Preston match was a step in the right direction

[blade too long]

its a results business being a manager

on paper Weir had the qualifications , but on grass , in games a coaching badge is worth diddly if its not converting int game play

we have never in our history lost so many on the bounce below the top 2 divisions, its not a time for experiments
Coventry have overtaken us despite a 10 point penalty , its moving from concern to worry towards desperation

Bobby Charlton should have been a good manager on paper, but its about results , he never achieved any , looking like Weir wont either

 

[Gavlar]

I don't think you should always sack managers on merit. That's in the past. You sack managers because you lose hope that they're going to get it right.

The Preston match was probably the second best I've seen us play this season, and therefore does give a little hope that we may improve. We were not more than average, but it is true to say that we looked better than the opposition and there were some encouraging signs.


Weir has made changes. In this game we mixed it up a bit more, played a few longer passes, attempting to play more of our football in the final third of the pitch. With the way we play we're vulnerable when key players aren't performing to their maximum ability.

Some players' touch were off - Baxter (quickly closed down, they knew he's key to us), and King in particular. Baxter needed just a little more space to get his dribbles and through balls right. Not worried about him, it will come and he will do well for us.

King was poor, disappointingly unfit and it made his touches worse and he looked unable/unwilling to get the ball down and run with it. There was one occasion, a good chance for a break (after 14 minutes) where Hill intercepted and ran on the ball before he found King down the channel. King could have taken on their lanky centre half Huntington, and I'm sure he would have done in his best days, but this time he passed it backwards to Doyle. It's going to take him time to get match fit, and we'd better hope he's still got it.

Hall has a sweet left foot, should be able to cross the ball into good areas for a target man, but he didn't look very pacey. Not convinced he's someone we should be signing permanently, but a wide addition was needed after losing both McFadzean and Murphy. Both Hall and Brandy kept cutting inside to cross, and as the full backs rarely overlapped first half we didn't have enough width.

Full backs were clearly instructed to go forward more, something that a lot of people have wanted. I don't think McMahon and Hill will every do this really well, but yesterday was the best efforts I've seen in a long time. Hill even had a couple of efforts on goal and made a few crosses second half, sadly his accuracy is not good. McMahon's crosses were also disappointing.

Let's remember that it was the first game for King and Hall and the first game in central midfield for Cuvelier. Baxter is also quite new. They should hopefully improve as they settles into the team.


Regarding our style, we still aren't good enough at taking opportunities to break, counter attack with pace and numbers. When we win the ball in good areas (when the opposition is going forward, i.e. is most vulnerable) we need to bomb forward with real determination. The King situation was one example, another was ruined by a dwelling Doyle.


To sum up, these were the pluses:

• Quicker build up, more varied attacking play
• Full backs going forward more
• Team having more attack minded players than before
• We had more shots
• A couple of times we could actually blame the final ball (in some games we haven't been so close!)
• King may get fitter, Baxter will have slightly more luck, Cuvelier and Hall may improve as they play more.
• Preston rarely looked threatening
• Weir is showing a willingness to make tweaks

Biggest negatives:

• Not enough real chances
• Not enough focus on exploiting chances to break/counter attack
• King's fitness
• Fans are losing patience

great stuff Bergen! we need some more level heads on here. one question tho, when have fans ever been patient?!

 

[Latters]

its a results business being a manager

on paper Weir had the qualifications , but on grass , in games a coaching badge is worth diddly if its not converting int game play

we have never in our history lost so many on the bounce below the top 2 divisions, its not a time for experiments
Coventry have overtaken us despite a 10 point penalty , its moving from concern to worry towards desperation

Bobby Charlton should have been a good manager on paper, but its about results , he never achieved any , looking like Weir wont either

Usually I think you're smacked off your tits when you post, but I can't really argue with any of that. Have a like.

 

[fishpie]

Good points Bergen. We started really brightly and played some good stuff for the first half hour or so..I don't see where Weir saw all these chances we created, we didn't, but I enjoyed watching us first half...We're just so fragile though , it's painful.. I don't just mean defensively, I mean throughout the team. If things don't go well, we appear to start feeling sorry for ourselves. Preston, from nowhere gained confidence and a yard of pace. We did the opposite..Is it down to a lack of leadership/character in the side?..Brandy and Hill, for me, maybe Maguire and Collins , sometimes, are the only ones willing to take responsibility and try to make something happen when things aren't going well... Shame (well woeful really) that out of them, Brandy's the only one of them who's a genuine attacking force..I say stick with Weir.. Primarily because we've tried and failed the chopping and changing managers route. That's not the most positive of reasons, I confess.. We all want it to work for him and I guess there's only of finding out if it will...Chuffin 'ell, from my one crumb of comfort, I've now thoroughly depressed myself.....UTB

 

[blade too long]

playing nice football we can do when we have some points , well more points than we have now , we could play a la Blackwell for whatever it takes for me , good football just now is scoring goals preferably more than the opposition

 

[SwissBlade]

God

Correct

 

[Fiery Blade]

Usually I think you're smacked off your tits when you post, but I can't really argue with any of that. Have a like.

Same here !!

 

[blade too long]

try to be less pessimistic, might seem lke being high to some

but this is about ability , and its not crossing over from coaching badges to delivering results

coaching badges are as much use as scout badges for knots if you cant get players to translate it on the park