One thing that could potentially annoy me is the possibility that Robinson said we tried 4-4-2 yesterday and it didn't work. I thought I saw it somewhere but can't find it so it is wrong to get furious if he didn't say it. If he did, we played 4-4-2 for just over 30 minutes. And a few at the game are observing it did have a positive effect - but even if not, if he said that we should be outside his house with pitchforks. Does anybody know if he said it or not?
What was that rubbish Robinson was spouting earlier on in the Season, " There's goals all over the pitch with this team " , that kind of sounds a bit hollow now doesn't it ?
442 with Ajose and Zyro is much more the way to play. Pinging in high crosses from out wide where their defence is in place is generally a waste of time and we take so long to get the ball up the field that their defence is always in place.
So, next game, start with this:
Amos, Probably Konsa, BFG, Pearce, Sarr because there are no full-backs not hors de combat. Reeves, JFC, Aribo, Fosu-Henry Żyro, Ajose
I think Konsa is on international duty next week.
I'd go:
Amos
Djiksteel Bauer Pearce Sarr
Marshall Aribo JFC Fosu
Zyro Ajose
Lewis Page should play against Plymouth, him and Dijksteel on either side will hopefully provide more attacking impetus than what we saw yesterday.
With Mavididi maybe returning on the bench with Kaikai and Reeves, we have at least 2 subs who will make a good impact.
The only good thing to come out of today was that I can see 442 working with Zyro as target man. He won headers, held the bal up ok, and can actually pass. No more pissing about passing between the back four and Amos, just Hoof_it_up_to_Zyro-y ffs. It looked to me like it might actually work, with a bit of practice. Seriously. Our season re-ignited!
Seriously? Credited you with more intelligence. Of course your comment could be veiled sarcasm in which case I apologise.
Sarcasm, yes, but with an element of truth. The true bit wasn't the last bit. I've had enough of the safety first sideways passing between the back four and Amos. Drives me nuts. By the time we've progressed up the pitch whoever we're playing are totally ready for our inevitable attempt to 'finesse' the ball up the wing. I've joined to 442 brigade, for home matches at least. I'd rather see the likes of Pearce hoofing it in Zyro's general direction, than losing it like he did today. If Fleetwood had been any good they would have made us pay for that.
Yes I did think Zyro offered more than Magennis today.
Fleetwood's right back looked a decent player.
Thing is, we've been playing like this for a long time now. It's so boring and predictable; Groundhog day for sure. Just change the colour of the opposition shirts but the 'spectacle' is the same. Just couldn't take it any more so went to watch FA trophy semi-final (Bromley v Gateshead) thrilling end-to end stuff with Bromley edging it 3-2. So sad, used to be like that at The Valley but no longer. Christ, that Belgian has a lot to answer for. One man who's egotistical stance has ruined so many people's hopes and dreams - for some it appears permanently. What a legacy, and there's no end in sight, just get's worse and worse each passing day.
442 with Ajose and Zyro is much more the way to play. Pinging in high crosses from out wide where their defence is in place is generally a waste of time and we take so long to get the ball up the field that their defence is always in place.
So, next game, start with this:
Amos, Probably Konsa, BFG, Pearce, Sarr because there are no full-backs not hors de combat. Reeves, JFC, Aribo, Fosu-Henry Żyro, Ajose
I think Konsa is on international duty next week.
I'd go:
Amos
Djiksteel Bauer Pearce Sarr
Marshall Aribo JFC Fosu
Zyro Ajose
Lewis Page should play against Plymouth, him and Dijksteel on either side will hopefully provide more attacking impetus than what we saw yesterday.
With Mavididi maybe returning on the bench with Kaikai and Reeves, we have at least 2 subs who will make a good impact.
At the beginning of the season I thought we'd be in a relegation scrap. If it weren't for the good start, that's where we'd be right now because that collection of individuals in red shirts looked nailed on to get relegated the way they were playing.
If there were 5,000 people in the ground I'd be amazed. So we're right back at Upton Park level attendances. 25 years hard work flushed down the shitter in no time at all.
More than 5k but less than 6k.
Airman, do you have some insider info on this, or is that your estimate from seeing the crowd?
Quote from previous comment. ''We are now getting Selhurst Park / Upton Park turnouts''
But the football was much better at those grounds, we had far better players! Only consolation to me is with this crap being served up then surely the price Roly will get is going down by the minute?
Quote from previous comment. ''We are now getting Selhurst Park / Upton Park turnouts''
But the football was much better at those grounds, we had far better players! Only consolation to me is with this crap being served up then surely the price Roly will get is going down by the minute?
As I said on a previous thread, football has changed since I started going in the last 70's (and in our case not for the better). I don't recall seeing Tydeman, Bowman, Powell, Aizelwood, Flanagan, Hales, etc etc pass it backwards & sideways for long periods of play. It seemed simpler 30 years ago - goalkeepers regularly hoofed it upfield for the TWO frontmen to battle it out, or the midfielders passed it straight to the TWO natural wingers who would RUN at the defenders, getting in crosses ON THE RUN to ON RUNNING forwards. We are not Man City, Liverpool or Real Madrid & do not have players who can play crisp, one touch play.
I don't think I've seen anything so dull or predictable during my 40 years of supporting the club than what is currently being served up at the moment, and we've had some pretty average players over that time too (in the 2nd & 3rd tier of English football). Today's players maybe more skilful, but they are much less attractive to watch.
At the beginning of the season I thought we'd be in a relegation scrap. If it weren't for the good start, that's where we'd be right now because that collection of individuals in red shirts looked nailed on to get relegated the way they were playing.
If there were 5,000 people in the ground I'd be amazed. So we're right back at Upton Park level attendances. 25 years hard work flushed down the shitter in no time at all.
More than 5k but less than 6k.
Was counting the crowd more interesting than the game, Airman?
One of the problems is you can pass the ball backwards and sideways as long as you do it to find space for something incisive. Great, even good teams do this! Because it is all getting a bit toxic, the fans moan a bit too quickly at backwards passes which means the players are scared to make them. This does compromise the system a bit, but if we were winning games, they wouldn't be doing it! It isn't a good system for angry fans and mentally weak players. I have noticed this season that the preferred ball is to somebody else in a no better position when there is an opportunity for something incisive.
This does play into opponents hands and makes pressing much easier. It mitigates things a little from Robinson's perspective, but it is what it is and he should factor this into his planning. When you are playing a team like Fleetwood it is worth going very offensive against them. They are there for the beating!
One of the problems is you can pass the ball backwards and sideways as long as you do it to find space for something incisive. Great, even good teams do this! Because it is all getting a bit toxic, the fans moan a bit too quickly at backwards passes which means the players are scared to make them. This does compromise the system a bit, but if we were winning games, they wouldn't be doing it! It isn't a good system for angry fans and mentally weak players. I have noticed this season that the preferred ball is to somebody else in a no better position when there is an opportunity for something incisive.
This does play into opponents hands and makes pressing much easier. It mitigates things a little from Robinson's perspective, but it is what it is and he should factor this into his planning. When you are playing a team like Fleetwood it is worth going very offensive against them. They are there for the beating!
The tactics are detail. The results say Robinson isn’t good enough to manage Charlton. End of story.
I must have been at a different game then as I don't recall that many crosses coming in from either flank. Marshall put in a few from the right, but not a lot from the left (as KR says, Sarr is a CB & not adept to whipping in crosses) but I do agree that the quality of the crosses were dire. Marshall wants to go whichway & that, 2 or 3 times instead of just beating the defender ON THE OUTSIDE & then putting in a cross.
However, the main problem with all this is that Magennis is just not very good at getting his head onto a cross. There is already a thread on "Leaburn or Josh" so wont go into the merits of his ability, but if Robinson's main argument is that we are playing 4-2-3-1 so that we can put crosses in for Josh to score then he is a bigger fool than even I have given him credit for.
As the saying goes, he opens his mouth just to change feet.
I must have been at a different game then as I don't recall that many crosses coming in from either flank. Marshall put in a few from the right, but not a lot from the left (as KR says, Sarr is a CB & not adept to whipping in crosses) but I do agree that the quality of the crosses were dire. Marshall wants to go whichway & that, 2 or 3 times instead of just beating the defender ON THE OUTSIDE & then putting in a cross.
However, the main problem with all this is that Magennis is just not very good at getting his head onto a cross. There is already a thread on "Leaburn or Josh" so wont go into the merits of his ability, but if Robinson's main argument is that we are playing 4-2-3-1 so that we can put crosses in for Josh to score then he is a bigger fool than even I have given him credit for.
As the saying goes, he opens his mouth just to change feet.
Josh drifting out wide has put in better crosses than most of the dross served up for him this season.
What an awful awful game, it's a good job there are a glut of equally awful teams in this division. Starting to regret buying tickets for Northampton.
Konsa and Sarr are not wingbacks yet Robinson still plays that formation, teams come to us and get behind the ball, yet the two of Aribo and JFK (equally when Kashi plays) comes back often beyond the centre halves to get the ball by which time we've got 5 players to their 11.
Not sure whats happened to Magennis, I think even he's given up, as for Robinson, I think he's been shown as a one trick pony just no one's quite sure what that trick is.
Zyro and Ajose actually looked like footballers though which I'd forgotten what players up front looked like, i'd give them a run together,
We'll bumble through the remaining 10 games, maybe pick up a couple of wins and finish about 12th, probably behind Gillingham and Southend, we'll also end with one of the lowest goals for, which sums up the main problem if you don't back it up with 1-0 to the Arsenal style defence record. Two shots on target, at home, to a team in or around relegation who've leaked on average 1.5 goals a game sums up just how bad we are.
The only thing keeping Robinson in a job is the fact the owner doesn't give two hoots anymore.
At the end of Jan we'd played 28 games, sat in 6th place on 46 points, fast forward to now, another 8 games played and 52 points, 6 points from 8 games is dire
I think the technical term is Karl Robinson is as thick as arseholes.
Change it to 10 games and we're in the bottom half, 5 we drop to 19th. It's poor however you look at it, other than the first few months of the season.
Isn't it time to try something different for at least 2/3 games? What have we got to lose? We can't drop out the play-offs and we almost have enough points to say we definitely won't get relegated.
Even if 4-2-3-1 is your preferred system, isn't it time to gamble on something else and see how it plays out?
If not that, can we at least play at a high tempo, take fewer touches, go direct more often, pass into space more often, press teams harder?
That was how Luzon went on that initial run when he came in. Instead of Peeters slow cautious 4-4-2 we played faster, went more direct (but not out and out long ball), pressed harder and played with more energy. It was still 4-4-2 but we played it in a very different way.
Such a slow build up won't get the best out of this team. Possession doesn't win you points. We mostly play one way so teams know they can either press us and spoil that build up, or sit back in numbers and crowd us out. Both seem to work quite well, while we tend to need moments of individual brilliance to score. No team can rely on that so much to win promotion.
Everyone can see this apart from the man who can do something about it.
Yesterday was dreadful, not one shot of any note to test their keeper. If it was not for Amos and a bad miss by their number 9, then another defeat would have occurred. The crowd like the players have had enough. I stayed around at the end to see what reaction they would get but the majority of the crowd just walked out. There must have been only been around 200 left venting their frustration.
Discussed this after the game but with the amount of home fans in there yesterday who could have just filled the Lower West and opened the lower Covered End for any overflow. Never seen it that bad since we returned to the Valley. To give an attendance of 9865 is laughable when there must have been no more than 4/5k in the ground.
Plymouth have sold around 2 thousand tickets for next week, so there will be noise, but coming from the away end.
Season is over now.
Obviously clubs have to publish number of tickets sold rather people physically in the ground for tax purposes. But it would be good if they could (with the technologies around) also publish the number of people phydically in the ground.
Yeah it certainly looked a little less than 9k. Probably about 5k.
All clubs have a breakdown readily available.
If the figures of about 5000 in attendance yesterday are correct, it is alarming(but not surprising) the amount of season ticket holders not going and people given complimentaries who cannot be bothered to go.
Unless we get off to a flyer with the new owners it could take many years before we can regularly get gates near to the 20k mark.
We have lost THOUSANDS of supporters under these clowns.
Put it this way @ElfsborgAddick I’ve got a free season ticket and I still didn’t go on Saturday, as you can imagine, I am very glad I didn’t too.
4-2-3-1 would be fine if you had a lone striker who could score 20 goals a season and hold the ball up. Plus the 3 behind him could score 15 goals each. We don't. 4-4-2 or 3-5-2 as long as there 2 strikers working together up front. Zyro and Ajose in the 30 minutes together looked like they could complement each other. Work on it in training this week Robbo; that's if you don't jump ship to Oxford on Tuesday. Otherwise Jason Euell can be caretaker to the end of season aided by JJ and Bowyer.
Karl speaks so much shite that he can't be expected to remember in March the exact detail and manner of shite that he was talking in September.
Let's be clear, when you are the stage of the game where you are pairing the hopeless Ajose with a Polish bloke who hasn't played for two years then you're basically sticking pins in a board, aren't you?
I must have been at a different game then as I don't recall that many crosses coming in from either flank. Marshall put in a few from the right, but not a lot from the left (as KR says, Sarr is a CB & not adept to whipping in crosses) but I do agree that the quality of the crosses were dire. Marshall wants to go whichway & that, 2 or 3 times instead of just beating the defender ON THE OUTSIDE & then putting in a cross.
However, the main problem with all this is that Magennis is just not very good at getting his head onto a cross. There is already a thread on "Leaburn or Josh" so wont go into the merits of his ability, but if Robinson's main argument is that we are playing 4-2-3-1 so that we can put crosses in for Josh to score then he is a bigger fool than even I have given him credit for.
As the saying goes, he opens his mouth just to change feet.
Josh drifting out wide has put in better crosses than most of the dross served up for him this season.
Josh is quite possibly the best crosser at the club.
Comments
Lewis Page should play against Plymouth, him and Dijksteel on either side will hopefully provide more attacking impetus than what we saw yesterday.
With Mavididi maybe returning on the bench with Kaikai and Reeves, we have at least 2 subs who will make a good impact.
Really hope he starts with 4-4-2!
''We are now getting Selhurst Park / Upton Park turnouts''
But the football was much better at those grounds,
we had far better players!
Only consolation to me is with this crap being served up
then surely the price Roly will get is going down by the
minute?
I don't think I've seen anything so dull or predictable during my 40 years of supporting the club than what is currently being served up at the moment, and we've had some pretty average players over that time too (in the 2nd & 3rd tier of English football). Today's players maybe more skilful, but they are much less attractive to watch.
This does play into opponents hands and makes pressing much easier. It mitigates things a little from Robinson's perspective, but it is what it is and he should factor this into his planning. When you are playing a team like Fleetwood it is worth going very offensive against them. They are there for the beating!
We’ve been patient. More than patient
Sorry Robinson but this isnt MK Dons, we might have a rubbish owner but your BADLY under achieving and with that comes critiscm
However, the main problem with all this is that Magennis is just not very good at getting his head onto a cross. There is already a thread on "Leaburn or Josh" so wont go into the merits of his ability, but if Robinson's main argument is that we are playing 4-2-3-1 so that we can put crosses in for Josh to score then he is a bigger fool than even I have given him credit for.
As the saying goes, he opens his mouth just to change feet.
4-4-2 or 3-5-2 as long as there 2 strikers working together up front. Zyro and Ajose in the 30 minutes together looked like they could complement each other.
Work on it in training this week Robbo; that's if you don't jump ship to Oxford on Tuesday. Otherwise Jason Euell can be caretaker to the end of season aided by JJ and Bowyer.
Let's be clear, when you are the stage of the game where you are pairing the hopeless Ajose with a Polish bloke who hasn't played for two years then you're basically sticking pins in a board, aren't you?