Too many injuries beginning to take there toll. Keep the faith I'm confident we will still finish in the play offs and our injury jinx will turn around soon...
The injury problem will be with us until Roland goes as he does not understand why extra players of sufficient calibre/quality are required.
Suspending boycott for Mackems match. Might come back for more if Douchebag loosened the purse-strings for two or three signings, even if just loanees. Ideally Tuesday. Are you on the same planet Roland?
We were total cack in the first half and were totally outplayed. After a half time roasting from Bowyer we improved a little but did not progress beyond mediocre. We never threatened to score, until of course Reeves did. Then, we might have pulled off a most unlikely comeback.
The fact is, we are very, very light on quality in depth and have been dreadfully unlucky with injuries. No surprise therefore that we lack consistency. Just hoping that Duchâtelet doesn't cash in on some of our better players in January, that we get a bit more luck with injuries, that we get some players back, and that we are then able to put in the kind of run in we had last season. I suspect the automatics are beyond us now but going into playoffs in good form is a must.
Well summed up mate
Very frustrating as I felt once we got a goal we looked like a team again.
We need to make sure we’re at least the 6th best team in a group of 7.
We just couldn’t recover from a poor start and the likes of Pratley imo aren’t good enough to get us up, Aribo, Cullen etc are
I felt Dijksteel had a poor game but our formation means he, and Solly are exposed.
I actually felt Bielik wasn’t that good today and dwelt on the ball a bit too much. Great strike by Reeves but he does get caught in possession and over complicate things, often easily bullied off the ball
The front two only really got a bit of decent link up play and service toward the end
I did take some positives from seeing how fucked off the likes of Taylor was when the final whistle went. For me it showed the loss hurt.
I don’t know what to expect now. I don’t foresee any new faces coming in and God knows what RD will do in Jan.
If we could add one or two and not lose anyone, we’ll be in the play offs. If we don’t lose anyone, we still have a chance. If Bauer and Aribo go (as an example) then we will struggle. Only takes an injury to Taylor etc
“Second-half I thought we were by far the better side. I thought for large parts of the first half we were the better side, especially coming towards the end of the first half. All they’ve done is score two great strikes and I can’t really remember them hurting us other than that."
this is absolutely delusional from LB, and that's the first time I've said that
Think we did enough for a point but towo pretty poor sides I thought, our midfield was missing with little build up play to provide the forwards anything.
Missed aribo or Cullen to put there foot on the ball and control the game.
Also let's not get too carried away with a defeat today. We have a depleted squad and Barnsley were 2nd favourites for the title in pre-season, haven't lost at home all season and will be very close to going up automatically.
Agree to an extent. Barnsley look a very, very good side. And they have some real quality in depth there as well.
The disheartening bit is how poor and poorly prepared we looked. Some of that, as was the case against Coventry, is the opposition pressing us and stopping us from playing. And we don't look tactically prepared to deal with that. I'm not even sure what formation we started with, was it a diamond with Marshall playing wider on the left? Or was is a flat 4-4-2 with Pratley just doing whatever he wishes and Reeves narrow on the right?
When pressed, we seem to either bunch around the ball, and those tight interchanges can help you play out but it also makes you easier to close down, we lump it long where Grant and Taylor are desperately isolated against three or four defenders, or we give it away. Finally, I think it was late in the first half but it might have been the second half, Bielik started dropping between the center backs to push the CBs wider and the fullbacks up the pitch, and giving him a 180 degree view of the pitch when he had the ball.
Obviously injuries and suspensions take their toll, as Aribo, Page, Cullen, and Sarr would all help with their technical ability. It's more the lack of preparation and a plan B that I worry about. Coventry provided an excellent blueprint for how to play against us, and Barnsley basically replicated it.
The bollocks it took for Solly to argue his second yellow was...borderline impressive. He should have shaken Bond's hand and thanked him for not producing a straight red, meaning Solly would be out for three matches instead of one.
And now it's a question of where does the reprieve come from? We get Sarr back but lose Solly for Tuesday and presumably Pearce. Cullen seems to be a few weeks away, as is Igor and Aribo and Page. I worry it may get worse before it gets better.
Lastly, if I were Ajose I'd be fuming. I've not seen anything from Reeco to indicate he's ready for this level, and most of the time he looks lost on the pitch to me. Ajose, for whatever you think of him, can score goals at this level. Yes Reeco is big, but he's not exactly a put it on my head for knock downs target man.
Also let's not get too carried away with a defeat today. We have a depleted squad and Barnsley were 2nd favourites for the title in pre-season, haven't lost at home all season and will be very close to going up automatically.
Agree to an extent. Barnsley look a very, very good side. And they have some real quality in depth there as well.
The disheartening bit is how poor and poorly prepared we looked. Some of that, as was the case against Coventry, is the opposition pressing us and stopping us from playing. And we don't look tactically prepared to deal with that. I'm not even sure what formation we started with, was it a diamond with Marshall playing wider on the left? Or was is a flat 4-4-2 with Pratley just doing whatever he wishes and Reeves narrow on the right?
When pressed, we seem to either bunch around the ball, and those tight interchanges can help you play out but it also makes you easier to close down, we lump it long where Grant and Taylor are desperately isolated against three or four defenders, or we give it away. Finally, I think it was late in the first half but it might have been the second half, Bielik started dropping between the center backs to push the CBs wider and the fullbacks up the pitch, and giving him a 180 degree view of the pitch when he had the ball.
Obviously injuries and suspensions take their toll, as Aribo, Page, Cullen, and Sarr would all help with their technical ability. It's more the lack of preparation and a plan B that I worry about. Coventry provided an excellent blueprint for how to play against us, and Barnsley basically replicated it.
The bollocks it took for Solly to argue his second yellow was...borderline impressive. He should have shaken Bond's hand and thanked him for not producing a straight red, meaning Solly would be out for three matches instead of one.
And now it's a question of where does the reprieve come from? We get Sarr back but lose Solly for Tuesday and presumably Pearce. Cullen seems to be a few weeks away, as is Igor and Aribo and Page. I worry it may get worse before it gets better.
Lastly, if I were Ajose I'd be fuming. I've not seen anything from Reeco to indicate he's ready for this level, and most of the time he looks lost on the pitch to me. Ajose, for whatever you think of him, can score goals at this level. Yes Reeco is big, but he's not exactly a put it on my head for knock downs target man.
Yes there was an awful lot of aimless passing between the keeper and defenders followed by a speculative hoof up front today
Ajose's performance in the first half at Coventry was nothing short of scandalous and the management team clearly thought the same by giving him the hook within an hour. Not once did he even attempt to stick a foot in. He should have no complaints at warming the bench and keeping his kit clean this afternoon.
We have Darren Pratley CM and expect to win against a top 6 side. Wow.
The guy was a very solid Championship midfielder in his peak but he’s a donkey now.
Still think we’ll have enough for top 6 because somehow this league is even worse than last years. Shame we don’t seem to employ a physio or any sort of fitness coach because we certainly have a great fully fit 11.
Too many injuries beginning to take there toll. Keep the faith I'm confident we will still finish in the play offs and our injury jinx will turn around soon...
The injury problem will be with us until Roland goes as he does not understand why extra players of sufficient calibre/quality are required.
And as he doesn't appear to be going anywhere soon, permission to panic a bit?
was there .. a game really dominated by two things, the wind and our very slow start, 2 down after a quarter hour to two very well taken longish range shots and it could have been 3,4 or more .. they had the wind behind them in the first half and took full advantage, our players were chasing shadows and we could not string 2 passes together other than just passing among the back four then back to Steer .. half time came as a welcome respite
2nd half we were quickly out the blocks with the wind behind us yet still we had few if any clear cut chances .. their two big and swift central defenders allied to a clever midfield covering the full backs kept us at bay, we were a bit huff n puff but still a BIG improvement on the poor 1st half showing. Reeves took his goal well but there were few other real chances despite our pressure. I have to say that the starting line up did not work. Dijk is NOT a right back (I'll say for at least the thousandth time) When he moved into the middle after Pearce went off injured (again, and yet ANOTHER fucking casualty), Solly moved where he belongs on the right and Stevenson came on at left back, we looked much more organised and secure .. Pratley and Marshall could not get into the game and were replaced perhaps too late Fosu had a bright cameo, Bielik did well as did Grant and Taylor albeit with little opportunity against a good defence. Other than constantly dealing with back passes, Steer had little to do. Barnsley on this form and showing are a decent outfit, strong at the back, fleet and gifted in midfield. Manager Stendel is another German import who's got his players organised, confident and playing well We are down to the bare bones with Solly facing suspension (he was furious at his second card and the Barnsley 23 who Solly was judged to have kicked, was a pain in the arse all game, whinging and diving about) and Pearce injured once more. All we can do is keep on keeping on and not give up. We're still in the top six and have all to play for.
Ajose's performance in the first half at Coventry was nothing short of scandalous and the management team clearly thought the same by giving him the hook within an hour. Not once did he even attempt to stick a foot in. He should have no complaints at warming the bench and keeping his kit clean this afternoon.
Totally agree. He's been a waste of space for 18 months or more. Not even worth a space on the bench IMO.
Too little, too late. You can't let a team with Barnsley's undoubted quality at this level dictate in the manner they did in the early stages and afford them a 2-0 lead. If you allow them, they will press, stretch you and shoot on sight. Before you know it, you could find yourself down 0-2 by the 17th minute. It's true that we are decimated by injuries but why not start with a bit of offensive intent ourselves from the off by employing both Marshall and Fosu. Fortune favours the brave and all that. In a recent home game against Portsmouth, Barnsley's shots were too close to their keeper. Lesson learnt, especially that wonder goal by Mamadou Thiam although Dijksteel afforded him too much space for his sumptuous conversion. There was not enough passion on display from us in that first half for me which we eventually showed at the end of the match. Barnsley held the upper hand in terms of possession and they sensibly spread the play with Mike Bahre a constant threat in the middle forward position. Whereas the only sort of thing we could muster was a pathetic free kick by Reeves straight to Adam Davies, their keeper on 21 minutes. Then there was a case of Pratley going backwards with the ball followed by loss of possession. Our offensive ambition resulted in our first corner on 35 minutes. There were some tiny signs that we were emerging from our slumber as the first half drew to its conclusion. However, the Tykes weren't finish with us yet as they pressed for a killer third from Bahre which forced Steer into a good save at his right hand post. After a first 45 minutes of going up blind alleys, Marshall started to look much sharper, no doubt after a rocket from Bowyer at half time. Bahre had another chance to wrap it up and should of scored. Again, one of the glaring failings of the afternoon as the sun began to set over the South Yorkshire skyline was Bielik's inability to pass quicker to the likes of Taylor. A flicker of light came when Fosu replaced Pratley and indeed from his blocked free kick, Reeves blasted in the rebound to reduce the arrears. We went for height in the end with Hacket-Fairchild replacing Marshall in the final stages but with two instances of first Dijksteel and then Reeves relinquishing possession when we just needed that ball in the final third, you kinda of knew that a sweet ending would be probably beyond us. We had become very spirited right at the end and Chris Solly, bless him, took that to the extreme. We come away with nothing but moving forward we just have to try to stay in and around the play offs with this terrible injury crisis threatening to derail our season. You never know folks, we might be able to field our full strength team in the play offs and brush aside all before us because our best 11 is good enough to get us out of this tedious division.
“Second-half I thought we were by far the better side. I thought for large parts of the first half we were the better side, especially coming towards the end of the first half. All they’ve done is score two great strikes and I can’t really remember them hurting us other than that."
this is absolutely delusional from LB, and that's the first time I've said that
I see that, and raise you: "'Solly has got a second yellow card. It thought it was harsh. He won the ball. You can’t control where you are going once you’ve won the ball. The ref said he caught him on the follow through. When you’re sliding and you’re asking your players to put everything and give you everything, he slid, he’s won the ball and his momentum has took him into the lad. You can’t stop that. You can’t help that. That’s just part of the game at times. He hasn’t done anything intentionally. You don’t just win the ball and stop when you slide. That doesn’t happen. Now we’ll lose another player for the next game.'"
Did he win the ball? Didn't look like that to me. Still, THAT DOESN'T MATTER. It was a completely reckless challenge and again, he should have thanked the ref for not sending him off with a straight red.
Leuth's is obviously worse, but that one is pretty bad.
A good reminder this is Bowyer's first season as manager, second as a senior coach. This is the worst we've played this season. The pressure mounts this time of year. Hopefully everyone gets a day off tomorrow and can regroup on Monday.
Too little, too late. You can't let a team with Barnsley's undoubted quality at this level dictate in the manner they did in the early stages and afford them a 2-0 lead. If you allow them, they will press, stretch you and shoot on sight. Before you know it, you could find yourself down 0-2 by the 17th minute. It's true that we are decimated by injuries but why not start with a bit of offensive intent ourselves from the off by employing both Marshall and Fosu. Fortune favours the brave and all that. In a recent home game against Portsmouth, Barnsley's shots were too close to their keeper. Lesson learnt, especially that wonder goal by Mamadou Thiam although Dijksteel afforded him too much space for his sumptuous conversion. There was not enough passion on display from us in that first half for me which we eventually showed at the end of the match. Barnsley held the upper hand in terms of possession and they sensibly spread the play with Mike Bahre a constant threat in the middle forward position. Whereas the only sort of thing we could muster was a pathetic free kick by Reeves straight to Adam Davies, their keeper on 21 minutes. Then there was a case of Pratley going backwards with the ball followed by loss of possession. Our offensive ambition resulted in our first corner on 35 minutes. There were some tiny signs that we were emerging from our slumber as the first half drew to its conclusion. However, the Tykes weren't finish with us yet as they pressed for a killer third from Bahre which forced Steer into a good save at his right hand post. After a first 45 minutes of going up blind alleys, Marshall started to look much sharper, no doubt after a rocket from Bowyer at half time. Bahre had another chance to wrap it up and should of scored. Again, one of the glaring failings of the afternoon as the sun began to set over the South Yorkshire skyline was Bielik's inability to pass quicker to the likes of Taylor. A flicker of light came when Fosu replaced Pratley and indeed from his blocked free kick, Reeves blasted in the rebound to reduce the arrears. We went for height in the end with Hacket-Fairchild replacing Marshall in the final stages but with two instances of first Dijksteel and then Reeves relinquishing possession when we just needed that ball in the final third, you kinda of knew that a sweet ending would be probably beyond us. We had become very spirited right at the end and Chris Solly, bless him, took that to the extreme. We come away with nothing but moving forward we just have to try to stay in and around the play offs with this terrible injury crisis threatening to derail our season. You never know folks, we might be able to field our full strength team in the play offs and brush aside all before us because our best 11 is good enough to get us out of this tedious division.
We have Darren Pratley CM and expect to win against a top 6 side. Wow.
The guy was a very solid Championship midfielder in his peak but he’s a donkey now.
Still think we’ll have enough for top 6 because somehow this league is even worse than last years. Shame we don’t seem to employ a physio or any sort of fitness coach because we certainly have a great fully fit 11.
We need to get lucky for two games in the play-offs, pray.
This league is a joke, the team that are in the best form and looking most likely to go up were last year's runner ups in league 2. Beyond frustrating to know how easy it is to get out of this league but we won't because Roland is here that's that. There are 7 teams who are fighting it out for a finish in the top6, maybe a stretch at 8. It will be sickening if we are somehow the worst of the 7. Actually sickening. Especially when you consider we could be with Roland again next season and lose the majority of our best players.
On to the next one, aim should be play offs, with our strongest XI we can win them
August was a right off because of being down to bare bones and the injuries we had. Now from Christmas to hopefully only the beginning of January is a right off because of the same issue. It was always going to happen when we have so many games.
Patch a team up for Walsall, hope for the 3 points and get in a couple of players in early before Sunderland. By then we will have Sarr and Solly back, Sarr is now available, we hopefully have Pearce fit. A new left back. Defence will be okay. It’s the midfield, without Aribo and Cullen, we are very poor and get overrun so badly. They’re huge losses.
I feel that we could go on a great run from February onwards to the end of the season, so long as we keep in the top 6 by then, we will give ourselves a chance come the end of the season.
Horrible Christmas for us with results but we must go again.
Oh, and I thought Marshall was very good second half. Deserves to be in the side.
My first game of the season and I went more in hope than expectation. And so it proved. You only had to look at the bench to realise that we are running close to empty when it comes to experienced players. We were very poor first half. A bit better second. Our passing was awful, we were hassled off the ball and our strikers had no service whatsoever. Having said that, there was a couple of occasions when Grant was seriously outpaced by their centre half... Is he really that slow! Can't see us picking up many points until our better players recover from injury. Great support from the faithful that travelled to this one.
Comments
Very frustrating as I felt once we got a goal we looked like a team again.
We need to make sure we’re at least the 6th best team in a group of 7.
We just couldn’t recover from a poor start and the likes of Pratley imo aren’t good enough to get us up, Aribo, Cullen etc are
I felt Dijksteel had a poor game but our formation means he, and Solly are exposed.
I actually felt Bielik wasn’t that good today and dwelt on the ball a bit too much. Great strike by Reeves but he does get caught in possession and over complicate things, often easily bullied off the ball
The front two only really got a bit of decent link up play and service toward the end
I did take some positives from seeing how fucked off the likes of Taylor was when the final whistle went. For me it showed the loss hurt.
I don’t know what to expect now. I don’t foresee any new faces coming in and God knows what RD will do in Jan.
If we could add one or two and not lose anyone, we’ll be in the play offs. If we don’t lose anyone, we still have a chance. If Bauer and Aribo go (as an example) then we will struggle. Only takes an injury to Taylor etc
this is absolutely delusional from LB, and that's the first time I've said that
Think we did enough for a point but towo pretty poor sides I thought, our midfield was missing with little build up play to provide the forwards anything.
Missed aribo or Cullen to put there foot on the ball and control the game.
Big team we don't have to play again this season.
The disheartening bit is how poor and poorly prepared we looked. Some of that, as was the case against Coventry, is the opposition pressing us and stopping us from playing. And we don't look tactically prepared to deal with that. I'm not even sure what formation we started with, was it a diamond with Marshall playing wider on the left? Or was is a flat 4-4-2 with Pratley just doing whatever he wishes and Reeves narrow on the right?
When pressed, we seem to either bunch around the ball, and those tight interchanges can help you play out but it also makes you easier to close down, we lump it long where Grant and Taylor are desperately isolated against three or four defenders, or we give it away. Finally, I think it was late in the first half but it might have been the second half, Bielik started dropping between the center backs to push the CBs wider and the fullbacks up the pitch, and giving him a 180 degree view of the pitch when he had the ball.
Obviously injuries and suspensions take their toll, as Aribo, Page, Cullen, and Sarr would all help with their technical ability. It's more the lack of preparation and a plan B that I worry about. Coventry provided an excellent blueprint for how to play against us, and Barnsley basically replicated it.
The bollocks it took for Solly to argue his second yellow was...borderline impressive. He should have shaken Bond's hand and thanked him for not producing a straight red, meaning Solly would be out for three matches instead of one.
And now it's a question of where does the reprieve come from? We get Sarr back but lose Solly for Tuesday and presumably Pearce. Cullen seems to be a few weeks away, as is Igor and Aribo and Page. I worry it may get worse before it gets better.
Lastly, if I were Ajose I'd be fuming. I've not seen anything from Reeco to indicate he's ready for this level, and most of the time he looks lost on the pitch to me. Ajose, for whatever you think of him, can score goals at this level. Yes Reeco is big, but he's not exactly a put it on my head for knock downs target man.
The guy was a very solid Championship midfielder in his peak but he’s a donkey now.
Still think we’ll have enough for top 6 because somehow this league is even worse than last years. Shame we don’t seem to employ a physio or any sort of fitness coach because we certainly have a great fully fit 11.
2nd half we were quickly out the blocks with the wind behind us yet still we had few if any clear cut chances .. their two big and swift central defenders allied to a clever midfield covering the full backs kept us at bay, we were a bit huff n puff but still a BIG improvement on the poor 1st half showing. Reeves took his goal well but there were few other real chances despite our pressure.
I have to say that the starting line up did not work. Dijk is NOT a right back (I'll say for at least the thousandth time) When he moved into the middle after Pearce went off injured (again, and yet ANOTHER fucking casualty), Solly moved where he belongs on the right and Stevenson came on at left back, we looked much more organised and secure ..
Pratley and Marshall could not get into the game and were replaced perhaps too late Fosu had a bright cameo, Bielik did well as did Grant and Taylor albeit with little opportunity against a good defence. Other than constantly dealing with back passes, Steer had little to do.
Barnsley on this form and showing are a decent outfit, strong at the back, fleet and gifted in midfield. Manager Stendel is another German import who's got his players organised, confident and playing well
We are down to the bare bones with Solly facing suspension (he was furious at his second card and the Barnsley 23 who Solly was judged to have kicked, was a pain in the arse all game, whinging and diving about) and Pearce injured once more. All we can do is keep on keeping on and not give up. We're still in the top six and have all to play for.
It's true that we are decimated by injuries but why not start with a bit of offensive intent ourselves from the off by employing both Marshall and Fosu. Fortune favours the brave and all that.
In a recent home game against Portsmouth, Barnsley's shots were too close to their keeper. Lesson learnt, especially that wonder goal by Mamadou Thiam although Dijksteel afforded him too much space for his sumptuous conversion.
There was not enough passion on display from us in that first half for me which we eventually showed at the end of the match. Barnsley held the upper hand in terms of possession and they sensibly spread the play with Mike Bahre a constant threat in the middle forward position.
Whereas the only sort of thing we could muster was a pathetic free kick by Reeves straight to Adam Davies, their keeper on 21 minutes. Then there was a case of Pratley going backwards with the ball followed by loss of possession.
Our offensive ambition resulted in our first corner on 35 minutes.
There were some tiny signs that we were emerging from our slumber as the first half drew to its conclusion. However, the Tykes weren't finish with us yet as they pressed for a killer third from Bahre which forced Steer into a good save at his right hand post.
After a first 45 minutes of going up blind alleys, Marshall started to look much sharper, no doubt after a rocket from Bowyer at half time.
Bahre had another chance to wrap it up and should of scored.
Again, one of the glaring failings of the afternoon as the sun began to set over the South Yorkshire skyline was Bielik's inability to pass quicker to the likes of Taylor.
A flicker of light came when Fosu replaced Pratley and indeed from his blocked free kick, Reeves blasted in the rebound to reduce the arrears.
We went for height in the end with Hacket-Fairchild replacing Marshall in the final stages but with two instances of first Dijksteel and then Reeves relinquishing possession when we just needed that ball in the final third, you kinda of knew that a sweet ending would be probably beyond us. We had become very spirited right at the end and Chris Solly, bless him, took that to the extreme.
We come away with nothing but moving forward we just have to try to stay in and around the play offs with this terrible injury crisis threatening to derail our season.
You never know folks, we might be able to field our full strength team in the play offs and brush aside all before us because our best 11 is good enough to get us out of this tedious division.
"'Solly has got a second yellow card. It thought it was harsh. He won the ball. You can’t control where you are going once you’ve won the ball. The ref said he caught him on the follow through. When you’re sliding and you’re asking your players to put everything and give you everything, he slid, he’s won the ball and his momentum has took him into the lad. You can’t stop that. You can’t help that. That’s just part of the game at times. He hasn’t done anything intentionally. You don’t just win the ball and stop when you slide. That doesn’t happen. Now we’ll lose another player for the next game.'"
Did he win the ball? Didn't look like that to me. Still, THAT DOESN'T MATTER. It was a completely reckless challenge and again, he should have thanked the ref for not sending him off with a straight red.
Leuth's is obviously worse, but that one is pretty bad.
A good reminder this is Bowyer's first season as manager, second as a senior coach. This is the worst we've played this season. The pressure mounts this time of year. Hopefully everyone gets a day off tomorrow and can regroup on Monday.
Could have changed the whole concept of the game as cant imagine Barnsley being able to play with 10 men against us like we did against Wimbledon
Easy for me to say when I do not go.
On to the next one, aim should be play offs, with our strongest XI we can win them
Patch a team up for Walsall, hope for the 3 points and get in a couple of players in early before Sunderland. By then we will have Sarr and Solly back, Sarr is now available, we hopefully have Pearce fit. A new left back. Defence will be okay. It’s the midfield, without Aribo and Cullen, we are very poor and get overrun so badly. They’re huge losses.
I feel that we could go on a great run from February onwards to the end of the season, so long as we keep in the top 6 by then, we will give ourselves a chance come the end of the season.
Horrible Christmas for us with results but we must go again.
Oh, and I thought Marshall was very good second half. Deserves to be in the side.
Massive blow if so.