The dynamic has changed this season... under Ainsworth we've always been the underdog with
a points target to survive... This season the owners want promotion. Is Ainsworth finding it hard to adapt to this?
Must be awful to view football the way you do. You don't seem to derive any joy from the good bits, but are relentlessly negative when we're going through a sticky patch.
Volkes has the best cv of any player in recent times. He is a senior pro. If the system doesn’t suit him (which it doesn’t) he should be knocking on the managers door - which I hope he is.
When I was a youngish kid fifty years ago (feck when did that happen) we ere playing Ilford and Clapton and Corinthian Casuals and occasionally got through to a glamour 1st proper round FA Cup game. Now we are in fourth place in Division Three of the Football League. Even the young kid would have told you not to be so daft if you had told me then what would happen.
Its bloody great isn't it? Add to that the team and manager are such palpably decent relatable guys - it's unlikely to get much better than this. OK we have lost a few games. So what?
My original post seems to have had some issues in the editing stage…
I can’t be bothered to rewrite the whole thing but the general gist is that I can’t believe some, or at least one poster, is saying Grimmer had a good game. His form is of real concern.
Ponderous performance that cried out for a bit of guile the likes of which only McCleary and Mehmeti seem able to provide.
So it was hard to understand why Mehmeti was only introduced so late in the game. Maybe he rarely gets a look-in these days because he hasn't signed a new contract.
I thought Vokes was one of the few to come out of last night with a bit of credit, he hit the post twice, actually did win a few headers and didn't stop running, what didn't help him was having Bayo next to him unfortunately. Thought Horgan and Scowen were fine as well. But that's about it.
Our crossing is dreadful, surely hanging it up in the air makes it so much easier for the keeper and defence to defend ? Shame they don't whip a few more with more pace
@HolmerBlue said:
I thought Vokes was one of the few to come out of last night with a bit of credit, he hit the post twice, actually did win a few headers and didn't stop running, what didn't help him was having Bayo next to him unfortunately. Thought Horgan and Scowen were fine as well. But that's about it.
Our crossing is dreadful, surely hanging it up in the air makes it so much easier for the keeper and defence to defend ? Shame they don't whip a few more with more pace
Exactly this.
We have Bayo and Vokes. Two of the best in the air in the lower leagues.
Yet lumping it up from 50 yards away gives even mediocre centre backs a massive advantage over them, facing the ball, and all they're interested in is nodding it away, whereas our guys have to do a flick so precise it's a massively low percentage play.
While we are having a bit of bad luck with not finishing at the moment, we do need a fine tune of the tactics.
We took JJ off against Portsmouth, so completely lost any sort of decent delivery for the rest of that game.
Even then we still almost got back into it by sheer brute strength and numbers.
So all is not lost by any means.
Yeah, as frustrated, angry, upset as I was last night, I guess we need to keep things in context. I've seen many bad runs, much longer than this where we've barely created a chance. The last 3 games (Ipswich, Portsmouth, Hartlepool) we've created plenty of chances, we've just not taken them. We've hit the post 5 times in the past 2 games alone, which is a ridiculous stat!
That said, there's no doubt that we've lost the swagger and confidence we had a few weeks ago. This may be partly down to McCleary's absence, but it's also defensively where we've struggled in recent matches. For all the hard luck stories and chances created, we've also conceded plenty of chances. We could really do with getting at least a draw on Saturday ahead of matches at Plymouth and Sheffield Wednesday.
@TheAndyGrahamFanClub said:
Few hours to reflect on what was a terrible showing last night. We looked clueless going forward and fragile at the back. Poor individual performances, tactics wrong throughout, subs too late. There were no positives.
I like Vokes. I like Hanlan. I like Horgan. But it’s a results game and these are amongst the highest paid players in the history of the club. We either paid a fee for them or they are on top money coming from a higher level. So as in any job it’s fair to ask for performance in relation to salary. And the stats will say they are not reaching that level. Ok it might be because of other factors tactics for example then they have a responsibility to say to the coaching staff this is what is making them under perform.
Whilst on the subject of coaching it must be an instruction from the management to not hit the line before crossing. All our crosses come from the same area. When our wide men get wide they rarely try and hit the line, looking to come back or go inside instead. This limits chances for Vokes and Bayo as crosses are almost announced and are so easy to defend.
Can’t think of any positives really. Enjoyed Anis. He learned a lot when in the Championship about releasing the ball and when to run and when to pass. He needs to learn the same lessons in league 1 but looks like he’s not going to be given a run to do so. Shame.
Mehmeti could go in the summer on a free as well - at times I’ve wondered if the development team treatment he’s getting this season is a ploy to stop teams sniffing around and get a longer term contract signed with him, but I think he’ll have plenty of suitors if he does let the contract run down.
The Mehmeti contract and his lack of playing time are they related? Bringing him on with just over ten to play seems a negative rather than a positive in a player development.
Why is he going to sign now , when he is getting little game time. Despite us giving him a chance , there is no loyalty in football. Hopefully he will get more game time and sign a new contract. We are badly lacking creativity in our squad and GMac and him can provide it.
I thought Thompson had another strong performance last night. I just wonder if he and Scowen are too similar, taking the starting place of a potentially more creative midfielder (who we don’t have in the squad right now)?
@TheAndyGrahamFanClub said:
The Mehmeti contract and his lack of playing time are they related? Bringing him on with just over ten to play seems a negative rather than a positive in a player development.
Classic gasroom last night and today. Not sure why we are questioning Gaz and Dobbos ability to develop talent. Especially when we've seen the likes of Eze, Mawson and Blackman in recent years.
Mehmeti has some excellent raw talent, but getting kicked about by agricultural defenders in league 2 isn't necessarily development.
Also Bayo is back on the naughty step after some excellent performances this season - only a few weeks ago Pep Guardiola was lauding his performance and suddenly he needs to hang up his boots according to the world renowned coaches of the gasroom.
@TheAndyGrahamFanClub said:
The Mehmeti contract and his lack of playing time are they related? Bringing him on with just over ten to play seems a negative rather than a positive in a player development.
Classic gasroom last night and today. Not sure why we are questioning Gaz and Dobbos ability to develop talent. Especially when we've seen the likes of Eze, Mawson and Blackman in recent years.
Mehmeti has some excellent raw talent, but getting kicked about by agricultural defenders in league 2 isn't necessarily development.
Also Bayo is back on the naughty step after some excellent performances this season - only a few weeks ago Pep Guardiola was lauding his performance and suddenly he needs to hang up his boots according to the world renowned coaches of the gasroom.
Not sure Bayo has been criticised to that extent anywhere, I may have missed something. I asked a question about Anis as this has been raised by others. And personally I don't think the timing of his substitution was ideal for him or the team last night. Personal opinion and not questioning anyone's ability. Apologies if it was misread
No one has questioned the ability of GA and Dobbo to develop talent either @fame_46. There was discussion about whether game time for Mehmeti was in anyway related to him not yet signing a new contract.
I do not believe GA and Dobbo would hang a young player out to dry for not signing a contract myself. Surely they would play him to flog him in January. He did well against Pompey and when he came on last night. He has been a bit 'lightweight' in the past (my opinion) but looks to be getting stronger in holding off defenders. He is developing you might say and may trust the people who rescued him from non-league a bit longer. I think the folks who only come on after a loss and were regularly slating Bayo realised it was not playing well with the gallery...but we all know they still WANT to blame him.
I don’t think anyone is blaming anyone @Wendoverman. I cannot believe any of our players go out onto the field without the intention of giving 100%. However, none of us can fight off time and although he has been an absolutely fantastic player for our club, we all know Bayo’s days are coming to an end and he as made it very clear that this is his last season.
No one is blaming Bayo for any of the results, far from it but the system deployed with the 2 big men up front certainly didn’t work last night.
I know I have watched Bayo for quite a few seasons now but it still surprises me how surprised I am with his delicate touch and intelligent layoffs. I almost get angry with myself for being surprised. In my opinion (apart from the open goal miss) he had a really effective game. Tactically he was too close to Vokes and I was disappointed that didn't get sorted out at half time, but not his fault.
With regards to Mehmeti he needs to work out when to run, when to pass, when to hold. He has ability to burn and needs to learn these lessons whilst in the team. Last season he learnt some pretty harsh lessons giving the ball away in the wrong areas that cost us goals. And he did learn. And that is what gave me great hope that we had a diamond here. But I don't think he will learn much in 10 minutes. When McCleary was injured I was gutted like all of us but just assumed it would be more of the same with Anis as a direct replacement. Learning.
Bayo can still do a job for us absolutely. He proved it time and time again and is continuing to prove it with his performances this season. Last night he really made no impact and in my opinion should've been subbed much earlier. I sincerely hope we've got a few more cameos still to come from him though!
Bayo and Vokes should never play together as it makes the team totally unbalanced. Bayo is best deployed replacing Vokes with around 20 minutes to go or starting when Vokes is rested/injured.
Comments
The dynamic has changed this season... under Ainsworth we've always been the underdog with
a points target to survive... This season the owners want promotion. Is Ainsworth finding it hard to adapt to this?
No! We're having a good season.
Must be awful to view football the way you do. You don't seem to derive any joy from the good bits, but are relentlessly negative when we're going through a sticky patch.
Quite sad really
Of course I enjoy it! I use the gasroom to vent after a defeat, but I'm hardly relentless.....
Ridiculous Comment.
Fair enough, good to hear
Volkes has the best cv of any player in recent times. He is a senior pro. If the system doesn’t suit him (which it doesn’t) he should be knocking on the managers door - which I hope he is.
When I was a youngish kid fifty years ago (feck when did that happen) we ere playing Ilford and Clapton and Corinthian Casuals and occasionally got through to a glamour 1st proper round FA Cup game. Now we are in fourth place in Division Three of the Football League. Even the young kid would have told you not to be so daft if you had told me then what would happen.
Its bloody great isn't it? Add to that the team and manager are such palpably decent relatable guys - it's unlikely to get much better than this. OK we have lost a few games. So what?
My original post seems to have had some issues in the editing stage…
I can’t be bothered to rewrite the whole thing but the general gist is that I can’t believe some, or at least one poster, is saying Grimmer had a good game. His form is of real concern.
Ponderous performance that cried out for a bit of guile the likes of which only McCleary and Mehmeti seem able to provide.
So it was hard to understand why Mehmeti was only introduced so late in the game. Maybe he rarely gets a look-in these days because he hasn't signed a new contract.
Really need to get behind the lads on Saturday
I thought Vokes was one of the few to come out of last night with a bit of credit, he hit the post twice, actually did win a few headers and didn't stop running, what didn't help him was having Bayo next to him unfortunately. Thought Horgan and Scowen were fine as well. But that's about it.
Our crossing is dreadful, surely hanging it up in the air makes it so much easier for the keeper and defence to defend ? Shame they don't whip a few more with more pace
Exactly this.
We have Bayo and Vokes. Two of the best in the air in the lower leagues.
Yet lumping it up from 50 yards away gives even mediocre centre backs a massive advantage over them, facing the ball, and all they're interested in is nodding it away, whereas our guys have to do a flick so precise it's a massively low percentage play.
While we are having a bit of bad luck with not finishing at the moment, we do need a fine tune of the tactics.
We took JJ off against Portsmouth, so completely lost any sort of decent delivery for the rest of that game.
Even then we still almost got back into it by sheer brute strength and numbers.
So all is not lost by any means.
Yeah, as frustrated, angry, upset as I was last night, I guess we need to keep things in context. I've seen many bad runs, much longer than this where we've barely created a chance. The last 3 games (Ipswich, Portsmouth, Hartlepool) we've created plenty of chances, we've just not taken them. We've hit the post 5 times in the past 2 games alone, which is a ridiculous stat!
That said, there's no doubt that we've lost the swagger and confidence we had a few weeks ago. This may be partly down to McCleary's absence, but it's also defensively where we've struggled in recent matches. For all the hard luck stories and chances created, we've also conceded plenty of chances. We could really do with getting at least a draw on Saturday ahead of matches at Plymouth and Sheffield Wednesday.
The season we almost went down (*) we had a run of 1 win in 18 matches. Now that was a bad run of form
(*) Stayed up at Torquay, see Dev for details. I believe he was there
Mehmeti could go in the summer on a free as well - at times I’ve wondered if the development team treatment he’s getting this season is a ploy to stop teams sniffing around and get a longer term contract signed with him, but I think he’ll have plenty of suitors if he does let the contract run down.
His agent will be advise him to run the contract down.
advising
The Mehmeti contract and his lack of playing time are they related? Bringing him on with just over ten to play seems a negative rather than a positive in a player development.
Why is he going to sign now , when he is getting little game time. Despite us giving him a chance , there is no loyalty in football. Hopefully he will get more game time and sign a new contract. We are badly lacking creativity in our squad and GMac and him can provide it.
I thought Thompson had another strong performance last night. I just wonder if he and Scowen are too similar, taking the starting place of a potentially more creative midfielder (who we don’t have in the squad right now)?
Literally no-one has said that
Not one
"suddenly he needs to hang up his boots"
Not sure Bayo has been criticised to that extent anywhere, I may have missed something. I asked a question about Anis as this has been raised by others. And personally I don't think the timing of his substitution was ideal for him or the team last night. Personal opinion and not questioning anyone's ability. Apologies if it was misread
No one has questioned the ability of GA and Dobbo to develop talent either @fame_46. There was discussion about whether game time for Mehmeti was in anyway related to him not yet signing a new contract.
I do not believe GA and Dobbo would hang a young player out to dry for not signing a contract myself. Surely they would play him to flog him in January. He did well against Pompey and when he came on last night. He has been a bit 'lightweight' in the past (my opinion) but looks to be getting stronger in holding off defenders. He is developing you might say and may trust the people who rescued him from non-league a bit longer. I think the folks who only come on after a loss and were regularly slating Bayo realised it was not playing well with the gallery...but we all know they still WANT to blame him.
I don’t think anyone is blaming anyone @Wendoverman. I cannot believe any of our players go out onto the field without the intention of giving 100%. However, none of us can fight off time and although he has been an absolutely fantastic player for our club, we all know Bayo’s days are coming to an end and he as made it very clear that this is his last season.
No one is blaming Bayo for any of the results, far from it but the system deployed with the 2 big men up front certainly didn’t work last night.
I know I have watched Bayo for quite a few seasons now but it still surprises me how surprised I am with his delicate touch and intelligent layoffs. I almost get angry with myself for being surprised. In my opinion (apart from the open goal miss) he had a really effective game. Tactically he was too close to Vokes and I was disappointed that didn't get sorted out at half time, but not his fault.
With regards to Mehmeti he needs to work out when to run, when to pass, when to hold. He has ability to burn and needs to learn these lessons whilst in the team. Last season he learnt some pretty harsh lessons giving the ball away in the wrong areas that cost us goals. And he did learn. And that is what gave me great hope that we had a diamond here. But I don't think he will learn much in 10 minutes. When McCleary was injured I was gutted like all of us but just assumed it would be more of the same with Anis as a direct replacement. Learning.
Bayo can still do a job for us absolutely. He proved it time and time again and is continuing to prove it with his performances this season. Last night he really made no impact and in my opinion should've been subbed much earlier. I sincerely hope we've got a few more cameos still to come from him though!
Bayo and Vokes should never play together as it makes the team totally unbalanced. Bayo is best deployed replacing Vokes with around 20 minutes to go or starting when Vokes is rested/injured.