On the plus side, we probably only need to win 3 and draw a few of our remaining 13 games to stay up, with wins against Luton, Wigan and Huddersfield being the priority..
On the down side, with Gallagher gone,Williams sidelined again and Field out for good by the sound of it, our midfield options are not great. It is basically any 4 from Cullen, Oshilaja, Davis and Pratley as defensive mid and Doughty, Oztumer and McGeady as attackers (and possibly Green). While they all have some good qualities, they all have weaknesses at this level and I would not know which 4 are our first choice line up. Even Cullen has not got back to his best since injury.
Its a sensible approach from Bowyer, focusing on select games rather than them all
I'd probably do the same in his shoes, yet its a very risky approach and hope it don't backfire for him
Forest did the same against us and paid the penalty.
Imagine if we'd rested Lyle on Tuesday to save him for the home fixture against Blackburn...
The difference is Forest rested players thinking the match against little old struggling Charlton would be easy and they could still bag three points with a weaker side, saving their main players for the more difficult match against West Brom.
Riga's approach was to effectively lump all our eggs in one basket - matches against the sides around us - and rest players for the matches against the top sides.
Don't forget that in that season we had a big fixture backlog because of our FA Cup run and were playing more midweek matches towards the end of the season (16 matches in 52 days after Saint Christopher was fired) so the targeting of specific matches to avoid relegation made sense.
Phillips: decent between the sticks but kicking out ain't good enough often enough Lockyer: decent start but his inadequacies at this level soon all too apparent - deflection off his arse for the first goal is probably unlucky, the risible missed header to concede the 2nd goal is just unforeffingivable Pearce: fairly anonymous, which is usually good for a CH Sarr: almost the full house Naby blunderful display, best of the 3(!) CH's by a distance Matthews: decent first half, nullified 2nd half by the change of shape Davis: did most of the Pratley stuff quite well, not as quick or refined as DP Cullen: his best game in a while, McGeady: he looked alright, was having his best spell when LB gave him the hook, which was odd Doughty: needs to strengthen his right foot as a matter of urgency, if that becomes even vaguely useful he's a world beater - at the moment he can be too easy to defend against, down the left - show him inside and he has to go back, down the right - show him the wing and he can't cross it. Love his effort, dedication, he's obviously hard on himself, a diamond in the rough. Taylor: invaluable all over the park, maybe half a yard off his peak and few things ran for him today, least of all the striking 'partner' he still has to carry Hemed: overweight, dim, slow; ran about a bit more, to no discernible effect, gave away idiotic fouls, contributed nothing Smith: wrong horse for this particular course - plenty of effort and willingness but apparently short of what was needed to trouble rovers Green: very far from being what was needed at that stage, long balls towards him are wasted, that's not his game, moved to the point of a diamond looked completely lost and withdrew rather than bust a gut - always the wrong choice. Bonne: got no service, should have been introduced earlier Referee: got one thing correct: the non-penalty for rovers when Pearce got shoved over in the box, me and the 'kid-in-front-of-me' both called it right away; rest of the game an absolute farce - the free kick for the 2nd goal for one and the flat out cheating when not giving Lenihan a 2nd yellow for the most blatant bad foul in the game - Andy Davies you are crooked.
Bowyer - odd collection of mis-steps - Smith's introduction baffling, timing of Mcgeady's withdrawal equally strange, lateness of Bonne's introduction with goals needed and exclusion of Oztumer when what was needed was someone to unlock rovers' diligent but workmanlike midfield The Luton game is crucial, their current run of form means none of the mistakes from Saturday can be repeated without it costing a price we can't afford - corrupt refereeing notwithstanding.
I actually didn't think we that bad on Saturday, Blackburn were 9th for a reason. They scored an incredibly fortunate deflected opening goal and the 2nd (never a free kick in the first place) which killed the game. Their keeper was far busier than Phillips was and made a superb save to keep it at 0-2 just before HT. We were not good by any stretch bit think there has been a massive overreaction to losing a game to a side flirting with the playoffs....
Its a sensible approach from Bowyer, focusing on select games rather than them all
I'd probably do the same in his shoes, yet its a very risky approach and hope it don't backfire for him
Forest did the same against us and paid the penalty.
Imagine if we'd rested Lyle on Tuesday to save him for the home fixture against Blackburn...
The difference is Forest rested players thinking the match against little old struggling Charlton would be easy and they could still bag three points with a weaker side, saving their main players for the more difficult match against West Brom.
Riga's approach was to effectively lump all our eggs in one basket - matches against the sides around us - and rest players for the matches against the top sides.
Don't forget that in that season we had a big fixture backlog because of our FA Cup run and were playing more midweek matches towards the end of the season (16 matches in 52 days after Saint Christopher was fired) so the targeting of specific matches to avoid relegation made sense.
My point partially was that, while I agreed with how Riga managed things, if Bowyer had thought - away game at Forest, no chance of a win, lets save our big guns for "Fortress Valley" against Blackburn - we may have missed out on 3 vital points
The Championship seems far less predictable than it was 6 years ago too, who would have thought Barnsley would win 3-0 at Fulham, a game most people would have called a home banker?
I actually didn't think we that bad on Saturday, Blackburn were 9th for a reason. They scored an incredibly fortunate deflected opening goal and the 2nd (never a free kick in the first place) which killed the game. Their keeper was far busier than Phillips was and made a superb save to keep it at 0-2 just before HT. We were not good by any stretch bit think there has been a massive overreaction to losing a game to a side flirting with the playoffs....
Their goalkeeper was excellent and his distribution was pretty amazing given the windy conditions. Great save from Taylor.
I actually didn't think we that bad on Saturday, Blackburn were 9th for a reason. They scored an incredibly fortunate deflected opening goal and the 2nd (never a free kick in the first place) which killed the game. Their keeper was far busier than Phillips was and made a superb save to keep it at 0-2 just before HT. We were not good by any stretch bit think there has been a massive overreaction to losing a game to a side flirting with the playoffs....
Their goalkeeper was excellent and his distribution was pretty amazing given the windy conditions. Great save from Taylor.
Three centre backs doesn't have to be defensive though. I think you stick Pratley in the middle and it becomes more flexible. It wasn't working well yesterday as Blackburn were using their extra man in midfield to good effect but Pratley could have pushed up with no need for a sub, increasing tactical options from the bench. But Pratley wasn't available. I think if Williams was playing it would have worked better.
I like the diamond away but it needs tweaking at home. Nut agree how teams can build against us with not enough challenge. It can be like them building a base camp in our half. This is not acceptable now we have players back.
Agree, formations are only part of the equation, how they're deployed is what really makes for attacking/defensive sides.
My issue with the back three is that, with Pearce in it, we end up sitting really deep, and it doesn't leave room for midfielders to build from the back. I'm not a huge fan of Pratley's, but he's much better in that role than Pearce, because he can step out and play out from the back. Pearce just sits deep, and when he gets the ball it goes back to Phillips, whose kicking isn't great, and it basically results in us oftentimes losing possession. It also limits Sarr's ability to play out, because he oftentimes only has the LB and Pearce to play with because teams know to crowd out the midfield.
I have concerns about the midfield diamond as well. With the two shuttlers as two from Davis/Pratley/Smith, there isn't enough creativity there. But I still think that, as a team, it allows us to play higher up the pitch and that means that we're more likely to hit teams on the counter/by winning it in midfield.
It is an issue and has to depend on the team you are playing. 3 centre halves might have worked better against Blackburn with Taylor on his own up front and with Oztumer and Aneke in midfield along with Cullen and Davies. But hindsight is a wonderful thing. I'd consider this against Luton though.
Nobody complained about the 3 CBs on Tuesday when we won, indeed had Bowyer switched to a 4 on Saturday, people would have complained about him changing a winning system...
Nobody complained about the 3 CBs on Tuesday when we won, indeed had Bowyer switched to a 4 on Saturday, people would have complained about him changing a winning system...
Seems to work better away than at the Valley. I’d favour 4-5-1 at home with Green and Williams joining Taylor when we attack.
Nobody complained about the 3 CBs on Tuesday when we won, indeed had Bowyer switched to a 4 on Saturday, people would have complained about him changing a winning system...
Seems to work better away than at the Valley. I’d favour 4-5-1 at home with Green and Williams joining Taylor when we attack.
Didn’t everyone complain when Karl Robinson only played one up front at home?
Nobody complained about the 3 CBs on Tuesday when we won, indeed had Bowyer switched to a 4 on Saturday, people would have complained about him changing a winning system...
Seems to work better away than at the Valley. I’d favour 4-5-1 at home with Green and Williams joining Taylor when we attack.
Didn’t everyone complain when Karl Robinson only played one up front at home? Works better under Bowyer because he uses more mobile players of a higher quality
Have avoided this thread.. All i have to say is their kit looked like deliveroo riders
Shocking kit.
The colour reminded me of the infamous Man U grey kit that Fergie dumped at half time, maybe the Blackburn one worked in reverse as the Charlton players couldn't see the Blackburn ones, hence us giving the ball away all of the time...
sorry Lee, but if you think that was anything other than a comprehensive defeat by a better side then you are on the road to delusion. Yes we missed a lot of chances but we were poor. Take it on the chin and stop sugar coating it please.
Comments
First time I've left early in god knows how long. 85min I had just had enough.
Very disappointing, hopefully we can pick it up in time for what is a huge game on Saturday.
Imagine if we'd rested Lyle on Tuesday to save him for the home fixture against Blackburn...
On the down side, with Gallagher gone,Williams sidelined again and Field out for good by the sound of it, our midfield options are not great. It is basically any 4 from Cullen, Oshilaja, Davis and Pratley as defensive mid and Doughty, Oztumer and McGeady as attackers (and possibly Green). While they all have some good qualities, they all have weaknesses at this level and I would not know which 4 are our first choice line up. Even Cullen has not got back to his best since injury.
Riga's approach was to effectively lump all our eggs in one basket - matches against the sides around us - and rest players for the matches against the top sides.
Don't forget that in that season we had a big fixture backlog because of our FA Cup run and were playing more midweek matches towards the end of the season (16 matches in 52 days after Saint Christopher was fired) so the targeting of specific matches to avoid relegation made sense.
Lockyer: decent start but his inadequacies at this level soon all too apparent - deflection off his arse for the first goal is probably unlucky, the risible missed header to concede the 2nd goal is just unforeffingivable
Pearce: fairly anonymous, which is usually good for a CH
Sarr: almost the full house Naby blunderful display, best of the 3(!) CH's by a distance
Matthews: decent first half, nullified 2nd half by the change of shape
Davis: did most of the Pratley stuff quite well, not as quick or refined as DP
Cullen: his best game in a while,
McGeady: he looked alright, was having his best spell when LB gave him the hook, which was odd
Doughty: needs to strengthen his right foot as a matter of urgency, if that becomes even vaguely useful he's a world beater - at the moment he can be too easy to defend against, down the left - show him inside and he has to go back, down the right - show him the wing and he can't cross it. Love his effort, dedication, he's obviously hard on himself, a diamond in the rough.
Taylor: invaluable all over the park, maybe half a yard off his peak and few things ran for him today, least of all the striking 'partner' he still has to carry
Hemed: overweight, dim, slow; ran about a bit more, to no discernible effect, gave away idiotic fouls, contributed nothing
Smith: wrong horse for this particular course - plenty of effort and willingness but apparently short of what was needed to trouble rovers
Green: very far from being what was needed at that stage, long balls towards him are wasted, that's not his game, moved to the point of a diamond looked completely lost and withdrew rather than bust a gut - always the wrong choice.
Bonne: got no service, should have been introduced earlier
Referee: got one thing correct: the non-penalty for rovers when Pearce got shoved over in the box, me and the 'kid-in-front-of-me' both called it right away; rest of the game an absolute farce - the free kick for the 2nd goal for one and the flat out cheating when not giving Lenihan a 2nd yellow for the most blatant bad foul in the game - Andy Davies you are crooked.
Bowyer - odd collection of mis-steps - Smith's introduction baffling, timing of Mcgeady's withdrawal equally strange, lateness of Bonne's introduction with goals needed and exclusion of Oztumer when what was needed was someone to unlock rovers' diligent but workmanlike midfield
The Luton game is crucial, their current run of form means none of the mistakes from Saturday can be repeated without it costing a price we can't afford - corrupt refereeing notwithstanding.
The Championship seems far less predictable than it was 6 years ago too, who would have thought Barnsley would win 3-0 at Fulham, a game most people would have called a home banker?
My issue with the back three is that, with Pearce in it, we end up sitting really deep, and it doesn't leave room for midfielders to build from the back. I'm not a huge fan of Pratley's, but he's much better in that role than Pearce, because he can step out and play out from the back. Pearce just sits deep, and when he gets the ball it goes back to Phillips, whose kicking isn't great, and it basically results in us oftentimes losing possession. It also limits Sarr's ability to play out, because he oftentimes only has the LB and Pearce to play with because teams know to crowd out the midfield.
I have concerns about the midfield diamond as well. With the two shuttlers as two from Davis/Pratley/Smith, there isn't enough creativity there. But I still think that, as a team, it allows us to play higher up the pitch and that means that we're more likely to hit teams on the counter/by winning it in midfield.
The colour reminded me of the infamous Man U grey kit that Fergie dumped at half time, maybe the Blackburn one worked in reverse as the Charlton players couldn't see the Blackburn ones, hence us giving the ball away all of the time...
sorry Lee, but if you think that was anything other than a comprehensive defeat by a better side then you are on the road to delusion. Yes we missed a lot of chances but we were poor. Take it on the chin and stop sugar coating it please.
Always helpful to look at the context of form when you assess how good or bad a result was.