For all those saying the team is decimated/the starting 11 wouldnt get into the top 6 in League 1 are missing one big point.....even lowly Southend & Bolton score goals & look threatening sometimes. A mindset has to change. Either the management or the players. Last 2 games we have played teams who recently have been leaking goals & losing games.....in both matches we hardly had an effort on goal. If you dont shoot you wont score. It only takes a team to score once to beat us.
We're fielding a team of journeymen at present who are out of their depth at this level - the lack of creativity is startling. The perseverance with wing backs simply isn't working.
We have a lot of injured players but I'm not clear which of them can lift us from this depressing run. The team looks very disjointed.
Phillips is our only outstanding player at present even if his distribution isn't great.
It might work if we played Matthews and Doughty. Solly and Purrington is a definite no though.
Perspective everyone. Once players are back and we have options, I am confident we will regain confidence. Just remember how good we were at the start of the season. Terrible run this is but injuries have had a massive impact. Yes some wrong decisions to but mistakes will be made. Let's get behind the team. COYRs
True. And when (IF) the club is sold, you would imagine we get the quality we need to pull out of it in January. But it is going to get worse before it gets better with the team we can put out now.
For all those saying the team is decimated/the starting 11 wouldnt get into the top 6 in League 1 are missing one big point.....even lowly Southend & Bolton score goals & look threatening sometimes. A mindset has to change. Either the management or the players. Last 2 games we have played teams who recently have been leaking goals & losing games.....in both matches we hardly had an effort on goal. If you dont shoot you wont score. It only takes a team to score once to beat us.
To be fair we did have a decent period where we were attacking and created chances, seemed to be spurred on by Taylor coming off the bench.
Why Venners on rather than Morgan? Baffled me. Not criticising the lad but it was like putting on a schoolboy!
He really didn’t look ready did he? tried hard & I’m sure there’s potential there but being thrown in just to get pushed off the ball easily can’t be good for his development.
I don't normally criticise Bowyer and it won't be a habit but I think it was done as a message - what can I do with what I have got? It made no sense in the context of the game. I called it as a terrible sub at the time. Morgan would have been a better one. That isn't with the benefit of hindsight. That was as obvious at the time as it is now!
How can people be slagging off Vennings? He's played a few sub appearances and offered something different. Good was probably an exaggeration on reflection but he certainly wasn't bad, he's 19 he did a few bits nicely and made a couple of mistakes, but you can see he has a football brain. I'm not sure what people want from these kids?
Rather than accuse me of talking bollocks, have a think about why our opinions differ. I am always going to tend to have a more optimistic stance despite the shit I have been through in life. Your negative stance is on you.
Life is more important than football as I'd well know after 48 hours in hospital worrying over real world matters so far this week.
The escape of this forum is becoming less and less enjoyable and I ask why I bother more and more often. I'll stick to visiting on match days from now on and will refrain from posting a while to appease the more spiky posters.
That would make sense until you look at the timings of the sub. In terms of Vennings, it isn't slagging the lad off but being realistic. If you want to wear your rose tinted glasses and think it is a good thing playing a player who isn't ready fair enough. He was out muscled every time he had the ball. Did you not notice that? He will beef up, it isn't the same as saying he is rubbish!
Perhaps the formation has been forced on Bowyer because of player availability, but please let's get back to a back four. We don't have full backs who can beat their man, so we're incredibly easy to play against with three/five at the back. We didn't need Sarr, Pearce and Lockyer all playing against a struggling Huddersfield, it sends out the wrong message for one thing.
Bowyer is struggling and should be seeking advice from experienced managers, he has no idea how to get the best out of this weak squad. If the take over does occur it will be to late to save the team from relegation to league 1, because by January 2 the team will be 4-6 pts in the relegation zone.
A match with a draw all over it, leads to last minute agony.
Focus on the takeover... perhaps this poor run will tease out a little extra emotional and financial investment to propel us further faster, once the new owners get in the door.
Over to you.
Well the good news is we kept a clean sheet for 178 minutes!
Other than that we were dire!
With Morgan and Ledley on the bench Venners was the wrong
Agreed...it could be one of our longest spells without conceding....
Hopefully last night will be the worst game of the season.
Who scored the disallowed goal? Was it Taylor? Did anyone have a good view of it?
1st half we had no attacking threat apart from one Leko effort that nearly squeezed through the goalie's legs at the near post.
2nd half was better. Taylor definitely improved us and looked quite sharp. Apart from the off side goal, Solly probably came closest but was brilliantly blocked.
Generally thought that Phillips and the centre backs were ok but midfield and up front (pre Taylor) we were weak. Also thought Gallagher was lucky not to get a straight red 1st half....looked very high.
I'd like to see the disallowed goal again - not confident that it was rightly disallowed as the same lino had been wrong earlier in flagging Taylor as offside (hence the cries of "offside" randomly for the rest of the game). We were poor, so were they. I got drenched. Felt harsh at the end, though not massively surprising. Gutting that it was Solly's mistake as he'd been good. Phillips kept us in it (again). Don't get the hate for Grant and am thankful it wasn't him who scored. He was the best attacker on the pitch last night (not that that is saying much). Vennings was the wrong sub - not his fault he's only a kid but consistently outmuscled. Why not Morgan or Oshilaja? Gallagher made mistakes but was the only player on our side who looked like they'd like to win. Roll on Friday (which I am leaving my work xmas do early to come to - I must be a masochist) On the plus side, left a donation at both the Foodbank and Museum. Wish I lived in a country where the former wasn't necessary rather than a tool of government policy.
The problem we have is that even the better players and the more experienced players walking out into the pitch can see that with the team's we are puting out no matter how much effort they put in they stand little chance.It's killing their confidence. Kids coming back from none league.People playing out of position etc etc. If it was one or two games maybe people could raise their game to cover kids etc.,but weeks and weeks ? No chance.
Players are letting him down. The more experienced players are doing the stupid things. Solly must the be the only defender who cant clear a ball. Pearce just gives those pathetic fouls away that put us under immense pressure. I thought Pratley done okay but he does have a habit of leaving the boot in hard challanges.
The youth, I think, are doing well as can be expected.
But please stop giving Bowyer shit. Its embarrassing that its even being mentioned. Players need looking at before Bowyer.
How can people be slagging off Vennings? He's played a few sub appearances and offered something different. Good was probably an exaggeration on reflection but he certainly wasn't bad, he's 19 he did a few bits nicely and made a couple of mistakes, but you can see he has a football brain. I'm not sure what people want from these kids?
Rather than accuse me of talking bollocks, have a think about why our opinions differ. I am always going to tend to have a more optimistic stance despite the shit I have been through in life. Your negative stance is on you.
Life is more important than football as I'd well know after 48 hours in hospital worrying over real world matters so far this week.
The escape of this forum is becoming less and less enjoyable and I ask why I bother more and more often. I'll stick to visiting on match days from now on and will refrain from posting a while to appease the more spiky posters.
Very poor all round but what does everyone expect, hardly any players fit and low on confidence. We need players back and fast but we should be ok as long as the takeover goes through before Jan.
No one buys a club for 60 mill and lets it go down. They'll put the money in and we'll be ok.
I was in line with our “offside” goal and I believe it was the correct decision . As a seasoned Lino I was shouting out “offside offside” when the linos flag went up trying to stop people wrongly celebrating around me , although it was pretty empty so hardly anyone heard the bore at the back of the family stand
turned over by a team many of whose players were in the prem last season, albeit they were relegated. We didn't have a shot on target, were totally outplayed, but hung in there until an injury time calamity led to defeat by way of yet ANOTHER late late goal .. fair play to Bowyer (or was it a tactical error) .. towards the end he sent on Vennings, presumably to try for a winner when it would have been far more pragmatic to have sent on Ledley or Oshilaja to cling on for a point we looked better when Taylor came on, he should have started and been replaced if/when he was cream crackered .. too late now
no doubt we have entered a crisis .. low confidence amongst players and fans .. the management must stay calm and measured (easy for me to say) .. we soon enter a period of frantic activity, game upon game over the holiday period .. the 'take over' (please please please), players recovering from injury and the January transfer window just cannot come quickly enough
It really isn't a surprise that we concede late goals considering the injuries we have and the paper thin squad.
We got a lot of points in the bank early doors, I'm not panicking. Let's get to January and get some players back and hopefully get a few more bodies in.
Definitely not as bad as people are making out, first half we were both shite, second half we were marginally better than them until that bastard of a goal.
Phillips, Solly, Sarr, Pearce, Doughty, Leko and Vennings all looked good tonight.
Take the positives and move on.
Phillips was good apart from some of his kicking, Sarr was better in their half than ours, Solly defended well until that awful clearance, Pearce was OK, Doughty, Leko and Vennings did very little of note. Gallagher was shocking for about 75minutes.
Why do people get so precious about supporters putting across criticism on our fans main forum?
It’s no different to the discussion with family in the car or friends down the pub.
Football is such an amazing game because in the main, everyone has a view.
Sometimes we see things differently and sometimes the same.
We’ve just finished our 9th game without a win and some posters are amazed that others have come on to give criticism to performances, tactics and decision making. Doesn’t mean you support the team any less, it’s just general observations and annoyances.
Why do people get so precious about supporters putting across criticism on our fans main forum?
It’s no different to the discussion with family in the car or friends down the pub.
Football is such an amazing game because in the main, everyone has a view.
Sometimes we see things differently and sometimes the same.
We’ve just finished our 9th game without a win and some posters are amazed that others have come on to give criticism to performances, tactics and decision making. Doesn’t mean you support the team any less, it’s just general observations and annoyances.
Exactly , in the ground I was singing and getting behind them on my own like a raving lunatic half the time and I was a crown green bowling nicey nicey happy clappy fan at the end clapping off the guff performance (due to the effort put in) but I’m not dressing up 9 points from 15 games and pathetic defeats to teams on shit runs of form as it’s all ok and we’ll magically rise up the table when people come back .
I have to agree with comments about Vennings. He looks very lightweight, and was easily getting pushed off the ball to easily, I am sure he will be a good player as he gets older and stronger. When Yaylor came on we got some momentum going but when Vennings come on we lost the momentum as it was like we went to 10 men. We should have brought a seasoned pro on the pitch and changed it around a bit or Morgan who does not gett bullied off the ball There were a lot of strange decsions , why play 5 at the back when we are not playing fast fullbacks ? Surely a back 4 would be better. Why play Gallagher as holding midfield player in the first half, lost all his strenghths playing him there. Surely we should play Oshilaja as a holding midfielder. This is not a time to rest players - we need our best 11 playing. Apart from the goal, I thought Solly is 100% better than Mathews , some of the last ditch tackles were brilliant , unlike Matthews who dont seem to be bothered once he gets beaten.
Naby Sarr has passed the ball out to touch more times than I've ever witnessed so far this season. His passing range is woeful! He gave away another stupid freekick at the end which started that catalogue of disasters. Poor all round, but he really does cost us.
The problem we have is that even the better players and the more experienced players walking out into the pitch can see that with the team's we are puting out no matter how much effort they put in they stand little chance.It's killing their confidence. Kids coming back from none league.People playing out of position etc etc. If it was one or two games maybe people could raise their game to cover kids etc.,but weeks and weeks ? No chance.
We are in big trouble
How exactly?
He's to blame for many things, but how on earth can he be blamed for players getting injured? He probably doesn't even know half of their names.
Taylor injured on international duty. Williams a knee injury v Derby. Cullen stretchered off v Cardiff. Field stretchered off at Bristol city. Oztumer injured by a bad tackle Aneke - a series of muscle injuries, the latest in training last week.
Comments
Rather than accuse me of talking bollocks, have a think about why our opinions differ. I am always going to tend to have a more optimistic stance despite the shit I have been through in life. Your negative stance is on you.
Life is more important than football as I'd well know after 48 hours in hospital worrying over real world matters so far this week.
The escape of this forum is becoming less and less enjoyable and I ask why I bother more and more often. I'll stick to visiting on match days from now on and will refrain from posting a while to appease the more spiky posters.
Hopefully last night will be the worst game of the season.
Who scored the disallowed goal? Was it Taylor? Did anyone have a good view of it?
1st half we had no attacking threat apart from one Leko effort that nearly squeezed through the goalie's legs at the near post.
2nd half was better. Taylor definitely improved us and looked quite sharp. Apart from the off side goal, Solly probably came closest but was brilliantly blocked.
Generally thought that Phillips and the centre backs were ok but midfield and up front (pre Taylor) we were weak. Also thought Gallagher was lucky not to get a straight red 1st half....looked very high.
We were poor, so were they. I got drenched. Felt harsh at the end, though not massively surprising. Gutting that it was Solly's mistake as he'd been good. Phillips kept us in it (again). Don't get the hate for Grant and am thankful it wasn't him who scored. He was the best attacker on the pitch last night (not that that is saying much).
Vennings was the wrong sub - not his fault he's only a kid but consistently outmuscled. Why not Morgan or Oshilaja? Gallagher made mistakes but was the only player on our side who looked like they'd like to win.
Roll on Friday (which I am leaving my work xmas do early to come to - I must be a masochist)
On the plus side, left a donation at both the Foodbank and Museum. Wish I lived in a country where the former wasn't necessary rather than a tool of government policy.
The problem we have is that even the better players and the more experienced players walking out into the pitch can see that with the team's we are puting out no matter how much effort they put in they stand little chance.It's killing their confidence. Kids coming back from none league.People playing out of position etc etc.
If it was one or two games maybe people could raise their game to cover kids etc.,but weeks and weeks ? No chance.
We are in big trouble
Players are letting him down. The more experienced players are doing the stupid things. Solly must the be the only defender who cant clear a ball. Pearce just gives those pathetic fouls away that put us under immense pressure. I thought Pratley done okay but he does have a habit of leaving the boot in hard challanges.
The youth, I think, are doing well as can be expected.
But please stop giving Bowyer shit. Its embarrassing that its even being mentioned. Players need looking at before Bowyer.
No one buys a club for 60 mill and lets it go down. They'll put the money in and we'll be ok.
As a seasoned Lino I was shouting out “offside offside” when the linos flag went up trying to stop people wrongly celebrating around me , although it was pretty empty so hardly anyone heard the bore at the back of the family stand
We didn't have a shot on target, were totally outplayed, but hung in there until an injury time calamity led to defeat by way of yet ANOTHER late late goal ..
fair play to Bowyer (or was it a tactical error) .. towards the end he sent on Vennings, presumably to try for a winner when it would have been far more pragmatic to have sent on Ledley or Oshilaja to cling on for a point
we looked better when Taylor came on, he should have started and been replaced if/when he was cream crackered .. too late now
no doubt we have entered a crisis .. low confidence amongst players and fans .. the management must stay calm and measured (easy for me to say) .. we soon enter a period of frantic activity, game upon game over the holiday period .. the 'take over' (please please please), players recovering from injury and the January transfer window just cannot come quickly enough
We got a lot of points in the bank early doors, I'm not panicking. Let's get to January and get some players back and hopefully get a few more bodies in.
It was as bad as people are making out.
but I’m not dressing up 9 points from 15 games and pathetic defeats to teams on shit runs of form as it’s all ok and we’ll magically rise up the table when people come back .
There were a lot of strange decsions , why play 5 at the back when we are not playing fast fullbacks ? Surely a back 4 would be better. Why play Gallagher as holding midfield player in the first half, lost all his strenghths playing him there. Surely we should play Oshilaja as a holding midfielder. This is not a time to rest players - we need our best 11 playing.
Apart from the goal, I thought Solly is 100% better than Mathews , some of the last ditch tackles were brilliant , unlike Matthews who dont seem to be bothered once he gets beaten.
He's to blame for many things, but how on earth can he be blamed for players getting injured? He probably doesn't even know half of their names.
Taylor injured on international duty.
Williams a knee injury v Derby.
Cullen stretchered off v Cardiff.
Field stretchered off at Bristol city.
Oztumer injured by a bad tackle
Aneke - a series of muscle injuries, the latest in training last week.
How can you blame RD for any of these?