Wasn't at the game, but reading this thread and the BBC and Sky Live Text, it seems another match we might have got something from...but didn't. In 21 games this season we've either dropped a point, or lost all 3 because the opposition have scored a goal, often late in the game
Watching matches I'm struck by how frequently we either should have played a back 5, and don't, or how often the midfield gets reshuffled. (Counting everyone with a shirt number we currently have 21 midfielders at the club...and 3 others, Gallagher, Kayal and Ledley have come and gone since last August).
There have been several occasions when I've struggled to see the logic in how the team is set up. If we'd held on in half the 21 games where we lost points by a single margin we'd currently be 8th, instead of 2 points above the drop zone.
Bowyer did a great job getting us out of League One but I think the jury must be out on how good a manager he is at Championship level. If we stay up...I'd be happy to conclude he is.
If we stay up Bowyer deserves Manager of The Year given the shitty hand dealt him by Roland and ESI. Oh and that's before we consider the injuries and Gallagher.
Matt Southall sends nice tweets though so we'll all blame Bowyer instead and demand that he is sacked.
I sometimes think I live in a parallel universe to the rest of the world.
EDIT: I agree with you broadly @simonmatthews my rant is not directed at you for clarity even though I quoted you.
I blame Bowyer for last night as he picked the team, the formation & the tactics.
If we get relegated (and that is looking more than 50% likely) then I will blame ESI. We are in a worse position now (in terms of the table & clubs below us) than we were 4-6 weeks ago.
And just to think, they "delayed" actually spending any money on buying the Valley & SL so they could concentrate on the Transfer Window.
And as in the immortal words of Jonny Rotten......
Shades of C P 's management emerging. Started off very positive, great attacking football. But then got increasingly cautious, negative and slow to use subs. We have the players, when fully fit, to get out of this easily. Unfortunately too many of them are still not fully fit, and he doesn't seem to trust other game changers like McGeady or even Morgan who is capable of opening up defences. He needs to start approaching games more positively. An early season Bowyer team would have gone for the win last night.
Maybe denial and front is how Bowyer needs to cope with his own feelings of guilt? It was an awful interview but the proof is in how we play on Saturday
I don't think Bowyer, in public anyway, looks beyond being literally seconds away from a point that 99% of people would have taken before the match. Hence his blinkered comments.
That might be a good point. A few years back a manager's post match comments might have had more impact on how you viewed a result if you weren't in attendance. You'd be relying on match reports and the few that went to try and build a picture. Unfortunately for Bowyer the vast majority of us have access to watch every single game and you can't get away with bullshitting the fans anymore. Both "we lost a point in the last second" and "we played shite for the whole match" are factual statements but one tells a truer story of the game.
Wasn't at the game, but reading this thread and the BBC and Sky Live Text, it seems another match we might have got something from...but didn't. In 21 games this season we've either dropped a point, or lost all 3 because the opposition have scored a goal, often late in the game
Watching matches I'm struck by how frequently we either should have played a back 5, and don't, or how often the midfield gets reshuffled. (Counting everyone with a shirt number we currently have 21 midfielders at the club...and 3 others, Gallagher, Kayal and Ledley have come and gone since last August).
There have been several occasions when I've struggled to see the logic in how the team is set up. If we'd held on in half the 21 games where we lost points by a single margin we'd currently be 8th, instead of 2 points above the drop zone.
Bowyer did a great job getting us out of League One but I think the jury must be out on how good a manager he is at Championship level. If we stay up...I'd be happy to conclude he is.
If we stay up Bowyer deserves Manager of The Year given the shitty hand dealt him by Roland and ESI. Oh and that's before we consider the injuries and Gallagher.
Matt Southall sends nice tweets though so we'll all blame Bowyer instead and demand that he is sacked.
I sometimes think I live in a parallel universe to the rest of the world.
EDIT: I agree with you broadly @simonmatthews my rant is not directed at you for clarity even though I quoted you.
I blame Bowyer for last night as he picked the team, the formation & the tactics.
If we get relegated (and that is looking more than 50% likely) then I will blame ESI. We are in a worse position now (in terms of the table & clubs below us) than we were 4-6 weeks ago.
And just to think, they "delayed" actually spending any money on buying the Valley & SL so they could concentrate on the Transfer Window.
And as in the immortal words of Jonny Rotten......
Ever feel like you've been cheated
We're in a better position, have more teams beneath us and maintain a better goal difference.
I agree the bottom sides have made up ground, however we haven't done awfully since ESI came in, in fact quite the opposite. We've done reasonably well.
(From the negativity bandwagon thread) This means we will achieve a minimum of 9 points from the 7 games in February, with a potential of 12 from 7. That's a very decent return all things considered.
Just a reminder in January we also got 2 in 4 games so overall since ESI have been on the scene we've got 11 points from 10 games so far. (In Roland's last 10 we get just 6 points)
On a massive tangent now... Going by Bowyer's 9 game chunks:
1st 9 (ended on 28/09) - 17 points (RT 17) 2nd 9 (ended on 26/11) - 6 points (RT 23) 3rd 9 (ended on 11/01) - 6 points (RT 29) 4th 9 (ends on 29/02) - 10 points (RT 39) - Huddersfield to play
Wasn't at the game, but reading this thread and the BBC and Sky Live Text, it seems another match we might have got something from...but didn't. In 21 games this season we've either dropped a point, or lost all 3 because the opposition have scored a goal, often late in the game
Watching matches I'm struck by how frequently we either should have played a back 5, and don't, or how often the midfield gets reshuffled. (Counting everyone with a shirt number we currently have 21 midfielders at the club...and 3 others, Gallagher, Kayal and Ledley have come and gone since last August).
There have been several occasions when I've struggled to see the logic in how the team is set up. If we'd held on in half the 21 games where we lost points by a single margin we'd currently be 8th, instead of 2 points above the drop zone.
Bowyer did a great job getting us out of League One but I think the jury must be out on how good a manager he is at Championship level. If we stay up...I'd be happy to conclude he is.
If we stay up Bowyer deserves Manager of The Year given the shitty hand dealt him by Roland and ESI. Oh and that's before we consider the injuries and Gallagher.
Matt Southall sends nice tweets though so we'll all blame Bowyer instead and demand that he is sacked.
I sometimes think I live in a parallel universe to the rest of the world.
EDIT: I agree with you broadly @simonmatthews my rant is not directed at you for clarity even though I quoted you.
I blame Bowyer for last night as he picked the team, the formation & the tactics.
If we get relegated (and that is looking more than 50% likely) then I will blame ESI. We are in a worse position now (in terms of the table & clubs below us) than we were 4-6 weeks ago.
And just to think, they "delayed" actually spending any money on buying the Valley & SL so they could concentrate on the Transfer Window.
And as in the immortal words of Jonny Rotten......
Ever feel like you've been cheated
We're in a better position, have more teams beneath us and maintain a better goal difference.
I agree the bottom sides have made up ground, however we haven't done awfully since ESI came in, in fact quite the opposite. We've done reasonably well.
(From the negativity bandwagon thread) This means we will achieve a minimum of 9 points from the 7 games in February, with a potential of 12 from 7. That's a very decent return all things considered.
Just a reminder in January we also got 2 in 4 games so overall since ESI have been on the scene we've got 11 points from 10 games so far. (In Roland's last 10 we get just 6 points)
On a massive tangent now... Going by Bowyer's 9 game chunks:
1st 9 (ended on 28/09) - 17 points (RT 17) 2nd 9 (ended on 26/11) - 6 points (RT 23) 3rd 9 (ended on 11/01) - 6 points (RT 29) 4th 9 (ends on 29/02) - 10 points (RT 39) - Huddersfield to play
We have Lyle Taylor back and fully fit, therefore we will win more games now than when he was injured or not fully fit. Yes ESI didn't sell him in January, but it's Taylor's return which has made the major difference, not anything ESI have done.
Indeed without his injury, we'd probably be up there with Millwall in the table
As I said earlier, that ref was a disgrace. Not the kind that makes a blatant terrible decision, but one who makes a lot of dodgy ones that to the neutral might not raise an eyebrow. The type that in the Czech league gets looked at and people say, ah yeah, the brown envelope. That doesn't happen in England I am sure. But neither yellow for Doughty or Lockyer were justified, that's for starters. If you watch the highlights, the first Wednesday attack you see Cullen floored and the ref gave nothing. The tackle by that big shithead on Lapslie should have been a striagh red. Far worse than Naby's tackle that got him a straight red in the first minute.
Unfortunately we don't see in the Sky highlights the free-kick against Pearce at the end. Nor do we see the clock. But I was watching that clock.
That's why IMO Bowyer is right to be aggrieved with the manner of the eventual defeat.
Four minutes were allowed for extra time. Now I cannot remember every second, but according to the BBC live text the 4 mins were up before Lapslie threw the ball away and got booked. But that whole incident took up no more than 10 seconds. So before the Pearce free-kick the ref should have called time.
As far as I am aware there is no rule that a ref can add on more time than was actually lost, to punish the offender further. Right? , I am even more sure, that the only set play for which a ref can allow time beyond that allotted, is a penalty. So even if it was a free kick (which I didn't think was, but I would love to see it again), the ref had no grounds for allowing it to be taken. You spend time setting up, tough shit, time's up.
So Bowyer was right to say we were conned. Or rather we were done by incompetent self-indulgent refereeing. As a result we are deep in the shit and missing a key defender for two key games.
I don't like blaming officials, especially when it's for maybe one or two blatantly bad decisions, but the ref really did not help us at all last night. Consistently dealing with Charlton players more harshly than Sheffield's.
There were two key parts to it. 1) we actually had the better of the opening 10 or 15 minutes, but then he gave them about 4 corners in a row that should've been goal kicks to us and the sustained spell of pressure that helped bring about really seemed to shift the momentum of the match in their favour. 2) There was a period where it felt like almost every challenge we made was deemed a foul and it is very hard to compete in midfield or build any kind of momentum under those circumstances.
I don't like blaming officials, especially when it's for maybe one or two blatantly bad decisions, but the ref really did not help us at all last night. Consistently dealing with Charlton players more harshly than Sheffield's.
There were two key parts to it. 1) we actually had the better of the opening 10 or 15 minutes, but then he gave them about 4 corners in a row that should've been goal kicks to us and the sustained spell of pressure that helped bring about really seemed to shift the momentum of the match in their favour. 2) There was a period where it felt like almost every challenge we made was deemed a foul and it is very hard to compete in midfield or build any kind of momentum under those circumstances.
Yep. I had exactly that feeling re the first half. I would imagine that Doughty in particular, who is having trouble judging his tackle timing anyway, was a bit rattled by his ridiculous yellow.
On the train home after a visit to the excellent Kelham Island Museum and a couple of liveners in The Fat Cat, The Shakespeare and the Sheffield Tap.
I thought we were going to chisel out a much needed and very good away point but, alas, it was not to be. Lee, I think it was, won the first header on the edge of our box from the fatal free kick, Pearcey seemed to lose his balance as Nuhiu created chaos and Fletcher nodded the bouncing ball past Dillon.
It was a game low on quality and the most subdued I have ever seen Hillsborough, which suited us just fine. That was presumably down to Wednesday’s recent poor form - 7 games without a win - and what was doubtless their lowest crowd of the season. With a couple of notable exceptions, both sides looked low on confidence.
The first half was a non-event, other than one half chance for Wednesday, although they had the game’s outstanding player in Bannon, who was the master of the field from start to finish. I had hoped that Lapslie might have been able to stifle him when he came on but we struggled to get near him and Bannon was afforded far too much time and space to dictate the play. With the benefit of hindsight, a man marking/spoiling job might have been in order, as practically everything went through him. Not bad for a bloke who is, I’m told, carrying an injury and playing following cortisone injections.
Wednesday turned the heat up in the second half, with the introduction of Fletcher from the bench giving them added impetus, although it looked as if we had ridden that out following a couple of good saves from Dillon, notably the one from Fletcher’s bullet header. Lyle produced a moment of great individual skill with his long-range effort against the bar and had another effort superbly blocked after one of our players got to the byeline and pulled the ball back across the face of goal. That was, however, it in terms of our attacking efforts and we carried very little threat offensively.
Overall, I thought that Wednesday were worth the win, despite the fact that they created relatively few clear cut chances. We were in the very back row of the South Stand on the halfway line, so had a reasonable view of the ultimately decisive free kick, although I didn’t think it was particularly contentious at the time. I can understand Lee trying to pump up the players for Saturday but if we had defended properly in the first and second phases of play, we’d have come away with a point.
Looking for positives is difficult after such a late gut punch, although I felt that we defended pretty well throughout (save for the late aberration) and Dillon was excellent.
We were poor in midfield and Cullen and Oztumer were unable to get their foot on the ball to give us any meaningful possession and there was a general lack of combination play. Up front, Macauley Bonne struggled with the lack of service, although Lyle was still able to come close on two occasions.
A great trip but a disappointingly passive display and one that we shall have to improve upon if we are going to get anything on Saturday in a genuine six pointer.
Wasn't at the game, but reading this thread and the BBC and Sky Live Text, it seems another match we might have got something from...but didn't. In 21 games this season we've either dropped a point, or lost all 3 because the opposition have scored a goal, often late in the game
Watching matches I'm struck by how frequently we either should have played a back 5, and don't, or how often the midfield gets reshuffled. (Counting everyone with a shirt number we currently have 21 midfielders at the club...and 3 others, Gallagher, Kayal and Ledley have come and gone since last August).
There have been several occasions when I've struggled to see the logic in how the team is set up. If we'd held on in half the 21 games where we lost points by a single margin we'd currently be 8th, instead of 2 points above the drop zone.
Bowyer did a great job getting us out of League One but I think the jury must be out on how good a manager he is at Championship level. If we stay up...I'd be happy to conclude he is.
If we stay up Bowyer deserves Manager of The Year given the shitty hand dealt him by Roland and ESI. Oh and that's before we consider the injuries and Gallagher.
Matt Southall sends nice tweets though so we'll all blame Bowyer instead and demand that he is sacked.
I sometimes think I live in a parallel universe to the rest of the world.
EDIT: I agree with you broadly @simonmatthews my rant is not directed at you for clarity even though I quoted you.
I blame Bowyer for last night as he picked the team, the formation & the tactics.
If we get relegated (and that is looking more than 50% likely) then I will blame ESI. We are in a worse position now (in terms of the table & clubs below us) than we were 4-6 weeks ago.
And just to think, they "delayed" actually spending any money on buying the Valley & SL so they could concentrate on the Transfer Window.
And as in the immortal words of Jonny Rotten......
Ever feel like you've been cheated
Spot on GA. That was nothing more than spin and waffle, of politician proportions!
As the incomparable Grapevine recently opined; if you're prepared to buy a club at the beginning of January, and inherit a weakened (relegation threatened) squad, then you should be prepared (from a business plan perspective) to spend a few quid to strengthen that squad, despite knowing that January will present you with 'over-inflated' transfer prices. It's simply business logic.
Never lose sight of the fact that ESI were initially evasive, and 'diplomatic with the truth', about the ownership of The Valley and SL. For me, at that juncture, trust is immediately compromised! Takes a lot to win it back I'm afraid.
I didn't buy their hyperbole then. I don't buy it now.
As I said earlier, that ref was a disgrace. Not the kind that makes a blatant terrible decision, but one who makes a lot of dodgy ones that to the neutral might not raise an eyebrow. The type that in the Czech league gets looked at and people say, ah yeah, the brown envelope. That doesn't happen in England I am sure. But neither yellow for Doughty or Lockyer were justified, that's for starters. If you watch the highlights, the first Wednesday attack you see Cullen floored and the ref gave nothing. The tackle by that big shithead on Lapslie should have been a striagh red. Far worse than Naby's tackle that got him a straight red in the first minute.
Unfortunately we don't see in the Sky highlights the free-kick against Pearce at the end. Nor do we see the clock. But I was watching that clock.
That's why IMO Bowyer is right to be aggrieved with the manner of the eventual defeat.
Four minutes were allowed for extra time. Now I cannot remember every second, but according to the BBC live text the 4 mins were up before Lapslie threw the ball away and got booked. But that whole incident took up no more than 10 seconds. So before the Pearce free-kick the ref should have called time.
As far as I am aware there is no rule that a ref can add on more time than was actually lost, to punish the offender further. Right? , I am even more sure, that the only set play for which a ref can allow time beyond that allotted, is a penalty. So even if it was a free kick (which I didn't think was, but I would love to see it again), the ref had no grounds for allowing it to be taken. You spend time setting up, tough shit, time's up.
So Bowyer was right to say we were conned. Or rather we were done by incompetent self-indulgent refereeing. As a result we are deep in the shit and missing a key defender for two key games.
Added on time has been done to death but just to add my view on it.......
The 4th official holds ip a board with 4 mins on it. It doesnt have seconds, just minutes. Ths real added on time might have been 4min & 5secs......it might have been 4min & 45 secs. Only the ref knows, and he can add on whatever amount of time he feels needs to be added. I never get worked up about the over-running of time being added as keepers waste time, subs waste time & then there are silly incidents like last night with Lapslie throwing the ball away.
The best way we had of not losing that game as it went into added time was to go for goal (like they did). We didnt. We actually did the opposite & tried NOT to score. Only people to blame for the defeat last night was the players, not the ref.
As I said earlier, that ref was a disgrace. Not the kind that makes a blatant terrible decision, but one who makes a lot of dodgy ones that to the neutral might not raise an eyebrow. The type that in the Czech league gets looked at and people say, ah yeah, the brown envelope. That doesn't happen in England I am sure. But neither yellow for Doughty or Lockyer were justified, that's for starters. If you watch the highlights, the first Wednesday attack you see Cullen floored and the ref gave nothing. The tackle by that big shithead on Lapslie should have been a striagh red. Far worse than Naby's tackle that got him a straight red in the first minute.
Unfortunately we don't see in the Sky highlights the free-kick against Pearce at the end. Nor do we see the clock. But I was watching that clock.
That's why IMO Bowyer is right to be aggrieved with the manner of the eventual defeat.
Four minutes were allowed for extra time. Now I cannot remember every second, but according to the BBC live text the 4 mins were up before Lapslie threw the ball away and got booked. But that whole incident took up no more than 10 seconds. So before the Pearce free-kick the ref should have called time.
As far as I am aware there is no rule that a ref can add on more time than was actually lost, to punish the offender further. Right? , I am even more sure, that the only set play for which a ref can allow time beyond that allotted, is a penalty. So even if it was a free kick (which I didn't think was, but I would love to see it again), the ref had no grounds for allowing it to be taken. You spend time setting up, tough shit, time's up.
So Bowyer was right to say we were conned. Or rather we were done by incompetent self-indulgent refereeing. As a result we are deep in the shit and missing a key defender for two key games.
Added on time has been done to death but just to add my view on it.......
The 4th official holds ip a board with 4 mins on it. It doesnt have seconds, just minutes. Ths real added on time might have been 4min & 5secs......it might have been 4min & 45 secs. Only the ref knows, and he can add on whatever amount of time he feels needs to be added. I never get worked up about the over-running of time being added as keepers waste time, subs waste time & then there are silly incidents like last night with Lapslie throwing the ball away.
The best way we had of not losing that game as it went into added time was to go for goal (like they did). We didnt. We actually did the opposite & tried NOT to score. Only people to blame for the defeat last night was the players, not the ref.
You've added your view on it to death too, and I've told you what the answer is. Give responsibility for added time to the 4th official, wire his time piece to the stadium clock so we all see exactly what time has been stopped and for what. We pay enough bloody money to this business, it's time it was more transparent and people who make important decisions are prepared to be held accountable for them. A bit like the financial services industry, come to think of it.
As I said earlier, that ref was a disgrace. Not the kind that makes a blatant terrible decision, but one who makes a lot of dodgy ones that to the neutral might not raise an eyebrow. The type that in the Czech league gets looked at and people say, ah yeah, the brown envelope. That doesn't happen in England I am sure. But neither yellow for Doughty or Lockyer were justified, that's for starters. If you watch the highlights, the first Wednesday attack you see Cullen floored and the ref gave nothing. The tackle by that big shithead on Lapslie should have been a striagh red. Far worse than Naby's tackle that got him a straight red in the first minute.
Unfortunately we don't see in the Sky highlights the free-kick against Pearce at the end. Nor do we see the clock. But I was watching that clock.
That's why IMO Bowyer is right to be aggrieved with the manner of the eventual defeat.
Four minutes were allowed for extra time. Now I cannot remember every second, but according to the BBC live text the 4 mins were up before Lapslie threw the ball away and got booked. But that whole incident took up no more than 10 seconds. So before the Pearce free-kick the ref should have called time.
As far as I am aware there is no rule that a ref can add on more time than was actually lost, to punish the offender further. Right? , I am even more sure, that the only set play for which a ref can allow time beyond that allotted, is a penalty. So even if it was a free kick (which I didn't think was, but I would love to see it again), the ref had no grounds for allowing it to be taken. You spend time setting up, tough shit, time's up.
So Bowyer was right to say we were conned. Or rather we were done by incompetent self-indulgent refereeing. As a result we are deep in the shit and missing a key defender for two key games.
Added on time has been done to death but just to add my view on it.......
The 4th official holds ip a board with 4 mins on it. It doesnt have seconds, just minutes. Ths real added on time might have been 4min & 5secs......it might have been 4min & 45 secs. Only the ref knows, and he can add on whatever amount of time he feels needs to be added. I never get worked up about the over-running of time being added as keepers waste time, subs waste time & then there are silly incidents like last night with Lapslie throwing the ball away.
The best way we had of not losing that game as it went into added time was to go for goal (like they did). We didnt. We actually did the opposite & tried NOT to score. Only people to blame for the defeat last night was the players, not the ref.
You've added your view on it to death too, and I've told you what the answer is. Give responsibility for added time to the 4th official, wire his time piece to the stadium clock so we all see exactly what time has been stopped and for what. We pay enough bloody money to this business, it's time it was more transparent and people who make important decisions are prepared to be held accountable for them. A bit like the financial services industry, come to think of it.
we got away with it at forest where in added on time Dillon took the piss and lost 3 of the 5 mins with pissing about on goal kicks eventually getting a yellow card amongst his shennagins.
We are awful at time wasting and it bit our arse , didn't study last nights injury time as i did at forest so not sure how much time was taken out and it's always a minimum of x amount of mins
of course it would be better if we had a clock running and stopping for all to see but it's not like that so we have to carry on watching our pathetic (and other clubs not so pathetic) attempts at running down the clock and we have been burnt for it cos of how shit our defending is on a good few occasions now
Many miles have we travelled ( 440 round trip ), many games have we seen, Following Charlton, our favourite team.
And sometimes, we wish we'd have let our heads rule our hearts....there is the red button after all.
But it's what we do, as long as health & our pensions permit.
Good journeys both ways, good company around dinner at The Garrison, Hillsborough Barracks & again whilst drowning our sorrows after the walk back. Fortunately for me, the wine did manage to blur the cruel, sharp edges of yet another away defeat. And thank goodness for ibuprofen....
TBH, it was a match lacking quality, sadly, especially from our lads & we had few occasions to rise from our seats in anticipation of them conjuring something a bit special.....Lyle's successful cross bar challenge aside.
Of course, the travelling faithful would always love to see exciting matches, full of incident, end to end stuff to reward them for their support, but that's unrealistic.
But we DO expect to see a degree of attacking football from the Reds ; something to give us hope that we are in with a chance of at least a point to buoy us onwards to the next battle. I don't believe this is too much to ask, do you ?
Last night was NOT a match to remember. It was not a game we'll talk about in seasons to come, saying " Ah yes ! I was there. " In fact, I've forgotten it already. A sad state of affairs but not unexpected.
So, with the players we have fit enough to start or bide their time on the bench, how should the gaffer set up his team for Huddersfield ? What formation and which players might give us the best chance of bringing home the bacon on the heels of a very disappointing performance last night ? Would it be an option to bring Chris Solly back, for example ?
I honestly don't have a clue but I'm trying hard to keep the faith in both the lads and their management team - to fail miserably against another of our relegation "rivals" would be careless in the extreme & IMO must not be allowed to happen.
A very early start from here on Saturday with the hope that the motorways will be kind to us once again. We don't ask for much & we travel by choice, of course. And I'm 100% certain that dear Les Turner will be kicking every ball from his hospital bed, anguished to be missing another game.
We statutes strongly and looked the better side for the first 15-20 minutes but I think perhaps Wednesday got the better of some refereeing decisions and our impetus drained away. Wednesday started to get back in it and we didn’t really grab a hold of it.
Second half they created a lot of chances and we couldn’t maintain control for long enough to stamp our authority on the game and they kept coming at us. We had a couple of good chances ourselves and were unlucky not to score but they could have had a few.
In hindsight if me and the lads had been a bit more positive especially in the last few minutes we’d have come away with a point or maybe even 3. It’s something for us to think on going forwards as we’ve conceded a fair few in time added on this season and it’s not jail about the defending, we should t be in those situations in the first place.
LB dropped a bollock on this one - no McGeady - weird. Doughty out of position 2nd half - inexplicable. Retaining the execrable Oshilaja - inexcusable Relentless negativity and time wasting is just fucking stupid
Had to google it! Like it though. Added to the armoury, accordingly.
Be careful. It's a little unfair to label Oshilaja as execrable. Great word when used correctly though ;-)
I telephoned my son to rant about our performance just before they scored. Had they not scored I would be equally livid. I have been warning about the negativity that Bowyer seems to have. If he doesn't change I hope he goes. Chris Wilder identified this trait and it has to stop. You lose far more points playing that way than you win unless you have a great defence.
I do not think we will definitely go down, but it is clear that our home form is going to be key as Bowyer is clueless how to play away. Clueless!
#MeToo, only we weren't on the phone. 'You watch, they'll go up the other end and score' were pretty much my exact words when Lapslie kicked/threw the ball away. Btw, I like Lapslie, he might grow into something special with that engine.
I telephoned my son to rant about our performance just before they scored. Had they not scored I would be equally livid. I have been warning about the negativity that Bowyer seems to have. If he doesn't change I hope he goes. Chris Wilder identified this trait and it has to stop. You lose far more points playing that way than you win unless you have a great defence.
I do not think we will definitely go down, but it is clear that our home form is going to be key as Bowyer is clueless how to play away. Clueless!
#MeToo, only we weren't on the phone. 'You watch, they'll go up the other end and score' were pretty much my exact words when Lapslie kicked/threw the ball away. Btw, I like Lapslie, he might grow into something special with that engine.
Lapslie showed on Wednesday he's not just a workhorse though
Comments
We have the players, when fully fit, to get out of this easily. Unfortunately too many of them are still not fully fit, and he doesn't seem to trust other game changers like McGeady or even Morgan who is capable of opening up defences.
He needs to start approaching games more positively. An early season Bowyer team would have gone for the win last night.
I agree the bottom sides have made up ground, however we haven't done awfully since ESI came in, in fact quite the opposite. We've done reasonably well.
(From the negativity bandwagon thread)
This means we will achieve a minimum of 9 points from the 7 games in February, with a potential of 12 from 7. That's a very decent return all things considered.
Just a reminder in January we also got 2 in 4 games so overall since ESI have been on the scene we've got 11 points from 10 games so far.
(In Roland's last 10 we get just 6 points)
On a massive tangent now... Going by Bowyer's 9 game chunks:
1st 9 (ended on 28/09) - 17 points (RT 17)
2nd 9 (ended on 26/11) - 6 points (RT 23)
3rd 9 (ended on 11/01) - 6 points (RT 29)
4th 9 (ends on 29/02) - 10 points (RT 39) - Huddersfield to play
https://www.cafc.co.uk/news/view/5e56f4bc05527/frustrated-bowyer-reflects-on-charltons-sickening-defeat-at-sheffield-wednesday
I agree that we need to take more care in the final third, an example is young Doughty is very raw and his touch often lets him down.
I agree it was a great block by the defender to stop Taylor from scoring.
And I never doubt the players do try and give everything they can in the moment.
Other than that, I disagree with everything else.
Indeed without his injury, we'd probably be up there with Millwall in the table
Unfortunately we don't see in the Sky highlights the free-kick against Pearce at the end. Nor do we see the clock. But I was watching that clock.
That's why IMO Bowyer is right to be aggrieved with the manner of the eventual defeat.
Four minutes were allowed for extra time. Now I cannot remember every second, but according to the BBC live text the 4 mins were up before Lapslie threw the ball away and got booked. But that whole incident took up no more than 10 seconds. So before the Pearce free-kick the ref should have called time.
As far as I am aware there is no rule that a ref can add on more time than was actually lost, to punish the offender further. Right?
,
I am even more sure, that the only set play for which a ref can allow time beyond that allotted, is a penalty. So even if it was a free kick (which I didn't think was, but I would love to see it again), the ref had no grounds for allowing it to be taken. You spend time setting up, tough shit, time's up.
So Bowyer was right to say we were conned. Or rather we were done by incompetent self-indulgent refereeing. As a result we are deep in the shit and missing a key defender for two key games.
On the train home after a visit to the excellent Kelham Island Museum and a couple of liveners in The Fat Cat, The Shakespeare and the Sheffield Tap.
I thought we were going to chisel out a much needed and very good away point but, alas, it was not to be. Lee, I think it was, won the first header on the edge of our box from the fatal free kick, Pearcey seemed to lose his balance as Nuhiu created chaos and Fletcher nodded the bouncing ball past Dillon.
It was a game low on quality and the most subdued I have ever seen Hillsborough, which suited us just fine. That was presumably down to Wednesday’s recent poor form - 7 games without a win - and what was doubtless their lowest crowd of the season. With a couple of notable exceptions, both sides looked low on confidence.
The first half was a non-event, other than one half chance for Wednesday, although they had the game’s outstanding player in Bannon, who was the master of the field from start to finish. I had hoped that Lapslie might have been able to stifle him when he came on but we struggled to get near him and Bannon was afforded far too much time and space to dictate the play. With the benefit of hindsight, a man marking/spoiling job might have been in order, as practically everything went through him. Not bad for a bloke who is, I’m told, carrying an injury and playing following cortisone injections.
Wednesday turned the heat up in the second half, with the introduction of Fletcher from the bench giving them added impetus, although it looked as if we had ridden that out following a couple of good saves from Dillon, notably the one from Fletcher’s bullet header. Lyle produced a moment of great individual skill with his long-range effort against the bar and had another effort superbly blocked after one of our players got to the byeline and pulled the ball back across the face of goal. That was, however, it in terms of our attacking efforts and we carried very little threat offensively.
Overall, I thought that Wednesday were worth the win, despite the fact that they created relatively few clear cut chances. We were in the very back row of the South Stand on the halfway line, so had a reasonable view of the ultimately decisive free kick, although I didn’t think it was particularly contentious at the time. I can understand Lee trying to pump up the players for Saturday but if we had defended properly in the first and second phases of play, we’d have come away with a point.
Looking for positives is difficult after such a late gut punch, although I felt that we defended pretty well throughout (save for the late aberration) and Dillon was excellent.
We were poor in midfield and Cullen and Oztumer were unable to get their foot on the ball to give us any meaningful possession and there was a general lack of combination play. Up front, Macauley Bonne struggled with the lack of service, although Lyle was still able to come close on two occasions.
A great trip but a disappointingly passive display and one that we shall have to improve upon if we are going to get anything on Saturday in a genuine six pointer.
As the incomparable Grapevine recently opined; if you're prepared to buy a club at the beginning of January, and inherit a weakened (relegation threatened) squad, then you should be prepared (from a business plan perspective) to spend a few quid to strengthen that squad, despite knowing that January will present you with 'over-inflated' transfer prices. It's simply business logic.
Never lose sight of the fact that ESI were initially evasive, and 'diplomatic with the truth', about the ownership of The Valley and SL. For me, at that juncture, trust is immediately compromised! Takes a lot to win it back I'm afraid.
I didn't buy their hyperbole then. I don't buy it now.
The 4th official holds ip a board with 4 mins on it. It doesnt have seconds, just minutes. Ths real added on time might have been 4min & 5secs......it might have been 4min & 45 secs. Only the ref knows, and he can add on whatever amount of time he feels needs to be added. I never get worked up about the over-running of time being added as keepers waste time, subs waste time & then there are silly incidents like last night with Lapslie throwing the ball away.
The best way we had of not losing that game as it went into added time was to go for goal (like they did). We didnt. We actually did the opposite & tried NOT to score. Only people to blame for the defeat last night was the players, not the ref.
We are awful at time wasting and it bit our arse , didn't study last nights injury time as i did at forest so not sure how much time was taken out and it's always a minimum of x amount of mins
of course it would be better if we had a clock running and stopping for all to see but it's not like that so we have to carry on watching our pathetic (and other clubs not so pathetic) attempts at running down the clock and we have been burnt for it cos of how shit our defending is on a good few occasions now
Following Charlton, our favourite team.
And sometimes, we wish we'd have let our heads rule our hearts....there is the red button after all.
But it's what we do, as long as health & our pensions permit.
Good journeys both ways, good company around dinner at The Garrison, Hillsborough Barracks & again whilst drowning our sorrows after the walk back. Fortunately for me, the wine did manage to blur the cruel, sharp edges of yet another away defeat. And thank goodness for ibuprofen....
TBH, it was a match lacking quality, sadly, especially from our lads & we had few occasions to rise from our seats in anticipation of them conjuring something a bit special.....Lyle's successful cross bar challenge aside.
Of course, the travelling faithful would always love to see exciting matches, full of incident, end to end stuff to reward them for their support, but that's unrealistic.
But we DO expect to see a degree of attacking football from the Reds ; something to give us hope that we are in with a chance of at least a point to buoy us onwards to the next battle. I don't believe this is too much to ask, do you ?
Last night was NOT a match to remember. It was not a game we'll talk about in seasons to come, saying " Ah yes ! I was there. " In fact, I've forgotten it already. A sad state of affairs but not unexpected.
So, with the players we have fit enough to start or bide their time on the bench, how should the gaffer set up his team for Huddersfield ? What formation and which players might give us the best chance of bringing home the bacon on the heels of a very disappointing performance last night ? Would it be an option to bring Chris Solly back, for example ?
I honestly don't have a clue but I'm trying hard to keep the faith in both the lads and their management team - to fail miserably against another of our relegation "rivals" would be careless in the extreme & IMO must not be allowed to happen.
A very early start from here on Saturday with the hope that the motorways will be kind to us once again. We don't ask for much & we travel by choice, of course. And I'm 100% certain that dear Les Turner will be kicking every ball from his hospital bed, anguished to be missing another game.
Let's bring back 3 points for him.
Btw, I like Lapslie, he might grow into something special with that engine.
Had a lovely eye for a pass at times!!