My take ...

[pommpey]

Another frustrating loss for us, this time to the team anchored at the foot of the table. Just let that sink in. A few weeks ago we were in an unassailable position, points clear and goals in hand and starting to think we'd piss this league. We were playing pleasing, positive, forward moving football and made teams fear us home and away. What could go wrong? Normally our return from the dreaded international break comes with a drop in form which slowly recovers, but this time the drop is a plummet. Two points from fifteen is actually relegation form and many teams around us have the notion we have bottled it and are easy to shut down and beat, and tonight's match was evidence of that. Yeah, yada-injuries-yada-unlucky-yada-fucking-yada. Again, we had a raft of ex Premier League players out there including some who have been in the Kotex Team of the Week for the past ten years. Big fucking deal. What matters to me is that we win, or at least we don't fucking lose. We nearly lost against Blackpool and very much lost tonight. Hecky has a team in crisis once again so yeah, nice bloke and all that but we have come full circle now, downward spiral with nowt much that looks like a glimmer of hope.

The first thirty five minutes were shockingly uninspirational. We looked badly assembled with no visible on pitch plan of attack and massive gaps between the forwards, midfield and backline. When we did venture forward we looked like we didn't know what to do with it in such high altitudes and McBurnie/N'Daiye once again ran their arses off feeding off scraps or digging out anything that looked like a chance. We barely got round the back or into space or looking like we were putting Coventry under undue pressure. Their keeper, splendidly kitted in white barely got his kit soiled, see also Davies at the other end. It was typically United. We lose RND to yet another fucking hamstring problem - this time it looks like a tear so we are talking February before he's back on the bench for twenty minutes - and the pretty abject Osborn left to deal with the muscular and imposing Dabo. It was like watching a chihuahua take on a mastiff. We ended the half 'okay' but still without anything to count for. Coventry simply 'dealt with us' and stopped us playing by containing any threat. And that disconnect between midfield and the front was so fucking evident. It was a passing line they just filled with bodies forcing the pattern into tippy-tappy tedium.

Second half we switched on and for ten minutes we looked a bit like earlier season United. Norwood hits the bar with a freaky free kick and McB strikes the post with N'Daiye forcing a save from a tight angle. Up the other end Coventry tried and as the game bled out Bash, who'd dealt with Goykyeres quite well up to that moment puts in a shocker of a tackle and up steps that man Waghorn, one of many people we play and fail to stop scoring, to slam in the penalty. Davies also managed a save which woke him up but going the other way - even with a clearly out of condition Fleck on the pitch, and Sharp on for Basham we looked toothless, pointless and ready to accept defeat. It was just what we deserved.

Davies 5/10: Practically fuck all to do but palm a shot away which seemed not to be going in and pick the ball out of the net after Waghorn's penalty
Baldock 6/10: Got up the flank well and pressed but the interplay between him, Doyle and Anel was flaky and untidy at times
Anel 7/10: a good outing for him. Shows composure on the ball and defends well. We'll be lucky to have him this time next year
Egan 6/10: He still plods and is somewhat static. Dealt with multiple threats tonight but that's not saying much. the Coventry front line wasn't quite the same as it was in March in the same fixture
Basham 4/10: Loses a good two marks for that tackle. Up to then I felt he had Goykyres pretty much muzzled but his judgement, pace and agility is fading. Bloke is a fucking legend, but its ashame to see him struggling
RND unmarked: I am appalled we have lost another player ... and such a key one this time ... to a common denominator injury. This is becoming beyond a joke now. The conditioning staff need to get their thumbs out of their arses and find out what the fuck is happening here with conditioning of physiology and pre-game preparation for this level of loading
Osborn 2/10: Struggling in LCM and struggling further in LWB. He puts shitloads of energy into doing and creating fucking nothing. Improved marginally in the second half but not by much. Osborn to me is a L1 or below standard player in a league well above his capability. He'd do well in the Scottish Leagues where that level of energetic fuck-all-ness is like fucking catnip to the sweary kilted hoardes. He's today's Stefan Scougall or Ryan Flynn.
McAtee 4/10: Largely ineffective and still showing signs of 'boy in man's league' levels of return
Norwood 6/10: Some good, some bad. There were times when you were willing him along to play that pass, make that challenge and then you're saying 'Fuck's sake Norwood' as he telegraphs or dawdles and gets robbed. But he's always done that and got in the Team of the Week or Ballon D'Or or summat. I don't care. As people say 'when he plays good, we play good. When he plays bad, we play bad'. So he's inconsistent, then? Tonight he was characteristically both. Managed his trademark row Z attempt on goal.
Doyle 6.5/10: Does a hell of a lot of unmerited heavy lifting in that midfield for such a young lad. Undeservedly subbed for Fleck.
N'Daiye 6/10: Busied himself trying to create and dig stuff out of the turf. But like always, he gets the ball when he shouldn't, twists past one, drops the shoulder past another and goes past yet another and is into space with options. He's the only person capable of doing this in our squad because Basham doesn't any more. But then he's greedy and tries to beat two more and suddenly a good attacking chance is over.
McBurnie 7.5/10: A good performance from him in a game of few chances. unlucky with the post hit and didn't shithouse. Ran his socks off and looked a lot fitter and 90 minutes capable. Just needs to stay out of trouble.

Fleck 4/10: Barely saw him and for me a stupid substitution.
Sharp 5/10: Tried to muck in and get busy but it was all over by then

HJ&SMcC 4/10: Poor substitutions. Robinson on the bench as a practical direct sub for RND or Bash out wide left and he leaves Osborn on to struggle like fuck for 90 and get nothing. Khadra unused despite recent performances and Brewster too. Brings Fleck on. What the actual fuck?

Just as an aside, I am a bit sick of the 'we'll make the playoffs' mentality now. We know what happens in the playoffs, so for me we should be demanding automatic. We have ex-PL players in the team and should, if we have the ambition and yearning for success we ought to have, be seeing players out there performing like PL players if we ever dream of playing there. How much of tonight's - or the past month's performances - say 'Premier League'? How many players in that team tonight would you actually say would put in a night of grit and endeavour under the floodlights in front of the Sky Cameras against say Everton, Brighton of Leicester City? If its 'all of them' I'd say you're fucking deluded. We'd get fucking hammered. If it's two, we'd possibly scrape the playoffs. If it's 'none', then we are where we are, sliding down the league into mid-table mediocrity after a great start to the season. And other results haven't half been favourable to us of late. We are now a loss against Norwich and some not so favourable results on Saturday from ending up ninth or tenth. Hoist that in.

pommpey

 

[pommpey]

Another frustrating loss for us, this time to the team anchored at the foot of the table. Just let that sink in. A few weeks ago we were in an unassailable position, points clear and goals in hand and starting to think we'd piss this league. We were playing pleasing, positive, forward moving football and made teams fear us home and away. What could go wrong? Normally our return from the dreaded international break comes with a drop in form which slowly recovers, but this time the drop is a plummet. Two points from fifteen is actually relegation form and many teams around us have the notion we have bottled it and are easy to shut down and beat, and tonight's match was evidence of that. Yeah, yada-injuries-yada-unlucky-yada-fucking-yada. Again, we had a raft of ex Premier League players out there including some who have been in the Kotex Team of the Week for the past ten years. Big fucking deal. What matters to me is that we win, or at least we don't fucking lose. We nearly lost against Blackpool and very much lost tonight. Hecky has a team in crisis once again so yeah, nice bloke and all that but we have come full circle now, downward spiral with nowt much that looks like a glimmer of hope.

The first thirty five minutes were shockingly uninspirational. We looked badly assembled with no visible on pitch plan of attack and massive gaps between the forwards, midfield and backline. When we did venture forward we looked like we didn't know what to do with it in such high altitudes and McBurnie/N'Daiye once again ran their arses off feeding off scraps or digging out anything that looked like a chance. We barely got round the back or into space or looking like we were putting Coventry under undue pressure. Their keeper, splendidly kitted in white barely got his kit soiled, see also Davies at the other end. It was typically United. We lose RND to yet another fucking hamstring problem - this time it looks like a tear so we are talking February before he's back on the bench for twenty minutes - and the pretty abject Osborn left to deal with the muscular and imposing Dabo. It was like watching a chihuahua take on a mastiff. We ended the half 'okay' but still without anything to count for. Coventry simply 'dealt with us' and stopped us playing by containing any threat. And that disconnect between midfield and the front was so fucking evident. It was a passing line they just filled with bodies forcing the pattern into tippy-tappy tedium.

Second half we switched on and for ten minutes we looked a bit like earlier season United. Norwood hits the bar with a freaky free kick and McB strikes the post with N'Daiye forcing a save from a tight angle. Up the other end Coventry tried and as the game bled out Bash, who'd dealt with Goykyeres quite well up to that moment puts in a shocker of a tackle and up steps that man Waghorn, one of many people we play and fail to stop scoring, to slam in the penalty. Davies also managed a save which woke him up but going the other way - even with a clearly out of condition Fleck on the pitch, and Sharp on for Basham we looked toothless, pointless and ready to accept defeat. It was just what we deserved.

Davies 5/10: Practically fuck all to do but palm a shot away which seemed not to be going in and pick the ball out of the net after Waghorn's penalty
Baldock 6/10: Got up the flank well and pressed but the interplay between him, Doyle and Anel was flaky and untidy at times
Anel 7/10: a good outing for him. Shows composure on the ball and defends well. We'll be lucky to have him this time next year
Egan 6/10: He still plods and is somewhat static. Dealt with multiple threats tonight but that's not saying much. the Coventry front line wasn't quite the same as it was in March in the same fixture
Basham 4/10: Loses a good two marks for that tackle. Up to then I felt he had Goykyres pretty much muzzled but his judgement, pace and agility is fading. Bloke is a fucking legend, but its ashame to see him struggling
RND unmarked: I am appalled we have lost another player ... and such a key one this time ... to a common denominator injury. This is becoming beyond a joke now. The conditioning staff need to get their thumbs out of their arses and find out what the fuck is happening here with conditioning of physiology and pre-game preparation for this level of loading
Osborn 2/10: Struggling in LCM and struggling further in LWB. He puts shitloads of energy into doing and creating fucking nothing. Improved marginally in the second half but not by much. Osborn to me is a L1 or below standard player in a league well above his capability. He'd do well in the Scottish Leagues where that level of energetic fuck-all-ness is like fucking catnip to the sweary kilted hoardes. He's today's Stefan Scougall or Ryan Flynn.
McAtee 4/10: Largely ineffective and still showing signs of 'boy in man's league' levels of return
Norwood 6/10: Some good, some bad. There were times when you were willing him along to play that pass, make that challenge and then you're saying 'Fuck's sake Norwood' as he telegraphs or dawdles and gets robbed. But he's always done that and got in the Team of the Week or Ballon D'Or or summat. I don't care. As people say 'when he plays good, we play good. When he plays bad, we play bad'. So he's inconsistent, then? Tonight he was characteristically both. Managed his trademark row Z attempt on goal.
Doyle 6.5/10: Does a hell of a lot of unmerited heavy lifting in that midfield for such a young lad. Undeservedly subbed for Fleck.
N'Daiye 6/10: Busied himself trying to create and dig stuff out of the turf. But like always, he gets the ball when he shouldn't, twists past one, drops the shoulder past another and goes past yet another and is into space with options. He's the only person capable of doing this in our squad because Basham doesn't any more. But then he's greedy and tries to beat two more and suddenly a good attacking chance is over.
McBurnie 7.5/10: A good performance from him in a game of few chances. unlucky with the post hit and didn't shithouse. Ran his socks off and looked a lot fitter and 90 minutes capable. Just needs to stay out of trouble.

Fleck 4/10: Barely saw him and for me a stupid substitution.
Sharp 5/10: Tried to muck in and get busy but it was all over by then

HJ&SMcC 4/10: Poor substitutions. Robinson on the bench as a practical direct sub for RND or Bash out wide left and he leaves Osborn on to struggle like fuck for 90 and get nothing. Khadra unused despite recent performances and Brewster too. Brings Fleck on. What the actual fuck?

Just as an aside, I am a bit sick of the 'we'll make the playoffs' mentality now. We know what happens in the playoffs, so for me we should be demanding automatic. We have ex-PL players in the team and should, if we have the ambition and yearning for success we ought to have, be seeing players out there performing like PL players if we ever dream of playing there. How much of tonight's - or the past month's performances - say 'Premier League'? How many players in that team tonight would you actually say would put in a night of grit and endeavour under the floodlights in front of the Sky Cameras against say Everton, Brighton of Leicester City? If its 'all of them' I'd say you're fucking deluded. We'd get fucking hammered. If it's two, we'd possibly scrape the playoffs. If it's 'none', then we are where we are, sliding down the league into mid-table mediocrity after a great start to the season. And other results haven't half been favourable to us of late. We are now a loss against Norwich and some not so favourable results on Saturday from ending up ninth or tenth. Hoist that in.

pommpey

First

pommpey

 

[Champagneblade]

Good Post pommpey

Tend to agree.

It's all turning into a bit of a cluster isn't it?

I think relegation form is a generous description. We're in Derby County, Norwich City in the PL type form.

Relegation form of 1 point per game since the break and we'd still be top!

 

[jono_t2000]

Cheers pommpey as always.

At the moment when the going gets tough, its quickly give the ball to someone else to do something with and pass the buck.

Worryingly we've seen this before and know how bad things can get if the rot starts to set in.

 

[Keen Blade]

The bigger picture is that the whole fuckin ship is listing badly.
We are floating along on parachute payments with some highly paid underperformers just frigging in the rigging for a nice weekly wedge.
The 18 at our disposal should have won that if they had an ounce of nouse.
But Captain Hecky is asleep at the helm.
Sharp to start on Saturday ?
Osborn as LWB when JLT on bench ?
In fact , Osborn anywhere ?
Brings on Fleck , leaving Brewster & Khadra on bench ?
The way we play we look clueless + unmotivated - both are firmly PH responsibility.
Can you ever imagine him getting a Harry Bassett grip of this bunch to stop the slide ?
And his interview tonight was delusional.
And he's here for 5 years coz the Board have told him - results don't matter !
What as feckin prospect.
Anel , Ndiaye & Berge get picked off in January but no worries coz we can then afford to renovate the hotel.
Sorry to share my nightmare , but I just don't see any fire in his belly or cohesive fight in the 11 he sends out.
I don't want to hear about injuries , I want to see 11 blokes with a plan.

 

[JJ Sefton]

Crap game. They were crap, we were about as crap, not a hugely unfair result.

 

[Sheff de party]

Another frustrating loss for us, this time to the team anchored at the foot of the table. Just let that sink in. A few weeks ago we were in an unassailable position, points clear and goals in hand and starting to think we'd piss this league. We were playing pleasing, positive, forward moving football and made teams fear us home and away. What could go wrong? Normally our return from the dreaded international break comes with a drop in form which slowly recovers, but this time the drop is a plummet. Two points from fifteen is actually relegation form and many teams around us have the notion we have bottled it and are easy to shut down and beat, and tonight's match was evidence of that. Yeah, yada-injuries-yada-unlucky-yada-fucking-yada. Again, we had a raft of ex Premier League players out there including some who have been in the Kotex Team of the Week for the past ten years. Big fucking deal. What matters to me is that we win, or at least we don't fucking lose. We nearly lost against Blackpool and very much lost tonight. Hecky has a team in crisis once again so yeah, nice bloke and all that but we have come full circle now, downward spiral with nowt much that looks like a glimmer of hope.

The first thirty five minutes were shockingly uninspirational. We looked badly assembled with no visible on pitch plan of attack and massive gaps between the forwards, midfield and backline. When we did venture forward we looked like we didn't know what to do with it in such high altitudes and McBurnie/N'Daiye once again ran their arses off feeding off scraps or digging out anything that looked like a chance. We barely got round the back or into space or looking like we were putting Coventry under undue pressure. Their keeper, splendidly kitted in white barely got his kit soiled, see also Davies at the other end. It was typically United. We lose RND to yet another fucking hamstring problem - this time it looks like a tear so we are talking February before he's back on the bench for twenty minutes - and the pretty abject Osborn left to deal with the muscular and imposing Dabo. It was like watching a chihuahua take on a mastiff. We ended the half 'okay' but still without anything to count for. Coventry simply 'dealt with us' and stopped us playing by containing any threat. And that disconnect between midfield and the front was so fucking evident. It was a passing line they just filled with bodies forcing the pattern into tippy-tappy tedium.

Second half we switched on and for ten minutes we looked a bit like earlier season United. Norwood hits the bar with a freaky free kick and McB strikes the post with N'Daiye forcing a save from a tight angle. Up the other end Coventry tried and as the game bled out Bash, who'd dealt with Goykyeres quite well up to that moment puts in a shocker of a tackle and up steps that man Waghorn, one of many people we play and fail to stop scoring, to slam in the penalty. Davies also managed a save which woke him up but going the other way - even with a clearly out of condition Fleck on the pitch, and Sharp on for Basham we looked toothless, pointless and ready to accept defeat. It was just what we deserved.

Davies 5/10: Practically fuck all to do but palm a shot away which seemed not to be going in and pick the ball out of the net after Waghorn's penalty
Baldock 6/10: Got up the flank well and pressed but the interplay between him, Doyle and Anel was flaky and untidy at times
Anel 7/10: a good outing for him. Shows composure on the ball and defends well. We'll be lucky to have him this time next year
Egan 6/10: He still plods and is somewhat static. Dealt with multiple threats tonight but that's not saying much. the Coventry front line wasn't quite the same as it was in March in the same fixture
Basham 4/10: Loses a good two marks for that tackle. Up to then I felt he had Goykyres pretty much muzzled but his judgement, pace and agility is fading. Bloke is a fucking legend, but its ashame to see him struggling
RND unmarked: I am appalled we have lost another player ... and such a key one this time ... to a common denominator injury. This is becoming beyond a joke now. The conditioning staff need to get their thumbs out of their arses and find out what the fuck is happening here with conditioning of physiology and pre-game preparation for this level of loading
Osborn 2/10: Struggling in LCM and struggling further in LWB. He puts shitloads of energy into doing and creating fucking nothing. Improved marginally in the second half but not by much. Osborn to me is a L1 or below standard player in a league well above his capability. He'd do well in the Scottish Leagues where that level of energetic fuck-all-ness is like fucking catnip to the sweary kilted hoardes. He's today's Stefan Scougall or Ryan Flynn.
McAtee 4/10: Largely ineffective and still showing signs of 'boy in man's league' levels of return
Norwood 6/10: Some good, some bad. There were times when you were willing him along to play that pass, make that challenge and then you're saying 'Fuck's sake Norwood' as he telegraphs or dawdles and gets robbed. But he's always done that and got in the Team of the Week or Ballon D'Or or summat. I don't care. As people say 'when he plays good, we play good. When he plays bad, we play bad'. So he's inconsistent, then? Tonight he was characteristically both. Managed his trademark row Z attempt on goal.
Doyle 6.5/10: Does a hell of a lot of unmerited heavy lifting in that midfield for such a young lad. Undeservedly subbed for Fleck.
N'Daiye 6/10: Busied himself trying to create and dig stuff out of the turf. But like always, he gets the ball when he shouldn't, twists past one, drops the shoulder past another and goes past yet another and is into space with options. He's the only person capable of doing this in our squad because Basham doesn't any more. But then he's greedy and tries to beat two more and suddenly a good attacking chance is over.
McBurnie 7.5/10: A good performance from him in a game of few chances. unlucky with the post hit and didn't shithouse. Ran his socks off and looked a lot fitter and 90 minutes capable. Just needs to stay out of trouble.

Fleck 4/10: Barely saw him and for me a stupid substitution.
Sharp 5/10: Tried to muck in and get busy but it was all over by then

HJ&SMcC 4/10: Poor substitutions. Robinson on the bench as a practical direct sub for RND or Bash out wide left and he leaves Osborn on to struggle like fuck for 90 and get nothing. Khadra unused despite recent performances and Brewster too. Brings Fleck on. What the actual fuck?

Just as an aside, I am a bit sick of the 'we'll make the playoffs' mentality now. We know what happens in the playoffs, so for me we should be demanding automatic. We have ex-PL players in the team and should, if we have the ambition and yearning for success we ought to have, be seeing players out there performing like PL players if we ever dream of playing there. How much of tonight's - or the past month's performances - say 'Premier League'? How many players in that team tonight would you actually say would put in a night of grit and endeavour under the floodlights in front of the Sky Cameras against say Everton, Brighton of Leicester City? If its 'all of them' I'd say you're fucking deluded. We'd get fucking hammered. If it's two, we'd possibly scrape the playoffs. If it's 'none', then we are where we are, sliding down the league into mid-table mediocrity after a great start to the season. And other results haven't half been favourable to us of late. We are now a loss against Norwich and some not so favourable results on Saturday from ending up ninth or tenth. Hoist that in.

pommpey

Just stop watching if you hate it that much.

Or I’ll stop reading

 

[ChipButtyBlade]

Basham seems to have a costly error in him lately.

 

[Keen Blade]

Crap game. They were crap, we were about as crap, not a hugely unfair result.

But losing having hardly laid a glove on them is just embarrassing - abject game management to leave attacking options on the bench if you have the desire to win.

 

[Charlieblade]

Despite poor substitutions, the side looked a bit tired and disjointed at times. pommpey does not want to hear about injuries, fair enough.

If you were PH would it be a good idea to walk away from the squad, and let them figure it out for themselves. They are all well paid talented individuals, just looking a bit tired. If it’s not them compensating for injuries, they must be overtraining?

Not quibbling about your player scores or the subs. I’m blaming the players!

 

[FinBlade]

Are we going to return to the good old Norwood/Fleck combo that caused us lots of troubles earlier? Would suit Heckys way to do things. In that case I'm starting to feel bad about this season, even tho I don't like to be too pessimistic in overal.

 

[Melbourne Blade]

Interviewer asked Hecky if we should have played more positively and pressed higher and use wing backs and be got a bit narky and disagreed.

Don't think Bakdock put a cross in all game did he? He can't cross anyway but still

 

[Rufus Smalls]

Very accurate assessment Pommps. Bringing Fleck on straight after an injury to try and salvage something from the game was bizarre. It was crying out for some pace up front to help Ndiaye and Ollie out for the last 20 minutes.

 

[Sean Thornton]

Another frustrating loss for us, this time to the team anchored at the foot of the table. Just let that sink in. A few weeks ago we were in an unassailable position, points clear and goals in hand and starting to think we'd piss this league. We were playing pleasing, positive, forward moving football and made teams fear us home and away. What could go wrong? Normally our return from the dreaded international break comes with a drop in form which slowly recovers, but this time the drop is a plummet. Two points from fifteen is actually relegation form and many teams around us have the notion we have bottled it and are easy to shut down and beat, and tonight's match was evidence of that. Yeah, yada-injuries-yada-unlucky-yada-fucking-yada. Again, we had a raft of ex Premier League players out there including some who have been in the Kotex Team of the Week for the past ten years. Big fucking deal. What matters to me is that we win, or at least we don't fucking lose. We nearly lost against Blackpool and very much lost tonight. Hecky has a team in crisis once again so yeah, nice bloke and all that but we have come full circle now, downward spiral with nowt much that looks like a glimmer of hope.

The first thirty five minutes were shockingly uninspirational. We looked badly assembled with no visible on pitch plan of attack and massive gaps between the forwards, midfield and backline. When we did venture forward we looked like we didn't know what to do with it in such high altitudes and McBurnie/N'Daiye once again ran their arses off feeding off scraps or digging out anything that looked like a chance. We barely got round the back or into space or looking like we were putting Coventry under undue pressure. Their keeper, splendidly kitted in white barely got his kit soiled, see also Davies at the other end. It was typically United. We lose RND to yet another fucking hamstring problem - this time it looks like a tear so we are talking February before he's back on the bench for twenty minutes - and the pretty abject Osborn left to deal with the muscular and imposing Dabo. It was like watching a chihuahua take on a mastiff. We ended the half 'okay' but still without anything to count for. Coventry simply 'dealt with us' and stopped us playing by containing any threat. And that disconnect between midfield and the front was so fucking evident. It was a passing line they just filled with bodies forcing the pattern into tippy-tappy tedium.

Second half we switched on and for ten minutes we looked a bit like earlier season United. Norwood hits the bar with a freaky free kick and McB strikes the post with N'Daiye forcing a save from a tight angle. Up the other end Coventry tried and as the game bled out Bash, who'd dealt with Goykyeres quite well up to that moment puts in a shocker of a tackle and up steps that man Waghorn, one of many people we play and fail to stop scoring, to slam in the penalty. Davies also managed a save which woke him up but going the other way - even with a clearly out of condition Fleck on the pitch, and Sharp on for Basham we looked toothless, pointless and ready to accept defeat. It was just what we deserved.

Davies 5/10: Practically fuck all to do but palm a shot away which seemed not to be going in and pick the ball out of the net after Waghorn's penalty
Baldock 6/10: Got up the flank well and pressed but the interplay between him, Doyle and Anel was flaky and untidy at times
Anel 7/10: a good outing for him. Shows composure on the ball and defends well. We'll be lucky to have him this time next year
Egan 6/10: He still plods and is somewhat static. Dealt with multiple threats tonight but that's not saying much. the Coventry front line wasn't quite the same as it was in March in the same fixture
Basham 4/10: Loses a good two marks for that tackle. Up to then I felt he had Goykyres pretty much muzzled but his judgement, pace and agility is fading. Bloke is a fucking legend, but its ashame to see him struggling
RND unmarked: I am appalled we have lost another player ... and such a key one this time ... to a common denominator injury. This is becoming beyond a joke now. The conditioning staff need to get their thumbs out of their arses and find out what the fuck is happening here with conditioning of physiology and pre-game preparation for this level of loading
Osborn 2/10: Struggling in LCM and struggling further in LWB. He puts shitloads of energy into doing and creating fucking nothing. Improved marginally in the second half but not by much. Osborn to me is a L1 or below standard player in a league well above his capability. He'd do well in the Scottish Leagues where that level of energetic fuck-all-ness is like fucking catnip to the sweary kilted hoardes. He's today's Stefan Scougall or Ryan Flynn.
McAtee 4/10: Largely ineffective and still showing signs of 'boy in man's league' levels of return
Norwood 6/10: Some good, some bad. There were times when you were willing him along to play that pass, make that challenge and then you're saying 'Fuck's sake Norwood' as he telegraphs or dawdles and gets robbed. But he's always done that and got in the Team of the Week or Ballon D'Or or summat. I don't care. As people say 'when he plays good, we play good. When he plays bad, we play bad'. So he's inconsistent, then? Tonight he was characteristically both. Managed his trademark row Z attempt on goal.
Doyle 6.5/10: Does a hell of a lot of unmerited heavy lifting in that midfield for such a young lad. Undeservedly subbed for Fleck.
N'Daiye 6/10: Busied himself trying to create and dig stuff out of the turf. But like always, he gets the ball when he shouldn't, twists past one, drops the shoulder past another and goes past yet another and is into space with options. He's the only person capable of doing this in our squad because Basham doesn't any more. But then he's greedy and tries to beat two more and suddenly a good attacking chance is over.
McBurnie 7.5/10: A good performance from him in a game of few chances. unlucky with the post hit and didn't shithouse. Ran his socks off and looked a lot fitter and 90 minutes capable. Just needs to stay out of trouble.

Fleck 4/10: Barely saw him and for me a stupid substitution.
Sharp 5/10: Tried to muck in and get busy but it was all over by then

HJ&SMcC 4/10: Poor substitutions. Robinson on the bench as a practical direct sub for RND or Bash out wide left and he leaves Osborn on to struggle like fuck for 90 and get nothing. Khadra unused despite recent performances and Brewster too. Brings Fleck on. What the actual fuck?

Just as an aside, I am a bit sick of the 'we'll make the playoffs' mentality now. We know what happens in the playoffs, so for me we should be demanding automatic. We have ex-PL players in the team and should, if we have the ambition and yearning for success we ought to have, be seeing players out there performing like PL players if we ever dream of playing there. How much of tonight's - or the past month's performances - say 'Premier League'? How many players in that team tonight would you actually say would put in a night of grit and endeavour under the floodlights in front of the Sky Cameras against say Everton, Brighton of Leicester City? If its 'all of them' I'd say you're fucking deluded. We'd get fucking hammered. If it's two, we'd possibly scrape the playoffs. If it's 'none', then we are where we are, sliding down the league into mid-table mediocrity after a great start to the season. And other results haven't half been favourable to us of late. We are now a loss against Norwich and some not so favourable results on Saturday from ending up ninth or tenth. Hoist that in.

pommpey

Just -1 off Norwood otherwise bang on for me.

 

[Crackers]

Thanks Pommpey. Can’t be much fun dissecting this shitshow game after game.

 

[Digger]

Good summary but I think your marks are a little bit generous.
Oh, and Osborn is not as good as Scougall or Flynn. They (occasionally) had an end product.

 

[RecordBreakers]

The bigger picture is that the whole fuckin ship is listing badly.
We are floating along on parachute payments with some highly paid underperformers just frigging in the rigging for a nice weekly wedge.
The 18 at our disposal should have won that if they had an ounce of nouse.
But Captain Hecky is asleep at the helm.
Sharp to start on Saturday ?
Osborn as LWB when JLT on bench ?
In fact , Osborn anywhere ?
Brings on Fleck , leaving Brewster & Khadra on bench ?
The way we play we look clueless + unmotivated - both are firmly PH responsibility.
Can you ever imagine him getting a Harry Bassett grip of this bunch to stop the slide ?
And his interview tonight was delusional.
And he's here for 5 years coz the Board have told him - results don't matter !
What as feckin prospect.
Anel , Ndiaye & Berge get picked off in January but no worries coz we can then afford to renovate the hotel.
Sorry to share my nightmare , but I just don't see any fire in his belly or cohesive fight in the 11 he sends out.
I don't want to hear about injuries , I want to see 11 blokes with a plan.

Hes a poor man's wilder and its coming to fruition, he's clueless just carry on with the same shit hoping some miracle will happen. Our performances have been shite since Hull away and now we're being found out and hecky has no clue what to do.

 

[ATL Recs]

Another frustrating loss for us, this time to the team anchored at the foot of the table. Just let that sink in. A few weeks ago we were in an unassailable position, points clear and goals in hand and starting to think we'd piss this league. We were playing pleasing, positive, forward moving football and made teams fear us home and away. What could go wrong? Normally our return from the dreaded international break comes with a drop in form which slowly recovers, but this time the drop is a plummet. Two points from fifteen is actually relegation form and many teams around us have the notion we have bottled it and are easy to shut down and beat, and tonight's match was evidence of that. Yeah, yada-injuries-yada-unlucky-yada-fucking-yada. Again, we had a raft of ex Premier League players out there including some who have been in the Kotex Team of the Week for the past ten years. Big fucking deal. What matters to me is that we win, or at least we don't fucking lose. We nearly lost against Blackpool and very much lost tonight. Hecky has a team in crisis once again so yeah, nice bloke and all that but we have come full circle now, downward spiral with nowt much that looks like a glimmer of hope.

The first thirty five minutes were shockingly uninspirational. We looked badly assembled with no visible on pitch plan of attack and massive gaps between the forwards, midfield and backline. When we did venture forward we looked like we didn't know what to do with it in such high altitudes and McBurnie/N'Daiye once again ran their arses off feeding off scraps or digging out anything that looked like a chance. We barely got round the back or into space or looking like we were putting Coventry under undue pressure. Their keeper, splendidly kitted in white barely got his kit soiled, see also Davies at the other end. It was typically United. We lose RND to yet another fucking hamstring problem - this time it looks like a tear so we are talking February before he's back on the bench for twenty minutes - and the pretty abject Osborn left to deal with the muscular and imposing Dabo. It was like watching a chihuahua take on a mastiff. We ended the half 'okay' but still without anything to count for. Coventry simply 'dealt with us' and stopped us playing by containing any threat. And that disconnect between midfield and the front was so fucking evident. It was a passing line they just filled with bodies forcing the pattern into tippy-tappy tedium.

Second half we switched on and for ten minutes we looked a bit like earlier season United. Norwood hits the bar with a freaky free kick and McB strikes the post with N'Daiye forcing a save from a tight angle. Up the other end Coventry tried and as the game bled out Bash, who'd dealt with Goykyeres quite well up to that moment puts in a shocker of a tackle and up steps that man Waghorn, one of many people we play and fail to stop scoring, to slam in the penalty. Davies also managed a save which woke him up but going the other way - even with a clearly out of condition Fleck on the pitch, and Sharp on for Basham we looked toothless, pointless and ready to accept defeat. It was just what we deserved.

Davies 5/10: Practically fuck all to do but palm a shot away which seemed not to be going in and pick the ball out of the net after Waghorn's penalty
Baldock 6/10: Got up the flank well and pressed but the interplay between him, Doyle and Anel was flaky and untidy at times
Anel 7/10: a good outing for him. Shows composure on the ball and defends well. We'll be lucky to have him this time next year
Egan 6/10: He still plods and is somewhat static. Dealt with multiple threats tonight but that's not saying much. the Coventry front line wasn't quite the same as it was in March in the same fixture
Basham 4/10: Loses a good two marks for that tackle. Up to then I felt he had Goykyres pretty much muzzled but his judgement, pace and agility is fading. Bloke is a fucking legend, but its ashame to see him struggling
RND unmarked: I am appalled we have lost another player ... and such a key one this time ... to a common denominator injury. This is becoming beyond a joke now. The conditioning staff need to get their thumbs out of their arses and find out what the fuck is happening here with conditioning of physiology and pre-game preparation for this level of loading
Osborn 2/10: Struggling in LCM and struggling further in LWB. He puts shitloads of energy into doing and creating fucking nothing. Improved marginally in the second half but not by much. Osborn to me is a L1 or below standard player in a league well above his capability. He'd do well in the Scottish Leagues where that level of energetic fuck-all-ness is like fucking catnip to the sweary kilted hoardes. He's today's Stefan Scougall or Ryan Flynn.
McAtee 4/10: Largely ineffective and still showing signs of 'boy in man's league' levels of return
Norwood 6/10: Some good, some bad. There were times when you were willing him along to play that pass, make that challenge and then you're saying 'Fuck's sake Norwood' as he telegraphs or dawdles and gets robbed. But he's always done that and got in the Team of the Week or Ballon D'Or or summat. I don't care. As people say 'when he plays good, we play good. When he plays bad, we play bad'. So he's inconsistent, then? Tonight he was characteristically both. Managed his trademark row Z attempt on goal.
Doyle 6.5/10: Does a hell of a lot of unmerited heavy lifting in that midfield for such a young lad. Undeservedly subbed for Fleck.
N'Daiye 6/10: Busied himself trying to create and dig stuff out of the turf. But like always, he gets the ball when he shouldn't, twists past one, drops the shoulder past another and goes past yet another and is into space with options. He's the only person capable of doing this in our squad because Basham doesn't any more. But then he's greedy and tries to beat two more and suddenly a good attacking chance is over.
McBurnie 7.5/10: A good performance from him in a game of few chances. unlucky with the post hit and didn't shithouse. Ran his socks off and looked a lot fitter and 90 minutes capable. Just needs to stay out of trouble.

Fleck 4/10: Barely saw him and for me a stupid substitution.
Sharp 5/10: Tried to muck in and get busy but it was all over by then

HJ&SMcC 4/10: Poor substitutions. Robinson on the bench as a practical direct sub for RND or Bash out wide left and he leaves Osborn on to struggle like fuck for 90 and get nothing. Khadra unused despite recent performances and Brewster too. Brings Fleck on. What the actual fuck?

Just as an aside, I am a bit sick of the 'we'll make the playoffs' mentality now. We know what happens in the playoffs, so for me we should be demanding automatic. We have ex-PL players in the team and should, if we have the ambition and yearning for success we ought to have, be seeing players out there performing like PL players if we ever dream of playing there. How much of tonight's - or the past month's performances - say 'Premier League'? How many players in that team tonight would you actually say would put in a night of grit and endeavour under the floodlights in front of the Sky Cameras against say Everton, Brighton of Leicester City? If its 'all of them' I'd say you're fucking deluded. We'd get fucking hammered. If it's two, we'd possibly scrape the playoffs. If it's 'none', then we are where we are, sliding down the league into mid-table mediocrity after a great start to the season. And other results haven't half been favourable to us of late. We are now a loss against Norwich and some not so favourable results on Saturday from ending up ninth or tenth. Hoist that in.

pommpey

We’ve been average At best all season and last season away punchy -

 

[metalblade]

Just stop watching if you hate it that much.

Or I’ll stop reading

Yeah do us all a favour and stop reading.

 

[Wards]

Doyle, Ndiaye and McBurnie were playing them on their own at times. In particular I thought Ndiaye was good, exceptional at times - shame he had to come so deep to do his best work. Certainly better than a 6/10 though.

I'm still fucking fuming at Basham. As soon as he realised it was Gyokres he shit himself and had some sort of full body aneurysm. Pathetic challenge.

 

[71Blade]

I'd swap the marks for McBurnie and Ndiaye also feel a 6 for Baldock is a bit high that said great read as always cheers UTB

 

[Bell4]

The bigger picture is that the whole fuckin ship is listing badly.
We are floating along on parachute payments with some highly paid underperformers just frigging in the rigging for a nice weekly wedge.
The 18 at our disposal should have won that if they had an ounce of nouse.
But Captain Hecky is asleep at the helm.
Sharp to start on Saturday ?
Osborn as LWB when JLT on bench ?
In fact , Osborn anywhere ?
Brings on Fleck , leaving Brewster & Khadra on bench ?
The way we play we look clueless + unmotivated - both are firmly PH responsibility.
Can you ever imagine him getting a Harry Bassett grip of this bunch to stop the slide ?
And his interview tonight was delusional.
And he's here for 5 years coz the Board have told him - results don't matter !
What as feckin prospect.
Anel , Ndiaye & Berge get picked off in January but no worries coz we can then afford to renovate the hotel.
Sorry to share my nightmare , but I just don't see any fire in his belly or cohesive fight in the 11 he sends out.
I don't want to hear about injuries , I want to see 11 blokes with a plan.

Spot on

 

[John Street West Terrace]

Couldn’t agree more Pomp’s our demise in recent weeks has been shocking , yes there’s injuries but there’s still more than enough quality in that squad to be doing a lot better . The first half was absolutely fkg dire , no shape , creativity or playing pattern ..totally lacked any sort of cohesion whatsoever .. we looked like 11 strangers thrown in together . Second half more endeavour but little quality in the last third where it matters , though McBurnie was very unlucky with his effort .
At that point I’m still thinking it’s a points dropped against by far and away the worst side we’ve played to date .. and then Bash makes an absolute hair brain of a challenge & we’re returning with fuck all . They didn’t even have a shot on target until the pen .
It’s as though the confidence has been drained out of them and were in a rut now with some tough games leading up to the WC break .
Beginning to wonder why in fucks name we signed Khadra and either never play him or give him a 10 min cameo as a wing back !! Completely out of his natural position which is behind the front 2 in the old Duffy role where he was very effective last season . Christ on a bike if there was a game when we needed something different in the last third in was last night .. but no we’ll give Fleck a run out ???

 

[metalblade]

Another frustrating loss for us, this time to the team anchored at the foot of the table. Just let that sink in. A few weeks ago we were in an unassailable position, points clear and goals in hand and starting to think we'd piss this league. We were playing pleasing, positive, forward moving football and made teams fear us home and away. What could go wrong? Normally our return from the dreaded international break comes with a drop in form which slowly recovers, but this time the drop is a plummet. Two points from fifteen is actually relegation form and many teams around us have the notion we have bottled it and are easy to shut down and beat, and tonight's match was evidence of that. Yeah, yada-injuries-yada-unlucky-yada-fucking-yada. Again, we had a raft of ex Premier League players out there including some who have been in the Kotex Team of the Week for the past ten years. Big fucking deal. What matters to me is that we win, or at least we don't fucking lose. We nearly lost against Blackpool and very much lost tonight. Hecky has a team in crisis once again so yeah, nice bloke and all that but we have come full circle now, downward spiral with nowt much that looks like a glimmer of hope.

The first thirty five minutes were shockingly uninspirational. We looked badly assembled with no visible on pitch plan of attack and massive gaps between the forwards, midfield and backline. When we did venture forward we looked like we didn't know what to do with it in such high altitudes and McBurnie/N'Daiye once again ran their arses off feeding off scraps or digging out anything that looked like a chance. We barely got round the back or into space or looking like we were putting Coventry under undue pressure. Their keeper, splendidly kitted in white barely got his kit soiled, see also Davies at the other end. It was typically United. We lose RND to yet another fucking hamstring problem - this time it looks like a tear so we are talking February before he's back on the bench for twenty minutes - and the pretty abject Osborn left to deal with the muscular and imposing Dabo. It was like watching a chihuahua take on a mastiff. We ended the half 'okay' but still without anything to count for. Coventry simply 'dealt with us' and stopped us playing by containing any threat. And that disconnect between midfield and the front was so fucking evident. It was a passing line they just filled with bodies forcing the pattern into tippy-tappy tedium.

Second half we switched on and for ten minutes we looked a bit like earlier season United. Norwood hits the bar with a freaky free kick and McB strikes the post with N'Daiye forcing a save from a tight angle. Up the other end Coventry tried and as the game bled out Bash, who'd dealt with Goykyeres quite well up to that moment puts in a shocker of a tackle and up steps that man Waghorn, one of many people we play and fail to stop scoring, to slam in the penalty. Davies also managed a save which woke him up but going the other way - even with a clearly out of condition Fleck on the pitch, and Sharp on for Basham we looked toothless, pointless and ready to accept defeat. It was just what we deserved.

Davies 5/10: Practically fuck all to do but palm a shot away which seemed not to be going in and pick the ball out of the net after Waghorn's penalty
Baldock 6/10: Got up the flank well and pressed but the interplay between him, Doyle and Anel was flaky and untidy at times
Anel 7/10: a good outing for him. Shows composure on the ball and defends well. We'll be lucky to have him this time next year
Egan 6/10: He still plods and is somewhat static. Dealt with multiple threats tonight but that's not saying much. the Coventry front line wasn't quite the same as it was in March in the same fixture
Basham 4/10: Loses a good two marks for that tackle. Up to then I felt he had Goykyres pretty much muzzled but his judgement, pace and agility is fading. Bloke is a fucking legend, but its ashame to see him struggling
RND unmarked: I am appalled we have lost another player ... and such a key one this time ... to a common denominator injury. This is becoming beyond a joke now. The conditioning staff need to get their thumbs out of their arses and find out what the fuck is happening here with conditioning of physiology and pre-game preparation for this level of loading
Osborn 2/10: Struggling in LCM and struggling further in LWB. He puts shitloads of energy into doing and creating fucking nothing. Improved marginally in the second half but not by much. Osborn to me is a L1 or below standard player in a league well above his capability. He'd do well in the Scottish Leagues where that level of energetic fuck-all-ness is like fucking catnip to the sweary kilted hoardes. He's today's Stefan Scougall or Ryan Flynn.
McAtee 4/10: Largely ineffective and still showing signs of 'boy in man's league' levels of return
Norwood 6/10: Some good, some bad. There were times when you were willing him along to play that pass, make that challenge and then you're saying 'Fuck's sake Norwood' as he telegraphs or dawdles and gets robbed. But he's always done that and got in the Team of the Week or Ballon D'Or or summat. I don't care. As people say 'when he plays good, we play good. When he plays bad, we play bad'. So he's inconsistent, then? Tonight he was characteristically both. Managed his trademark row Z attempt on goal.
Doyle 6.5/10: Does a hell of a lot of unmerited heavy lifting in that midfield for such a young lad. Undeservedly subbed for Fleck.
N'Daiye 6/10: Busied himself trying to create and dig stuff out of the turf. But like always, he gets the ball when he shouldn't, twists past one, drops the shoulder past another and goes past yet another and is into space with options. He's the only person capable of doing this in our squad because Basham doesn't any more. But then he's greedy and tries to beat two more and suddenly a good attacking chance is over.
McBurnie 7.5/10: A good performance from him in a game of few chances. unlucky with the post hit and didn't shithouse. Ran his socks off and looked a lot fitter and 90 minutes capable. Just needs to stay out of trouble.

Fleck 4/10: Barely saw him and for me a stupid substitution.
Sharp 5/10: Tried to muck in and get busy but it was all over by then

HJ&SMcC 4/10: Poor substitutions. Robinson on the bench as a practical direct sub for RND or Bash out wide left and he leaves Osborn on to struggle like fuck for 90 and get nothing. Khadra unused despite recent performances and Brewster too. Brings Fleck on. What the actual fuck?

Just as an aside, I am a bit sick of the 'we'll make the playoffs' mentality now. We know what happens in the playoffs, so for me we should be demanding automatic. We have ex-PL players in the team and should, if we have the ambition and yearning for success we ought to have, be seeing players out there performing like PL players if we ever dream of playing there. How much of tonight's - or the past month's performances - say 'Premier League'? How many players in that team tonight would you actually say would put in a night of grit and endeavour under the floodlights in front of the Sky Cameras against say Everton, Brighton of Leicester City? If its 'all of them' I'd say you're fucking deluded. We'd get fucking hammered. If it's two, we'd possibly scrape the playoffs. If it's 'none', then we are where we are, sliding down the league into mid-table mediocrity after a great start to the season. And other results haven't half been favourable to us of late. We are now a loss against Norwich and some not so favourable results on Saturday from ending up ninth or tenth. Hoist that in.

pommpey

Yeah frustrating is the word, pretty much how I saw the game a nothing contest settled by another Basham error. Hecky might say there isn't much wrong but you could write a bleeding essay on what is not quite right. We were playing a poor team at the bottom of the league yet Hecky sets us up to stay behind the ball and gets narked when asked after the game why the wing backs hardly crossed the half way line? Let's be right the defence will never have an easier game than last night and looked comfortable until Basham has a brain fart. That is after we lose the excellent RND to yet another hamstring pull how many have the squad suffered this season already, it is unacceptable we have to be doing something wrong with player conditioning, do they even warm up before the game? You have to ask why is JLT on the bench if he wasn't fit enough to replace RND instead we move a struggling Osborn into defence and bring on a weedy McAtee who looks like the runt of the litter.
Not one shred of a physical presence in that midfield last night not one, as for giving games to Man City's youths we may as well play our own kids for all the impact Doyle and McAtee had on the game good technical ability but weak as piss, defensive midfielders they are not. I can't remember us winning a second ball all game and every tackle ended with a Coventry player getting the ball. So much for those who say we wouldn't miss Sander Berge, without him we don't have anyone who can put their foot on the ball and keep it for more than two seconds
Going forward well we didn't Baldock on the few occasions he got forwards dithered on the ball and let defenders block the cross or turned and passed backwards at least that was more than the hopeless Osborn did. You just have to feel sorry for McBurnie and Ndiaye fighting a lone battle up from without a shred of service from midfield who at best played hopeful balls into the box or at worst booted it in the general direction of the Coventry goal like a Woodhouse under 11's team would, maybe that's a disservice to Woodhouse under 11's.
Substitutions, why bring anyone on with five minutes remaining I'm baffled as to why JLT or Brewster didn't get a look in last night try as I might I can't work out what Hecky's plan was if he did actually have one, he needs to smarten himself and the team up sharpish or this season will peter out to a mid table bore fest.

 

[Bladesince59]

Let's face it, Hecky is fucking useless

 

[djbaldken]

Generally in much agreement Pommpey.
With ten minutes to go I did post on a Blades site that unless someone makes a howler this has got nil nil written all over it.
Cue Chris Basham!
Neither side looked like scoring. Woeful performance.

 

[Sheff de party]

Yeah do us all a favour and stop reading.

Truth is I actually can’t read. But my other half read out a few of Pompey’s posts a few years ago so whenever I see his avatar I know he’s having a go at the team.

 

[PaulHalfway]

The last month our final delivery in the box and quality of finishing has been so poor, we appear to lack urgency at times, but also defending not tight enough
TBF continual injury’s are absolutely not helping us, with a settled balanced team

 

[ekke287]

Sharp 5 / 10, nearly spat my tea out. He did nothing.

I get that he’s a legend and everything, but Brewster should’ve been on 20 minutes earlier just to run at their shaky defence.

Bringing Sharp on in any game suggests we either need someone to win fouls in dangerous areas (or fall over and win nothing) or we’re peppering the box and no one is finishing the chances.

Last night was neither, so a completely pointless sub, far too little far too late.

 

[Bell4]

Another frustrating loss for us, this time to the team anchored at the foot of the table. Just let that sink in. A few weeks ago we were in an unassailable position, points clear and goals in hand and starting to think we'd piss this league. We were playing pleasing, positive, forward moving football and made teams fear us home and away. What could go wrong? Normally our return from the dreaded international break comes with a drop in form which slowly recovers, but this time the drop is a plummet. Two points from fifteen is actually relegation form and many teams around us have the notion we have bottled it and are easy to shut down and beat, and tonight's match was evidence of that. Yeah, yada-injuries-yada-unlucky-yada-fucking-yada. Again, we had a raft of ex Premier League players out there including some who have been in the Kotex Team of the Week for the past ten years. Big fucking deal. What matters to me is that we win, or at least we don't fucking lose. We nearly lost against Blackpool and very much lost tonight. Hecky has a team in crisis once again so yeah, nice bloke and all that but we have come full circle now, downward spiral with nowt much that looks like a glimmer of hope.

The first thirty five minutes were shockingly uninspirational. We looked badly assembled with no visible on pitch plan of attack and massive gaps between the forwards, midfield and backline. When we did venture forward we looked like we didn't know what to do with it in such high altitudes and McBurnie/N'Daiye once again ran their arses off feeding off scraps or digging out anything that looked like a chance. We barely got round the back or into space or looking like we were putting Coventry under undue pressure. Their keeper, splendidly kitted in white barely got his kit soiled, see also Davies at the other end. It was typically United. We lose RND to yet another fucking hamstring problem - this time it looks like a tear so we are talking February before he's back on the bench for twenty minutes - and the pretty abject Osborn left to deal with the muscular and imposing Dabo. It was like watching a chihuahua take on a mastiff. We ended the half 'okay' but still without anything to count for. Coventry simply 'dealt with us' and stopped us playing by containing any threat. And that disconnect between midfield and the front was so fucking evident. It was a passing line they just filled with bodies forcing the pattern into tippy-tappy tedium.

Second half we switched on and for ten minutes we looked a bit like earlier season United. Norwood hits the bar with a freaky free kick and McB strikes the post with N'Daiye forcing a save from a tight angle. Up the other end Coventry tried and as the game bled out Bash, who'd dealt with Goykyeres quite well up to that moment puts in a shocker of a tackle and up steps that man Waghorn, one of many people we play and fail to stop scoring, to slam in the penalty. Davies also managed a save which woke him up but going the other way - even with a clearly out of condition Fleck on the pitch, and Sharp on for Basham we looked toothless, pointless and ready to accept defeat. It was just what we deserved.

Davies 5/10: Practically fuck all to do but palm a shot away which seemed not to be going in and pick the ball out of the net after Waghorn's penalty
Baldock 6/10: Got up the flank well and pressed but the interplay between him, Doyle and Anel was flaky and untidy at times
Anel 7/10: a good outing for him. Shows composure on the ball and defends well. We'll be lucky to have him this time next year
Egan 6/10: He still plods and is somewhat static. Dealt with multiple threats tonight but that's not saying much. the Coventry front line wasn't quite the same as it was in March in the same fixture
Basham 4/10: Loses a good two marks for that tackle. Up to then I felt he had Goykyres pretty much muzzled but his judgement, pace and agility is fading. Bloke is a fucking legend, but its ashame to see him struggling
RND unmarked: I am appalled we have lost another player ... and such a key one this time ... to a common denominator injury. This is becoming beyond a joke now. The conditioning staff need to get their thumbs out of their arses and find out what the fuck is happening here with conditioning of physiology and pre-game preparation for this level of loading
Osborn 2/10: Struggling in LCM and struggling further in LWB. He puts shitloads of energy into doing and creating fucking nothing. Improved marginally in the second half but not by much. Osborn to me is a L1 or below standard player in a league well above his capability. He'd do well in the Scottish Leagues where that level of energetic fuck-all-ness is like fucking catnip to the sweary kilted hoardes. He's today's Stefan Scougall or Ryan Flynn.
McAtee 4/10: Largely ineffective and still showing signs of 'boy in man's league' levels of return
Norwood 6/10: Some good, some bad. There were times when you were willing him along to play that pass, make that challenge and then you're saying 'Fuck's sake Norwood' as he telegraphs or dawdles and gets robbed. But he's always done that and got in the Team of the Week or Ballon D'Or or summat. I don't care. As people say 'when he plays good, we play good. When he plays bad, we play bad'. So he's inconsistent, then? Tonight he was characteristically both. Managed his trademark row Z attempt on goal.
Doyle 6.5/10: Does a hell of a lot of unmerited heavy lifting in that midfield for such a young lad. Undeservedly subbed for Fleck.
N'Daiye 6/10: Busied himself trying to create and dig stuff out of the turf. But like always, he gets the ball when he shouldn't, twists past one, drops the shoulder past another and goes past yet another and is into space with options. He's the only person capable of doing this in our squad because Basham doesn't any more. But then he's greedy and tries to beat two more and suddenly a good attacking chance is over.
McBurnie 7.5/10: A good performance from him in a game of few chances. unlucky with the post hit and didn't shithouse. Ran his socks off and looked a lot fitter and 90 minutes capable. Just needs to stay out of trouble.

Fleck 4/10: Barely saw him and for me a stupid substitution.
Sharp 5/10: Tried to muck in and get busy but it was all over by then

HJ&SMcC 4/10: Poor substitutions. Robinson on the bench as a practical direct sub for RND or Bash out wide left and he leaves Osborn on to struggle like fuck for 90 and get nothing. Khadra unused despite recent performances and Brewster too. Brings Fleck on. What the actual fuck?

Just as an aside, I am a bit sick of the 'we'll make the playoffs' mentality now. We know what happens in the playoffs, so for me we should be demanding automatic. We have ex-PL players in the team and should, if we have the ambition and yearning for success we ought to have, be seeing players out there performing like PL players if we ever dream of playing there. How much of tonight's - or the past month's performances - say 'Premier League'? How many players in that team tonight would you actually say would put in a night of grit and endeavour under the floodlights in front of the Sky Cameras against say Everton, Brighton of Leicester City? If its 'all of them' I'd say you're fucking deluded. We'd get fucking hammered. If it's two, we'd possibly scrape the playoffs. If it's 'none', then we are where we are, sliding down the league into mid-table mediocrity after a great start to the season. And other results haven't half been favourable to us of late. We are now a loss against Norwich and some not so favourable results on Saturday from ending up ninth or tenth. Hoist that in.

pommpey

Agree