Fuck Wilson off. Never has one man hid quite like he did today
Stealing a living
Don't think there is a word that exists in the English dictionary to sum up Wilson today. I bet Brighton could not believe their luck to find out they had an extra man playing for them. First touch was non existent, was second to anything that came near him, tackling was a joke and passing was embarrasing.
I actually voted him as player of the season last year but he's been pretty rubbish this time round (Colchester aside) - what's happened ?
Nothing happened. He's always been shite
So when Solly only played 10 games last season, who do you think stepped in and was a good up and down RB.
I call it as i see it, i gave lawrie the lowest marks i've ever given today. he was that bad.
But last season he was fine.
Re Lawrie Wilson. Perhaps he's a better full back? Maybe try Gomez in midfield and put Lawrie at RB? Gomez is quality - good on the floor and in the air and has acceleration. I've seen Wilson several times in midfield and he lacks acceleration, often fails to spot a pass and never gets past an opposition player in a one on one. He is a hard working guy who seems to care and I'm sure we all want him to do well. Realistically his level is League 1.
stephen Henderson's injury, plus Igor's playing at 50% of his early form, or fitness plus wiggins injury just as he had shown his best form has derailed Cafc season.
next week at Watford, Wilson, Jackson and tucadean must drop out for Gomez, buyens and Watt.
now wiggins is back you could try 3-5-2 with wiggins and solly in the 5 or 4-4-2
but if we don't play with any passion, we will lose however we set up.
A dour battle between two poor teams that could have gone either way. As it happened they won, but it could have been us. Normally I'd be quite philosophical about such a result; you win some, you lose some; these things even themselves out over a season; we'll get the rub of the green next time... that sort of thing. However there's three things that concern me, big time. 1. Brighton started the day in 21st position, they looked nothing special, there won't be many easier games this season. 2. We haven't won in eight games now. 3. We haven't even looked like winning in eight games. There's no fluidity, no real impetus to attack, and when we do attack our moves break down under the sheer weight of our own nervousness. At one point not long into the second half Wilson got the ball, there was no-one on him and he had more acres of empty space to play with than your average farmer could dream of. The crowd roared, he started to run, this was it Brighton were really in trouble now. Except they weren't in any trouble at all. Before he had reached the half way line he'd stopped running and was looking to play a sideways-backways ball. Brighton hadn't stopped us - we'd stopped ourselves. The Wilson incident was surely the worst example of this, but it wasn't the only one.
Only on a couple of occasions did we really look as if we wanted to score. To be fair Watt linked up well with our best attacking midfielder on a couple of occasions. That our best attacking midfielder was Chris Solly speaks volumes. Even with three forwards on the pitch we only looked like scoring on two occasions, one when Solly hit the woodwork, one when Watt fired wide. That was about it. If we are to start winning something we desperately need to get some creativity going in midfield and we need to attack with more confidence and less fear.
Just to end on a positive note - Ben Haim: absolutely outstanding today.
When jackson got the knock , I was hoping to see Ollie Muldoon given a go in midfield - still hoping he is involved saturday vs watford! As others have said , gomez was brilliant today and is a fantastic prospect but im also happy it is peeters who is current manager as it gives the youngesters a chance to get in the squad on matchdays.... unfortunately that wasnt the case under powell and riga! Peeters was brought in for the longrun as im confident that he will be here.next season WHEN we're in the championship! COYR
The single redeeming feature from our pathetic display this afternoon was Tony Watt, with his close control, burst of speed, and eye for goal. But that's all there was: a 22-year-old outsider who has been rejected by his previous clubs and dumped on us, Charlton as a rehabilitation centre, a proving ground, a sanatorium.
Last Saturday against Blackburn taught us a fundamental lesson. Leaving any Cup ambitions aside, we failed completely against our peers, jostling for a tilt at the play-offs. Blackburn passed quickly, controlled the ball with instant technique, ran, received, passed and moved again: in fluent moves from defence to attack they sliced us apart and were in on goal.
That was last week. Brighton came to The Valley today having won only four games all season: they were cautious and insecure: with lateral passes, then backwards, they were open to a sprinting interception from any team with an ounce of gumption. We had the whole 90 minutes to grab this game by the scruff of the neck and stamp some semblance of authority.
Our most basic passes go straight out of play. Fifty-fifty challenges in midfield are routinely lost to the opposition. Our crosses are met in the box by an aching vacancy. For three seasons we have needed midfielders with the strength to win possession and the skills to advance and thread balls to rehearsed strikers.
This week, Duchatelet has shuffled over to us a 22-year-old goalkeeper from Hungary.
Fingers still frozen so not able to write much. But in fairness most things already said.
But just 2 points from me. Firstly, Tucudean should be no-where near the first team ever again. A truly abject display, and he's surely been saved from more criticism by the fact Wilson was even more abject. If BP continues to play him, he is signing his own dismissal note. It is unbelievable that some still say George will come good. There is not a Championship quality player in him in a million years.
Secondly, how on earth have we gone in 2 and a half years from having one of the tightest, most closely knitted teams I have ever seen, with a team spirit and togetherness that was second to none, to a bunch of individuals, half of whom are on loan or passing through. (Not sure if others noted Ben Haim giving Wilson real stick in the 2nd half - OK maybe it was deserved but it can hardly improve team morale). I can only say breaking up Chris Powell's Championship winning squad so quickly was a complete folly and it has ended up with us having to watch a team so far away from being a "proper" Charlton team that it is frightening.
I got shot down when I suggested it when he signed that even the level he was playing in Romania top tier he'd struggle to cut it in the Championship, let alone one that struggled in the top tier as a whole and only really made his trade in the second tier. Belgian D2 or similar would suit him better ala Polish Pete.
And the answer to your second part is RD. As I've mentioned many a time, he pushes out the key outposts from our title winning tight knit side, Powell & co, MM etc. and put in players like Bulot, Tucudean, Thuram, PP, the list goes on in place of them... It was bleedingly obvious what RD's plan was from the start, to un-Charlton us and try to 'use' us for his experiment in players, which he still can't see isn't going to work, promotion to PL was never in his plans, because he'd have to of invested so heavily.
It's painful, it's un-Charlton like.. I love my club but I don't like it at the mo. And it's showing on the pitch now as well as off.
Fingers still frozen so not able to write much. But in fairness most things already said.
But just 2 points from me. Firstly, Tucudean should be no-where near the first team ever again. A truly abject display, and he's surely been saved from more criticism by the fact Wilson was even more abject. If BP continues to play him, he is signing his own dismissal note. It is unbelievable that some still say George will come good. There is not a Championship quality player in him in a million years.
Secondly, how on earth have we gone in 2 and a half years from having one of the tightest, most closely knitted teams I have ever seen, with a team spirit and togetherness that was second to none, to a bunch of individuals, half of whom are on loan or passing through. (Not sure if others noted Ben Haim giving Wilson real stick in the 2nd half - OK maybe it was deserved but it can hardly improve team morale). I can only say breaking up Chris Powell's Championship winning squad so quickly was a complete folly and it has ended up with us having to watch a team so far away from being a "proper" Charlton team that it is frightening.
I got shot down when I suggested it when he signed that even the level he was playing in Romania top tier he'd struggle to cut it in the Championship, let alone one that struggled in the top tier as a whole and only really made his trade in the second tier. Belgian D2 or similar would suit him better ala Polish Pete.
And the answer to your second part is RD. As I've mentioned many a time, he pushes out the key outposts from our title winning tight knit side, Powell & co, MM etc. and put in players like Bulot, Tucudean, Thuram, PP, the list goes on in place of them... It was bleedingly obvious what RD's plan was from the start, to un-Charlton us and try to 'use' us for his experiment in players, which he still can't see isn't going to work, promotion to PL was never in his plans, because he'd have to of invested so heavily.
It's painful, it's un-Charlton like.. I love my club but I don't like it at the mo. And it's showing on the pitch now as well as off.
Hmm. Spunk 14m on Charlton and promotion to the PL was never in his plans. I don't think so.
Bar Henderson and Buyens that was the same eleven who started the first six games of the season very well. The confidence in the side has gone, we can't score a goal, the passing/control was under 9's at times yesterday and any mistake by the back four or keeper is punished.
Plus we have the likes of Wilson who look disinterested, a keeper that could not get in Oldham Athletic's first team but is good enough to start in a championship side, Jacko and Peeters having verbals on the pitch last week.
19 points away from relegation and at the moment that looks a long way off. Gladly the bottom 3 are not getting any better recently or like Blackpool are far too adrift to play catch up.
If I invested 20m plus into Charlton and I was worth 400m, then throwing another 3m on three proven Championship players is a no brainer. Roly needs to be told by the young lady and Bob that if this don't happen then your investment is going to be worth a few euros in a years time if we are back in league one. Crowds are dropping and will continue to drop.
Fingers still frozen so not able to write much. But in fairness most things already said.
But just 2 points from me. Firstly, Tucudean should be no-where near the first team ever again. A truly abject display, and he's surely been saved from more criticism by the fact Wilson was even more abject. If BP continues to play him, he is signing his own dismissal note. It is unbelievable that some still say George will come good. There is not a Championship quality player in him in a million years.
Secondly, how on earth have we gone in 2 and a half years from having one of the tightest, most closely knitted teams I have ever seen, with a team spirit and togetherness that was second to none, to a bunch of individuals, half of whom are on loan or passing through. (Not sure if others noted Ben Haim giving Wilson real stick in the 2nd half - OK maybe it was deserved but it can hardly improve team morale). I can only say breaking up Chris Powell's Championship winning squad so quickly was a complete folly and it has ended up with us having to watch a team so far away from being a "proper" Charlton team that it is frightening.
I got shot down when I suggested it when he signed that even the level he was playing in Romania top tier he'd struggle to cut it in the Championship, let alone one that struggled in the top tier as a whole and only really made his trade in the second tier. Belgian D2 or similar would suit him better ala Polish Pete.
And the answer to your second part is RD. As I've mentioned many a time, he pushes out the key outposts from our title winning tight knit side, Powell & co, MM etc. and put in players like Bulot, Tucudean, Thuram, PP, the list goes on in place of them... It was bleedingly obvious what RD's plan was from the start, to un-Charlton us and try to 'use' us for his experiment in players, which he still can't see isn't going to work, promotion to PL was never in his plans, because he'd have to of invested so heavily.
It's painful, it's un-Charlton like.. I love my club but I don't like it at the mo. And it's showing on the pitch now as well as off.
Hmm. Spunk 14m on Charlton and promotion to the PL was never in his plans. I don't think so.
The club has a value. If you buy a house for £250k you will get at least some of the money back when you sell it. You haven't wasted the £250k. In Charlton's case there is an eight figure value in the land regardless of the fortunes of the team (although it's complicated by charges against loans).
Leaving aside whether RD succeeds in increasing the value of CAFC by gaining promotion or otherwise, which is in his hands, it's wrong to see the £14m as a write off even if we go down rather than up.
In very broad terms it's what the business loses year on year that we should regard as what it costs him, added to which is any profit or loss on the ultimate sale price.
Bar Henderson and Buyens that was the same eleven who started the first six games of the season very well. The confidence in the side has gone, we can't score a goal, the passing/control was under 9's at times yesterday and any mistake by the back four or keeper is punished.
Plus we have the likes of Wilson who look disinterested, a keeper that could not get in Oldham Athletic's first team but is good enough to start in a championship side, Jacko and Peeters having verbals on the pitch last week.
19 points away from relegation and at the moment that looks a long way off. Gladly the bottom 3 are not getting any better or are far too adrift to play catch up.
If I invested 20m plus into Charlton and I was worth 400m, then throwing another 3m on three proven Championship players is a no brainer. Roly needs to be told by the young lady and Bob that if this don't happen then your investment is going to be worth a few euros in a years time if we are back in league one. Crowds are dropping and will continue to drop.
No way are the bottom three too far adrift to play catch up. It is all in our current form which is woeful. We are in a relegation fight make no mistake. The issue is that last time it was the other way around and we improved at the end of the year. This pattern has been seen so many times with teams before when form is lost at the wrong time.
Bar Henderson and Buyens that was the first x1 from the start of the season, but the confidence has gone from this team and as a result the little things in games are seeming not to go for us anymore.
The squad was simply not big enough on day 1 and with a few (not many) injuries/suspensions we are paying for this
Been adopting a policy recently of waiting till the morning after to write my post match views to allow time for reflection/calming down etc. This week that has resulted in me spattering my views across a number of other threads with titles such as "apathy", "bob's lost the plot" and "George is a turkey". Ok I made the last one up but you get my drift. The tone is therefore set. My sentiments this morning having slept on it and having read the various threads from start to finish are:
1. That was crap. Again.
2. Just about total unanimity on here about the failings and how we are all feeling.
3. There was something badly wrong yesterday other than tactics. Several players clearly don't want be here/have lost it with Bob. I can cope with incompetence. We are well used to it. But I can't stomach "couldn't give a toss-ness". It was on show yesterday.
4. It's a hackneyed phrase but yesterday I genuinely did see the worst performance ever by a player in a Charlton shirt in my 20 odd years of going. Had it been anyone other than Lawrie Wilson i'd be berating him mercilessly. But I refer to point 3. Lawrie is a limited player but he is not the scared, hiding workshy incompetent that we saw yesterday. The life has been knocked out of this guy and I suspect several others in the last few months. Incidentally, I suspect Lawries will be the lowest ever average mark. I don't ever remember so many twos and threes. Anytime I've given marks like that in the past someone has taken my head off. Not this week.
5. George is crap. Cardiff was a cameo.
6. Watt has something about him. But his demeanour and his history tells us that he is a management challenge. Bob appears to be a blunt instrument. If the latter survives beyond the weekend this relationship could be a car crash. Watt gave some strong reactions to bob's instructions from the touch line.
7. Bob. Err, bye bye I suspect. I've not yet managed to develop either an affinity or a dislike for our Bob. I'm utter "meh" about him. Dealt a tough card and I suspect is a patsy for Roly. But if these are his tactics we best get rid soon before we all die of boredom. Post match comments, allowing for his not quite perfect English, are cringeworthy
8. Brighton. Good support. Crap side. We should have seen them off like we should have seen off so many other crap sides this season. It could prove our undoing.
9. Relegation scrap? Without doubt.
10. Near misses with previous transfer targets. Step forward Chris O'Grady and Sam Baldock as players with whom we have been seriously linked who have turned out to be crap in the flesh.
Yesterday's 1-0 defeat felt very different from the same result at home to Ipswich last month. I was optimistic after Ipswich as we played some good stuff and we unlucky not to get a point or three.
Yesterday we weren't unlucky. We were atrocious for the first 45. Didn't press, couldn't pass, poor control and let Brighton do what they wanted. Even Solly was poor. And WIlson doesn't look half the player he was last year. There's no doubt the squad has suffered from some very poor recruitment decisions, but there's no excuse for players not being able to control the ball or not playing at a tempo that gives you a chance in the championship. Bob had better sort it pretty sharpish as I can't see RD being any more patient that the fans.
Dissapointing; however, I did like the pace, energy and urgency and the desire to get our wide players furthest forward. Bugger, I just realised I dreamt that. Peeters, please take the handbrake off!
The last game we won was Reading away, and that was the last game Henderson played, if you ask anybody there, Henderson came and collected every ball into the box,since then every other keeper has cost us games.
The positives: - the defence played well, except the goal, and good to see Wiggins back. He's 2 levels above his understudy. - Cousins had a solid return to centre mid, Solly did a job when he was moved there as he's one of the best footballers in the team and Gudmundsson looked more comfortable when he went to the right. - Watt looked promising.
Unfortunately we continue to fail to build on any positive aspects with our failings hurting us: - the goalkeeper made a few errors, one costly. The sooner we get Henderson back the better. Get Pope back in the meantime. - I was ok when I saw that Wilson was in the line up. After all, he couldn't play any worse than last week could he.......? Oh yes he could, my word has he lost it and needs a new club now for a fresh start. - Jackson was redundant. Cousins was doing all the 'Jackson stuff' but better. We desperately need an attacking, creative central midfielder. - Tucudean doesn't perform often enough and has less strength than a 5 year old. - Vetokele is a good player lacking in confidence. Which leads me on to my biggest concern..... - Bob. The mark of a good manager in any walk of life is how you deal with the problems. Bob, cut the crap, you're not dealing with problems very well right now. Why push Igor left mid when he and Watt are starting to look dangerous. The Bikey up front business is just Sunday league. You are being out thought tactically by every other manager in the division even though, in most cases, their players are no better than ours. No wonder the more experienced players are getting hacked off with your stubborn ignoring the obvious.
The good managers we've had over the years have had the ability to change things well to turn around bad form - Curbs was exceptional at it. Bob, if you don't halt the slide in the next couple of games you will lose the fans.
I would hope that we are keenly looking for the quality hold up man and attacking central midfielder we so clearly crave. Add these and instill some confidence in the rest of the team and things will quickly turn from poor to good. Sadly, I fear the fans are being 'set up' for just network shuffling and I don't see the slump being turned round.
Just watched the goal it wasn't a free header TBH was marking him.The trouble was Etheridge coming out and at the last second pulling his hand away,leaving TBH no time to jump.
Yes. we are definitely paying for having only one senior keeper. Replacing an inexperienced keeper with another one was clearly a poor decision. Not quite as boneheaded as replacing Yann with Piotr, but it's up there.
Dmitrovic in next week? A new keeper a week till Hendo is back?
I wonder if there's a point in Etheridge playing when we could have just played Pope anyway and given him first team football with us. I agree that Pope was struggling, but Etheridge seemed no better to me.
Sobering to look at Huddersfield, scored over twice as many goals us as in the last 12 when we've invested and they haven't really. CP negative and BP the man to bring us forward? Hmm.
The last game we won was Reading away, and that was the last game Henderson played, if you ask anybody there, Henderson came and collected every ball into the box,since then every other keeper has cost us games.
As have the centre halves. You can't just blame goalkeepers when we're giving free headers away every week.
Just watched the goal it wasn't a free header TBH was marking him.The trouble was Etheridge coming out and at the last second pulling his hand away,leaving TBH no time to jump.
I agree , I thought that at the time. Full marks for watching the game again .. I don't think I could .
Btw, with the goal, whoever it was that said that TBH is expecting Ehteridge to collect seems spot on to me. You can see here that it looks to be keeper's ball all day.
Just watched the goal it wasn't a free header TBH was marking him.The trouble was Etheridge coming out and at the last second pulling his hand away,leaving TBH no time to jump.
I agree , I thought that at the time. Full marks for watching the game again .. I don't think I could .
Just seen it again on SSN. Etheridge wafts his hand in the air. What a clown.
The thing I find most disappointing is that we cannot get a result against the poor sides. Brighton were crap, had one chance and scored yet we couldn't find a way to break them down. We had a bit of bad luck with Solly's shot and Watt looked lively but we just didn't threaten and look like a team with no confidence.
Sorry to see Lawrie Wilson have such a poor game last year he was terrific for us at right back but he looked totally out of his depth yesterday. Not much to take from this other than we need a win sson or I see a real scrap at the end of the season. Depressing stuff really.
Comments
Perhaps he's a better full back? Maybe try Gomez in midfield and put Lawrie at RB?
Gomez is quality - good on the floor and in the air and has acceleration.
I've seen Wilson several times in midfield and he lacks acceleration, often fails to spot a pass and never gets past an opposition player in a one on one.
He is a hard working guy who seems to care and I'm sure we all want him to do well.
Realistically his level is League 1.
shown his best form has derailed Cafc season.
next week at Watford,
Wilson, Jackson and tucadean must drop out for Gomez, buyens and Watt.
now wiggins is back you could try 3-5-2 with wiggins and solly in the 5
or 4-4-2
but if we don't play with any passion, we will lose however we set up.
Only on a couple of occasions did we really look as if we wanted to score. To be fair Watt linked up well with our best attacking midfielder on a couple of occasions. That our best attacking midfielder was Chris Solly speaks volumes. Even with three forwards on the pitch we only looked like scoring on two occasions, one when Solly hit the woodwork, one when Watt fired wide. That was about it. If we are to start winning something we desperately need to get some creativity going in midfield and we need to attack with more confidence and less fear.
Just to end on a positive note - Ben Haim: absolutely outstanding today.
As others have said , gomez was brilliant today and is a fantastic prospect but im also happy it is peeters who is current manager as it gives the youngesters a chance to get in the squad on matchdays.... unfortunately that wasnt the case under powell and riga!
Peeters was brought in for the longrun as im confident that he will be here.next season WHEN we're in the championship!
COYR
Last Saturday against Blackburn taught us a fundamental lesson. Leaving any Cup ambitions aside, we failed completely against our peers, jostling for a tilt at the play-offs. Blackburn passed quickly, controlled the ball with instant technique, ran, received, passed and moved again: in fluent moves from defence to attack they sliced us apart and were in on goal.
That was last week. Brighton came to The Valley today having won only four games all season: they were cautious and insecure: with lateral passes, then backwards, they were open to a sprinting interception from any team with an ounce of gumption. We had the whole 90 minutes to grab this game by the scruff of the neck and stamp some semblance of authority.
Our most basic passes go straight out of play. Fifty-fifty challenges in midfield are routinely lost to the opposition. Our crosses are met in the box by an aching vacancy. For three seasons we have needed midfielders with the strength to win possession and the skills to advance and thread balls to rehearsed strikers.
This week, Duchatelet has shuffled over to us a 22-year-old goalkeeper from Hungary.
And the answer to your second part is RD. As I've mentioned many a time, he pushes out the key outposts from our title winning tight knit side, Powell & co, MM etc. and put in players like Bulot, Tucudean, Thuram, PP, the list goes on in place of them... It was bleedingly obvious what RD's plan was from the start, to un-Charlton us and try to 'use' us for his experiment in players, which he still can't see isn't going to work, promotion to PL was never in his plans, because he'd have to of invested so heavily.
It's painful, it's un-Charlton like.. I love my club but I don't like it at the mo. And it's showing on the pitch now as well as off.
Plus we have the likes of Wilson who look disinterested, a keeper that could not get in Oldham Athletic's first team but is good enough to start in a championship side, Jacko and Peeters having verbals on the pitch last week.
19 points away from relegation and at the moment that looks a long way off. Gladly the bottom 3 are not getting any better recently or like Blackpool are far too adrift to play catch up.
If I invested 20m plus into Charlton and I was worth 400m, then throwing another 3m on three proven Championship players is a no brainer. Roly needs to be told by the young lady and Bob that if this don't happen then your investment is going to be worth a few euros in a years time if we are back in league one. Crowds are dropping and will continue to drop.
Leaving aside whether RD succeeds in increasing the value of CAFC by gaining promotion or otherwise, which is in his hands, it's wrong to see the £14m as a write off even if we go down rather than up.
In very broad terms it's what the business loses year on year that we should regard as what it costs him, added to which is any profit or loss on the ultimate sale price.
The squad was simply not big enough on day 1 and with a few (not many) injuries/suspensions we are paying for this
1. That was crap. Again.
2. Just about total unanimity on here about the failings and how we are all feeling.
3. There was something badly wrong yesterday other than tactics. Several players clearly don't want be here/have lost it with Bob. I can cope with incompetence. We are well used to it. But I can't stomach "couldn't give a toss-ness". It was on show yesterday.
4. It's a hackneyed phrase but yesterday I genuinely did see the worst performance ever by a player in a Charlton shirt in my 20 odd years of going. Had it been anyone other than Lawrie Wilson i'd be berating him mercilessly. But I refer to point 3. Lawrie is a limited player but he is not the scared, hiding workshy incompetent that we saw yesterday. The life has been knocked out of this guy and I suspect several others in the last few months. Incidentally, I suspect Lawries will be the lowest ever average mark. I don't ever remember so many twos and threes. Anytime I've given marks like that in the past someone has taken my head off. Not this week.
5. George is crap. Cardiff was a cameo.
6. Watt has something about him. But his demeanour and his history tells us that he is a management challenge. Bob appears to be a blunt instrument. If the latter survives beyond the weekend this relationship could be a car crash. Watt gave some strong reactions to bob's instructions from the touch line.
7. Bob. Err, bye bye I suspect. I've not yet managed to develop either an affinity or a dislike for our Bob. I'm utter "meh" about him. Dealt a tough card and I suspect is a patsy for Roly. But if these are his tactics we best get rid soon before we all die of boredom. Post match comments, allowing for his not quite perfect English, are cringeworthy
8. Brighton. Good support. Crap side. We should have seen them off like we should have seen off so many other crap sides this season. It could prove our undoing.
9. Relegation scrap? Without doubt.
10. Near misses with previous transfer targets. Step forward Chris O'Grady and Sam Baldock as players with whom we have been seriously linked who have turned out to be crap in the flesh.
Err, that's it. Bah Humbug.
Yesterday we weren't unlucky. We were atrocious for the first 45. Didn't press, couldn't pass, poor control and let Brighton do what they wanted. Even Solly was poor. And WIlson doesn't look half the player he was last year. There's no doubt the squad has suffered from some very poor recruitment decisions, but there's no excuse for players not being able to control the ball or not playing at a tempo that gives you a chance in the championship. Bob had better sort it pretty sharpish as I can't see RD being any more patient that the fans.
Bugger, I just realised I dreamt that.
Peeters, please take the handbrake off!
- the defence played well, except the goal, and good to see Wiggins back. He's 2 levels above his understudy.
- Cousins had a solid return to centre mid, Solly did a job when he was moved there as he's one of the best footballers in the team and Gudmundsson looked more comfortable when he went to the right.
- Watt looked promising.
Unfortunately we continue to fail to build on any positive aspects with our failings hurting us:
- the goalkeeper made a few errors, one costly. The sooner we get Henderson back the better. Get Pope back in the meantime.
- I was ok when I saw that Wilson was in the line up. After all, he couldn't play any worse than last week could he.......? Oh yes he could, my word has he lost it and needs a new club now for a fresh start.
- Jackson was redundant. Cousins was doing all the 'Jackson stuff' but better. We desperately need an attacking, creative central midfielder.
- Tucudean doesn't perform often enough and has less strength than a 5 year old.
- Vetokele is a good player lacking in confidence. Which leads me on to my biggest concern.....
- Bob. The mark of a good manager in any walk of life is how you deal with the problems. Bob, cut the crap, you're not dealing with problems very well right now. Why push Igor left mid when he and Watt are starting to look dangerous. The Bikey up front business is just Sunday league. You are being out thought tactically by every other manager in the division even though, in most cases, their players are no better than ours. No wonder the more experienced players are getting hacked off with your stubborn ignoring the obvious.
The good managers we've had over the years have had the ability to change things well to turn around bad form - Curbs was exceptional at it. Bob, if you don't halt the slide in the next couple of games you will lose the fans.
I would hope that we are keenly looking for the quality hold up man and attacking central midfielder we so clearly crave. Add these and instill some confidence in the rest of the team and things will quickly turn from poor to good. Sadly, I fear the fans are being 'set up' for just network shuffling and I don't see the slump being turned round.
My team for next match:
Etheridge
Solly
TBH
Bikey
Wiggins
Gudmundsson
Buyens
Cousins
Harriott
Vetokele
Watt
Dmitrovic in next week? A new keeper a week till Hendo is back?
Sorry to see Lawrie Wilson have such a poor game last year he was terrific for us at right back but he looked totally out of his depth yesterday. Not much to take from this other than we need a win sson or I see a real scrap at the end of the season. Depressing stuff really.