Bloomfield has been a massive servant to the club but cannot play at this level. Bayo unfortunately is a spent force as well . Ainsworth only tactical option seems to put Bayo on when we are losing. It’s not only the players that have been found out.
Maybe we should start to look at Stewart in with Tafazolli and push Knight into midfield. Yes Knight wants to play CB but he is unlikely to sign next season so let’s use him where it best suits the team.
I have felt we are going down for a while, but let's keep it in perspective - we are trying to compete with basically a record low budget. This was always going to be a slog. Just because we are unlikely to stay up does not mean we should be actually angry or disappointed with GA or the lads. There have been some stirring fights this season, and we may be running out of puff a little, but there is so much to be proud of!
@Blue_since_1990 said:
Maybe we should start to look at Stewart in with Tafazolli and push Knight into midfield. Yes Knight wants to play CB but he is unlikely to sign next season so let’s use him where it best suits the team.
He seems a bit mentally shot at the moment with mistakes and costly ones coming thick and fast. Stewart and Tafazoli with knight taking a rest is more logical than putting him into a position where we don’t have a clue already who should play there.
Anybody scapegoating Blooms today is well wide of the mark. Our midfield put in a much improved showing today. Problem was we gifted them 2 goals with desperately poor defending. There really wasn't much between the 2 teams today, although we did fade badly towards the end and Forest took control. For 70mins, the only difference was the 2 goals we handed to them on a plate.
@Wycombe85 I think Forest sat back at 1-0 and then Hughton got into them at halftime and they stepped up again but yes defensive mistakes cost us. Worrall is a great defender so I was not surprised Uche did not get that much out of them. Weneeded a top top performance today. I still think Thompson would have been a faster better player in the Bloomfield role though but hindsight is a wonderful thing.
Some really poor defending there for all 3 goals. Not sure what has happened to the back 4 but it has really gone to shit of late. We were beaten easily today and against Brentford. Once again we look well short of the required standard, as we did in the opening 4-5 games. That is concerning, because on paper the starting 11 is significantly better now. Hopefully against a weaker opposition in midweek we can try to get a win to boost confidence if nothing else.
COVID break looks to have really hit us hard. Between that and the Spurs game we lost a lot of ground as others around us picked up wins, plus of course there’s the direct impact on those players that were ill. Now that the gap has opened up, I think the belief of the players is starting to waiver. A few signs today of negative body language slipping in and a lack of confidence in one another undermining any individual quality we have on the pitch. Disappointing to see but perhaps inevitable given the situation we find ourselves in. I hope I’m proved wrong but at the moment it is hard to see how we get to 30+ pts.
Difficult to say how we should approach the rest of the season now. I suppose the only thing they can do is just try to get results until it is mathematically impossible for us to stay up. But I’d hope that once that is done we’d focus on trying to play with a bit of freedom and focus on developing a style of play for next season that gives us a chance of competing for the top 6 in LG 1. Keeping Ikpeazu in the summer is going to be absolutely key. Without doubt he looks like the answer to the perennial question about how to replace Akinfenwa.
To be honest Forest played on cruise control and they were lucky to be gifted two goals. First was very well taken by a 37 year old Glenn Murray and the second was a needless penalty. I thought we recovered well from the first goal and were building back into the game up to half time but the second goal from the penalty killed it off. Defensive mistakes for both of the first two goals.
I would prefer to see Mehmeti or McCleary start ahead of Blooms who is a little slow. I guess Gaz likes to see Blooms nipping at the opposing midfielders but he seems half a yard off the speed of the ball. Couldn't Thompson play that role leaving us an opportunity to start a more attacking midfielder?
We need wins now so surely Horgan, Uche and McCleary need to start to create chances?
I fear there's not many shuffles of our lineup that would consistently get us results. But you'd have hoped we'd have secured more than 3 wins.
Agree with people saying the covid situation has affected us. We'd have never played Bloomfield 90mins twice in a row over 5 days before, but our hand was probably forced a bit due to conditions of other players.
Biggest hope for the season now is that we can at least go out with a bit of a bang. And get Bayo a goal or two. Would be sad to see him retire after a blank season.
I think it’s obvious that I see certain players differently to GA and that’s why he chooses the 18 he does and makes the changes he does. With respect when we need a goal bringing on Bayo and Samuel does not seem the obvious choice to get us back into the game.
And I echo the Bloomfield defence. He was one of handful to get credit today.
Oh and my favourite comment today came from @bluntphil when he said Ryan Allsop has had a great week. Not a comment associated with a keeper who’s conceded 10 in a week but that’s where we are.
What exactly did Bloomfield do today to get people sticking up for him ? I'd love to know because I saw nothing again, apart from chasing shadows, and stepping in to stop players getting booked
@prufrock_91 said:
At least its a good squad to tackle League One with
Everyone keeps saying this, but Knight wont sign, Admiral wont sign, and I cant see Uche, Taffazolli and Horgan wanting to hang around in league one
Knight and Muskwe may not, but I imagine Uche, Taff and Horgan will stay. Not many people will poach from one of the worst Champ teams in history, if teams didn't want them from Scotland for pittance, its hardly likely they'll want them after this seasons showing. McCleary and Obita being around, Mehmeti finding himself. It'll be a strong league 1 side.
@Glenactico said:
Once again we look well short of the required standard, as we did in the opening 4-5 games. That is concerning, because on paper the starting 11 is significantly better now.
Right.
We were in most of the early games and were just losing narrowly in most cases.
It’s definitely a concern that we did strengthen probably as well as we realistically could, without an impact on results.
Totally agree @HolmerBlue . Bloomfield unfortunately a season too long. Can someone please explain to me why our only tactical solution to when we go behind is bring on someone with absolutely no mobility and hence no threat. Surely Ainsworth could try something different. Is he on some bonus if Bayo scores in the Championship !!
Forest looked a decent side again today for me. Their keeper never looks in any danger and they had either quality or nouse at key moments. For all Uche’s effort Forest had a quality finisher in Murray who took his chance and won a penalty out of nothing.
I never felt we were in the game after that penalty which seems to be a common theme. We run out of steam so often now. I hope it’s due to lack of training recently but fear it might just be due to us being knackered.
Knight’s form deteriorated so much in recent matches. Never having the same partner might be a factor but he’s surely due a break with Stewart close to a return.
Can’t really complain about the result and to be honest I’m not too upset by the performance. We are just not quite good enough at the moment against side’s with more quality and experience at this level. If Forest are a side we should be beating then I’m not sure how we do it as we are currently. Being a sustainable Championship side is not a six month project in these no fans COVID times.
I'm still clinging onto Rob Couhigs quote around November.
"No way we will be relegated,the only way we will leave this division,will be if we get to the Prem".
I really struggle to understand the point being made by those suggesting Bloomfield shouldn't have started while offering no constructive alternative.
Equally I don't see the problem with the substitution of Ikpeazu, who was injured/ill for a long period and simply has to start for us to have a chance of winning a game, for Bayo when the game is obviously lost. Sure Bayo doesn't look like scoring but what good would keeping Ikpeazu on the pitch any longer do. By the time of his substitution the game was gone.
Re Bloomfield - yes he looks off the pace and I realky don’t see what he brings at this level.
But - he’ll know better than anyone if he can still contribute. He’s not the kind of guy who’ll want to play if he’s not helping the team. It’s not like he’s got anything to prove. So whilst I don’t understand it, I trust that there’s enough experience & honesty between himself and the management team to know if he should be picked ahead of others.
@ChasHarps said:
I'm still clinging onto Rob Couhigs quote around November.
"No way we will be relegated,the only way we will leave this division,will be if we get to the Prem".
He is probably looking forward to us picking #1 in the Championship draft next season!
I think the Covid situation with the squad sort of put us back to where we were at the start of the season, where we also looked slightly off the pace and a little lacking in fitness in the last 10 minutes or so of games; I am hoping that now as then we get our fitness and organisation back and at least go out of the Championship scrapping and fighting for every point
@HolmerBlue to answer your question on Bloomfield. He was disciplined, disrupted the opposition, made his tackles and made simple, but tidy passes. Exactly what he's in the team to do. It's not pretty, but that's his role. Not sure he did it very effectively on Tuesday agreed, but the midfield as a whole didn't perform against Birmingham.
As I said earlier, the midfield did fine for 60-70mins today, but were let down by individual errors at the back. Personally, I find scapegoating players pretty pointless, but if you really must point a finger at someone every time we lose, Blooms would be the wrong target today.
@ChasHarps said:
I'm still clinging onto Rob Couhigs quote around November.
"No way we will be relegated,the only way we will leave this division,will be if we get to the Prem".
If there's one thing that really annoys me about the iFollow commentary we get it's the constant references to Pete Couhig shouting. Why should we care that an administrator whose uncle took control of the club is yelling?
There's been a few references on here to our decline since the covid break. But it's actually been a theme of Gareth's time as manager - we always seem to slump after Christmas. He gets us playing like sharks but when sharks stop they die. We always struggle after a layoff and I can think of only one season, the League 2 promotion season, where we recovered quickly enough to not let it ruin the season (last year obviously a special exception).
As for today, I was disappointed most by Obita overhitting every dead ball. I also wonder whether Horgan on the right might benefit from playing ahead of McCarthy in his natural position - we need the attacking prowess he showed against Preston in the cup. It was good to see Fred have another strong match, was disappointed to see him subbed so early. I think I need a week off from criticising Bayo and Bloomfield. It is what it is. Will add my voice to those calling for Stewart to be given a match ahead of Knight. I've always thought he and Tafazolli would be our strongest central defensive combo.
Comments
Bloomfield has been a massive servant to the club but cannot play at this level. Bayo unfortunately is a spent force as well . Ainsworth only tactical option seems to put Bayo on when we are losing. It’s not only the players that have been found out.
Yeah, imagine the disgrace of not being able to keep an absolute minnow in the championship, or suddenly be able to turn on champagne football.
And on point it's the other bore.......
Maybe we should start to look at Stewart in with Tafazolli and push Knight into midfield. Yes Knight wants to play CB but he is unlikely to sign next season so let’s use him where it best suits the team.
Sadly we cannot all be as exciting and erudite as you...
I have felt we are going down for a while, but let's keep it in perspective - we are trying to compete with basically a record low budget. This was always going to be a slog. Just because we are unlikely to stay up does not mean we should be actually angry or disappointed with GA or the lads. There have been some stirring fights this season, and we may be running out of puff a little, but there is so much to be proud of!
Win the two games in hand and we’re right back in it. Who said that? I think we are probably in it up to our necks.
Would probably have been a good idea to try to beat Birmingham.
I’m pretty optimistic that players won’t be running for the door as long as the spirit in the team remains. Uche might fancy bossing league 1.
He seems a bit mentally shot at the moment with mistakes and costly ones coming thick and fast. Stewart and Tafazoli with knight taking a rest is more logical than putting him into a position where we don’t have a clue already who should play there.
Anybody scapegoating Blooms today is well wide of the mark. Our midfield put in a much improved showing today. Problem was we gifted them 2 goals with desperately poor defending. There really wasn't much between the 2 teams today, although we did fade badly towards the end and Forest took control. For 70mins, the only difference was the 2 goals we handed to them on a plate.
@Wycombe85 I think Forest sat back at 1-0 and then Hughton got into them at halftime and they stepped up again but yes defensive mistakes cost us. Worrall is a great defender so I was not surprised Uche did not get that much out of them. Weneeded a top top performance today. I still think Thompson would have been a faster better player in the Bloomfield role though but hindsight is a wonderful thing.
Some really poor defending there for all 3 goals. Not sure what has happened to the back 4 but it has really gone to shit of late. We were beaten easily today and against Brentford. Once again we look well short of the required standard, as we did in the opening 4-5 games. That is concerning, because on paper the starting 11 is significantly better now. Hopefully against a weaker opposition in midweek we can try to get a win to boost confidence if nothing else.
COVID break looks to have really hit us hard. Between that and the Spurs game we lost a lot of ground as others around us picked up wins, plus of course there’s the direct impact on those players that were ill. Now that the gap has opened up, I think the belief of the players is starting to waiver. A few signs today of negative body language slipping in and a lack of confidence in one another undermining any individual quality we have on the pitch. Disappointing to see but perhaps inevitable given the situation we find ourselves in. I hope I’m proved wrong but at the moment it is hard to see how we get to 30+ pts.
Difficult to say how we should approach the rest of the season now. I suppose the only thing they can do is just try to get results until it is mathematically impossible for us to stay up. But I’d hope that once that is done we’d focus on trying to play with a bit of freedom and focus on developing a style of play for next season that gives us a chance of competing for the top 6 in LG 1. Keeping Ikpeazu in the summer is going to be absolutely key. Without doubt he looks like the answer to the perennial question about how to replace Akinfenwa.
To be honest Forest played on cruise control and they were lucky to be gifted two goals. First was very well taken by a 37 year old Glenn Murray and the second was a needless penalty. I thought we recovered well from the first goal and were building back into the game up to half time but the second goal from the penalty killed it off. Defensive mistakes for both of the first two goals.
I would prefer to see Mehmeti or McCleary start ahead of Blooms who is a little slow. I guess Gaz likes to see Blooms nipping at the opposing midfielders but he seems half a yard off the speed of the ball. Couldn't Thompson play that role leaving us an opportunity to start a more attacking midfielder?
We need wins now so surely Horgan, Uche and McCleary need to start to create chances?
Oh and isn't Samba a great keeper!
I fear there's not many shuffles of our lineup that would consistently get us results. But you'd have hoped we'd have secured more than 3 wins.
Agree with people saying the covid situation has affected us. We'd have never played Bloomfield 90mins twice in a row over 5 days before, but our hand was probably forced a bit due to conditions of other players.
Biggest hope for the season now is that we can at least go out with a bit of a bang. And get Bayo a goal or two. Would be sad to see him retire after a blank season.
I think it’s obvious that I see certain players differently to GA and that’s why he chooses the 18 he does and makes the changes he does. With respect when we need a goal bringing on Bayo and Samuel does not seem the obvious choice to get us back into the game.
And I echo the Bloomfield defence. He was one of handful to get credit today.
Oh and my favourite comment today came from @bluntphil when he said Ryan Allsop has had a great week. Not a comment associated with a keeper who’s conceded 10 in a week but that’s where we are.
What exactly did Bloomfield do today to get people sticking up for him ? I'd love to know because I saw nothing again, apart from chasing shadows, and stepping in to stop players getting booked
Knight and Muskwe may not, but I imagine Uche, Taff and Horgan will stay. Not many people will poach from one of the worst Champ teams in history, if teams didn't want them from Scotland for pittance, its hardly likely they'll want them after this seasons showing. McCleary and Obita being around, Mehmeti finding himself. It'll be a strong league 1 side.
Right.
We were in most of the early games and were just losing narrowly in most cases.
It’s definitely a concern that we did strengthen probably as well as we realistically could, without an impact on results.
Totally agree @HolmerBlue . Bloomfield unfortunately a season too long. Can someone please explain to me why our only tactical solution to when we go behind is bring on someone with absolutely no mobility and hence no threat. Surely Ainsworth could try something different. Is he on some bonus if Bayo scores in the Championship !!
Where no smaller than Bournemouth or Burton when they came up.
Forest looked a decent side again today for me. Their keeper never looks in any danger and they had either quality or nouse at key moments. For all Uche’s effort Forest had a quality finisher in Murray who took his chance and won a penalty out of nothing.
I never felt we were in the game after that penalty which seems to be a common theme. We run out of steam so often now. I hope it’s due to lack of training recently but fear it might just be due to us being knackered.
Knight’s form deteriorated so much in recent matches. Never having the same partner might be a factor but he’s surely due a break with Stewart close to a return.
Can’t really complain about the result and to be honest I’m not too upset by the performance. We are just not quite good enough at the moment against side’s with more quality and experience at this level. If Forest are a side we should be beating then I’m not sure how we do it as we are currently. Being a sustainable Championship side is not a six month project in these no fans COVID times.
I'm still clinging onto Rob Couhigs quote around November.
"No way we will be relegated,the only way we will leave this division,will be if we get to the Prem".
I really struggle to understand the point being made by those suggesting Bloomfield shouldn't have started while offering no constructive alternative.
Equally I don't see the problem with the substitution of Ikpeazu, who was injured/ill for a long period and simply has to start for us to have a chance of winning a game, for Bayo when the game is obviously lost. Sure Bayo doesn't look like scoring but what good would keeping Ikpeazu on the pitch any longer do. By the time of his substitution the game was gone.
Re Bloomfield - yes he looks off the pace and I realky don’t see what he brings at this level.
But - he’ll know better than anyone if he can still contribute. He’s not the kind of guy who’ll want to play if he’s not helping the team. It’s not like he’s got anything to prove. So whilst I don’t understand it, I trust that there’s enough experience & honesty between himself and the management team to know if he should be picked ahead of others.
He is probably looking forward to us picking #1 in the Championship draft next season!
How much has Wycombe missed Dominic Gape this season?
I think the Covid situation with the squad sort of put us back to where we were at the start of the season, where we also looked slightly off the pace and a little lacking in fitness in the last 10 minutes or so of games; I am hoping that now as then we get our fitness and organisation back and at least go out of the Championship scrapping and fighting for every point
@HolmerBlue to answer your question on Bloomfield. He was disciplined, disrupted the opposition, made his tackles and made simple, but tidy passes. Exactly what he's in the team to do. It's not pretty, but that's his role. Not sure he did it very effectively on Tuesday agreed, but the midfield as a whole didn't perform against Birmingham.
As I said earlier, the midfield did fine for 60-70mins today, but were let down by individual errors at the back. Personally, I find scapegoating players pretty pointless, but if you really must point a finger at someone every time we lose, Blooms would be the wrong target today.
If there's one thing that really annoys me about the iFollow commentary we get it's the constant references to Pete Couhig shouting. Why should we care that an administrator whose uncle took control of the club is yelling?
There's been a few references on here to our decline since the covid break. But it's actually been a theme of Gareth's time as manager - we always seem to slump after Christmas. He gets us playing like sharks but when sharks stop they die. We always struggle after a layoff and I can think of only one season, the League 2 promotion season, where we recovered quickly enough to not let it ruin the season (last year obviously a special exception).
As for today, I was disappointed most by Obita overhitting every dead ball. I also wonder whether Horgan on the right might benefit from playing ahead of McCarthy in his natural position - we need the attacking prowess he showed against Preston in the cup. It was good to see Fred have another strong match, was disappointed to see him subbed so early. I think I need a week off from criticising Bayo and Bloomfield. It is what it is. Will add my voice to those calling for Stewart to be given a match ahead of Knight. I've always thought he and Tafazolli would be our strongest central defensive combo.