Not read the match thread or anything, where was Ajdarevic? I'm sensing something unsavoury there
Flu or something like that.
Cheers. The man's a walking illness/injury, not what we need in this crucial time.. Michael Owen could clock more minutes than he can.
Since he's been with us, which hasn't been long he's clocked more playing time then Michael Owen in his last three seasons, give the guy a break, (well, not exactly a break but you know what I mean)
That third Derby goal really pissed me off. Strangely enough I would have been almost satisfied with a 2-0 defeat and improved second half performance from the boys.
Let's try and put this result behind us and move on to the next game.
Oh well...We move on to Tuesday where we play the first of our games in hand. I think Millwall and Yeovil have gone. Then it's one from three for the other spot. Birmingham are doing their best to get dragged into the mix
Derby cruised it , we had a twenty minute spell at the beginning of 2nd half where we went for it a bit but as Mike mentioned Obika turning back into a defender when one on one was bizarre , he eventually got it to joe Pigott who had a good shot well saved Harriott looked reasonable when he came on Wiggins was the chuff wiggins and Reza on the left wing left Wilson exposed hence his substitution at ht Jacko had a mare for Derbys 2nd goal with a poor touch Petrucci had a couple of nice touches
Good luck to those going to Leeds , I'll pass on that
Thank goodness Blackburn scored in millwall time ...... And as for palace aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaah
35% Championship footy in SE7 next season 65% League One zzzzzzzzzzzz
Like Burnley, we were never going to get anything out of this but I firmly believe we should be starting such games with a more solid team. Starting with 3 strikers meant we were always going to concede most of the play against such a good side, especially away from home.
Still think we'll stay up but the continued lack of goals really is a worry. Since our only goals in the last 7 games have come from a defender and a defensive midfielder, maybe we should start the next game without any strikers or wingers :-)
Not read the match thread or anything, where was Ajdarevic? I'm sensing something unsavoury there
Flu or something like that.
Cheers. The man's a walking illness/injury, not what we need in this crucial time.. Michael Owen could clock more minutes than he can.
Bit harsh considering he has had assists in the last 2 goals we scored.....
He's a quality player don't get me wrong there, but he struggles incredibly getting 90 minutes, fitness of me after a few pints..
Not the worst day results wise, good teams will pick us off slowly but surely to scores like 3-0 when we bring no real attacking threat, anything and everything we are trying is not bringing us the goals we want, a big break and a new season required seemingly :-)
just seen the goals on Sky...........maybe a tad harsh on JJ for their 2nd as he was the only one attempting to go for the ball in our box whilst 4 or 5 of the rest of them stood looking at it and he got his head to it only ro divert it into the path of one of their players.
As for Millwall...............how they got their first pen I'll never know. Morisson pulled back their defender by the neck & HE gets the pen & the defender is sent off !!!
Derby came out of the blocks quickly and we really just got blown away. They're a good side and we couldn't afford to have many of our players off their game. Sadly in the first half at least Wiggins, Wood, Wilson, Sordell and Reza just weren't at it. Hamer made some good saves but they just cut through us at will. Poyet, Cousins and Jackson tried hard enough but couldn't cope with their midfield's movement. I haven't seen a better centre midfielder than Bryson this season and he was running things.
Once they scored the second I was fearful we would take a pasting but second half they took their foot off the pedal and we upped our game. If we'd have got a goal in the first 15 minutes of the second half it might have been a different story but once we didn't I knew they would get the third from just about their only attack in the second half.
Was always going to be tough anyway but had too many players subpar to make a decent fist of it.
We were noticeably better once Reza and Sordell came off. Pigott looks better with the ball on the ground. Dervite fits Riga's style far more than Wood.
Poyet took the game by the scruff of the neck for about 15 minutes but to no avail. I think he's quickly become too good for us. Petrucci looked neat when he came on and picked a few nice passes.
We need AA on the pitch to try and produce something. I think despite his fluff, Obika can score a few between now and the end of the season and can see us getting a good result at Leeds.
Riga chose a 4-5-1 to counter Derby's 4-3-3, matching up man-for-man in central midfield, with Reza wide right, Obika wide left and Sordell CF. Jacko joined Cousins & Poyet in CM.
We contained them for 15 mins until the first goal went in, then we were pulled apart by their movement. In particular, Forsyth their Left Back ran off Reza and Wisdom at right back ran off Obika, and both got forward at will to overload the full back areas. Wilson in particular was caught in 2 v 1 situations throughout the half, with Reza non-existant and clueless to what his defensive duties were. Two brilliant saves by Hamer kept it at 0-2 up to half-time.
Riga changed the system at half-time to 4-4-1-1 with Harriott on the left, Cousins on the right, and Obika at CF with Sordell in behind, Jacko joined Poyet in CM. We had a right go for around 20 mins, Poyet & Cousins started to dominate in midfield, Harriott caused problems on the left, Pigott replaced the ineffective Sordell and used his strength through the middle to set up Obika, and we caused Derby problems. However, McLaren recognised what was happening and brought on Eustace to block up the central areas. We had blown ourselves out by the third goal.
Derby are a good side and have an awkward system. Riga got the system right, but his decision to play Reza and Obika wide caused us more problems than them. He had to change it at half-time to avoid a 0-5.
The overriding problem is still that we don't have a striker who can score a goal. Derby were getting nervous during that spell early in the second half and converting one of three or four half chances in that period could have unsettled them enough to nick a point.
I didn't go today but, after a decent first half against Burnley last week, Riga changed at half time to three up front with Obika and Reza on the wings which destroyed any shape we had and left the full backs exposed-it sounds like he made the curious decision to start with that idea today and the results were the same. Please don't do it against Leeds Jose.
Jury still very much out on him as well as the other RD imports.
Absolutely shambolic first half; totally imbalanced and disjointed. A bit of fight for 15 minutes in the second half but very little to shout about frankly. As for that 'Reza' character - he would be out of his depth standing in 2 inches of water!
It is very easy to say 'we should automatically write it off because Derby are good', but football isn't like that as Yeovil and Barnsley proved on Tuesday, and I'd be interested to know how far you go down the league before you stop 'writing it off'.
Our goal scoring record under two regimes now is simply worse than woeful and will undoubtedly be our undoing unless it is somehow positively addressed. we are getting to the real business end now and like the Sheff U game, in tight edgy games goals are what determines things.
We can bring up what (in my view) the ridiculous decision that a satisfactory compromise couldn't be reached with Kermorgant until we are blue in the face. However the real criminal decision that seems to have passed with less scrutiny was the bonkers decision when we were unable to attract any worthwhile replacement was to spend money, rumoured decent money, on a lower tier Polish striker that two regimes don't see being anywhere near our first team.
No one has explained who was responsible for that transfer and we'll never know now how vital to the short term (this season) the funds allocated to that deal could have been better utilised.
Comments
Before today we were 12 better than Barnsley - now it is 6.
Let's try and put this result behind us and move on to the next game.
Us and Yeovil are averaging 1.1 points per game
Mowaw are averaging 0.8
Barnsley are averaging 1.3.
Project this over the remaining games and you have:
Charlton 46 pts
Barnsley 45-46 pts
Yeovil 39-40 pts
Muwuw 38-39
All skewed by todays results of course, and if we had drawn or Barnsley had we would have had a bit of a cushion.
Harriott looked reasonable when he came on
Wiggins was the chuff wiggins and Reza on the left wing left Wilson exposed hence his substitution at ht
Jacko had a mare for Derbys 2nd goal with a poor touch
Petrucci had a couple of nice touches
Good luck to those going to Leeds , I'll pass on that
Thank goodness Blackburn scored in millwall time ...... And as for palace aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaah
35% Championship footy in SE7 next season 65% League One zzzzzzzzzzzz
Still think we'll stay up but the continued lack of goals really is a worry. Since our only goals in the last 7 games have come from a defender and a defensive midfielder, maybe we should start the next game without any strikers or wingers :-)
Not the worst day results wise, good teams will pick us off slowly but surely to scores like 3-0 when we bring no real attacking threat, anything and everything we are trying is not bringing us the goals we want, a big break and a new season required seemingly :-)
As for Millwall...............how they got their first pen I'll never know. Morisson pulled back their defender by the neck & HE gets the pen & the defender is sent off !!!
Once they scored the second I was fearful we would take a pasting but second half they took their foot off the pedal and we upped our game. If we'd have got a goal in the first 15 minutes of the second half it might have been a different story but once we didn't I knew they would get the third from just about their only attack in the second half.
Was always going to be tough anyway but had too many players subpar to make a decent fist of it.
We were noticeably better once Reza and Sordell came off. Pigott looks better with the ball on the ground. Dervite fits Riga's style far more than Wood.
Poyet took the game by the scruff of the neck for about 15 minutes but to no avail. I think he's quickly become too good for us. Petrucci looked neat when he came on and picked a few nice passes.
We need AA on the pitch to try and produce something. I think despite his fluff, Obika can score a few between now and the end of the season and can see us getting a good result at Leeds.
Riga chose a 4-5-1 to counter Derby's 4-3-3, matching up man-for-man in central midfield, with Reza wide right, Obika wide left and Sordell CF. Jacko joined Cousins & Poyet in CM.
We contained them for 15 mins until the first goal went in, then we were pulled apart by their movement. In particular, Forsyth their Left Back ran off Reza and Wisdom at right back ran off Obika, and both got forward at will to overload the full back areas. Wilson in particular was caught in 2 v 1 situations throughout the half, with Reza non-existant and clueless to what his defensive duties were. Two brilliant saves by Hamer kept it at 0-2 up to half-time.
Riga changed the system at half-time to 4-4-1-1 with Harriott on the left, Cousins on the right, and Obika at CF with Sordell in behind, Jacko joined Poyet in CM. We had a right go for around 20 mins, Poyet & Cousins started to dominate in midfield, Harriott caused problems on the left, Pigott replaced the ineffective Sordell and used his strength through the middle to set up Obika, and we caused Derby problems. However, McLaren recognised what was happening and brought on Eustace to block up the central areas. We had blown ourselves out by the third goal.
Derby are a good side and have an awkward system. Riga got the system right, but his decision to play Reza and Obika wide caused us more problems than them. He had to change it at half-time to avoid a 0-5.
The overriding problem is still that we don't have a striker who can score a goal. Derby were getting nervous during that spell early in the second half and converting one of three or four half chances in that period could have unsettled them enough to nick a point.
Jury still very much out on him as well as the other RD imports.
Our goal scoring record under two regimes now is simply worse than woeful and will undoubtedly be our undoing unless it is somehow positively addressed. we are getting to the real business end now and like the Sheff U game, in tight edgy games goals are what determines things.
We can bring up what (in my view) the ridiculous decision that a satisfactory compromise couldn't be reached with Kermorgant until we are blue in the face. However the real criminal decision that seems to have passed with less scrutiny was the bonkers decision when we were unable to attract any worthwhile replacement was to spend money, rumoured decent money, on a lower tier Polish striker that two regimes don't see being anywhere near our first team.
No one has explained who was responsible for that transfer and we'll never know now how vital to the short term (this season) the funds allocated to that deal could have been better utilised.