1-1 Ipswich (h)

[beaumontfox]

Good God, the doom and gloom merchants are alive and well on here just like they were on the phone in after the game!!


Yes it was a bit of a crap performance and some of thep layers need to take a look at themseves(Neilson is fast becoming this generations Junior Lewis imo) but it certainly wasnt the worst we've played this season. It was disjointed yes, defence tended to ignore the midfield for much of the game which in turn meant we saw little of what threat Fryatt could offer up.

And let's face it, if you were told this time last year we would be sitting in a CCC play off spot a year on, you'd all take it wouldn't you? No matter how poor the division is, we can only take points from the teams we have to play and so far so good! Whether we have enough about us to stay in the play off positions for the rest of the season only time would tell, but I honestly don't think we have too much to worry about IF we keep doing what we are doing, and grinding out the results.

Neilson needs dropping(down a deep mineshaft if I had my way) and Morrison should play there. Yeah it might not be his ideal position, but he's better than anything else we've got and he doesn't deserve to keep getting dropped cos NP prefers someone else in th centre of defence.

McGivern was pap first half, better second(not much tho!)

Brown was woeful and could have given Ipswich a last minute chance to take all the points with a pisspoor attempt at a tackle to give away a free kick. Tunch with his knackered leg would be a better option!

Midfield........Oakley isn't a winger ffs...WHY play him there when we have proper wingers to do the job. He looked ineffective and his corners and free kicks were shite(apart from the one where their keeper made that save from Fryatt)

Wellens was awful, bottled out of challenges and looked disinterested.

King was anonymous, which is a shame cos the last three matches he has shown the sort of gritty attitude I like to see from our centre midfield.

Dyer has a decent enough first half imo, but looked lost second half.


Ahhh it's late now and I'm tired. Can't be arsed to do anymore about individual performances. Am just watching for the match to finish so I can go bed!

 

[cazlcfc]

Good God, the doom and gloom merchants are alive and well on here just like they were on the phone in after the game!!


Yes it was a bit of a crap performance and some of thep layers need to take a look at themseves(Neilson is fast becoming this generations Junior Lewis imo) but it certainly wasnt the worst we've played this season. It was disjointed yes, defence tended to ignore the midfield for much of the game which in turn meant we saw little of what threat Fryatt could offer up.

And let's face it, if you were told this time last year we would be sitting in a CCC play off spot a year on, you'd all take it wouldn't you? No matter how poor the division is, we can only take points from the teams we have to play and so far so good! Whether we have enough about us to stay in the play off positions for the rest of the season only time would tell, but I honestly don't think we have too much to worry about IF we keep doing what we are doing, and grinding out the results.

Neilson needs dropping(down a deep mineshaft if I had my way) and Morrison should play there. Yeah it might not be his ideal position, but he's better than anything else we've got and he doesn't deserve to keep getting dropped cos NP prefers someone else in th centre of defence.

McGivern was pap first half, better second(not much tho!)

Brown was woeful and could have given Ipswich a last minute chance to take all the points with a pisspoor attempt at a tackle to give away a free kick. Tunch with his knackered leg would be a better option!

Midfield........Oakley isn't a winger ffs...WHY play him there when we have proper wingers to do the job. He looked ineffective and his corners and free kicks were shite(apart from the one where their keeper made that save from Fryatt)

Wellens was awful, bottled out of challenges and looked disinterested.

King was anonymous, which is a shame cos the last three matches he has shown the sort of gritty attitude I like to see from our centre midfield.

Dyer has a decent enough first half imo, but looked lost second half.


Ahhh it's late now and I'm tired. Can't be arsed to do anymore about individual performances. Am just watching for the match to finish so I can go bed!

well said

 

[Graz]

NP doesnt put wellens and king on the wing so why oakley, he shouldnt be there i would like to see king and oakley in mid next game and put dyer/nguesson/adams on the wings
Cant hurt for one game, might get wellens back to his best if he is left on the bench,dont get me wrong i like wellens but he wasnt his normal self today,but saying that not a good game altogether

Still 5th though and 3 wins and a draw aint bad

I think that's a good point actually... Wellens hasn't been at his best by all accounts lately, so a game or 2 on the bench might kick him into shape. Pearson already dropped/rested Fryatt when he wasn't performing, so maybe we'll see that come soon with Wellens.

I hope so.

Pearson doesn't seem very willing to change the midfield around though... which is strange really, because he tinkers the strikers and the defence fairly regularly. Maybe that shows his lack of faith in the options we've got in midfield.
So hopefully he'll try and do something about that now!

 

[beaumontfox]

Well, he ain't gonna take any notice of what us lot say on here, else he would've done that ages ago!

 

[PFKAKTF FOX]

I think we need to take some perspective here, we are halfway through the season and sit in fifth place with games in hand, with a squad that played in league one last season, we have added a handful of players to supplement last season's squad, Wellens and Gallagher aside, most are youngsters on loan or free transfers relatively untried or tested at this level.

Whilst we do lack the quality, ability and flair of the teams around us, such as Newcastle, Forest, WBA and Cardiff, we do seem to have a knack of grinding out results and Pearson IMO is performing a minor miracle.

Yesterday was poor, but these performances will happen, and credit must go to the team and management for managing to bounce back from such a poor start to the match and despite not playing well, the players on the whole at least showed enough spirit to battle back and gain a point.

I hope that Mandaric will support Pearson in this transfer window and provide the funds to bring in the 3 or 4 quality players needed to build on the excellent start and push for promotion.

 

[Spanky Fox]

I think we need to take some perspective here, we are halfway through the season and sit in fifth place with games in hand, with a squad that played in league one last season, we have added a handful of players to supplement last season's squad, Wellens and Gallagher aside, most are youngsters on loan or free transfers relatively untried or tested at this level.

Whilst we do lack the quality, ability and flair of the teams around us, such as Newcastle, Forest, WBA and Cardiff, we do seem to have a knack of grinding out results and Pearson IMO is performing a minor miracle.

Yesterday was poor, but these performances will happen, and credit must go to the team and management for managing to bounce back from such a poor start to the match and despite not playing well, the players on the whole at least showed enough spirit to battle back and gain a point.

I hope that Mandaric will support Pearson in this transfer window and provide the funds to bring in the 3 or 4 quality players needed to build on the excellent start and push for promotion.

This is required but i cannot see Milan and NP really bringing in much players if they do so it will be either Loan or free

 

[Mike - True Blue Tinter]

This is required but i cannot see Milan and NP really bringing in much players if they do so it will be either Loan or free

He may have been teasing but in his SSN handling of the question NP might have hinted there might be activity! NP has never really given any information about transfers in advance though so we can speculate about the worth of a player if we know the club is interested. Takes all the fun out of it when the first we know is when the player has signed.

 

[Doggie_muz]

I think we need to take some perspective here, we are halfway through the season and sit in fifth place with games in hand, with a squad that played in league one last season, we have added a handful of players to supplement last season's squad, Wellens and Gallagher aside, most are youngsters on loan or free transfers relatively untried or tested at this level.

Whilst we do lack the quality, ability and flair of the teams around us, such as Newcastle, Forest, WBA and Cardiff, we do seem to have a knack of grinding out results and Pearson IMO is performing a minor miracle.
Yesterday was poor, but these performances will happen, and credit must go to the team and management for managing to bounce back from such a poor start to the match and despite not playing well, the players on the whole at least showed enough spirit to battle back and gain a point.

I hope that Mandaric will support Pearson in this transfer window and provide the funds to bring in the 3 or 4 quality players needed to build on the excellent start and push for promotion.

Pearson is doing a phenomenal job. Most people with any semblence of realism would have taken top half in a heartbeat if they'd been offered it at the start of the season and we're currently sitting in the playoffs. We have been competitive in just about every game (Forest (a) a definite exception, possibly WBA (h) and Brizzle C (h) too), which in my opinion is all we can ask of a team promoted last year and not strengthened with any significant funds.

We're going to have games like Ipswich (h) where we don't perform just as often as we have games like QPR (a) where we overperform. We just don't have the quality to maintain a consistently high standard.

I think the next month is the key to our season. Four away games (Swansea, Donny, Barnsley, Blackpool), the Cup game and home to Newcastle is a tough run. If we can maintain a bit of momentum through this period, we have a chance of making the playoffs. And if we can bring Kerrea in, I think he would improve the side immensely. While I don't think he's a fantastic footballer, just OK, his pace removes some of the imbalance of having Oakley on the right and it means that a back four of Berner, Hobbs, Morrison, Gilbert looks fairly good. We'll see...

 

[Hazzman]

Yesterday was poor, but these performances will happen, and credit must go to the team and management for managing to bounce back from such a poor start to the match and despite not playing well, the players on the whole at least showed enough spirit to battle back and gain a point.

I hope that Mandaric will support Pearson in this transfer window and provide the funds to bring in the 3 or 4 quality players needed to build on the excellent start and push for promotion.

Tbf to Pearson as well, his post-match interviews haven't glorified anything either, he's quite rightly said what a dogshite performance that was yesterday.

I can not see the second part happening unless there is a departure. Mandaric is Mr.Recoup, he'd be looking to sell at least one.

As Gallacher, he's a bit of an odd signing. I have been critical of his performances but we've bought a striker for a million pounds whose played up front just twice for City! Surely it could have been used better elsewhere.

 

[Blue Maniac]

Pearson is doing a phenomenal job. Most people with any semblence of realism would have taken top half in a heartbeat if they'd been offered it at the start of the season and we're currently sitting in the playoffs. We have been competitive in just about every game (Forest (a) a definite exception, possibly WBA (h) and Brizzle C (h) too), which in my opinion is all we can ask of a team promoted last year and not strengthened with any significant funds.

We're going to have games like Ipswich (h) where we don't perform just as often as we have games like QPR (a) where we overperform. We just don't have the quality to maintain a consistently high standard.

I think the next month is the key to our season. Four away games (Swansea, Donny, Barnsley, Blackpool), the Cup game and home to Newcastle is a tough run. If we can maintain a bit of momentum through this period, we have a chance of making the playoffs. And if we can bring Kerrea in, I think he would improve the side immensely. While I don't think he's a fantastic footballer, just OK, his pace removes some of the imbalance of having Oakley on the right and it means that a back four of Berner, Hobbs, Morrison, Gilbert looks fairly good. We'll see...

You should post more often.

 

[Motown Fox]

Good God, the doom and gloom merchants are alive and well on here just like they were on the phone in after the game!! Yeah my son was one of them again moaning about Neilson and Brown and the defence lacking any pace particularly Brown!!

Yes it was a bit of a crap performance --Agreed!!! Although there were some good passages of play


Neilson needs dropping -Agreed and he made so many errors and bad decisions and his "long" throws -well does he know the ball's meant to go to one of our players!!

McGivern was pap first half - thought he was hit/miss all game put in the odd good challenge/interception like Neilson/Brown

Brown was woeful - Agreed he could have given Ipswich the game a number of times 2nd half with his lack of pace. I was screaming for NP to take him off after 2nd such event luckily Weale saved and somehow he saw out the game

Midfield........Oakley isn't a winger ffs...Agreed - I couldn't understand why N'Guessan or Adams didnt come on for Wellans to have a go down the right or left --Gallagher and Waghorn ARE NOT wingers and I thought after the subs came on we got worst!!

Wellens was awful, Agreed wondered if he was carrying an injury

King was anonymous, - Agreed wondered if he had heard Stringer waxing lyrical b4 the game reckoning that Premiership clubs might be after him:icon_eek:

Dyer has a decent enough first half imo - Agreed he had some good runs and yes he did look lost in the 2nd half


I'll finish off as follows:-

Howard- Put himself about -loved the bit where he chucked their defender on the floor and he did get MOM and although it was difficult to name any MOM perhaps Howard or Morrison were the only candidates

Morrison - had another good game and must be kept in the team!!

Fryatt - He was in and out of the game and lacked any service from midfield as Wellens his usual provider had gone missing most of the game

Weale - Had a few worrying moments but made some good saves as well. Why all the confusion with defenders sheilding the ball back to him it nearly cost us twice. Him not commanding enough or defenders expecting too much

Gallagher - Not a lot done except he got a few crosses in but we needed someone to take defenders on

Waghorn - he is not a winger he should have gone up front either instead of Fryatt or as a 3 man attack as I've said we needed someone to take defenders on

 

[PFKAKTF FOX]

The problem with the squad is that the spine of the team / squad is pretty strong:

Central Defence : Brown, Hobbs, Morrison and when fit Tunchev

Central Midfield : King, Oakley and Wellens

Strikers : Fryatt, Waghorn, Gallagher, Howard and Kermogant

The problems and lack of quality are out wide and this is why IMO we are struggling to score goals and why we are not playing a balanced side lacking creativity.

Berner aside we have no quality full backs in the side, also our wingers are inconsistent and IMO lack the quality to be a success in the championship. We desperately need players who are comfortable at this level and have the quality to be consistent in the championship. In Adams, Gradel, N'Guessan and Dyer we have players who can perform in spells but none have been able to demonstrate the consistency or quality to cement a first team place on a regular basis.

 

[Yorkshire Vixen]

not read all this but ill chip in anyway mcgivern is/was shite, wellens cant get a shot on target send him down the road to the tigers!!!! and why is pearson so intent on bringing gallacher on, what exactly does he offer us - a striker out on the wing when we have wingers on the bench - square pegs in round holes........all in all a boring game but we didnt lose, glad i stayed at home to watch it

 

[Doggie_muz]

You should post more often.

Work filters removed again, so I'll do my best BM!

 

[Blue Maniac]

not read all this but ill chip in anyway mcgivern is/was shite, wellens cant get a shot on target send him down the road to the tigers!!!! and why is pearson so intent on bringing gallacher on, what exactly does he offer us - a striker out on the wing when we have wingers on the bench - square pegs in round holes........all in all a boring game but we didnt lose, glad i stayed at home to watch it

I hear Martin Johnson was in attendance...

 

[Yorkshire Vixen]

I hear Martin Johnson was in attendance...

ha ha he was would be an ideal replacement for jonny wilkinson :icon_roll:icon_bigg

 

[Chuck T Masala]

Quality on set pieces generally poor, no pace in the back 4 at all. Passing was nervy. Effort was OK. Goalkeeper's decision making dodgy. Early goal but the willies up us and even after the equaliser we did not look in control at all. They were up for it and we tried to be. Pie was expensive but edible.

Take the point, bad day at the office dear.

 

[SJN-Fox]

Please, please, please, can we start to take some decent corners? None of this ****-arsing around trying to be fancy and clever because it doesn't work and just wastes the opportunity to get a quality ball into the box.

 

[Motown Fox]

Quality on set pieces generally poor, no pace in the back 4 at all. Passing was nervy. Effort was OK. Goalkeeper's decision making dodgy. Early goal but the willies up us and even after the equaliser we did not look in control at all. They were up for it and we tried to be. Pie was expensive but edible.

Take the point, bad day at the office dear.

Nice to see you're back Chuck

Agree with what you say I reckon most of the decision making was dodgy and that includes NP on the subs and how to use them!!
Not touch the pie's as eating at my mum's so can't comment on them

 

[MHS]

Weale seemed very shaky yesterday, for the first time I had lost confidence in him. Hope he gets back to his usual ways next week.

The defence, bar Morrison, was awful. Considering our manager was a top defender back in his day, our defence is simply not good enough. Neilson is too slow for this league, as getting outpaced in the first 10 seconds of the match indicates. His attacking play is terrible, hasn't had one successful throw in this season after numerous attempts and IMO is our main weak link. McGivern tries but is simply not good enough defensively, and while he does like to get forward, again he hasn't given us any real success doing so.

Yesterday for me was also the first time this season that our whole midfield had a poor game. Dyer was the most effective but had a quiet game. Oakley, King and Mr Depenable Wellens were all terrible. Oakley's set pieces were woeful, considering the amount of corners we had we should have scored more than once.

Fryatt and Howard, no fault for either of them yesterday.

I'm starting to worry that we are being found out, a lot of teams have been closing us down well in the last few games and we haven't been able to play our normal game. And worryingly, so far, Pearson doesn't seem to have a Plan B.

Personally, I'd like us to drop one of Wellens/Oakley/King and play with a natural winger on the right. Oakley is not good enough to play on the right, he keeps drifting into a central position and leaving Neilson exposed. King has not impressed me with his defensive play particularly this season but he has scored some important goals and is a threat going forward.

I have to admit that I am worried for the next few matches, we have got some massive games coming up which will make or break our season and I can only wonder how long we can maintain our play off place with the current squad.