LB saying Watson has done his hamstring and will be unavailable for a while. And what with Pratley now banned for three games, I must say, I am feeling pretty happy about this news.
I'm with you on this as LB was never going to drop either of them. Just remains to be seen what team he puts out against Accrington... Please let it be players in their right positions would be a start!
Right, I'll start by saying that that was bad, and that I don't agree with how Bowyer's been setting up recently. I don't have an issue with playing Pratley at CB as he's a better CB than Oshilaja and we all know it, though he let us down today with some silliness. Playing Matthews at left back is odd, especially given that Purrington is a player that really doesn't let us down. You can see what Bowyer was trying to do today with going to a flat 4-4-2 to try and get some solidity, and in many ways he tried to do exactly what he did against Hull post-lockdown. He's gone with a flat four with Albie on the left. You could even argue he's put Matthews there to deal with their threat cutting in on the right, which is exactly what he did last time, except he used Oshilaja then, and to some decent effect. What didn't help is that McGeady, average as he was, was a right winger whereas Maatsen is a LB he put on the wrong flank so there was no hope of width. Similarly Bogle isn't as good as Bonne or Hemed so we were always going to struggle in attack.
That aside though, you can see where the real problems lie. We started the season with a plan, and that plan was to use Alfie's pace out wide to counter attack off the back of a solid defensive unit. We lost Alfie, which massively affected our abilities on the break and stopped our good passers like Gilbey and Forster-Caskey having anyone to aim their raking passes to. We adapted though and settled for solidity alone, which worked. We weren't electric but we didn't concede and we were winning game after game without conceding. We then lost both of our Goliath centre backs, as well as our midfield creator in Shinnie and that's killed us completely. We now lack the pace and the solidity to play the way we'd hoped to, so Bowyer has tried to fall back on his tried and tested methods, but we didn't build a squad to suit those systems so we're not as good at it anymore. We don't have the abilities of Cullen, Bielik, Aribo and Gallagher anymore. Our midfielders are much slower and that causes us to lack any coherence between attack and defence. Add to that the fact that instead of having Lyle Taylor we have Omar Bogle and you can see where the true issues are. We desperately, desperately need pace, and we need Inniss and Famewo back. I do agree that Bowyer's attempts to pivot from our strategy have gone a bit Twilight Zone, but all this talk of sacking the manager is just bonkers when you actually think about what we're dealing with. How many other teams wouldn't struggle losing the three players absolutely vital to their way of playing long term, and then a boat-load on top of that? Add to that the wage cap and our late takeover, meaning we haven't got much depth in the squad in line with our change in style and I think any team would struggle. We're in a squad transition; remnants of one way of playing are alongside new players and when you have to mix them together in too-large quantities problems show.
Despite all that, this was our first loss in 5 games. Granted we've only won 1 in that period (though we should bear in mind there were two late equalisers in there to make things look worse), but we're still 6th. Still on for the Play-Offs despite the ridiculous amount of obstacles that have been put in the clubs way leading up to and during this season. Yet there's people who want the manager out because we've lost to probably the best team in the league and drew with Swindon. I get that people don't like the performances, but that's all part of the larger issues we've had. The entitlement since Sandgaard came in is astonishing. It will take time for us to to rebuild as a club, we might not go up this season and it might not always look pretty, but the knives coming out for Bowyer off a few dodgy decisions and the fact we're not pissing a league that we apparently 'deserve' to get promoted from is uncomfortable. Hopefully in January Schwarz can hit the ground running and we can get some pace to take the pressure off the defence and things suddenly won't look so bad. Bowyer can definitely help by making some more logical decisions but playing Maatsen and LB and our worst CB isn't going to fix the combination of injuries and the legacy of bad club management that Lee and the club have to deal with every step of the way. Chill. It'll be ok.
with respect, i think we all understand what has happened but crucially, is bowyer getting the best out of what he has got? the answer is no and that has been the case for a year now (6 game defensive win streak aside) and virtually everybody can see what he is doing wrong - shit happens, its how you manage it is what you are judged on
I’m sorry but constantly leaving out players after goals or making an impact the next game has destroyed any confidence that we start to gather. What other manager would have tinkered with the team after the AFC second half performance?
Plymouth - Maddison goal, next game Hull - 0 mins AFC Wim - Williams goal, next game Plym - 0 mins AFC Wim - Purrington goal, next game Ply - Sub Ports - Williams goal, next game Fleetw - 0 mins
Football is about confidence and momentum. Bowyer has stifled progress this year. If you score and look creative it seems that you are left out of the next game. I’ve just not seen that being done ever before. If I was any of the three above I’d just be seething seeing the rest of uncreative crap that’s being dished up.
Saying after today that’s a reflection of where we are - I’m sorry it’s more a reflection of how the team has been managed. Because Williams and Maddison in particular are constantly pulled out of the team when they start to get a head of steam will mean that they are likely ‘off it’ when they come in from the cold. Yes we’ve got a clear weakness upfront but the rest of it is our own doing.
Well he will probably get a roasting for that on Monday morning and find himself back on the bench on Friday. But you have to admit he has a point
Wonder who sat on which coach. I heard that clubs needed to use three coaches to transport players to facilitate Covid distancing. I wonder if they draw lots, bet nobody wants to be near Bows.
Can you imagine Bows steaming down the bus to a group of giggling kids at th back having a laugh.
For what it’s worth, my opinion is that Bows is doing alright with a brand new squad that includes crap strikers. He’s still in credit but needs to improve once he gets Schwartz in. I’m a bit surprised at the playing players out of position too but as he’s said in the post match interview, he has a reason (at least!)
Unless Eddie Howe fancies another project starting in the lower leagues, which I highly doubt, I’d leave Bows, Jacko and Gallen to do their thing.
A loss against Accrington and the heat is seriously on Bowyer
You taking the piss, he's had heat for 3 months. Weve been shite
Hell probably just say that Stanley are a well organised side that we've lost to before so we should take it as a sign that anything is wrong. He wanted to see commitment, passion, quality, effort, but we were undone by a momentary lapse of concentration ...blah....blah....blah.
And well done Bowyer for building up Deji for Friday night. Basically saying he will play because we don't have anybody else. He is poison at the moment. No way the dressing room will be happy. That only goes one way.
I was about to buy the live stream when I saw the team
Unfortunately i bought the stream before the team sheet, so will have to take your guide next time, on a positive point, at least the people on here with a hang up on Pratley and Watson in the same side will have at least the next three games at peace
2 wins out of 10 now and the majority of them results are due to Bowyers poor team selection/tactics and decision making.
I'll say it now as things are Bowyer is not going to get us promoted be it this season or next
Huge injuries to our permanent defence a big reason, you can’t say majority recent games is due to poor selection and tactics. A defence that knows each other is worth gold in this division.
Read your last sentence again. The 2 players missing in that defence got introduced to each other after the season had started. Its a miracle that they formed a partnership as solid as they did. We are obviously missing them badly but don't let's rewrite history by imagining that they have been a pairing for years & years.
I don’t think there can be any debate about Bogle - he’s just not good enough, he can’t shoot, head, trap the ball, beat a man, hold it up and has no pace so I doubt he will play for the club again unless everyone else is injured. The one I don’t really understand is Gilbey - he was completely anonymous today - I just don’t know what his position is supposed to be He was player of the season at MK - he looks both clueless and lost now. He’s the bloke you used to play with in Sunday League who seemed very busy but made sure he was never really available to receive a pass
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Bogle has some value because he makes the rest of our team look goo... oh ffs forget it.
Lose and it’ll be ranting and get rid.
Draw and it’ll probably be slightly similar.
Plymouth - Maddison goal, next game Hull - 0 mins
AFC Wim - Williams goal, next game Plym - 0 mins
AFC Wim - Purrington goal, next game Ply - Sub
Ports - Williams goal, next game Fleetw - 0 mins
Can you imagine Bows steaming down the bus to a group of giggling kids at th back having a laugh.
Weve been shite
The 1st touch of Mcguiness
The shooting power of Simon church
The physical attributes of Nicky Ajose
And as many goals as Polish Pete.
That's one hell of an effort to combine that lot.
Unless Eddie Howe fancies another project starting in the lower leagues, which I highly doubt, I’d leave Bows, Jacko and Gallen to do their thing.
He was player of the season at MK - he looks both clueless and lost now. He’s the bloke you used to play with in Sunday League who seemed very busy but made sure he was never really available to receive a pass