Dear oh dear, yet another defeat five wins in twenty nine league games. The thing is I am getting so used to losing now it doesn't hurt as much. Very pleased for Diego who was mature beyond his years. Don't understand Cousins playing wide right. Why did it take so long for Church and Green to come on? Why didn't Polish Pete come on sooner. We need some pace in the midfield. Jackson slow, Adjarevic slow but with good touches, Cousins playing out of position.
I'm amazed at the positive comments about Reza. Thought he looked average - no threat and no strength. Also, he is clearly from the Forestieri school of sportsmanship. Blatant diving.
Today is the day I give up on Sordell. Wish I hadn't bothered defending him in the past.
To save me going to deep into an analysis, we did not deserve to lose today. There are certainly positives to take away from that. It just seems that whenever we make mistakes (or in some cases invite mistakes onto ourselves) we seem to get punished.
Birmingham are a poor team, but we have nothing up front & can not defend. We played the much better football on a pig of a pitch but have no cutting edge.
Evina & Sordell were terrible today & the keeper does not inspire confidence.
Thought Cousins & Poyet looked comfortable & the new guy in midfield looked good to me.
Reza looks keen if a little lightweight, time will tell with him.
Why did Powell leave the substitutions so late & why not chuck on Pete the pole much earlier & why do we have a 3 man committee meeting to take 5 minutes plus to actually make the subs. I guess only Powell knows why.
Having been a supporter of Powell in the past I am starting to lose patients. In all honesty to me he looks like he is now out of his depth & I can not see him lasting much longer. Not saying its all his fault because there have been some very strange board level decisions that I just cant understand.
I know there will be lots who disagree with me but that's how I feel right now.
By the way still going to Wednesday despite being totally depressed.
I'm amazed at the positive comments about Reza. Thought he looked average - no threat and no strength. Also, he is clearly from the Forestieri school of sportsmanship.
Today is the day I give up on Sordell. Wish I hadn't bothered defending him in the past.
Evina absolutely terrible.
AA looked good.
Considering his service is shite I though Reza did ok.
Made some intelligent runs and had some nice touches.
Out of Sordell, church and Reza, I'd choose Reza from the performance all day long.
Beat me to it!! That was my key takeaway too!! They would make so much difference, as you say.
I was a bit surprised when I saw the team. No width and no Church to run the channels. Not sure why Powell didn't play Nego at right back allowing Wilson to be pushed forward. I assumed the plan would be to narrow the midfield and push the two full backs forward when we had the ball, but that didn't happen. Cousins often tried to provide width on the right and although Ajdarevic did leave space outside him Evina never ran into it. There was a lot of fuss about Evina's contract situation in the summer. Bit ironic really. He won't get another one at Charlton, whatever League we are in, and his agent is going to have to work very hard to get him any sort of deal in League 1 or below.
Anyway, a huge disappointment. Two very poor teams competing in terrible conditions. The pitch is going to be a real problem from here on in and today the wind made life very difficult for both sets of players.
Birmingham did nothing, but managed to score two awful goals from our point of view. I don't think Thuram faced another shot in anger. Randolph had a decent game for them, making a number of decent saves, particularly from the battling Cousins who ought to have scored in the first half having been put through by Ajdarevic.
Ultimately though we just weren't good enough. We huffed and puffed, but simply didn't have the nous or the quality to break down a resolute Birmingham defence. We needed a slice of luck, but didn't get it.
We badly need some width. Green isn't the answer. He started well today, but as ever he flattered to deceive and his failure to retain possession led directly to the killer, second goal. We won't be seeing him next season either. Jackson worked hard and was as committed as ever, but simply isn't good enough on the ball at this level. With his mercurial ability to plunder goals apparently behind him he isn't worth his place in the side. Be very surprised if he's with us next season.
Bright spots? There weren't many. Ajdarevic has real quality, showed some lovely touches and almost scored with a superb volley in the first half. The question is how effective he'll be in the hurly burly of a relegation scrap. Same applies to Poyet. Looked a good player. Passed the ball nicely and got stuck in, but he played very deep. The sort of player who could look very good in a good, passing side. Cousins has emerged as our best player, the two full backs apart.
Ghoochannejhad worked hard and showed some quality at times, but found it hard going. Our pitch won't help him.
It's not looking good. We desperately need our two best players back in harness. Their impact could be transformational and a transformation is what's needed. A wide player with pace would also be a massive plus.
frist i must say you can not lose the ball where Danny green lost the ball 2nd Evina is League 2 player and 3rd the goalkeeper is so bad that the back four have no confedense in him
I'm amazed at the positive comments about Reza. Thought he looked average - no threat and no strength. Also, he is clearly from the Forestieri school of sportsmanship.
Today is the day I give up on Sordell. Wish I hadn't bothered defending him in the past.
Evina absolutely terrible.
AA looked good.
Out of Sordell, church and Reza, I'd choose Reza from the performance all day long.
Well, yes. I can't argue with that, but it's not what you'd call an embarrassment of riches.
Based on what I saw today, going into the last part of the season, has to be Reza and Parzyszek up front for me. Even though completely unproven at this level at least it would be a fresh injection of ideas and ability. Sordell and Church is not going to keep us up. Would like to see Ajdarevic sitting in just behind them. Looks like he may have the technical ability to at least provide some service.
All things considered the pitch played OK. Poyet was excellent and my player of the match .. assured, showing and taking responsibility. Reza looks like he is going to score goals, lots of running and movement, needs to stay on his feet in the penalty area, Adje was impressive, until towards the end when I think he just looked fed up - took some stick from other players after both goals, so maybe I missed something, Keeper was ok, not as bad as I thought he would be, at fault for the first goal along with a very static defense. All the players put in a shift, except below.
Bad points
I've defended Sordell continually and this was the first time I have seen him play so abjectly, justifying the comments that are made on here - a oment that could have been comic if it were not so sad was when he came back from off side to block Reza's run, Evina another player I have defended, I thought started ok, but gradually lost confiidence and was poor by the time he came off. Chances - as ever we did not make enough clear cut chances, we don't have the quality to play the wingers but we need them, substitutions would have liked it to have been Green and Peter so that we gave the Birmingham defence a different problem instead of similar. Following Gus's substitution we should have sung he's better than gus.
I have never seen Evina have a good game and I mean ever.The fact he was picked today ahead of Lennon who was very good last week, is a major disappointment. The fact we leave players stripped for 5 mins left standing there is a major disappointment.The fact he played Wilson right back when Loic played there last week and very well indeed, when Wilson could g ave played right mid,with Cousins back inside is a major disappointment.The fact he didn't give Polish Pete 30 mins is a major disappointment. If we leave Powell in charge we will definitely be relegated, you can take this chance and see if he can rebuild a new team next season and bring us back up. Or a change is made now and see if a new bloke can keep us up. But anybody moaning that the new p layers weren't his signings ain't got a leg to stand on as they were the best players for us on the pitch. One massive plus Poyet he is going to be a top player.
I thought we did Ok. We did look exposed in a couple areas and sorely missed Wiggins, but we played decent football and on another day would have won. The problem is not so much the performance but the fact that we simply need to beat very ordinary sides like Birmingham.
good performance & didn't deserve to lose - but if you don't find the back of the net then you wont win games.
special mentions for AA, Reza & Poyet - they are the future.
PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE can we play wingers on the wing and central midfielders in the centre. Surely it is not too much to ask. If I see Cousins play wide right one more time then I may not be liable for my actions and CP may have to seek shelter somewhere. terrible tactic to have him out there & one reason why we lost the game.
Also, as per an earlier post, where was the man who was shown putting in the crosses to Reza & PP on the I Player last week ?? then again, it would have been no good as PP was sitting on the bench until the 87th minute.
Just got back and cannot get my head round the game today! From the off we looked comfortable and confident with reza having a few chances which unluckily he couldn't quite get a touch on (hoping this will change as he gets used to his new team) and very impressed with poyet who like cousins looks like a seasoned pro with years of experience (so much so he was telling Morrison what to do and where to pass!) . Astrit looks tidy but almost got caught out when he tried to turn 2 players deep in our half, Evans was shocking and hope he is no where near the team as soon a wiggins is back! Thought sordell has a decent first 10 or so minutes but looked back to his normal lazy self and doesn't seem to have any chemistry with his team mates..
Would like to see Piotr and reza start against Wednesday with hamer in goal if possible. Think nego should also get the nod pushing Wilson to RM
Performances are getting better and we seem to be popping it about and passing with confidence again , so hopefully the results will come soon COYR!
Back home feeling very disappointed - which is a polite understatement.
Ref didn't help. First goal came after free kick which shouldn't have been awarded, and Reza's yellow for simulation should have been a penalty to us.
Thought first goal was a result of keeper error - still undecided about him. Would like to see Hamer back from injury.
Sordell was next to useless standing around like a spare part for a lot of the time., but for the rest thought there were some great touches of flair and skill at times - just not together playing as a team. A lot of waddling around the pitch like a flock of whores on a picnic.
Church should have been on 15-20 minutes earlier as things picked up when he got involved. He runs about like hell and gets in there.
Reza and Astrit made a lot of effort. Cousins and Poyet show real potential.
As one feller said on the way out of the ground, seen better but have seen them play a lot worse. There was no shine after the first 15 minutes and no hunger to get a goal back after we went 1 goal down.
Perhaps CP needs a little longer to get things gelling together. I think we have the players within the squad who can get us up the league table, but they need to play as a team and our tactics need to be better.
Something's got to change, whether it be the manager, or we bring a new attacking coach.
Positives Plenty of possession The swedish fella looks good on the ball, nice touches. Reza looks sharp, good movement. Poyet excellent.
Negatives Despite all the possession we looked toothless again Sordell is utter wank Evina well out of his depth Jackson..nice fella, but shouldn't be starting. Especially if it's preventing Cousins from playing in the middle. My god we miss wiggins and Solly. Tey make such a difference attacking wise as well as defensively. Danny Green melted the tackle again which led to their second goal. Powell getting players warm and then leaving them by the dugout for 5 minutes.
2-0 flattered them but they have macheda on loan, we've got Sordell. That's the difference.
We are in real trouble and something needs to change quick.
I'm amazed at the positive comments about Reza. Thought he looked average - no threat and no strength. Also, he is clearly from the Forestieri school of sportsmanship. Blatant diving.
Today is the day I give up on Sordell. Wish I hadn't bothered defending him in the past.
Evina absolutely terrible.
AA looked good.
Couldn't agree more about Reza. He looked quick and made some good runs in behind, but was lightweight and went down every time the opposition put a body on him. Foresteri is a great comparison. He obviously has good ability, but he ain't suited to English football, unless he adds some physical strength and changes his mentality.
I have never seen Evina have a good game and I mean ever.The fact he was picked today ahead of Lennon who was very good last week, is a major disappointment. The fact we leave players stripped for 5 mins left standing there is a major disappointment.The fact he played Wilson right back when Loic played there last week and very well indeed, when Wilson could g ave played right mid,with Cousins back inside is a major disappointment.The fact he didn't give Polish Pete 30 mins is a major disappointment. If we leave Powell in charge we will definitely be relegated, you can take this chance and see if he can rebuild a new team next season and bring us back up. Or a change is made now and see if a new bloke can keep us up. But anybody moaning that the new p layers weren't his signings ain't got a leg to stand on as they were the best players for us on the pitch. One massive plus Poyet he is going to be a top player.
Agree with a lot of that, especially Wilson playing right mid, but regarding the new guys, you could equally say that Stephens, Yann and Alnwick would likely have been the best players on the pitch if they were still here, so not sure if we have actually strengthened overall. Looking forward to seeing more of PP but I worry Reza is going to be too lightweight for this division.
At least I saw the same game as most posters today from the comments. Poyet was very assured, Adjarevic looked good and Reza was lively. Birmingham defended deep and scored from a set piece and on the break. If we could put the ball in the net this would be less of an issue, but it seems we can't. Ref was the usual atrocious standard, made it clear he was going to allow Brum to clatter people early on and they duly did. There was an example where a Birmingham player threw one of ours to the ground in the NW corner and he just waved play on. Negatives: seemed less spirit in the side, Jacko fairly anonymous, there appears to be issues between the back four and the keeper, though that might be my imagination. He wasn't as bad as I'd been led to expect and pulled off a save with his feet when Birmingham were through one on one that I suspect either of the Bens might have fluffed. Kicking from a dead ball was generally good, though he did kick it out a couple of times when we were playing into the wind. Not writing him off, though the punching thing does worry me (I think he only did it once). Until the takeover I thought we had enough fight about us to survive, I'm not sure now. What I wouldn't have given to have had Kermorgant in the area today - we really needed someone capable of standing up to the bullies; Reza looks like a skillful nippy player, not sure that a relegation scrap in the Championship against lots of very physical teams is going to help him.
Back home feeling very disappointed - which is a polite understatement.
Ref didn't help. First goal came after free kick which shouldn't have been awarded, and Reza's yellow for simulation should have been a penalty to us.
Thought first goal was a result of keeper error - still undecided about him. Would like to see Hamer back from injury.
Sordell was next to useless standing around like a spare part for a lot of the time., but for the rest thought there were some great touches of flair and skill at times - just not together playing as a team. A lot of waddling around the pitch like a flock of whores on a picnic.
Church should have been on 15-20 minutes earlier as things picked up when he got involved. He runs about like hell and gets in there.
Reza and Astrit made a lot of effort. Cousins and Poyet show real potential.
As one feller said on the way out of the ground, seen better but have seen them play a lot worse. There was no shine after the first 15 minutes and no hunger to get a goal back after we went 1 goal down.
Perhaps CP needs a little longer to get things gelling together. I think we have the players within the squad who can get us up the league table, but they need to play as a team and our tactics need to be better.
The first goal wasn't Thuram's fault in any way, shape or form. It was a free header from 7-8 yards out. The free kick was allowed to travel a long way without any hint of a challenge and whoever was supposed to be marking Macheda stood and watched him.
Disappointed as always when we lose but as someone else said, think I'm coming to terms with nil points ie I don't get toooo moody.
Pleased to read that others have taken some positives from the game, especially those who haven't witnessed our recent efforts up north. Thought our new lads performed pretty well considering but unfortunately, have to agree with the comments about Ceddy & Marvin. Must admit I was surprised to see the former's name on the team sheet as thought Lennon was the better option ...but what do I know ?
Where do we go from here ? That's the $m question & I for one have no answers. Another week on the training pitch will hopefully achieve more understanding between our players and if Big Pete is carrying an injury, then another 7 days to improve. Heard today that Wiggy may only be a week away from returning which is good news but would the gaffer risk him in the Cup when 3 points from QPR the following week would hit the spot ...
Must admit, for once, that I am starting to panic. Guess it may all be down to whether we can bring in a couple of influential players who have experience of our league or higher. I also heard that Jordan Ibe was on the bench for Liverpool this afternoon so that loan is looking highly unlikely.
Huge disappointed today. Surprised at comments keeper was ok, thought he was very dodgy and gave no confidence to defence. Tactics and formation again questionable, love CP but now think we need a change. On a positive note, thought we were much better going forward, just lacked that final cutting edge. On today's performance I think we will survive!
Disappointed as always when we lose but as someone else said, think I'm coming to terms with nil points ie I don't get toooo moody.
Pleased to read that others have taken some positives from the game, especially those who haven't witnessed our recent efforts up north. Thought our new lads performed pretty well considering but unfortunately, have to agree with the comments about Ceddy & Marvin. Must admit I was surprised to see the former's name on the team sheet as thought Lennon was the better option ...but what do I know ?
Where do we go from here ? That's the $m question & I for one have no answers. Another week on the training pitch will hopefully achieve more understanding between our players and if Big Pete is carrying an injury, then another 7 days to improve. Heard today that Wiggy may only be a week away from returning which is good news but would the gaffer risk him in the Cup when 3 points from QPR the following week would hit the spot ...
Must admit, for once, that I am starting to panic. Guess it may all be down to whether we can bring in a couple of influential players who have experience of our league or higher. I also heard that Jordan Ibe was on the bench for Liverpool this afternoon so that loan is looking highly unlikely.
The keeper...where do I start? Apart from the fact he can't catch it nor kick it, he's great. He actually got lobbed by a ball boy about 10 mins into the 2nd half.
Yeah the three one on ones that he convincingly saved where great, you are quite correct. I mean it only kept us in the game at the time but the fact he did a few dodgy kicks is clearly much more significant.
Comments
Today is the day I give up on Sordell. Wish I hadn't bothered defending him in the past.
Evina absolutely terrible.
AA looked good.
It just seems that whenever we make mistakes (or in some cases invite mistakes onto ourselves) we seem to get punished.
Evina & Sordell were terrible today & the keeper does not inspire confidence.
Thought Cousins & Poyet looked comfortable & the new guy in midfield looked good to me.
Reza looks keen if a little lightweight, time will tell with him.
Why did Powell leave the substitutions so late & why not chuck on Pete the pole much earlier & why do we have a 3 man committee meeting to take 5 minutes plus to actually make the subs. I guess only Powell knows why.
Having been a supporter of Powell in the past I am starting to lose patients. In all honesty to me he looks like he is now out of his depth & I can not see him lasting much longer. Not saying its all his fault because there have been some very strange board level decisions that I just cant understand.
I know there will be lots who disagree with me but that's how I feel right now.
By the way still going to Wednesday despite being totally depressed.
Made some intelligent runs and had some nice touches.
Out of Sordell, church and Reza, I'd choose Reza from the performance all day long.
I was a bit surprised when I saw the team. No width and no Church to run the channels. Not sure why Powell didn't play Nego at right back allowing Wilson to be pushed forward. I assumed the plan would be to narrow the midfield and push the two full backs forward when we had the ball, but that didn't happen. Cousins often tried to provide width on the right and although Ajdarevic did leave space outside him Evina never ran into it. There was a lot of fuss about Evina's contract situation in the summer. Bit ironic really. He won't get another one at Charlton, whatever League we are in, and his agent is going to have to work very hard to get him any sort of deal in League 1 or below.
Anyway, a huge disappointment. Two very poor teams competing in terrible conditions. The pitch is going to be a real problem from here on in and today the wind made life very difficult for both sets of players.
Birmingham did nothing, but managed to score two awful goals from our point of view. I don't think Thuram faced another shot in anger. Randolph had a decent game for them, making a number of decent saves, particularly from the battling Cousins who ought to have scored in the first half having been put through by Ajdarevic.
Ultimately though we just weren't good enough. We huffed and puffed, but simply didn't have the nous or the quality to break down a resolute Birmingham defence. We needed a slice of luck, but didn't get it.
We badly need some width. Green isn't the answer. He started well today, but as ever he flattered to deceive and his failure to retain possession led directly to the killer, second goal. We won't be seeing him next season either. Jackson worked hard and was as committed as ever, but simply isn't good enough on the ball at this level. With his mercurial ability to plunder goals apparently behind him he isn't worth his place in the side. Be very surprised if he's with us next season.
Bright spots? There weren't many. Ajdarevic has real quality, showed some lovely touches and almost scored with a superb volley in the first half. The question is how effective he'll be in the hurly burly of a relegation scrap. Same applies to Poyet. Looked a good player. Passed the ball nicely and got stuck in, but he played very deep. The sort of player who could look very good in a good, passing side. Cousins has emerged as our best player, the two full backs apart.
Ghoochannejhad worked hard and showed some quality at times, but found it hard going. Our pitch won't help him.
It's not looking good. We desperately need our two best players back in harness. Their impact could be transformational and a transformation is what's needed. A wide player with pace would also be a massive plus.
He wins the games in the 'mini-league'.
Like Curbs did for us.
We are not winning our 'mini-league' games.
All things considered the pitch played OK. Poyet was excellent and my player of the match .. assured, showing and taking responsibility. Reza looks like he is going to score goals, lots of running and movement, needs to stay on his feet in the penalty area, Adje was impressive, until towards the end when I think he just looked fed up - took some stick from other players after both goals, so maybe I missed something, Keeper was ok, not as bad as I thought he would be, at fault for the first goal along with a very static defense. All the players put in a shift, except below.
Bad points
I've defended Sordell continually and this was the first time I have seen him play so abjectly, justifying the comments that are made on here - a oment that could have been comic if it were not so sad was when he came back from off side to block Reza's run, Evina another player I have defended, I thought started ok, but gradually lost confiidence and was poor by the time he came off. Chances - as ever we did not make enough clear cut chances, we don't have the quality to play the wingers but we need them, substitutions would have liked it to have been Green and Peter so that we gave the Birmingham defence a different problem instead of similar. Following Gus's substitution we should have sung he's better than gus.
Did not deserve to lose
special mentions for AA, Reza & Poyet - they are the future.
PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE can we play wingers on the wing and central midfielders in the centre. Surely it is not too much to ask. If I see Cousins play wide right one more time then I may not be liable for my actions and CP may have to seek shelter somewhere. terrible tactic to have him out there & one reason why we lost the game.
Also, as per an earlier post, where was the man who was shown putting in the crosses to Reza & PP on the I Player last week ?? then again, it would have been no good as PP was sitting on the bench until the 87th minute.
From the off we looked comfortable and confident with reza having a few chances which unluckily he couldn't quite get a touch on (hoping this will change as he gets used to his new team) and very impressed with poyet who like cousins looks like a seasoned pro with years of experience (so much so he was telling Morrison what to do and where to pass!) . Astrit looks tidy but almost got caught out when he tried to turn 2 players deep in our half, Evans was shocking and hope he is no where near the team as soon a wiggins is back! Thought sordell has a decent first 10 or so minutes but looked back to his normal lazy self and doesn't seem to have any chemistry with his team mates..
Would like to see Piotr and reza start against Wednesday with hamer in goal if possible. Think nego should also get the nod pushing Wilson to RM
Performances are getting better and we seem to be popping it about and passing with confidence again , so hopefully the results will come soon
COYR!
Ref didn't help. First goal came after free kick which shouldn't have been awarded, and Reza's yellow for simulation should have been a penalty to us.
Thought first goal was a result of keeper error - still undecided about him. Would like to see Hamer back from injury.
Sordell was next to useless standing around like a spare part for a lot of the time., but for the rest thought there were some great touches of flair and skill at times - just not together playing as a team. A lot of waddling around the pitch like a flock of whores on a picnic.
Church should have been on 15-20 minutes earlier as things picked up when he got involved. He runs about like hell and gets in there.
Reza and Astrit made a lot of effort. Cousins and Poyet show real potential.
As one feller said on the way out of the ground, seen better but have seen them play a lot worse. There was no shine after the first 15 minutes and no hunger to get a goal back after we went 1 goal down.
Perhaps CP needs a little longer to get things gelling together. I think we have the players within the squad who can get us up the league table, but they need to play as a team and our tactics need to be better.
We desperately need a speedy winger to get behind defences and actually cross the ball. Urgently.
He obviously has good ability, but he ain't suited to English football, unless he adds some physical strength and changes his mentality.
Negatives: seemed less spirit in the side, Jacko fairly anonymous, there appears to be issues between the back four and the keeper, though that might be my imagination. He wasn't as bad as I'd been led to expect and pulled off a save with his feet when Birmingham were through one on one that I suspect either of the Bens might have fluffed. Kicking from a dead ball was generally good, though he did kick it out a couple of times when we were playing into the wind. Not writing him off, though the punching thing does worry me (I think he only did it once).
Until the takeover I thought we had enough fight about us to survive, I'm not sure now. What I wouldn't have given to have had Kermorgant in the area today - we really needed someone capable of standing up to the bullies; Reza looks like a skillful nippy player, not sure that a relegation scrap in the Championship against lots of very physical teams is going to help him.
Pleased to read that others have taken some positives from the game, especially those who haven't witnessed our recent efforts up north. Thought our new lads performed pretty well considering but unfortunately, have to agree with the comments about Ceddy & Marvin. Must admit I was surprised to see the former's name on the team sheet as thought Lennon was the better option ...but what do I know ?
Where do we go from here ? That's the $m question & I for one have no answers. Another week on the training pitch will hopefully achieve more understanding between our players and if Big Pete is carrying an injury, then another 7 days to improve. Heard today that Wiggy may only be a week away from returning which is good news but would the gaffer risk him in the Cup when 3 points from QPR the following week would hit the spot ...
Must admit, for once, that I am starting to panic. Guess it may all be down to whether we can bring in a couple of influential players who have experience of our league or higher. I also heard that Jordan Ibe was on the bench for Liverpool this afternoon so that loan is looking highly unlikely.
Does anyone have any answers ?
Bewitched, Bothered & Bewildered of Dartford.
-------Hamer
Solly Morro Wood Wiggy
----Poyet Cousins
-Reza - Astrit - Loan
-------Pole