Who wants to guess the starting xi !!

5 up top from the start 

The way I saw the game was it was bad day at the office, we now move on to Cambridge.   I sometimes get a bit worried about some of our own fans getting rather restless early on into the game if it’s not going how they expect, the crowd was quiet in some areas when the team needed a bit of geeing up and I think we can play a bigger part too.   Pointless just singing song after song during good spells, they also need it more when under the cosh.

Bonkers we went long with their giants at the back. 2 balls into the channels all game, Lee should have scored and then Charles did.

Hate seeing us get bullied and we can’t blame the ref, they’re fucking shit every week. 

Dapo looked utterly fucked off yesterday.

11 minutes ago, Matt Lofthouse said:

Bonkers we went long with their giants at the back. 2 balls into the channels all game, Lee should have scored and then Charles did.

Hate seeing us get bullied and we can’t blame the ref, they’re fucking shit every week. 

Dapo looked utterly fucked off yesterday.

So did Santos. He had a go at Trafford at one point when he didn't make a claim for the ball, which nearly resulted in a fuck up. Also a couple of occasions when he shouted "WTF are you doing?" when he played a ball forward and it was passed straight back to him, putting him under needless pressure. A bad day all round really.

Edited October 30, 20223 yr by Cheese

9 hours ago, only1swanny said:

Back home, had time to take in the match and I've clamed down now.. Physically shaking before I was that worked up about how poor the ref was.. Bit worrying how much I got into the match. 

 

Anyway.. thoughts.. 

We are set up to allow for Bradley to play.. Everytime the team gets the ball, they're looking to the wings.. We have a very rookie and raw 19 year old with about 20 first team games on one side, and left back on the other. Basically feels like the whole game plan is to accommodate Bradley.. (bare with me here).

The players don't want to shoot, instead sending the ball out wide. We are then wipping it in to the middle with nobody there to receive it, their No5 had a foot on Charles today. The plans not working..

Jones is getting flack, he's constantly under pressure again, supporting a very rookie new player on that wing, Bradleys very good, but he needs a rest, 

We have no set midfield. Different players every game. How neither Morley, Saddlier or Dempsey (to a lesser extent) are not getting in the first 11 is beyond me, all 3 will take a decent shot on goal given the chance. That's what we need allowing either DC of EK to get on rebounds. Why did we buy them?? It's not squad rotation as it's only the midfield that gets rotated!

Dapo was shite today, amazing player with so much potential, just doesn't show it. 

We need Charles with a bigger player up front, or Kachunga with a bigger player.. Both are getting battered every match. 

Declan John must have done something really dodgy to not be with a look in.

 

Just one thing

I don’t think the players are afraid of, or don’t want to shoot.

My view is that by the time we have the ball in traditional shooting positions, there’s more often than not 15+ players in and around those areas so we aren’t able to get it where we would like to in order to get that shot off - the right foot in the right position for example

 

Told the couple who sit in front of me, who always shoot off early, that they missed a good finish on Tuesday. They stayed right to the final whistle yesterday. Serves them right.

3 hours ago, radcliffe white said:

If you take previous teams in this league and even use Parkinson’s side they have the basic formula for me 

no nonsense defender, not pretty but does the job and gets you 5 goals plus 

grafter in the middle

and a 15/20 goalscorer

Still using parkinson as an example in L1, it wasn’t pretty at times but very effective but  we could also mix it when needed we absolutely played some teams to death 

It's called a spine.

We've shown that we don't always have one, especially against the more physical sides.

Oxford outfought, outthought and outplayed us.

Bigger quicker and stronger than us with seemingly more desire to win the 1st/2nd/3rd ball. Playing effectively 6 defenders at home then the smallest front four ever assembled won't work long term against these big physical sides who've now worked out the we don't relish the scrap.

That said, it was just a very bad day at the office and I doubt we'll play many games where so many of our team have such an awful game at the same time.

Ian Evatt and the board have never failed to rectify any issues the team have faced.

Each window and each time the chips have been down the manager has sorted on field problems and the owners have helped him off the pitch.

Every single time. 

No idea why fans think it will be any different this season. He and they will sort it.

Not that theres much to fix in reality.

12 minutes ago, Traf said:

It's called a spine.

We've shown that we don't always have one, especially against the more physical sides.

The examples I’ve given don’t fit the IE way and that’s fine he’s the manager

but wasn’t the physical aspect highlighted last season? 

13 hours ago, radcliffe white said:

A fair balanced reply

its very frustrating, for me he simply doesn’t know his best line up based on too many options and he doesn’t give certain players consistent runs

i expect 1 or 2 to leave in January as some will want regular football 

 

If they are good enough to be promised regular L1 football, and under contract, we'll be wanting a fee.  Which will probably rule out anyone coming in for them.  Maybe those not in the 18 will go (John, Aimson, Isgrove) but of the others they would want a similar salary, a decent enough club not going to be relegated and if they are top 10 would IE want to strengthen a rival? I'd be surprised if any current first teamers join another L1 club before the summer.

3 minutes ago, Johnnyrotten said:

If they are good enough to be promised regular L1 football, and under contract, we'll be wanting a fee.  Which will probably rule out anyone coming in for them.  Maybe those not in the 18 will go (John, Aimson, Isgrove) but of the others they would want a similar salary, a decent enough club not going to be relegated and if they are top 10 would IE want to strengthen a rival? I'd be surprised if any current first teamers join another L1 club before the summer.

Doesn’t have to be a L1 club

Money knocking about lower wrexham/stockport etc, also i can see maybe a championship club testing the water for Dapo if he’s still in & out of the side 

12 hours ago, Spider said:

No

its despite him when we win

because of him when we lose

you know the script 

Tripe. Argumentative bollocks.

No one seeks to play it the way you convey they do.

Only recently he's been praised for changing things when they're not working during games. That doesn't mean he isn't making pig headed decisions in the initial selection.

 

Evatt has been beaten tactically for the last couple of games now, even the ones we have won on the balance of play.

Teams aren't even sitting off or parking the bus, they are going full man for man press in our faces, even Burton did the same and we struggled massively.

What kind of pre match scouting does Evatt undetake? He recognised before the game yesterday that Oxford historically do play open and in your face, and should be aware of their giant 2 6ft 7 centre backs. So how does playing charles and kachunga and hoofing to them help?

We were like a little deer in the headlights yesterday. Then you add in everything else, horrific set pieces both offensively and defensively, not quick enough passing, not clinical enough.

My worry is there was a lot wrong with yesterday and a lot of matches so far, yes we are 6th as many have pointed out. However, we are seeing patterns which have been around since 2 years ago in league 2, of being bullied by bigger stronger sides. It's up to Evatt to provide the solution, because as strong sides like Rotherham and Wigan last season have proved, and us back in 2017 under Parky, we will not get out of this league without being able to confront big physical teams.

I am more concerned now, because teams are starting to do this at our big lovely stadium, and god help us away at Fleetwood, Cambridge etc.

Big improvements needed. 

Edited October 30, 20223 yr by Lostock Whites

Just now, Lostock Whites said:

Evatt has been beaten tactically for the last couple of games now, even the ones we have won

2 minutes ago, Cheese said:

Missed out the following words, "on the balance of play"

Accrington, Cheltenham, Forest Green, Oxford and Burton all had us figured out tactically.

These are the so called 'easier teams' within this league 

14 hours ago, Farnywhite said:

We started with a team today that had 5 goals between them all season from open play . 5 defenders on and a holding midfielder at home and still concede 3 our most creative player when he gets played now playing at wing back . 

When we  got out of jail last two games evatt as said it wasn’t down to good luck  but down to is substitution and game management fair  enough . but when it goes wrong like today forest Green and Cheltenham he should shoulder the blame .

 

I thought IEs comment after Burton to the effect that it was no fluke that we score a lot of late goals, its down to having a good squad and is part of the plan, was odd.  If I'm not mistaken we've scored late decisive goals in 2 matches and in all the others when we've needed a goal, we've largely failed to trouble the keeper never mind score important goals.

2 minutes ago, Johnnyrotten said:

I thought IEs comment after Burton to the effect that it was no fluke that we score a lot of late goals, its down to having a good squad and is part of the plan, was odd.  If I'm not mistaken we've scored late decisive goals in 2 matches and in all the others when we've needed a goal, we've largely failed to trouble the keeper never mind score important goals.

I think he was including last season as well, when I think we were the leading club in the whole of the country for late goals.

Last 3.00pm Saturday league game until mid-December?

Having watched the highlights, I'd love to know what the fuck Williams, and to a slightly lesser extent Sheehan, were doing on the 2nd goal. Their reaction to Bradley losing out in the challenge is shocking.

All 3 goals were dreadful from our point of view.

Still don’t understand why Sheehan was playing Sadlier and Morley must be well pissed off ! No more Kachunga and Charles as a partnership and I am slowly losing patience with Evatt and his constant changing of the team every week. 

12 hours ago, CambridgeBWFC said:

I HATE losing, it really gets me down, but can still see the journey we are on and appreciate the style he wants to play, at times it doesn't work and he does need to settle on a team and stick with it for a bit. When it clicks though, and I have no doubt it will, we will rip some teams apart, we do have it in our locker just stubbornly hidden at the moment. 

However two things really, really piss me off at the moment,  our corners in both defence and attack are woeful (had seemed to improve defensively but regressed massively) and our throw ins. We call other teams for wasting time, but every throw in we have takes a fucking age, and looks like a team of strangers without a clue, never any urgency. 

One thing that has crept back in last 2 home games that I thought we'd moved away from, is bringing 11 back at corners.  We were still doing that when losing the game yesterday and the entire game v Burton, it drives me mad.  The opposition have the luxury of bringing an extra couple of players up, at least on the edge of our box, instead of having to mark Charles on the halfway line.  Our area becomes more crowded generally and you are more likely to see a goal conceded like yesterday.  Then if/when we break, its from our area instead of 30 yards further up the pitch.  I just find it baffling, and yes IE is a professional coach and no I don't have a FIFA coaching certicate.

13 minutes ago, DazBob said:

Having watched the highlights, I'd love to know what the fuck Williams, and to a slightly lesser extent Sheehan, were doing on the 2nd goal. Their reaction to Bradley losing out in the challenge is shocking.

All 3 goals were dreadful from our point of view.

It was the same going forward in the second half. Bodvarsson and Dempsey seemed to be the only 2 chasing the ball, while everyone else in a white shirt just stood and watched. Piss poor.

Edited October 30, 20223 yr by Cheese

1 hour ago, gonzo said:

Ian Evatt and the board have never failed to rectify any issues the team have faced.

Each window and each time the chips have been down the manager has sorted on field problems and the owners have helped him off the pitch.

Every single time. 

No idea why fans think it will be any different this season. He and they will sort it.

Not that theres much to fix in reality.

I expect the board to back Evatt in the transfer window and would expect to see at least 2 or 3 new faces incoming 

However I do feel that having backed him the board will expect us to then reach the play offs as an absolute minimum this season.  

You then have to consider In the event that we dont reach the play offs or even perform badly in them what will happen , you can forget loyalty and sentimentality  I reckon that is when the directors will act ruthlessly , and rightly so , they cannot afford for this club to hang around at this level for too long , and that's when they will move to bring in a manager who has a proven track record that can take us to the next level. 

Don't get me wrong I do hope Evatt succeeds over the coming months but like a few on here I am starting to have my doubts 

Its reminiscent to me ( but over a much shorter time frame ) of the Phil Neal days at Burnden, he got us out of the bottom tier and then laid the groundwork for his successor Bruce Rioch and I feel we are possibly seeing a similar scenario starting to play out, Evatt has brought some decent players to the club but at the moment seems incapable of getting a consistent level of performance out of them.  

 

13 hours ago, Johnnyrotten said:

Great post.  In summary, Dapo left wing.  Use JDB,  Sadlier and Morley more.  Kachunga less.  Baka has a scorers instinct.  If there was a poll of fans I'd be surprised if the majority weren't in agreement.

No brainer on those selections. The simpler the better at the moment, play your best players in their best positions and got to be more direct. Our possession stats are great but shots on goal numbers are woeful 

I reckon the board know who they would have as manager if IE fails , Mark Warburton he was linked with us when the takeover was muted but he took another job at that time.