Boring in its predictability I’m afraid. I was reasonably up for this but knew after ten minutes that it was all going as per usual. Very deflating. We are reaping the rewards of a squad cobbled together on a shoestring and minus the three creative talents that we started the season with. Churlish to point at Taylor, Gallagher and Leko and wonder “what if” but hard not to wonder how many we would have won that game by had we had all three. We are a hard watch even when we are winning as we are simply incapable of a consistent attacking threat. Lambasting Bonne and Hemed is a bit like beating your dog because it can’t play the piano. One is simply not up to this level and the other is way past his sell by date. Even if neither fact was true, they are feeding on scraps And you can’t get away with that for long. At the restart of the season I’d have bitten your hand off for another seven points as I thought we might be cannon fodder after the Taylor shenanigans. The fact that we got them in our first three games was double bubble but I’m not sure where seven more are going to come from and it’s possible, Wigan’s unfortunate demise notwithstanding, that we might need them. Bowyer is working miracles but his perseverance with certain players out of position or form - or both - is worrying. Not that the pool of talent is particularly deep but Alfie at left wing back would at least give us some impetus. Hope that wasn’t a mortal blow last night. It was certainly a passion killer and a rampant Brentford away to follow a deflating defeat is not what we’d have chosen. We’ve avoided taking a pasting all season. I hope it doesn’t come in the next game or the wheels could properly come off.
Only consolation is I’m drinking later with a. Millwall mate who won £800 quid on a Millwall 1-0 and correct goal scorer bet.
They were better than us, were solid and did what they always do - lump it into our box. We would have been better if purrington, williams, doughty and aneke had been on the pitch longer and taylor obviously (not to mention gallagher, leko, etc etc) but ultimately a curse is a curse and i now just find this fixture laughable - we could field the liverpool team in a charlton shirt and still lose - i dont agree that we bottle it - we try too hard if anything. You just sit there waiting for their flukey goal to go in and that's it - its payback for all the other inadequacies millwall fans generally have in life i guess - the angry disposition, the east end nonsense, the flat caps, the lack of teeth, the reebok tracksuits, the pink lacostes, the ugly fat greasy trappy girlfriends, the getting turfed out of their homes by immigrants and the general lack of humour and brain cells. There, makes me feel good again, just reminding myself.11 blokes you don't know losing a football match occassionally isn't too high a price to pay in the curse deal when you look at it logically !!!
Piss weak referee lets Cooper off with yellow card for horror over the ball studs up assault on Morgan. Only a yellow for thrown elbow by Molumby who followed up with blow to head also on Morgan. Morgan not fit for 2nd half Cooper scores winner. Whitestone this one’s on you you inadequate spineless farce. Hopeless cowards like you ruin the game.
Yep the referee was poor. We could’ve had 2 or 3 penalties in the first half easily. The first one was stonewall. Matt Smith got wrestled to the floor as the flight of the ball was coming straight for him.
Oh, and don’t think there was any intention with the elbow from molumby. If you watch him he didn’t take his eye off the ball once.
Conveniently ignoring Cooper”s studs up assault there I see. He knew exactly what has doing and put to injure Morgan. Down your way it’s probably considered whole hearted, the thug.
Our performance and the way the game played out was no different to the previous 3. The only difference was this one was when we allowed them a chance unlike Hull/QPR/Cardiff they took it with a really good finish. Lockyer's chance was the same, difference being his went over the bar, gone in and we all say what a finish.
We again looked like not scoring, which is no surprise when our only decent striker has long gone and we are having to make do with players most in the league would not want.
Some on here do expect a lot from this squad. If we stay up this will be a massive achievement. And if we get relegated I couldn't give a f@ck. 95% of games this season we've given the other team a game. There's even been a couple of games where we've had to start a couple of players who a couple of weeks before were on loan at non league clubs. There's hardly any of the current squad I could dig out , if some of them are not good enough for this division is that their fault. Stay up or go down this squad has done me proud this season.
Jammy goal. I can't blame Phillips, the ball came at him quick, some might have pushed it away but hard to class it as a big mistake. We didn't do enough although Bonne should have done much better when put through. We go again. Draw would have been fair but hey ho.
We beat Millwall when I was 12 years old. We beat Millwall when I was 15 years old. We beat Millwall when I was 16 years old.
That's it. I am now 40. Depressing.
And our strikers' finishing was pathetic.
Morgan had one, possibly two shots where he hit it properly - he smashed it, like you should do in a derby. If it doesn't go on then it might hit one of these tossers in the face.
But Hemed and Bonne, I haven't seen such timid shooting since the Spongefoot era. Feeble.
Posting without reading so not sure how this thread has gone, but these are my thoughts from last night after sleeping on it.
Started bright, creating some very good chances and we were passing with purpose. As soon as they got their foot on the ball and it long to Smith, we retreated and changed to a back 5, it meant Morgan coming into the middle and unable to influence the game the same way he was able to show he could early on.
The chances we created in the first half were more than enough to have been in front. The one on one with Bonne, you have to score. There is no two ways about it. His shot was weak, and in the end it was easily dealt with. Put your laces through it and drill it in the net, you’re a striker, trust me that’s not hard.
Tactically, the change to bring on Field for Morgan, whether he was injured or not, was completely wrong. Morgan was the only player in our team yesterday capable of playing the ball forward, able to cut open a defence with a pass, or pass forward to force our strikers to make the runs that hurt the opposition. As soon as Field is his replacement, it’s defensive and we result to going long. That suits Millwall. If Morgan had to come off, Forster-Caskey is the natural change here.
Furthermore, tactically, as soon as Smith came off, why did we persist with a back 5? The extra body was not needed, it’s not like we were winning the second balls playing that way. Instead, it left the midfield stretched and unable to get up and support the front two quick enough. As Field came on, Pratley should’ve came off for a more forward thinking midfielder, Doughty or again, Forster-Caskey.
We limited them to very little again, like we have been since the restart. The difference is, when they created chances, they shot with purpose. When we created chances, it was either rushed and smashed over the bar, or a weak pass like shot. This is a worry. As Bowyer has said, you have to be scoring those chances otherwise you get punished. Without Taylor, we look toothless up front. It’s now or never really for one of those strikers to step up to the plate.
Overall, it’s extremely disappointing and it hurts, but we should be used to it against that lot by now. What frustrated me the most was actually how we completely changed the game plan to suit them rather than believing in what we would’ve worked on. Let’s hope results go in our favour and we somehow pick up one ourselves against Brentford on Tuesday.
The run of Reading, Birmingham, and Wigan is now bloody huge. 6 points will be enough, we just need to pull a win out of somewhere very soon.
Best we move on quickly, because the moment we start to dwell on this result and let it impact our mood and the players training etc, is the moment things get bad. The game meant more than the rest, but the value of the game in terms of points doesn’t change. That’s what we have to focus on.
Strikers who can't hit the ball hard. How has Hemed made a career at the top of football so.long, he is slow and has a sponge foot. I could have scored in that game.
and he swithched off for the goal. If your gonna track a player, fkn track him. If your gonna pass a player on make sure the defenders got the ability to get to him. A shocking player.
that crapness will see us relegated, unless the EFL deduct some points from some teams .
we graft and try but we are carrying players who aren’t good enough to consistently produce at this level .
we are a dire watch but it’s all the binary bores can produce
oh I’m soooo fucked off , I just can’t see where the next goal is coming from . Lady Luck it’s your turn to step up cos you’re our best hope of survival
I thought we did ok against a strong, committed, well organised and occasionally skilful Millwall side.
Cullen showed why he is not playing for West Ham. He is too small and lightweight against big and strong opposition. He had been MOM in the last three games but was anonymous today.
Morgan will be a star, hopefully for us and almost certainly for someone else. He needs to add goals to his game but is fit, strong and has vision and skill. Other than Sarr, he is our best ball player.
I know this ship has sailed, but Taylor. He was our talisman and top scorer. He was also someone who could provide assists for others. I think we can rightfully feel let down by his attitude at this crucial point of the season as we are clearly struggling for goals without him. If every player said they didn’t want to play in case they got injured, you wouldn’t be able to fulfil your fixtures.
The difference between us and them was typified by their goal. When a loose ball fell to one of our defenders (Lockyer) he blazed it over the bar. For the goal, it was a powerful shot, low and on target. Dillon did well to get behind it but when the loose ball spilled, Cooper was more alert than Lockyer and even though he is a defender, he put the ball in the net with some force. I think it deflected in off Lockyer but it was there for all to see - if you shoot hard on target, you might get a goal.
Anticipation - what makes a good player is anticipating where the ball is going, where your teammates are, picking up the second ball. Most of our players seem poor at anticipating so Hemed knocks it on and Bonne has gone the wrong way.
Bowyer/ Jackson - we play too deep, and how many times did we put ourselves in trouble with pointless short passes between defenders instead of knocking it forward?Why take a freekick just in their half and hit it back to Dillon, when we could have played the ball forward? We need to push up more and be more positive in our forward play.
Pearce and Pratley were immense last night with some vital interventions. But we need to stop making it so hard for ourselves. And LB and JJ need to get everyone practising their shots on goal.
Very good points, Evesham, and well said. Another of our regular weaknesses evident again last night is the crapness of crosses. Under no pressure, Cullen, Matthews and McGeady got them badly wrong: over-hit or shanked out of play. Compare and contrast with Millwall, whose crosses to the box were almost invariably loaded with danger.
A couple of those low balls across by Millwall were superb. Sadly, I can only really think of Taylor who has consistently supplied similar ammunition for us in recent times.
As an aside, Jed Wallace is a fine player and one that Millwall will do well to hold onto should they not get promoted.
Posted this on the match thread just before it was closed ...
Let's face facts folks:
We could be having a season that makes Liverpools Premier League-winning campaign look like a mid-table effort and we'd still lose both games to these ****s.
Posted this on the match thread just before it was closed ...
Let's face facts folks:
We could be having a season that makes Liverpools Premier League-winning campaign look like a mid-table effort and we'd still lose both games to these ****s.
I can't agree with this.
We will beat Millwall, but first we need a better team. Not one that's fire fighting with a bang average side, (albeit the odd gem here and there). We need a bit more craft throughout, back to front, (you know the sort of team that comes from a bigger budget) and oh yeah a striker who would actually pull on his effing shirt and take the field.
The last season (1995/6) there was a double in this fixture . one side finished 6th and lost in the play off semi and the other side who had flirted with the top of the table got relegated 3rd bottom on 52 pts , just saying .
I think you can relax, mate, we won't get to 52 points...
Less objective opinion/question and more of a bias, annoyed one...
If Bonne doesn’t score, what does he actually do for the team?
He does one good one two a game ...
ive said it from the beginning he doesn’t look natural enough for this level , awkward in fact he’s gonna need one off his arse to score again this season , he’s a trier , we have plenty of them but I’d try if I was out there and I’m shit as well
Strikers who can't hit the ball hard. How has Hemed made a career at the top of football so.long, he is slow and has a sponge foot. I could have scored in that game.
and he swithched off for the goal. If your gonna track a player, fkn track him. If your gonna pass a player on make sure the defenders got the ability to get to him. A shocking player.
This ^ there was some analysis earlier up the thread about Lockyer and him not reacting as quick as Cooper to the spilt shot from which they scored. I thought he made a good attempt at blocking specially as Cooper was coming onto to the ball with purpose. However Hemed failed to track his man and just gave up and watched on as his opponent drove on to score.
It was also mentioned that unlike Cooper, Lockyer fluffed his lines and should have done better with his attempt but that chance was a lot harder and typical CB's attempt on goal high, wide and handsome where if one in ten go in you've had a result.
Gutted like the vast majority of us are with the result same outcome different day. We have to keep playing to our strengths i.e. keeping it tight defending for our lives as a unit and try and take at least one of those chances that will come our way.
We go again on Tuesday anything then will be a bonus, the three games after that will decide our fate. It's still in our own hands COYRs.
Is it me or was that a "mambe- pambe" south London derby. Devoid of crunching tackles, late challenges, foots getting left in, off the ball incidents. Crap, forgot we done our usual turn up for them & try & play them off the park with measured, pristine football, while they laugh at us & walk away with 3 points like the school bully with his sweets & dinner money. Much as I can see an improvement in Morgan, he ought to think himself lucky the treatment he got wasn't from Terry Hurlock. Also hope Bows can get someone in to 'nasty' Chuks up. The lad needs to realise a vital part of forward who is gonna lead the line is elbows. Sorry, forgot again we're too nice.
Typical, embarrassing, predictable. We will never beat them in my lifetime. They looked shit, we were even shitter. Hemed is a donkey, Taylor not being arsed to play cost us, I hope we throw the book at him.
Comments
just not the way they’ve come about
We again looked like not scoring, which is no surprise when our only decent striker has long gone and we are having to make do with players most in the league would not want.
If we stay up this will be a massive achievement.
And if we get relegated I couldn't give a f@ck.
95% of games this season we've given the other team a game.
There's even been a couple of games where we've had to start a couple of players who a couple of weeks before were on loan at non league clubs.
There's hardly any of the current squad I could dig out , if some of them are not good enough for this division is that their fault.
Stay up or go down this squad has done me proud this season.
We beat Millwall when I was 15 years old.
We beat Millwall when I was 16 years old.
That's it. I am now 40. Depressing.
And our strikers' finishing was pathetic.
Morgan had one, possibly two shots where he hit it properly - he smashed it, like you should do in a derby. If it doesn't go on then it might hit one of these tossers in the face.
But Hemed and Bonne, I haven't seen such timid shooting since the Spongefoot era. Feeble.
Started bright, creating some very good chances and we were passing with purpose. As soon as they got their foot on the ball and it long to Smith, we retreated and changed to a back 5, it meant Morgan coming into the middle and unable to influence the game the same way he was able to show he could early on.
The chances we created in the first half were more than enough to have been in front. The one on one with Bonne, you have to score. There is no two ways about it. His shot was weak, and in the end it was easily dealt with. Put your laces through it and drill it in the net, you’re a striker, trust me that’s not hard.
Furthermore, tactically, as soon as Smith came off, why did we persist with a back 5? The extra body was not needed, it’s not like we were winning the second balls playing that way. Instead, it left the midfield stretched and unable to get up and support the front two quick enough. As Field came on, Pratley should’ve came off for a more forward thinking midfielder, Doughty or again, Forster-Caskey.
We limited them to very little again, like we have been since the restart. The difference is, when they created chances, they shot with purpose. When we created chances, it was either rushed and smashed over the bar, or a weak pass like shot. This is a worry. As Bowyer has said, you have to be scoring those chances otherwise you get punished. Without Taylor, we look toothless up front. It’s now or never really for one of those strikers to step up to the plate.
Overall, it’s extremely disappointing and it hurts, but we should be used to it against that lot by now. What frustrated me the most was actually how we completely changed the game plan to suit them rather than believing in what we would’ve worked on. Let’s hope results go in our favour and we somehow pick up one ourselves against Brentford on Tuesday.
The run of Reading, Birmingham, and Wigan is now bloody huge. 6 points will be enough, we just need to pull a win out of somewhere very soon.
Best we move on quickly, because the moment we start to dwell on this result and let it impact our mood and the players training etc, is the moment things get bad. The game meant more than the rest, but the value of the game in terms of points doesn’t change. That’s what we have to focus on.
If we'd had Gallagher, Leko and Taylor fit and available all season we'd probably be chasing the play offs.
But now we have lesser players in those positions.
there is no genuine threat there
that crapness will see us relegated, unless the EFL deduct some points from some teams .
we graft and try but we are carrying players who aren’t good enough to consistently produce at this level .
we are a dire watch but it’s all the binary bores can produce
oh I’m soooo fucked off , I just can’t see where the next goal is coming from . Lady Luck it’s your turn to step up cos you’re our best hope of survival
As an aside, Jed Wallace is a fine player and one that Millwall will do well to hold onto should they not get promoted.
We will beat Millwall, but first we need a better team. Not one that's fire fighting with a bang average side, (albeit the odd gem here and there). We need a bit more craft throughout, back to front, (you know the sort of team that comes from a bigger budget) and oh yeah a striker who would actually pull on his effing shirt and take the field.
If Bonne doesn’t score, what does he actually do for the team?
Just read through the entire post match comments and now feel totally depressed!
ive said it from the beginning he doesn’t look natural enough for this level , awkward in fact
he’s gonna need one off his arse to score again this season , he’s a trier , we have plenty of them but I’d try if I was out there and I’m shit as well
It was also mentioned that unlike Cooper, Lockyer fluffed his lines and should have done better with his attempt but that chance was a lot harder and typical CB's attempt on goal high, wide and handsome where if one in ten go in you've had a result.
Gutted like the vast majority of us are with the result same outcome different day. We have to keep playing to our strengths i.e. keeping it tight defending for our lives as a unit and try and take at least one of those chances that will come our way.
We go again on Tuesday anything then will be a bonus, the three games after that will decide our fate. It's still in our own hands COYRs.