Winning when playing poorly...

[PokerBlade]

They lashed a shot in from long range on the angle and that was their only chance of the game. Other than that, it was watching us attack, attack, attack. I'm not entirely happy with our overall performance but I'm not harsh enough to call that poor. We've dominated from start to finish again and our quality results in their two red cards...again.

On the other hand, we weren't at our best either. And the worry was that as the frustration set in a few mistakes started to mount up, giving the ball away cheaply, not listening to each other, putting the ball out needlessly, and such. It's important that they keep their composure when they're clearly on top and in control of the game. They were a little bit flat tonight and without Freeman and Duffy on the pitch we were struggling for width and not running at them enough. Moved the ball far too slowly at times too. Chapman and Lavery made a difference in allowing us to start stretching them more and getting past them to deliver the ball. Bury are poor, but any defender at this level is going to be happier dealing with crosses from deep over players running at them.

Major thing lacking was that bit of ruthlessness. Lafferty missed an easy header from a perfect Sharp cross and if he nods that in then it becomes a very easy game for us. Instead we go in at 0-0 and in spite of losing a man Bury's plans haven't changed. They didn't attack in the first half and it just meant one less man doing nothing at the half way line.

Simple fact is that Bury couldn't just defend against us for a full match. It took longer than anyone would've liked but eventually we broke through. And we can't ignore the goal line clearances and a disallowed goal. Call it poor if you want but there was only one side in that match that was ever going to win. We were by far the better team even having lost a couple of very important players.

These last two games have been a different kind of test, where we've had to grind out the win instead of just taking it comfortably. And we've once again passed.

 

[finlaytheblade]

We did miss Duffy no one in the team to break the lines ( 2 banks of 4) but at least we stuck at it and got the win we deserved.I always felt Chapman would make a difference and although he wasn't great he opened them upt a bit and we got our reward.I think

After watching another team get players sent off,I would rather play 11, something happens to away teams it seems to galvanis them .

 

[seanbeenstattoo]

Charlton will be a very stiff test. Win that and we really will be serious contenders.

 

[alcoblade]

Didn't know "could have" won owt.
.

Scoring more goals than the opposition wins stuff though.

UTB

 

[super_pig]

That wasn't our best performance. Our stats tell a phoney story for me...there wasn't much pace and incisive passing like the Chesterfield game. We were stifled by their game plan which we need to find away around. However, still finding a way to win whilst not playing at our potential is what champions do.

every time we got to the byline we looked dangerous.. unfortunately basham and lafferty hadn't read the script but chapman had

 

[Sean Thornton]

How I saw it. I think we've been showing signs of stuttering lately. Poor in the first half v. Chezzie. Shocking in the second half v. Shrews and poor all game tonight. Why was Sharp stuck out on the wing for long periods? Our crosses are mostly hit and hope. Too many bad performances tonight, not least from the ref. who was unbelievably bad. Oh, and Clarke is a donkey. Get Ched in the JTW and we'll fly.

Shocking? Poor? Bit of an overreaction? You must have been suicidal for the last three years.

Sharp pulled wide a lot to try to get into the game. As a striker of his kind will. It's ibstinctive.

Someone on another thread said there was a lack of pace and the play wasn't as incisive as it has been. I used exactly the same words during the game. We weren't " poor" we fell below standards from some previous games.

 

[Sean Thornton]

We lacked creativity, and I think we looked worse after Bury went down to 10.

Every attack was the same, out wide, one two, cross it in. That suited Bury, we didn't attack quickly enough much of the time.

That being said, we were dominant from start to finish. Even with our lack of creativity, we still had so much of the ball that we could have easily come away from that 3-0 winners.

I feel that we miss Duffy and Freemans wide play very much, and when they're back we'll be back to slicing through defences down the wings instead of looking sluggish and out of ideas in those areas as we have done over the last two games.

6 points in two games where we've struggled, and we've completely dominated both games. Let's think about that, we've played relatively badly and still dominated from start to finish.

Not happy with Freemans inclusion at the start of the season. Probably Bradford apart he's done very well. We missed him. Basham is no replacement whatsoever.

 

[Bladeinleeds]

3 Points is 3 points at the end of the day - was always gonna be tricky when they sit back after going a man down.

As stated above in the last 2 seasons we don't win that game. Loving the number of late goals we are getting and the spirit shown by the team.

Big result as all the top 4 won today.

 

[Tyler Durden]

A last minute win doesn't disguise that we were poor and sluggish for 91 minutes. We are playing a resurgent Charlton side on Saturday and if we continue to be as inefficient as we have been for the past two games, we will be turned over and the game in hand will count for fuck-all. Our rivals aren't dropping points....

 

[Alfreton14Blade]

A bit of an achilles heel this, clearly - breaking down massed defences. The lack of incisive pace that some identified earlier in the season. Looked a bit laboured and limited.

Even so, who cares? If Saturday left you feeling a bit flat (well, it did me anyway), tonight was a magnificent buzz in the end.

Coutts was top class, especially with him playing through the pain with that injury (& right through till the very end). Great composure & drive from him to tee it up for Ebanks. High marks to Chapman and Lavery as well - game changers off the bench, just what we'd been asking for.

 

[Harry's Game]

Thought taking Scougs off was the right call. Bury were defending so deep from the off there was little room for him to manoeuvre as there midfield sat right in front of the centre halves. Don't get the Done scapegoat criticism tonight. He was no better/worse than the majority. Lafferty just didn't get going which is why I suspect Chapman was deployed on the left instead of being ahead of Basham. It started looking crowded up top but still found it strange when Clarke occasionally dropped deep and Billy out wide. Fleck and Coutts impressed again. Lavery looked very lively in his cameo. As has been said I think we will fair better on Saturday with more freedom to express ourselves. Doesn't matter how we get em but it's another 3 points and that's good enough for me. We aren't going to be Barcelona every game. Roll on Saturday

Scougs cannot play the Duffy role, that's been put to bed the last two games.

 

[GrayBlade]

Shocking? Poor? Bit of an overreaction? You must have been suicidal for the last three years.

Sharp pulled wide a lot to try to get into the game. As a striker of his kind will. It's ibstinctive.

Someone on another thread said there was a lack of pace and the play wasn't as incisive as it has been. I used exactly the same words during the game. We weren't " poor" we fell below standards from some previous games.

Every club at every level has a couple or three games like we've just had. Liverpool, Man City, Spurs and Newcastle spring to mind in recent weeks.

The good thing is that we've just had a couple of games where we weren't quite at our best and yet we've still won them, and that's got to be s massive positive nomatter how much some can't see it.

 

[Harry's Game]

A last minute win doesn't disguise that we were poor and sluggish for 91 minutes. We are playing a resurgent Charlton side on Saturday and if we continue to be as inefficient as we have been for the past two games, we will be turned over and the game in hand will count for fuck-all. Our rivals aren't dropping points....

Well apart from the three points Bolton dropped a couple of games back.

I think we will win at Charlton on the counter attack.

 

[JohnDenver]

Scougs cannot play the Duffy role, that's been put to bed the last two games.

I doubt anyone but Duffy can. When he's out I'd sooner see Chapman on and creating from out wide. The triangles around the opponent's penalty area aren't working as well without Duffy orchestrating them.

 

[PokerBlade]

A last minute win doesn't disguise that we were poor and sluggish for 91 minutes. We are playing a resurgent Charlton side on Saturday and if we continue to be as inefficient as we have been for the past two games, we will be turned over and the game in hand will count for fuck-all. Our rivals aren't dropping points....

All I've seen so far is that a team refusing to leave its own box can make it hard to score. I welcome a side like Charlton that might be so ambitious as to have a couple of shots against us. I know we all want to win by a distance, but that's two teams in a row that have come to do nothing but defend and frustrate and neither one's taken a point.

We were all over them for the whole match and they never had a real chance. Even on one of our worse days we were miles ahead of anything they had to offer.

 

[Yewsman]

I don't think we played particularly badly tonight. Or on Saturday.

Sendings off ruin football matches! Especially against teams who want to park the bus against us with 11 men.

Tonight I think we looked good up until the first red card. I also think CW got half time wrong. Bash had so much of the ball down the right in the first half - he had a good game, he just doesn't have the technical ability to beat a man and whip it in. We were crying out for Chapman imo (freeman would have had a field day) that would have been sub1.
I'd have taken Done off for Clarke for sub2. I thought Scoogs had done well first half. Don't know if he took a knock.

3 points and it is a great feeling to grab a late winner sometimes!

I am afraid that the more I see of Bash this season the more I notice his limitations. As the rest of the team gets better and better he has just been left behind. In the first half tonight he had so much possession on the right mainly from great passes from Coutts but he never did anything with the ball. His crossing was awful, or he cut inside or passed it square. Not once did he try to take on his man or get to the bye line and get round the back. Very disappointing. Had Chapman been in that situation he would have created carnage. Having said that Bash is probably better in defensive duties but thos were just not needed tonight.

 

[torridon]

A happy Sampy tonight but a frustrating game to watch, but then again we have been spoiled recently, I thought tonight we plodded at times and didn't use the width as well as we could have and rarely got to the byline. But it's always going to be tough against a side that won't come out much or show much ambition like Shrewsbury or Bury did even if they only have 9, 10 or 11 men. But the goal when it came was oh so sweet, went absolutely bonkers, not celebrated a goal like that in what seems like ages.

 

[Yewsman]

Just wish we would take the clear chances early in games like this, Lafferty scores his sitter first half I reckon we win by two or three nil.

Yes we created several clear chances in the first half. Had we taken those we would have been comfortably ahead by 3 or 4 goals at half time and game over.

 

[Tyler Durden]

All I've seen so far is that a team refusing to leave its own box can make it hard to score. I welcome a side like Charlton that might be so ambitious as to have a couple of shots against us. I know we all want to win by a distance, but that's two teams in a row that have come to do nothing but defend and frustrate and neither one's taken a point.

We were all over them for the whole match and they never had a real chance. Even on one of our worse days we were miles ahead of anything they had to offer.

I agree with that completely, but my concern is that complacency may set in soon. Of course, a convincing couple of displays until the end of November will put these fears to bed, hopefully.

 

[Martino]

I bet Bury don't play the same tactics at Scunthorpe, Bradford or Bolton. Our opponents in the title race will have a much easier ride.

 

[seanbeenstattoo]

I agree with that completely, but my concern is that complacency may set in soon. Of course, a convincing couple of displays until the end of November will put these fears to bed, hopefully.

Totally agree with this and your post above.

 

[Dellas Cowboys]

perhaps Brooks could be an option in this type of game

 

[PokerBlade]

I agree with that completely, but my concern is that complacency may set in soon. Of course, a convincing couple of displays until the end of November will put these fears to bed, hopefully.

Complacency is always a concern. I think the major point from tonight is that you have to pick up the pace in order to hurt teams. Wilder spoke about this early on when we were having our poor start that he didn't want players shirking responsibility and playing too many passes without purpose. That was creeping in a little. I appreciate wanting to stretch them and wear them down when you have the man advantage, but someone needed to take responsibility and start running at them because, when we did, we suddenly started seeing the last ditch clearances and eventually the winner.

 

[Sean Thornton]

A last minute win doesn't disguise that we were poor and sluggish for 91 minutes. We are playing a resurgent Charlton side on Saturday and if we continue to be as inefficient as we have been for the past two games, we will be turned over and the game in hand will count for fuck-all. Our rivals aren't dropping points....

And neither are we.

 

[Sean Thornton]

Complacency is always a concern. I think the major point from tonight is that you have to pick up the pace in order to hurt teams. Wilder spoke about this early on when we were having our poor start that he didn't want players shirking responsibility and playing too many passes without purpose. That was creeping in a little. I appreciate wanting to stretch them and wear them down when you have the man advantage, but someone needed to take responsibility and start running at them because, when we did, we suddenly started seeing the last ditch clearances and eventually the winner.

I wonder if Wilder thinks complacency has crept in?

The tempo was lacking compared to ther games. The loss of Freeman was one reason and Duffys good passing another.

 

[Antonb]

we missed both freeman and Duffy tonight. Basham had some great chances in the first half to get some decent crosses in but it seemed like he didn't know what to do. It was crying out for Duffy or even Freeman to be there. Duffy makes a difference because he is always trying to create something. And never stops trying too. But still, thank god we won. We will have Fleck, coutts and Duffy together again for Charlton. And Freeman too.

 

[Pinchy]

How I saw it. I think we've been showing signs of stuttering lately. Poor in the first half v. Chezzie. Shocking in the second half v. Shrews and poor all game tonight. Why was Sharp stuck out on the wing for long periods? Our crosses are mostly hit and hope. Too many bad performances tonight, not least from the ref. who was unbelievably bad. Oh, and Clarke is a donkey. Get Ched in the JTW and we'll fly.

Drivel.

 

[Pinchy]

And neither are we.

There's no 'neither' about it. Bradford lost on Saturday. The suggestion was nonsense.

 

[Sheffsteel]

A last minute win doesn't disguise that we were poor and sluggish for 91 minutes. We are playing a resurgent Charlton side on Saturday and if we continue to be as inefficient as we have been for the past two games, we will be turned over and the game in hand will count for fuck-all. Our rivals aren't dropping points....

Totally different game.

I very much doubt that Charlton will stick all their men behind the ball and rarely venture outside their own half. The players will have much more freedom to express themselves against Charlton.

 

[Sheffsteel]

I agree with that completely, but my concern is that complacency may set in soon. Of course, a convincing couple of displays until the end of November will put these fears to bed, hopefully.

Remember Wilder has recent experience regards complacency.

His Northampton team were beating everyone last season but he never let them get complacent.
Wilder prepares a team well and knows to respect the opposition regardless of position and every match can be tough if the players aren't focussed.