Have to agree. Our fans were great tonight, in numbers and noise. Tbh, I can't be surprised a number turned on Bloomfield tonight. His decision to go to 5 at the back late on tonight enraged everyone I was stood with.
Just got back. That was very, very, very hard to watch. Just... nothing. Nothing to inspire hope. Fans were great for the most part but understandably to an extent massively frustrated by such a lack of anything resembling an attacking threat. God forbid we go a goal down to Brizzle Rovers, as I don't see an iota of confidence in the team, from back to front.
I so want Blooms to succeed but with each passing game that dream seems to be further away.
We were joking before the match that (again) the highlight of the evening would be the pre-match meal & drink. And so it proved.
Really quite remarkable that over 1,000 WW fans turned out this evening to not see a single effort on goal. There were 206 of us at Exeter & it was pretty much a similar story there (penalty excepted).
I do feel a bit sorry for Lyle Taylor. He’s been scapegoated a bit on here but he seems to be viewed as someone to bring on when Vokes gets subbed. He isn’t a centre-forward or target man - and never was. If he was playing down the left in a front three with Vokes in the middle & GMac on the right you’d see a different player altogether.
Sadly the other Taylor, Dale, is completely out of his depth. The Exeter player who scored the winner v Wycombe had just returned from a loan spell at Yeovil. He’s been sent there to get minutes on the pitch & learn to start scoring regularly, albeit at a lower level. Dale Taylor would benefit from a spell at a club like Hemel Hempstead or Chesham United to just get the confidence of putting the ball in the net. At the moment he looks like a fish out of water & he’s taking up a valuable space in the team.
And amazingly, 0.08 of that xG (more than half of our total) has been allocated to a completely scuffed shot by Grimmer from 35 yards out that went straight into another of our players. Clearly not an accurate measurement. Our actual xG was less than 0.1
Can’t Sleep. In his post match interview Matt Bloomfield looked a broken man absolutely shattered. Yes the football is not good but please be careful when posting comments. This is a guy who was with us for a long time as a player and a good servant of our club.
Funnily enough, Smillie is the person I'd compare most with Blooms. Mr Nice Guy, good coach but little charisma. Sad that we are playing the football of the Peter Taylor era too.
I think Blooms needs to go. People saying they want him to turn it around. Not for me. Too stubborn, too intent on five at the back, too negative. Let's have an amicable parting and admit this appointment has not worked. Do that and give him a good sending-off with the fans positively singing his name.
Leave it and the noise for him to go will be even louder and that's not what someone who has given 20 years service to the club deserves.
Reading the comments everyone seems to be quite respectful and we understand the pressure that Matt is under but if we can’t express our frustration here where can we?
Hopefully the rovers game will be the beginning of the great turnaround but if not then I feel that Rob has to make a decision , he has to make it sensitively but quickly.
With fear of repeating my thoughts after both the Port Vale game and Exeter game, it's time for Blooms to go. We all love him and it's gut wrenching to see that things haven't worked out, but 12 games without a win, down to 19th place with a squad built to challenge for the play offs and a style of football that is frankly boring to watch, something needs to change.
If he stays much longer, there is a real risk that his legacy at the club becomes tarnished. Surely anyone would not want that?
Also if anyone with any ear of the board reads this website @AlanCecil PLEASE cancel the New Year's Day fireworks. With the state of the club at the moment, they couldn't be any less appropriate.
100% agree, @ReturnToSenda you seem to just have one message that you are repeating and repeating in several different ways. You have made your point, please stop unless you have anything else to add constructively to the conversation.
To be honest, this issue with Matt is one when we appoint a new manager with very little experience. Apart from Taylor, we normally appoint a no-one or someone with very limited experience in the hope that they will grow and develop themselves and the club and we either make a profit from when a club breaks their contract or a name in the footballing world of giving people an opportunity.
We struck gold with the appointment of Gareth but bear in mind that his first season almost took us out of the football league. He found his feet & came good after a few seasons and the rest is history. However we have had some horror stories, Lawrie Sanchez was another that had very limited experience and while it ended badly after a few seasons, he struck gold with the FA Cup run. Same with Lambert, (however personally, I think he's a grade A tosser) John Gorman was a fan favourite and played some good football but his stint was cut short.
Yes, he have had some shockers, Tony Adams, Neil Smillie & Alan Smith are example where it hasn't worked, but they were still given a full season before a decision was made.
At the beginning of this season, we all knew it would be a season of transition from GA to Matt. His signings have proven that he wants to freshen up the squad but that comes with the risk of inconsistent performances. Rather than cutting him loose, why don't we look at getting someone with experience as a Director of Football or in his backroom staff. I see great potential from Matt who has Wycombe in his blood and every time a result doesn't go our way, it does hurt him and we can all see that. GA was exactly the same and I think that the interviews are becoming more and more difficult to watch. We need to back and support the club, the more toxic the comments, the worse attitude and environment becomes and this helps noone and drives us closer to the drop.
I really feel for Blooms. Trapped in his bunker surrounded by those calling for his head. A final throw of the dice and he emerges after what he sees as a battling away point at a higher placed opponent. Walking towards his supporters, head held high at last, to acknowledge their part in this, as he sees it, positive rear guard action. The total look of shock on his face when met by as many boos as claps. In that very moment I saw a man’s body language of resignation to his fate in his every sinew like a brave general whose troops had deserted him. Over melodramatic may be but it was terrible to witness.
If Rob wants a new manager it has to be done NOW. With the transfer window shortly open, the new manager must have a say in any new signings and have sufficient time to adopt his style of play. If not, Rob needs to publicly state that Matt is staying for the rest of the season to take some of the pressure off him.
Personally I don't think Matt is cut out to be a manager as he is too nice a man but with an obstinate streak. I assume he is still living in Ipswich which can't help.
Half the games played and halfway towards the 50 point mark. Well on course for safety. Over 56% of our league games this season have yielded points. Only lost a single match in the busy Christmas period, thus far, and in excess of one hundred minutes since we conceded. A thousand souls still prepared to trek across the capital on a Friday night to support the boys and a few of us paying a tenner to convert our front doors into a turnstile for the evening. I'd say that's a club in good shape.
How? Where? When? It's been nearly a fully season of relegation standard football after taking over a winning playoff-chasing team. We've beaten 1 top-half team in almost a year. The only reason people are seeing potential in him is because he's got "Wycombe in his blood", exactly as you say.
"It helps no-one and drives us closer to the drop"
Keeping Blooms is the thing that will be driving us closer to the drop, far above and beyond anything else.
Moreover, your suggested parallels with Gareth are misleading. As others have said, he took over a team near the foot of the table, full of bad eggs. And yet he still managed to provide slightly more inspiration than Blooms has in his 10-11 months so far
Change of back room staff needed asap. Bloomfield new to management needs an experienced hand to guide him. MB is a clever guy, maybe in years to come he will be a competent manager, but right now he’s not. With hindsight RC should’ve left him at Col Utd for 2-3 seasons and monitor his progress there. If he was rubbish there and got them relegated from the FL he’d have been even more of legend here ! Successful at Col U and he’d have been a strong candidate for Wycombe in the future.
So sack the back room staff, say to Blooms he can stay but must work alongside Richard Dobson. If MB doesn’t want to do that we move him out, if he’s agreeable and willing to learn and accept he’s probably made mistakes then win win.
My greatest fear is that the reaction seen at the end of the game last night be repeated during the game on Monday.
It's something I've never been able to fathom, however bad the performance and results, that you would not support the team 100% during the match.
I'm certain the players & management don't need the fans booing and jeering to know when performances aren't good enough. Although, I appreciate that fans do need a way to vent their frustration just as we do on here.
Personally, I hope and wish that Matt can turn things around although that looks increasingly unlikely. Reminds me of the final season end under Gorman - it was clear that he was unable to change how results were going (for very justified reasons, as we all knew) and it was sad to witness. Maybe, as suggested, someone can be bought in alongside Matt to assist and carry some of the burden. Perhaps even Gorman himself.
A final plea though. Please, I'd beg, whatever happens on the pitch Monday remember that our contribution from the terrace and stands has to be 100% commitment to support the players and management during the game itself. Maybe your total support will be the difference between another draw/defeat and the victory we all desire.
Starting to worry that the team isn't as good as we think and that a change of manager may still see us go down.
There's a severe lack of pace in the side and very few players that can carry the ball. Potts is tidy enough but rarely moves the ball forward and doesn't seem to want to take it past a man in midfield. Likewise, the full backs aren't brilliant carrying the ball forward. If we want to work the ball through the thirds then either the pivot or full backs need to be able to beat a man, or be willing and able to run onto a ball played in front of them.
To my mind our best option would be to set a much higher line, press all over the pitch and try to win turnovers high up the field. We just aren't good enough to play back to front and struggle to make the ball stick upfront. So the attacking opportunities have to come from taking the ball off our opponent inside their own half.
I'd be surprised if there wasn't some sort of announcement from Rob Couhig after Monday's match. Either Bloomfield will be relieved of his duties, or for better or worse he needs to be backed till the end of the season. I suspect it'll be the former. I can't imagine anyone at the club is enjoying seeing the current direction we're heading and indeed the impact its having on Bloomfield himself.
Comments
Have to agree. Our fans were great tonight, in numbers and noise. Tbh, I can't be surprised a number turned on Bloomfield tonight. His decision to go to 5 at the back late on tonight enraged everyone I was stood with.
Just got back. That was very, very, very hard to watch. Just... nothing. Nothing to inspire hope. Fans were great for the most part but understandably to an extent massively frustrated by such a lack of anything resembling an attacking threat. God forbid we go a goal down to Brizzle Rovers, as I don't see an iota of confidence in the team, from back to front.
I so want Blooms to succeed but with each passing game that dream seems to be further away.
alot of fans would rather us keep him on and go down because hes a club legend no doubt .
We were joking before the match that (again) the highlight of the evening would be the pre-match meal & drink. And so it proved.
Really quite remarkable that over 1,000 WW fans turned out this evening to not see a single effort on goal. There were 206 of us at Exeter & it was pretty much a similar story there (penalty excepted).
I do feel a bit sorry for Lyle Taylor. He’s been scapegoated a bit on here but he seems to be viewed as someone to bring on when Vokes gets subbed. He isn’t a centre-forward or target man - and never was. If he was playing down the left in a front three with Vokes in the middle & GMac on the right you’d see a different player altogether.
Sadly the other Taylor, Dale, is completely out of his depth. The Exeter player who scored the winner v Wycombe had just returned from a loan spell at Yeovil. He’s been sent there to get minutes on the pitch & learn to start scoring regularly, albeit at a lower level. Dale Taylor would benefit from a spell at a club like Hemel Hempstead or Chesham United to just get the confidence of putting the ball in the net. At the moment he looks like a fish out of water & he’s taking up a valuable space in the team.
And amazingly, 0.08 of that xG (more than half of our total) has been allocated to a completely scuffed shot by Grimmer from 35 yards out that went straight into another of our players. Clearly not an accurate measurement. Our actual xG was less than 0.1
You can see the xG stats here if interested;
https://www.fotmob.com/en-GB/matches/leyton-orient-vs-wycombe/2ebcmi#4203211
So Xg is pretty much already 0 then. Can’t get any worse, at least.
We are going to be the first team to somehow achieve negative xG, I can feel it in my bones.
Can’t Sleep. In his post match interview Matt Bloomfield looked a broken man absolutely shattered. Yes the football is not good but please be careful when posting comments. This is a guy who was with us for a long time as a player and a good servant of our club.
Funnily enough, Smillie is the person I'd compare most with Blooms. Mr Nice Guy, good coach but little charisma. Sad that we are playing the football of the Peter Taylor era too.
I think Blooms needs to go. People saying they want him to turn it around. Not for me. Too stubborn, too intent on five at the back, too negative. Let's have an amicable parting and admit this appointment has not worked. Do that and give him a good sending-off with the fans positively singing his name.
Leave it and the noise for him to go will be even louder and that's not what someone who has given 20 years service to the club deserves.
Reading the comments everyone seems to be quite respectful and we understand the pressure that Matt is under but if we can’t express our frustration here where can we?
Hopefully the rovers game will be the beginning of the great turnaround but if not then I feel that Rob has to make a decision , he has to make it sensitively but quickly.
With fear of repeating my thoughts after both the Port Vale game and Exeter game, it's time for Blooms to go. We all love him and it's gut wrenching to see that things haven't worked out, but 12 games without a win, down to 19th place with a squad built to challenge for the play offs and a style of football that is frankly boring to watch, something needs to change.
If he stays much longer, there is a real risk that his legacy at the club becomes tarnished. Surely anyone would not want that?
Also if anyone with any ear of the board reads this website @AlanCecil PLEASE cancel the New Year's Day fireworks. With the state of the club at the moment, they couldn't be any less appropriate.
100% agree, @ReturnToSenda you seem to just have one message that you are repeating and repeating in several different ways. You have made your point, please stop unless you have anything else to add constructively to the conversation.
To be honest, this issue with Matt is one when we appoint a new manager with very little experience. Apart from Taylor, we normally appoint a no-one or someone with very limited experience in the hope that they will grow and develop themselves and the club and we either make a profit from when a club breaks their contract or a name in the footballing world of giving people an opportunity.
We struck gold with the appointment of Gareth but bear in mind that his first season almost took us out of the football league. He found his feet & came good after a few seasons and the rest is history. However we have had some horror stories, Lawrie Sanchez was another that had very limited experience and while it ended badly after a few seasons, he struck gold with the FA Cup run. Same with Lambert, (however personally, I think he's a grade A tosser) John Gorman was a fan favourite and played some good football but his stint was cut short.
Yes, he have had some shockers, Tony Adams, Neil Smillie & Alan Smith are example where it hasn't worked, but they were still given a full season before a decision was made.
At the beginning of this season, we all knew it would be a season of transition from GA to Matt. His signings have proven that he wants to freshen up the squad but that comes with the risk of inconsistent performances. Rather than cutting him loose, why don't we look at getting someone with experience as a Director of Football or in his backroom staff. I see great potential from Matt who has Wycombe in his blood and every time a result doesn't go our way, it does hurt him and we can all see that. GA was exactly the same and I think that the interviews are becoming more and more difficult to watch. We need to back and support the club, the more toxic the comments, the worse attitude and environment becomes and this helps noone and drives us closer to the drop.
I really feel for Blooms. Trapped in his bunker surrounded by those calling for his head. A final throw of the dice and he emerges after what he sees as a battling away point at a higher placed opponent. Walking towards his supporters, head held high at last, to acknowledge their part in this, as he sees it, positive rear guard action. The total look of shock on his face when met by as many boos as claps. In that very moment I saw a man’s body language of resignation to his fate in his every sinew like a brave general whose troops had deserted him. Over melodramatic may be but it was terrible to witness.
Hear! hear! re fireworks.
If Rob wants a new manager it has to be done NOW. With the transfer window shortly open, the new manager must have a say in any new signings and have sufficient time to adopt his style of play. If not, Rob needs to publicly state that Matt is staying for the rest of the season to take some of the pressure off him.
Personally I don't think Matt is cut out to be a manager as he is too nice a man but with an obstinate streak. I assume he is still living in Ipswich which can't help.
Half the games played and halfway towards the 50 point mark. Well on course for safety. Over 56% of our league games this season have yielded points. Only lost a single match in the busy Christmas period, thus far, and in excess of one hundred minutes since we conceded. A thousand souls still prepared to trek across the capital on a Friday night to support the boys and a few of us paying a tenner to convert our front doors into a turnstile for the evening. I'd say that's a club in good shape.
This is misplaced delusion I'm afraid.
"I see great potential from Matt"
How? Where? When? It's been nearly a fully season of relegation standard football after taking over a winning playoff-chasing team. We've beaten 1 top-half team in almost a year. The only reason people are seeing potential in him is because he's got "Wycombe in his blood", exactly as you say.
"It helps no-one and drives us closer to the drop"
Keeping Blooms is the thing that will be driving us closer to the drop, far above and beyond anything else.
Moreover, your suggested parallels with Gareth are misleading. As others have said, he took over a team near the foot of the table, full of bad eggs. And yet he still managed to provide slightly more inspiration than Blooms has in his 10-11 months so far
Change of back room staff needed asap. Bloomfield new to management needs an experienced hand to guide him. MB is a clever guy, maybe in years to come he will be a competent manager, but right now he’s not. With hindsight RC should’ve left him at Col Utd for 2-3 seasons and monitor his progress there. If he was rubbish there and got them relegated from the FL he’d have been even more of legend here ! Successful at Col U and he’d have been a strong candidate for Wycombe in the future.
So sack the back room staff, say to Blooms he can stay but must work alongside Richard Dobson. If MB doesn’t want to do that we move him out, if he’s agreeable and willing to learn and accept he’s probably made mistakes then win win.
My greatest fear is that the reaction seen at the end of the game last night be repeated during the game on Monday.
It's something I've never been able to fathom, however bad the performance and results, that you would not support the team 100% during the match.
I'm certain the players & management don't need the fans booing and jeering to know when performances aren't good enough. Although, I appreciate that fans do need a way to vent their frustration just as we do on here.
Personally, I hope and wish that Matt can turn things around although that looks increasingly unlikely. Reminds me of the final season end under Gorman - it was clear that he was unable to change how results were going (for very justified reasons, as we all knew) and it was sad to witness. Maybe, as suggested, someone can be bought in alongside Matt to assist and carry some of the burden. Perhaps even Gorman himself.
A final plea though. Please, I'd beg, whatever happens on the pitch Monday remember that our contribution from the terrace and stands has to be 100% commitment to support the players and management during the game itself. Maybe your total support will be the difference between another draw/defeat and the victory we all desire.
My understanding is that Rob Couhig is paying for the fireworks display himself, as he believes it adds to the overall experience, win lose or draw.
Starting to worry that the team isn't as good as we think and that a change of manager may still see us go down.
There's a severe lack of pace in the side and very few players that can carry the ball. Potts is tidy enough but rarely moves the ball forward and doesn't seem to want to take it past a man in midfield. Likewise, the full backs aren't brilliant carrying the ball forward. If we want to work the ball through the thirds then either the pivot or full backs need to be able to beat a man, or be willing and able to run onto a ball played in front of them.
To my mind our best option would be to set a much higher line, press all over the pitch and try to win turnovers high up the field. We just aren't good enough to play back to front and struggle to make the ball stick upfront. So the attacking opportunities have to come from taking the ball off our opponent inside their own half.
Sounds horrible
I don't actually have a problem with the fans last night. They sang their hearts out for the entire match, really getting behind the players non-stop
I felt that they'd earned the right at the end of the game to give their verdict on what they'd just watched
He's had 11 months ! And has taken us from promotion hopefuls to relegation candidates.
I'd be surprised if there wasn't some sort of announcement from Rob Couhig after Monday's match. Either Bloomfield will be relieved of his duties, or for better or worse he needs to be backed till the end of the season. I suspect it'll be the former. I can't imagine anyone at the club is enjoying seeing the current direction we're heading and indeed the impact its having on Bloomfield himself.
Maybe they are waiting for Gaz’s foot to get better
It would be quite macabre to announce Bloomfield's sacking with a fireworks display...
Then perhaps he should set them off in his own back yard not at AP. Oh wait he believes that AP is his own back yard*
*but it’s not and never will be. AP will always be ours the fans and the fans categorically deride the fireworks
Unfortunately Rob ain’t too interested in sage advice.
Yes, but...
I can't think of any occasion where fireworks have been booed. So I suppose that makes Monday a special event.