The majority of comments on here are a measured and intelligent reaction to a very poor performance but when you read other forums you despa> @aloysius said:
I've said this before and it doesn't give me much pleasure to say it again, but Gareth Ainsworth made a big mistake in shipping Max Muller out on loan and bringing Scarr and McGinley in as replacements, who both offer far less and have cost us games through individual poor performances. McGinley had a howler today. Max must have been watching the match with a sense of bittersweet irony.
Gareth's second big mistake is having no cover for Jacobson this second half of the season. No player should be undroppable yet Joe could really do with a couple of matches out to refresh and sharpen for the run-in. Gareth must have realised he needed cover here in the summer or else why bring in Alex Williams? So why did he let him go in January without bringing in another left back to deputise? Especially as Sido Jombati had already succumbed to his longterm injury.
This wasn't so much a match of two halves as a match of the two Wycombe defensive quarters. I thought El-Abd and Moore did absolutely fine on the right hand side, in fact I couldn't believe Moore was subbed as he looked one of our best players today. McGinley and Jacobson on the defensive left had an absolute nightmare, responsible for all four goals. Neither should play on Tuesday. Jacobson will clearly have to. I hope McGinley does not.
We probably have to come to terms with the fact that with Stewart out we simply don't have a promotion-worthy defence. So clearly we're going to have to keep scoring a hell of a lot more. In which case, why was CMS playing so far out on the left? He was barely ever in a position where he could cut in and was completely ineffective. He's so talented, so potent. Why don't we make the most of the fact we have him by playing him off Akinfenwa's shoulder where he's at his most deadly?
Of course Tyson has to start on Tuesday, I hope Freeman does as well after such a consise, pointed cameo. But it was clear from the first 15 minutes that something wasn't clicking today, Akinfenwa wasn't holding the ball up as well as he normally does. We have so many options available to us up front, why do we need to persist with Plan A when it's not working until it's too late?
One defeat in 9 and the experts are out in force telling the manager where he’s gone wrong. He knows what he’s doing as he’s proved over and over again so I for one am happy to leave it to him.
@glasshalffull said:
The majority of comments on here are a measured and intelligent reaction to a very poor performance but when you read other forums you despa> aloysius said:
I agree with Aloysuis On one count and not at all on another. JJ is outstanding but he looks tired out there. If we can rest him now’s the time. And Moore is not yet a full-back. He was pulled out of position. Over and over again by a team who are lower level league 2. He may become a full-back but he’s got to learn his trade and that leaves us exposed. Hopefully all of today-‘s game film is lost beacaae I wouldn’t want anyone else seeing how easy it was to do that to us.
Blaming JJ or (to a lesser degree) Moore is a bit harsh. Morecambe I suspect did their homework and figured out that we were easily overloaded out wide as the midfield three and the two wide men provide next to no cover to our fullbacks. Two on one and a capable crosser, easy as you like. CMS and PCH were invisible in the first half as an attacking force, and even as a defensive force, they were simply invisible.
At half time you could have taken 11 players off as not a single one was playing even averagely. We haven't had many games like that and I suspect GA has had a couple of words in that direction.
Whenever GA and the club profile is highlighted in the national media as has been the case this week with the Guardian and a tv interview we seem to stumble the following game. Also when we do any fan incentives we struggle. That was a good attendance yesterday it’s a shame about the result
Whilst I don't like to pick out individual failings El Abd, for an experienced pro, was inept an naive over and over again. You see kids football on any park this morning and the coaches will be telling the defenders to attack the ball and to not to let it bounce in front of them. Over and over again as balls came over the top El Abd was running backwards! Even from team mates that were passing the ball back to him he was receiving it whilst running backwards. This is ok sometimes of course but he does it every time. Its madness when a team is pressing you so hard, attack the ball man. I think he feels he is playing at a higher level where centre halves are allowed to build and build in time. Its not, play the game you are in not the one you would like to be in.
Unfortunately without Stewart our defence is always going to be susceptible.
I think it is harsh to criticise El-Abd when he seems to be playing with a different partner each week. McGinley and Scarr are both inexperienced and I am not sure they are even any better than WDH. However to suggest Muller should have been kept is ridiculous as he has no pace and makes too many mistakes trying to play it out from the back.
Personally I would stick with Scarr until Stewart or Jombati are fit.
I’m recuperating slowly from the nightmare of that first half. I tried throwing sweets on to the pitch in the hope that they might energise our players but the throwing arm isn’t what it was and most landed in the family stand. News quickly spread around town via social media and, as many of you will have observed as you left the ground, large numbers of children descended on Adams Park.
Seriously though, the day cannot come soon enough when Michael Harriman is fit to return at right back, Anthony Stewart at centre back and either Sido or Curtis Thompson at left back to give JJ a well deserved break. (I think I remember it being said that Thompson can play left back.)
From a strict structured back four we now have a back four like (thank you Gary Neville) like a game of FIFA. If we had played Luton yesterday it could have been double figures, Morecambe missed a hatful of easy chances.
@TheAndyGrahamFanClub said:
From a strict structured back four we now have a back four like (thank you Gary Neville) like a game of FIFA. If we had played Luton yesterday it could have been double figures, Morecambe missed a hatful of easy chances.
A fair analysis from @fame_46.
In short, they did to us, what we do to others, when we are the underdog. Firstly, press like mad dogs high up the pitch, when not in possession. Secondly, again when not in possession, drop a player back to stand on Bayos toes, and stop him receiving the ball. It really is that simple. By pressing high, it doesn't give the back line players time to take a measured pass/lump forward to Bayo and invariably we ended up giving away possession. This then, with 3 of their players pressing high left us vulnerable to the lump forward ourselves.
I hate to say it, but Ellison was superb and amazingly mobile for his 39 years. It was clear that the hoof to Bayo, in to the breeze first half, was never reaching him within the 1st 15 minutes & couldn't understand why we didn't change the game plan and play the ball on the floor, we can do it, I've witnessed it!
Plus points of the day, were, that all the subs, I thought, had a positive impact & Coventry nicked a couple of points off Mansfield playing 75 minutes + with 10 men. Crewe whipped Lincoln, Chesterfield beat Swindon & Luton only managed a draw and that with a 96th minute equaliser. We've only lost once this year, so all is not doom & gloom.
FWIW, I think it's time to give one or two a rest and change a few for Tuesday. I'd like to see Curtis Thompson given a go, but wouldn't be surprised or upset to see Bean put back in for Bloomfield. Not sure Curtis has 90 minutes in him given the number of games he has played in this season. Tyson definitely has to start, his pace was frightening when he came on yesterday, but whom does he replace. Seems unfair to drop PCH or CMS on one bad game, but his experience and pace surely can't be omitted. McGinley had a stinker on the day, but was MOM v Cheltenham the week before, however, looked decent at carrying the ball out and played on the floor, so would probably leave him in if we are going to play on the deck? If not, then Scarr comes back. Can Bayo keep going if he is "carrying"? Two games in 77 hours. Maybe give him 60/70 minutes rest, bring him on late & put CMS in the central strikers role as he has a proven track record there, but play the ball on the floor and feed him from width? PCH in "the hole" behind a front two and go with a 4-3-1-2? Think we did that v Luton away?
Who'd be a manager eh? Such a simple job!
Ironically @HCblue, I had palpitations at kick off from walking too fast up the stairs from the Woodland Lounge but recovered quickly.
Hope you have sorted out the car situation.
Looking at that I have a bit of optimism oddly enough. McGinley should never defend again like that if he is to be a professional footballer and he IS much better than that, he will learn I am sure. Although the highlights do focus on our misses a little bit Morecambe had some good chances too it should be remembered.
The silence in the ground pre match with no music deadened any atmosphere and for me contributed directly to a slow start. The slow and steady crumbling of the ground is an issue.
Morecambe basically played around us. No central striker playing against a centre back but doubling up wide and hitting long loopy crosses that have been Brown's weakness all season. I thought we could have worked this out quicker than we did.
The two Morecambe supporting old boys in the centre of the Woodlands were pretty lucky we are a considerate bunch. Rather than staying quiet they shouted loud and to everyone's credit they weren't challenged much. It's good to think people can sit around opposition fans but one poor reaction and it could have been very different. Think their age helped them
Was still thinking at 4-0 we had a chance. That must say plenty for the current squad. With a bit of luck we could have won it too. After years of thinking 1-0 down is all over I'm enjoying the current ride.
JJ doesn't deserve the level of stick he seems to be getting.
Having to give Bodger a high five on the way in to the ground was uncomfortable.
I'll take now two defeats and two draws and six wins in the last ten games of the season and I think our record is better than that for our past ten games.
Lots went right for Morecambe yesterday - I remember thinking after the fourth goal went in, that's four attacks and four goals, how can that be ...
The first goal: I remember being mad at El-Abd for kicking it straight out for the throw instead of trying to put a bit of angle on it and putting it out of reach of a long throw. Then I guess that there hadn't been much time to adjust to the stiff breeze at that time and McGinley's back header was intended to go farther out. JJ could have been on the back post. Brown possibly could have claimed it or punched it. None of them did the things that could have stopped the goal. To concede so early is never helpful because even if the professionals are immune to it, the expectation and mood of the crowd changes, especially when a sizeable proportion are concerned about what their mates are going to say.
Ellison then had two Bean moments and supporters of both sides are in shock.
It says a lot for players and supporters that we mostly remained positive.
If the second half had gone as right for us as the first half did for them 5 - 4, 4 - 4, or 4 -3 would have all been reasonable scores.
I like the way that Ainsworth always reminds us to be realistic after a victory and not to be too downcast after a defeat.
I believe that the players will be up for the Coventry game.
‘The slow and steady crumbling of the ground is an issue’. Not sure what you mean by this and if we need music to create an atmosphere then it doesn’t say much about our supporters.
@Right_in_the_Middle Not sure what you mean by the 'crumbling' comment. A PA speaker here and a scoreboard there might be on the blink, or the odd seat here and there will be faded, though are the stands really falling apart and weeds growing out of the terraces?
The Woodlands roof is in need of attention, I believe. I was a bit concerned by @Right_in_the_Middle’s comment because I thought he was referring to the pitch and it seemed to me to be in excellent nick. Talking of excellent nick, it was great to see him come on in the second half. I’d been wondering for ages why he doesn’t at least get twenty minutes occasionally.
Comments
If Brown didn't come off his line to collect that slow loopy throw in that led to their first, then he will never come off his line
The majority of comments on here are a measured and intelligent reaction to a very poor performance but when you read other forums you despa> @aloysius said:
One defeat in 9 and the experts are out in force telling the manager where he’s gone wrong. He knows what he’s doing as he’s proved over and over again so I for one am happy to leave it to him.
I agree with Aloysuis On one count and not at all on another. JJ is outstanding but he looks tired out there. If we can rest him now’s the time. And Moore is not yet a full-back. He was pulled out of position. Over and over again by a team who are lower level league 2. He may become a full-back but he’s got to learn his trade and that leaves us exposed. Hopefully all of today-‘s game film is lost beacaae I wouldn’t want anyone else seeing how easy it was to do that to us.
Blaming JJ or (to a lesser degree) Moore is a bit harsh. Morecambe I suspect did their homework and figured out that we were easily overloaded out wide as the midfield three and the two wide men provide next to no cover to our fullbacks. Two on one and a capable crosser, easy as you like. CMS and PCH were invisible in the first half as an attacking force, and even as a defensive force, they were simply invisible.
At half time you could have taken 11 players off as not a single one was playing even averagely. We haven't had many games like that and I suspect GA has had a couple of words in that direction.
JJ has lost a lot of his mobility in the last few months. It's just too easy to get past him now and I wonder if he's carrying an injury.
Overall, I think we've known for a while that this season's defence is the shakiest we've had in years and injuries have just made things worse.
Too late for replacements, so we can only hope Stewart & co return before too long and the forwards keep banging them in.
Whenever GA and the club profile is highlighted in the national media as has been the case this week with the Guardian and a tv interview we seem to stumble the following game. Also when we do any fan incentives we struggle. That was a good attendance yesterday it’s a shame about the result
Whilst I don't like to pick out individual failings El Abd, for an experienced pro, was inept an naive over and over again. You see kids football on any park this morning and the coaches will be telling the defenders to attack the ball and to not to let it bounce in front of them. Over and over again as balls came over the top El Abd was running backwards! Even from team mates that were passing the ball back to him he was receiving it whilst running backwards. This is ok sometimes of course but he does it every time. Its madness when a team is pressing you so hard, attack the ball man. I think he feels he is playing at a higher level where centre halves are allowed to build and build in time. Its not, play the game you are in not the one you would like to be in.
Unfortunately without Stewart our defence is always going to be susceptible.
I think it is harsh to criticise El-Abd when he seems to be playing with a different partner each week. McGinley and Scarr are both inexperienced and I am not sure they are even any better than WDH. However to suggest Muller should have been kept is ridiculous as he has no pace and makes too many mistakes trying to play it out from the back.
Personally I would stick with Scarr until Stewart or Jombati are fit.
I’m recuperating slowly from the nightmare of that first half. I tried throwing sweets on to the pitch in the hope that they might energise our players but the throwing arm isn’t what it was and most landed in the family stand. News quickly spread around town via social media and, as many of you will have observed as you left the ground, large numbers of children descended on Adams Park.
Seriously though, the day cannot come soon enough when Michael Harriman is fit to return at right back, Anthony Stewart at centre back and either Sido or Curtis Thompson at left back to give JJ a well deserved break. (I think I remember it being said that Thompson can play left back.)
No disrespect intended towards Tafari Moore but he currently seems to have too much licence to roam.
From a strict structured back four we now have a back four like (thank you Gary Neville) like a game of FIFA. If we had played Luton yesterday it could have been double figures, Morecambe missed a hatful of easy chances.
So did we.
At least no need for the defibrilator yesterday.
Thompson looked tidy.
Highlights are up. Somehow, even worse than the real thing. Please tell me we can't defend that badly again this season.
A fair analysis from @fame_46.
In short, they did to us, what we do to others, when we are the underdog. Firstly, press like mad dogs high up the pitch, when not in possession. Secondly, again when not in possession, drop a player back to stand on Bayos toes, and stop him receiving the ball. It really is that simple. By pressing high, it doesn't give the back line players time to take a measured pass/lump forward to Bayo and invariably we ended up giving away possession. This then, with 3 of their players pressing high left us vulnerable to the lump forward ourselves.
I hate to say it, but Ellison was superb and amazingly mobile for his 39 years. It was clear that the hoof to Bayo, in to the breeze first half, was never reaching him within the 1st 15 minutes & couldn't understand why we didn't change the game plan and play the ball on the floor, we can do it, I've witnessed it!
Plus points of the day, were, that all the subs, I thought, had a positive impact & Coventry nicked a couple of points off Mansfield playing 75 minutes + with 10 men. Crewe whipped Lincoln, Chesterfield beat Swindon & Luton only managed a draw and that with a 96th minute equaliser. We've only lost once this year, so all is not doom & gloom.
FWIW, I think it's time to give one or two a rest and change a few for Tuesday. I'd like to see Curtis Thompson given a go, but wouldn't be surprised or upset to see Bean put back in for Bloomfield. Not sure Curtis has 90 minutes in him given the number of games he has played in this season. Tyson definitely has to start, his pace was frightening when he came on yesterday, but whom does he replace. Seems unfair to drop PCH or CMS on one bad game, but his experience and pace surely can't be omitted. McGinley had a stinker on the day, but was MOM v Cheltenham the week before, however, looked decent at carrying the ball out and played on the floor, so would probably leave him in if we are going to play on the deck? If not, then Scarr comes back. Can Bayo keep going if he is "carrying"? Two games in 77 hours. Maybe give him 60/70 minutes rest, bring him on late & put CMS in the central strikers role as he has a proven track record there, but play the ball on the floor and feed him from width? PCH in "the hole" behind a front two and go with a 4-3-1-2? Think we did that v Luton away?
Who'd be a manager eh? Such a simple job!
Ironically @HCblue, I had palpitations at kick off from walking too fast up the stairs from the Woodland Lounge but recovered quickly.
Hope you have sorted out the car situation.
Man alive, Brown for their first
Would you consider giving Scott Brown a break and giving our 6’6” sub ‘keeper a runout? Reckon he’d have caught that long throw.
I've never seen him play
And you don't need to be 6 1/2 foot
I reckon Chuck Moussadik could have claimed that throw in
Looking at that I have a bit of optimism oddly enough. McGinley should never defend again like that if he is to be a professional footballer and he IS much better than that, he will learn I am sure. Although the highlights do focus on our misses a little bit Morecambe had some good chances too it should be remembered.
Few random thoughts from yesterday
The silence in the ground pre match with no music deadened any atmosphere and for me contributed directly to a slow start. The slow and steady crumbling of the ground is an issue.
Morecambe basically played around us. No central striker playing against a centre back but doubling up wide and hitting long loopy crosses that have been Brown's weakness all season. I thought we could have worked this out quicker than we did.
The two Morecambe supporting old boys in the centre of the Woodlands were pretty lucky we are a considerate bunch. Rather than staying quiet they shouted loud and to everyone's credit they weren't challenged much. It's good to think people can sit around opposition fans but one poor reaction and it could have been very different. Think their age helped them
Was still thinking at 4-0 we had a chance. That must say plenty for the current squad. With a bit of luck we could have won it too. After years of thinking 1-0 down is all over I'm enjoying the current ride.
JJ doesn't deserve the level of stick he seems to be getting.
Having to give Bodger a high five on the way in to the ground was uncomfortable.
I'll take now two defeats and two draws and six wins in the last ten games of the season and I think our record is better than that for our past ten games.
Lots went right for Morecambe yesterday - I remember thinking after the fourth goal went in, that's four attacks and four goals, how can that be ...
The first goal: I remember being mad at El-Abd for kicking it straight out for the throw instead of trying to put a bit of angle on it and putting it out of reach of a long throw. Then I guess that there hadn't been much time to adjust to the stiff breeze at that time and McGinley's back header was intended to go farther out. JJ could have been on the back post. Brown possibly could have claimed it or punched it. None of them did the things that could have stopped the goal. To concede so early is never helpful because even if the professionals are immune to it, the expectation and mood of the crowd changes, especially when a sizeable proportion are concerned about what their mates are going to say.
Ellison then had two Bean moments and supporters of both sides are in shock.
It says a lot for players and supporters that we mostly remained positive.
If the second half had gone as right for us as the first half did for them 5 - 4, 4 - 4, or 4 -3 would have all been reasonable scores.
I like the way that Ainsworth always reminds us to be realistic after a victory and not to be too downcast after a defeat.
I believe that the players will be up for the Coventry game.
‘The slow and steady crumbling of the ground is an issue’. Not sure what you mean by this and if we need music to create an atmosphere then it doesn’t say much about our supporters.
@Right_in_the_Middle Not sure what you mean by the 'crumbling' comment. A PA speaker here and a scoreboard there might be on the blink, or the odd seat here and there will be faded, though are the stands really falling apart and weeds growing out of the terraces?
We've also just gone a really good run of home wins, so why wasn't it a factor then?
The Woodlands roof is in need of attention, I believe. I was a bit concerned by @Right_in_the_Middle’s comment because I thought he was referring to the pitch and it seemed to me to be in excellent nick. Talking of excellent nick, it was great to see him come on in the second half. I’d been wondering for ages why he doesn’t at least get twenty minutes occasionally.
Because we've been winning every week and the players who play in his position have been playing really well?