Hooooooooooooof

[Taramasalata]

It returns, finally after two years of tedium under cluffy we get a bit of proper football.

Keep it up boys.

 

[Lord Bos of Eckington.]

It returns, finally after two years of tedium under cluffy we get a bit of proper football.

Keep it up boys.

Nowt wrong with hoof football . Finally the realisation has come , that you cant pass your way out of this league. Horses for courses.

UTB

 

[S5Blade]

Both of our goals came from passing moves, not hoof.

On a pitch the size of a fussball table, it was to be expected there would be a few balls knocked forward in the air.

 

[itsinyerblood]

Substance over style may be a necessity at times, adaptation to what's needed, especially at this level, is the key to achieving success at this level. Sounds like we managed to play when we had to, but scrap when we needed to.

 

[Treeton Blade]

Points are all that matter, how you get them dosen`t.

 

[alcoblade]

Nowt wrong with hoof football . Finally the realisation has come , that you cant pass your way out of this league. Horses for courses.

UTB

Yes, and more importantly, Clough has demonstrated that he has a more pragmatic approach, which is a good thing.

I believe we'd have won this league had he done it from the off. He would probably argue that we haven't had the front man to vary the play.

UTB

 

[Jim Chimmerney]

Yes, and more importantly, Clough has demonstrated that he has a more pragmatic approach, which is a good thing.

I believe we'd have won this league had he gone it from the off. He would probably argue that we haven't had the front man to vary the play.

UTB

It looked to me last night as though NC DID think we had a CoG up front the way he seemingly instructed them to play. If CoG had played last night in place of McN / Done and McN / Done had played behind him instead of Coutts in mid we'd probably have battered them !

 

[Lord Bos of Eckington.]

Yes, and more importantly, Clough has demonstrated that he has a more pragmatic approach, which is a good thing.

I believe we'd have won this league had he done it from the off. He would probably argue that we haven't had the front man to vary the play.

UTB

We,d have won this league now , if the players we bought in the JTW , was sorted pre season , and not had the debacle we had , were we all didn't know if we were coming or going . In saying all that , at least we seem to be getting it right for the run in.

UTB

 

[sitwell]

Both of our goals came from passing moves, not hoof.

On a pitch the size of a fussball table, it was to be expected there would be a few balls knocked forward in the air.

Yes its a shame we didn't play tippy tap football and lose 3-2 ,that would have been better wouldn't it .

 

[Bookers Mullet]

I've always believed that the hallmark of a successful team is to be able to mix their styles, it now looks like we are able to do that

 

[Revolution]

Yes its a shame we didn't play tippy tap football and lose 3-2 ,that would have been better wouldn't it .

Stop it. Pinchy will cry!

 

[blade too long]

The good news is we can adapt to requirements , the aim is to win games, sometimes we will play all out aggressive passing football sometimes we will build slowly and like all teams theres time when you hoik it over their defence, I notive louis van Gaal has adopted the up and under hoof into their play , if 200k a week players resort to it , we cant complain if we occasionally use it -

 

[Trigger Blade]

Both of our goals came from passing moves, not hoof.

On a pitch the size of a fussball table, it was to be expected there would be a few balls knocked forward in the air.

From our vantage point in Row D, it was difficult to tell whether the pitch was smaller than BDTBL, but we did seem to knock a lot of crossfield balls straight into touch. It was therefore impossible to tell whether it was down to dimensions, or we just weren't very good

It looked to me last night as though NC DID think we had a CoG up front the way he seemingly instructed them to play. If CoG had played last night in place of McN / Done and McN / Done had played behind him instead of Coutts in mid we'd probably have battered them !

That's true, but what about Rochdale? In the first half, they played Brandy upfront and it must be rare that Tel Kennedy towers over his man They did change that 2nd half, we just swopped like for like.

 

[blade too long]

in todays star

Momentum is everything. There are no points for style.


“All we are bothered about now is the result,” Clough said.

“That’s all we are interested in now. If you have to smash it away then smash it. Winning, especially at this stage, is the most important thing.”

 

[SwissBlade]

I'm guessing that this was the game plan. Probably also shows respect for Rochdale that we wanted to beat them in another way as they're a good passing side. They probably expected us to keep it on the deck.

 

[MBoreman]

Finally the realisation has come , that you cant pass your way out of this league.

UTB

You can.

 

[Lord Bos of Eckington.]

You can.

MBoreman . should have said piss not pass then

UTB

 

[mattbianco1]

Hoofing wins points. Just ask Kevin Blackwell

 

[mattbianco1]

Both of our goals came from passing moves, not hoof.

On a pitch the size of a fussball table, it was to be expected there would be a few balls knocked forward in the air.

The first goal came after about 6 attempted hoofs. Once they actually played a normal ball, it split the defence and we scored.

One thing you do see on the highlights is how much Doyle was involved all the attacks

 

[Coily]

Substance over style may be a necessity at times, adaptation to what's needed, especially at this level, is the key to achieving success at this level. Sounds like we managed to play when we had to, but scrap when we needed to.

Sounded like Bristol City did much the same at Doncatraz last night also. Get the win, it's not always about style points. On a related note, it was sweet music listening to Rovers fans whine like spice deprived kids after the game.

 

[FTPE]

Weir had us playing some unbelievable football, it would have definatley got us into the league two playoffs if he had stayed another year!

 

[Sestanovich]

Vanarama Conference playoffs more like!

 

[Fulwood Blade]

Yes its a shame we didn't play tippy tap football and lose 3-2 ,that would have been better wouldn't it .

yes, well said sitters.

from my perspective it wasn't hoof ball.

Harris, probably chief culprit onTuesday didn't want to get caught in possession - so put a ball down a channel - there is a difference.
We did not just launch a ball to a diddy centre forward - Mcnuts or Done. To be fair to Done he chased a lot into the corners 2nd half.

We actually played 2 deep sitting midfield players and due to R'dale pressing we just HAD to move it long at times.

As sitters said - should we get caught in possession and lose goals?

I despair at times with some fans perception of football. I seem to recall we WON 2-1- move on.

UTB

 

[grafikhaus]

Sounded like Bristol City did much the same at Doncatraz last night also. Get the win, it's not always about style points. On a related note, it was sweet music listening to Rovers fans whine like spice deprived kids after the game.

Good point. The results will record that Bristol won and got 3 points. How did they achieve it? Who fucking cares! As NC says, results are the only thing that matters now.

 

[Jim Chimmerney]

yes, well said sitters.

from my perspective it wasn't hoof ball.

Harris, probably chief culprit onTuesday didn't want to get caught in possession - so put a ball down a channel - there is a difference.
We did not just launch a ball to a diddy centre forward - Mcnuts or Done. To be fair to Done he chased a lot into the corners 2nd half.

We actually played 2 deep sitting midfield players and due to R'dale pressing we just HAD to move it long at times.

As sitters said - should we get caught in possession and lose goals?

I despair at times with some fans perception of football. I seem to recall we WON 2-1- move on.

UTB

Agree with most of the above and I think we're in danger of turning it into a black and white style debate. People (including me) are just pointing out that a lot of our distribution on Tuesday, whether it was Turner's kicks which invariably ended up with their keeper, or the defence floating it up in the general direction of McN / Done (which we did do a fair bit), only ended up with the ball coming back and inviting more pressure.

Hoofball, clearing the decks, no options, down the channels, call it what you want but you can understand the frustration when we score two good goals with incisive passing and the rest of the time invariably floated another long ball to a small striker flanked by 2 bigger centre halves.

Credit to Rochdale for pressuring us and of course the result is all that matters. We put in a dogged professional performance, got in front and stayed there, just

 

[raul]

I'd agree the performance was Hoofwaffe-friendly, but I'd like to think there were mitigating circs. Namely, a number of players carring knocks and the fact that many had played 10 v 11 a few days earlier and indeed have been playing twice a week all year. I can't believe that NC, players or even anyone on here would advocate coughing the ball up every two or three touches a la last fifteen minutes is the way to go in a play-off final, nor is it excusable just because the other team are trying, but as a one off situation, we got the job done where a few weeks back we wouldn't.

 

[Fulwood Blade]

Agree with most of the above and I think we're in danger of turning it into a black and white style debate. People (including me) are just pointing out that a lot of our distribution on Tuesday, whether it was Turner's kicks which invariably ended up with their keeper, or the defence floating it up in the general direction of McN / Done (which we did do a fair bit), only ended up with the ball coming back and inviting more pressure.

Hoofball, clearing the decks, no options, down the channels, call it what you want but you can understand the frustration when we score two good goals with incisive passing and the rest of the time invariably floated another long ball to a small striker flanked by 2 bigger centre halves.

Credit to Rochdale for pressuring us and of course the result is all that matters. We put in a dogged professional performance, got in front and stayed there, just

R'dale changed tactics at half time and played a very high line which compressed the play more than the 1st half. Understandable seeing as they were (a) losing 1 nil and then (b) losing 2 nil a bit into the half.

The idea of long ball and channel football when teams play a high line (and is similar to Rugby Union) is a lot of space behind the defenders which is ideal for lumping the ball into especially if you have a forward like Done who is very willing to put in those hard yards. Mcnuts had in effect given us the game if we managed the 2nd half properly and the switch may have been to do that.

I can well understand some frustration but the tactics seemed quite clear when needed. Don't get caught in possession and get Done possibly on one on one (which did happen). The issue on Tuesday is the quality of the balls and distribution was poor. Again if some people took the time to listen (carefully) to Cloughs pre and post match interviews, you can learn an awful lot about him/tactics and what he expects from the team.

If we as a team were guilty of long ball tactics then the fans would have a valid argument, but we do not do long ball all the time. It is just another tactic deployed by the management. The tactics employed v Brizzle was similar (ie same midfield 3) but we played very narrow - again being able to "out think" the opposition.

Instead of fans criticising long ball we should be complimenting the team and management on being NOW able to change yet again during a game to suit the oppositions change of style.

We are as a team growing ion confidence and the ability to move tactics/players/styles. My biggest worry for ages has been our inability to solve the problem of being closed down at home - many teams have done it and I will be looking for an improvement there. P'boro I believe allow you to play, not sure how the new manager will do next Tuesday. Same with Fleetwood - ALexander seems an astute manager and that game could be a serious test on our own patch.

UTB

 

[Hodgyman]

I believe that to keep to one style of play, whether long ball or shot passing is helping the opposition to set themselves up to play against us. Varying our play within matches can catch the opposition out and therefore we should win more matches

 

[Jim Chimmerney]

R'dale changed tactics at half time and played a very high line which compressed the play more than the 1st half. Understandable seeing as they were (a) losing 1 nil and then (b) losing 2 nil a bit into the half.

The idea of long ball and channel football when teams play a high line (and is similar to Rugby Union) is a lot of space behind the defenders which is ideal for lumping the ball into especially if you have a forward like Done who is very willing to put in those hard yards. Mcnuts had in effect given us the game if we managed the 2nd half properly and the switch may have been to do that.

I can well understand some frustration but the tactics seemed quite clear when needed. Don't get caught in possession and get Done possibly on one on one (which did happen). The issue on Tuesday is the quality of the balls and distribution was poor. Again if some people took the time to listen (carefully) to Cloughs pre and post match interviews, you can learn an awful lot about him/tactics and what he expects from the team.

If we as a team were guilty of long ball tactics then the fans would have a valid argument, but we do not do long ball all the time. It is just another tactic deployed by the management. The tactics employed v Brizzle was similar (ie same midfield 3) but we played very narrow - again being able to "out think" the opposition.

Instead of fans criticising long ball we should be complimenting the team and management on being NOW able to change yet again during a game to suit the oppositions change of style.

We are as a team growing ion confidence and the ability to move tactics/players/styles. My biggest worry for ages has been our inability to solve the problem of being closed down at home - many teams have done it and I will be looking for an improvement there. P'boro I believe allow you to play, not sure how the new manager will do next Tuesday. Same with Fleetwood - ALexander seems an astute manager and that game could be a serious test on our own patch.

UTB

Who'd be a manager ! My criticism of Clough, and it's easy from a fans perspective, is that he quite often gets the team to sit back on a lead and hit them on the break when they come back at us. You mention Fleetwood and that was a perfect example. They hardly had a kick in the 1st 20 minutes, we outpassed them, got in front but then sat back and let them play themselves back into the game. We came out of it with a draw, it should have been 3 points and could have been none.

I still think he's playing Chumpionship style football / tactics in League 1, time will tell whether it works or not. This is why we seem to look more comfortable away from home and against the 'bigger' clubs in the cups. As I said in another thread, it's likely to be our home form for the remainder of this season that will decide our fate.

 

[Fulwood Blade]

Who'd be a manager ! My criticism of Clough, and it's easy from a fans perspective, is that he quite often gets the team to sit back on a lead and hit them on the break when they come back at us. You mention Fleetwood and that was a perfect example. They hardly had a kick in the 1st 20 minutes, we outpassed them, got in front but then sat back and let them play themselves back into the game. We came out of it with a draw, it should have been 3 points and could have been none.

I still think he's playing Championship style football / tactics in League 1, time will tell whether it works or not. This is why we seem to look more comfortable away from home and against the 'bigger' clubs in the cups. As I said in another thread, it's likely to be our home form for the remainder of this season that will decide our fate.

You could indeed by correct about champ football in league 1. Is he taking a chance getting out to hit the champ up and running next season? Could be, but dangerous if you don't get out. Look at the pigs - D Jones completely changed the team after promotion. Can understand what you mean about Fleetwood, a game we didn't go to, but heard about it. The Clough way is to get a goal, sit on it, don't concede and try and get another. Clough was quietly very displeased with K Wallace who switched off for their goal - even though it was his debut and probably a tad nervous and had stepped up from Ilkeston.

Agree about home form - we need to learn (quickly) how to obeat teams who close us down. If Clough intends playing Coutts/Basham/Doyle in centre mid we are possibly changing tactics a bit at home - time will tell.

UTB