I'm on the coach home. I thought we looked good today. We did play a defensive game (but we did score very early) but looked totally in control until about tha last ten minutes of the first half.
In the second half we were still defending but it was when Powell took off Sordell (who was looking less effective - maybe tired) and replaced him with Pritchard. No disrespect to Bradley but we were unable to find any outlet then as Reza was knackered and the didn't get the ball out of our half.
Is was a gamble that didn't work but I am, suddenly, more confident that I was. The new right back looked very good. Reza is clearly very talented and once he gets up to full match fitness he is going to be a read handful in this division. Poyet looked like he's been playing at this level for ages and the Ajdarevic looked more than good enough with some flashes of real skill.
We also passed the ball, at times, better that we've seen for a while.
It was a disappointment to lose - especially at the death, but there are a lot of positives.
Heartbreak hotel: 88 minutes, 3 points in the bag .. 90 minutes, 0 points .. the team played pretty well, full of heart and grit .. all they can do from now on until the end of the season is to keep on going .. the consolation ? .. most of the clubs around us also lost .. I don't think that Powell got either his team or tactics right, but there can be few quibbles after we came so close ... we'll play worse than this in the future and win
Just seen the goals. I'm basing this on the 'Boro game as well:
There are bigger problems with Thuram than his insistence on punching (I'd call it flapping). He should have done better with both goals, especially the second. Absolutely shocking. He plays like you do when it's your turn to go in goal during a five-a-side, I.e. Clueless. Not a natural keeper. Hamer can't come back soon enough.
Back from the game. Very much agree with the observations of Siv and others. Some thoughts:
I was amazed at the attitude of the players today - Okay, we lost, but they were really up for it (even Sordell, for the most part) and CP deserves credit for this. It was all a bit disorganised when we found ourselves in an attacking position with lots of attacks petering out to nothing with a bad pass - but what else should we expect from a team full of players that barely know each other? Some very encouraging performances today, despite the result. It can't have been easy for the likes of Nego, being thrown in at the deep end against a good team away from home, but I thought he did really well. Poyet clearly has class and could be a key player for us - lots of maturity and intelligence for his age. Astrit gave his all and was knackered towards the end. Lennon did very well, under the circumstances. Yohan the GK indeed likes a punch, which tends to make things interesting...to be fair to him, though, he did well until the dam broke in the last five minutes. Reza played well and was exciting, however he got knocked off the ball a lot and the ref (who gave us virtually nothing all game, I might add) was not interested. He will mostly certainly have to learn to adjust to the rough and tumble of this league. He was up for it, though and a tricky customer - I'm looking forward to seeing more from him. Shame not to see Pietr today, but I have a good feeling about our two exotic new strikers. Wiggy getting injured today was crucial. We needed to put Church on very late in the game to give us an outlet, but we had run out of subs. Should he have put him on instead of Dervite? Maybe. The deflation of conceding an equaliser made the winner almost inevitable; not least because we were playing attack vs defence for the last 10 minutes.
Great support today and up until the last ten minutes or so (including a great new 'Gooch/CP' chant - although I would prefer that they call him Reza, as he does himself), it was really buzzing. Honestly did not hear the Wigan fans at all until they scored and then they woke up. A bit pathetic, really.
Overall, gutting to lose in the way we did, but I expected a right shoe-ing, which didn't happen. This performance and the fight in the players today actually gives me grounds for real optimism as when they get to know each other a bit better and we get a couple more loans in, we could be fine. I hope.
* Reza looked capable up top and showed some nice touches and positivity *Poyet looks quality, despite a few midplaced passes at inopportune moments *AA was very commited * Lennon did well out of position, Morro and Wood were well organised and the new right back made some good tackles..... basically the defence dealt well with a lot of pressure for a looooong period
1st Half *Lucky goal. Sordell finished well. *Wigan were clearly better but we contained it well enough and looked dangerous on occasion. * Sordell crap. lacked phydicality and just wrong.
2nd Half *kept pumping long balls up to strikers * when we played with 1 striker we kept pumping long balls *when we played with no strikers we still pumped long balls *sordell actually put some good pressure on *wigan all over us.... butttt... we kept them out for so long
was buzzing as we got closer to the end....
away end kept support going well.... lots of screams to leave someone up when we kept clearing to nobody
but
ouchhhh.... the inevitable happened
stings badly
6 hours coach ride home to mull it over
want powell to stay but bad tactics today
@stonemuse sitting next to your son but we haven't managed to bring ourselves to talk about the game yet.our son but we haven't managed to bring ourselves to talk about the game yet.
Thanks for report mate ...hope trip back don't take too long
Doncaster unbeaten in five now, Wednesday pulling away and safe. It's going to be us or Millwall who fill that third from bottom place unless Blackpool keep sliding down the table.
No one can doubt the affection and esteem in which Chris is held. We all want him to do well, however, the same mistakes are being made and lessons not learned. One can't view this game in isolation. Losing to Donny was shocking even with 10 men for so long. Remember we had Stephens, Alnwick and Yann then. Chris chose not to pair Wood with Morro or cousins with Stephens. Jackson can't play 3 games in a week but he came in with the effect of separating our best central midfield pair at the time. Cousins isn't a right sided midfielder so what on earth has he been doing there for the last two games ? It's hard to defend Chris when he makes these decisions. As I said, sadly, this isn't a one off and things don't look like changing.
Oh, and as for the subs - I actually thought Pritch did really well when he came on and just went after the ball which broke up some of their attacks and set up some for us (which usually ended up with us looking a bit lost until we lost possession again). Couldn't have asked any more from him - I know he's had a disappointing season, but he doesn't deserve stick for his performance today and really did improve the situation until things fell apart at the end.
Sordell clearly needed subbing later on. Poyet played a sumptuous ball through that she should have gotten onto, but he didn't get to it or really give their defender a problem at all - I hope that was down to tiredness and not a lack of motivation....
Didn't listen to much to the game, reading through the comments we were to negative again. We won't stay up playing negative football, play some wingers and give them the ball. We have to win next week but I fear Powell won't be in charge.
One of the best keepers of the last 20 years, if not the best, is Buffon. He attempts to catch everything and usually does. Unspectacular but it keeps possession! I think it's a bit general to say "foreign keepers are taught to punch everything."
Ok not everything, but foreign keepers in general are brought up to punch rather than catch for whatever reason, for example De Gea and Neuer.
A real backs-to-the-wall effort, especially in the second half. I thought the players gave their all, which, in all the circumstances, was as much as we could have hoped for. There were some positives and also some important negatives. Positives first:
1 Poyet. I thought he played with amazing maturity for his first start. He's a good holding player who also can pass. Probably MOM in my eyes.
2 Reza. For someone who hasn't played for two months I was very impressed. He's quick, well balanced, has good body strength, and is alert to what is going on around him.
3 JJ. Shouldn't have to include a good performance from JJ among the positives, given all he's done over the last few years. However, I've read so much about his legs having gone and his only being fit to be a sub, that I have to say, I saw no sign of that. He played 90 minutes, gave his all and was still going strong at the end. Maybe his lack of pace will need to be considered if we get some more midfield talent in, but for now we need him and all the organising and encouraging he does.
Negatives
1 Nego. Oh dear! If he plays in the next game I'll have to conclude that RD is picking the team.
2 Thuram. RD has really stuffed us here. He lends us a GK we don't need and sells one we do need. If he's in the team when Hamer is fit, then I'll know RD is picking the team.
3 Sordell. Yes, I know he took his goal confidently, but otherwise I saw nothing. I don't think it's that he doesn't care, as I've heard some say. He did his share of tracking back; it's just that he doesn't seem to have what it takes in his main duties.
That's enough, I think, except to say I had no problem with Powell's subs. There was no case to continue with two strikers when it was just one-way traffic, and AA wasn't able to do his full share of defensive duties towards the end. You could take the view that by bringing on attacking options we could have forced them back, but at the time that looked optimistic to say the least. It's easy to judge subs with hindsight; all I can say is that I was happy with them at the time.
The Red Robin"> Doncaster unbeaten in five now, Wednesday pulling away and safe. It's going to be us or Millwall who fill that third from bottom place unless Blackpool keep sliding down the table
Methinks Holloway will get the wall working. We will stay up by default not design. CP could have banked more points prior to year end. Failure to do so will come back to haunt every addick.
One of the best keepers of the last 20 years, if not the best, is Buffon. He attempts to catch everything and usually does. Unspectacular but it keeps possession! I think it's a bit general to say "foreign keepers are taught to punch everything."
Ok not everything, but foreign keepers in general are brought up to punch rather than catch for whatever reason, for example De Gea and Neuer.
They are all round good keepers and De Gea imrpoved a lot under Eric Steele.
Doncaster unbeaten in five now, Wednesday pulling away and safe. It's going to be us or Millwall who fill that third from bottom place unless Blackpool keep sliding down the table.
Possibly, hopefully Bolton
Hopefully, although I think Bolton have the quality of player to do enough to stay up. I'm not sure we do.
Can't believe the stick Powell gets over subs. What do people think Mourinho would do with a 1-0 lead with 10 minutes to go away from home?Bring on some strikers. Mind you, what does he know, eh?
Can't believe the stick Powell gets over subs. What do people think Mourinho would do with a 1-0 lead with 10 minutes to go away from home?Bring on some strikers. Mind you, what does he know, eh?
Bringing on defenders, fine. Sitting back at camping inside your own half and not breaking when you get the chance is not. Mourinho doesn't do that.
The Red Robin"> Doncaster unbeaten in five now, Wednesday pulling away and safe. It's going to be us or Millwall who fill that third from bottom place unless Blackpool keep sliding down the table
Methinks Holloway will get the wall working. We will stay up by default not design. CP could have banked more points prior to year end. Failure to do so will come back to haunt every addick.
I am getting tired of 'IFs' .. BUT .. IF Powell had the Millwall squad under his management (i.e. the Millwall squad was the CAFC squad), he would have it in comfortable mid table at least
Can't believe the stick Powell gets over subs. What do people think Mourinho would do with a 1-0 lead with 10 minutes to go away from home?Bring on some strikers. Mind you, what does he know, eh?
but we weren't 1-0 up with 10 mins to go - we were 1-0 up with 87 mins to go. Plenty of time to get a second, then defend. Defending a 1-0 lead hardly ever works, but instead of replacing a striker with a striker, CP replaces a striker with a defensive midfielder - thus inviting pressure.
If you always do what you've always done then you'll always get what you always got.
Comments
In the second half we were still defending but it was when Powell took off Sordell (who was looking less effective - maybe tired) and replaced him with Pritchard. No disrespect to Bradley but we were unable to find any outlet then as Reza was knackered and the didn't get the ball out of our half.
Is was a gamble that didn't work but I am, suddenly, more confident that I was. The new right back looked very good. Reza is clearly very talented and once he gets up to full match fitness he is going to be a read handful in this division. Poyet looked like he's been playing at this level for ages and the Ajdarevic looked more than good enough with some flashes of real skill.
We also passed the ball, at times, better that we've seen for a while.
It was a disappointment to lose - especially at the death, but there are a lot of positives.
There are bigger problems with Thuram than his insistence on punching (I'd call it flapping). He should have done better with both goals, especially the second. Absolutely shocking. He plays like you do when it's your turn to go in goal during a five-a-side, I.e. Clueless. Not a natural keeper. Hamer can't come back soon enough.
I was amazed at the attitude of the players today - Okay, we lost, but they were really up for it (even Sordell, for the most part) and CP deserves credit for this.
It was all a bit disorganised when we found ourselves in an attacking position with lots of attacks petering out to nothing with a bad pass - but what else should we expect from a team full of players that barely know each other?
Some very encouraging performances today, despite the result. It can't have been easy for the likes of Nego, being thrown in at the deep end against a good team away from home, but I thought he did really well. Poyet clearly has class and could be a key player for us - lots of maturity and intelligence for his age. Astrit gave his all and was knackered towards the end. Lennon did very well, under the circumstances.
Yohan the GK indeed likes a punch, which tends to make things interesting...to be fair to him, though, he did well until the dam broke in the last five minutes.
Reza played well and was exciting, however he got knocked off the ball a lot and the ref (who gave us virtually nothing all game, I might add) was not interested. He will mostly certainly have to learn to adjust to the rough and tumble of this league. He was up for it, though and a tricky customer - I'm looking forward to seeing more from him. Shame not to see Pietr today, but I have a good feeling about our two exotic new strikers.
Wiggy getting injured today was crucial. We needed to put Church on very late in the game to give us an outlet, but we had run out of subs. Should he have put him on instead of Dervite? Maybe.
The deflation of conceding an equaliser made the winner almost inevitable; not least because we were playing attack vs defence for the last 10 minutes.
Great support today and up until the last ten minutes or so (including a great new 'Gooch/CP' chant - although I would prefer that they call him Reza, as he does himself), it was really buzzing. Honestly did not hear the Wigan fans at all until they scored and then they woke up. A bit pathetic, really.
Overall, gutting to lose in the way we did, but I expected a right shoe-ing, which didn't happen. This performance and the fight in the players today actually gives me grounds for real optimism as when they get to know each other a bit better and we get a couple more loans in, we could be fine. I hope.
Don't give up people, we're not done yet.
Sordell clearly needed subbing later on. Poyet played a sumptuous ball through that she should have gotten onto, but he didn't get to it or really give their defender a problem at all - I hope that was down to tiredness and not a lack of motivation....
1 Poyet. I thought he played with amazing maturity for his first start. He's a good holding player who also can pass. Probably MOM in my eyes.
2 Reza. For someone who hasn't played for two months I was very impressed. He's quick, well balanced, has good body strength, and is alert to what is going on around him.
3 JJ. Shouldn't have to include a good performance from JJ among the positives, given all he's done over the last few years. However, I've read so much about his legs having gone and his only being fit to be a sub, that I have to say, I saw no sign of that. He played 90 minutes, gave his all and was still going strong at the end. Maybe his lack of pace will need to be considered if we get some more midfield talent in, but for now we need him and all the organising and encouraging he does.
Negatives
1 Nego. Oh dear! If he plays in the next game I'll have to conclude that RD is picking the team.
2 Thuram. RD has really stuffed us here. He lends us a GK we don't need and sells one we do need. If he's in the team when Hamer is fit, then I'll know RD is picking the team.
3 Sordell. Yes, I know he took his goal confidently, but otherwise I saw nothing. I don't think it's that he doesn't care, as I've heard some say. He did his share of tracking back; it's just that he doesn't seem to have what it takes in his main duties.
That's enough, I think, except to say I had no problem with Powell's subs. There was no case to continue with two strikers when it was just one-way traffic, and AA wasn't able to do his full share of defensive duties towards the end. You could take the view that by bringing on attacking options we could have forced them back, but at the time that looked optimistic to say the least. It's easy to judge subs with hindsight; all I can say is that I was happy with them at the time.
Doncaster unbeaten in five now, Wednesday pulling away and safe. It's going to be us or Millwall who fill that third from bottom place unless Blackpool keep sliding down the table
Methinks Holloway will get the wall working. We will stay up by default not design. CP could have banked more points prior to year end. Failure to do so will come back to haunt every addick.
but we weren't 1-0 up with 10 mins to go - we were 1-0 up with 87 mins to go. Plenty of time to get a second, then defend. Defending a 1-0 lead hardly ever works, but instead of replacing a striker with a striker, CP replaces a striker with a defensive midfielder - thus inviting pressure.
If you always do what you've always done then you'll always get what you always got.
It sounded decent
There was positive vibes from the posters and the radio people about
Turham
Loic
Reza
AA
Can anyone elaborate on the 90 mins performance please
And who are the wall