Very odd game today and obviously it feels silly to be critical when we've got 10 from 12 but it's all very unconvincing.
Reflecting on the game we managed to restrict Northampton fairly well and I'm not sure they had any real clear goalscoring opportunities and we definitely defended wide areas and crosses into the box far better than we did in the opening games.
But the first 75 minutes we looked so lacklustre (Northampton admittedly looking fairly good admittedly) with no sense that we could really trouble Northampton from open play. Sure under Ainsworth we saw similar responses to going 1 ahead but at least most of the time we had some cohesion moving the ball forward and actually having an outlet to give our supporters something to cheer about.
But after the last subs from about the 78th minute we were much improved, and I thought Potts started to show more confidence and what we need of him which is that ability to bring the ball forward. Equally KVY apart from 1 almost very costly misspass looked a lot more lively bringing it forward but the end product was largely lacking though he was great at winning us set-pieces.
Joe Low also continues to shine and hopefully we can see a slightly more confident performance from the boys after the international break.
The last 20 minutes gave me a lot of hope. Potts found his feet, Hanlan, Boyes and TJay looked excellent, and it was recognizable as Wycombe.
A shout out to KVY for a much improved performance. He looked very dangerous going forward - even if we go to a back four, I would like to see him as an attacker, a bit like Obita, who I also preferred going forward. If anyone is going to score a goal where they wriggle past five players and dink it past the keeper this season, it can only be either Hanlan or KVY, one would think.
I think it's fine to celebrate a win while still feeling like the first 70 minutes was pretty abject. However, there are lots of mitigating factors between injuries, playing away, and Northampton actually being quite good (from their forum it appears they have played similarly in each game, making other teams look bad without being able to hit the net enough). I think a balanced view is that winning will only breed more confidence, players will come back, and we have every chance of looking much better as the season goes forward.
If you can’t celebrate every win, regardless of how it came about I genuinely don’t understand what you’re in it for!
Its going to take time for our loanees to get used to mens football, it’s one reason I don’t like overusing the loan system, but today felt like a step forward.
Badly worded on my part, but meant to say you can savour a win without being blind to concerns and warts. Some on here think you hate the club if you ever say anything negative.
Good result. Very poor from 10-70 mins 0-10 mins and 70-FT was solid. Still amazed we came away with a win. Completely disagree with the comments about ‘binary modern society’. Can only assume they didn’t watch today, as we were very poor against a newly promoted side and could have easily been two goals down at half time. However, we showed true grit towards the end of the game - like Ainsworth’s Wycombe. Today lacked the individual quality I’ve seen in recent games, but the team spirit was more evident. This will do wonders for confidence and I’m not entirely surprised to see us look fairly off the pace given the fixture congestion and lack of rotation. I think we’ll be a lot stronger for this win. Very pleased despite a disappointing performance for the majority of the game. So much for binary society x
Give how open our defence has been and liable to leak at least one soft goal, I would say that us not giving any/many clear cut chances for Northampton is a massive boost.
I might be clutching at straws but if you can get the foundations right at the back it gives the rest of the team a solid platform to build on and express themselves better.
I said last season we needed 5 to 10 games to see where we were with such late movement in the window, and I think it would be wise to have a similar outlook with the number of players coming in. Let’s see what’s happening with 10 games on the board
I don't know why there are so many moans to be honest. We setup to stay compact and prevent them finding space between our midfield and back 3.
What I saw was a home side having a lot of possession but being forced to cross from wide to three big centre backs, or shoot from range to a keeper very comfortable dealing with those efforts.
We're not perfect by any means but there was a lot of fight on show today. Exemplified by Boyes who really scrapped off the bench, having been a bit soft in the challenge until now.
Agree with most of the posters, first half abject, second so much better esp last 25 mins (plus extra). Subs all made such a difference, Boyes, Wheels, DeBarr and Hanlan. After seeing KVY getting some slating lately was pleased to see him have a pretty good game overall.
Have been a pretty big fan of Vokes over his time here but surely the time is for him to be an impact sub. His lack of mobility was painfully evident today, didn’t really hold anything up and was sadly a complete passenger in that first half.
good time to have a 2 week break I reckon, get injured players back and try to work on becoming a more cohesive unit
I always respect your analysis, but they were slicing us open like a Thanksgiving turkey, and had several shots inside the area they just did not get enough juice or direction on.
All's well that ends well, but that first 70 was awful. Bear in mind I am one of the few who did not mind the Burton performance, so it is not my shtick to snipe at us for fun.
Given that Bloomfiled still hasn't been able to select an 11 from a fully fit squad, we've done remarkably well to get to 9th place on 10 points.
In fact if we'd scored an early goal against Burton on the opening day and run out winners we'd be joint top (I know, it didn't happen).
So, while overall performances haven't been great, we must be doing something right. It's still early days in this season to judge but I'm beginning to feel a little more comfortable about where we'll end come next May.
I agree with this post. How on earth we went off at HT leading 1-0 I will never know because we were all over the place. However, credit to the manager for making changes so early in the second half that made such a big difference. I felt we restricted Northampton to shots from long range and in the end they ran out of ideas and even the 8 minutes of stoppage time didn’t prove to be a problem. Leahy and Scowen excelled, and I think Potts will be an asset when he adapts to the physicality of the game at this level.
Performances being more important than results is quite a bizarre take.
Matt Bloomfield needs time. Results will give him that time. They will relieve the pressure and give both players and supporters time to build faith and belief.
Performances can be honed, worked on, formations and personnel tested and tweaked but that all takes time.
The one thing I’ve admired more than anything about Matt Bloomfield is his total dedication. His work ethic is unmatched and I hope it’s rewarded with success.
I’m looking forward to seeing how performances evolve throughout this transitional season, even if it’ll be painful at times.
David Wheeler not only a Swiss Army knife he was Super Glue when he came on today. All you tippy tappy Premier League loanees sit down and watch what it takes at this level.
I’ve been very critical of both our tactics and performance in the transfer market but I cannot fault our effort or spirit. No way did we deserve to win today but we showed a lot of bottle. It’s barely believable we are just three points off the top after such a shambolic start.
I’m largely happy with the defence. Plenty to work on offensively over next two weeks though.
Well done to Leahy, Scowen, Hanlan, Forino and Low today.
A good win, but it felt different to an Ainsworth backs to the wall win. That always felt like a plan, but for the first 70 mins there felt there was no plan today.
Potts does seem like the kind of player who learns every game. He’s not had a season in grown up football yet so this is a massive challenge for him. He is about as skilful as we have had and he will learn every game what he can do and what his team mates are capable of doing. I’m predicting player of the season.
Comments
Very odd game today and obviously it feels silly to be critical when we've got 10 from 12 but it's all very unconvincing.
Reflecting on the game we managed to restrict Northampton fairly well and I'm not sure they had any real clear goalscoring opportunities and we definitely defended wide areas and crosses into the box far better than we did in the opening games.
But the first 75 minutes we looked so lacklustre (Northampton admittedly looking fairly good admittedly) with no sense that we could really trouble Northampton from open play. Sure under Ainsworth we saw similar responses to going 1 ahead but at least most of the time we had some cohesion moving the ball forward and actually having an outlet to give our supporters something to cheer about.
But after the last subs from about the 78th minute we were much improved, and I thought Potts started to show more confidence and what we need of him which is that ability to bring the ball forward. Equally KVY apart from 1 almost very costly misspass looked a lot more lively bringing it forward but the end product was largely lacking though he was great at winning us set-pieces.
Joe Low also continues to shine and hopefully we can see a slightly more confident performance from the boys after the international break.
If the Max KVY ‘incident,’ is the one on the highlights, it’s less than a nothing-burger.
The last 20 minutes gave me a lot of hope. Potts found his feet, Hanlan, Boyes and TJay looked excellent, and it was recognizable as Wycombe.
A shout out to KVY for a much improved performance. He looked very dangerous going forward - even if we go to a back four, I would like to see him as an attacker, a bit like Obita, who I also preferred going forward. If anyone is going to score a goal where they wriggle past five players and dink it past the keeper this season, it can only be either Hanlan or KVY, one would think.
I think it's fine to celebrate a win while still feeling like the first 70 minutes was pretty abject. However, there are lots of mitigating factors between injuries, playing away, and Northampton actually being quite good (from their forum it appears they have played similarly in each game, making other teams look bad without being able to hit the net enough). I think a balanced view is that winning will only breed more confidence, players will come back, and we have every chance of looking much better as the season goes forward.
If you can’t celebrate every win, regardless of how it came about I genuinely don’t understand what you’re in it for!
Its going to take time for our loanees to get used to mens football, it’s one reason I don’t like overusing the loan system, but today felt like a step forward.
Oh no...that's going to send the drone army into overdrive.
Especially if he tries to spin us getting the kit available in the shop a month into the season as some kind of epic result 🤣
Badly worded on my part, but meant to say you can savour a win without being blind to concerns and warts. Some on here think you hate the club if you ever say anything negative.
Good result. Very poor from 10-70 mins 0-10 mins and 70-FT was solid. Still amazed we came away with a win. Completely disagree with the comments about ‘binary modern society’. Can only assume they didn’t watch today, as we were very poor against a newly promoted side and could have easily been two goals down at half time. However, we showed true grit towards the end of the game - like Ainsworth’s Wycombe. Today lacked the individual quality I’ve seen in recent games, but the team spirit was more evident. This will do wonders for confidence and I’m not entirely surprised to see us look fairly off the pace given the fixture congestion and lack of rotation. I think we’ll be a lot stronger for this win. Very pleased despite a disappointing performance for the majority of the game. So much for binary society x
Yep
Give how open our defence has been and liable to leak at least one soft goal, I would say that us not giving any/many clear cut chances for Northampton is a massive boost.
I might be clutching at straws but if you can get the foundations right at the back it gives the rest of the team a solid platform to build on and express themselves better.
I said last season we needed 5 to 10 games to see where we were with such late movement in the window, and I think it would be wise to have a similar outlook with the number of players coming in. Let’s see what’s happening with 10 games on the board
Can one see this Couhig interview anywhere or do we wait for it to be on the website?
I don't know why there are so many moans to be honest. We setup to stay compact and prevent them finding space between our midfield and back 3.
What I saw was a home side having a lot of possession but being forced to cross from wide to three big centre backs, or shoot from range to a keeper very comfortable dealing with those efforts.
We're not perfect by any means but there was a lot of fight on show today. Exemplified by Boyes who really scrapped off the bench, having been a bit soft in the challenge until now.
Agree with most of the posters, first half abject, second so much better esp last 25 mins (plus extra). Subs all made such a difference, Boyes, Wheels, DeBarr and Hanlan. After seeing KVY getting some slating lately was pleased to see him have a pretty good game overall.
Have been a pretty big fan of Vokes over his time here but surely the time is for him to be an impact sub. His lack of mobility was painfully evident today, didn’t really hold anything up and was sadly a complete passenger in that first half.
good time to have a 2 week break I reckon, get injured players back and try to work on becoming a more cohesive unit
I always respect your analysis, but they were slicing us open like a Thanksgiving turkey, and had several shots inside the area they just did not get enough juice or direction on.
All's well that ends well, but that first 70 was awful. Bear in mind I am one of the few who did not mind the Burton performance, so it is not my shtick to snipe at us for fun.
The whole of the Northampton ground should be cordoned off as a crime scene.
In fairness to Sam Vokes he got badly clobbered in the first few minutes and was limping for a while…perhaps this affected his poor mobility.
Given that Bloomfiled still hasn't been able to select an 11 from a fully fit squad, we've done remarkably well to get to 9th place on 10 points.
In fact if we'd scored an early goal against Burton on the opening day and run out winners we'd be joint top (I know, it didn't happen).
So, while overall performances haven't been great, we must be doing something right. It's still early days in this season to judge but I'm beginning to feel a little more comfortable about where we'll end come next May.
I agree with this post. How on earth we went off at HT leading 1-0 I will never know because we were all over the place. However, credit to the manager for making changes so early in the second half that made such a big difference. I felt we restricted Northampton to shots from long range and in the end they ran out of ideas and even the 8 minutes of stoppage time didn’t prove to be a problem. Leahy and Scowen excelled, and I think Potts will be an asset when he adapts to the physicality of the game at this level.
Performances being more important than results is quite a bizarre take.
Matt Bloomfield needs time. Results will give him that time. They will relieve the pressure and give both players and supporters time to build faith and belief.
Performances can be honed, worked on, formations and personnel tested and tweaked but that all takes time.
The one thing I’ve admired more than anything about Matt Bloomfield is his total dedication. His work ethic is unmatched and I hope it’s rewarded with success.
I’m looking forward to seeing how performances evolve throughout this transitional season, even if it’ll be painful at times.
First few minutes of a match ten months ago?
He's probably only going to talk shite and have a go at anyone remotely moaning like normal
Exeter first game?
Not sure we can play woulda couda shoulda with 3-0 home defeats!
But we can definitely play it with that Burton game a couple of weeks back. Win that and we'd be right up there!
Wow, got some low expectations there ain't ya 😘
Haha ! Yeah start low, then anything above is a bonus. He does have previous though
I do sometimes feel sorry for him, as football fans are a woefully fickle bunch of shimmering apes in the main.
Apart from the gasroom Legends of course.
David Wheeler not only a Swiss Army knife he was Super Glue when he came on today. All you tippy tappy Premier League loanees sit down and watch what it takes at this level.
I’ve been very critical of both our tactics and performance in the transfer market but I cannot fault our effort or spirit. No way did we deserve to win today but we showed a lot of bottle. It’s barely believable we are just three points off the top after such a shambolic start.
I’m largely happy with the defence. Plenty to work on offensively over next two weeks though.
Well done to Leahy, Scowen, Hanlan, Forino and Low today.
A good win, but it felt different to an Ainsworth backs to the wall win. That always felt like a plan, but for the first 70 mins there felt there was no plan today.
Over the last four games we’re the form team in L1!
Also, nice to see GA winning round the Rangers fans. He looks cock a hoop in the recent interview post their win
Potts does seem like the kind of player who learns every game. He’s not had a season in grown up football yet so this is a massive challenge for him. He is about as skilful as we have had and he will learn every game what he can do and what his team mates are capable of doing. I’m predicting player of the season.