I thought it was his clearance that was at fault, @Wendoverman. But I kept my counsel at the time, though, as I was sitting directly behind the (delightful) Stockdale family!
A frustrating game yesterday that goes down as ‘one of those games’. The first 10 minutes we were fantastic, great football, great press and completely dominated. A poor clearance from Stockdale led to the opening goal but still didn’t do enough to stop the cross or header. The second goal was class and showed the composure and skill we lacked in the final third.
But throughout I thought we played some good stuff but really missed the quality of McCleary in the final third. At the back, Grimmer had easily his worst game for Wycombe he has had. I absolutely love Jack but he had a nightmare yesterday . Really, really poor crossing, and all over the place defensively. He was also very lucky not to give a penalty and red card (as not a genuine attempt for the ball) away when 3-0 down after looking sluggish against a quicker forward. He is really struggling without McCarthy outside him. Kaikai is not a right wing back, and we are being punished for it. If McCarthy is out long term we really must get a specialist attacking full back in there, perhaps on a month to 3 month loan. Or I still think Horgan could do an excellent job there - coming from deeper might help him a bit as his confidence in the final third does seem low at the moment, with his passing and shooting quite poor yesterday.
From a defensive point of view, hopefully Stewart is ok as we need a settled 3 of Stewart, Taf and JJ going forward. Perhaps add Lavelle would be brilliant but that looks unlikely now.
Generally though, I really hope we maintain this 3-4-2-1/3-4-1-2 though as it lends itself to some excellent football and we look a good side, despite a worrying large number of injuries (again!)
We have now played arguably two of the strongest sides away from home though, so all in all a good start!
The more I see it, the more it looks like a proper pinch of the neck from O'Nien - which won't go down as violent conduct as it's 'part of the game', but it should do.
I still do not understand why they released Josh Scowen. Judging from yesterday, he is a lot better than any of their central midfielders, and I include O'Nien in that.
I was there yesterday and for the first goal you can't really blame Stockdale (except the misplaced kick but it ended up way up field and should have been won back). The ball went in off the post, an excellent looping header. Crosses come in, the defender was reasonably tight, you can't stop every cross that comes in. What you can do is get tight to the attacker and if you can't beat him in the air you can at least put him off...grimmer was nowhere near him unfortunately. Him and Kaikai had really poor games with lots of poor passing, positioning and crossing but I thought Thompson and Horgan were excellent. Both won the ball back superbly and started our attacks.
Poor clearance set up the first but can forgive Stocko the odd mistake. Optimistically we were all over them first 20 minutes. Keep playing that way we will do well I reckon. Great to see us still trying everything at 3 nil down with Stocko doing a John Granville from the halfway line!
Grimmer did have a shocker. Seemed maybe too 'up for it'
Great stat from yesterday: Tafazolli contested as many aerials (14) as Stewart has all season. Won 11 of them as well - but unfortunately not the one that counted...
@ReturnToSenda said:
Great stat from yesterday: Tafazolli contested as many aerials (14) as Stewart has all season. Won 11 of them as well - but unfortunately not the one that counted...
He's much better than Stewart in the air for sure.
But hopefully at some stage we can see them in one team!
@ReturnToSenda said:
Great stat from yesterday: Tafazolli contested as many aerials (14) as Stewart has all season. Won 11 of them as well - but unfortunately not the one that counted...
He's much better than Stewart in the air for sure.
Oh, undoubtedly - was just surprised Stewart had contested so few!
@ReturnToSenda said:
Great stat from yesterday: Tafazolli contested as many aerials (14) as Stewart has all season. Won 11 of them as well - but unfortunately not the one that counted...
He's much better than Stewart in the air for sure.
Oh, undoubtedly - was just surprised Stewart had contested so few!
Blimey. You are the stats man.
We haven’t really faced an aerial bombardment yet this season though from what I remember. Maybe Sunderland were the first long ball side we’ve played
@ReturnToSenda said:
Great stat from yesterday: Tafazolli contested as many aerials (14) as Stewart has all season. Won 11 of them as well - but unfortunately not the one that counted...
He's much better than Stewart in the air for sure.
Oh, undoubtedly - was just surprised Stewart had contested so few!
Blimey. You are the stats man.
Are you capable of making a post to RTS without being a sarky git?> @Right_in_the_Middle said:
@ReturnToSenda said:
Great stat from yesterday: Tafazolli contested as many aerials (14) as Stewart has all season. Won 11 of them as well - but unfortunately not the one that counted...
He's much better than Stewart in the air for sure.
Oh, undoubtedly - was just surprised Stewart had contested so few!
Blimey. You are the stats man.
We haven’t really faced an aerial bombardment yet this season though from what I remember. Maybe Sunderland were the first long ball side we’ve played
Are you capable of making a post to RTS without being a sarky git?
Let’s see. As discussed a few times the sarcasm is not intended as often as some read it. I’ll try.
Maybe he could let me know how I am getting on with heat map or something?
@ReturnToSenda said:
Great stat from yesterday: Tafazolli contested as many aerials (14) as Stewart has all season. Won 11 of them as well - but unfortunately not the one that counted...
He's much better than Stewart in the air for sure.
Oh, undoubtedly - was just surprised Stewart had contested so few!
Blimey. You are the stats man.
We haven’t really faced an aerial bombardment yet this season though from what I remember. Maybe Sunderland were the first long ball side we’ve played
Are you capable of making a post to RTS without being a sarky git?
Let’s see. As discussed a few times the sarcasm is not intended as often as some read it. I’ll try.
Maybe he could let me know how I am getting on with heat map or something?
It would be interesting to hear your thoughts on the Sunderland players from yesterday. I have said a few things about how we have changed since last season and the reason we were not at all bothered about Wyke leaving, but I do look at things through red and white glasses, so a neutral view is always welcome
@Safc_in_peace said:
It would be interesting to hear your thoughts on the Sunderland players from yesterday. I have said a few things about how we have changed since last season and the reason we were not at all bothered about Wyke leaving, but I do look at things through red and white glasses, so a neutral view is always welcome
Very clinical, and impressed with your defence who stood firm - could have been a different story with McCleary in our side.
Sunderland fans on the readytogo forum seemed to promise a Barcelona style liquid football, so I was surprised to see your team being more direct and quick counter-attack based than possession based. Also thought you closed the game out professionally - no coincidence the ref was already warning the keeper about time wasting in the 60th minute. Ross Stewart will score a lot of goals this year though I thought Aiden McGeady was easier to martial than I've seen before.
@Safc_in_peace said:
It would be interesting to hear your thoughts on the Sunderland players from yesterday. I have said a few things about how we have changed since last season and the reason we were not at all bothered about Wyke leaving, but I do look at things through red and white glasses, so a neutral view is always welcome
Very clinical, and impressed with your defence who stood firm - could have been a different story with McCleary in our side.
Sunderland fans on the readytogo forum seemed to promise a Barcelona style liquid football, so I was surprised to see your team being more direct and quick counter-attack based than possession based. Also thought you closed the game out professionally - no coincidence the ref was already warning the keeper about time wasting in the 60th minute. Ross Stewart will score a lot of goals this year though I thought Aiden McGeady was easier to martial than I've seen before.
I think you forced us into that style of play by closing us down very quickly and we had to adapt to that, hence we were more direct that other games this year. Yes we are much quicker this year than last and will catch teams out.McGeady is carrying an injury and is getting older, I think this will be his last season, however his influence on the younger players is key.
As to yourselves, I thought you closed us down very well and gave us real problems until we scored. Your passing and movement was much better than I remember and you did not live up to your reputation of being masters of the dark arts, other than the punch.
On the performance the one thing you didn’t do was to force our rookie keeper (only his second league game) to make a meaningful save, so any of the good approach play came to nothing. In short you need to be more clinical.
@Safc_in_peace said:
It would be interesting to hear your thoughts on the Sunderland players from yesterday. I have said a few things about how we have changed since last season and the reason we were not at all bothered about Wyke leaving, but I do look at things through red and white glasses, so a neutral view is always welcome
Very clinical, and impressed with your defence who stood firm - could have been a different story with McCleary in our side.
Sunderland fans on the readytogo forum seemed to promise a Barcelona style liquid football, so I was surprised to see your team being more direct and quick counter-attack based than possession based. Also thought you closed the game out professionally - no coincidence the ref was already warning the keeper about time wasting in the 60th minute. Ross Stewart will score a lot of goals this year though I thought Aiden McGeady was easier to martial than I've seen before.
I think you forced us into that style of play by closing us down very quickly and we had to adapt to that, hence we were more direct that other games this year. Yes we are much quicker this year than last and will catch teams out.McGeady is carrying an injury and is getting older, I think this will be his last season, however his influence on the younger players is key.
As to yourselves, I thought you closed us down very well and gave us real problems until we scored. Your passing and movement was much better than I remember and you did not live up to your reputation of being masters of the dark arts, other than the punch.
On the performance the one thing you didn’t do was to force our rookie keeper (only his second league game) to make a meaningful save, so any of the good approach play came to nothing. In short you need to be more clinical.
Good luck.
I'd agree with everything here in truth! Clinicality (and a mistake or two in defence) was the one thing that decided the game. On another day it could easily have been a 3-3 draw yesterday.
The 3 back system is something we almost stumbled upon two thirds of the way through last season and it almost kept us up. I hope we persist with it throughout the season as I still think many fans seem to expect the long ball 433 still. It's quite satisfying for them then to realise once the game starts that we are actually a good side who can mix it up much more than before. The last trip to the Stadium of Light felt like one of the longest journeys home in living memory, yet even the loss yesterday didn't leave me too disappointed - playing like we did yesterday we'll beat more teams than we don't. Besides, last time we lost at your place in a game with 4 goals, we all know how that season ended...
I must also add that almost every interaction had with a Sunderland fan on Saturday was positive, both before and after the game. Nothing like some of the goons on twitter and the forums.
@Safc_in_peace said:
It would be interesting to hear your thoughts on the Sunderland players from yesterday. I have said a few things about how we have changed since last season and the reason we were not at all bothered about Wyke leaving, but I do look at things through red and white glasses, so a neutral view is always welcome
Very clinical, and impressed with your defence who stood firm - could have been a different story with McCleary in our side.
Sunderland fans on the readytogo forum seemed to promise a Barcelona style liquid football, so I was surprised to see your team being more direct and quick counter-attack based than possession based. Also thought you closed the game out professionally - no coincidence the ref was already warning the keeper about time wasting in the 60th minute. Ross Stewart will score a lot of goals this year though I thought Aiden McGeady was easier to martial than I've seen before.
I think you forced us into that style of play by closing us down very quickly and we had to adapt to that, hence we were more direct that other games this year. Yes we are much quicker this year than last and will catch teams out.McGeady is carrying an injury and is getting older, I think this will be his last season, however his influence on the younger players is key.
As to yourselves, I thought you closed us down very well and gave us real problems until we scored. Your passing and movement was much better than I remember and you did not live up to your reputation of being masters of the dark arts, other than the punch.
On the performance the one thing you didn’t do was to force our rookie keeper (only his second league game) to make a meaningful save, so any of the good approach play came to nothing. In short you need to be more clinical.
Good luck.
I'd agree with everything here in truth! Clinicality (and a mistake or two in defence) was the one thing that decided the game. On another day it could easily have been a 3-3 draw yesterday.
The 3 back system is something we almost stumbled upon two thirds of the way through last season and it almost kept us up. I hope we persist with it throughout the season as I still think many fans seem to expect the long ball 433 still. It's quite satisfying for them then to realise once the game starts that we are actually a good side who can mix it up much more than before. The last trip to the Stadium of Light felt like one of the longest journeys home in living memory, yet even the loss yesterday didn't leave me too disappointed - playing like we did yesterday we'll beat more teams than we don't. Besides, last time we lost at your place in a game with 4 goals, we all know how that season ended...
I must also add that almost every interaction had with a Sunderland fan on Saturday was positive, both before and after the game. Nothing like some of the goons on twitter and the forums.
A lot of the idiots on the SMB are armchair fans who don’t attend games, the ones who attend are fine.
@Safc_in_peace said:
It would be interesting to hear your thoughts on the Sunderland players from yesterday. I have said a few things about how we have changed since last season and the reason we were not at all bothered about Wyke leaving, but I do look at things through red and white glasses, so a neutral view is always welcome
Very clinical, and impressed with your defence who stood firm - could have been a different story with McCleary in our side.
Sunderland fans on the readytogo forum seemed to promise a Barcelona style liquid football, so I was surprised to see your team being more direct and quick counter-attack based than possession based. Also thought you closed the game out professionally - no coincidence the ref was already warning the keeper about time wasting in the 60th minute. Ross Stewart will score a lot of goals this year though I thought Aiden McGeady was easier to martial than I've seen before.
I think you forced us into that style of play by closing us down very quickly and we had to adapt to that, hence we were more direct that other games this year. Yes we are much quicker this year than last and will catch teams out.McGeady is carrying an injury and is getting older, I think this will be his last season, however his influence on the younger players is key.
As to yourselves, I thought you closed us down very well and gave us real problems until we scored. Your passing and movement was much better than I remember and you did not live up to your reputation of being masters of the dark arts, other than the punch.
On the performance the one thing you didn’t do was to force our rookie keeper (only his second league game) to make a meaningful save, so any of the good approach play came to nothing. In short you need to be more clinical.
Good luck.
I'd agree with everything here in truth! Clinicality (and a mistake or two in defence) was the one thing that decided the game. On another day it could easily have been a 3-3 draw yesterday.
The 3 back system is something we almost stumbled upon two thirds of the way through last season and it almost kept us up. I hope we persist with it throughout the season as I still think many fans seem to expect the long ball 433 still. It's quite satisfying for them then to realise once the game starts that we are actually a good side who can mix it up much more than before. The last trip to the Stadium of Light felt like one of the longest journeys home in living memory, yet even the loss yesterday didn't leave me too disappointed - playing like we did yesterday we'll beat more teams than we don't. Besides, last time we lost at your place in a game with 4 goals, we all know how that season ended...
I must also add that almost every interaction had with a Sunderland fan on Saturday was positive, both before and after the game. Nothing like some of the goons on twitter and the forums.
A lot of the idiots on the SMB are armchair fans who don’t attend games, the ones who attend are fine.
Probably well summarising most match goers versus arm chair experts across the land!!
@Safc_in_peace I echo the earlier post about your fans, we had a laugh with a couple of guys outside the stadium and walked around most of the ground with them, the landlord outside a nearby pub, the programme sellers, and some fella in a free car park I found (yes, mission complete!!), which was only a 15minute walk away. Had a good laugh with a steward inside and even the copper with the sniffer dog at the turnstile. All great people. Those on the forum my god imagine if they had watched football in the 70’s and 80’s they would have had a meltdown!!! Yeah, Mehmeti threw a punch and could still be punished, but we know all about Luke’s ability as a wind up merchant that led to it and that is in part why we loved him too. He was also like glue and grabbing onto Bayo at the corners near the end, but with 20yrs more pro experience than Mehmeti, merely brushed him aside and wasn’t drawn into anything silly.
To answer your question about which players stood out, I think we were so focussed on stopping McGeady that we allowed Gooch too much time and space on the right and it was him that was the thorn in our side on the first half. I wanted to keep an eye on your young local midfielder (Dan Neil?), but in truth you have the most horrendous kit in history for making out a number on the back of a shirt, especially when you are sat in the top tier! You seemed either terrified of Bayo or naive, I’m not really sure… if you struggled to win the ball with him then frankly your defenders were the softest I’ve ever seen him up against, but if you felt the best approach was to let him win the ball and then do something it, it was very naive as he set up 2 excellent chances for others and pulled off that magnificent chest / touch / volley combo that he has done many times for us in the last few years (although not nearly as ‘almost’ spectacularly I must admit) and based on this I think he may well start against you at home.
I had a dream that we had Danny Senda and Steve Guppy (even in his 2nd spell) in those wing back positions. Same current team but add those two in and boom, title winners!
Comments
I thought it was his clearance that was at fault, @Wendoverman. But I kept my counsel at the time, though, as I was sitting directly behind the (delightful) Stockdale family!
Poor clearance but the blame lies more with the two central defenders allowing Stewart all the time and space in the world to direct his header home.
A frustrating game yesterday that goes down as ‘one of those games’. The first 10 minutes we were fantastic, great football, great press and completely dominated. A poor clearance from Stockdale led to the opening goal but still didn’t do enough to stop the cross or header. The second goal was class and showed the composure and skill we lacked in the final third.
But throughout I thought we played some good stuff but really missed the quality of McCleary in the final third. At the back, Grimmer had easily his worst game for Wycombe he has had. I absolutely love Jack but he had a nightmare yesterday . Really, really poor crossing, and all over the place defensively. He was also very lucky not to give a penalty and red card (as not a genuine attempt for the ball) away when 3-0 down after looking sluggish against a quicker forward. He is really struggling without McCarthy outside him. Kaikai is not a right wing back, and we are being punished for it. If McCarthy is out long term we really must get a specialist attacking full back in there, perhaps on a month to 3 month loan. Or I still think Horgan could do an excellent job there - coming from deeper might help him a bit as his confidence in the final third does seem low at the moment, with his passing and shooting quite poor yesterday.
From a defensive point of view, hopefully Stewart is ok as we need a settled 3 of Stewart, Taf and JJ going forward. Perhaps add Lavelle would be brilliant but that looks unlikely now.
Generally though, I really hope we maintain this 3-4-2-1/3-4-1-2 though as it lends itself to some excellent football and we look a good side, despite a worrying large number of injuries (again!)
We have now played arguably two of the strongest sides away from home though, so all in all a good start!
The more I see it, the more it looks like a proper pinch of the neck from O'Nien - which won't go down as violent conduct as it's 'part of the game', but it should do.
I’d be surprised if any further action was taken about the incident, but I’ve been surprised before.
bayo touch and shot was a joy to watch
I still do not understand why they released Josh Scowen. Judging from yesterday, he is a lot better than any of their central midfielders, and I include O'Nien in that.
I was there yesterday and for the first goal you can't really blame Stockdale (except the misplaced kick but it ended up way up field and should have been won back). The ball went in off the post, an excellent looping header. Crosses come in, the defender was reasonably tight, you can't stop every cross that comes in. What you can do is get tight to the attacker and if you can't beat him in the air you can at least put him off...grimmer was nowhere near him unfortunately. Him and Kaikai had really poor games with lots of poor passing, positioning and crossing but I thought Thompson and Horgan were excellent. Both won the ball back superbly and started our attacks.
Poor clearance set up the first but can forgive Stocko the odd mistake. Optimistically we were all over them first 20 minutes. Keep playing that way we will do well I reckon. Great to see us still trying everything at 3 nil down with Stocko doing a John Granville from the halfway line!
Grimmer did have a shocker. Seemed maybe too 'up for it'
Great stat from yesterday: Tafazolli contested as many aerials (14) as Stewart has all season. Won 11 of them as well - but unfortunately not the one that counted...
He's much better than Stewart in the air for sure.
But hopefully at some stage we can see them in one team!
Oh, undoubtedly - was just surprised Stewart had contested so few!
Blimey. You are the stats man.
We haven’t really faced an aerial bombardment yet this season though from what I remember. Maybe Sunderland were the first long ball side we’ve played
Are you capable of making a post to RTS without being a sarky git?> @Right_in_the_Middle said:
There's a good lad.
Let’s see. As discussed a few times the sarcasm is not intended as often as some read it. I’ll try.
Maybe he could let me know how I am getting on with heat map or something?
(Trying from the next post)
The Newcastle girls were on heat this weekend
Any idea of the number of WW fans at the Stadium of Light yesterday?
Guessed 500 to 600 meself. Novelty worn off now we are a bigger club. Pure guestimation though.
Unnecessary how they tried to force us all into one block I thought given the room but not a big issue
Especially in the world of covid, where it would seem sensible to let people spread out as they wish rather than cramming them all in together.
500-600 seems a sensational effort for that distance!
It would be interesting to hear your thoughts on the Sunderland players from yesterday. I have said a few things about how we have changed since last season and the reason we were not at all bothered about Wyke leaving, but I do look at things through red and white glasses, so a neutral view is always welcome
Sunderland looked like a good team to me, I’d be surprised if you weren’t up there come the end of the season.
Very clinical, and impressed with your defence who stood firm - could have been a different story with McCleary in our side.
Sunderland fans on the readytogo forum seemed to promise a Barcelona style liquid football, so I was surprised to see your team being more direct and quick counter-attack based than possession based. Also thought you closed the game out professionally - no coincidence the ref was already warning the keeper about time wasting in the 60th minute. Ross Stewart will score a lot of goals this year though I thought Aiden McGeady was easier to martial than I've seen before.
I think you forced us into that style of play by closing us down very quickly and we had to adapt to that, hence we were more direct that other games this year. Yes we are much quicker this year than last and will catch teams out.McGeady is carrying an injury and is getting older, I think this will be his last season, however his influence on the younger players is key.
As to yourselves, I thought you closed us down very well and gave us real problems until we scored. Your passing and movement was much better than I remember and you did not live up to your reputation of being masters of the dark arts, other than the punch.
On the performance the one thing you didn’t do was to force our rookie keeper (only his second league game) to make a meaningful save, so any of the good approach play came to nothing. In short you need to be more clinical.
Good luck.
I'd agree with everything here in truth! Clinicality (and a mistake or two in defence) was the one thing that decided the game. On another day it could easily have been a 3-3 draw yesterday.
The 3 back system is something we almost stumbled upon two thirds of the way through last season and it almost kept us up. I hope we persist with it throughout the season as I still think many fans seem to expect the long ball 433 still. It's quite satisfying for them then to realise once the game starts that we are actually a good side who can mix it up much more than before. The last trip to the Stadium of Light felt like one of the longest journeys home in living memory, yet even the loss yesterday didn't leave me too disappointed - playing like we did yesterday we'll beat more teams than we don't. Besides, last time we lost at your place in a game with 4 goals, we all know how that season ended...
I must also add that almost every interaction had with a Sunderland fan on Saturday was positive, both before and after the game. Nothing like some of the goons on twitter and the forums.
A lot of the idiots on the SMB are armchair fans who don’t attend games, the ones who attend are fine.
Probably well summarising most match goers versus arm chair experts across the land!!
@Safc_in_peace I echo the earlier post about your fans, we had a laugh with a couple of guys outside the stadium and walked around most of the ground with them, the landlord outside a nearby pub, the programme sellers, and some fella in a free car park I found (yes, mission complete!!), which was only a 15minute walk away. Had a good laugh with a steward inside and even the copper with the sniffer dog at the turnstile. All great people. Those on the forum my god imagine if they had watched football in the 70’s and 80’s they would have had a meltdown!!! Yeah, Mehmeti threw a punch and could still be punished, but we know all about Luke’s ability as a wind up merchant that led to it and that is in part why we loved him too. He was also like glue and grabbing onto Bayo at the corners near the end, but with 20yrs more pro experience than Mehmeti, merely brushed him aside and wasn’t drawn into anything silly.
To answer your question about which players stood out, I think we were so focussed on stopping McGeady that we allowed Gooch too much time and space on the right and it was him that was the thorn in our side on the first half. I wanted to keep an eye on your young local midfielder (Dan Neil?), but in truth you have the most horrendous kit in history for making out a number on the back of a shirt, especially when you are sat in the top tier! You seemed either terrified of Bayo or naive, I’m not really sure… if you struggled to win the ball with him then frankly your defenders were the softest I’ve ever seen him up against, but if you felt the best approach was to let him win the ball and then do something it, it was very naive as he set up 2 excellent chances for others and pulled off that magnificent chest / touch / volley combo that he has done many times for us in the last few years (although not nearly as ‘almost’ spectacularly I must admit) and based on this I think he may well start against you at home.
We have a superb team but they won't win every game because that's how it is! Remember PPG!
I had a dream that we had Danny Senda and Steve Guppy (even in his 2nd spell) in those wing back positions. Same current team but add those two in and boom, title winners!