I was so appalled at the officials today that as I was leaving the ground I made a decision to stop watching football. After 64 years of watching the refs have finally driven me away. The sad thing is they won't care much the same as they won't care about their performance today.
A clear "bottom 5" is starting to emerge with the likes of Coventry starting to pull away. Bournemouth away is a free hit on Tuesday but QPR next Saturday is a game we really can't afford to lose unless we fancy being truly in the mire around Christmas time.
On today, referee was dreadful, bought everything from Coventry players. We looked twice the team we were in the first half once the subs came on and really should have got a point in the end. Individual errors once again have killed us. The difference between us and many of the sides we have played is that when we make a mistake they score, when they make a mistake we too often spur a glorious chance (see Fred through one on one).
We can't keep saying how we looked good in the second half / after going behind but couldn't get the result if we fancy a fighting chance in May.
Each game now we're up against a different opposition and the same deadly trinity -
Small squad.
Injuries.
Hectic timetable.
Can't change a) or c); hope we get lucky with b).
To which I would add
Budget
Huge decision now for Rob and Pete (oh and Missie). Whilst their mantra of sustainability is admirable we made it to the promised land rather sooner than anticipated and we just don’t have the resources to stay up as currently configured.
So, do they:
let the inevitable season pan out, go down, regroup and go again
or
do they ‘speculate to accumulate’ buy in the Jan window and have a fighting chance of remaining in the Championship?
Their ball, their shout.
My observation would be long term sustainability is only possible with a 20+ game season full ground and the concomitant food beverage and merchandise sales that brings. And that only happens if we stay in the Championship.
Get the cheque book out Rob.
Would rather yo-yo à la Rotherham than blow the sustainability plan with no guarantee of staying up. In fact, Pete Couhig went on record (possibly in Close Quarters?) very emphatically claiming that we're prepared to yo-yo.
Loved being back today, so much better than watching on Ifollow.
Such a frustrating game. Coventry were poor in the 1st half, we were the better side, but didn't make the most of our openings and then gifted them 2 goals.
I thought both sides improved in the 2nd half. Fred's miss just after pulling it back to 1-2 was crucial, he really should have scored. If it turns out Kashket was onside for his goal that would indeed be very painful. Would've been a huge goal.
Lot's of boos for the ref. He was fussy and perhaps made a few strange calls, but we've got to be more clever. We gave away so many cheap free kicks today, it was painful.
I'm not too down about today, partly because it was great to be back, but also because it wasn't a bad performance, especially considering we had so many players missing.
But was that because he was a sub against defenders who'd been playing 60mins already? Or was it because it was always the sort of defence he'd do well against?
This is the quandry going forward and the game plan without him seems to be a case of can we keep it goalless until we can get him on.
@Malone said:
Bayo looked a lot more effective than recently.
But was that because he was a sub against defenders who'd been playing 60mins already? Or was it because it was always the sort of defence he'd do well against?
This is the quandry going forward and the game plan without him seems to be a case of can we keep it goalless until we can get him on.
Hopefully Uche stays fit and we don't have such a quandary ??
@Malone said:
Bayo looked a lot more effective than recently.
But was that because he was a sub against defenders who'd been playing 60mins already? Or was it because it was always the sort of defence he'd do well against?
This is the quandry going forward and the game plan without him seems to be a case of can we keep it goalless until we can get him on.
Hopefully Uche stays fit and we don't have such a quandary ??
@Malone said:
Bayo looked a lot more effective than recently.
But was that because he was a sub against defenders who'd been playing 60mins already? Or was it because it was always the sort of defence he'd do well against?
This is the quandry going forward and the game plan without him seems to be a case of can we keep it goalless until we can get him on.
Hopefully Uche stays fit and we don't have such a quandary ??
Stay fit?
He has to actually have been fit first!
Well he should be in the squad on Tuesday. Usually the case that players join in warm-ups the game before they're back?
@Malone said:
Bayo looked a lot more effective than recently.
But was that because he was a sub against defenders who'd been playing 60mins already? Or was it because it was always the sort of defence he'd do well against?
This is the quandry going forward and the game plan without him seems to be a case of can we keep it goalless until we can get him on.
Hopefully Uche stays fit and we don't have such a quandary ??
Stay fit?
He has to actually have been fit first!
Well he should be in the squad on Tuesday. Usually the case that players join in warm-ups the game before they're back?
If only that was the case, unfortunately it seems more common recently for people to disappear for weeks on end
@Malone said:
Bayo looked a lot more effective than recently.
But was that because he was a sub against defenders who'd been playing 60mins already? Or was it because it was always the sort of defence he'd do well against?
This is the quandry going forward and the game plan without him seems to be a case of can we keep it goalless until we can get him on.
Hopefully Uche stays fit and we don't have such a quandary ??
Stay fit?
He has to actually have been fit first!
Well he should be in the squad on Tuesday. Usually the case that players join in warm-ups the game before they're back?
Some players have spent a few games having a little jog about pre-game.
Fotmob app - have Stewart out until Mid Jan.
We'll see how accurate that pans out as being.
@Malone said:
Bayo looked a lot more effective than recently.
But was that because he was a sub against defenders who'd been playing 60mins already? Or was it because it was always the sort of defence he'd do well against?
This is the quandry going forward and the game plan without him seems to be a case of can we keep it goalless until we can get him on.
Hopefully Uche stays fit and we don't have such a quandary ??
Stay fit?
He has to actually have been fit first!
Well he should be in the squad on Tuesday. Usually the case that players join in warm-ups the game before they're back?
Some players have spent a few games having a little jog about pre-game.
Fotmob app - have Stewart out until Mid Jan.
We'll see how accurate that pans out as being.
My feeling about the Samuel whipping boy status is that it’s hardly fair to judge a player being asked to go play against 3 defenders with the ball consistently coming 40 yards in the air to him.
Did he miss chance after chance ? Did he get fail to pick out a strike partner in favour of going it alone? The poor bloke barely had a sniff. Kashket did better as by that time we had 4 players serving him.
Championship v league one is Fred scoring 2 clear cut chances and not fluffing them. Samuel had no such opportunity.
@Malone said:
Bayo looked a lot more effective than recently.
But was that because he was a sub against defenders who'd been playing 60mins already? Or was it because it was always the sort of defence he'd do well against?
This is the quandry going forward and the game plan without him seems to be a case of can we keep it goalless until we can get him on.
Hopefully Uche stays fit and we don't have such a quandary ??
Stay fit?
He has to actually have been fit first!
Well he should be in the squad on Tuesday. Usually the case that players join in warm-ups the game before they're back?
Some players have spent a few games having a little jog about pre-game.
Fotmob app - have Stewart out until Mid Jan.
We'll see how accurate that pans out as being.
Interesting, I wonder what they base that on.
They had Tafa as back "early Dec", so can't be too reliable!
Although I suppose they can only go off snippets in the media or what's suspected.
@TheAndyGrahamFanClub said:
My feeling about the Samuel whipping boy status is that it’s hardly fair to judge a player being asked to go play against 3 defenders with the ball consistently coming 40 yards in the air to him.
Did he miss chance after chance ? Did he get fail to pick out a strike partner in favour of going it alone? The poor bloke barely had a sniff. Kashket did better as by that time we had 4 players serving him.
Championship v league one is Fred scoring 2 clear cut chances and not fluffing them. Samuel had no such opportunity.
What you say is fair. And if Kashket was asked to play the Samuel role he'd looked utterly dreadful doing it.
I suppose the problem is that Samuel's game IS the role he's playing. Namely a hard working type of target man.
I'm not sure you'd ever actually play him alongside a more traditional physical/strong target man.
@TheAndyGrahamFanClub said:
My feeling about the Samuel whipping boy status is that it’s hardly fair to judge a player being asked to go play against 3 defenders with the ball consistently coming 40 yards in the air to him.
Did he miss chance after chance ? Did he get fail to pick out a strike partner in favour of going it alone? The poor bloke barely had a sniff.
Samuel played the way Samuel always has for us, GA clearly knew what to expect so I don't think anyone can be too surprised with how things panned out. I think GA was just looking for any alternative to excess reliance on Akinfenwa.
The odd part was where we were launching long balls for him to chase - whilst he can run all day, his pace is average, I would have thought if you were going to knock balls long for someone to run onto it would have been Fred, but oh well.
I am in no way defending the appalling referee but we do make it easy for weak officials to give fouls against us. Teams like today sussed pretty quickly that any contact the ref will blow so hit the deck at every opportunity. It made it a shit show of a spectacle and stopped any flow when we had the chance. Fred can be particularly naive but he’s certainly not alone in the squad.
@davecz said:
Were Millwall right that Fred cannot compete in the Championship? A step too far?
Fred had games in league 1 where he looked out of his depth, but then he also has periods when he looks like the best players on the pitch by miles and wins us games doing it. We desperately need him to hit some form for a couple of spells this year because that's how we'll get wins, staying in games and relying on mistakes, set pieces and individual bits of brilliance-Fred's one of the most likely to do that.
@davecz said:
Were Millwall right that Fred cannot compete in the Championship? A step too far?
Fred had games in league 1 where he looked out of his depth, but then he also has periods when he looks like the best players on the pitch by miles and wins us games doing it. We desperately need him to hit some form for a couple of spells this year because that's how we'll get wins, staying in games and relying on mistakes, set pieces and individual bits of brilliance-Fred's one of the most likely to do that.
Bayo says he's best when he's angry. What can we do to piss him off?
I just worry that a player after being out for so long takes on mythical status. See Stuart Castedine. If Uche doesn’t score 30 goals by February there will be people disappointed
I just worry that a player after being out for so long takes on mythical status. See Stuart Castedine. If Uche doesn’t score 30 goals by February there will be people disappointed
I think some people have already convinced themselves that he's a mixture of Tyson, Bayo and Kashket
Comments
I was so appalled at the officials today that as I was leaving the ground I made a decision to stop watching football. After 64 years of watching the refs have finally driven me away. The sad thing is they won't care much the same as they won't care about their performance today.
A clear "bottom 5" is starting to emerge with the likes of Coventry starting to pull away. Bournemouth away is a free hit on Tuesday but QPR next Saturday is a game we really can't afford to lose unless we fancy being truly in the mire around Christmas time.
On today, referee was dreadful, bought everything from Coventry players. We looked twice the team we were in the first half once the subs came on and really should have got a point in the end. Individual errors once again have killed us. The difference between us and many of the sides we have played is that when we make a mistake they score, when they make a mistake we too often spur a glorious chance (see Fred through one on one).
We can't keep saying how we looked good in the second half / after going behind but couldn't get the result if we fancy a fighting chance in May.
@aloysius Thought Wheeler looked tired on Wednesday so suspect Gaz thought he needed a rest. I’m pretty sure he’ll start on Tuesday.
Budget
Huge decision now for Rob and Pete (oh and Missie). Whilst their mantra of sustainability is admirable we made it to the promised land rather sooner than anticipated and we just don’t have the resources to stay up as currently configured.
So, do they:
let the inevitable season pan out, go down, regroup and go again
or
do they ‘speculate to accumulate’ buy in the Jan window and have a fighting chance of remaining in the Championship?
Their ball, their shout.
My observation would be long term sustainability is only possible with a 20+ game season full ground and the concomitant food beverage and merchandise sales that brings. And that only happens if we stay in the Championship.
Get the cheque book out Rob.
Would rather yo-yo à la Rotherham than blow the sustainability plan with no guarantee of staying up. In fact, Pete Couhig went on record (possibly in Close Quarters?) very emphatically claiming that we're prepared to yo-yo.
Loved being back today, so much better than watching on Ifollow.
Such a frustrating game. Coventry were poor in the 1st half, we were the better side, but didn't make the most of our openings and then gifted them 2 goals.
I thought both sides improved in the 2nd half. Fred's miss just after pulling it back to 1-2 was crucial, he really should have scored. If it turns out Kashket was onside for his goal that would indeed be very painful. Would've been a huge goal.
Lot's of boos for the ref. He was fussy and perhaps made a few strange calls, but we've got to be more clever. We gave away so many cheap free kicks today, it was painful.
I'm not too down about today, partly because it was great to be back, but also because it wasn't a bad performance, especially considering we had so many players missing.
Bayo looked a lot more effective than recently.
But was that because he was a sub against defenders who'd been playing 60mins already? Or was it because it was always the sort of defence he'd do well against?
This is the quandry going forward and the game plan without him seems to be a case of can we keep it goalless until we can get him on.
Hopefully Uche stays fit and we don't have such a quandary ??
Stay fit?
He has to actually have been fit first!
Well he should be in the squad on Tuesday. Usually the case that players join in warm-ups the game before they're back?
If only that was the case, unfortunately it seems more common recently for people to disappear for weeks on end
Some players have spent a few games having a little jog about pre-game.
Fotmob app - have Stewart out until Mid Jan.
We'll see how accurate that pans out as being.
The club did make a point of posting a photo of them captioned 'Back in action soon!', so I'm hopeful.
Interesting, I wonder what they base that on.
My feeling about the Samuel whipping boy status is that it’s hardly fair to judge a player being asked to go play against 3 defenders with the ball consistently coming 40 yards in the air to him.
Did he miss chance after chance ? Did he get fail to pick out a strike partner in favour of going it alone? The poor bloke barely had a sniff. Kashket did better as by that time we had 4 players serving him.
Championship v league one is Fred scoring 2 clear cut chances and not fluffing them. Samuel had no such opportunity.
Was there any news on Adeniran that I've missed ? Didnt even make the bench today
They had Tafa as back "early Dec", so can't be too reliable!
Although I suppose they can only go off snippets in the media or what's suspected.
What you say is fair. And if Kashket was asked to play the Samuel role he'd looked utterly dreadful doing it.
I suppose the problem is that Samuel's game IS the role he's playing. Namely a hard working type of target man.
I'm not sure you'd ever actually play him alongside a more traditional physical/strong target man.
Were Millwall right that Fred cannot compete in the Championship? A step too far?
Total shambles. A curious mix of disinterest, utter lack of fitness and a hint of corruption. We could predict all the free kicks he would give.
@davecz are you the Turing Machine?
Samuel played the way Samuel always has for us, GA clearly knew what to expect so I don't think anyone can be too surprised with how things panned out. I think GA was just looking for any alternative to excess reliance on Akinfenwa.
The odd part was where we were launching long balls for him to chase - whilst he can run all day, his pace is average, I would have thought if you were going to knock balls long for someone to run onto it would have been Fred, but oh well.
I am in no way defending the appalling referee but we do make it easy for weak officials to give fouls against us. Teams like today sussed pretty quickly that any contact the ref will blow so hit the deck at every opportunity. It made it a shit show of a spectacle and stopped any flow when we had the chance. Fred can be particularly naive but he’s certainly not alone in the squad.
Fred had games in league 1 where he looked out of his depth, but then he also has periods when he looks like the best players on the pitch by miles and wins us games doing it. We desperately need him to hit some form for a couple of spells this year because that's how we'll get wins, staying in games and relying on mistakes, set pieces and individual bits of brilliance-Fred's one of the most likely to do that.
I’ve been called many things but never a ‘ mathematical model of computation’. Add to the list.
Bayo says he's best when he's angry. What can we do to piss him off?
Shut him in a room an hour before the game, and blast prog rock into the room.
He will be livid.
I just worry that a player after being out for so long takes on mythical status. See Stuart Castedine. If Uche doesn’t score 30 goals by February there will be people disappointed
@TheAndyGrahamFanClub said:
I think some people have already convinced themselves that he's a mixture of Tyson, Bayo and Kashket