Coventry performance was ok

[Lord Bos of Eckington.]

View attachment 10770


We have to realise how other clubs think , after 40 years unbroken at the top table and winning the FA cup Coventry see themselves as even bigger than us , debateable , but it was the straw that broke his back blowing a 2 goal lead to 10 men

Bad board decisions over a long period of time creating mayhem and disaster . A bit like us in the past .

UTB

 

[cahill]

BADGER ENGLAND BADGER ENGLAND BADGER ENGLAND.

That was a classic back in the day

 

[itsinyerblood]

Fickle game . Whatever we think about Pressley , the press and football world were singing his praises after the league points reduction and having to play in Northampton. This fella would suit Barnsley or will it be Ferguson.

The reign of the Bristol and Swindon managers are only short term imo , and the day of reckoning will come.

May not always realise it , but i think we are lucky to have the set up ,at the lane , that we have got . We don't need Bill Big Bollocks. Been there , done it , got the tee shirt.

UTB

Agree with all of that, we've got great infrastructure, a great ground with plans to develop, we've made good progress under Clough and his team, we've got a far stronger squad than we've had in the recent past (that's written with the awareness we still need a decent, commanding centre half and additions up front). Although we have injuries, two of those long-term injuries, Cuvelier and Wallace, should become very influential players for the Blades. Those two alone would add so much to our first team, so positive vibes all round in my book.

 

[Going up]

I think many United fans are generally too critical of the level we're playing at. There may not be many big teams in League One this season, but the general level of football is probably the best ever in my opinion. Even teams like Coventry, with one win in ten, short of confidence and struggling in general, can field a well balanced, well prepared team that are set up to make it hard for us and cause us problems.

When teams come to the Lane we shouldn't expect them to look fabulously entertaining. Playing away, especially against the better sides is a lot about defending, stopping us, upsetting our rhythm.

Coventry did that well at the start of the game. Playing a fairly narrow 4-4-2 and pressing us high up the pitch, they made it hard for us to get our passing moves going. To avoid losing the ball in dangerous areas we resorted to chipping the ball up field, but our wingers had their full backs breathing down their necks, while Baxter and Done couldn't get hold of the ball. We were basically outnumbered and outmuscled in their half.


View attachment 10764

Coventry's central midfielders, Fleck and Barton, are very comfortable on the ball and with Doyle and Coutts sitting deeper in our 4-4-1-1 starting formation, we didn't have any ball winners to challenge them. As mentioned they had a fairly narrow formation with solid, hard working wide men in O'Brien and Williams, who both have experience playing centrally. Their two forwards also got behind the ball and closed us down in midfield.

To change the early pattern of the game, Clough tried to invert our midfield triangle, meaning Baxter went deeper while Coutts and Doyle pushed higher to get more aggression higher up and hopefully stop their central midfielders dominating unchallenged.

I felt that we were actually coming into the game more before Baxter's sending off. While the above Coventry plan may seem perfect, it is very hard to keep it up for the full game. Without the sending off I think we gradually would have taken over more control of the game and eventually our quality would have given us more chances.

Then Coventry scored and we had to try carving them open with ten men. Coventry dropped deeper after they took the lead and for the last hour we dominated possession. With just one central striker this isn't easy though. Their second was also a blow which would have made a lot of teams lose faith. We sacrificed JCR at half time, and then Coutts, and the main difference was that we got more running and energy going forward through Basham and Freeman.

I think we kept going and did well in difficult circumstances and in the end were rewarded. I'd add at least a point to most players' ratings from Balham and Deadbat's reports.


When I saw the line up I thought that it was probably Clough's current favourite line up, with the probable exception of a fit Flynn. Although we went into the game high on confidence, belief and form, the early stages showed that it won't be easy to win most of our remaining games. Teams will have a plan of how to stop us and how to punish any mistake we make.

We will have to be at our best, but I'm personally relieved that the performance vs Coventry was better than I feared and I think it would have been another win if we'd kept 11 men on the pitch.

Totally agree!

 

[blade too long]

Blackpool have re arranged their derby with Wigan to be played on the north shore beach as its in better condition than their pitch

 

[Fulwood Blade]

Sure we had someone sent off at Donny but went on to win with the Murphy screamer

You are quite correct - it was Mccarthy and he made a genuine attempt to get the ball by trying take it from the side as he bore down on Howard in the goal. The Donny lad was just too quick or McCarthy was too slow. The difference with Mccarthy is the ref gave it for last man and denying a goal scoring opportunity, but at least he WAS attempting to get the ball.

The other 3 were just brain dead tackles - totally avoidable - and as the rules now are if you jump in (as all 3 did and were off their feet) then you run the risk of what happened.

Hope that explains the difference.

UTB

 

[Bergen Blade]

spot on bergen your assesment of tactics is superb do you have coaching badgers? .Your breakdown of matches strikes me you are someone with experience.With all the foreign players who now ply there trade in the top divisions there is a knock on effect which means players who would have played in championship and above are playing in division 1 meaning
it improves the lower leagues and all this talk of this being a shit division is wrong.It improves year on year now and it is getting harder to get out at the right end ,the problem is attendances which are very poor and most teams deserve better as the level of fitness and professionalism is superb.I like every blade are desperate to get out but i dont belittle these small clubs as they are run on a shoestring and full credit should go to the directors and coaching staff (rochdale are a classic example) i do feel cloughy feels this way too as he spent a lot of years at burton.

Apart from five promotions with my hospital side my coaching cv is not great I'm afraid. It's not the same, watching games on BP compared to watching live, but it allows for a closer look at the team's shape and tactics.

 

[GRUMPY BLADE]

Apart from five promotions with my hospital side my coaching cv is not great I'm afraid. It's not the same, watching games on BP compared to watching live, but it allows for a closer look at the team's shape and tactics.

Take it that was staff v patients

 

[William Henry Foulkes]

 

[Bergen Blade]

Take it that was staff v patients

You can only beat what's in front of you!

 

[Woodwardfan]

Apart from five promotions with my hospital side my coaching cv is not great I'm afraid. It's not the same, watching games on BP compared to watching live, but it allows for a closer look at the team's shape and tactics.

When you've been to the games, including a 240 mile round trip even for home games, it's really hard to find the time to watch the full match video but I'm sure there is more time for analysis when you know what's going to happen. Often the game has been so bad that it is the last thing you'd want to watch twice. Watching certain referee performances, especially those that work against us, really would be unbearable.

 

[Grappler]

I think JCR should go on the bench for the next few games and maybe come on with 20 minutes to go. Similar to Scougall, he is easily knocked off the ball at times, especially when defenders are fresh. Davies would be an adequate replacement, or Che Adams, both have more physical attributes. Baxter was stupid lunging in like that, even though the player (Barton) milked it for all it was worth. If Done had made a better pass to Freeman, in front of goal, we would have scored. I thought Freeman, the least talked about of our recent signings, played well and was a threat down the right hand side. Basham was industrious in the midfield position, and Murphy continued his in-form goal scoring. I think that is pretty much the side we will see for the rest of the season (minus Baxter for three games of course).

 

[bornablade]

Blackpool have re arranged their derby with Wigan to be played on the north shore beach as its in better condition than their pitch

View attachment 10772

Is that McMahon on the right?

Please no one be tempted to say 'Is that Harry he's marking?'

Back to the sending off. 12 months ago Doyle was sent off against Fulham and came back a much more effective player. Hope Jose learns from his error

 

[Silent Blade]

I remember Len being manager of Norton Woodseats in the early 1980s. A Norton Woodseats player who lived on the seame road as me, Brian Helmstalk, played under his management

 

[Pinchy]

Take it that was staff v patients

They beat Intensive Care 3-2 after extra time...

 

[cahill]

Agree with Grappler. Ched looks stronger than JCR when he comes on. He's exciting to watch, willing to have a dig when he has half a chance. JCR can be really effective, last two home games haven't been his finest.

 

[finlaytheblade]

what a player another one of our greats like joe shaw never got a full cap !

 

[wizadry]

Ched looks stronger than JCR when he comes on. He's exciting to watch.