Two wins and a draw could still be enough but can’t see that happening. Even if we did fluke it to the play offs we’ll probably lose in the s/f.
One thing’s for sure, we’ve got to go for wins now not gritty draws so I’d like to see Innis and Famewo starting together plus Aneke and Washington up top in a 4-4-2, Pratley in for Watson in a midfield with JFC, Gilbey and Millar switching from flank to flank.
Ultimately, as someone pointed out earlier, this fragile minded squad is a reflection of the end of a terrible few years of ownership. No one currently at the club is to blame, nor LB. I don’t even blame the players, they are just the best we could get in the circumstances and, I believe generally have tried their best.
Disappointed with the season? Yes aren’t we all, but the future still looks good under TS so I am looking forward to a strong rebuild over the coming few months.
Fist time I've stayed up late for a game this season, and I wish I hadn't bothered. That was poor and the system just didn't work. We hardly deserved one point, let alone three.
The long ball to Stockley is so predictable and with no support it's not putting us on the offensive at all. Famewo was a liability playing on the right but showed his class when he moved to the left side of the three towards the end. Pearce had one of those games and was involved in both their goals. I'd rather see the return of Deji rather than Famewo if Innis misses out again. Despite being much maligned, correctly so in many ways, Watson put in a shift defensively with plenty of good blocks and tackles, but this meant he was absent from midfield, allowing Crewe more space do dominate, which they did effectively. We're lucky that they wasted most of their attacking chances.
Adkins has stated his preferred style is for a pressing game and keeping possession. Well, there was one team out there last night that did that well, and it wasn't Charlton. Maybe we don't have the right players to play the way the manager wants but they're all decent players for this level and should be able to adapt. Time for Plan B on Saturday?
Posting without reading, watched without commentary (sound issue).
Where was the leadership out there? The desire? Under the cosh at home from the first whistle until the boys finally decided to show up on 80 minutes (before they promptly went home again on 90). And against a team with 'nothing to play for.'
Getting rings run round us again, at The Valley, for the umpteenth time this season. How about an ounce of pride?
Crewe equalise and we spend the next 15 minutes desperately defending our box. In a must-win game. What on earth. Ben Watson finally wins it back on the 18-yard line, has a simple 5-yard pass out wide to relieve pressure and let us build back into the game, and passes it straight to their player. Braindead here, there, and everywhere.
Pure luck we even equalised in the first place. If Crewe's final ball had been better, they could easily have scored three or four.
They wanted it more. At this stage of the season, what a thing to say.
Posting without reading, watched without commentary.
Where was the leadership out there? The desire? Under the cosh at home from the first whistle, until the boys finally decided to show up on 80 minutes, before going home again on 90, against a team with 'nothing to play for.'
Getting rings run round us again, at The Valley, for the umpteenth time this season. How about an ounce of pride for christ's sake?
Crewe equalise and we spend the next 15 minutes desperately defending our box. In a must-win game. What on earth. Ben Watson finally wins it back on the 18-yard line, has a simple 5-yard pass out wide, and passes it straight to their player. Braindead decision making all over the pitch.
Pure luck we even equalised in the first place. If Crewe's final ball had been better, they could easily have scored three or four.
Just dreadful. Don't tell me it's not this bunch of players. Sick of them. If they all left tomorrow I would not shed a single tear.
Watching that was embarrassing. Given the run around for the whole game by Crewe Alexandra. The players that we have, all of them, are slow of mind and slow of body. I don't think that we will make the play-offs, even though it is still in our own hands. Just not good enough.
I’m resigned to missing out this season, and tbh, not particularly fussed if we do. We all know that due to the ownership we had, and the wage cap etc, we ended up shopping at Lidl. With TS backing NA in the summer, we can clear out a lot of the driftwood, build a proper, balanced and hungry squad, and hopefully, with crowds allowed back into grounds, really go for an automatic spot next season. A far more appealing proposition than limping over the line to a game that none, or most of us, can’t attend anyway. Obviously I’d still take it, but I have a “meh” attitude towards it.
Exactly how I feel about it - id take going up of course but if we do we are going to consolidate at best and will have missed out on a proper promotion season so a silver lining to last nights crash down to earth
PWR ...Ok, it’s still in our hands and bizarrely, I can still see us sneaking into the play-offs. But after last nights performance, I really want this godamn awful season to end now. I don’t think I can face the heartache of being humiliated by Lincoln or Blackpool or Portsmouth. I’d just like to say thanks lads, but we go again next season with a fully refreshed squad. A squad chosen by the gaffer and a group that he knows he get playing the way he wants them to play. How can you go from the best performance of the season to the worst in the space of a week. I just don’t get it. So disjointed, no shape, hoof ball at its worst 😔
I’m resigned to missing out this season, and tbh, not particularly fussed if we do. We all know that due to the ownership we had, and the wage cap etc, we ended up shopping at Lidl. With TS backing NA in the summer, we can clear out a lot of the driftwood, build a proper, balanced and hungry squad, and hopefully, with crowds allowed back into grounds, really go for an automatic spot next season. A far more appealing proposition than limping over the line to a game that none, or most of us, can’t attend anyway. Obviously I’d still take it, but I have a “meh” attitude towards it.
Yep - same for me as well.
Except the "rational me" had a bit of difficulty explaining it to the other me last night at around 21:00 hours.
Angry last night, trying to stay positive this morning. But it's bloody difficult. Desperately want to make play-offs because anything can happen once we are there. Fail to beat Accrington, though, and the dream is over.
Can't see us making play-offs now, rightly so really.
I still can't get over that last night really, no closing down, sitting deep, disjointed... it was like a Bowyer performance from a few months back. Wouldn't think we were battling for the play-offs.
Wish Washington was fully fit, he really has to start.
Think the league position is flattering this team just doesn't look like a team fighting for that playoff place You would think all these players would want championship football next season or is it the case they all know if we did somehow go up they know 95% of them will be gone as they are never Good enough for the championship
I fear last night will be a metaphor for the entire season. Good start followed by a load of rubbish, Adkins makes some changes and we look better but ultimately are disappointed.
Apallingly shit at home with a fair old scoop of points away AND we still amazingly have a faint sniff of the playoffs with a let's face it very limited group of players. IF we did get there we could fluke it of course but it is likely we would get slaughtered and would have just prolonged the misery.
This league is a purgatory, an absolute ball ache. I don't think there has ever been a season where i have not been bothered who the fuck gets shown the door in the summer, bottlers the lot of them.
Granted he had a quiet game, but Jake Forster-Caskey is likely to win player of the year by a landslide and he's not on your list?
He's always the missing man when we struggle, he shines when we win. I just can't decide on him. Our most successful season in years, he was not in our squad often.
Apologies I said I was switching off and I am now!
The season he tore his ACL one day before the first game?
By far our best player all season, we’d be absolutely bonkers not to resign him. If he leaves it will be to a team in a higher league position than us currently
The loose ball fell to Pearce in quite a good initial position. BUT, he forgt the player he was facing was left footed who just did him in the exact same manner as for his first goal.
How many times have we played a game of football knowing at this key time "Keep him on his left". That pressure simply would have done the job. But before this, everybody was too deep from Innis's excellent clearances, and thats forgetting Watson's pass 4 yards in front of JFC when in complete control. Typical one minute shit show...memories of so many games!
Granted he had a quiet game, but Jake Forster-Caskey is likely to win player of the year by a landslide and he's not on your list?
He's always the missing man when we struggle, he shines when we win. I just can't decide on him. Our most successful season in years, he was not in our squad often.
Apologies I said I was switching off and I am now!
Could it be that we win because he shines? JFC looked a bit tired tonight, and like Muttley said, I think he would be better holding, with Shinnie replacing him in CM
I would be happy with that especially as 95% of his shots are wildly high or wide.
Pearce got done for both goals, Saturday and today he's not been as good as previously, I say rest him against Accrington and get Famewo and Inniss back together. After being out injured so long, it's fair to assume Pearce may be getting tired.
With our away record i can see us going to Accrington and winning just to give us all a renewed sense of hope..............and then we'll blow it again at home next midweek.
6 home wins all season in this shit division is pathetic.
Plymouth was an outlier. Last night was us regressing to the mean.
Before Bowyer left we started to look a team again. We pressed together, played shorter passing and attacked and defended together, and that continued under Adkins.
We have however started pumping the ball up to Stockley, he heads it to no-one almost every time. Stockley doesn't have the ability to bring the ball down and move with it, Aneke can do that and he can do more accurate headed flicks... Stockley can manage to play 90 mins week in week out, Aneke cannot.
We should be playing Aneke and Washington from the start and bring Stockley on to replace Aneke around 60-70 mins moving forward.
In addition to this, I do not think we looked *that* good against Plymouth, but it worked out, we were clinical in front of goal 7 shots on target (was it?) and 6 goals.
We then looked almost our best this season against Peterborough but it didn't work out and last night showed that losing rocked us, badly it re-iterated our home form issues and as a result we seemed to look very much like strangers. Passing was erratic and rushed.
The players need to completely forget about where we are playing and to get the monkey off their back as the saying goes.
There is no way I am turning on Adkins this season like some seem to be starting to, he's been here 5 minutes and since the 2nd of April our results have been:
Adkins first 6 results: W3, D2, L1 - GS11, GA4, GD+7 0-1 W Doncaster 1-2 W Sunderland 0-0 D Ipswich 0-6 W Plymouth 0-1 L Peterborough 2-2 D Crewe
Before that Bowyer's last 6 results: W2, D2, L2 - GS5, GC7, GD-2 1-2 L Burton 0-3 L Blackpool 0-1 W Wigan 0-0 D Oxford 2-1 W Northampton 1-1 D Shrewsbury
In-between these results we had the Jackson results: W1, D1 - GS5, GC4, GD+1 3-2 W Bristol R 2-2 D AFC W
That is a progression, especially as we've played some decent sides in there, this game was Adkins first real blip, but he called it before the game, they're playing with freedom and we're playing cautiously which is inviting pressure.
We will improve, the likelihood of promotion is low, but in our hands.
We had all but accepted that we weren't being promoted so it won't hurt as much to miss out this time around, but it is a good feeling to know that we've run it this close after how bad we have been throughout this season.
Having slept on it (and by the way no, Nigel I did not sleep well) , I did not enjoy that at all. Not helped by acute indigestion caused by gulping down a pork chop and missing the first goal.
I allowed myself to get a bit optimistic after the Plymouth and Posh performances but that was back to exactly the same rubbish we saw much earlier in the season. Either Crewe were the Brazilian national team in disguise or we were really poor.
Acres of space for the opposition to have two or three touches, aimless lumps upfield, very little movement and defending far too deep, inviting pressure. Really basic stuff taught to schoolboys but not to our first 11.
I suspect that LB and NA are both decent managers but this squad is just below standard. That's why LB played Pratley and Watson together and why he went all moody and that's why NA plays hoof-ball with one up front. He must know it's all we are capable of. We played with two wingers buy I don't remember one half-decent cross from either of them last night.
On balance I would rather miss out on the play-offs rather than repeat the Swindon Town experience with Stockley blazing it over the bar instead of Nicky Bailey. Does anyone truly believe we might get promoted via the play offs? Even Sunderland would beat us and they're cursed.
This season has been awful bar about 150 mins of half decent football but at least we weren't there to witness it.
Comments
One thing’s for sure, we’ve got to go for wins now not gritty draws so I’d like to see Innis and Famewo starting together plus Aneke and Washington up top in a 4-4-2, Pratley in for Watson in a midfield with JFC, Gilbey and Millar switching from flank to flank.
Ultimately, as someone pointed out earlier, this fragile minded squad is a reflection of the end of a terrible few years of ownership. No one currently at the club is to blame, nor LB. I don’t even blame the players, they are just the best we could get in the circumstances and, I believe generally have tried their best.
Disappointed with the season? Yes aren’t we all, but the future still looks good under TS so I am looking forward to a strong rebuild over the coming few months.
Where was the leadership out there? The desire? Under the cosh at home from the first whistle until the boys finally decided to show up on 80 minutes (before they promptly went home again on 90). And against a team with 'nothing to play for.'
Getting rings run round us again, at The Valley, for the umpteenth time this season. How about an ounce of pride?
Crewe equalise and we spend the next 15 minutes desperately defending our box. In a must-win game. What on earth. Ben Watson finally wins it back on the 18-yard line, has a simple 5-yard pass out wide to relieve pressure and let us build back into the game, and passes it straight to their player. Braindead here, there, and everywhere.
Pure luck we even equalised in the first place. If Crewe's final ball had been better, they could easily have scored three or four.
They wanted it more. At this stage of the season, what a thing to say.
The players that we have, all of them, are slow of mind and slow of body.
I don't think that we will make the play-offs, even though it is still in our own hands.
Just not good enough.
Except the "rational me" had a bit of difficulty explaining it to the other me last night at around 21:00 hours.
How on earth do we still have a chance of top 6 !
A week ago we scored Six goals, on Saturday we passed well all over the field other than in the box.
Tonight we had no control and played with fear. Our first goal was a great move but why did we then stop playing football.
I'm like a broken record, but you have to be positive and give your top two scorers more minutes.
Jesus, Mary and Joseph and the wee Donkey, how did we snatch a draw out of the jaws of Victory in the 6th minute of added time.
Desperately want to make play-offs because anything can happen once we are there. Fail to beat Accrington, though, and the dream is over.
I still can't get over that last night really, no closing down, sitting deep, disjointed... it was like a Bowyer performance from a few months back. Wouldn't think we were battling for the play-offs.
Wish Washington was fully fit, he really has to start.
You would think all these players would want championship football next season or is it the case they all know if we did somehow go up they know 95% of them will be gone as they are never Good enough for the championship
This league is a purgatory, an absolute ball ache. I don't think there has ever been a season where i have not been bothered who the fuck gets shown the door in the summer, bottlers the lot of them.
The loose ball fell to Pearce in quite a good initial position. BUT, he forgt the player he was facing was left footed who just did him in the exact same manner as for his first goal.
How many times have we played a game of football knowing at this key time "Keep him on his left". That pressure simply would have done the job. But before this, everybody was too deep from Innis's excellent clearances, and thats forgetting Watson's pass 4 yards in front of JFC when in complete control. Typical one minute shit show...memories of so many games!
6 home wins all season in this shit division is pathetic.
We have however started pumping the ball up to Stockley, he heads it to no-one almost every time. Stockley doesn't have the ability to bring the ball down and move with it, Aneke can do that and he can do more accurate headed flicks... Stockley can manage to play 90 mins week in week out, Aneke cannot.
We should be playing Aneke and Washington from the start and bring Stockley on to replace Aneke around 60-70 mins moving forward.
In addition to this, I do not think we looked *that* good against Plymouth, but it worked out, we were clinical in front of goal 7 shots on target (was it?) and 6 goals.
We then looked almost our best this season against Peterborough but it didn't work out and last night showed that losing rocked us, badly it re-iterated our home form issues and as a result we seemed to look very much like strangers. Passing was erratic and rushed.
The players need to completely forget about where we are playing and to get the monkey off their back as the saying goes.
There is no way I am turning on Adkins this season like some seem to be starting to, he's been here 5 minutes and since the 2nd of April our results have been:
Adkins first 6 results: W3, D2, L1 - GS11, GA4, GD+7
0-1 W Doncaster
1-2 W Sunderland
0-0 D Ipswich
0-6 W Plymouth
0-1 L Peterborough
2-2 D Crewe
Before that Bowyer's last 6 results: W2, D2, L2 - GS5, GC7, GD-2
1-2 L Burton
0-3 L Blackpool
0-1 W Wigan
0-0 D Oxford
2-1 W Northampton
1-1 D Shrewsbury
In-between these results we had the Jackson results: W1, D1 - GS5, GC4, GD+1
3-2 W Bristol R
2-2 D AFC W
That is a progression, especially as we've played some decent sides in there, this game was Adkins first real blip, but he called it before the game, they're playing with freedom and we're playing cautiously which is inviting pressure.
We will improve, the likelihood of promotion is low, but in our hands.
We had all but accepted that we weren't being promoted so it won't hurt as much to miss out this time around, but it is a good feeling to know that we've run it this close after how bad we have been throughout this season.
I allowed myself to get a bit optimistic after the Plymouth and Posh performances but that was back to exactly the same rubbish we saw much earlier in the season. Either Crewe were the Brazilian national team in disguise or we were really poor.
Acres of space for the opposition to have two or three touches, aimless lumps upfield, very little movement and defending far too deep, inviting pressure. Really basic stuff taught to schoolboys but not to our first 11.
I suspect that LB and NA are both decent managers but this squad is just below standard. That's why LB played Pratley and Watson together and why he went all moody and that's why NA plays hoof-ball with one up front. He must know it's all we are capable of. We played with two wingers buy I don't remember one half-decent cross from either of them last night.
On balance I would rather miss out on the play-offs rather than repeat the Swindon Town experience with Stockley blazing it over the bar instead of Nicky Bailey. Does anyone truly believe we might get promoted via the play offs? Even Sunderland would beat us and they're cursed.
This season has been awful bar about 150 mins of half decent football but at least we weren't there to witness it.
We drew, we didn't lose.