I would go out on a limb to say that every player in our squad, including all of those on the pitch last night, that performed well or otherwise, are able to put in a great performance. The problem is consistency. The is no way JJ can win this league if he has a set of players that can only perform to the best of their ability for 10, 20 or even 30 games a season or 30 minutes a game. That isn't how teams win promotion. The teams that get up, find a winning team and formation and stick to that with little requirement for change, because it works. What Jacko has is a whole team of fantastic Mr Occasional's (even wonder boy Dobson has his off days) but he needs 17+ Mr Consistent"s. Until this changes we are stuck in the third tier.
I don't think you do need 17+ you only need about 9 or 10. Everyone waxes lyrical about the class of 2019 because it was a very good team but.......
Were Purrington and Parker players that would get you promoted? Outside the 13 that played in the final Marshall, Reeves and Lapslie played over 40 games between them. Solly played over 30 (he wasn't the 2011 Solly then). Igor was less reliable than Chuks, Page???
Fosu didn't do much in the 30 games he played, Jamie Wards 10 games? What about Ajose's sterling contribution?
If you put BFG, Cullen, Bielik and Taylor in this current squad you would probably get promoted, or very close. Not just their quality but their leadership, example setting, willingness to improve and desire to win.
Don't disagree with any of your knowledgeable points, however that 2019 team, as good as they were, were only able to secure 3rd on goal diffence. Luton (1st) and Barnsley (2nd) have also managed to stay up, just, whereas we came straight down.
For a top two finish, we need a squad as special as that or better. Inconsistency in performances is killing our prospects. With Thomas's focus on performance monitoring, surely he and the whole backroom team (including the players) can see, like us, that our squad are not what is required to achieve top two.
Burstow and Washington up front. Come on Jacko, what were you expecting? Seriously? Something different to the rest of us? And yet we were right? Seriously? Our chronic lack of creativity in midfield on display again. Defenders struggling with their opponent and all at sea against simple balls over the top. Basic errors that did for us, even as we threatened to turn the tide through the introduction of Fraser and Aneke. Also, to our players, if you want the points you have to want to win. I don't mean as an abstract desire in your head, I mean being driven and determined and making things happen. We are so in transition still it's driving me to despair. How banal to be so reliant on a core of players who are so brittle that they are de facto unreliable. This isn't the core of a promotion squad. It needs wholesale improvement, preferably with fit, hungry players of sufficient quality. I've no idea if Jacko is up to the task but he needs time and backing for now and key input into recruitment. I don't know what Tommy's budget will be. It isn't my money but I hope it is sufficient and wisely spent. My only decision is whether to invest my money in another season of third division mediocrity. (Like I'm gonna stop now!)
This post sums up most of our feelings I’d say, it really does emphasise the frustration, disappointment, annoyance of this season. I feel your pain along with many fellow suffering fans.👊🏻
Burstow and Washington up front. Come on Jacko, what were you expecting? Seriously? Something different to the rest of us? And yet we were right? Seriously? Our chronic lack of creativity in midfield on display again. Defenders struggling with their opponent and all at sea against simple balls over the top. Basic errors that did for us, even as we threatened to turn the tide through the introduction of Fraser and Aneke. Also, to our players, if you want the points you have to want to win. I don't mean as an abstract desire in your head, I mean being driven and determined and making things happen. We are so in transition still it's driving me to despair. How banal to be so reliant on a core of players who are so brittle that they are de facto unreliable. This isn't the core of a promotion squad. It needs wholesale improvement, preferably with fit, hungry players of sufficient quality. I've no idea if Jacko is up to the task but he needs time and backing for now and key input into recruitment. I don't know what Tommy's budget will be. It isn't my money but I hope it is sufficient and wisely spent. My only decision is whether to invest my money in another season of third division mediocrity. (Like I'm gonna stop now!)
I share your view but what else was JJ supposed to do given Aneke is seemingly unable to play Saturday/midweek?
There is no-one else he could have played up front.
Maybe loaning Davison to Swindon wasn't such a smart move although I very much doubt if he had played last night things would have been much better.
Sorry to put a downer on the lad, but loaning Davison to Swindon was an exceptionally smart move. He works hard but needs to be good in league two first, and he struggled with that at forest green. So a bit harsh to expect anything better for us.
Burstow and Washington up front. Come on Jacko, what were you expecting? Seriously? Something different to the rest of us? And yet we were right? Seriously? Our chronic lack of creativity in midfield on display again. Defenders struggling with their opponent and all at sea against simple balls over the top. Basic errors that did for us, even as we threatened to turn the tide through the introduction of Fraser and Aneke. Also, to our players, if you want the points you have to want to win. I don't mean as an abstract desire in your head, I mean being driven and determined and making things happen. We are so in transition still it's driving me to despair. How banal to be so reliant on a core of players who are so brittle that they are de facto unreliable. This isn't the core of a promotion squad. It needs wholesale improvement, preferably with fit, hungry players of sufficient quality. I've no idea if Jacko is up to the task but he needs time and backing for now and key input into recruitment. I don't know what Tommy's budget will be. It isn't my money but I hope it is sufficient and wisely spent. My only decision is whether to invest my money in another season of third division mediocrity. (Like I'm gonna stop now!)
I share your view but what else was JJ supposed to do given Aneke is seemingly unable to play Saturday/midweek?
There is no-one else he could have played up front.
Exactly so mate. Yet how long has the management known how long Stockley would be missing? And yet we pull out all the stops to get Aneke back knowing how brittle and unreliable his fitness. And the owner thinks we got a right result getting Burstow back on loan. What I am saying is they must have known this scenario was likely and therefore planned for it and had confidence they could make it work. And there's a good chance those 2 may be our only option on a semi regular basis going forward. Maybe Fraser will provide the missing link that will draw them into play. Nobody else fecking is.
Didnt Adkins say he was looking for 23 clean sheets this season ?
The above stats shows that that figure is very very unlikely.....nigh on impossible in my view. Which then goes on to suggest that managers/coaches dont really know what they are taking about & concentrating on the wrong things.
The teams that go up automatically this season will be higher up the table for goals scored than they will be in the clean sheets league.
I could get a team to have 46 clean sheets but still get relegated. Until a manger understands its how many you score that counts, not how many you don't concede.
Burstow and Washington up front. Come on Jacko, what were you expecting? Seriously? Something different to the rest of us? And yet we were right? Seriously? Our chronic lack of creativity in midfield on display again. Defenders struggling with their opponent and all at sea against simple balls over the top. Basic errors that did for us, even as we threatened to turn the tide through the introduction of Fraser and Aneke. Also, to our players, if you want the points you have to want to win. I don't mean as an abstract desire in your head, I mean being driven and determined and making things happen. We are so in transition still it's driving me to despair. How banal to be so reliant on a core of players who are so brittle that they are de facto unreliable. This isn't the core of a promotion squad. It needs wholesale improvement, preferably with fit, hungry players of sufficient quality. I've no idea if Jacko is up to the task but he needs time and backing for now and key input into recruitment. I don't know what Tommy's budget will be. It isn't my money but I hope it is sufficient and wisely spent. My only decision is whether to invest my money in another season of third division mediocrity. (Like I'm gonna stop now!)
I share your view but what else was JJ supposed to do given Aneke is seemingly unable to play Saturday/midweek?
There is no-one else he could have played up front.
Maybe loaning Davison to Swindon wasn't such a smart move although I very much doubt if he had played last night things would have been much better.
This is our summer transfer policy coming home to roost. Didn't replace Aneke & decided Davison was the answer.....and then let Schwartz leave AFTER the window shut so we couldn't replace him, leaving us with just Stockley, Washington & Davison. clever that.
(Oh, and don't say Leko can play up front because he's clearlyniot a striker & now even JJ don't fancy him).
Then decided it was so bad & that we were in fear of relegation that we bought back Aneke (who cant play 2 x 90mins when we have lots of sat/tues/sat games in the 2nd half of the season) and also decided an 18 year old was going to be our saviour
Burstow and Washington up front. Come on Jacko, what were you expecting? Seriously? Something different to the rest of us? And yet we were right? Seriously? Our chronic lack of creativity in midfield on display again. Defenders struggling with their opponent and all at sea against simple balls over the top. Basic errors that did for us, even as we threatened to turn the tide through the introduction of Fraser and Aneke. Also, to our players, if you want the points you have to want to win. I don't mean as an abstract desire in your head, I mean being driven and determined and making things happen. We are so in transition still it's driving me to despair. How banal to be so reliant on a core of players who are so brittle that they are de facto unreliable. This isn't the core of a promotion squad. It needs wholesale improvement, preferably with fit, hungry players of sufficient quality. I've no idea if Jacko is up to the task but he needs time and backing for now and key input into recruitment. I don't know what Tommy's budget will be. It isn't my money but I hope it is sufficient and wisely spent. My only decision is whether to invest my money in another season of third division mediocrity. (Like I'm gonna stop now!)
I share your view but what else was JJ supposed to do given Aneke is seemingly unable to play Saturday/midweek?
There is no-one else he could have played up front.
Exactly so mate. Yet how long has the management known how long Stockley would be missing? And yet we pull out all the stops to get Aneke back knowing how brittle and unreliable his fitness. And the owner thinks we got a right result getting Burstow back on loan. What I am saying is they must have known this scenario was likely and therefore planned for it and had confidence they could make it work. And there's a good chance those 2 may be our only option on a semi regular basis going forward. Maybe Fraser will provide the missing link that will draw them into play. Nobody else fecking is.
On reflection we almost drew with a team who were top of the form table on a miserable away day oop north, late on a Tuesday.
The exact sort of situation where a promotion winning side would grind out a result. Whether it’s hunger or tactics or quality or communication or leadership or confidence or consistency - there are missing ingredients in the squad that, until they are found, will unfortunately see us languishing in the third tier for the foreseeable.
On reflection we almost drew with a team who were top of the form table on a miserable away day oop north, late on a Tuesday.
The exact sort of situation where a promotion winning side would grind out a result. Whether it’s hunger or tactics or quality or communication or leadership or confidence or consistency - there are missing ingredients in the squad that, until they are found, will unfortunately see us languishing in the third tier for the foreseeable.
Bit of grit/nastiness is definitely missing from midfield, but I genuinely think Fraser could make a big difference to the team.
We’ve lacked someone to create goals and bring others into play, for a long time. Serious question: When did we last have one of those? JF-C on his day, maybe? But not really. Even Gallagher and Cullen didn’t get that many assists, as far as I remember? Hopefully he’ll make a real difference (ever the optimist, but not happy clappy).
The problem isn’t the manager, the coaches, the formation or tactics. It comes down to the squad not being good enough. Promotion sides have a number of players who will be comfortable in the division above. They have leaders who drive the team forward. We lack both.
We need to get it right in the summer. We need to be ruthless rather go into it thinking a few tweaks will be enough. Change the mentality and bring in new leaders. I’m concerned we’ll sign Famewo permanently and keep Pearce and Inniss then see the same problems we’ve had for the last year and a half - Pearce another year closer to retirement and further away from being a promotion winning player, Inniss’s lack of fitness meaning we’re always changing our defence game to game and Famewo uncomfortable on the ball, hoofing it down the line to no one.
In midfield with the squad cap getting smaller we can’t afford to keep Gilbey, Lee and Morgan. We need to find that goalscoring CM with the same quality of Fraser and Dobson.
Up front I wouldn’t bring Burstow back, as much as he’s a goalscorer we need that player to contribute more outside the box.
In some ways we’re not far off a playoff side - Jackson in from the start with Stockley and Aneke available all season would made a big difference. I wasn’t surprised we struggled without either starting and without Inniss at the back. We’re too reliant on them, we don’t have enough elsewhere that makes you think we can grind out results with a weakened team.
Im sure lessons will be learnt from last summer but time will tell if it’s enough.
Pearce has the option of retiring to focus on coaching. He will be 35 next season and is nearing L2 standard, so timing would be good for him personally.
Jacko retired at that age, when his pace couldn't keep up with that of the game.
Didn't watch last night. The outcome was as predictable as the formation, though pleased to hear Jacko tweaked it mid-game.
From the highlights (if you can call them that) the first Bolton goal looked like a Sunday pub team hoof over the top. Can't see the point of three central defenders at the back when none of them can defend basic stuff like that. Really poor.
Mostly we do exactly the same thing for every match home or away, regardless of the opposition, conditions, recent performances or injuries to key personnel. If Innis was injured why not go four at the back and crowd the midfield? Playing a high line with Pearce is suicidal. He is just too slow and has to resort to mud wrestling.
I like Gilbey bit he is contributing little at the moment except exasperated facial expressions. The crowd can do those for him.
Some good posts here dealing with the harsh reality of a bungled, wasted season due to mismanagement and no clear vision. 10K season ticket holders suckered in by broken promises. God we are in a mess.
I'm 61 soon and been going since 1969. Reality is hitting home about our club. I realise now that the Curbishley years was my zenith. The game has changed so much in the last 30 years that I see absolutely no prospect of us attaining premier league status ever again.
Reckon we will huff and puff between the lower reaches of the championship and league 1. Not even a golden academy crop will save us as they will be whisked off to play under 23 football at whatever premier club comes in.
Meanwhile Millwall and Palace continue to laugh at our near terminal demise. Sigh. No doubt my Oxford mate will be lording it over me in the curry house next Saturday as well. Oxford ffs, how far have we fallen.
Some good posts here dealing with the harsh reality of a bungled, wasted season due to mismanagement and no clear vision. 10K season ticket holders suckered in by broken promises. God we are in a mess.
I'm 61 soon and been going since 1969. Reality is hitting home about our club. I realise now that the Curbishley years was my zenith. The game has changed so much in the last 30 years that I see absolutely no prospect of us attaining premier league status ever again.
Reckon we will huff and puff between the lower reaches of the championship and league 1. Not even a golden academy crop will save us as they will be whisked off to play under 23 football at whatever premier club comes in.
Meanwhile Millwall and Palace continue to laugh at our near terminal demise. Sigh. No doubt my Oxford mate will be lording it over me in the curry house next Saturday as well. Oxford ffs, how far have we fallen.
I take some consolation in the fact that there are fellow sufferers out there and that we have a place to meet on line and share our footballing woes.
Some good posts here dealing with the harsh reality of a bungled, wasted season due to mismanagement and no clear vision. 10K season ticket holders suckered in by broken promises. God we are in a mess.
I'm 61 soon and been going since 1969. Reality is hitting home about our club. I realise now that the Curbishley years was my zenith. The game has changed so much in the last 30 years that I see absolutely no prospect of us attaining premier league status ever again.
Reckon we will huff and puff between the lower reaches of the championship and league 1. Not even a golden academy crop will save us as they will be whisked off to play under 23 football at whatever premier club comes in.
Meanwhile Millwall and Palace continue to laugh at our near terminal demise. Sigh. No doubt my Oxford mate will be lording it over me in the curry house next Saturday as well. Oxford ffs, how far have we fallen.
One thing I noticed when the half time whistle blew. Our players all stopped in their tracks, some took a deep breath and some went to their haunches. Eventually, they started walking towards the tunnel.
By contrast, the Bolton players all turned around and sprinted off the pitch to their dressing room.
I thought to myself "flipping heck... they are up for this. Can I say the same about us?"
Little things like that that Evatt has drilled into his team are why they are likely to be on the right side of poor quality matches like the one on Tuesday. They were well disciplined and we were not. And that proved the difference on the night.
Some good posts here dealing with the harsh reality of a bungled, wasted season due to mismanagement and no clear vision. 10K season ticket holders suckered in by broken promises. God we are in a mess.
I'm 61 soon and been going since 1969. Reality is hitting home about our club. I realise now that the Curbishley years was my zenith. The game has changed so much in the last 30 years that I see absolutely no prospect of us attaining premier league status ever again.
Reckon we will huff and puff between the lower reaches of the championship and league 1. Not even a golden academy crop will save us as they will be whisked off to play under 23 football at whatever premier club comes in.
Meanwhile Millwall and Palace continue to laugh at our near terminal demise. Sigh. No doubt my Oxford mate will be lording it over me in the curry house next Saturday as well. Oxford ffs, how far have we fallen.
Didnt Adkins say he was looking for 23 clean sheets this season ?
The above stats shows that that figure is very very unlikely.....nigh on impossible in my view. Which then goes on to suggest that managers/coaches dont really know what they are taking about & concentrating on the wrong things.
The teams that go up automatically this season will be higher up the table for goals scored than they will be in the clean sheets league.
I could get a team to have 46 clean sheets but still get relegated. Until a manger understands its how many you score that counts, not how many you don't concede.
This is just plainly untrue.
Last season, the three promoted teams averaged 6th place for goals scored and 3rd place for goals conceded.
The season prior, the three promoted teams averaged 8th place for goals scored and 7th place for goals conceded.
For this season's top two (who look like running away with it), Rotherham top the table when it comes to both while Wigan have the 7th best goals scored record and the 2nd best goals conceded record.
Goals conceded shows a consistently stronger relationship with getting promoted than goals scored does.
One thing I noticed when the half time whistle blew. Our players all stopped in their tracks, some took a deep breath and some went to their haunches. Eventually, they started walking towards the tunnel.
By contrast, the Bolton players all turned around and sprinted off the pitch to their dressing room.
I thought to myself "flipping heck... they are up for this. Can I say the same about us?"
Little things like that that Evatt has drilled into his team are why they are likely to be on the right side of poor quality matches like the one on Tuesday. They were well disciplined and we were not. And that proved the difference on the night.
If think you might be reading too much into this one, mate.
If you ask the fans of Plymouth, Ipswich, Pompey and perhaps even Rotherham they’d have a similar tale to tell but this time praising our players.
Bolton looked more up for it on the night, but there’s plenty of factors that go into that. I don’t believe any one of those Bolton players wanted to win more than ours.
One thing I noticed when the half time whistle blew. Our players all stopped in their tracks, some took a deep breath and some went to their haunches. Eventually, they started walking towards the tunnel.
By contrast, the Bolton players all turned around and sprinted off the pitch to their dressing room.
I thought to myself "flipping heck... they are up for this. Can I say the same about us?"
Little things like that that Evatt has drilled into his team are why they are likely to be on the right side of poor quality matches like the one on Tuesday. They were well disciplined and we were not. And that proved the difference on the night.
If think you might be reading too much into this one, mate.
If you ask the fans of Plymouth, Ipswich, Pompey and perhaps even Rotherham they’d have a similar tale to tell but this time praising our players.
Bolton looked more up for it on the night, but there’s plenty of factors that go into that. I don’t believe any one of those Bolton players wanted to win more than ours.
For me, it was more about the message that each team was sending to the other. No doubt all 22+ players on the pitch wanted to win.
One thing I noticed when the half time whistle blew. Our players all stopped in their tracks, some took a deep breath and some went to their haunches. Eventually, they started walking towards the tunnel.
By contrast, the Bolton players all turned around and sprinted off the pitch to their dressing room.
I thought to myself "flipping heck... they are up for this. Can I say the same about us?"
Little things like that that Evatt has drilled into his team are why they are likely to be on the right side of poor quality matches like the one on Tuesday. They were well disciplined and we were not. And that proved the difference on the night.
If think you might be reading too much into this one, mate.
If you ask the fans of Plymouth, Ipswich, Pompey and perhaps even Rotherham they’d have a similar tale to tell but this time praising our players.
Bolton looked more up for it on the night, but there’s plenty of factors that go into that. I don’t believe any one of those Bolton players wanted to win more than ours.
For me, it was more about the message that each team was sending to the other. No doubt all 22+ players on the pitch wanted to win.
And yet in the second half we equalised and looked thoroughly on top, only to be undone by a needless set-piece
One thing I noticed when the half time whistle blew. Our players all stopped in their tracks, some took a deep breath and some went to their haunches. Eventually, they started walking towards the tunnel.
By contrast, the Bolton players all turned around and sprinted off the pitch to their dressing room.
I thought to myself "flipping heck... they are up for this. Can I say the same about us?"
Little things like that that Evatt has drilled into his team are why they are likely to be on the right side of poor quality matches like the one on Tuesday. They were well disciplined and we were not. And that proved the difference on the night.
If think you might be reading too much into this one, mate.
If you ask the fans of Plymouth, Ipswich, Pompey and perhaps even Rotherham they’d have a similar tale to tell but this time praising our players.
Bolton looked more up for it on the night, but there’s plenty of factors that go into that. I don’t believe any one of those Bolton players wanted to win more than ours.
For me, it was more about the message that each team was sending to the other. No doubt all 22+ players on the pitch wanted to win.
And yet in the second half we equalised and looked thoroughly on top, only to be undone by a needless set-piece
A needless set piece which comes back to the lack of discipline I'm talking about................
Club's broken. There's no reason this team should be so incredibly bipolar from match to match. Players can have bad games, they can cost you goals, they can go on bad runs. I don't think I've ever seen a team before though, Charlton or otherwise, that manage to be collectively terrible all at the same time for no apparent reason. Two games ago, just over one week, Sean Clare played the game of his life in a man of the match performance. 8 days later he's atrocious. Famewo was excellent against Pompey and scored the winner against Wimbledon, and collapsed last night. Gilbeying is now a verb, meaning to fluctuate horrifically from good to bad at absolutely any time. Against Pompey everyone was good, last night absolutely everyone was bad, I just don't understand how this team is able to operate like that. It isn't even just these players, it's been happening ever since we came back into this league and we've gone through about 400 players since then. Sandgaard and Gallen are always talking about building a long-term team so we don't have to rebuild every season but I'd rather send this entire squad into the shadow realm and start over than think about Kirk and Aneke's 14 year contracts.
I feel like ever since Morecambe scored that second goal against us the players have woken up and remembered who they are and who they play for and realised it's their job to constantly collapse whenever there's any kind of form on the horizon. We gift stupid goals, refuse to score more than one goal unless it specifically won't get us a win and somehow manage to perform badly collectively instead of individually. We're completely reliant on about 4 players, and if they can't play, or don't play well it feels like there's no-one able to pick up the slack and operate the team. If Inniss, Gilbey, Stockley and Washington play well then there's not many teams who can match us. If any of those are injured, absent or Gilbeying then we can't rely on a great performance from a wingback or another midfielder, or a heroic centre back performance to rescue us, we completely drain away like a bath with the plug pulled out. There's no grit or focus in this team, it's going through the motions hoping a couple of players provide us with leadership or drive or the ability to hold the ball up front, all while Dobson scurries around trying to make every single tackle and, presumably, wondering why the hell no-one else feels like getting involved. Again.
I just don't know what to make of this lot. I don't really feel that excited for games because there's a really good chance that from the first 5 minutes you'll be able to tell they've decided to have one of those games and you're not getting that tenner back no matter how much you might wish you'd spent it on literally anything else, and it's another missed opportunity, another set of points dropped and a longer-still wait since Charlton turned out a side that you could consistently feel a connection with. I really don't think new players will solve it. We plugged the holding midfield gap from last season, it hasn't helped. We signed more centre backs, it hasn't helped. We made Stockley permanent, signed Rob Lee's son and stopped playing Gunter, it hasn't helped. We replaced Aneke with actual Aneke and signed the golden messiah Scott Fraser and the players are still turning up for a match looking like they thought they were going on a trip to see the darts rather than compete in a football match. I don't think signing a few more players in the summer will fix it, I don't think changing the manager again will fix it, and I don't think a complete overhaul will fix it, I think we're just bad. I dunno it's exhausting, burn the whole thing.
Some good posts here dealing with the harsh reality of a bungled, wasted season due to mismanagement and no clear vision. 10K season ticket holders suckered in by broken promises. God we are in a mess.
I'm 61 soon and been going since 1969. Reality is hitting home about our club. I realise now that the Curbishley years was my zenith. The game has changed so much in the last 30 years that I see absolutely no prospect of us attaining premier league status ever again.
Reckon we will huff and puff between the lower reaches of the championship and league 1. Not even a golden academy crop will save us as they will be whisked off to play under 23 football at whatever premier club comes in.
Meanwhile Millwall and Palace continue to laugh at our near terminal demise. Sigh. No doubt my Oxford mate will be lording it over me in the curry house next Saturday as well. Oxford ffs, how far have we fallen.
Funny enough I was thinking about our team who had a successful campaign in 1968/69 the other day. It was the team who finished 3rd in division 2 - with a notable 2 0 win over Brian Clough's Derby County. There was a toughness about those old time players that doesn’t exist in our present side.
Whether it was a combination of heavy pitches and balls, the lack of substitutes, the diet of beer and fags, minor injuries being treated with a bucket and sponge and major injuries by a cortisone injection I dunno. But, come what May, those players would strain every sinew to turn out the next week and play for the full 90 minutes. Nowadays we have 'managed minutes' and accommodate players who prefer to play part time.
Convention decrees that old time athletes would be no match for their modern equivalent, but looking at the teams from the Derby and Bolton games I'd (hypothetically) swap out Curtis for Matthews, Went for Pearce, Campbell for Gilbey and Treacy for Burstow. Pretty sure that'd be enough to secure a win at Bolton
Wright, Curtis, Kinsey, Campbell, Went, Reeves, Gregory, Treacy, Tees, Moore, Mullen. (Keirs unused) (This is the actual team who beat Brian Clough’s Derby County 2 0 at the Valley in front of 30,000).
One thing I noticed when the half time whistle blew. Our players all stopped in their tracks, some took a deep breath and some went to their haunches. Eventually, they started walking towards the tunnel.
By contrast, the Bolton players all turned around and sprinted off the pitch to their dressing room.
I thought to myself "flipping heck... they are up for this. Can I say the same about us?"
Little things like that that Evatt has drilled into his team are why they are likely to be on the right side of poor quality matches like the one on Tuesday. They were well disciplined and we were not. And that proved the difference on the night.
If think you might be reading too much into this one, mate.
If you ask the fans of Plymouth, Ipswich, Pompey and perhaps even Rotherham they’d have a similar tale to tell but this time praising our players.
Bolton looked more up for it on the night, but there’s plenty of factors that go into that. I don’t believe any one of those Bolton players wanted to win more than ours.
For me, it was more about the message that each team was sending to the other. No doubt all 22+ players on the pitch wanted to win.
And yet in the second half we equalised and looked thoroughly on top, only to be undone by a needless set-piece
A needless set piece which comes back to the lack of discipline I'm talking about................
I think I'm being misunderstood here!
I know what you mean mate, I’m not saying you’re wrong.
I definitely believe this team is missing something. I think it’s a talisman, which is what we’ve always had in successful sides.
We’re nowhere near as poor as people are making out on this thread, but we’re certainly some way of being the real deal.
Comments
Its not done jackson any favours
For a top two finish, we need a squad as special as that or better. Inconsistency in performances is killing our prospects. With Thomas's focus on performance monitoring, surely he and the whole backroom team (including the players) can see, like us, that our squad are not what is required to achieve top two.
The summer will be telling.
Sadly.
Yet how long has the management known how long Stockley would be missing?
And yet we pull out all the stops to get Aneke back knowing how brittle and unreliable his fitness.
And the owner thinks we got a right result getting Burstow back on loan.
What I am saying is they must have known this scenario was likely and therefore planned for it and had confidence they could make it work.
And there's a good chance those 2 may be our only option on a semi regular basis going forward.
Maybe Fraser will provide the missing link that will draw them into play.
Nobody else fecking is.
The above stats shows that that figure is very very unlikely.....nigh on impossible in my view. Which then goes on to suggest that managers/coaches dont really know what they are taking about & concentrating on the wrong things.
The teams that go up automatically this season will be higher up the table for goals scored than they will be in the clean sheets league.
I could get a team to have 46 clean sheets but still get relegated. Until a manger understands its how many you score that counts, not how many you don't concede.
(Oh, and don't say Leko can play up front because he's clearlyniot a striker & now even JJ don't fancy him).
Then decided it was so bad & that we were in fear of relegation that we bought back Aneke (who cant play 2 x 90mins when we have lots of sat/tues/sat games in the 2nd half of the season) and also decided an 18 year old was going to be our saviour
The exact sort of situation where a promotion winning side would grind out a result. Whether it’s hunger or tactics or quality or communication or leadership or confidence or consistency - there are missing ingredients in the squad that, until they are found, will unfortunately see us languishing in the third tier for the foreseeable.
Hopefully he’ll make a real difference (ever the optimist, but not happy clappy).
We need to get it right in the summer. We need to be ruthless rather go into it thinking a few tweaks will be enough. Change the mentality and bring in new leaders. I’m concerned we’ll sign Famewo permanently and keep Pearce and Inniss then see the same problems we’ve had for the last year and a half - Pearce another year closer to retirement and further away from being a promotion winning player, Inniss’s lack of fitness meaning we’re always changing our defence game to game and Famewo uncomfortable on the ball, hoofing it down the line to no one.
In midfield with the squad cap getting smaller we can’t afford to keep Gilbey, Lee and Morgan. We need to find that goalscoring CM with the same quality of Fraser and Dobson.
Up front I wouldn’t bring Burstow back, as much as he’s a goalscorer we need that player to contribute more outside the box.
In some ways we’re not far off a playoff side - Jackson in from the start with Stockley and Aneke available all season would made a big difference. I wasn’t surprised we struggled without either starting and without Inniss at the back. We’re too reliant on them, we don’t have enough elsewhere that makes you think we can grind out results with a weakened team.
Im sure lessons will be learnt from last summer but time will tell if it’s enough.
Jacko retired at that age, when his pace couldn't keep up with that of the game.
Didn't watch last night. The outcome was as predictable as the formation, though pleased to hear Jacko tweaked it mid-game.
From the highlights (if you can call them that) the first Bolton goal looked like a Sunday pub team hoof over the top. Can't see the point of three central defenders at the back when none of them can defend basic stuff like that. Really poor.
Mostly we do exactly the same thing for every match home or away, regardless of the opposition, conditions, recent performances or injuries to key personnel. If Innis was injured why not go four at the back and crowd the midfield? Playing a high line with Pearce is suicidal. He is just too slow and has to resort to mud wrestling.
I like Gilbey bit he is contributing little at the moment except exasperated facial expressions. The crowd can do those for him.
The opposition have simply worked us out.
I'm 61 soon and been going since 1969. Reality is hitting home about our club. I realise now that the Curbishley years was my zenith. The game has changed so much in the last 30 years that I see absolutely no prospect of us attaining premier league status ever again.
Reckon we will huff and puff between the lower reaches of the championship and league 1. Not even a golden academy crop will save us as they will be whisked off to play under 23 football at whatever premier club comes in.
Meanwhile Millwall and Palace continue to laugh at our near terminal demise. Sigh. No doubt my Oxford mate will be lording it over me in the curry house next Saturday as well. Oxford ffs, how far have we fallen.
BB, I share your pain.
By contrast, the Bolton players all turned around and sprinted off the pitch to their dressing room.
I thought to myself "flipping heck... they are up for this. Can I say the same about us?"
Little things like that that Evatt has drilled into his team are why they are likely to be on the right side of poor quality matches like the one on Tuesday. They were well disciplined and we were not. And that proved the difference on the night.
Last season, the three promoted teams averaged 6th place for goals scored and 3rd place for goals conceded.
The season prior, the three promoted teams averaged 8th place for goals scored and 7th place for goals conceded.
For this season's top two (who look like running away with it), Rotherham top the table when it comes to both while Wigan have the 7th best goals scored record and the 2nd best goals conceded record.
Goals conceded shows a consistently stronger relationship with getting promoted than goals scored does.
Goals win games, clean sheets win leagues.
I think I'm being misunderstood here!
Whether it was a combination of heavy pitches and balls, the lack of substitutes, the diet of beer and fags, minor injuries being treated with a bucket and sponge and major injuries by a cortisone injection I dunno. But, come what May, those players would strain every sinew to turn out the next week and play for the full 90 minutes. Nowadays we have 'managed minutes' and accommodate players who prefer to play part time.
Convention decrees that old time athletes would be no match for their modern equivalent, but looking at the teams from the Derby and Bolton games I'd (hypothetically) swap out Curtis for Matthews, Went for Pearce, Campbell for Gilbey and Treacy for Burstow. Pretty sure that'd be enough to secure a win at Bolton
Wright, Curtis, Kinsey, Campbell, Went, Reeves, Gregory, Treacy, Tees, Moore, Mullen. (Keirs unused) (This is the actual team who beat Brian Clough’s Derby County 2 0 at the Valley in front of 30,000).
MacGillivray, Clare Pearce, Famewo, Matthews, Gilbey. Dobson, Morgan, Jaiyesimi, Burstow, Washington. (Henderson (unused), Lavelle, Purrington (unused), Lee (Unused), Fraser, Leko (Unused), Aneke).
I definitely believe this team is missing something. I think it’s a talisman, which is what we’ve always had in successful sides.