they are in our league btw.....if they win more games than us then they will. Millwall are above us too, in case you didn't notice.
I hate all the billy big bollox " so & so tin pit club are above us". Get used to it. we are in this league for a reason.....we havent been good enough for the past 3 seasons to get out of it. So what if Accrington, Barnsley or Wallsall are above us. There are 24 teams in this league....some will get more points than us. Doesn't matter if its Accrington or Arsenal. get over it.
Cullen, Taylor, and Aribo were my top three yesterday; Cullen working well across half-back, Joe linking play between half-back and half-forward, and Lyle everywhere from full back to full forward.
Special mentions to Sarr the Enforcer and Solly the Unstoppable Goal Machine who both looked solid on the left side of defence. Naby's nonchalent pass for Ward's late (missed) header was superb; over the midfield and defender, and onto the diving Ward's head.
Our attacking play in the first half and early part of the second was excellent and we should have been so out of sight at half time we could have declared then and still won by an innings.
The Bad
Our attacking play was wasteful throughout. Some of shooting was woeful: Taylor missed a sitter of a header in the first half, Ward should have done better at the end just before their winner, and some of Karlan's long-range shooting was so woeful that even Simon Church would have called them powderpuff.
Too many times our players took a touch too many (in Fossy's case, several touches too many) which allowed defenders to get back into position, and far too often made the wrong decision to pass or shoot.
In Division Three we may get away with this profligacy half the time but if we've got serious ambitions to get promoted we've got to be more ruthless and batter teams every week.
The Ugly
The defence. Shocking. From the moment Cov mad their subs in the second half they seemed to start panicking.
As much as I like Dijksteel I thought he struggled yesterday and appeared to drag Pearce down with him. Our lack of consistent defence (different personnel almost every game) is having an impact on both the back line and the 'keeper.
It doesn't matter how good our front line is if our defence has the resilience of a chocolate teapot. This has to be Lord Bowyer's main focus over the next two weeks. With Page out for several weeks we're going to be weaker down the left. At least with Bielik coming back we'll have extra cover. Maybe revert to a back three of Solly UGM, Pearce, and the Enforcer, with Bielik as a deep-sitting half-back as a bit of cover?
The end
The Cov fans. They turned out in large numbers and made a lot of noise all game. Their rendition of Twist And Shout (very well co-ordinated, I must say) went on for a long time in the second half at a time when their team offered less than bugger all. In fact until the last 10 minutes they were the outstanding performers for the Sky Blues.
We'll have worse performances than yesterday and take all three points. It was a harsh result, not even getting a point, but hopefully it'll act as a wake-up call to the players that we can't get away with conceding so many stupid goals, especially in the last few minutes.
Good post but how can you leave out Reeves? Though he was outstanding yesterday.
This. I have been his biggest critic but even I have to admit is 1st half performance was excellent. Taylor got my MOTM but Reeves was 2nd, along with Aribo.
With Page in the team yesterday we would have been three up at half time. Solly did a great job and I really felt for him but as an attacking wing back he has neither the speed of Page nor a left foot good enough to beat a defender and cross. Dijksteel for some reason (presumably instructions) never really threatened to do anything in attack. I begin to worry for us given the brittleness of our defence. A decent side yesterday would have ripped us a new one. Ten goals in three games conceded backs me up. We are lovely to watch (if a little over complicated at times) coming forward but our real threat comes from wide positions and the makeshift nature of our defence yesterday had a real efffect on what we did coming forward too.
As I said earlier, Taylor was both profligate and greedy yesterday. He failed to pass to Reeves and Fosu when both were in clear space and running onto the ball. I’ll forgive him this time as he was otherwise magnificent and he is the best I’ve seen since Yann. But when he is reduced to fighting for scraps (very effectively it must be said) on the wing then we are really not making best use of him.
I’ve calmed down overnight but I still can’t believe we lost that game. Actually, I can, as I was half expecting it all through the game. Coventry were really pretty chuff and it took them longer than it should have done to suss our or defensive frailties. Fair play to Robins for changing the game with his subs. Bowyer got the subs badly wrong yesterday. Reeves was bossing the midfield with Cullen and to throw George into that mix was folly unless Reeves was injured. Fosu should have been removed way earlier as our attacking shape was crying out for Ward to give us width.
So we move on but that hurt. We all know the reason for our frail squad but we’ve got what we’ve got. Ten goals in three games and getting turned over at home by a poor team when we’ve bossed the game is the sort of thing that can turn into a crisis if not carefully managed. Hopefully the break will do us good.
@Len\'s_little_girl was meant to make this one but couldn't as her work duties changed and so she couldn't get a flight.
An omen for the disappointment to follow from my viewpoint along with dreadful traffic on the M2 and A2 because of the torrential rain. A journey that takes 45 minutes on a good day took more than an hour and half.
Anyway to the game: This was the classic 'if you don't take your chances you get punished' match. We dominated the first half with Aribo, Fosu and Taylor prominent but were unable to finish off our pleasing on the eye build up work. 1-0 (and that from a penalty) should really have been 2 or 3 if not more.
Second half was more of the same and although we were playing well I and some of the other long in the tooth old gits were worrying about an equaliser and hoping above hope we could get the important second goal given our patchwork defence which hadn't really been tested as yet. Despite plenty of pressure we didn't. Coventry introduced a bit of pace and suddenly looked dangerous. I don't think Steer had a chance with the first goal but I do believe he should have got something on the second.
2-1 Coventry. Classic smash and grab and given the effort they put in our lads really did not deserve that.
I hope Bow can lift them and, to quote a footballing cliche, we go again.
they are in our league btw.....if they win more games than us then they will. Millwall are above us too, in case you didn't notice.
I hate all the billy big bollox " so & so tin pit club are above us". Get used to it. we are in this league for a reason.....we havent been good enough for the past 3 seasons to get out of it. So what if Accrington, Barnsley or Wallsall are above us. There are 24 teams in this league....some will get more points than us. Doesn't matter if its Accrington or Arsenal. get over it.
I get what you are saying but we are in this league because of our owners lack of everything except money. I and probably most others find this level very frustrating not only because the teams we play aren’t technically very good they also play percentage football which for the most part is dull as dishwater. We are no different to those teams only we, as fans, probably have loftier expectations and quite rightly in my opinion. Yesterday was another example of how far we are away from where I believe we belong. That’s something I will never get used to.
they are in our league btw.....if they win more games than us then they will. Millwall are above us too, in case you didn't notice.
I hate all the billy big bollox " so & so tin pit club are above us". Get used to it. we are in this league for a reason.....we havent been good enough for the past 3 seasons to get out of it. So what if Accrington, Barnsley or Wallsall are above us. There are 24 teams in this league....some will get more points than us. Doesn't matter if its Accrington or Arsenal. get over it.
Being below Accy is pretty sad given they're operating on a shoestring budget. How low does our aspiration need to be? Luton, Barnsley, Walsall etc have a completely different history to Accy.
Coleman has done an amazing job to get Stanley to L1.
Cullen, Taylor, and Aribo were my top three yesterday; Cullen working well across half-back, Joe linking play between half-back and half-forward, and Lyle everywhere from full back to full forward.
Special mentions to Sarr the Enforcer and Solly the Unstoppable Goal Machine who both looked solid on the left side of defence. Naby's nonchalent pass for Ward's late (missed) header was superb; over the midfield and defender, and onto the diving Ward's head.
Our attacking play in the first half and early part of the second was excellent and we should have been so out of sight at half time we could have declared then and still won by an innings.
The Bad
Our attacking play was wasteful throughout. Some of shooting was woeful: Taylor missed a sitter of a header in the first half, Ward should have done better at the end just before their winner, and some of Karlan's long-range shooting was so woeful that even Simon Church would have called them powderpuff.
Too many times our players took a touch too many (in Fossy's case, several touches too many) which allowed defenders to get back into position, and far too often made the wrong decision to pass or shoot.
In Division Three we may get away with this profligacy half the time but if we've got serious ambitions to get promoted we've got to be more ruthless and batter teams every week.
The Ugly
The defence. Shocking. From the moment Cov mad their subs in the second half they seemed to start panicking.
As much as I like Dijksteel I thought he struggled yesterday and appeared to drag Pearce down with him. Our lack of consistent defence (different personnel almost every game) is having an impact on both the back line and the 'keeper.
It doesn't matter how good our front line is if our defence has the resilience of a chocolate teapot. This has to be Lord Bowyer's main focus over the next two weeks. With Page out for several weeks we're going to be weaker down the left. At least with Bielik coming back we'll have extra cover. Maybe revert to a back three of Solly UGM, Pearce, and the Enforcer, with Bielik as a deep-sitting half-back as a bit of cover?
The end
The Cov fans. They turned out in large numbers and made a lot of noise all game. Their rendition of Twist And Shout (very well co-ordinated, I must say) went on for a long time in the second half at a time when their team offered less than bugger all. In fact until the last 10 minutes they were the outstanding performers for the Sky Blues.
We'll have worse performances than yesterday and take all three points. It was a harsh result, not even getting a point, but hopefully it'll act as a wake-up call to the players that we can't get away with conceding so many stupid goals, especially in the last few minutes.
Good post but how can you leave out Reeves? Though he was outstanding yesterday.
Nothing wrong with Reeves yesterday, he just wasn't in my top three.
I only mentioned the left side of defence because some have labelled that as our problem area because of our injuries and I felt they did OK.
As the old saying goes: opinions are like arseholes, everybody's got one.
This just happened to be mine; I'm not saying my opinion is any more valuable or relevant than anyone else's.
We all see the game in a different way and from a different viewpoint. From where I sat I noticed Cullen, Aribo, and Taylor more than the others.
I seem to rate Aribo less than most on here. He's certainly got some silky skills and is exciting when he beats a couple of players. He also pops up all over the field and gets involved, which I like. But for me he runs down a blind alley and ends up losing possession far too much. I think he needs to improve his decision making on when to run with it and when to pass. If he can do that, he can become a very good player but he's not that yet, in my view.
they are in our league btw.....if they win more games than us then they will. Millwall are above us too, in case you didn't notice.
I hate all the billy big bollox " so & so tin pit club are above us". Get used to it. we are in this league for a reason.....we havent been good enough for the past 3 seasons to get out of it. So what if Accrington, Barnsley or Wallsall are above us. There are 24 teams in this league....some will get more points than us. Doesn't matter if its Accrington or Arsenal. get over it.
It's Accrington, they clearly play some decent football I've seen some bits and bobs, also have a solid manager. But their wage bill is probably a quarter of ours, so it's a bit frustrating that on paper a club that shouldn't be near us is ahead on the table, sometimes you have to look at the players and think how are Accrington's players more on the ball on a much lower salary
I seem to rate Aribo less than most on here. He's certainly got some silky skills and is exciting when he beats a couple of players. He also pops up all over the field and gets involved, which I like. But for me he runs down a blind alley and ends up losing possession far too much. I think he needs to improve his decision making on when to run with it and when to pass. If he can do that, he can become a very good player but he's not that yet, in my view.
Much like Fossy and Karlan, their decision making needs improving also.
I didnt quite undestand the decision (although it didnt cost us) for Taylor to take the pen - Fosu had taken a brilliant one v Luton and scored , and aylor had missed the previous one.
I didnt quite undestand the decision (although it didnt cost us) for Taylor to take the pen - Fosu had taken a brilliant one v Luton and scored , and aylor had missed the previous one.
Tbf the one Taylor missed was brilliantly saved not missed. In a penalty shoot-out situation two potential decent takers in Taylor and Fosu.
I didnt quite undestand the decision (although it didnt cost us) for Taylor to take the pen - Fosu had taken a brilliant one v Luton and scored , and aylor had missed the previous one.
Tbf the one Taylor missed was brilliantly saved not missed. In a penalty shoot-out situation two potential decent takers in Taylor and Fosu.
It wasn't a brilliant penalty though, at a good height for the keeper as they say
And it was odd for Taylor to leave the duties to Fosu last Saturday, then take them back again yesterday even though Fosu had scored.
they are in our league btw.....if they win more games than us then they will. Millwall are above us too, in case you didn't notice.
I hate all the billy big bollox " so & so tin pit club are above us". Get used to it. we are in this league for a reason.....we havent been good enough for the past 3 seasons to get out of it. So what if Accrington, Barnsley or Wallsall are above us. There are 24 teams in this league....some will get more points than us. Doesn't matter if its Accrington or Arsenal. get over it.
Being below Accy is pretty sad given they're operating on a shoestring budget. How low does our aspiration need to be? Luton, Barnsley, Walsall etc have a completely different history to Accy.
Coleman has done an amazing job to get Stanley to L1.
Football games arent won based on the size of a club or their budgets though!!
Imagine if it was Solly, Sarr and Phillips trying to stop that goal...
People have got it in for Steer for sure. I don’t really get the staunch support for Phillips anyway, I just haven’t seen enough of him to be convinced he’s good or bad, but when your defence allows two clear sites of goal, less than 5 yards out from the middle of the goal, it seems incredibly harsh to me to try and blame the keeper.
The issue with Steer is that most people suspect he gets to play due to the terms of his loan deal. This wouldn't normally be a problem if the keeper is from a higher league and better than any other keeper the club has. Steer has shown nothing to suggest he is better than Philips and from what I've seen, could even be worse. What has he done to deserve his place? He came in to the team for a pointless midweek cup game, let in 3 gosls, lost a penalty shoot out and then as if by magic he's first choice.
Roland won't pay for 2 decent keepers, so goes cheap on a loan and leaves Philips waiting for them to get injured before he has any hope of playing.
Today's loss was on bowyer though. That diamond formation didn't work all game and he didn't counter Coventry changes. Those goals were coming
None of which is Steer’s fault, and it’s certainly not fair to blame the 2 goals today on him, but people are trying to.
Like I say, I’m not convinced by Steer. I wouldn’t have dropped Phillips, although, as I keep having to point out, he’d been far from faultless this season which is how some people are portraying him.
By all means hold the opinion that Phillips is better than Steer, it may well be correct, but treat Steer fairly at the same time.
It's hard to say which keeper is better. I've not really seen Philips enough over the last couple of years because he's always on the bench. What I've seen of Steer in no way convinced me he is a Championship standard keeper.
Steer agreed to go out on loan, if he knows the terms of the loan means he has to play a certain number of games he is complicit in keeping Philips out no matter how well he plays. Villa wouldn't be picking up a chunk of Steer's wages if the guy doesn't play. What is the point of that for Villa? They're not a charity.
Meaning of complicit - "involved with others in an activity that is unlawful or morally wrong."
If Steer is morally wrong to go on loan for wanting to play football, then so is every footballer who has ever gone on loan.
poor selection .. our defence is useless at Scunny and is retained en masse a few days later .. I assume Solly was a fish out of water at left back .. Bielek was on the bench, why didn't he start ? .. at least we are not alone .. Posh thumped at home as were Donny, who'd'a thought the Gills would win at Pompey .. still all to play for
You assume wrong. He was fine, did a decent job as he usually has done at left back.
However neither Dijksteel, a defensive midfielder, or Solly, on his wrong side, offered much as an attacking threat. Solly used his left foot at times but mainly came back on his right which sometimes slowed the attacking down. That’s where we missed Page.
It was obvious we needed a second goal and didn’t get it. Nearly won at the end through Ward, instead we missed and straight after that Coventry scored.
Got to be better at both ends. First half we had a great chance blocked/cleared (Grant and Fosu?) and another, a Taylor header he didn’t get enough power or direction on which was saved on the line by their keeper.
Taylor had a good game, both creating chances for other and looking to score himself.
Aribo seemed to disappear as the game went on, almost forgot he was playing.
We looked good on the ball, tried get in behind and put in different types of crosses but we didn’t do enough to win the game. Being only 1-0 up meant the game could go either way. Had we got that second goal I think we’d have been fairly comfortable, well as much as a Charlton team can with that score line anyway.
so .. Solly couldn't get forward, couldn't use his left foot, slowed the attack down and wasn't a 'fish out of water' .. he's playing out of position what did you expect .. a terrific player for us BUT he's NOT a left back ..i.e. a fish out of water .. what about the rest of my post ? .. why no Bielek ? ..
He did get forward, but not in the way that a natural left footed left back would. I said it sometimes slowed down the attack, not every time. It was his excellent cross that Taylor should have scored from.
He had a decent game, describing him as a "fish out of water" suggests he struggled and shouldn't play there again.
Scoring 1 goal and conceding 2 wasn't down to Solly. Others missed chances, made the wrong decisions, had crosses blocked, made mistakes defensively etc.
With Bielik back Bowyer has the option of a back four of Solly Bielik Pearce Sarr, which would be more balanced.
I wasn't 'picking on' Solly or blaming him for the loss .. On Tuesday it was obvious to me that the makeshift defence that finished the game just would not do for the following Saturday .. Solly at l/back .. no, Dijksteel at r/back ..no .. Sarr and Pearce (on the right and not his favoured left side) in the middle .. no .. a totally unbalanced defence that can't be shored up by a decent attacking midfield and forward line, especially with Grant looking out of sorts .. the first few words of my post 'blame' the selection of the team .. Bowyer is a novice and will learn .. however to have seen the Tuesday shambles and to select the defence that finished the game was a bad decision .. we have a lot of injuries and an unbalanced squad, too many midfielders and not enough defenders after the sale of Lennon and McCartney Konsa .. still there should have been a better starting selection .. Bielik & Pearce in the middle and Sarr on the left (as a temporary measure) with Solly ON THE RIGHT where he belongs and not on the left .. If you were at Scunthorpe on Tuesday I can't see how you could disagree. Solly is NOT a left back as hard as he tries and however good a fist he makes of the job
they are in our league btw.....if they win more games than us then they will. Millwall are above us too, in case you didn't notice.
I hate all the billy big bollox " so & so tin pit club are above us". Get used to it. we are in this league for a reason.....we havent been good enough for the past 3 seasons to get out of it. So what if Accrington, Barnsley or Wallsall are above us. There are 24 teams in this league....some will get more points than us. Doesn't matter if its Accrington or Arsenal. get over it.
Being below Accy is pretty sad given they're operating on a shoestring budget. How low does our aspiration need to be? Luton, Barnsley, Walsall etc have a completely different history to Accy.
Coleman has done an amazing job to get Stanley to L1.
Football games arent won based on the size of a club or their budgets though!!
Of course they are, because the bigger clubs have far more opportunity to recruit and retain the best players and managers. That’s why Charlton’s current status is pitiful and reflects Duchatelet’s incompetence as an owner entirely.
Imagine if it was Solly, Sarr and Phillips trying to stop that goal...
People have got it in for Steer for sure. I don’t really get the staunch support for Phillips anyway, I just haven’t seen enough of him to be convinced he’s good or bad, but when your defence allows two clear sites of goal, less than 5 yards out from the middle of the goal, it seems incredibly harsh to me to try and blame the keeper.
The issue with Steer is that most people suspect he gets to play due to the terms of his loan deal. This wouldn't normally be a problem if the keeper is from a higher league and better than any other keeper the club has. Steer has shown nothing to suggest he is better than Philips and from what I've seen, could even be worse. What has he done to deserve his place? He came in to the team for a pointless midweek cup game, let in 3 gosls, lost a penalty shoot out and then as if by magic he's first choice.
Roland won't pay for 2 decent keepers, so goes cheap on a loan and leaves Philips waiting for them to get injured before he has any hope of playing.
Today's loss was on bowyer though. That diamond formation didn't work all game and he didn't counter Coventry changes. Those goals were coming
None of which is Steer’s fault, and it’s certainly not fair to blame the 2 goals today on him, but people are trying to.
Like I say, I’m not convinced by Steer. I wouldn’t have dropped Phillips, although, as I keep having to point out, he’d been far from faultless this season which is how some people are portraying him.
By all means hold the opinion that Phillips is better than Steer, it may well be correct, but treat Steer fairly at the same time.
It's hard to say which keeper is better. I've not really seen Philips enough over the last couple of years because he's always on the bench. What I've seen of Steer in no way convinced me he is a Championship standard keeper.
Steer agreed to go out on loan, if he knows the terms of the loan means he has to play a certain number of games he is complicit in keeping Philips out no matter how well he plays. Villa wouldn't be picking up a chunk of Steer's wages if the guy doesn't play. What is the point of that for Villa? They're not a charity.
Meaning of complicit - "involved with others in an activity that is unlawful or morally wrong."
What absoulute shite. If Steer is morally wrong to go on loan for wanting to play football, then so is every footballer who has ever gone on loan.
The complicit comment is in regard to someone saying we should be fair to Steer. Why should anybody be fair to Steer when he is practically guaranteed a place in the team? Would he go out on loan if he wasn't going to play? I doubt it very much. Does he actually deserve his place in the team beyond a contractual obligation, what did he actually do to earn it? What did Phillips do to lose his place. I'd say the answer to both questions is nothing.
Is complicit the right word? Maybe, maybe not. I can barely be asked to get in to the morals of sporting ethics on a Sunday morning, but surely the foundation of team spirit is knowing that the best player's play and those that don't get selected have to bust a gut to get in the team. How do your centre halves feel when they don't trust a keeper that gets to play whatever happens?
Many believe he's not in the team on merit, that makes him fair game for complaints when he spills the ball at the feet of a striker like he did yesterday.
Bowyer tried to win the game at 1-1 instead of settling for the draw. Fosu is still getting back to 100% so fair enough but Reeves was having a great game and we lost control in the last 15 minutes. I sense that a lot of you are missing Robinson and Slade who would've got 11 behind the ball and taken the point at 1-1. I felt we played well but the final ball or shot just didn't find it's target.
It felt like the Wimbledon home game from two year ago when we snatched defeat from the jaws of victory when the Dons scored 2 goals in last 12 minutes (1 from sub) after Lookman's early goal.
Don't panic, but we are like a cheap hotel; We don't do clean sheets.
For me, it feels like the team are trying to make the wrong offensive choices on purpose, they do it with such regularity and reliability. Apart from Taylor who was a threat, we managed to lose to one of the poorest teams I have seen at the Valley. If the penny has dropped with Grant, it has well and truly fallen out again. Needed to kill the game off at 1-0 and I sort of knew if we didn't we would end up drawing or probably losing.
I didnt quite undestand the decision (although it didnt cost us) for Taylor to take the pen - Fosu had taken a brilliant one v Luton and scored , and aylor had missed the previous one.
Fosu isn't the nominated penalty taker and "shouldn't" have taken the previous one.
they are in our league btw.....if they win more games than us then they will. Millwall are above us too, in case you didn't notice.
I hate all the billy big bollox " so & so tin pit club are above us". Get used to it. we are in this league for a reason.....we havent been good enough for the past 3 seasons to get out of it. So what if Accrington, Barnsley or Wallsall are above us. There are 24 teams in this league....some will get more points than us. Doesn't matter if its Accrington or Arsenal. get over it.
Being below Accy is pretty sad given they're operating on a shoestring budget. How low does our aspiration need to be? Luton, Barnsley, Walsall etc have a completely different history to Accy.
Coleman has done an amazing job to get Stanley to L1.
Football games arent won based on the size of a club or their budgets though!!
Of course they are, because the bigger clubs have far more opportunity to recruit and retain the best players and managers. That’s why Charlton’s current status is pitiful and reflects Duchatelet’s incompetence as an owner entirely.
We are still suffering from the legacy of the early days of his regime
Not knocking them as players or individuals (as it's not their fault), but Bauer, Sarr and Igor must be on massive salaries for this division. Without them we would be able to have a much larger squad for the same wage bill
they are in our league btw.....if they win more games than us then they will. Millwall are above us too, in case you didn't notice.
I hate all the billy big bollox " so & so tin pit club are above us". Get used to it. we are in this league for a reason.....we havent been good enough for the past 3 seasons to get out of it. So what if Accrington, Barnsley or Wallsall are above us. There are 24 teams in this league....some will get more points than us. Doesn't matter if its Accrington or Arsenal. get over it.
Being below Accy is pretty sad given they're operating on a shoestring budget. How low does our aspiration need to be? Luton, Barnsley, Walsall etc have a completely different history to Accy.
Coleman has done an amazing job to get Stanley to L1.
Football games arent won based on the size of a club or their budgets though!!
I doubt many Charlton fans foresaw the day we'd be below Accy.
Need some defenders who have speed and can play with the ball we looked to slow at back .... and solly should play right back - we lost a lot with him on the left - however If we took our chances we would have been out of sight
Personally, I still think we are playing too much football from the back, just as we did under KR and look where that has got him. Yes. I want us to play football and no I don't want us to hoof the ball all the time. However, I do feel every team should not be too obvious. The strikers are quick and pacy, yet we didn't get the ball to them enough, because we were fannying about, passing it between the goalie and the back line. Sometimes we couldn't even it get the ball out of the penalty area.
Having said that we should have been 3 or 4 up, before we started flagging around the 65 min mark. I thought we needed fresh legs in the midfield and don't think Cullen or Aribo should have been subbed, so that only left Reeves, Fosu or possibly Grant.
At the time I thought Bowyer made the right call replacing Reeves & Fosu, because they certainly looked like they were going to equalise.
In hindsight Lapslie didn't get into the game, unlike all his other sub appearances, where he has not only been everywhere on the pitch, but his enthusiasm, even took him into the away end at Luton.
Coventry's 1st goal - their player turned away from Cullen, leaving him for dead and giving himself loads of room to cross. Their scorer turning it in, getting in front of Solly. Steer had no chance.
2nd - A bit like Luton's first v us. Pearce lost the header again and Sarr let the adjacent player get away from him again. The player crossed and the goalscorer dived in front of Pearce (again). Maybe Steer could have saved it, but there's no way he should have come for it as someone said.
Phillips v Steer debate.
I've seen the vast majority of all of their games and don't think there's much to choose between them. I thought people were unfair on Phillips, saying he didn't deserve a chance to be first team and I now think people are being unfair on Steer blaming him for 3 goals at Luton and again for yesterday.
It may be that Phillips is better than Steer or vice versa, but I still think it's too early too tell. I can fully understand why having got a goalkeeper on loan from a higher division we are prepared to give him more than a handfull of games before discarding him. Amos wasn't at his best for the first 5 or 6 games last season and ended up being excellent. (I'm not suggesting either are as good as Amos, because I doubt they are).
they are in our league btw.....if they win more games than us then they will. Millwall are above us too, in case you didn't notice.
I hate all the billy big bollox " so & so tin pit club are above us". Get used to it. we are in this league for a reason.....we havent been good enough for the past 3 seasons to get out of it. So what if Accrington, Barnsley or Wallsall are above us. There are 24 teams in this league....some will get more points than us. Doesn't matter if its Accrington or Arsenal. get over it.
Being below Accy is pretty sad given they're operating on a shoestring budget. How low does our aspiration need to be? Luton, Barnsley, Walsall etc have a completely different history to Accy.
Coleman has done an amazing job to get Stanley to L1.
Football games arent won based on the size of a club or their budgets though!!
I doubt many Charlton fans foresaw the day we'd be below Accy.
Like I say we will be streets ahead of them at the end of the season.
they are in our league btw.....if they win more games than us then they will. Millwall are above us too, in case you didn't notice.
I hate all the billy big bollox " so & so tin pit club are above us". Get used to it. we are in this league for a reason.....we havent been good enough for the past 3 seasons to get out of it. So what if Accrington, Barnsley or Wallsall are above us. There are 24 teams in this league....some will get more points than us. Doesn't matter if its Accrington or Arsenal. get over it.
Being below Accy is pretty sad given they're operating on a shoestring budget. How low does our aspiration need to be? Luton, Barnsley, Walsall etc have a completely different history to Accy.
Coleman has done an amazing job to get Stanley to L1.
Football games arent won based on the size of a club or their budgets though!!
If they were Chef Wendy would be multiple Champions' League winners; they're a massive club.
Personally, I still think we are playing too much football from the back, just as we did under KR and look where that has got him. Yes. I want us to play football and no I don't want us to hoof the ball all the time. However, I do feel every team should not be too obvious. The strikers are quick and pacy, yet we didn't get the ball to them enough, because we were fannying about, passing it between the goalie and the back line. Sometimes we couldn't even it get the ball out of the penalty area.
Having said that we should have been 3 or 4 up, before we started flagging around the 65 min mark. I thought we needed fresh legs in the midfield and don't think Cullen or Aribo should have been subbed, so that only left Reeves, Fosu or possibly Grant.
At the time I thought Bowyer made the right call replacing Reeves & Fosu, because they certainly looked like they were going to equalise.
In hindsight Lapslie didn't get into the game, unlike all his other sub appearances, where he has not only been everywhere on the pitch, but his enthusiasm, even took him into the away end at Luton.
Coventry's 1st goal - their player turned away from Cullen, leaving him for dead and giving himself loads of room to cross. Their scorer turning it in, getting in front of Solly. Steer had no chance.
2nd - A bit like Luton's first v us. Pearce lost the header again and Sarr let the adjacent player get away from him again. The player crossed and the goalscorer dived in front of Pearce (again). Maybe Steer could have saved it, but there's no way he should have come for it as someone said.
Phillips v Steer debate.
I've seen the vast majority of all of their games and don't think there's much to choose between them. I thought people were unfair on Phillips, saying he didn't deserve a chance to be first team and I now think people are being unfair on Steer blaming him for 3 goals at Luton and again for yesterday.
It may be that Phillips is better than Steer or vice versa, but I still think it's too early too tell. I can fully understand why having got a goalkeeper on loan from a higher division we are prepared to give him more than a handfull of games before discarding him. Amos wasn't at his best for the first 5 or 6 games last season and ended up being excellent. (I'm not suggesting either are as good as Amos, because I doubt they are).
Bowyer ditched Phillips and perseveres with Steer - I assume this must be down to the terms of the loan. I can't see any other explanation for continuing with him.
The only argument I've heard in favour of Steer is his distribution but that was poor yesterday. We wouldn't have shipped nine goals in the last three games had Phillips been playing.
Steer almost gifted a goal yesterday when he spilled the ball and was lucky the ref awarded a foul.
Comments
Thought Cullen was our motm.
they are in our league btw.....if they win more games than us then they will. Millwall are above us too, in case you didn't notice.
I hate all the billy big bollox " so & so tin pit club are above us". Get used to it. we are in this league for a reason.....we havent been good enough for the past 3 seasons to get out of it. So what if Accrington, Barnsley or Wallsall are above us. There are 24 teams in this league....some will get more points than us. Doesn't matter if its Accrington or Arsenal. get over it.
As I said earlier, Taylor was both profligate and greedy yesterday. He failed to pass to Reeves and Fosu when both were in clear space and running onto the ball. I’ll forgive him this time as he was otherwise magnificent and he is the best I’ve seen since Yann. But when he is reduced to fighting for scraps (very effectively it must be said) on the wing then we are really not making best use of him.
I’ve calmed down overnight but I still can’t believe we lost that game. Actually, I can, as I was half expecting it all through the game. Coventry were really pretty chuff and it took them longer than it should have done to suss our or defensive frailties. Fair play to Robins for changing the game with his subs. Bowyer got the subs badly wrong yesterday. Reeves was bossing the midfield with Cullen and to throw George into that mix was folly unless Reeves was injured. Fosu should have been removed way earlier as our attacking shape was crying out for Ward to give us width.
So we move on but that hurt. We all know the reason for our frail squad but we’ve got what we’ve got. Ten goals in three games and getting turned over at home by a poor team when we’ve bossed the game is the sort of thing that can turn into a crisis if not carefully managed. Hopefully the break will do us good.
@Len\'s_little_girl was meant to make this one but couldn't as her work duties changed and so she couldn't get a flight.
An omen for the disappointment to follow from my viewpoint along with dreadful traffic on the M2 and A2 because of the torrential rain. A journey that takes 45 minutes on a good day took more than an hour and half.
Anyway to the game: This was the classic 'if you don't take your chances you get punished' match. We dominated the first half with Aribo, Fosu and Taylor prominent but were unable to finish off our pleasing on the eye build up work. 1-0 (and that from a penalty) should really have been 2 or 3 if not more.
Second half was more of the same and although we were playing well I and some of the other long in the tooth old gits were worrying about an equaliser and hoping above hope we could get the important second goal given our patchwork defence which hadn't really been tested as yet. Despite plenty of pressure we didn't. Coventry introduced a bit of pace and suddenly looked dangerous. I don't think Steer had a chance with the first goal but I do believe he should have got something on the second.
2-1 Coventry. Classic smash and grab and given the effort they put in our lads really did not deserve that.
I hope Bow can lift them and, to quote a footballing cliche, we go again.
COYR
I and probably most others find this level very frustrating not only because the teams we play aren’t technically very good they also play percentage football which for the most part is dull as dishwater. We are no different to those teams only we, as fans, probably have loftier expectations and quite rightly in my opinion.
Yesterday was another example of how far we are away from where I believe we belong. That’s something I will never get used to.
Coleman has done an amazing job to get Stanley to L1.
I only mentioned the left side of defence because some have labelled that as our problem area because of our injuries and I felt they did OK.
As the old saying goes: opinions are like arseholes, everybody's got one.
This just happened to be mine; I'm not saying my opinion is any more valuable or relevant than anyone else's.
We all see the game in a different way and from a different viewpoint. From where I sat I noticed Cullen, Aribo, and Taylor more than the others.
And it was odd for Taylor to leave the duties to Fosu last Saturday, then take them back again yesterday even though Fosu had scored.
If Steer is morally wrong to go on loan for wanting to play football, then so is every footballer who has ever gone on loan.
the first few words of my post 'blame' the selection of the team .. Bowyer is a novice and will learn .. however to have seen the Tuesday shambles and to select the defence that finished the game was a bad decision .. we have a lot of injuries and an unbalanced squad, too many midfielders and not enough defenders after the sale of Lennon and
McCartneyKonsa .. still there should have been a better starting selection .. Bielik & Pearce in the middle and Sarr on the left (as a temporary measure) with Solly ON THE RIGHT where he belongs and not on the left .. If you were at Scunthorpe on Tuesday I can't see how you could disagree. Solly is NOT a left back as hard as he tries and however good a fist he makes of the jobIs complicit the right word? Maybe, maybe not. I can barely be asked to get in to the morals of sporting ethics on a Sunday morning, but surely the foundation of team spirit is knowing that the best player's play and those that don't get selected have to bust a gut to get in the team. How do your centre halves feel when they don't trust a keeper that gets to play whatever happens?
Many believe he's not in the team on merit, that makes him fair game for complaints when he spills the ball at the feet of a striker like he did yesterday.
I sense that a lot of you are missing Robinson and Slade who would've got 11 behind the ball and taken the point at 1-1.
I felt we played well but the final ball or shot just didn't find it's target.
It felt like the Wimbledon home game from two year ago when we snatched defeat from the jaws of victory when the Dons scored 2 goals in last 12 minutes (1 from sub) after Lookman's early goal.
Don't panic, but we are like a cheap hotel;
We don't do clean sheets.
Not knocking them as players or individuals (as it's not their fault), but Bauer, Sarr and Igor must be on massive salaries for this division. Without them we would be able to have a much larger squad for the same wage bill
Yes. I want us to play football and no I don't want us to hoof the ball all the time.
However, I do feel every team should not be too obvious.
The strikers are quick and pacy, yet we didn't get the ball to them enough, because we were fannying about, passing it between the goalie and the back line.
Sometimes we couldn't even it get the ball out of the penalty area.
Having said that we should have been 3 or 4 up, before we started flagging around the 65 min mark.
I thought we needed fresh legs in the midfield and don't think Cullen or Aribo should have been subbed, so that only left Reeves, Fosu or possibly Grant.
At the time I thought Bowyer made the right call replacing Reeves & Fosu, because they certainly looked like they were going to equalise.
In hindsight Lapslie didn't get into the game, unlike all his other sub appearances, where he has not only been everywhere on the pitch, but his enthusiasm, even took him into the away end at Luton.
Coventry's 1st goal - their player turned away from Cullen, leaving him for dead and giving himself loads of room to cross.
Their scorer turning it in, getting in front of Solly.
Steer had no chance.
2nd - A bit like Luton's first v us.
Pearce lost the header again and Sarr let the adjacent player get away from him again.
The player crossed and the goalscorer dived in front of Pearce (again).
Maybe Steer could have saved it, but there's no way he should have come for it as someone said.
Phillips v Steer debate.
I've seen the vast majority of all of their games and don't think there's much to choose between them.
I thought people were unfair on Phillips, saying he didn't deserve a chance to be first team and I now think people are being unfair on Steer blaming him for 3 goals at Luton and again for yesterday.
It may be that Phillips is better than Steer or vice versa, but I still think it's too early too tell.
I can fully understand why having got a goalkeeper on loan from a higher division we are prepared to give him more than a handfull of games before discarding him.
Amos wasn't at his best for the first 5 or 6 games last season and ended up being excellent.
(I'm not suggesting either are as good as Amos, because I doubt they are).
The only argument I've heard in favour of Steer is his distribution but that was poor yesterday. We wouldn't have shipped nine goals in the last three games had Phillips been playing.
Steer almost gifted a goal yesterday when he spilled the ball and was lucky the ref awarded a foul.