Good to hear that Sammy Wood, Max Muller and Dayle Southwell were taking part in the warm-up. We'll be sending players out on loan soon! But where is Will de Havilland. Thought he'd be playing tonight.
Well that was disappointing, after looking very promising after a promising first half and a 2-0 lead.
Some observations:
Coventry spotted the narrowness of our 4-1-2-3 formation and attacked with devastating effectiveness on both flanks following the introduction of Jones and Haynes at half time.
GA can talk all he likes about "Kamikaze" defending but he never adjusted his tactical approach to deal with the change of approach by Coventry, leaving Jombati and Harriman horribly exposed. Instead of going 4-4-2 to help them out and protect our lead, we had three forwards on the halfway line and three midfielders in the centre of the park while Coventry took us apart out wide. We paid a hefty price.
Scott Kashket looked a threat, typified by his goal where his pace enabled him to intercept a short back pass and round the keeper. Probably the only player to enhance his reputation.
I'm afraid Marcus Bean just doesn't cut it. Sure the guy can tackle and break up play but we need midfielders that can also pass and control the ball. Time we move on.
Similarly Stephen McGinn. He's not bad but he just ends up being so anonymous for so much of the time. Like Bean he now rightly sits behind O'Nien, Blooms, Rowe and Gape for the midfield spots.
Nick Freeman is a bit of an enigma. He did a couple of bits of play that were simply brilliant, yet for most of the game he was a passenger. I'll keep an open mind.
Strangest game I've ever been to. No singing,chanting or encouragement from Wycombe fans whatsoever. I sat in The Beechdean Stand and tried but received looks as if I'd farted in a lift. Oh! usual groans when player made a mistake did happen.
I remember a Bob Lord trophy match against Bath City where one of the Bath players was very seriously hurt. I think he may have swallowed his tongue, thankfully he was taken to hospital and was Ok
It was a small crowd anyway but that incident affected everyone. You could tell none of the players was that interested in the game anymore, and the rest of the match was played out in eerie silence with barely a tackle being made
I remember that game very clearly as well. One of the first games at Adams Park. Would never have remembered anything about it if that hadn't happened. A very eerie atmosphere.
I remember Byron Walton breaking ex Bath City Skipper Tony Rickets leg, when he was playing for Yeovil at Loakes Park. It was in either the AC Delco or GMAC cup. It was a typical full blooded late Waltonesque type challenge.
So Millwall away in the next round. Those three games have bought us to an almost inevitable conclusion. Another League One side away in the cup. The excitement is already building
If we're to progress, we'll have to display slightly more tactical awareness (and perhaps play one or two fewer 'fringe' players) than we did last night. @TheatreOfChairs' report suggests that our narrow midfield wasn't changed after Coventry brought on three of their stronger players, including two wide players - Jodi Jones and Ryan Haynes. I did wonder how they managed to score 4 goals in half an hour and it seems that that may have been a major factor.
It would also be reassuring if @TheatreOfChairs could confirm that Scott Brown could not be blamed.
Echoes of the naivety shown in that game against Aston Villa under John Gorman all those years ago.
As a postscript to my comments above re the Coventry match, I see that GA attributes the second half collapse to "kamikaze defending". I wonder if @TheatreOfChairs was alone in thinking that it was down to a failure to react to the switch to 4-4-2 by the Coventry manager when he brought on Haynes and Jones, the two wide players? In 21 games last season (partly on loan at Cambridge United where he played against us in their win in March) he failed to score once. In 5 games this season - until Wednesday he'd been out injured since August - Haynes has scored 3 times, including one against Portsmouth in the league cup as well as the quickfire double against us.
As @Cyclops would say, I'm chuntering on again but I do feel strongly that there are times (albeit rarely) when GA seems reluctant to change formation in response to changes made by opposition managers.
Even before the first Coventry goal the warning signs were there with both Harriman and Jombati struggling to cope when one on one with their man.
There was just no cover as the wide forwards were playing so high up the pitch and the three central midfielders were very narrow.
But he never changed it, even after the 3rd goal. From then on, both Coventry wingers dropped a bit deeper to help preserve their lead. It worked.
I agree with you general point, Gareth's happy to be tactically flexible from game to game but not during games. Mark Venus won Wednesday night's tactical battle hands down.
On your other point, I don't think Scott Brown was at fault for any of the goals and he made one very good save. Still Blackman for me though.
Comments
Good to hear that Sammy Wood, Max Muller and Dayle Southwell were taking part in the warm-up. We'll be sending players out on loan soon! But where is Will de Havilland. Thought he'd be playing tonight.
Suspended.
Well that was disappointing, after looking very promising after a promising first half and a 2-0 lead.
Some observations:
Coventry spotted the narrowness of our 4-1-2-3 formation and attacked with devastating effectiveness on both flanks following the introduction of Jones and Haynes at half time.
GA can talk all he likes about "Kamikaze" defending but he never adjusted his tactical approach to deal with the change of approach by Coventry, leaving Jombati and Harriman horribly exposed. Instead of going 4-4-2 to help them out and protect our lead, we had three forwards on the halfway line and three midfielders in the centre of the park while Coventry took us apart out wide. We paid a hefty price.
Scott Kashket looked a threat, typified by his goal where his pace enabled him to intercept a short back pass and round the keeper. Probably the only player to enhance his reputation.
I'm afraid Marcus Bean just doesn't cut it. Sure the guy can tackle and break up play but we need midfielders that can also pass and control the ball. Time we move on.
Similarly Stephen McGinn. He's not bad but he just ends up being so anonymous for so much of the time. Like Bean he now rightly sits behind O'Nien, Blooms, Rowe and Gape for the midfield spots.
Nick Freeman is a bit of an enigma. He did a couple of bits of play that were simply brilliant, yet for most of the game he was a passenger. I'll keep an open mind.
Strangest game I've ever been to. No singing,chanting or encouragement from Wycombe fans whatsoever. I sat in The Beechdean Stand and tried but received looks as if I'd farted in a lift. Oh! usual groans when player made a mistake did happen.
I remember a Bob Lord trophy match against Bath City where one of the Bath players was very seriously hurt. I think he may have swallowed his tongue, thankfully he was taken to hospital and was Ok
It was a small crowd anyway but that incident affected everyone. You could tell none of the players was that interested in the game anymore, and the rest of the match was played out in eerie silence with barely a tackle being made
I remember that game very clearly as well. One of the first games at Adams Park. Would never have remembered anything about it if that hadn't happened. A very eerie atmosphere.
It happened in the first half as well didn't it? So there was still most of the match to be played at walking pace in silence
Did they announce over the tannoy that the bloke was OK?
I remember Byron Walton breaking ex Bath City Skipper Tony Rickets leg, when he was playing for Yeovil at Loakes Park. It was in either the AC Delco or GMAC cup. It was a typical full blooded late Waltonesque type challenge.
@eric_plant 7th minute.
Can't remember if any announcement was made. If not, I suppose we would have had to wait until the BFP came out on Friday.
http://media.wix.com/ugd/13036b_acb7ff6e79fc405e981417d3d99d2ea2.pdf
http://media.wix.com/ugd/13036b_f8e7e69f5d9d455b9b5a481e59450404.pdf
Over a quarter of a century ago......bloody hell
So Millwall away in the next round. Those three games have bought us to an almost inevitable conclusion. Another League One side away in the cup. The excitement is already building
If we're to progress, we'll have to display slightly more tactical awareness (and perhaps play one or two fewer 'fringe' players) than we did last night. @TheatreOfChairs' report suggests that our narrow midfield wasn't changed after Coventry brought on three of their stronger players, including two wide players - Jodi Jones and Ryan Haynes. I did wonder how they managed to score 4 goals in half an hour and it seems that that may have been a major factor.
It would also be reassuring if @TheatreOfChairs could confirm that Scott Brown could not be blamed.
Echoes of the naivety shown in that game against Aston Villa under John Gorman all those years ago.
As a postscript to my comments above re the Coventry match, I see that GA attributes the second half collapse to "kamikaze defending". I wonder if @TheatreOfChairs was alone in thinking that it was down to a failure to react to the switch to 4-4-2 by the Coventry manager when he brought on Haynes and Jones, the two wide players? In 21 games last season (partly on loan at Cambridge United where he played against us in their win in March) he failed to score once. In 5 games this season - until Wednesday he'd been out injured since August - Haynes has scored 3 times, including one against Portsmouth in the league cup as well as the quickfire double against us.
As @Cyclops would say, I'm chuntering on again but I do feel strongly that there are times (albeit rarely) when GA seems reluctant to change formation in response to changes made by opposition managers.
It wasn't very good from Gareth to be honest.
Even before the first Coventry goal the warning signs were there with both Harriman and Jombati struggling to cope when one on one with their man.
There was just no cover as the wide forwards were playing so high up the pitch and the three central midfielders were very narrow.
But he never changed it, even after the 3rd goal. From then on, both Coventry wingers dropped a bit deeper to help preserve their lead. It worked.
I agree with you general point, Gareth's happy to be tactically flexible from game to game but not during games. Mark Venus won Wednesday night's tactical battle hands down.
On your other point, I don't think Scott Brown was at fault for any of the goals and he made one very good save. Still Blackman for me though.
Cheers Chairs. Let's hope it all comes together this afternoon!