The day the wheels came off...

[grafikhaus]

...and boy, did they! Not just the result, not just the injuries and suspensions which will cost us dear, but evidence that DW can't do the basics.

Before the game I was surprised that, with Ertl on the bench, he picked LJF in central defence, 'He's no central defender.' I thought. I was right. I also thought Cressie should have made way for Hoskins at half time, given the games coming up. In the end, events made the decision for DW, although seeing Cressie at full-back shows how threadbare this squad is.

Sure, we could say 'it was one of those games' which we should have won - given the chances, hit post etc. But is it? I think today has been coming for some time. Christ, 10-man Scunny were a whisker away from snatching a point on Wednesday night.

Obviously Charlton are a cut above the rest of this division. And, given the points gained, so are 2, 3, 4, 5 and 6. But not that far ahead of the rest. No team will lie down, we know that. But at least we should be absolutely prepared for each scenario.

I had an overwhelming feeling that, if we strolled out for the second half thinking the job was as good as done, we'd be in trouble.
This is where a manager earns his keep. He should have drilled it into them to keep the foot on the gas. Obviously he didn't.

I don't blame him for ending with 3 up front - a point today was next to useless. I don't particularly blame the ref. Lowton (and Williamson) should not have got involved in such childish behaviour which ended in a second red for Lowton. But, having established that the ref. was totally inconsistent, we should have used that to our advantage. Thrusting runs into their box which could well have resulted in a penalty. I'm sure Charlton would have.

 

[Guesty]

On the plus side no-one took the advantage they could have below us.

It is now entirely obvious that McDonald is irreplaceable in the team. Some were saying he'd "done nothing" for us and that we'd survive the loss, as indeed we did with Clarke and Phillips. But although we've won two of the four he missed (if you count the Preston game, which he started) we haven't put in a good performance in that time.

 

[oldblade]

I think we are deeply indebted to Bury for their last minute equaliser!

 

[BladeFisher]

On the plus side no-one took the advantage they could have below us.

It is now entirely obvious that McDonald is irreplaceable in the team. Some were saying he'd "done nothing" for us and that we'd survive the loss, as indeed we did with Clarke and Phillips. But although we've won two of the four he missed (if you count the Preston game, which he started) we haven't put in a good performance in that time.

How long is he out for?

 

[Guesty]

I have no idea, last I heard there was no date. He was ruled out for Scunthorpe and was "doubtful" for today so hopefully he's not far off.

 

[yorkshirecoast]

I think we missed Collins more than McDonald. We should have been out of sight with the chances we created but defensively we were woeful.

 

[grafikhaus]

I wouldn't be surprised if he's out for the season and United are keeping a lid on it. Hamstrings vary enormously, but he can't be rushed back. Anyway, we should not be in the position where we're so reliant on one player.

 

[TarquinDelouche]

I were saying earlier that we'd take the points if we could protect the back four. I doubt there were many among us who didn't take a sharp intake of breath when we saw the line up. It could well be that they'd been working with LJF in the middle in training and he looked comfortable. It was a strange decision to put him there, and one that I can't believe that DW took lightly.

 

[Foxy]

I'm not on the same wavelength as other I don't think, were we really that shocked to see LJF moved there?

He's played there before, he even looked better there pre-season and Taylor played well in the ressies and scored the other day.

 

[Blade58]

I'm not on the same wavelength as other I don't think, were we really that shocked to see LJF moved there?

He's played there before, he even looked better there pre-season and Taylor played well in the ressies and scored the other day.

Yes foxy, he has played there, but I don't buy into changing two positions when we've only lost one player.

It's been plainly obvious for as long as I can remember that we need some cover at cb. Whereby one player is out and one other comes in to fill the position. Musical chairs with players only serves to change the dynamics of the team.

Now, with the loan window closing shortly, we are in a precarious postion of having to get out there sharpish and find a loan or two before it's too late! Something that perhaps could've and should've been avoided

 

[Jonboy60]

Keep the faith.utb

 

[Toronto Blade]

The wheels also came off at Hudds with a three nil lead two games in a row they have blown leads,they also don't have the excuse of two reds.
We are down a body now probably for quite sometime,players carried off in pain are usually in big trouble.
DW had previously stated that he had one eye on the loan market he will have both on it now as it shuts next week.

 

[borbokis]

kennedy on the bench next match perhaps? defense is looking quite imbalanced. 3 LB's and only 1 recognised specialised player in the CB and RB positions (not counting ertl. Seemed odd we had a keeper and 3 strikers on the bench today as well. Maybe DW's been taking lessons from Warnock

 

[davidpinder]

captain collins was missed the most. Can't believe how we fell apart without him, we need to visit the loan market sunday. Maguire showed his inexperience bringing down a lad going nowhere. Come on blades don't let us down now.

 

[super_pig]

don't panic mr mainwairing.. can't see why you're singling LJF out for criticism.. he'd gone off by the time they scored..
everyone else drew and games are now running out.. we are still 4 points ahead with a game in hand.. 7 wins and we're up.. personally i'm glad the next games are away.. the united fans are useless and panic at the slightest thing.. it is affecting the players
it was just one of those daft games. their 18 was trying to wind up harry and lowton all of the game.. i think they were singled out because they are young lads.. they could do with a rest anyway
my only criticism is that DW should have shut up shop at 2-1, but that was difficult seeing as ertl was already on.. we did a man utd at city and chased the game with ten men..
the wheels are NOT off.. we lost a game.. that is all.. just forget about it and move on
UTB

 

[stannyblade]

thought LJF played ok till he got injured. Definately better than Ertl did when he came on (please tell me his contract is up in the summer)

 

[JohnDenver]

The last person I blame for today's comedy antics is the manager. Our luck ran out and our kids lost their heads momentarily. 9/10 times we win by 3 or 4 from that position. Learn and move on.

Somehow we need to make it through the next three games intact and we'll be OK.

 

[Rattly Noise]

I agree. DW and rest of coaching squad were doing all they could to get players to calm down and not just the youngsters. Hopefully lesson learnt for all of them and we move on to Tuesday. I very much doubt that DW would want such a small squad by choice, but we can't afford to have quality players as back-ups, unless they've come through the ranks that is, so he can only do his best with what we've got. We're short of options at left back with Williams being injured, so made sense to bring in Taylor and move LJF to centre. It was either him or Ertl and whilst neither of them are as good as Collins they did for the most part do an ok job. Caught on a few occasions but they're League 1 players so they will make mistakes (even Premiership ones do).

We need to be more clinical and professional and finish teams off earlier in the game, but as Huddersfield found out sometimes even 3 goals isn't enough. I'd be more worried if I were them as they can't even blame two sendings off for their downfall, although we now have what could be a very difficult trip to Walsall to face with a makeshift defence so I don't think we should be too confident either. It's a long season and one game doesn't define us though. Let's see how we react the next two games and then we'll see if we have a problem of Megson proportions or if it's just a blip.

 

[sitwell]

Where did we lose our heads ? Lowton should never have been booked ,if anyone was messing about with the ball it was Williamson ,and Maguire tried a match saving tackle and got it wrong ,he did not bring a lad down going nowhere. the referee lost his head and a lot of our supporters are losing theirs. LJF was doing fine and has looked better there than left back before ,Taylor was understandably struggling with fitness in the last 10 after a fine performance and Collins had other issues - hardly losing their heads just a freak set of events that would normally take place over a few weeks happened in one game. Everyone needs to calm down and regain perspective ,would we have taken 4 points clear of 3rd with a game in hand in March before the season started ?

 

[mickerz-blade]

This type of thinking annoys me

Christ, 10-man Scunny were a whisker away from snatching a point on Wednesday night.

Christ 11 man united should have had at least a point at Charlton
Christ 11 man united should have had at least a point at pigs.
Christ 11 man united should have been playing 10 man Carlisle and had all thee points.
Christ don't tell me we've been getting away with it all this time and been lucky?

---------- Post added at 07:08 AM ---------- Previous post was at 07:04 AM ----------

The last person I blame for today's comedy antics is the manager. Our luck ran out and our kids lost their heads momentarily. 9/10 times we win by 3 or 4 from that position. Learn and move on.

Somehow we need to make it through the next three games intact and we'll be OK.

Once again, did our luck run out at Charlton, pigs, Carlisle and we got lucky at all those games in between those?

Gosh we've had some luck this season! I didn't realise and here's me thinking we've been playing well all this time?

 

[shorehamview]

The wheels haven't come off. We've had a nasty puncture, but that is all. Depending on which tyre fitters we go to will affect our car's performance in the races to come.

Wilson can either do the Kack Fit option, where you get a cheap tyre but fitting, valve and balancing are extra, or he can go to Deluxe Tyres, where you get it all included but the price is a bit more, especially if you drive one of those Audi cabriolets like girls do, or if you're having a premature midlife crisis like SwissBlade.

He could borrow a tyre from a mate perhaps, or even get a cheap old remould that'll do for a few laps but might not see out the race. He might even try fitting a tyre from a different wheel and seeing if that will do the job.

He might find that this is all a bit too metaphorical and play a Continental next to a Vredestein, what with his Michelin being knacked, and his trusty old Dunlop looking at the big tyre heap in the sky.

 

[Ollessendro]

Some reit metaphors dee SV

I do not think we would have lost the game if David Weir had started at centre half yesterday. We've risked it all season by not having centre half cover. Now it has been exposed. Why waste a wage on Williams (our third left back) and not sign Weir? No we look like a right set of pillocks going into the Walsall game. Patchy defence it is.

I think Grafikhaus is being a bit overly dramatic, but it could actually be the day the wheels came off. But that said, we are still clear at the top. The next 3 away games will be very interesting. It is goiong to be a real test of Wilson and the squad. The lack of experience and ill discipline could cost us. Alternatively the players could knuckle down and show some steel.

Yesterday definately showed that we are far from already promoted. There will be more twists and truns and it will go down to the wire. It also shows we should not underestimate teams and we should be professional and clinical. Exeter were the last team to take points off us at th Lane and that was because we underestimated them. Time to get back to basics.

 

[dannycorker]

It's not as bad as some fans would want us to think. The biggest blow is the defence, not the loss, but Lowton and Maguire only miss one game, will have to wait and see with LJF. It's hard to account for 2 red cards, an own goal, a penalty and hitting the woodwork in one game, it felt like we were destined to lose yesterday after watching that second half. But think about how the teams below us must feel. Hudders thrown away leads in both games recently, throwing away chances to catch us, we'd be going mad if that were us. And the situation at Wednesday doesn't need any more saying about it surely?

So heads up everyone, we're still in the best position to secure 2nd spot. We knew we weren't going to win every game, so lets just make sure we bounce back on Tuesday

 

[grafikhaus]

Good post, dannycorker. Watching the highlights of all the games yesterday it's not just us. How did Liverpool lose to Arsenal? Leeds to Southampton. It's football (except Charlton, who were lucky fuckers - again).

It seems we were destined to lose but we could have done without the team being disrupted. I bet Huddersfield are more pissed off.

I think Grafikhaus is being a bit overly dramatic

No change there, then!