Forum | Without doubt, down to the manager. by knocker

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Without doubt, down to the manager. 17:45 - Feb 12 with 5720 views

If Willock had played, he would have gone with one up top. So why did not replace Willock with Amos or Thomas. No service to the front 2. Crying out for another body in midfield. Woeful. Have we won without Willock?

Without doubt, down to the manager. on 10:48 - Feb 13 with 1721 views

Hooping_Mad

Not going to hijack the thread but I counted 2 good passes and a lot of running around. Sure he just needs time to settle but starting away at Barnsley? I just need to know what he gave us that Amos couldn't?

Edit: Boro game has nothing to do with yesterday, but we didn't win that midfield battle either.

[Post edited 13 Feb 2022 11:16]

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Without doubt, down to the manager. on 11:30 - Feb 13 with 1591 views

LythamR

I dont think i have seen any credit given to Barnsley, despite our sub par performance they worked really hard to win that game

On another day we win but i dont think our chances were helped by supporters calling fro Charlie and Adomah every time Moses or Gray touched the ball, Thats not exactly getting behind the team, we seem to have a lot of travelling support that are quick to turn on the players at the moment, we used to lose almost every away game not so long ago but we didnt seem to turn as quickly as we do now. Maybe its just the result of enhanced expectations but its not pleasant to be part of

Without doubt, down to the manager. on 12:17 - Feb 13 with 1526 views

BazzaInTheLoft

Without doubt, down to the manager. on 11:30 - Feb 13 by LythamR

This.

They behaved exactly like a relegation threatened team should.

Pressed, countered, and were fearless. If their shooting was better we’d have been a couple down by the 60th minute.

Without doubt, down to the manager. on 12:51 - Feb 13 with 1469 views

LazyFan

Without doubt, down to the manager. on 12:17 - Feb 13 by BazzaInTheLoft
This. They behaved exactly like a relegation threatened team should. Pressed, countered, and were fearless. If their shooting was better we’d have been a couple down by the 60th minute.

Their midfield was poor, but our formation gifted it to them. Even so, we dominated, that's how bad Barnsley are. They will for sure be relegated and won't escape this time.

Losing to teams at the very bottom will cost us an auto place and if we go on a bad run it could cost us the playoffs. If we want to compete we cannot get the formation wrong as no matter how much the players try they will be undermined by the structure of the tactics.

This is how small teams with lesser players beat the bigger teams with better players, tactics, hard work and luck. They need all 3 and this is how they won and we lost. However, if we had the proper formation as in Dykes up-front and Amos instead of Gray, then for sure we would have won that game, even if Barnsley worked harder and got luckier.

Most players in the team have assisted goals as in assists, but Gray has zero. So, this means if he does not score or look like scoring (which is also useful as it pressures the oppo defence into making mistakes) then he has not helped our cause despite all this talk of he can stretch the defence with his pace (something which I have yet to really see). Good player who has an excellent finish on him as we have seen with some really nice goals, but I am not sure he fits into our team.

zzzzzzzzzz

Without doubt, down to the manager. on 13:18 - Feb 13 with 1378 views

BazzaInTheLoft

Without doubt, down to the manager. on 12:51 - Feb 13 by LazyFan

Thought the ref was very lenient on Barnsley's treatement of Gray. Set the tone for the whole match and in the end he justy faded out of it.

Without doubt, down to the manager. on 14:15 - Feb 13 with 1274 views

stainrods_elbow

Without doubt, down to the manager. on 10:35 - Feb 13 by ParkRoyalR

Other than playing with his head up, taking just one touch, seeing the pass and moving the ball quicker?

Don't want to side-track this thread but there was a few key moments yesterday when players were counter-attacking the space, Moses in particular and Chair just had his head down, did'nt see the pass and either delayed or went the other way.

Willock has proven throughout January the fine margins between creating goal-scoring assists and is a level above any other player in our team. A big miss yesterday as Plan B was to play a 2nd striker, and we have got one (imo) who merits a starting place.

Chair having his head down and not picking the pass - as I've said - points to a failure of coaching and the player's persistent inability to improve this aspect of his game, which keeps him very much at (very good) Champ level. Even though Ilias has racked up nearly twice as many games for us and is the same age, the contrast here with Willock's quality, consistency and maturity is painfully apparent at times (is it any coincidence that the dire showings v Peterbo and Barnsley occurred in his absence?) - the best players, as Pat Nevin points out in his biography, don't need to look at the ball, because their feet know what they're doing. Ilias is capable of some magical play at times, but he also frustrates and fails, as the Middlesbro game showed - one bad miss and one lovely goal. But, even so, he was probably one of our marginally better players yesterday, we were that bad.

Yesterday we were out-fought, out-played and, sad to say, outclassed by a team who'd won 2 games all season and managed a paltry 19 goals - their fans must have been as perplexed by our performance as ours were dismayed. For Warburton - his mis-selection aside - to say, 'well, we knew they were due a win sometime', and 'the players are human beings' as some kind of supposed justification to Nick London was just lame and bordering cynical for me from the manager. Show the fans the respect you pay lip service too, Mark, and have the balls to say we should have blown them away but barely even competed.

[Post edited 13 Feb 2022 14:17]

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Without doubt, down to the manager. on 15:36 - Feb 13 with 1219 views

davman

Without doubt, down to the manager. on 12:51 - Feb 13 by LazyFan

"We dominated"

Fair enough if that is your opinion, but we must have been watching a different game or you are a Barnsley fan. They had more shots, kept the ball when they had it without shuffling side to side and back in their own half, bossed the Midfield and shut down our lamentable "front line".

Only one team dominated that game and it wasn't us.

Two up top neither of whom can hold the ball up and a light in numbers Midfield completely shut down by a competent press meaning that we eventually pumped it long then gave it back.

An extra body in that Midfield would have made a world of difference.

Still so p'd off about a day yesterday wasted on this lot. Why do I ever succumb to the hope?

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Without doubt, down to the manager. on 15:50 - Feb 13 with 1197 views

ParkRoyalR

Without doubt, down to the manager. on 15:36 - Feb 13 by davman

Looks a terrible miss (whether lost the flight of the ball or did'nt anticipate their big centre half missing it) but Dykes hold up play was decent yesterday, set up a great chance for Gray early on, won more than half his aerial challenges and showed some great control in attacking left side in 2nd half. Gray and Austin hav'nt offered any of the above in their recent outings.

Unfortunately, with that late miss and playing with our very expensive but very immobile 2nd strikers (how was Gray so slow to react to those flick headers) Dykes will again be the scape-goat for some of our fans.

Without doubt, down to the manager. on 16:36 - Feb 13 with 1118 views

StreathamRanger

For sure we might have had a better balance if Amos had started alongside Field with Hendrick or Johansen with Chair behind Dykes, but for some to so confidently claim we would have won with that line up massively simplifies things. As others have said, although we were poor, some credit has to go to Barnsley. It's a classic example of a player suddenly becoming a world beater when they're on the bench because things aren't going quite so well on the pitch. Nobody knows how Amos would have played or how it would have affected the result. It's all just pure speculation.

Without doubt, down to the manager. on 19:43 - Feb 13 with 976 views

daveB

I'd agree we are better with 1 up front but we did win our last 3 away league games starting with 2 up front

Without doubt, down to the manager. on 09:52 - Feb 15 with 761 views

terryb

Without doubt, down to the manager. on 19:43 - Feb 13 by daveB
I'd agree we are better with 1 up front but we did win our last 3 away league games starting with 2 up front

And how would you describe out performances in those three wins?

Without doubt, down to the manager. on 09:57 - Feb 15 with 744 views

daveB

Without doubt, down to the manager. on 09:52 - Feb 15 by terryb
And how would you describe out performances in those three wins?

Average but brought us 9 points

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