Another disappointing performance by the sounds of it, and game over pretty early on.
Perhaps I'm being soft but also disappointing how reactionary everything is these days. Win a couple of games and Big Bob is a legend, lose a couple and he is out of his depth and hasn't a clue.
Neither is true of course. Whether he is a good or bad manager I don't feel we can accurately judge yet, but our painfully thin squad, with primarily inadequate up front and what's looking like a similar thing in goal, is costing us games. That in turn effects confidence and everything then goes on a negative slide.
Looking tough at the mo. A decent Xmas win will certainly do a lot for everyone's confidence, but squad strengthening is absolutely vital.
Look forward to hearing from those there. What a shite journey home that must be.
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Our very thin squad has been hit harder than expected by the loss of Henderson, Wiggins and Jackson. As well as Le Coq. And we needed strengthening before that point anyway.
A season of mid table experimentation is fine with me.
Need some fresh players in to help the small squad. Worried that it will be SL reserve shit like last season.
Beaten by a better team today who are play off chaser against a midtable team.
If the gap gets to less than 5 points to 22nd I will start worrying.
;o)
What I do expect is players to be played in the correct positions, in a formation they understand. It would also be nice to do the basics right and not gift them goals.
But we wouldn't be having the big inquest that will now ensue, if the players and management hadn't shit themselves when we went 2-1 up against Blackpool last week.
Fair enough, shuffle your pack, deal your cards, play on.
My concern though is that in this most competitive and unforgiving of leagues you have to take into account the opposition. I don't mean fear them, but show due respect regarding specifics, and use detailed knowledge of opponents to set up properly, counter their strengths, and exploit their weaknesses. Bob has sometimes said he has seen the videos of the opposition, but I am left wondering if that really impacts his thinking much.
I don't know about the specifics of todays goals, but Jordan Rhodes is a proven scorer and got two, Igor is also a bit of a proven scorer, but is now getting consistently shut out. Have others sussed us out better than we have sussed them, and ought that to be any kind of concern?
I am thinking out loud here, but we play Blackburn again very soon, I know it is the cup, and at the (now going to be a mainly empty) Valley, but I wonder if seeing Blackburn at close quarters today will have any impact. The same goes for Ipswich away as we played them recently too.
We've played Solly in midfield, Wilson on the left, Solly at LB, JBG everywhere but his preferred position and Harriott as a striker. Just play them in their proper positions, it's not difficult
(1) Won six out of 22 games this season
(2) Scored 23 goals in 22 those matches
(3) Second top scorer in open play has two League goals
(4) Our top scorer has netted three goals in his last 15 games
(5) One win and just eight points from the last nine matches - only the bottom two have taken less points in that time
No need to panic quite yet but we have to arrest this run through the introduction of two or three quality players in January because otherwise, rather like our run of draws, a run of defeats will become a habit.
Previous seasons 36 points was enough to be sixth after 23 games. Watford in sixth have 38 points from 22. Put simply we are not in touch and it was the results in November which did this plus failing to beat Blackpool.
So now we have the cup to look forward to plus where is the next win coming from? I'm sure this 12 game run must be bringing a lot of pressure to bear on Peeters and the team. The sooner we can get Wiggins, Henderson and Jackson back the better - with them and a couple of signings we can start winning again. Here's hoping we can beat them in the cup for that will keep our season alive.
You know as well as I do, we'll put out a reserve team; it will be a God awful match played in front of a crowd of about 6,000; no atmosphere with 2 stands closed, and we'll lose 2-0.
Nothing against Pope, think he's a great shot stopper, but too many mistakes recently. Defenses are always affected when they are worried about the keeper behind them.
It's all about confidence, isn't it?
Pope has the ability to become a very good keeper, but right now he seems as nervous as a kitten.
"For me we started with the wrong mentality and that is the first time my team has done that."
Not at all, Bob, the only thing we started with that was wrong was the whole set up from tactics through to team picked and formation.
Clutching at straws as he's not going to get the investment, but the safer he keeps it the more dividends it will reap IMO, keep players to their positions.
it wasn't a match as were no match for them, OK Pope did make a bad mistake for,the second goal but also pull off at least 4 very good saves, when Wilson came on and Solly went LB we started to play some football but at no time was there a goal threat in our team whereas Bburn looked like they had at least three players who could score. We were outplayed and out thought, some players treid hard others shirked their responsibilities.
Heard from a source that we have 5 players coming in Jan including a 17 yr old striker from Anderlect