Now I wasn't there last night so I'm prepared to be shot down by those who were, but on the commentary last night with @bluntphil was Luke Ashmead who I believe doesn't see many of our games. At one point towards the end of the first half he commented how he'd heard about our supposedly 'agricultural' style of play and was surprised that we didn't seem to be playing how he expected as a result of that reputation. He did comment a few times as we attacked along the ground, to make exactly that point, and from the action Phil was describing it certainly did sound a lot more than just lumping it up to Akinfenwa.
I'm sure as the second half progressed without us scoring we did revert to the desperate long ball - as a lot of teams do in that situation - but I do wonder whether people have just become conditioned to believe that all we do is 'hoof' it and so that is what sticks in the memory most?
As I say I wasn't there, but from the commentary I certainly didn't get the impression that it was hoofing all night long.
We certainly did mention this a couple of times on the commentary @Fidget . During the game, there were several examples of direct play to Akinfenwa and there were also plenty of quick and fluid moves forward, often involving Sam Saunders. The most frustrating element of the game was that Wycombe worked the ball into some very good positions but let themselves down with a poor final ball.
Seems to me winning and losing is a pretty fine line for us as we really aren't as good as people thought when we had the long unbeaten run or as bad as others are now saying we are.
Take away the one defensive howler (get back a fit Pierre & Harriman) and take that one golden chance (Kashket for about six weeks) and a narrow loss becomes a narrow win. Sounds obvious but the reality is that is the universe we live in. Did I read we've had 32 shots in the last two losses and not scored in the last 178 mins? Not the kind of stats we had in our last bad run so there has to be some hope somewhere.
What is a big positive is that we got points in the bag during our good run. Winning close matches rather than drawing them. Gives us some breathing space now. We might sneak in to the playoffs with a late run but to be honest I've never thought we'd be anything other than mid table this season.
Again @Right_in_the_Middle I agree with that completely. Football is a game that is more down to luck than most because of the rarity of goals. While we aren't playing quite as well as we were during the winning run, or when Kahsket and Akinfenwa were fully fit, we (the Stevenage game aside) haven't been playing badly - and it is worlds away from the end of last season.
I remember Sanchez, pre meltdown, saying how the strikers make the difference in this division (possibly any division?), hence him trying to use all the cup run money on Nathan Ellington, before changing plan to Currie and Roberts.
When Kashket was bang on form, we knew he could put it away, so we just needed to stay tight at the back. Bayo and Kashket was a hell of a combo.
He clearly wasn't right for a few games, so at least a proper recovery gives him a chance of recapturing that form later on.
Just a shame we've been absolutely smashed with midweek games for about 6/7 weeks back to back
Please everyone, do not #cyberbully @Wwfc2015_ not only has he believed the season to be over about three or four times this term he has also been forced to witness a prolonged period of winning before our recent post-cup slump. As a die-hard fan this obviously upset him as he could not be 'embarrassed' by poor performances and express himself fully and openly. Now he has the chance I feel it is only right he should be allowed to say the Season is over before we head into the last 14 fixtures. Who knows, there is always the chance he might not be able to say it again for a while.
Its been a dreadful season, knocked out of the FA Cup in January with memories of our dire exit surrender unlikely to last much beyond 2037, failing abjectly to reach Wembley in the Checkatrade thing and now Colchester in the last playoff place being almost out of sight by just end of February - being only just less than two points clear.
Obviously the bottom six budget is no excuse for this abject and continual failure. Worse of all are fans of little clubs like Notts County, Leyton Orient and York laughing at our ineptitude. Lets hope one day we are again fit to compete on a level basis with these minnows.
I wasn't there last night, but it sounded from the commentary like we played some good stuff for an hour, before running out of ideas and reverting to long balls for the final 30mins. I was there on Saturday and thought we played some lovely football. In fact I'd say we played better football on Saturday than we did during much of our winning run. Like other have said, it's fine margins, we're not quite as tight at the back as we were a while back and we're not putting enough chances away up front. A fit again Pierre & Kashket would be a huge boost at both ends.
@bluntphil not having a pop but do you think your expectations are lowered by watching League 2 football every week?
In my head there weren't "plenty of quick and fluid moves forward" last night - maybe 2 or 3 times tops, which might well be unfair and you are undoubtedly concentrating more than me by commentating on it.
I haven't seen a League 2 game for a couple of months and thought the standard of play from both sides was pretty disappointing in terms of composure and using the ball.
@Chris
That's not true, Jacobson hasn't been sent off twice in a month. His last red card in a competitive game was in the 2011 League 2 play-off Semi-final. That's nearly 6 years ago btw.
Football often breaks out at Adams Park and Akinfenwa is very good with the ball at his feet...but it depends on the opposition and the pressure put on players by their expectations and those of the crowd. It's not all hoofball whatever people may say. I think we played well on Saturday as did Carlisle and perhaps did not get the rub of the green and Col U's goal last night (a big surprise for everyone I am told) was scored by a centre-back recalled from Braintree because of their injury problems. They have an Academy so they can at least fill the bench. Every fan of a League Two team I speak to just thinks it's a crazy season...we were down at the bottom with Exeter early doors and almost any of the teams around us could go on a run or drop away in the next three or four games and get into the play-offs. I expected mid-table this year and the season has actually been entertaining for me. It could be that those that think the party is over were expecting a bit too much?
Crazy on one level, pretty predictable on another.
At the start of season, Doncaster, Portsmouth, Luton , Plymouth and Carlisle would have been expected by many to be in the top seven, if two from Blackpool, Cambridge and Colchester fill the other two spots by end of season you have a full house.
At the bottom no surprise to see Newport propping up the rest, Hartlepool serious candidates for the other drop (probably few would have expected Orient to get that bad)
After the wonderful unpredictability of Leicester last season, normality seems to have resumed in each division.
@peterparrotface It's a good question and you may well have a point. I have watched an awful lot of L2 football (some of it awful too). I don't think WW are hugely different from most teams in the division as to how they go about the game. The only team I can recall watching this season who set up with a totally 'total football' mentality were Crewe at Adams Park. Crewe certainly did not play like that the other week in the return fixture...
@bluntphil@peterparrotface I feel the same...there have been poor decisions, moments of individual excellance, bits of good/bad luck and some great/poor finishing and tactical awareness...but I haven't seen any teams a million miles removed from us over this season. I thought Carlisle were good on the break and we were unlucky Bayo did not equalise, whereas another colleague here claimed they were appalling against his team a few weeks ago...which is why so many of us are still in the mix. Perhaps that's why I am still wearing my rose-tinted glasses and not, as yet, smelling the coffee.
Just saw the sending off which was a shocking decision as he got to the ball before the player,then again it was Kettle who is one of the worst refs to most League 2 fans and i rarely read any positive views of his performances just the opposite.
Depends as with the loan rules whether we were playing official FA rules or "Ritchie rules". In FA rules, there is no specific prohibition of a "tackle from behind"
I see Richie is still applying Richie rules rather than League rules on eligibility of players out on loan recalled by their parent club too. (Sadly in FL rules, they can't play this season.)
Just got round to watching the highlightsand it seems a harsh decision harsh to me, but the ref (as usual it seems) was miles away. Didn;t even look like a tackle to me he tapped the ball from behind. Heigh ho. He gets a rest, I suppose we get the enigma that is Sido returning on Saturday!
Comments
"Ploy" not "plot"
Now I wasn't there last night so I'm prepared to be shot down by those who were, but on the commentary last night with @bluntphil was Luke Ashmead who I believe doesn't see many of our games. At one point towards the end of the first half he commented how he'd heard about our supposedly 'agricultural' style of play and was surprised that we didn't seem to be playing how he expected as a result of that reputation. He did comment a few times as we attacked along the ground, to make exactly that point, and from the action Phil was describing it certainly did sound a lot more than just lumping it up to Akinfenwa.
I'm sure as the second half progressed without us scoring we did revert to the desperate long ball - as a lot of teams do in that situation - but I do wonder whether people have just become conditioned to believe that all we do is 'hoof' it and so that is what sticks in the memory most?
As I say I wasn't there, but from the commentary I certainly didn't get the impression that it was hoofing all night long.
We certainly did mention this a couple of times on the commentary @Fidget . During the game, there were several examples of direct play to Akinfenwa and there were also plenty of quick and fluid moves forward, often involving Sam Saunders. The most frustrating element of the game was that Wycombe worked the ball into some very good positions but let themselves down with a poor final ball.
Seems to me winning and losing is a pretty fine line for us as we really aren't as good as people thought when we had the long unbeaten run or as bad as others are now saying we are.
Take away the one defensive howler (get back a fit Pierre & Harriman) and take that one golden chance (Kashket for about six weeks) and a narrow loss becomes a narrow win. Sounds obvious but the reality is that is the universe we live in. Did I read we've had 32 shots in the last two losses and not scored in the last 178 mins? Not the kind of stats we had in our last bad run so there has to be some hope somewhere.
What is a big positive is that we got points in the bag during our good run. Winning close matches rather than drawing them. Gives us some breathing space now. We might sneak in to the playoffs with a late run but to be honest I've never thought we'd be anything other than mid table this season.
Again @Right_in_the_Middle I agree with that completely. Football is a game that is more down to luck than most because of the rarity of goals. While we aren't playing quite as well as we were during the winning run, or when Kahsket and Akinfenwa were fully fit, we (the Stevenage game aside) haven't been playing badly - and it is worlds away from the end of last season.
I remember Sanchez, pre meltdown, saying how the strikers make the difference in this division (possibly any division?), hence him trying to use all the cup run money on Nathan Ellington, before changing plan to Currie and Roberts.
When Kashket was bang on form, we knew he could put it away, so we just needed to stay tight at the back. Bayo and Kashket was a hell of a combo.
He clearly wasn't right for a few games, so at least a proper recovery gives him a chance of recapturing that form later on.
Just a shame we've been absolutely smashed with midweek games for about 6/7 weeks back to back
Please everyone, do not #cyberbully @Wwfc2015_ not only has he believed the season to be over about three or four times this term he has also been forced to witness a prolonged period of winning before our recent post-cup slump. As a die-hard fan this obviously upset him as he could not be 'embarrassed' by poor performances and express himself fully and openly. Now he has the chance I feel it is only right he should be allowed to say the Season is over before we head into the last 14 fixtures. Who knows, there is always the chance he might not be able to say it again for a while.
Its been a dreadful season, knocked out of the FA Cup in January with memories of our dire exit surrender unlikely to last much beyond 2037, failing abjectly to reach Wembley in the Checkatrade thing and now Colchester in the last playoff place being almost out of sight by just end of February - being only just less than two points clear.
Obviously the bottom six budget is no excuse for this abject and continual failure. Worse of all are fans of little clubs like Notts County, Leyton Orient and York laughing at our ineptitude. Lets hope one day we are again fit to compete on a level basis with these minnows.
Copy, paste, repeat
I wasn't there last night, but it sounded from the commentary like we played some good stuff for an hour, before running out of ideas and reverting to long balls for the final 30mins. I was there on Saturday and thought we played some lovely football. In fact I'd say we played better football on Saturday than we did during much of our winning run. Like other have said, it's fine margins, we're not quite as tight at the back as we were a while back and we're not putting enough chances away up front. A fit again Pierre & Kashket would be a huge boost at both ends.
@bluntphil not having a pop but do you think your expectations are lowered by watching League 2 football every week?
In my head there weren't "plenty of quick and fluid moves forward" last night - maybe 2 or 3 times tops, which might well be unfair and you are undoubtedly concentrating more than me by commentating on it.
I haven't seen a League 2 game for a couple of months and thought the standard of play from both sides was pretty disappointing in terms of composure and using the ball.
@Chris
That's not true, Jacobson hasn't been sent off twice in a month. His last red card in a competitive game was in the 2011 League 2 play-off Semi-final. That's nearly 6 years ago btw.
Football often breaks out at Adams Park and Akinfenwa is very good with the ball at his feet...but it depends on the opposition and the pressure put on players by their expectations and those of the crowd. It's not all hoofball whatever people may say. I think we played well on Saturday as did Carlisle and perhaps did not get the rub of the green and Col U's goal last night (a big surprise for everyone I am told) was scored by a centre-back recalled from Braintree because of their injury problems. They have an Academy so they can at least fill the bench. Every fan of a League Two team I speak to just thinks it's a crazy season...we were down at the bottom with Exeter early doors and almost any of the teams around us could go on a run or drop away in the next three or four games and get into the play-offs. I expected mid-table this year and the season has actually been entertaining for me. It could be that those that think the party is over were expecting a bit too much?
Crazy on one level, pretty predictable on another.
At the start of season, Doncaster, Portsmouth, Luton , Plymouth and Carlisle would have been expected by many to be in the top seven, if two from Blackpool, Cambridge and Colchester fill the other two spots by end of season you have a full house.
At the bottom no surprise to see Newport propping up the rest, Hartlepool serious candidates for the other drop (probably few would have expected Orient to get that bad)
After the wonderful unpredictability of Leicester last season, normality seems to have resumed in each division.
The dancing yak I bow to your superior knowledge because it takes one to know one!.
@peterparrotface It's a good question and you may well have a point. I have watched an awful lot of L2 football (some of it awful too). I don't think WW are hugely different from most teams in the division as to how they go about the game. The only team I can recall watching this season who set up with a totally 'total football' mentality were Crewe at Adams Park. Crewe certainly did not play like that the other week in the return fixture...
@bluntphil @peterparrotface I feel the same...there have been poor decisions, moments of individual excellance, bits of good/bad luck and some great/poor finishing and tactical awareness...but I haven't seen any teams a million miles removed from us over this season. I thought Carlisle were good on the break and we were unlucky Bayo did not equalise, whereas another colleague here claimed they were appalling against his team a few weeks ago...which is why so many of us are still in the mix. Perhaps that's why I am still wearing my rose-tinted glasses and not, as yet, smelling the coffee.
Just saw the sending off which was a shocking decision as he got to the ball before the player,then again it was Kettle who is one of the worst refs to most League 2 fans and i rarely read any positive views of his performances just the opposite.
The only positive is that JJ can at least have a week's rest in between games.
Just a shame that the rules say he remains 1 booking away from another ban, which would be a 2 gamer.
@croider you are quite right of course. For some reason I was thinking he'd been sent off for the handball at Mansfield. And I was there!
It was a tackle from behind hence the yellow, correct decision from Mr Kettle on this occasion.
Depends as with the loan rules whether we were playing official FA rules or "Ritchie rules". In FA rules, there is no specific prohibition of a "tackle from behind"
You have not been allowed to tackle from behind for at least 10 years !!
Like to show me the law that says that Richie? (FA Laws not Richie law)
As far as I understand it the direction of the tackle is immaterial, it's about whether or not the ref considers it dangerous play...
Im glad he was sent off as he has needed a rest for weeks and get Danny Rowe back asap if Peirre is out for a month as rumoured
Correct Wendover, (well reckless or dangerous).
I see Richie is still applying Richie rules rather than League rules on eligibility of players out on loan recalled by their parent club too. (Sadly in FL rules, they can't play this season.)
I think he is probably still reeling from seeing 'Ritchie Rules' in a post on here.
" @rmjlondon It was a tackle from behind hence the yellow, correct decision from Mr Kettle on this occasion."
It was actually more like the player didnt see JJ behind him, took it on his right, into JJs path, and JJ nicked it off him
Harsh
Just got round to watching the highlightsand it seems a harsh decision harsh to me, but the ref (as usual it seems) was miles away. Didn;t even look like a tackle to me he tapped the ball from behind. Heigh ho. He gets a rest, I suppose we get the enigma that is Sido returning on Saturday!