On the beach already…?

[HappyClapper]

As per title. Too much apathy for me. No two footed tackles or even a cross word or two.

Come on OTIB. The match day thread is barely 10 pages. Cornick is being quietly defended and the state of the pitch being mused over. 
That’s not what I log on Saturday nights for. 

[Port Said Red]

******* Happy Clapper's

Better?

[joe jordans teeth]

If we are then happy days because we were far the better side 

[Major Isewater]

I am really pissed off , 

I can’t remember why. 

[22A]

Yet again, an international break.

Then the League programme resumes and City fail to win.

[redkev]

Thought against Swansea I said I thought some players were on the beach but I thought today the effort was deffo there but we were just so wasteful and made some poor decisions whilst on the ball

[Marina's Rolls Royce]

1 hour ago, HappyClapper said:

As per title. Too much apathy for me. No two footed tackles or even a cross word or two.

Come on OTIB. The match day thread is barely 10 pages. Cornick is being quietly defended and the state of the pitch being mused over. 
That’s not what I log on Saturday nights for. 

I don't think that the team today could be accused of apathy. The last few months has been encouraging  but just not clicked.It's almost like it's guaranteed that if some players are are the top of their game then others are found sadly wanting. We rarely have everyone playing badly or playing well as a unit.

[Redrascal2]

3 hours ago, redkev said:

Thought against Swansea I said I thought some players were on the beach but I thought today the effort was deffo there but we were just so wasteful and made some poor decisions whilst on the ball

Same old problem, no real threat in the final third. Loads of crosses but for what reason because there is no one there able to get their head on them. It is truly a massive transfer window for us this summer. NP has got to make us a real threat in the final third as well shore up the defence and presumably replacing Scott. His job gets no easier.

[Davefevs]

I think the OP was referring to OTIB 

[CyderInACan]

COPPELL OUT 

[oldstandrobin]

6 hours ago, CyderInACan said:

COPPELL OUT 

didnt know he had gone Reg 

[HappyClapper]

7 hours ago, Davefevs said:

I think the OP was referring to OTIB 

I was, but obviously with a lack of clarity.

[Bristol Oil Services]

14 hours ago, HappyClapper said:

As per title. Too much apathy for me. No two footed tackles or even a cross word or two.

Come on OTIB. The match day thread is barely 10 pages. Cornick is being quietly defended and the state of the pitch being mused over. 
That’s not what I log on Saturday nights for. 

You've got a long wait now, mate, til August. And about ten minutes into the first game, when we go 0:1 down to Sheffield Wednesday, or Ipswich. Then things will liven up a little again

[Son of Fred]

14 hours ago, joe jordans teeth said:

If we are then happy days because we were far the better side 

Scott & Sykes out there & we win the match....let alone Naismith & Kalas.

[fisherrich]

To be fair, this Forum has gone very quiet lately. 

[sunningdalered]

Well I thought OTC was so out of his depth today he was like a ballperson who had mistakenly stayed on the pitch when the game started. Could easily have been pulled after 20 mins. 

That better? 

[HappyClapper]

2 hours ago, sunningdalered said:

Well I thought OTC was so out of his depth today he was like a ballperson who had mistakenly stayed on the pitch when the game started. Could easily have been pulled after 20 mins. 

That better? 

That’s more like it.

[Davefevs]

3 hours ago, sunningdalered said:

Well I thought OTC was so out of his depth today he was like a ballperson who had mistakenly stayed on the pitch when the game started. Could easily have been pulled after 20 mins. 

That better? 

I thought he moved the ball well yesterday, one of the few players to control and pass at a good tempo.  Little opportunity to get about their midfield in his ratty-style, because Reading bypassed it!

I thought he gave a good account of himself, and didn’t undermine the team.  Not saying we didn’t miss Alex Scott, but I thought OTC did fine.  Don’t think heavy pitch helped him, like a few players.

[Red-Robbo]

4 minutes ago, Davefevs said:

I thought he moved the ball well yesterday, one of the few players to control and pass at a good tempo.  Little opportunity to get about their midfield in his ratty-style, because Reading bypassed it!

I thought he gave a good account of himself, and didn’t undermine the team.  Not saying we didn’t miss Alex Scott, but I thought OTC did fine.  Don’t think heavy pitch helped him, like a few players.

 

Very early days for Omar and he made a few mistakes, like heading the ball back into our box when two Reading players were lurking nearby. However, considering the learning curve he's on, I'm reasonably satisfied with how he conducted his game.  He's there due to injuries only, but I don't think Pearson would see yesterday as a backward step in the young man's progression. 

[exAtyeoMax]

5 hours ago, HappyClapper said:

I was, but obviously with a lack of clarity.

I got it! And I’m hungover on a coach on the M4 back to London 

[exAtyeoMax]

32 minutes ago, Davefevs said:

I thought he moved the ball well yesterday, one of the few players to control and pass at a good tempo.  Little opportunity to get about their midfield in his ratty-style, because Reading bypassed it!

I thought he gave a good account of himself, and didn’t undermine the team.  Not saying we didn’t miss Alex Scott, but I thought OTC did fine.  Don’t think heavy pitch helped him, like a few players.

I thought he played well too. Seems to have settled well

[Leveller]

45 minutes ago, Davefevs said:

I thought he moved the ball well yesterday, one of the few players to control and pass at a good tempo.  Little opportunity to get about their midfield in his ratty-style, because Reading bypassed it!

I thought he gave a good account of himself, and didn’t undermine the team.  Not saying we didn’t miss Alex Scott, but I thought OTC did fine.  Don’t think heavy pitch helped him, like a few players.

Funny how we see things differently. The paper gave him a 7 too, but to me I just noticed masses of mistakes, schoolboyish miscontrols and dangerous lunges. I accepted he needed the experience but thought he looked like a non leaguer.

[Davefevs]

4 hours ago, Leveller said:

Funny how we see things differently. The paper gave him a 7 too, but to me I just noticed masses of mistakes, schoolboyish miscontrols and dangerous lunges. I accepted he needed the experience but thought he looked like a non leaguer.

Yes, a couple / few poor touches, losing possession, but all our players did that throughout the game, probably with the exception of Conway who was pretty much touch-perfect.  Don’t get me wrong, I don’t think he (OTC) reached the heights of a 7 though, but thought he earned his corn (6/10)which is no bad thing.  

[redysteadygo]

I imagine he was strictly sticking to orders about positioning and keeping shape and did this well enough. The other aspects like control, passing and tackling etc was all at a pace he is not used to so was a little of game in this respect and the pitch conditions should be taken into account.

[redkev]

10 hours ago, Son of Fred said:

Scott & Sykes out there & we win the match....let alone Naismith & Kalas.

100% 

[redkev]

5 hours ago, exAtyeoMax said:

I got it! And I’m hungover on a coach on the M4 back to London 

Living in London umm good luck on that one , love to visit London and work there but don’t think I could live there 

Edited April 2, 2023 by redkev

[exAtyeoMax]

34 minutes ago, redkev said:

Living in London umm good luck on that one , love to visit London and work there but don’t think I could live there 

I really like it. Just like Bristol but bigger and with decent public transport. 

[Nogbad the Bad]

On 02/04/2023 at 08:53, Son of Fred said:

Scott & Sykes out there & we win the match....let alone Naismith & Kalas.

Add in Atkinson and Williams and we've got 5/6 starters out, more than half the first choice team.

Plus Benarous would certainly be playing now with Williams, Naysmith, Scott and Sykes out. He may well have been playing anyway.

All things considered Nige is doing well to patch together a team which is at least competitive, if perhaps lacking in creativity and a bit uninspiring to watch.

We obviously need reinforcements so we can only hope that we get positive news this week on Naysmith and Scott, as well as James being confirmed as available. 

[GrahamC]

On 02/04/2023 at 08:53, Son of Fred said:

Scott & Sykes out there & we win the match....let alone Naismith & Kalas.

Atkinson & Williams being available (Pring playing at LB as a result) would have done us no harm, either.

It was frustrating but as we are as near as dammit safe, are currently fielding a bench largely of kids, plus Cornick, Wilson & King then it’s not too surprising.

I didn’t detect any lack of effort, just quality (Dasilva in particular overhit so many passes when under no pressure), plus we are giving the likes of Taylor-Clarke opportunities in games where we are still competitive.

The rain & rugby didn’t help it but the pitch wasn’t great, either.

[KegCity]

15 hours ago, Davefevs said:

Yes, a couple / few poor touches, losing possession, but all our players did that throughout the game, probably with the exception of Conway who was pretty much touch-perfect.  Don’t get me wrong, I don’t think he (OTC) reached the heights of a 7 though, but thought he earned his corn (6/10)which is no bad thing.  

Agree, thought he was tidy if nothing more. Certainly happy for him to be part of the senior squad next season based on what I've seen so far. Seems to have a good range of passing.

[DaveF]

16 hours ago, redkev said:

Living in London umm good luck on that one , love to visit London and work there but don’t think I could live there 

Why not?

[Son of Fred]

3 hours ago, Nogbad the Bad said:

Add in Atkinson and Williams and we've got 5/6 starters out, more than half the first choice team.

Plus Benarous would certainly be playing now with Williams, Naysmith, Scott and Sykes out. He may well have been playing anyway.

All things considered Nige is doing well to patch together a team which is at least competitive, if perhaps lacking in creativity and a bit uninspiring to watch.

We obviously need reinforcements so we can only hope that we get positive news this week on Naysmith and Scott, as well as James being confirmed as available. 

I wouldn't wish to risk Scott this season now, from a number of perspectives..

If that ligament goes twang

[Clutton Caveman]

On 01/04/2023 at 19:08, redkev said:

Thought against Swansea I said I thought some players were on the beach but I thought today the effort was deffo there but we were just so wasteful and made some poor decisions whilst on the ball

I think we need to look at our positioning when crosses come in.  It seems we are pretty much always in one line and as such very hard to pick out. I think we would do far better if we had a staggered line and also a player hanging back for when a defender gets a soft touch or part clearance.

[Davefevs]

33 minutes ago, Clutton Caveman said:

I think we need to look at our positioning when crosses come in.  It seems we are pretty much always in one line and as such very hard to pick out. I think we would do far better if we had a staggered line and also a player hanging back for when a defender gets a soft touch or part clearance.

Ha…been looking at this for several weeks now.

We had a good bit of success after the WC break with “square(ish) crosses” into the 6 yard box for a tap-in, bundle-in, own goal.  But that has stopped.  Why?

My gut feel is that at the time we were playing on the counter-attack, attackers attacking the 6 yard box at pace, defenders retreating at pace to try to stop them.  Ball flashed across the 6 yard box….goal!  Simple.

Of late we have played against teams with a deep defence.  They are already in place / well positioned to block the cross, put our attacker off.

We have lost a bit of our counter-attacking ability with Naismith out, whilst we’ve also played a few teams happy to sit back.

So, going back to your second sentence, we need to alter our approach, but in terms of the crosser, but also the recipient.  If Wells is gonna go near post, short, then someone has to hang-back.

Its as if TC read your post!!!

This angle and close-up is perfect!

Look at Conway after he lays it off to Tanner (who aims for 6 yard box - and Wells)….he just doesn’t head for the same space as Wells, he delays and delays…gets the lucky break and is perfectly positioned to score.

You may recall his header vs Cardiff (h)…another example of just holding the run so that when Wells crossed his defender had carried on running towards goal, giving him the freedom to head home.  Bloody good header though.

[redkev]

2 hours ago, Davefevs said:

Ha…been looking at this for several weeks now.

We had a good bit of success after the WC break with “square(ish) crosses” into the 6 yard box for a tap-in, bundle-in, own goal.  But that has stopped.  Why?

My gut feel is that at the time we were playing on the counter-attack, attackers attacking the 6 yard box at pace, defenders retreating at pace to try to stop them.  Ball flashed across the 6 yard box….goal!  Simple.

Of late we have played against teams with a deep defence.  They are already in place / well positioned to block the cross, put our attacker off.

We have lost a bit of our counter-attacking ability with Naismith out, whilst we’ve also played a few teams happy to sit back.

So, going back to your second sentence, we need to alter our approach, but in terms of the crosser, but also the recipient.  If Wells is gonna go near post, short, then someone has to hang-back.

Its as if TC read your post!!!

This angle and close-up is perfect!

Look at Conway after he lays it off to Tanner (who aims for 6 yard box - and Wells)….he just doesn’t head for the same space as Wells, he delays and delays…gets the lucky break and is perfectly positioned to score.

You may recall his header vs Cardiff (h)…another example of just holding the run so that when Wells crossed his defender had carried on running towards goal, giving him the freedom to head home.  Bloody good header though.

Isn’t one of the sayings in football sometimes you make space by basically standing still ,

[Davefevs]

1 hour ago, redkev said:

Isn’t one of the sayings in football sometimes you make space by basically standing still ,

Yep, I recall Alan Ball’s dad in an interview when his son was manager of Southampton, saying Le Tissier had than ability to create space by standing still.  Always stuck in my mind. 

[PHILINFRANCE]

3 hours ago, redkev said:

Isn’t one of the sayings in football sometimes you make space by basically standing still ,

 

1 hour ago, Davefevs said:

Yep, I recall Alan Ball’s dad in an interview when his son was manager of Southampton, saying Le Tissier had than ability to create space by standing still.  Always stuck in my mind. 

Thank You.

I know the expression, and was going to suggest it referred to Gary Lineker - except, I knew it didn't!

Of course, it was Matt le T.

[Port Said Red]

On 02/04/2023 at 19:33, redysteadygo said:

I imagine he was strictly sticking to orders about positioning and keeping shape and did this well enough. The other aspects like control, passing and tackling etc was all at a pace he is not used to so was a little of game in this respect and the pitch conditions should be taken into account.

Yes, I did watch him quite closely and he looked like he was working hard in keeping position and maintaining shape, but it was very deliberate and almost to the detriment of other parts of his game. 

As I said before in other threads, he started his career further forward, so I think it will take a while for him to look natural in a more defensive role.