Left back in midfield. Right back at left back. Centre mid at centre back. Perfectly decent centre back on the bench. Most creative midfielder on the bench. All that against one of the leakiest defences in the league. That is all
Spot on. Would love to know why.
Also no good starting your best 2 strikers & then leaving the creative players (Maddison & Morgan) on the bench. We might be in a decent position with a game in hand but we should be so much higher up - probably 2nd. 4 points dropped in the last 2 games against teams that are in bad run of form & who are leaking goals.
When Bowyer starts Maddison, people moan that he’s not starting Williams.
When Bowyer starts Williams, people moan that he’s not starting Maddison.
Sorry, I must have missed the memo from the EFL that we can't play the 2 together. Silly me.
They can but I don’t think so in a midfield four. Maybe both on the wings but then you’ve only got one up front.
We got overrun in the middle today with only one of them playing - you simply can’t rely on them both of them in there.
They were both on the pitch for 40 odd minutes against Wimbledon, we scored 4 and conceded 0
Not the greatest performance yesterday, but we did come back twice, hit the bar, missed a sitter (Washington) and didn't pick up any more injuries!! We have the transfer window opening in a few days time, and LB said he wants to add the attacking third and look to add to the defensive side as well. Im still happy to see what LB does with the window and what we look like in February, after that we will have to see how the new additions add to the squad in terms of creating and taking chances coupled with an improved defensive line up....Akin and Innis back by then hopefully as well. Last season, and previous ones, we would have lost the game yesterday, we didn't so that has to be a positive. LB is still learning, he will and has made mistakes, some of them bloody awful ones, but I will still support him in the short term, and as I said above judge again after the window shuts.
Left back in midfield. Right back at left back. Centre mid at centre back. Perfectly decent centre back on the bench. Most creative midfielder on the bench. All that against one of the leakiest defences in the league. That is all
Spot on. Would love to know why.
Also no good starting your best 2 strikers & then leaving the creative players (Maddison & Morgan) on the bench. We might be in a decent position with a game in hand but we should be so much higher up - probably 2nd. 4 points dropped in the last 2 games against teams that are in bad run of form & who are leaking goals.
When Bowyer starts Maddison, people moan that he’s not starting Williams.
When Bowyer starts Williams, people moan that he’s not starting Maddison.
Sorry, I must have missed the memo from the EFL that we can't play the 2 together. Silly me.
They can but I don’t think so in a midfield four. Maybe both on the wings but then you’ve only got one up front.
We got overrun in the middle today with only one of them playing - you simply can’t rely on them both of them in there.
They were both on the pitch for 40 odd minutes against Wimbledon, we scored 4 and conceded 0
and there it is, in a nutshell - be great to have a time machine coz i'm convinced that if we had hooked say watson, washington and matthews at half time and put maddison, morgan and smyth on, we'd have blown them away and won comfortably
jfc, as somebody said earlier is midfield fodder - neat and tidy, not bad but... i'd put him in at the base of the midfield and give watson a rest , then build thed team around chucks, williams, maddison and maatsen - they are the 4 game changers, the rest are the support acts
We do not seem to have players that can scare the opposition for the whole game,other teams do,look at Camara yesterday,everytime he got the ball I was concerned,other than when Maddison came on ,did we frighten them,they always had plenty of time to regroup and smother our attacks.This happens every game.I think we should play Maddison from the start,play williams further forward from the start,and get Smyth involved as much as possible,get teams on the back foot.
I think we have to be realistic about Bowyer and his mentality, I would never expected him to be a master technician...definitely would expect him to get the players to work hard and create a good spirit..I think he could do with a more experienced head in the dug out and behind the scenes
I think we have to be realistic about Bowyer and his mentality, I would never expected him to be a master technician...definitely would expect him to get the players to work hard and create a good spirit..I think he could do with a more experienced head in the dug out and behind the scenes
i'm available, he only has to call - i've managed 2 junior football teams, player / managed a mens saturday afternoon team, a goals 5 a side team and my work's team - i'm currently just concentrating on playing, so ready if curbs turns it down !!!!
Appreciate we are short of fit centre halves, but playing Matthews at left back was nonsense, especially when Maatsen was on the field, made us very unbalanced and as soon as matthews got the ball he went inside and usually sideways or backwards. Playing Gunter rather than Pratley in the middle of defence, moving Pratley back into midfield, drop Watson and how JFC gets in the starting 11 i'll never know, especially when Morgan is available.
We looked slow and lethargic Morgan should have started as should have Maddison in place of Williams and JFC.
Yet we are hanging onto 6th by the skin of our teeth but feel top two is out of our reach, better teams than us above. And if Accrington can win one of their two games in hand we'll be out of the play offs.
All this stems from us having 1 fit centre half. With Inniss and Famewo we could actually build from the back and let the deep midfielder play higher up as well as the defence. As well as a side needing to find some magic to break through the defence that gave us confidence we could play higher up the field and not go into panic mode everytime we concede a set piece or dont stop a cross
Maddison is starting to come good and he is a properly effective player at this level. We miss Shinnie and Alfie massively but the showstopper injuries are Inniss and Famewo
I know this statement will not be popular on here, but I think Pardew was a more than decent manager. With us, he completely lost his way for a number of reasons, some not of his doing and he reached a point where he went. He didn't seem capable of getting it back and needed a reset.
I see similarities with Bowyer. He seems to have lost his way but fortunately for him, it is in an extremely poor league, where we have a squad capable of going up. Maybe it is going to be easier for him to find his way back. He certainly isn't maximising his squad at the moment and he doesn't seem to know his best team. He doesn't currently show any signs of finding it but the window may help.
If I was Sandgaard, I would say to Bowyer that after the next five games I expect us to be firmly in the play off positions and stay there pushing for the automatics through the remainder of the season. That should be how he saves his job and is the least we should expect with the squad we have. If we slip out of that, we need to find somebody who can do better.
We’re in 6th place, I don’t fully understand why Bowyer is in a position of having to save his job. I believe we’ve spent more time in a play off position than not this season. Have some long term confidence in the bloke and not be looking to sack him the moment we spend 2 weeks in 7th.
When we started the season I thought we would do well to stay up. When the window shut I thought we could make the playoffs with a bit of luck.
I am sorry, but I can’t see this wonderful side that all that are criticising Bows do. Which of our players can you see a Championship club coming in for in January? For me, this is a rather talentless squad that makes up for this by honest hard work and good organisation. Having two slow centre halves is a weakness that clubs will try and exploit and that has a knock on effect to the rest of the game. Offensively I think we are doing quite well. Which of our front four would you like to start up front in the Championship?
We have had nothing but players on a free or on loan for a couple of years and the best have left at the first opportunity for whatever the hapless or the crooks could get. We need consistency of manager to start a rebuilding programme. Fans with unrealistic expectations will in my opinion make this more difficult. Talk of getting rid of Bowyer is about as ridiculous as it gets. He is the one consistent we have had.
We know we have a squad capable of winning this league, but like last season are being plagued by injuries, constant team shuffling and a few at this level not quite living up to their reputation e.g. Gilbey. Then there are unfathomable formation changes or subs in some games which bring more pressure to bear than is necessary or welcome.
I hope the enforced week off gives Bowyer and the side more time to get back to basics and to focus on a side that could do most damage. I personally think Watson needs a rest, bags of experience, but too pedestrian even for League One. I would change the formation to 4-2-2-2 two CDMs and two CAMs, looking something like this, acknowledging that Aneke always plays better off the bench than when starting...:
Amos
Matthews Gunter Pearce Maatsen
Pratley JFC
Maddison Williams
Bogle Washington
A more solid base and goals in the players on the pitch and bench.
All this stems from us having 1 fit centre half. With Inniss and Famewo we could actually build from the back and let the deep midfielder play higher up as well as the defence. As well as a side needing to find some magic to break through the defence that gave us confidence we could play higher up the field and not go into panic mode everytime we concede a set piece or dont stop a cross
Maddison is starting to come good and he is a properly effective player at this level. We miss Shinnie and Alfie massively but the showstopper injuries are Inniss and Famewo
We know we have a squad capable of winning this league, but like last season are being plagued by injuries, constant team shuffling and a few at this level not quite living up to their reputation e.g. Gilbey. Then there are unfathomable formation changes or subs in some games which bring more pressure to bear than is necessary or welcome.
I hope the enforced week off gives Bowyer and the side more time to get back to basics and to focus on a side that could do most damage. I personally think Watson needs a rest, bags of experience, but too pedestrian even for League One. I would change the formation to 4-2-2-2 two CDMs and two CAMs, looking something like this, acknowledging that Aneke always plays better off the bench than when starting...:
Amos
Matthews Gunter Pearce Maatsen
Pratley JFC
Maddison Williams
Bogle Washington
A more solid base and goals in the players on the pitch and bench.
Not Gunter at CB, he's worse than Pratley.
I think our best 11 at the minute is: Amos Gunter, Deji, Pearce, Maatsen Pratley Morgan, JFC Maddison Washington, Aneke
Inniss hopefully back soon to replace Deji. Shinnie for Morgan and then Schwartz for Aneke being used as an impact sub. Still some very decent options off the bench too.
We know we have a squad capable of winning this league, but like last season are being plagued by injuries, constant team shuffling and a few at this level not quite living up to their reputation e.g. Gilbey. Then there are unfathomable formation changes or subs in some games which bring more pressure to bear than is necessary or welcome.
I hope the enforced week off gives Bowyer and the side more time to get back to basics and to focus on a side that could do most damage. I personally think Watson needs a rest, bags of experience, but too pedestrian even for League One. I would change the formation to 4-2-2-2 two CDMs and two CAMs, looking something like this, acknowledging that Aneke always plays better off the bench than when starting...:
Amos
Matthews Gunter Pearce Maatsen
Pratley JFC
Maddison Williams
Bogle Washington
A more solid base and goals in the players on the pitch and bench.
Not Gunter at CB, he's worse than Pratley.
I think our best 11 at the minute is: Amos Gunter, Deji, Pearce, Maatsen Pratley Morgan, JFC Maddison Washington, Aneke
Inniss hopefully back soon to replace Deji. Shinnie for Morgan and then Schwartz for Aneke being used as an impact sub. Still some very decent options off the bench too.
Matthews for Gunter and Williams for JFC for me, otherwise same as your team.
If we slip out because we are not playing games, fair enough. But if the team slides down, we need to have ambition for the season. Bowyer should get promoted with that side and I am simply saying I expect it. I have been saying that for a while.
If some of you are happy with what has been dished up lately in a piss poor league, fair enough. I don't think it is unreasonable not to be. Especially as some of our issues seem to be self inflicted.
It’s not always about being happy every week for a 46-game season, it’s about having the patience that when we draw back to back games 2-2, there’s not a meltdown and the same words of overreaction come out on here.
But we've been crap for weeks ... Not so much the results but the performances and decision making from bowyer that is baffling at the moment. Honestly what is our game plan? I have no idea what we are even trying to do going forward and the midfield is non existent defensively
I do think one of our major problems this season is that Bowyer had pinned quite a lot on having Alfie Doughty’s pace out wide. We started lining up 4-3-3 and Bow was making noises over summer about wanting to play with more width. Due to the cap we never really were able to get 4 wingers into the squad, and we missed out on Sorba, so we were left with Washington, Smyth and Doughty. I would have thought Maddison would be one as well but Bowyer doesn’t seem to like him there. Since Alfie went down we’ve reverted back to the diamond and I don’t think it suits our current group of players. The midfield just isn’t quick and mobile enough to work it. We’ve got in the right players to have a classic midfield three with a holder, a deep lying playmaker and a box to box player but not so much to suit a diamond or a 3-5-2, and that’s getting shown up a bit. Hopefully We can get some pace out wide in Jan and got back to playing with width and finally dump the diamond.
I also wonder what would have happened in 2011/12 if we’d lost Morrison and Taylor for a long period at the same time. Leon Cort was great but I think after that all we had was a young Yado Mambo and the remains of Gary Doherty. I think we would have struggled a lot more without our first choice pairing
Curbs made a great point pre match, teams that are settled and play together more tend to be more successful. We chop and change so much, is it any wonder we never look comfortable?
This squad is good enough to go up, no question. Yes, injuries have badly affected us, but we should still be doing much better than we have in recent games.
Good managers get the most out of their players and LB is failing in this regard. Not rewarding Williams with a run in the team after his excellent performance in the Wimbledon game, for example. Also, picking your team based upon who has most impressed in training that week will inevitably mean a constantly changing line up. It is obvious that LB still does not know his best team, or even the general shape and ethos of the side; whilst he continues to attempt to work it out he prioritises safety and we have an overly defensive approach as a result.
He still has a lot of credit in the bank for what he has done for us, but I'm afraid that I have lost faith in his judgement. Many of his decisions recently have been poor/baffling and it is starting to cost us.
He really needs to chat to Curbs and get his advice because you don't have infinite time to learn in this game and he needs to learn from his mistakes; fast, or promotion will be out of our reach.
Having poorly managed a poor vets side for years, I can relate to many of Bowyer's formation and positional choices. When you no longer have a big bastard centre back, or anyone who can move at faster than a brisk walking pace available, you tend to try players in a different position each week in the hope that something works. That is exactly how the approach seemed to me yesterday.
The shape, set-up and players' positions just seems to be mostly wrong lately. I get the feeling the players aren't enjoying playing our cautious style of football, being played out of position, or that some of them are being singled out for criticism. Consequently, they are playing with a lack of the belief and confidence needed to win games consistently at any level.
There appeared to have been a clear the air meeting before the Wimbledon game, because we played much more positively (even in the first half) and were on the front foot for most of the game. I think a lot of that was as a result of having Maddison and Williams on the pitch for more of the game than usual, and you could see how delighted all the other players were when Jonny scored. This should have been the platform to kick-start our season, so to subsequently drop Williams for the whole Swindon game, then not play the two of them together yesterday was, along with the bizarre positional choices, bloody awful decision making by Bowyer. He is feeling the pressure of expectation from the fans and our owner and is struggling to cope. I reckon he would really benefit from some guidance to help him come up with a clear plan going forward. Otherwise our season is going to end in disappointment.
I'm not having that, I've never met a poor vet yet! They used to charge a bloody fortune for my cat's annual booster jab!
If the oppo scored a goal like Gunters with the Aneke challenge the flood of tears on here would reach niagara falls levels
Yes, Aneke definitely fouled their man.
It’s unreal. He has hold of him all the way in and rugby tackles him to the ground
Looks like 6 of 1, half a dozen of the other. Their player has no intent to play the ball and is blocking Aneke off with his arm round Aneke's goal side.
Comments
Last season, and previous ones, we would have lost the game yesterday, we didn't so that has to be a positive. LB is still learning, he will and has made mistakes, some of them bloody awful ones, but I will still support him in the short term, and as I said above judge again after the window shuts.
and there it is, in a nutshell - be great to have a time machine coz i'm convinced that if we had hooked say watson, washington and matthews at half time and put maddison, morgan and smyth on, we'd have blown them away and won comfortably
Appreciate we are short of fit centre halves, but playing Matthews at left back was nonsense, especially when Maatsen was on the field, made us very unbalanced and as soon as matthews got the ball he went inside and usually sideways or backwards. Playing Gunter rather than Pratley in the middle of defence, moving Pratley back into midfield, drop Watson and how JFC gets in the starting 11 i'll never know, especially when Morgan is available.
We looked slow and lethargic Morgan should have started as should have Maddison in place of Williams and JFC.
Yet we are hanging onto 6th by the skin of our teeth but feel top two is out of our reach, better teams than us above. And if Accrington can win one of their two games in hand we'll be out of the play offs.
Maddison is starting to come good and he is a properly effective player at this level. We miss Shinnie and Alfie massively but the showstopper injuries are Inniss and Famewo
I am sorry, but I can’t see this wonderful side that all that are criticising Bows do. Which of our players can you see a Championship club coming in for in January? For me, this is a rather talentless squad that makes up for this by honest hard work and good organisation. Having two slow centre halves is a weakness that clubs will try and exploit and that has a knock on effect to the rest of the game. Offensively I think we are doing quite well. Which of our front four would you like to start up front in the Championship?
I hope the enforced week off gives Bowyer and the side more time to get back to basics and to focus on a side that could do most damage. I personally think Watson needs a rest, bags of experience, but too pedestrian even for League One. I would change the formation to 4-2-2-2 two CDMs and two CAMs, looking something like this, acknowledging that Aneke always plays better off the bench than when starting...:
Amos
Matthews Gunter Pearce Maatsen
Pratley JFC
Maddison Williams
Bogle Washington
A more solid base and goals in the players on the pitch and bench.
I think our best 11 at the minute is:
Amos
Gunter, Deji, Pearce, Maatsen
Pratley
Morgan, JFC
Maddison
Washington, Aneke
Inniss hopefully back soon to replace Deji. Shinnie for Morgan and then Schwartz for Aneke being used as an impact sub. Still some very decent options off the bench too.
-----------------Amos
Gunter---Deji---Pearce---Maatsen
Morgan----Pratley------JFC
-----Williams -- Maddisson
-----------------Chuks
Good managers get the most out of their players and LB is failing in this regard. Not rewarding Williams with a run in the team after his excellent performance in the Wimbledon game, for example. Also, picking your team based upon who has most impressed in training that week will inevitably mean a constantly changing line up. It is obvious that LB still does not know his best team, or even the general shape and ethos of the side; whilst he continues to attempt to work it out he prioritises safety and we have an overly defensive approach as a result.
He still has a lot of credit in the bank for what he has done for us, but I'm afraid that I have lost faith in his judgement. Many of his decisions recently have been poor/baffling and it is starting to cost us.
He really needs to chat to Curbs and get his advice because you don't have infinite time to learn in this game and he needs to learn from his mistakes; fast, or promotion will be out of our reach.