yet to continue the strangeness of the evening in Sarr we arguably had the best player on the pitch. The Posh 7, and 18 were good and they were decent enough at this level with the usual third division dressing of some monumental mess ups too.
We were a disjointed mess in a performance not as good as turgid. The set up was mysterious, looking at Marshall today I simply thought 'oh how we miss Fosu'. Holmes tried his usual one man team routine and troubled them a little bit, and da Silva continued to be good. However that was about it. Nobody was at the 'Ba' level of terrible and a liability, but we generally looked like a disjointed bunch of strangers who met up today to form a team.
It was great that KAG scored, and Anfernee playing out of position on his debut was good so there is that, but to take anything away from that match is tricky, I suppose as I type the Robbo line will be pleasure that we kept going blah blah blah, but trust me, if we play like that in the future we will be nowhere near play offs let alone automatics.
Clearly we need to do something distinctively different beyond getting our injured players back, and I would start by only picking players because they're doing all right rather than because of who signed them, what wage they're on, and who is the senior man.
Just got back and have to do my ironing so will try to make this quick. Bullet points incoming:
Initial thoughts
- We deserved nothing from that. We did not look at ALL coherent for the majority of the game, and I think this was down to the lack in particular of either Solly or Pearce, both relatively vocal and communicative in defence. We saw Bauer make a couple of misplaced passes (one in particular out wide to Konsa shortly after the first goal) and other such misjudgements in this regard.
- Peterborough have some good players in attack that IMO make up for a fairly shaky defence that we did not test. Maddison, da Silva Lopez(?) and their no. 7 all looked very handy, as did Marriott up front (lots of pace to burn).
- If ours was a penalty, theirs was DEFINITELY a penalty and that would've been game over. In the event, we actually did very well to come back from two goals down. We looked done and dusted after one goal - losing our heads *again* after the concession - but regained a little composure even before the penalty to get back in with half a sniff.
- We again looked tired. This happened after the last Tuesday game I saw (Rochdale). I don't want this to be a recurring theme.
The players
- Amos saved an otherwise certain goal and didn't do much wrong. Maybe wasn't able to alleviate the defensive communication problem, but I'm not surprised and as a loan keeper, I'm not going to hold him to ransom on that.
- Bauer and Sarr were highly contrasting, in that one was shite (Bauer) and the other was excellent (Sarr). For the sake of brevity, assume the opposite of everything I say about Sarr was true for Bauer. Sarr distributed with aplomb; tackled well; read the game well and looked calm. Bauer's injury was almost fortunate. His communication was poor. However, I'd like to see him fit again - I think he was just on an off day, to be fair.
- Konsa was... well, he was alright. Athletic and made a few good tackles/interceptions that were unfortunately balanced out by misjudging headers and being beaten once or twice by a couple of tricksters. Dijksteel when he came on seemed to really help this out! He was like a slightly rawer Konsa, and their youth team understand I would say kicked in. Great league debut(?)
- (As a side note at this point, it is clear that the youth teams are being bred on the same footballing philosophies, no matter what year they emerge. This gives me hope. [It is, of course, the hope that kills, though...])
- Dasilva was good. Maybe beaten once or twice but going forward he was a real threat, and defensively didn't put too much wrong that can't be explained by his height.
- It now makes sense to move up the pitch to Holmes, because when he linked with Dasilva it was absolutely amazing. They looked unstoppable together. HOWEVER. He is so so so so so frustrating at the moment. It's like he has a compulsion to beat a man before passing/crossing/shooting or whatever. But, when he was less selfish, my word was it effective.
- Going back to the holding players: Kashi was a liability. He can't head the ball and his passing was underhit to the point where it hurried the recipient, causing a worse position. The passes weren't inaccurate, but they weren't weighted well. His tackling has gotten worse, too. JFC on the other hand seemed to take the armband in his stride when Bauer went off, and looked relatively assured. He was a quiet general of sorts, and didn't do too much wrong. He also popped up frequently at both ends of the pitch - a goal-line clearance as well as a couple of sniffs in the box, too.
- Marshall was starved for service initially, and that made him look worse whenever he got the ball. He also ALWAYS wants it to feet and not on the run, which kills attacking momentum in my opinion. His crossing doesn't seem to be there. I'm not convinced. I'd much much rather Fosu.
- Magennis seemed to be being told to play two different roles, which meant he did neither well. This was a bit like the failed JFC out wide right experiment for one game last season - he looked lost. But, he gave their defenders a battle, and created what he could with admittedly limited technical ability.
- Nearly forgot about Best. Says it all really. But, I won't judge him on one performance when it's likely he's done more work with the development squad (playing for them) than the first team. Needs to get up to speed QUICK though based on contract length.
- Subs: Aribo decent and was much more positive than Kashi; KAG I am pleased he scored, but he still doesn't look good. If that goal changes him though (and we have seen that happen with footballers psychologically before), I'll be pleased.
The teams as a whole (mainly Charlton, a little bit of P'boro)
- They were lightweight at the back. However, our general incoherence - especially up top - meant we weren't able to test them effectively. Were we looking to cross it, or work the ball in, or counter, or what? It was never clear.
- The above coherence problems stems from not having two things: 1) a communicative defensive leader e.g. Solly/Pearce; and 2) no "number 10" a la Reeves or Clarke. (Yes, I do mean Reeves, despite his last home start for us - he provided form and structure, if not effective function.) So we lost the attacking shape we have attempted all season; and the defensive shape was not there because no-one was truly leading.
- I think this means a little bit of depth needs to be added. However I will temper this with the fact that we are in League One, and in Reeves/Clarke, we have two capable 10s, who are both missing. But, if we need a change of shape, we need that there too. So maybe KR needs a couple of extra training ground ideas.
- Back to Peterborough - unlucky not to win. They should have had a pen. We were crap for large parts while they were average-to-good. Their attackers gave us trouble.
In summary
Result we didn't deserve, but hopefully it provides a bit of a boost - even if there are major questions to be answered tactically at training in the morning. I think this is the sign of a decent team, too, in that we are grinding results playing poorly. Hopefully there is an upturn in results soon.
Offensively, we are simply the Ricky Holmes show. And everyone now knows it and are preparing for it. Looks like they are doubling up on him but showing him inside, and already have their defensive line set up for his inswinging cross. 9 out of 10 attacks come from Ricky but for one reason or another had no real threat tonight.
Because his delivery has been on the whole dreadful this season? As good as his dribbling and shooting is, his crossing has been mystifyingly bad. And his set-pieces, Wimbledon aside, even worse. I guess you take the rough with the smooth. If he could cross as well as he can run with the ball he wouldn't be our player
he was the only one who really looked like he wanted the ball, and was the most threatening - everything,literally everything remotely dangerous came through him.
@President I disagree mate that Josh had 75% of the goal to aim at Saturday from the angle he was at and the keeper spreading himself, who incidentally made a save, I'd say it was less than 50% because I was there.
Maybe its just my general apathy towards Magennis - tonight was probably about the 7/8th time ive seen him play, and i am coming to the conclusion that he just simply isnt a very good player . Never seems to have much impact in a game, doesnt score very many goals, and has no link up skills and seems to go missing for long periods (whether thats a result of our lineup, maybe).
I got to speak with him on the train back to Leeds after the Bradford game where he seemed to come to life in the last 20 mins, having had to plough the usual lone furrow all game up until then, limping towards the end. He said the knock was not too bad and run of the mill week in week out.
I'm not making excuses for the guy but he has had to carry the load up top nearly all game, every game getting bashed up by two uncompromising CBs and he's by no means prolific especially with his feet otherwise he wouldn't be plying his trade in L1. And I'm not sure he's an out and out target man either. We've seen what he can do when he's fresh and on form and maybe Best coming in to share the load over the busy Xmas period will be just what he needs to relight his fire so I'm cutting him some slack at least until Best's loan is up in 2 months time.
Offensively, we are simply the Ricky Holmes show. And everyone now knows it and are preparing for it. Looks like they are doubling up on him but showing him inside, and already have their defensive line set up for his inswinging cross. 9 out of 10 attacks come from Ricky but for one reason or another had no real threat tonight.
Because his delivery has been on the whole dreadful this season? As good as his dribbling and shooting is, his crossing has been mystifyingly bad. And his set-pieces, Wimbledon aside, even worse. I guess you take the rough with the smooth. If he could cross as well as he can run with the ball he wouldn't be our player
he was the only one who really looked like he wanted the ball, and was the most threatening - everything,literally everything remotely dangerous came through him.
Him and JDS, yes. It's entirely possible that both our posts are right! He worked space really well and terrorised their right-back, but kept overhitting his crosses
Great fight back,pity so few people there to cheer the team on,still,expect they will all come out of the woodwork if we get to a play off final.Well done to the faithful,tremendous support tonight even when 2 down.
We were bad. No idea why Robinson did not mix it up. Wave after wave after wave of attacks down the left with Holmes playing in crap crosses. Why not have a go on the right with Marshall? Should have taken Kashi off at half time, he was like a third CB, sits far too deep. Peterbrough were average. we were clueless. Late goals are always nice but having fought back for a point i did not leave on a high as there were 89 mins of garbage.
Peterborough should have buried us tonight so very pleased to come away with a point, especially with two goals in injury time.
A few quick thoughts:
Defensively poor tonight as others have said. Why do we play so so many, if any, suicidal balls across the back line? Our passing is nowhere near clinical enough to be doing that.
Peterborough were so fast going forward, quick, accurate, forward passes and they carved us open so many times tonight. On the other hand, we start going forward with pace and then Holmes gets the ball and refuses to pass, unless he can beat two men first - it slows our attack down, they get back, and we put in a poor cross which no one gets on the end of because they have 5 back in the box. We put in endless crosses tonight and could have done so all night and got f all.
KAG made the difference when he came on. He tried something different. There is only so many bloody times you can run down the left and put in a deep cross, surely!?!
Kashi-does he have any idea where he is trying to head the ball. It's like he is playing keepie up with a balloon at a party.
Da Silva is too good for league one.
Big Mag hardly got a touch and Best, although he showed a few good touches when we went 442, wasn't really involved.
We need Clarke and Fosu back and Pearce in at the back.
Peterborough were very solid at the back until injury time - they threw that away.
Onwards and hopefully upwards (and perhaps not so much down the left wing...)
Pretty awful second half. A few minor obeservations:
Would like to see Holmes whipping in crosses rather than floating them (which he does mainly when using his right foot). He worked hard and beat his defender (or won a corner) time and time again, but I don't think I've ever seen more crosses come to nothing. Also, why not switch him and Marshall/Fosu occasionally. Have a go at their left back.
In the first half Best looked more effective than Magennis. Hardly saw him in the second, which perhaps isn't surprising. Has potential.
Dijksteel looked excellent. Quick, athletic and good on the ball. Probably a better right back than Konsa. He'll go far I think.
Sarr was excellent. He set up the equaliser with his nod down. I knew we'd benefit from his height in the box eventually.
But in midfield we need a playmaker with some physical presence. Too often tonight it was just, 'give it to Ricky and see what happens'.
What a finish to the game though. The people behind me were thinking of leaving, but I mentioned last night's QPR comeback (2 goals in extra time). Felt like a point won, when it was actually two points dropped.
Shockingly small crowd for what was an important match.
North Upper got behind the side when we were two down - impressive.
Bizarre game. The early goal (from a very good free kick) allowed them to just keep 11 in their half for the majority of the game and hit us on the counter which our defence couldn't really cope with.
If you don't normally notice how good Chris Solly is then you would have tonight, defence looks so much more assured with him in it although Dijksteel looked good playing RB.
We need to be more creative than just giving it to Ricky (although their debutant RB couldn't handle him). With Clarke and Fosu in the side it's not a problem but it becomes painfully obvious what we're doing when they're not there. They also made it hard for us to go through the middle by sitting so deep, the endless crossing was inevitable.
Had we not conceded early on I think we'd have won comfortably as they'd have pushed forward more. Given the circumstances the point is a good one but it's a worry when you look at our games in December.
We were terrible for a lot of that game so it was an immense relief to get something from it. Posh were quick on the counter and played some good attacking football, though there was some poor finishing by them too. Our defence looked like they had never met for the first 10, and the goal came from that. There was very nearly an earlier goal which Amos did well to save the one on one. Then ater they scored we settled down at the back. Konsa struggled at RB and Kashi did not have a good game. Sarr did, Bauer less so. bauer going off allowed Dijksteel to go RB and Konsa back to CB and this was an improvement. If Solly is out, I'd put Dijksteel there thought he had a very bright game. DaSilva was both our best defender and one of our best attacking players today. JFC was everywhere today. Great clearance off the line, kept going and won the penalty. Best was anonymous, should have been off at half time. I don't rate KAG as a striker but he has some energy and will run at defenders which was precisely what we needed as Posh were solid but hardly tested at the back. As soon as we put them under pressure they made mistakes. Tremendous runs by RIcky and good link up play with DaSilva, but he really needs to pass more and let someone else take some of hte dead balls. Big Josh was isolated, again.
KR got it wrong with our set up particularly in defence. But to his credit, all his subs played a part in us rescuing a point.
A last word about Peterborough - not at all sure they'll be play off material, but fair play to them coming at us, attacking and possibly the least dirty team I've seen us play this season. I know there were loads of shouts for free kicks and cards, but really, they were no Bury/MKD/Rochdale/Wigan. Expect they will feel gutted, but they did well to outplay us for almost 90 minutes.
Dreadful performance for 90 minutes and PBoro should have been out of sight.
Very disjointed. Konsa a great CH but not a RB. Sarr terrible, got turned regularly and regularly gave the ball away. Kashi not with it and the usually reliable JFK off colour. A big hole where Clarke or Reeves usually play and Best AWOL.
First goal was pathetic. Someone said they thought a few players looked offside but they actually moved whereas we were playing statues!
Main bright spot was we kept trying, Pleased for KAG and thought Dijksteel and Aribo also did well when they came on. MoM Dasilva who continues to look class.
Think Bauer was far from fully fit and should not have played. We ended up with a very young back four that looked better balanced.
Not sure what has gone wrong with Kashi. He needs to remember that tackling is a skill that requires timing. There is no need to crash into a player running away from goal.
2 game breakers tonight. Ref not giving them a stonewall pen when they were 2 up.
Ref giving us a soft pen after 89 mins.
After that Peterboro on and off the pitch lost the plot. 4 mins injury time and they then make a double sub. Bizarre! Why not spread them out or not bother. Then their forward has all the time in the world to run to the corner flag, but decides to have a shot. Amos gets the ball, 30 secs later, Desmond!
A point gained in the circumstances but we were awful this evening.
Followed the match mostly on Twitter & BBC & Charltonlife. After some industrial strength moaning on Twitter & Peterborough’s 2nd goal & the game getting to 78 mins, it looked all over, & a near third goal off the line, & I got distracted by the final bit of Masterchef. Checking the result after, it was a total surprise to see 2-2 & even more of surprise to see Ahearn-Grant getting the equaliser. Pleased for him.
Don’t think the squad has sufficient depth & Leon Best is highly unlikely to be the answer. Not sure about Robinson’s tactical ability either . At least the squad he has built has some spirit. Charlton have undeservedly lost 2 goals leads on a whole heap of occasions. What goes around, comes around & it is fair enough get a 2 goal deficit back for a change. You need spirit in the team to achieve that.
This 'team' doesnt play as a team, it just tries to operate as 10 individuals and see how far up the pitch it can get. We are now getting sussed out by 'real' teams who play as a unit, maybe they have less skill, but they play together. It operates so distant from each other that there is no real cohesion, Magennis and Best , well, if you had asked me if they had played at the end of the game, then i would have had to check - this is a regular occurrence with Magennis. Another season of mediocrity beckons, and another season of dog shit performances.
If you went to Rotherham away, you would've seen a real performance from 11 players . Guessing you didn't bother making the trip pal ?
One thing surprised me on the match stats was that Charlton had 56% possession. From most people’s comments, Charlton did not play well. How did they end up with such high stats, did Peterborough sit back & let Charlton back in ?
Still in shock...... that the crowd was given as 9.5k. That would imply each stand was 1/3rd full - Pmsl.
Left early and missed both goals and still have not seen us win this season. Been to Wigan and tonight at home and Gillingham away = 270mins of dross on the whole.
Still I'll take missing the comeback to get the point. Play-offs at best!
Awful performance, remarkable turnaround. Thought Konsa, Best, Baur, Kashi absolute garbage tonight. Why anybody would pay big money for Konsa is beyond me.
Comments
Defensively we were a disaster, Sarr, Bauer and Konsa looked lost at sea on multiple occasions and as a defensive unit (bearing in mind we play two mainly defensive centre mids), we looked awful. Could have been a Fraeye team and was a spell in first half you expected Posh to score every time they attacked.
Offensively, we are simply the Ricky Holmes show. And everyone now knows it and are preparing for it. Looks like they are doubling up on him but showing him inside, and already have their defensive line set up for his inswinging cross. 9 out of 10 attacks come from Ricky but for one reason or another had no real threat tonight.
Dasilva had a reliable game and Djiksteel impressed when he come on, but cracks have been papered over and it was a disjointed, awful performance for much of it.
Apparently we signed Leon Best yesterday morning, but didn't announce it until today to keep it a secret from Peterborough. Well don't worry Karl, your secret's still safe.
This idea of getting or not getting what you deserve in football is an interesting one, we scored two, they scored two, so we got what we deserved, but strangely Peterborough didn't. Go figure. Despite the Posh keeper having a magic spell mid way through the first half, and them even getting one off the line from a Holmes shot, we could easily have been four down as we entered the ninety first minute. Posh had a terrible mess up one on one before they scored, and were denied what seemed a certain penalty at 2-0, and generally were cutting through us pretty easily in the second half, yet we get a wonderful point.
Next time we think we're unlucky, remember the end to this game.
Looking at the game as a whole we were much worse than Peterborough, yet to continue the strangeness of the evening in Sarr we arguably had the best player on the pitch. The Posh 7, and 18 were good and they were decent enough at this level with the usual third division dressing of some monumental mess ups too.
We were a disjointed mess in a performance not as good as turgid. The set up was mysterious, looking at Marshall today I simply thought 'oh how we miss Fosu'. Holmes tried his usual one man team routine and troubled them a little bit, and da Silva continued to be good. However that was about it. Nobody was at the 'Ba' level of terrible and a liability, but we generally looked like a disjointed bunch of strangers who met up today to form a team.
It was great that KAG scored, and Anfernee playing out of position on his debut was good so there is that, but to take anything away from that match is tricky, I suppose as I type the Robbo line will be pleasure that we kept going blah blah blah, but trust me, if we play like that in the future we will be nowhere near play offs let alone automatics.
Clearly we need to do something distinctively different beyond getting our injured players back, and I would start by only picking players because they're doing all right rather than because of who signed them, what wage they're on, and who is the senior man.
Initial thoughts
- We deserved nothing from that. We did not look at ALL coherent for the majority of the game, and I think this was down to the lack in particular of either Solly or Pearce, both relatively vocal and communicative in defence. We saw Bauer make a couple of misplaced passes (one in particular out wide to Konsa shortly after the first goal) and other such misjudgements in this regard.
- Peterborough have some good players in attack that IMO make up for a fairly shaky defence that we did not test. Maddison, da Silva Lopez(?) and their no. 7 all looked very handy, as did Marriott up front (lots of pace to burn).
- If ours was a penalty, theirs was DEFINITELY a penalty and that would've been game over. In the event, we actually did very well to come back from two goals down. We looked done and dusted after one goal - losing our heads *again* after the concession - but regained a little composure even before the penalty to get back in with half a sniff.
- We again looked tired. This happened after the last Tuesday game I saw (Rochdale). I don't want this to be a recurring theme.
The players
- Amos saved an otherwise certain goal and didn't do much wrong. Maybe wasn't able to alleviate the defensive communication problem, but I'm not surprised and as a loan keeper, I'm not going to hold him to ransom on that.
- Bauer and Sarr were highly contrasting, in that one was shite (Bauer) and the other was excellent (Sarr). For the sake of brevity, assume the opposite of everything I say about Sarr was true for Bauer. Sarr distributed with aplomb; tackled well; read the game well and looked calm. Bauer's injury was almost fortunate. His communication was poor. However, I'd like to see him fit again - I think he was just on an off day, to be fair.
- Konsa was... well, he was alright. Athletic and made a few good tackles/interceptions that were unfortunately balanced out by misjudging headers and being beaten once or twice by a couple of tricksters. Dijksteel when he came on seemed to really help this out! He was like a slightly rawer Konsa, and their youth team understand I would say kicked in. Great league debut(?)
- (As a side note at this point, it is clear that the youth teams are being bred on the same footballing philosophies, no matter what year they emerge. This gives me hope. [It is, of course, the hope that kills, though...])
- Dasilva was good. Maybe beaten once or twice but going forward he was a real threat, and defensively didn't put too much wrong that can't be explained by his height.
- It now makes sense to move up the pitch to Holmes, because when he linked with Dasilva it was absolutely amazing. They looked unstoppable together. HOWEVER. He is so so so so so frustrating at the moment. It's like he has a compulsion to beat a man before passing/crossing/shooting or whatever. But, when he was less selfish, my word was it effective.
- Going back to the holding players: Kashi was a liability. He can't head the ball and his passing was underhit to the point where it hurried the recipient, causing a worse position. The passes weren't inaccurate, but they weren't weighted well. His tackling has gotten worse, too. JFC on the other hand seemed to take the armband in his stride when Bauer went off, and looked relatively assured. He was a quiet general of sorts, and didn't do too much wrong. He also popped up frequently at both ends of the pitch - a goal-line clearance as well as a couple of sniffs in the box, too.
- Marshall was starved for service initially, and that made him look worse whenever he got the ball. He also ALWAYS wants it to feet and not on the run, which kills attacking momentum in my opinion. His crossing doesn't seem to be there. I'm not convinced. I'd much much rather Fosu.
- Magennis seemed to be being told to play two different roles, which meant he did neither well. This was a bit like the failed JFC out wide right experiment for one game last season - he looked lost. But, he gave their defenders a battle, and created what he could with admittedly limited technical ability.
- Nearly forgot about Best. Says it all really. But, I won't judge him on one performance when it's likely he's done more work with the development squad (playing for them) than the first team. Needs to get up to speed QUICK though based on contract length.
- Subs: Aribo decent and was much more positive than Kashi; KAG I am pleased he scored, but he still doesn't look good. If that goal changes him though (and we have seen that happen with footballers psychologically before), I'll be pleased.
The teams as a whole (mainly Charlton, a little bit of P'boro)
- They were lightweight at the back. However, our general incoherence - especially up top - meant we weren't able to test them effectively. Were we looking to cross it, or work the ball in, or counter, or what? It was never clear.
- The above coherence problems stems from not having two things: 1) a communicative defensive leader e.g. Solly/Pearce; and 2) no "number 10" a la Reeves or Clarke. (Yes, I do mean Reeves, despite his last home start for us - he provided form and structure, if not effective function.) So we lost the attacking shape we have attempted all season; and the defensive shape was not there because no-one was truly leading.
- I think this means a little bit of depth needs to be added. However I will temper this with the fact that we are in League One, and in Reeves/Clarke, we have two capable 10s, who are both missing. But, if we need a change of shape, we need that there too. So maybe KR needs a couple of extra training ground ideas.
- Back to Peterborough - unlucky not to win. They should have had a pen. We were crap for large parts while they were average-to-good. Their attackers gave us trouble.
In summary
Result we didn't deserve, but hopefully it provides a bit of a boost - even if there are major questions to be answered tactically at training in the morning. I think this is the sign of a decent team, too, in that we are grinding results playing poorly. Hopefully there is an upturn in results soon.
Onwards and upwards!
The set up was bizarre, the pace leaden and the one tactic was pass in to Holmes and hope.
Sarr was a liability, Marshall isolated, Best didn't show much but hard to judge in such a poor performance.
Posh could have scored more and it looked like a clear pen to them near the end while JFC cleared off the line.
We went direct, got bodies forward and finally Josh was in the game and we had players running into the box.
Posh must be gutted because they were cruising but they didn't see the game out. How many times have we been on the other end of a result like that.
Motm - Jake
We are missing Clarke so much.
Official att: 9,532, with 453 from Posh. Another dismal "crowd"
So pleased for KAG, hope he kicks on.
I'm not making excuses for the guy but he has had to carry the load up top nearly all game, every game getting bashed up by two uncompromising CBs and he's by no means prolific especially with his feet otherwise he wouldn't be plying his trade in L1. And I'm not sure he's an out and out target man either. We've seen what he can do when he's fresh and on form and maybe Best coming in to share the load over the busy Xmas period will be just what he needs to relight his fire so I'm cutting him some slack at least until Best's loan is up in 2 months time.
For me, top 2 is unrealistic for us barring a miracle with injuries so I'm more than happy if we make the playoffs.
We were terrible tonight and I mean proper proper shit
But we drew got away with a Desmond so it’s happy days
A few quick thoughts:
Defensively poor tonight as others have said. Why do we play so so many, if any, suicidal balls across the back line? Our passing is nowhere near clinical enough to be doing that.
Peterborough were so fast going forward, quick, accurate, forward passes and they carved us open so many times tonight. On the other hand, we start going forward with pace and then Holmes gets the ball and refuses to pass, unless he can beat two men first - it slows our attack down, they get back, and we put in a poor cross which no one gets on the end of because they have 5 back in the box. We put in endless crosses tonight and could have done so all night and got f all.
KAG made the difference when he came on. He tried something different. There is only so many bloody times you can run down the left and put in a deep cross, surely!?!
Kashi-does he have any idea where he is trying to head the ball. It's like he is playing keepie up with a balloon at a party.
Da Silva is too good for league one.
Big Mag hardly got a touch and Best, although he showed a few good touches when we went 442, wasn't really involved.
We need Clarke and Fosu back and Pearce in at the back.
Peterborough were very solid at the back until injury time - they threw that away.
Onwards and hopefully upwards (and perhaps not so much down the left wing...)
Would like to see Holmes whipping in crosses rather than floating them (which he does mainly when using his right foot). He worked hard and beat his defender (or won a corner) time and time again, but I don't think I've ever seen more crosses come to nothing. Also, why not switch him and Marshall/Fosu occasionally. Have a go at their left back.
In the first half Best looked more effective than Magennis. Hardly saw him in the second, which perhaps isn't surprising. Has potential.
Dijksteel looked excellent. Quick, athletic and good on the ball. Probably a better right back than Konsa. He'll go far I think.
Sarr was excellent. He set up the equaliser with his nod down. I knew we'd benefit from his height in the box eventually.
But in midfield we need a playmaker with some physical presence. Too often tonight it was just, 'give it to Ricky and see what happens'.
What a finish to the game though. The people behind me were thinking of leaving, but I mentioned last night's QPR comeback (2 goals in extra time). Felt like a point won, when it was actually two points dropped.
Shockingly small crowd for what was an important match.
North Upper got behind the side when we were two down - impressive.
We don’t look anything like the side we are when it’s Holmes Clarke Fosu
Need them both back soon
Defending was a bit shambolic tonight
If you don't normally notice how good Chris Solly is then you would have tonight, defence looks so much more assured with him in it although Dijksteel looked good playing RB.
We need to be more creative than just giving it to Ricky (although their debutant RB couldn't handle him). With Clarke and Fosu in the side it's not a problem but it becomes painfully obvious what we're doing when they're not there. They also made it hard for us to go through the middle by sitting so deep, the endless crossing was inevitable.
Had we not conceded early on I think we'd have won comfortably as they'd have pushed forward more. Given the circumstances the point is a good one but it's a worry when you look at our games in December.
Then ater they scored we settled down at the back. Konsa struggled at RB and Kashi did not have a good game. Sarr did, Bauer less so. bauer going off allowed Dijksteel to go RB and Konsa back to CB and this was an improvement. If Solly is out, I'd put Dijksteel there thought he had a very bright game. DaSilva was both our best defender and one of our best attacking players today.
JFC was everywhere today. Great clearance off the line, kept going and won the penalty.
Best was anonymous, should have been off at half time. I don't rate KAG as a striker but he has some energy and will run at defenders which was precisely what we needed as Posh were solid but hardly tested at the back. As soon as we put them under pressure they made mistakes.
Tremendous runs by RIcky and good link up play with DaSilva, but he really needs to pass more and let someone else take some of hte dead balls. Big Josh was isolated, again.
KR got it wrong with our set up particularly in defence. But to his credit, all his subs played a part in us rescuing a point.
A last word about Peterborough - not at all sure they'll be play off material, but fair play to them coming at us, attacking and possibly the least dirty team I've seen us play this season. I know there were loads of shouts for free kicks and cards, but really, they were no Bury/MKD/Rochdale/Wigan. Expect they will feel gutted, but they did well to outplay us for almost 90 minutes.
Very disjointed. Konsa a great CH but not a RB. Sarr terrible, got turned regularly and regularly gave the ball away. Kashi not with it and the usually reliable JFK off colour. A big hole where Clarke or Reeves usually play and Best AWOL.
First goal was pathetic. Someone said they thought a few players looked offside but they actually moved whereas we were playing statues!
Main bright spot was we kept trying, Pleased for KAG and thought Dijksteel and Aribo also did well when they came on. MoM Dasilva who continues to look class.
Not sure what has gone wrong with Kashi. He needs to remember that tackling is a skill that requires timing. There is no need to crash into a player running away from goal.
Ref giving us a soft pen after 89 mins.
After that Peterboro on and off the pitch lost the plot. 4 mins injury time and they then make a double sub. Bizarre! Why not spread them out or not bother. Then their forward has all the time in the world to run to the corner flag, but decides to have a shot. Amos gets the ball, 30 secs later, Desmond!
A point gained in the circumstances but we were awful this evening.
Don’t think the squad has sufficient depth & Leon Best is highly unlikely to be the answer. Not sure about Robinson’s tactical ability either . At least the squad he has built has some spirit. Charlton have undeservedly lost 2 goals leads on a whole heap of occasions. What goes around, comes around & it is fair enough get a 2 goal deficit back for a change. You need spirit in the team to achieve that.
If you went to Rotherham away, you would've seen a real performance from 11 players . Guessing you didn't bother making the trip pal ?
Left early and missed both goals and still have not seen us win this season. Been to Wigan and tonight at home and Gillingham away = 270mins of dross on the whole.
Still I'll take missing the comeback to get the point. Play-offs at best!