So poor recruitment then 

8 minutes ago, radcliffe white said:

So poor recruitment then 

No one can legislate for the injuries we’ve had up top. But even then Jerome JDB and Dan don’t have the records to suggest they would fill the void or impact a game where they come on and grab a win from the jaws of defeat. So yes the recruitment 100% has to be questioned 

It’s a £2m strike force which has around 25?  Between them. Around 22 of which are between Charles and Collins 

Edited April 17, 20242 yr by barrycowdrill

1 minute ago, barrycowdrill said:

No one can legislate for the injuries we’ve had up top. But even then Jerome JDB and Dan don’t have the records to suggest they would fill the void or impact a game where they come on and grab a win from the jaws of defeat. So yes the recruitment 100% has to be questioned 

Absolutely and I’ve been saying this for the last 2/3 transfer windows, I love JDB but he’s a sicknote and his record is clear to see, the other 2 have brought absolutely nothing 

Vic, Dan, Jerome and Bod just aren’t goalscorers 

Our strongest X1 are a match for anyone, but when we have a few out injured it just proves our squad isn’t as strong as IE thinks it is.

The more gutting scenario would be missing out on goal difference if Derby dropped points 

2 minutes ago, Burndens Bogs said:

Our strongest X1 are a match for anyone, but when we have a few out injured it just proves our squad isn’t as strong as IE thinks it is.

I don't even he thinks it is.

Nobody does.

Can't have 5 forwards out of 8 missing for the second half of season expect much up top.

You need a McGinlay or Bishop for promotion. Someone who will pull  a goal from nowhere when you've been shite.

Bod should've scored 2 on Sat and 1 at Derby. Dion same at Pompey. 

Those are the chances, games changers.

All our hopes are on Dion and even he was shite before his injury.

8 hours ago, Krimzon said:

Agreed . We fear nobody and no better place to get promotion than Wembley , much more satisfying than finishing second. 

I feel sure we will go up. If we don't, I think FV may have lost patience with Ian Evatt and may well wield the axe.

We really shouldn't be making such a meal of this so who carries the can for the inconsistency in, arguably, the best footballing side in the division?

Looking on the bright side as ever. Promotion is far from out of our reach.

Can't remember who said it but why were we driving at them with intent with direct passes and ball carrying but then Dion comes on and we go back to trying get stupid fucking balls in from the byline when there 34 defenders stood in the 6 yard box?!

Ogbeta not putting his head in where it hurts and simply nodding the ball into the net is the most perfect example of our team. Beautiful football before it, chance on a plate, needs some bollocks to just finish it off and we’ve got a whole half to go and get the winner. He shit out of it. It absolutely optimises that extra 5% that makes you a top team. On very rare occasions we look like we have it (Barnsley away) but by this point in the season you can see the wider trend and the answer is we simply don’t.

This isn’t an Evatt out, it all rests on him blah blah, but ultimately he has to recruit players that give you that extra 5% in the crucial moments, or instil it into them so Ogbeta knows he has no choice but to put his head on that, or he may as well not go back into the changing rooms after.

As for the rest of it, it’s pretty well covered by what others have said

- Dempsey, Iredale and Forester were horrendous 

- GT showed again just why he can’t play the Sheehan role. There isn’t one player in our team anywhere near as important as Sheehan IMO. I agree with the poster though that said Morley has to play when Sheehan is out, he’s been far from great this season but he’s the only one that would make that midfield balanced last night. Awful tactical decision (and no ability / reluctance to admit that and change it)

- Maghoma looked like a footballer playing with his mates at times, it was embarrassing how he had to try and do everything because the rest were so shit

- Charles looked way off it. Pretty sure he was feeling his knee at one stage and then came over to get pills. Hope that was just precautionary

- Dan is not the saviour. We’ll soon realise just how shit he was before our memories of him started to fade

Form table shows that we were never going to make the automatics. In the last 15 games, just as the going got tough our form would have seen us just cling onto a play off place. Comes back to my original point, we haven’t got the spuds.

Saying all that, I still think that a fit Santos, Sheehan and Charles into that team and we’ll be reet in the play offs. Without them though, we’ve no chance.

Hopefully we’re the 3rd best of a bad bunch. But Jesus Christ if we are successful next season looks ominous

if a team like them last night can come and cause us problems defensively every time they have the bravery to try and go forward the mobs up in the champ will tear us a new one. We’re shambolic defensively. 
 

@Eddie is absolutely spot on, it’s that extra 5% that makes the difference. Whether it be a chance to score or trying to stop the opposition, not one of them are willing to put themselves in a position where they get hurt. There was another example yesterday where Demps knocked it round the corner and it was 70/30 in his favour. He goes in fully determined he gets to the ball before the defender and he’s away down the left. But he didn’t. He slowed down and allowed it to become a 50/50 which he then also bottled. 
 

Throughout the season there’s a number of those small instances that mount up and demonstrates to all what we’re about. 

Outthought I'm afraid

Keep hearing the same thing we should be ok in the playoffs etc

yes in theory we should problem we have our performances go from one extreme to the other just depends which Bolton turns up

Last night, particularly the first half was a shocker.

Agree with points on that extra 5% making the difference. I'd also add that we ALWAYS have a goal for the opposition in us. 

I know most clubs will think the same but I genuinely can't remember the last time we conceded a goal where I stood back and could say 'that's a great strike/that's brilliant football'. Every goal seems to be really sloppy defending, bad luck with a deflection or people switching off. Doing that at any level leaves you having to score at least 2 to pick up a win, and we miss a lot of chances it just heaps more pressure on ourselves.

I just can't see Derby dropping the points we need, never mind us picking up 6 points from the last 2.

We have only lost 1 in 10 which suggests we are more than capable in the playoffs. Not losing is as important as anything when it comes to those games. Keep working on fitness for the likes of Charles, Sheehan and Santos and we are more than capable.

Just rewatched Ogbetas bizzare chested attempt, the keeper was 10 yards away & on the floor, he just had a simple header into the net.

Edited April 17, 20242 yr by Burndens Bogs

Just now, radcliffe white said:

Keep hearing the same thing we should be ok in the playoffs etc

yes in theory we should problem we have our performances go from one extreme to the other just depends which Bolton turns up

I don’t trust any of them to string 3 performances together that warrant getting promotion. 
 

when the pressure is on they melt simple as that.

We ran out of ideas when Barnsley delivered a perfect away play off performance last year then we looked clueless with everyone looking around at each other at their place when we went 1 down. 

yes we put teams under pressure but even when on top we waste so many chances, decision making is dreadful and they all look absolutely stunned when the opposition has the audacity to have a go back at us. 

Not trying to be a smart arse after the event but I haven't seen us getting autos for a couple of months and we've only still been in with a sniff till last night because of the others continually stumbling. Our stumbling started in Jan and has continued throughout the last few months. 

Lots of factors, all discussed already. The run of injuries has been a bad one for sure, both (at the time) first choice strikers, main CB and No1 keeper difficult for most sides to absorb. 

Ultimately though, we have had too many occasions where individuals or the group haven't shown they have the bollocks, in specific situations like Ogbeta's last night and in whole game situations against sides who are fired up and know we're easily fucked about with. That's down to Evatt's laudable but too stubborn belief that playing a certain way and recruiting purely to do that will win out in the end.

It may still do of course, and he'll be entitled to dig his receipts out and spray them over the pitch at Wembley like confetti, if we don't succeed in the play offs though there'll need to be some hands held up and clear evidence of a will to change before we go again in August

3 minutes ago, barrycowdrill said:

I don’t trust any of them to string 3 performances together that warrant getting promotion. 
 

when the pressure is on they melt simple as that.

We ran out of ideas when Barnsley delivered a perfect away play off performance last year then we looked clueless with everyone looking around at each other at their place when we went 1 down. 

yes we put teams under pressure but even when on top we waste so many chances, decision making is dreadful and they all look absolutely stunned when the opposition has the audacity to have a go back at us. 

So easy for opposition to do homework on us like Shrewsbury guys comments above it’s not hard but we can’t counter it 

4 minutes ago, radcliffe white said:

So easy for opposition to do homework on us like Shrewsbury guys comments above it’s not hard but we can’t counter it 

Our wing backs not having a defensive bone in their bodies has been being exposed as far back as the Wigan home game. They'd be better described in the old parlance of 'wing forwards' 

6 minutes ago, radcliffe white said:

So easy for opposition to do homework on us like Shrewsbury guys comments above it’s not hard but we can’t counter it 

We’ve no plan B and we’ve known that for ages on here.

16 minutes ago, Lt. Aldo Raine said:

Outthought I'm afraid

And there we have it IE out coached and out thought and all other managers know this and IE as no idea how to change it as he signed players to play his system. 
Got to agree with other posters the strikers are poor Bod and Dan the imposter are made of glass . 
several posters plus myself have been calling for a strong tackling midfielder who can play as a DM IE chose never to sign 1. 
Hope they prove me wrong but play offs whoever we get I cannot see us progressing unless we are at 100%.

39 minutes ago, Eddie said:

Ogbeta not putting his head in where it hurts and simply nodding the ball into the net is the most perfect example of our team. Beautiful football before it, chance on a plate, needs some bollocks to just finish it off and we’ve got a whole half to go and get the winner. He shit out of it. It absolutely optimises that extra 5% that makes you a top team. On very rare occasions we look like we have it (Barnsley away) but by this point in the season you can see the wider trend and the answer is we simply don’t.

This isn’t an Evatt out, it all rests on him blah blah, but ultimately he has to recruit players that give you that extra 5% in the crucial moments, or instil it into them so Ogbeta knows he has no choice but to put his head on that, or he may as well not go back into the changing rooms after.

As for the rest of it, it’s pretty well covered by what others have said

- Dempsey, Iredale and Forester were horrendous 

- GT showed again just why he can’t play the Sheehan role. There isn’t one player in our team anywhere near as important as Sheehan IMO. I agree with the poster though that said Morley has to play when Sheehan is out, he’s been far from great this season but he’s the only one that would make that midfield balanced last night. Awful tactical decision (and no ability / reluctance to admit that and change it)

- Maghoma looked like a footballer playing with his mates at times, it was embarrassing how he had to try and do everything because the rest were so shit

- Charles looked way off it. Pretty sure he was feeling his knee at one stage and then came over to get pills. Hope that was just precautionary

- Dan is not the saviour. We’ll soon realise just how shit he was before our memories of him started to fade

Form table shows that we were never going to make the automatics. In the last 15 games, just as the going got tough our form would have seen us just cling onto a play off place. Comes back to my original point, we haven’t got the spuds.

Saying all that, I still think that a fit Santos, Sheehan and Charles into that team and we’ll be reet in the play offs. Without them though, we’ve no chance.

Spot on, players weak as piss, Ogbeta and Maghoma couldnt tackle their women! but good going forward. Luxury players for me. And why the fuck in injury time are we still passing it about at the back? Cant believe how much we missed Santos! As others have said, Morley should have replaced Sheehan. A very disjointed performance, which doesnt bode well for the future., especially if Sheehan and Santos are not back.

Cannot believe Ogbeta attempt with his chest sums our players up. 

4 minutes ago, woolli said:

Spot on, players weak as piss, Ogbeta and Maghoma couldnt tackle their women! but good going forward. Luxury players for me. And why the fuck in injury time are we still passing it about at the back? Cant believe how much we missed Santos! As others have said, Morley should have replaced Sheehan. A very disjointed performance, which doesnt bode well for the future., especially if Sheehan and Santos are not back.

I think last night was a prime example of how much we missed Gethin Jones. Forrester arguably a better defender but JDC really missed having Jones with him, who understands the wingback role and regularly offers an overlap too.

26 minutes ago, Rizlar said:

And there we have it IE out coached and out thought and all other managers know this and IE as no idea how to change it as he signed players to play his system. 
Got to agree with other posters the strikers are poor Bod and Dan the imposter are made of glass . 
several posters plus myself have been calling for a strong tackling midfielder who can play as a DM IE chose never to sign 1. 
Hope they prove me wrong but play offs whoever we get I cannot see us progressing unless we are at 100%.

I don’t agree he was out coached or out thought… simply came down to a another error not organising a defender to sit on the edge of the box, that’s the basics and the players are to blame.