It's far too early to judge but given that Hayes, Weston and PCH all spent large chunks of last season injured, I'm worried we may have spent a large part of our summer budget signing up players who will struggle for fitness - which will leave us as exposed as we were last year with little strength of depth. Does anyone know why Freeman wasn't in the squad? Would've thought he and McGinn would've been better replacements for Weston and O'Nien - or bringing on Jombati earlier and pushing Harriman into midfield, where he belongs.
Largely pretty dire today. As most have rightly said it's only the first game, but we'll have to hope for serious improvement to even reach last season's dizzy midtableness. Which is perfectly possible.
Thanks to Adam Clift and all the other people who have reported on today's game. It makes troublesome reading.
I listened on iPlayer and the overall impression was that we dominated for much of the game but, apart from the occasion when three efforts were blocked or cleared off the line in quick succession early in the first half, we flattered to deceive and were very vulnerable to the counter-attack.
Even more disturbing is the number of injuries at such an early stage in the season. Reinforcements may become necessary if 25% of the squad remain unavailable for more than a week or two. The new loan rules mean that you have to be as certain as you can be that a player is going to deliver; hasty decisions clearly have to be avoided.
Worst case scenario would perhaps make it necessary to consider one or two more permanent signings - even if a modest fee was required. But let's hope it doesn't come to that.
My understanding, apart from a emergency goal keeper, any loanees is for a minimum of 5 Months, so a few permanent signings is our only option (duration of 5 Months), if im not mistaken.
It will be interesting, if we decide to stick with what we got, with so many injuries,
I think you do have half a point Trevor. It would be concerning if we went into September with just Brown and Richardson as keepers with the new loan rules in place.
Unless plan B is to give Richardson an injury if Brown is not available a la Escape to Victory "make it a clean break". Let's hope Stallone is available as an emergency loan. @rmjlondon any news?
Richardson shouldn't even be available to play for us goalkeeping coach only we need cheap loan keeper as backup do you really think Richardson is good enough for a backup in the football league hes 47 years old and was never that great in his prime anyway .
Bizarre performance tbh..... we played attractive on floor football at home in the two pre season games...... yesterday was back to hoofball, we bypassed the midfield completely and why bring on bloomfield when you've got a winger at right back and a right on the bench. Maybe I need a reality check but I was expecting a lot more.
@trevor; I'm with you, the Club can pay off debits and still have enough in it's coffers to cover a 2nd team keeper, a good non league imposing keeper, they are about, if you look hard enough.
Prepared to polish their graft, hungry to train hard for a Professional League football Club and wait for their opportunity to keep their number 1 shirt, when it presents itself.
Trevor, I really don't think we're going to use up one of our loan quota to sit on the bench! Loanees play virtually every game and their parent clubs naturally expect that. If Scott Brown were injured during a match, Barry Richardson would cope (as he did last season although he was of course a much younger man then). Not only that, it would be an incredibly harsh interpretation of the new FA rules regarding loan players if we were refused an emergency loan goalkeeper. Relax.
I am not sure of the up to date rules, but surely a club is expected to have a stand in goalkeeper on the bench (although I appreciate not an absolute requirement). If Brown got a long term injury and Richardson had to come in, it would seem somewhat unfair and question the integrity of the League if we were unable to have a keeper on the bench.
Unfortunately it was a case of starting where we'd left off last season, plus ça change and all that. There were precious few positives to take from that game against a team that really was there for the taking. We can complain about the ridiculous decision from the ref to not award a penalty for the blatant trip on Bloomfield in the second half, though we should have beaten Crawley convincingly even with someone as biased as Fraser Stretton as the ref.
It was grimly ironic and perversely amusing that our fans were getting so riled up by the Crawley's spoiling tactics, taken straight from the G. Ainsworth bestseller (amongst lower league managers at least) 'Idiots guide to game management' (with foreword from John Beck).
Hopefully we can put that behind us before the Bristol City and Grimsby games.
Just seen the extended highlights on Player. Obviously not much you can tell from 11 minutes out of 90, but it seemed like after a good start we became more and more ponderous going forward and exposed at the back. It's hard to comment on the midfield as the ball bypassed them most of the time.
As for the goal, goodness only knows what Bloomfield was doing in that position at that time, and am i the only one who is concerned about Pierre's lack of ability/willingness to help him out?
Tuesday is a completely free game as far as i'm concerned. We just need to get thru it without any more injuries.
Not quite sure what you mean there Floyd. We were a bit stretched, which is how Bloomfield even came into the picture (where was Stewart for instance), but Pierre can't do much if Bloomfield misjudges the ball so ridiculously.
I was so optimistic before this game and was desperately hoping the signings we'd made would mean we would leave the hoofball tactics behind.
After a vaguely promising start, it was so depressing to see the same old problems return to haunt us and the ball continue to be pumped aimlessly forward. Jacobson, for example, for all his ability on the ball, just pumped the ball up the field, regardless of how much time and space he had and Harriman and Pierre had arguably their worst games in a Wycombe shirt (Bloomfield may have messed up for the goal - what was he even doing there - but why was Harriman so far out of position in the first place).
As others have said, Crawley were there for the taking. They were poor, particularly at the back, but broke well down the wings and did a good job 'out-Wycombe-ing' us (God I hate that phrase, but it's apt) to see the game out.
On the plus side, Brown looked good and Southwell was very lively and made some intelligent runs and flick-ons, despite the lack of service. I have high hopes for a Hayes/Southwell partnership. Wood was a bit hit and miss, but definitely had a better game than his average performance last season.
Fingers crossed this was just a blip and won't be a continuation of the second half of last season. The injury crisis is a major concern and at the risk of spitting on the spirit of the game, I hope we simply use Tuesday as an opportunity to give the youngsters and fringe players (such as we have) a runout and pray that everyone gets through it in one piece.
@Jonny_King I've got to echo those sentiments. I was really hopeful we'd left last season in the past, but it feels like the end of last season rather than the beginning of a new one.
Do we have fringe players? We're down to the bare bones already aren't we?
Comments
It's far too early to judge but given that Hayes, Weston and PCH all spent large chunks of last season injured, I'm worried we may have spent a large part of our summer budget signing up players who will struggle for fitness - which will leave us as exposed as we were last year with little strength of depth. Does anyone know why Freeman wasn't in the squad? Would've thought he and McGinn would've been better replacements for Weston and O'Nien - or bringing on Jombati earlier and pushing Harriman into midfield, where he belongs.
When Weston went off that was the move i was expecting, not sure what the thinking behind Bloomfield coming on was.
Freeman had a knock apparently.
Not great today by any means but we go again next week. We miss PCH and Weston. I really don't think GT is good enough personally.
In terms of the "fighting" just a couple of chavs who couldn't fight their way out a paper bag by the looks of it. Too many beers in the sunshine.
Largely pretty dire today. As most have rightly said it's only the first game, but we'll have to hope for serious improvement to even reach last season's dizzy midtableness. Which is perfectly possible.
Thanks to Adam Clift and all the other people who have reported on today's game. It makes troublesome reading.
I listened on iPlayer and the overall impression was that we dominated for much of the game but, apart from the occasion when three efforts were blocked or cleared off the line in quick succession early in the first half, we flattered to deceive and were very vulnerable to the counter-attack.
Even more disturbing is the number of injuries at such an early stage in the season. Reinforcements may become necessary if 25% of the squad remain unavailable for more than a week or two. The new loan rules mean that you have to be as certain as you can be that a player is going to deliver; hasty decisions clearly have to be avoided.
Worst case scenario would perhaps make it necessary to consider one or two more permanent signings - even if a modest fee was required. But let's hope it doesn't come to that.
My understanding, apart from a emergency goal keeper, any loanees is for a minimum of 5 Months, so a few permanent signings is our only option (duration of 5 Months), if im not mistaken.
It will be interesting, if we decide to stick with what we got, with so many injuries,
Guess there niggles and small knocks?
I think Freeman and PCH are just minor injuries.
Sido and McGinn in for Grimsby game please.
Aparantly Hayes is nearly back ....big concern is Weston with groin injury
cant believe we still got Richardson on the bench seriously
But Richardson hasn't conceded a goal for 11 years Trevor!
its a joke he wouldn't even make the bench for conference team these days yet hes on ours .
I think you do have half a point Trevor. It would be concerning if we went into September with just Brown and Richardson as keepers with the new loan rules in place.
Unless plan B is to give Richardson an injury if Brown is not available a la Escape to Victory "make it a clean break". Let's hope Stallone is available as an emergency loan. @rmjlondon any news?
Richardson shouldn't even be available to play for us goalkeeping coach only we need cheap loan keeper as backup do you really think Richardson is good enough for a backup in the football league hes 47 years old and was never that great in his prime anyway .
Bizarre performance tbh..... we played attractive on floor football at home in the two pre season games...... yesterday was back to hoofball, we bypassed the midfield completely and why bring on bloomfield when you've got a winger at right back and a right on the bench. Maybe I need a reality check but I was expecting a lot more.
so no one agrees with what im trying to say then
@trevor; I'm with you, the Club can pay off debits and still have enough in it's coffers to cover a 2nd team keeper, a good non league imposing keeper, they are about, if you look hard enough.
Prepared to polish their graft, hungry to train hard for a Professional League football Club and wait for their opportunity to keep their number 1 shirt, when it presents itself.
or a loan
Trevor, I really don't think we're going to use up one of our loan quota to sit on the bench! Loanees play virtually every game and their parent clubs naturally expect that. If Scott Brown were injured during a match, Barry Richardson would cope (as he did last season although he was of course a much younger man then). Not only that, it would be an incredibly harsh interpretation of the new FA rules regarding loan players if we were refused an emergency loan goalkeeper. Relax.
I am not sure of the up to date rules, but surely a club is expected to have a stand in goalkeeper on the bench (although I appreciate not an absolute requirement). If Brown got a long term injury and Richardson had to come in, it would seem somewhat unfair and question the integrity of the League if we were unable to have a keeper on the bench.
@Chris Never fear, I believe Sly could be signed at any time as he is 'unemployed' in accordance with Football League rules.
Given we still played a triallist keeper for a half in the match after we signed Brown, I'm assuming we're still in the market for a back up.
Unfortunately it was a case of starting where we'd left off last season, plus ça change and all that. There were precious few positives to take from that game against a team that really was there for the taking. We can complain about the ridiculous decision from the ref to not award a penalty for the blatant trip on Bloomfield in the second half, though we should have beaten Crawley convincingly even with someone as biased as Fraser Stretton as the ref.
It was grimly ironic and perversely amusing that our fans were getting so riled up by the Crawley's spoiling tactics, taken straight from the G. Ainsworth bestseller (amongst lower league managers at least) 'Idiots guide to game management' (with foreword from John Beck).
Hopefully we can put that behind us before the Bristol City and Grimsby games.
@ReadingMarginalista; good post.
I think we're going to experience a fair few 1-0 defeats this season. Hopefully we'll be able to get enough 1-0 wins
Just seen the extended highlights on Player. Obviously not much you can tell from 11 minutes out of 90, but it seemed like after a good start we became more and more ponderous going forward and exposed at the back. It's hard to comment on the midfield as the ball bypassed them most of the time.
As for the goal, goodness only knows what Bloomfield was doing in that position at that time, and am i the only one who is concerned about Pierre's lack of ability/willingness to help him out?
Tuesday is a completely free game as far as i'm concerned. We just need to get thru it without any more injuries.
Not quite sure what you mean there Floyd. We were a bit stretched, which is how Bloomfield even came into the picture (where was Stewart for instance), but Pierre can't do much if Bloomfield misjudges the ball so ridiculously.
I said it was ridiculous that Bloomfield was even in that situation, but Pierre is hardly breaking his beck to get back and help.
I was so optimistic before this game and was desperately hoping the signings we'd made would mean we would leave the hoofball tactics behind.
After a vaguely promising start, it was so depressing to see the same old problems return to haunt us and the ball continue to be pumped aimlessly forward. Jacobson, for example, for all his ability on the ball, just pumped the ball up the field, regardless of how much time and space he had and Harriman and Pierre had arguably their worst games in a Wycombe shirt (Bloomfield may have messed up for the goal - what was he even doing there - but why was Harriman so far out of position in the first place).
As others have said, Crawley were there for the taking. They were poor, particularly at the back, but broke well down the wings and did a good job 'out-Wycombe-ing' us (God I hate that phrase, but it's apt) to see the game out.
On the plus side, Brown looked good and Southwell was very lively and made some intelligent runs and flick-ons, despite the lack of service. I have high hopes for a Hayes/Southwell partnership. Wood was a bit hit and miss, but definitely had a better game than his average performance last season.
Fingers crossed this was just a blip and won't be a continuation of the second half of last season. The injury crisis is a major concern and at the risk of spitting on the spirit of the game, I hope we simply use Tuesday as an opportunity to give the youngsters and fringe players (such as we have) a runout and pray that everyone gets through it in one piece.
And let's not forget that the classic 6 minutes of injury time seems to have stuck with us from last season.
@Jonny_King I've got to echo those sentiments. I was really hopeful we'd left last season in the past, but it feels like the end of last season rather than the beginning of a new one.
Do we have fringe players? We're down to the bare bones already aren't we?