How do you say, something is more serious than it seems, without seeming ungrateful?

[Cerberus Blade]

I can't stress enough, how I am absolutely full of admiration and praise for what Wilder has created down at Bramall lane. The football we are playing is of a standard I don't think I've ever seen us play, and I go back to the Woody/Currie era. It's fantastic!

Nothing is ever "perfect" though. Nothing at all in life. And we are not "perfect" either. I don't expect us to be. It's a game of football at the end of the day. Things will go for us and against us, it's a game of chance, as well as a game of skill and effort, there's not much we can do about a lot of that.

However...

I do think that we have a glaring fault and one which is costing us points, game after game.

I posted on here before the derby about "shoot on sight please". Which got a fairly mixed reaction, so I'm not expecting a great reaction to this post either. But what I'm witnessing is that we are constantly "over-playing" the ball around the 18 yard box. We are trying to look, always, for that perfect opening, that little flick or trick that will suddenly expose a hole that we can exploit, before we have a pop at goal.

I'm sorry to say, wonderful football though it is, we need to change our tactics a bit. At the very least, how about putting the ball in the box earlier? Last night we had occasions when we had two or three players in the box but instead of crossing it into the box we were fannying about, passing it this way and that way, looking for that perfect opening. There were other occasions when we eventually crossed it in, and there was no-one there, they'd all had to run back onside because it had taken so bloody long!

In his post-match interview Wilder conceded that maybe we could have put the ball into the box a bit earlier. I was reassured to hear that. However, this isn't a one-off. It isn't something that only occurred in the match last night v Wednesday. It's been costing us points for several weeks now.

Whether it's a change of tactics, or a change of personnel that's needed I'm not sure. Possibly the latter. I thought when Johnson played he was quick to get a cross in. I liked that about him. But he's not had much chance to do it since.

It would be a shame to see us falling away because we just don't act quick enough when we get into the danger zone - but I think it's happening already. Forest, Bristol, last night v Wednesday, in all these games we should have won easily - but we hesitate...we try to find the perfect opening...we overplay it...

It's serious.

(The good news is, we're still doing bloody well despite it! But how much better could we be doing if we just knocked this trait on the head? )

 

[Keef Chedwyn]

Sounds ungrateful to me.

 

[LenTednTony]

Sounds ungrateful to me.

Sounds extremely feasible to me. We need a balance between the beautiful footie that we play and the ‘shoot on site’ philosophy. We could also do with mixing it up and trying to play through the middle rather than just from the wings. It is simple to say though, rather more difficult to expedite. I am mightily proud of the Blades and CW/AK. Just think we deserve more as a team and would like to find a way we can achieve that. UTB & FTP

 

[DaleHillBlade]

I can't stress enough, how I am absolutely full of admiration and praise for what Wilder has created down at Bramall lane. The football we are playing is of a standard I don't think I've ever seen us play, and I go back to the Woody/Currie era. It's fantastic!

Nothing is ever "perfect" though. Nothing at all in life. And we are not "perfect" either. I don't expect us to be. It's a game of football at the end of the day. Things will go for us and against us, it's a game of chance, as well as a game of skill and effort, there's not much we can do about a lot of that.

However...

I do think that we have a glaring fault and one which is costing us points, game after game.

I posted on here before the derby about "shoot on sight please". Which got a fairly mixed reaction, so I'm not expecting a great reaction to this post either. But what I'm witnessing is that we are constantly "over-playing" the ball around the 18 yard box. We are trying to look, always, for that perfect opening, that little flick or trick that will suddenly expose a hole that we can exploit, before we have a pop at goal.

I'm sorry to say, wonderful football though it is, we need to change our tactics a bit. At the very least, how about putting the ball in the box earlier? Last night we had occasions when we had two or three players in the box but instead of crossing it into the box we were fannying about, passing it this way and that way, looking for that perfect opening. There were other occasions when we eventually crossed it in, and there was no-one there, they'd all had to run back onside because it had taken so bloody long!

In his post-match interview Wilder conceded that maybe we could have put the ball into the box a bit earlier. I was reassured to hear that. However, this isn't a one-off. It isn't something that only occurred in the match last night v Wednesday. It's been costing us points for several weeks now.

Whether it's a change of tactics, or a change of personnel that's needed I'm not sure. Possibly the latter. I thought when Johnson played he was quick to get a cross in. I liked that about him. But he's not had much chance to do it since.

It would be a shame to see us falling away because we just don't act quick enough when we get into the danger zone - but I think it's happening already. Forest, Bristol, last night v Wednesday, in all these games we should have won easily - but we hesitate...we try to find the perfect opening...we overplay it...

It's serious.

(The good news is, we're still doing bloody well despite it! But how much better could we be doing if we just knocked this trait on the head? )

It's not serious, it's work in progress.

Have a look at Fulham and realise the nature of the challenge.

 

[Cheets]

The new-fangled way of giving feedback is to say 'Even Better If... ', or EBI to use the business parlance.

 

[Sean Thornton]

Didn't someone say much the same on another thread only in two paragraphs.

The reference to own earlier posts is woodwardesque to say the least.

 

[GRUMPY BLADE]

Sounds extremely feasible to me. We need a balance between the beautiful footie that we play and the ‘shoot on site’ philosophy. We could also do with mixing it up and trying to play through the middle rather than just from the wings. It is simple to say though, rather more difficult to expedite. I am mightily proud of the Blades and CW/AK. Just think we deserve more as a team and would like to find a way we can achieve that. UTB & FTP

Dr Who goes and fetches Deano

 

[georgebernardshaw]

Didn't someone say much the same on another thread only in two paragraphs.

The reference to own earlier posts is woodwardesque to say the least.

Great post, fellow Blade....

 

[super_pig]

I can't stress enough, how I am absolutely full of admiration and praise for what Wilder has created down at Bramall lane. The football we are playing is of a standard I don't think I've ever seen us play, and I go back to the Woody/Currie era. It's fantastic!

Nothing is ever "perfect" though. Nothing at all in life. And we are not "perfect" either. I don't expect us to be. It's a game of football at the end of the day. Things will go for us and against us, it's a game of chance, as well as a game of skill and effort, there's not much we can do about a lot of that.

However...

I do think that we have a glaring fault and one which is costing us points, game after game.

I posted on here before the derby about "shoot on sight please". Which got a fairly mixed reaction, so I'm not expecting a great reaction to this post either. But what I'm witnessing is that we are constantly "over-playing" the ball around the 18 yard box. We are trying to look, always, for that perfect opening, that little flick or trick that will suddenly expose a hole that we can exploit, before we have a pop at goal.

I'm sorry to say, wonderful football though it is, we need to change our tactics a bit. At the very least, how about putting the ball in the box earlier? Last night we had occasions when we had two or three players in the box but instead of crossing it into the box we were fannying about, passing it this way and that way, looking for that perfect opening. There were other occasions when we eventually crossed it in, and there was no-one there, they'd all had to run back onside because it had taken so bloody long!

In his post-match interview Wilder conceded that maybe we could have put the ball into the box a bit earlier. I was reassured to hear that. However, this isn't a one-off. It isn't something that only occurred in the match last night v Wednesday. It's been costing us points for several weeks now.

Whether it's a change of tactics, or a change of personnel that's needed I'm not sure. Possibly the latter. I thought when Johnson played he was quick to get a cross in. I liked that about him. But he's not had much chance to do it since.

It would be a shame to see us falling away because we just don't act quick enough when we get into the danger zone - but I think it's happening already. Forest, Bristol, last night v Wednesday, in all these games we should have won easily - but we hesitate...we try to find the perfect opening...we overplay it...

It's serious.

(The good news is, we're still doing bloody well despite it! But how much better could we be doing if we just knocked this trait on the head? )

enda rarely hits a first time cross.. it does my head in .. we have developed a habit of trying to walk it in Arsenal style though

 

[Sean Thornton]

Hasn't Wilder explained his philosophy is to work the ball into places where he believes better chances of scoring exist?

The number of 30 yard screamers hitting the net to 30 yarders hitting gangways A or G on the Kop or BLUT at the other end would be a good stat to see.

 

[Cerberus Blade]

Sounds extremely feasible to me. We need a balance between the beautiful footie that we play and the ‘shoot on site’ philosophy. We could also do with mixing it up and trying to play through the middle rather than just from the wings. It is simple to say though, rather more difficult to expedite. I am mightily proud of the Blades and CW/AK. Just think we deserve more as a team and would like to find a way we can achieve that. UTB & FTP

I think that’s a very good point about going through the middle a bit more. I’d not mentioned that, but it’s an obvious one. The majority of the time we are looking to move the ball across the box. It would be great to see someone run straight down the throat of the defence, directly at goal. Laying it off if they absolutely need to.

There was a moment at Forest last week when MxGoldrick was more or less on the penalty spot, ball at feet, sighted on goal, his first instinct? Lay it off to the left for someone running into the box. A little swivel there and he could have cracked it at goal, but they seem afraid, or have it drilled into them, not to do so.

Last night in the second half, about 10 mins from the end, Duffy is running at goal. He took a shot. It was on target but not enough to beat the keeper. Wilder came out the technical area and bollocked him for not passing to Freeman, who was free on the right. Who knows whether that would have been the better option?

I was pleased he had a crack at it myself. There’s always a chance a goalie will spill a powerful shot and there’s pickings for others from that.

Can’t remember which home match it was now but a few weeks ago Duffy robbed a central defender and ran straight down the middle before unleashing a shot into the bottom corner. That’s what I’d like to see us do more of. We don’t have to abandon our passing principles, but there’s a time to pass and a time to grow a pair of horns and be a right selfish bastard and go for goal. We need to address that balance imo.

 

[Cerberus Blade]

It's not serious, it's work in progress.

Have a look at Fulham and realise the nature of the challenge.

Oh I’ve seen Fulham and I agree with that. I thought they were the best football team in this division last season. Their passing game was superb. I genuinely thought they do well in the Prem this season. But they are struggling. That’s the Prem though. It’s worrying to think that a team as good as that aren’t cutting it in the Prem. But maybe that just reinforces the point that there are many ways to skin a cat and teams have to be able to mix it and change their approach a bit if the “champagne football” approach isn’t working?

 

[Guesty]

Dr Who goes and fetches Deano

She might well be a Blade these days, so it's as good a plan as any.

 

[super_pig]

Oh I’ve seen Fulham and I agree with that. I thought they were the best football team in this division last season. Their passing game was superb. I genuinely thought they do well in the Prem this season. But they are struggling. That’s the Prem though. It’s worrying to think that a team as good as that aren’t cutting it in the Prem. But maybe that just reinforces the point that there are many ways to skin a cat and teams have to be able to mix it and change their approach a bit if the “champagne football” approach isn’t working?

that’s cos they dumped that team and got 100 million worth of mercenaries in instead.. hmm who does that remind you of?

 

[GRUMPY BLADE]

Oh I’ve seen Fulham and I agree with that. I thought they were the best football team in this division last season. Their passing game was superb. I genuinely thought they do well in the Prem this season. But they are struggling. That’s the Prem though. It’s worrying to think that a team as good as that aren’t cutting it in the Prem. But maybe that just reinforces the point that there are many ways to skin a cat and teams have to be able to mix it and change their approach a bit if the “champagne football” approach isn’t working?

Did they not sign about 10 new players and screw up the team?

 

[SwissBlade]

2 weeks ago against a side more attacking and placed in a similar position to last nights opposition we were fawning over 4 goals, all of which came from positions inside 10 yards

Our striker, on his way to becoming a legend at our great club, has scored the majority of his goals inside the area because of great service.

We’ve scored 27 goals, 4th best in the division.

We get up against a side that puts 11 men behind the ball last night and last week against a very organised forest side and all of a sudden we’re not doing something right.

Last night we created more chances from distance - Fleck and Norwood in particular having cracks. We didn’t particularly trouble the keeper too much.

Duffy won a penalty from going direct in the box, billy missed a header you’d back him to score normally.

We create many types of chances, but goals from distance aren’t really our thing at the moment

 

[DronnieBlade]

I can't stress enough, how I am absolutely full of admiration and praise for what Wilder has created down at Bramall lane. The football we are playing is of a standard I don't think I've ever seen us play, and I go back to the Woody/Currie era. It's fantastic!

Nothing is ever "perfect" though. Nothing at all in life. And we are not "perfect" either. I don't expect us to be. It's a game of football at the end of the day. Things will go for us and against us, it's a game of chance, as well as a game of skill and effort, there's not much we can do about a lot of that.

However...

I do think that we have a glaring fault and one which is costing us points, game after game.

I posted on here before the derby about "shoot on sight please". Which got a fairly mixed reaction, so I'm not expecting a great reaction to this post either. But what I'm witnessing is that we are constantly "over-playing" the ball around the 18 yard box. We are trying to look, always, for that perfect opening, that little flick or trick that will suddenly expose a hole that we can exploit, before we have a pop at goal.

I'm sorry to say, wonderful football though it is, we need to change our tactics a bit. At the very least, how about putting the ball in the box earlier? Last night we had occasions when we had two or three players in the box but instead of crossing it into the box we were fannying about, passing it this way and that way, looking for that perfect opening. There were other occasions when we eventually crossed it in, and there was no-one there, they'd all had to run back onside because it had taken so bloody long!

In his post-match interview Wilder conceded that maybe we could have put the ball into the box a bit earlier. I was reassured to hear that. However, this isn't a one-off. It isn't something that only occurred in the match last night v Wednesday. It's been costing us points for several weeks now.

Whether it's a change of tactics, or a change of personnel that's needed I'm not sure. Possibly the latter. I thought when Johnson played he was quick to get a cross in. I liked that about him. But he's not had much chance to do it since.

It would be a shame to see us falling away because we just don't act quick enough when we get into the danger zone - but I think it's happening already. Forest, Bristol, last night v Wednesday, in all these games we should have won easily - but we hesitate...we try to find the perfect opening...we overplay it...

It's serious.

(The good news is, we're still doing bloody well despite it! But how much better could we be doing if we just knocked this trait on the head? )

Two words.

In fact two letters.

X G.

Learn its importance !

UTB

 

[LJBlade]

Two words.

In fact two letters.

X G.

Learn its importance !

UTB

Can you even explain it?

 

[LJBlade]

I can't stress enough, how I am absolutely full of admiration and praise for what Wilder has created down at Bramall lane. The football we are playing is of a standard I don't think I've ever seen us play, and I go back to the Woody/Currie era. It's fantastic!

Nothing is ever "perfect" though. Nothing at all in life. And we are not "perfect" either. I don't expect us to be. It's a game of football at the end of the day. Things will go for us and against us, it's a game of chance, as well as a game of skill and effort, there's not much we can do about a lot of that.

However...

I do think that we have a glaring fault and one which is costing us points, game after game.

I posted on here before the derby about "shoot on sight please". Which got a fairly mixed reaction, so I'm not expecting a great reaction to this post either. But what I'm witnessing is that we are constantly "over-playing" the ball around the 18 yard box. We are trying to look, always, for that perfect opening, that little flick or trick that will suddenly expose a hole that we can exploit, before we have a pop at goal.

I'm sorry to say, wonderful football though it is, we need to change our tactics a bit. At the very least, how about putting the ball in the box earlier? Last night we had occasions when we had two or three players in the box but instead of crossing it into the box we were fannying about, passing it this way and that way, looking for that perfect opening. There were other occasions when we eventually crossed it in, and there was no-one there, they'd all had to run back onside because it had taken so bloody long!

In his post-match interview Wilder conceded that maybe we could have put the ball into the box a bit earlier. I was reassured to hear that. However, this isn't a one-off. It isn't something that only occurred in the match last night v Wednesday. It's been costing us points for several weeks now.

Whether it's a change of tactics, or a change of personnel that's needed I'm not sure. Possibly the latter. I thought when Johnson played he was quick to get a cross in. I liked that about him. But he's not had much chance to do it since.

It would be a shame to see us falling away because we just don't act quick enough when we get into the danger zone - but I think it's happening already. Forest, Bristol, last night v Wednesday, in all these games we should have won easily - but we hesitate...we try to find the perfect opening...we overplay it...

It's serious.

(The good news is, we're still doing bloody well despite it! But how much better could we be doing if we just knocked this trait on the head? )

When you say that we should shoot on sight (or shoot from distance, essentially) what you’re really saying is that you want us to ‘score on sight’. If the team started shooting from every single minor opportunity you’d be fairly quick to make the argument that we rush things and don’t try to work the ball into a better opportunity. What I’d prefer is for us to score via the easiest way possible. If that means a 30 yards screamer then great, if that means having to tippy-tappy it around the box before developing a good opportunity then so be it.

Having said that I do agree that we get into positions sometimes that demand a quick ball into the box and we fail to deliver it. Yesterday, and on previous occasions, Enda Stevens is the worst culprit for this. Preferring to take several extra touches and then play it backward instead of getting the ball into the box. Fleck is also guilty of it quite often, as is Basham but with him being a defender I think he could be excused. The issue with not putting the ball into the box early is that it kills all of the momentum, it allows the defence to get into position and it means the strikers are no longer attacking the ball becuase they’ve already made their run for the original ball, which should’ve come in but didn’t.

During the game yesterday we only put one ball in at the first opportunity (as far as I recall). It came from Freeman and even though it wasn’t the best cross it made their defence panic, resulting in them smashing it out for a corner.

 

[Hamburg Blade]

2 weeks ago against a side more attacking and placed in a similar position to last nights opposition we were fawning over 4 goals, all of which came from positions inside 10 yards

Our striker, on his way to becoming a legend at our great club, has scored the majority of his goals inside the area because of great service.

We’ve scored 27 goals, 4th best in the division.

We get up against a side that puts 11 men behind the ball last night and last week against a very organised forest side and all of a sudden we’re not doing something right.

Last night we created more chances from distance - Fleck and Norwood in particular having cracks. We didn’t particularly trouble the keeper too much.

Duffy won a penalty from going direct in the box, billy missed a header you’d back him to score normally.

We create many types of chances, but goals from distance aren’t really our thing at the moment

Ah, but, 0-0. What would we do if we couldn't all have a big meltdown once every few weeks?

 

[Hamburg Blade]

(The good news is, we're still doing bloody well despite it! )

Or.... wait for it..... we're fourth and three points off top in only our 2nd season back in the Championship (after a loooong absence where we essentially became a League 1 club) because of the way we play.

 

[blade67]

I can't stress enough, how I am absolutely full of admiration and praise for what Wilder has created down at Bramall lane. The football we are playing is of a standard I don't think I've ever seen us play, and I go back to the Woody/Currie era. It's fantastic!

Nothing is ever "perfect" though. Nothing at all in life. And we are not "perfect" either. I don't expect us to be. It's a game of football at the end of the day. Things will go for us and against us, it's a game of chance, as well as a game of skill and effort, there's not much we can do about a lot of that.

However...

I do think that we have a glaring fault and one which is costing us points, game after game.

I posted on here before the derby about "shoot on sight please". Which got a fairly mixed reaction, so I'm not expecting a great reaction to this post either. But what I'm witnessing is that we are constantly "over-playing" the ball around the 18 yard box. We are trying to look, always, for that perfect opening, that little flick or trick that will suddenly expose a hole that we can exploit, before we have a pop at goal.

I'm sorry to say, wonderful football though it is, we need to change our tactics a bit. At the very least, how about putting the ball in the box earlier? Last night we had occasions when we had two or three players in the box but instead of crossing it into the box we were fannying about, passing it this way and that way, looking for that perfect opening. There were other occasions when we eventually crossed it in, and there was no-one there, they'd all had to run back onside because it had taken so bloody long!

In his post-match interview Wilder conceded that maybe we could have put the ball into the box a bit earlier. I was reassured to hear that. However, this isn't a one-off. It isn't something that only occurred in the match last night v Wednesday. It's been costing us points for several weeks now.

Whether it's a change of tactics, or a change of personnel that's needed I'm not sure. Possibly the latter. I thought when Johnson played he was quick to get a cross in. I liked that about him. But he's not had much chance to do it since.

It would be a shame to see us falling away because we just don't act quick enough when we get into the danger zone - but I think it's happening already. Forest, Bristol, last night v Wednesday, in all these games we should have won easily - but we hesitate...we try to find the perfect opening...we overplay it...

It's serious.

(The good news is, we're still doing bloody well despite it! But how much better could we be doing if we just knocked this trait on the head? )

said on another thread we should mix it up a bit more in the last 3rd. I think there is little wrong with the patient approach, but if we took some shots more often we'd be even harder to contain.

 

[DronnieBlade]

Can you even explain it?

Nope

UTB

 

[blade too long]

I think that’s a very good point about going through the middle a bit more. I’d not mentioned that, but it’s an obvious one. The majority of the time we are looking to move the ball across the box. It would be great to see someone run straight down the throat of the defence, directly at goal. Laying it off if they absolutely need to.

There was a moment at Forest last week when MxGoldrick was more or less on the penalty spot, ball at feet, sighted on goal, his first instinct? Lay it off to the left for someone running into the box. A little swivel there and he could have cracked it at goal, but they seem afraid, or have it drilled into them, not to do so.

Last night in the second half, about 10 mins from the end, Duffy is running at goal. He took a shot. It was on target but not enough to beat the keeper. Wilder came out the technical area and bollocked him for not passing to Freeman, who was free on the right. Who knows whether that would have been the better option?

I was pleased he had a crack at it myself. There’s always a chance a goalie will spill a powerful shot and there’s pickings for others from that.

Can’t remember which home match it was now but a few weeks ago Duffy robbed a central defender and ran straight down the middle before unleashing a shot into the bottom corner. That’s what I’d like to see us do more of. We don’t have to abandon our passing principles, but there’s a time to pass and a time to grow a pair of horns and be a right selfish bastard and go for goal. We need to address that balance imo.

Hindsight is a glorious thing . But players have a nano second to decide to shoot or lay off . In that time they assess if someone is closing them down from the front the side or rear and see if any one of his team mates is the better option.

 

[Torrix1889]

PACE! That is all.

 

[lakedistblade]

A good cross to a player in a scoring position is better than just whacking it in early. When we try to do that often it's a rubbish cross even from Norwood becuase precision and 100 mph doesn't work with championship skill levels. It's about decision making and our results and position suggest that overall we're not doing a bad job but we won't get it riight every time over 90 mins. Wilder knows about this and is doing his best with the squad. More quality always helps pretty please Kevin

 

[BladeFisher]

Sounds extremely feasible to me. We need a balance between the beautiful footie that we play and the ‘shoot on site’ philosophy. We could also do with mixing it up and trying to play through the middle rather than just from the wings. It is simple to say though, rather more difficult to expedite. I am mightily proud of the Blades and CW/AK. Just think we deserve more as a team and would like to find a way we can achieve that. UTB & FTP

I think shoot on site is largely an American phenomenon.

I think you meant 'shoot on sight'. I am not aware of many blind professional footballers about in the English game so should be no misunderstanding with that one.......except if you are a Yank.

 

[BigBed]

"Yes I did sleep with your wife, but, she wasn't very good, so you can keep her, il just borrow her once a week."......????

 

[Cradleyblade]

"Yes I did sleep with your wife, but, she wasn't very good, so you can keep her, il just borrow her once a week."......????

What? Am I missing something!!!?

 

[GrayBlade]

I can't stress enough, how I am absolutely full of admiration and praise for what Wilder has created down at Bramall lane. The football we are playing is of a standard I don't think I've ever seen us play, and I go back to the Woody/Currie era. It's fantastic!

Nothing is ever "perfect" though. Nothing at all in life. And we are not "perfect" either. I don't expect us to be. It's a game of football at the end of the day. Things will go for us and against us, it's a game of chance, as well as a game of skill and effort, there's not much we can do about a lot of that.

However...

I do think that we have a glaring fault and one which is costing us points, game after game.

I posted on here before the derby about "shoot on sight please". Which got a fairly mixed reaction, so I'm not expecting a great reaction to this post either. But what I'm witnessing is that we are constantly "over-playing" the ball around the 18 yard box. We are trying to look, always, for that perfect opening, that little flick or trick that will suddenly expose a hole that we can exploit, before we have a pop at goal.

I'm sorry to say, wonderful football though it is, we need to change our tactics a bit. At the very least, how about putting the ball in the box earlier? Last night we had occasions when we had two or three players in the box but instead of crossing it into the box we were fannying about, passing it this way and that way, looking for that perfect opening. There were other occasions when we eventually crossed it in, and there was no-one there, they'd all had to run back onside because it had taken so bloody long!

In his post-match interview Wilder conceded that maybe we could have put the ball into the box a bit earlier. I was reassured to hear that. However, this isn't a one-off. It isn't something that only occurred in the match last night v Wednesday. It's been costing us points for several weeks now.

Whether it's a change of tactics, or a change of personnel that's needed I'm not sure. Possibly the latter. I thought when Johnson played he was quick to get a cross in. I liked that about him. But he's not had much chance to do it since.

It would be a shame to see us falling away because we just don't act quick enough when we get into the danger zone - but I think it's happening already. Forest, Bristol, last night v Wednesday, in all these games we should have won easily - but we hesitate...we try to find the perfect opening...we overplay it...

It's serious.

(The good news is, we're still doing bloody well despite it! But how much better could we be doing if we just knocked this trait on the head? )

Ungrateful git! No I agree actually mate especially regarding us getting the crosses in earlier. I’ve posted this myself on here and on other media.

If when we’ve finally worked the perfect position to put in the cross it usually created a scoring opportunity I could accept it but it rarely does. Basically the I think only Duffy is good enough on his day to pick a man out or put it right in the danger zone time and again. With the likes of Bash, O’Connel and the wing backs it’s usually hit and hope, so an earlier cross could so no worse and would at least reduce the time opposition defenders get to set themselves. I bet Billy would prefer it if we crossed the ball earlier occasionally.

I’m not advocating that we should take the early cross all the time, just let’s mix it up a bit, if nothing else it will make us a bit less predictable and keep the oppo guessing.