Positives v Negatives

[GrahamC]

On the plus side I thought Zak was outstanding, Dickie very good, Wells too & thought Joe Williams was better than any of the 3 that started In midfield. Good as well that Sam Bell is off the mark.

Negatives were Tanner’s distribution was poor, the midfield looked sluggish & Max made a right mess of it when he came a long way to punch the ball clear.

Fair result & with Weimann presumably unavailable now & the Scott saga rumbling on, a few things for Nige to ponder.

[Roger Red Hat]

1 minute ago, GrahamC said:

On the plus side I thought Zak was outstanding, Dickie very good, Wells too & thought Joe Williams was better than any of the 3 that started In midfield. Good as well that Sam Bell is off the mark.

Negatives were Tanner’s distribution was poor, the midfield looked sluggish & Max made a right mess of it when he came a long way to punch the ball clear.

Fair result & with Weimann presumably unavailable now & the Scott saga rumbling on, a few things for Nige to ponder.

Agree with most of that, all except 'fair result'. I thought we were lucky to get a point, and too often 2nd to the ball.

[Taylor10]

I thought Zak was poor first half but absolutely exceptional second half. Sam Bell just shaded him for man of the match for me. Very willing runner and took his goal well. Notable mention for Dickie too. Other than that I have to agree regarding the negatives. Although probably lucky to get a point in the end.

Also with Weimann going off injured, If you include Scott (for now) along with McCrorie, Naismith, Benarous & Atkinson that’s pretty much half a starting line up of key players still to come back. Ok so not ideal they are unavailable but a positive given that will strengthen us when they return.

Edited August 5, 2023 by Taylor10

[MC RISK77]

Zak picking up where he left off- was our stand out performer today

[Kingswood Robin]

2 minutes ago, Roger Red Hat said:

Agree with most of that, all except 'fair result'. I thought we were lucky to get a point, and too often 2nd to the ball.

Agreed. The biggest surprise today was that Preston took so long to score. Pulled all over the place for long spells, lucky to get a point I thought.

[Show Me The Money!]

Preston looked sharper than us for most of the game i thought. They may well have been struggling with cramp come the end but considering we were the home team we didn't seem at it for most of the game. Saying that we had the best chance in the FH and restricted them to hardly any clear cut chances

[Gazred]

Vyner a very easy pick for MOM.

Posted in the match day thread that he looked very comfortable. 

Back 4 defensively good. Full backs not very effective going forward but probably credit to Preston for part of the reason they weren't.

Midfield was a real weak point. Not Williams best game but did try progress play and play forward when he could.

[TDarwall]

I thought Zak was MOM. Thought Cam was very poor in possession but in truth all over the pitch, our passing was off. However you have to give some credit to PNE, strong, resolute & organised & they were not easy to play against.

[Show Me The Money!]

Cornick was frustrating to watch. If being quick isn't his thing then you need that quickness of thought or movement. He didn't show that today

[Lack of Action Man]

Positives were that we did (in spells) look a threat on the counter attack. New signings look OK and for the most part seemed to gel, if not looking stellar. 
 

Negatives for me were a general naivety in our mentality after scoring. Similar to last season, we shrank back into ourselves and invited pressure. Then followed frankly comical mistakes, such as players colliding with each other, clearances being hacked over shoulders without checking their surroundings, a multitude of underhit passes, and so on and so on.

[glynriley]

9 minutes ago, GrahamC said:

On the plus side I thought Zak was outstanding, Dickie very good, Wells too & thought Joe Williams was better than any of the 3 that started In midfield. Good as well that Sam Bell is off the mark.

Negatives were Tanner’s distribution was poor, the midfield looked sluggish & Max made a right mess of it when he came a long way to punch the ball clear.

Fair result & with Weimann presumably unavailable now & the Scott saga rumbling on, a few things for Nige to ponder.

Fair play to you mate that you can find something positive. For me that was an awful performance from front to back. Vyner pretty much the only player who’s in credit. 

I’m a big fan of Nige but he got it all wrong for me today. 

[Silvio Dante]

8 minutes ago, GrahamC said:

On the plus side I thought Zak was outstanding, Dickie very good, Wells too & thought Joe Williams was better than any of the 3 that started In midfield. Good as well that Sam Bell is off the mark.

Negatives were Tanner’s distribution was poor, the midfield looked sluggish & Max made a right mess of it when he came a long way to punch the ball clear.

Fair result & with Weimann presumably unavailable now & the Scott saga rumbling on, a few things for Nige to ponder.

Zak was head and shoulders above for me today - the four you mentioned were for me the only players who I think merited a “pass” mark overall. 

There were a few concerns today. We got dragged into an attritional game that played to the opposition, were slow in possession and passing was way off.

Max today encapsulated why I think he’s not up to standard. The punch you mention was one - I’d also point to their free kick first half where Dickie had to head over as he didn’t make a decision, and the incident where he took a blow at the start of the second was a direct result of him not coming quickly enough - he decides that’s his ball (and it was) there’s no challenge. 
 

Add in that PNE decided to stop us playing the ball from Max to the CBs meaning he had to kick - and he can’t. That will be noted by other teams and could prove a real weakness.

Summary: I saw it much the same as you, but I think it definitely confirmed the gap in the squad.

[BCFCGav]

Disappointed with performance and two old habits - poor after scoring and poor after 85. Thought our quality was below the mark for most of today. We got a point - that’s a nice positive. But hard not to feel a bit flat, we’ve been here far too many times before. 
 

Edit: Dickie, Vyner, Williams, Bell very good. Deserve special mentions.

Edited August 5, 2023 by BCFCGav

[UpTheReds]

Thought Andy King was absolutely awful for the time he was on, couldn't pass the ball at all. Think Dickie did well and Knight showed some great touches throughout. Overall though it looked like we were a bit off it today.

[Silvio Dante]

9 minutes ago, Taylor10 said:

I thought Zak was poor first half but absolutely exceptional second half. Sam Bell just shaded him for man of the match for me. Very willing runner and took his goal well. Notable mention for Dickie too. Other than that I have to agree regarding the negatives. Although probably lucky to get a point in the end.

Also with Weimann going off injured, If you include Scott (for now) along with McCrorie, Naismith, Benarous & Atkinson that’s pretty much half a starting line up of key players still to come back. Ok so not ideal they are unavailable but a positive given that will strengthen us when they return.

I think Bells rating is coloured by the (well taken) goal. He missed a very good chance first half without making the keeper work, and when he broke second half again the effort was tame. Pring didn’t have a good day but I don’t think Sam helped him much, and he wasn’t a great outlet. Take the goal out and there wasn’t much there from Sam today.

[Dr Balls]

We were outplayed for long periods of both halves. Zak had his dodgy moments being indecisive. Dickie looked fine but clearly had no one in midfield willing to take a forward ball from him.

The midfield remains the worry. Supposedly we are a counter-attacking team but that’s because our midfielders, with the exception of Scott, have minimal creativity. It’s why we are essentially a “long ball” team. At home, against strong, physical but relatively unsung teams that seems even more frustrating. We hardly won a single second ball because we were constantly out-muscled.

I don’t mind playing counter-attacking football per se, especially away from home, but just pumping hopeful long balls towards 3 enormous centre backs is not likely to be a fruitful tactic, as we found today.
 

[WoodsDTES]

Passing stats today according to Sky were 

Tanner-45 passes 68.9%

Vyner-55 passes 85.5%
Dickie-69 passes 72.5%
Pring-38 passes 57.9%
Weimann-6 passes 66.7% subbed 23
James-39 passes 76.9%
Knight-34 passes 64.7% subbed 88
Cornick-16 passes 56.3% subbed 70
Wells-13 passes 84.6% subbed 69
Bell-14 passes 42.9% subbed 87
Williams-35 passes 60% subbed 23
Sykes-8 passes 50% subbed 70
Conway-4 passes 100% subbed 69
King-6 passes 33.3% subbed 88
Mehmeti-1 pass 100% subbed 87

team 425 passes 65.6% accuracy

clearly very poor down the left side today and the failure to keep possession after the subs shows we weren’t good enough with the ball.

20 tackles 75% successful and 18 clearances.
 

[Red-Robbo]

10 minutes ago, GrahamC said:

On the plus side I thought Zak was outstanding, Dickie very good, Wells too & thought Joe Williams was better than any of the 3 that started In midfield. Good as well that Sam Bell is off the mark.

Negatives were Tanner’s distribution was poor, the midfield looked sluggish & Max made a right mess of it when he came a long way to punch the ball clear.

Fair result & with Weimann presumably unavailable now & the Scott saga rumbling on, a few things for Nige to ponder.

 

Dickie was my MOTM and the only player who seemed robust enough to deal with Preston's constant rough-housing - and was able to pay them back in kind!

What disappointed me again was the basic lack of midfield able to deal with a big, physical side.  I get that Scott wasn't there and the ref gave us next to no protection, but there was no one able to stop them bringing the ball into our final third. Preston aren't exactly a graceful side, but when you let them have that much possession in your half you just know a goal is coming eventually.

Lots of City players had below-par games and it was a bit of a blah turgid mess of a game, as it always seems to be when we have a big crowd for a league game. Was disappointed with Knight after the rave reviews he was getting in the friendlies. It didn't look like he could hold off the challenge of a primary school kid. I'm not writing the bloke off based on one game however. Much better will come, hopefully. 

Any Scott cash that we can spend would be well invested in a strong, fearless attacking midfielder. 

[Super]

Vyner was fantastic. Tanner and Pring were poor by there standards. Too many long balls as well against monster centre half's what was that all about?

[Bar BS3]

Disappointing today.

Baffling team selection before the start.

Lack of game plan or purpose from the start & failed to stamp our authority on a bang average team that looked fairly unfit & there for the taking.

Pre-season optimisms sharply put back into the reality of probably an inconsistent, frustrating season ahead, where we don't get the best out of our players & will be relying on key players to stop up to win us games - rather than taking a strangle hold of the opposition & dictating games.

Of course - a massive over reaction based on today's disjointed & uninspiring performance - based on more of the same old, same old - when I was hoping we'd look fresh & exciting.

Maybe that will come - but today was pretty drab. 

[And Its Smith]

One positive is there won’t be a West Ham bid for Pring this week! 

[Roger Red Hat]

2 minutes ago, Bar BS3 said:

failed to stamp our authority on a bang average team that looked fairly unfit

If you thought they looked unfit, how fit did you think we looked!!?

[ExiledAjax]

Felt like a game that could be the curtain raiser on any season of any fortune. Really hard to get a read on where we are, what we need, and what the next 9 months has in store.

Yes we missed something in midfield. Whether that was Scott, Naismith, or both I'm not sure. We also seemed to struggle to get the ball under control in the final third, and took out usual paltry number of shots (5). Preston harassed and pressed us well though so it was far from all down to our failings.

On the plus side the defence was organised, O'Leary solid, and we were good for the draw imo.

Oxford will see a few changes I suspect, although with the chance of getting that first win we may go a little stronger than we would have done?

[redysteadygo]

Attendance 29359

Well according to the BBC

[ExiledAjax]

3 minutes ago, Bar BS3 said:

Baffling team selection before the start.

I'm not sure it was baffling. Would any of us have put out a radically different XI?

[And Its Smith]

1 minute ago, redysteadygo said:

Attendance 29359

Well according to the BBC

It was 23,313

[GrahamC]

8 minutes ago, Bar BS3 said:

Disappointing today.

Baffling team selection before the start.

 

 

In what way?

The only places seriously up for grabs in the absence of Atkinson, Naismith & Scott were in the front three, Wells was excellent (& looked rightly pissed off to be subbed) Bell scored our goal & Cornick was ok.

Weimann wasn’t great true, but he only lasted about 20 minutes anyway.

Looking at the rest of the bench no one seriously thought either of the 2 young centre backs, Roberts, King or Wiles-Richards would start, so this is an odd comment.

We weren’t great today but possibly Sykes for Cornick is about the only questionable selection.

Edited August 5, 2023 by GrahamC

[Super]

Just now, GrahamC said:

In what way?

The only places seriously up for grabs in the absence of Atkinson, Naismith & Scott were in the front three, Wells was excellent (& looked rightly pissed off to be subbed) Bell scored our goal & Cornick was ok.

Weimann wasn’t great true, but he only lasted about 20 minutes anyway.

Looking at the rest of the bench no one seriously thought either of the 2 young centre backs, Roberts or Wiles-Richards would start, so this is an odd comment.

We weren’t great today but possibly Sykes for Cornick is about the only questionable selection.

Sorry Cornick was dreadful. He isn't a wide man. Sykes should definitely have started.

[redysteadygo]

3 minutes ago, And Its Smith said:

It was 23,313

Not quite so positive then.

 

[tin]

The main positive is it was a good point; we’ve played better and lost plenty of times in the past. Another positive is that nothing is won or lost in the first game of a long season. We must be better than that.

The main negatives (and there were plenty) was the abysmal refereeing and the lack of intensity. I thought the starting XI could’ve been stronger and Sykes would’ve been more effective than Cornick IMO, despite his assist.

[Bar BS3]

1 minute ago, ExiledAjax said:

I'm not sure it was baffling. Would any of us have put out a radically different XI?

I think most were surprised not to see Conway & Sykes in the starting 11.

Especially with AS out injured, surely you want your strongest players filling in elsewhere.

I thought he ran willingly & did OK generally - as he usually does (I'm not a hater of his atall) but there is no way that starting Cornick over Sykes is picking your strongest possible 11 - imho.

The rest of the team was pretty straightforward selection, granted - but baffling by way of leaving 2 or 3 of your most attacking threats on the bench, against an average team, coming into the season off the back of a crap pre-season, at home, in front of a sell out crowd - it felt like an opportunity missed and so it proved to be. 

[Lack of Action Man]

I suppose another negative was the painfully flat atmosphere throughout the match, only livened up by some suspect refereeing. Not sure how we address this, and clearly with a significant portion of people attending under mates rates tickets, it isn’t an easy fix.

[Mr Popodopolous]

12 minutes ago, Super said:

Too many long balls as well against monster centre half's what was that all about?

That bit is a bit groundhog day. Remember strongly critiquing years ago long ball vs big centre backs, then it becomes a game of percentage, of chance. One with not a lot of chance of success.

[Bar BS3]

10 minutes ago, Roger Red Hat said:

If you thought they looked unfit, how fit did you think we looked!!?

I didn't think we looked unfit.

We didn't look like we had any game plan or ideas, or shape to our play.

When their players were struggling with cramp, we still couldn't muster any composed control of the game.

Edited August 5, 2023 by Bar BS3

[Dullmoan Tone]

4 minutes ago, ExiledAjax said:

I'm not sure it was baffling. Would any of us have put out a radically different XI?

I think most would have started Conway - who was very disappointing when he finally arrived. Thought he was caught flat footed and moved too easily off the ball.

I’m also far from convinced even a fit Weimann can play the Scott role. Only Nige seems determined to get his most experienced players on the pitch which is playing Andi out of position.

I’m also convinced most would have made changes much earlier, it was obvious they were much the better team in the final third of the match.

[Taylor10]

22 minutes ago, Silvio Dante said:

I think Bells rating is coloured by the (well taken) goal. He missed a very good chance first half without making the keeper work, and when he broke second half again the effort was tame. Pring didn’t have a good day but I don’t think Sam helped him much, and he wasn’t a great outlet. Take the goal out and there wasn’t much there from Sam today.

Don’t get me wrong, he will have better games I’m sure. We were poor today but I just felt he was the only one going forward that looked like he could make something happen. A poor miss in the first half but he got in behind a few times. Not a polished performance by any means but he was our only threat going forward.

[Sturgess]

37 minutes ago, MC RISK77 said:

Zak picking up where he left off- was our stand out performer today

Where are we at with his contract negotiations?

[Charlie BCFC]

Positives: Thought we looked good off the ball, defensively dealt with their pressure well making Max’s life a lot easier, Vyner and Dickie looked good for me.

Negatives: Preston created a lot more than us and against better forwards we would’ve been punished more, could not get full backs into the game, sat way too deep after getting the goal after starting the half so positively and we completely stopped for the goal.

 

Overall pretty poor performance to start the season but we can and I’m sure will be better than that. Did think there was a clear handball in the lead up to the goal (reason why we stopped possibly) but Preston more than deserved a point.

 

No point overreacting though as it is the first game of the season, neither Sheffield United or Luton won their first game last season so still plenty of chances!

[INCRED]

32 minutes ago, glynriley said:

Fair play to you mate that you can find something positive. For me that was an awful performance from front to back. Vyner pretty much the only player who’s in credit. 

I’m a big fan of Nige but he got it all wrong for me today. 

Can’t disagree, very poor today and most of our players looked off the pace of the game 

Lost the midfield in the second half and the only surprise was Preston failed to take more of the numerous chances they had 

overall, underwhelmed and my pre season positivity well and truly put back in the box 

[Redland]

New season. New hope. But same old, same old.

[Merrick's Marvels]

1 hour ago, GrahamC said:

On the plus side I thought Zak was outstanding, Dickie very good, Wells too & thought Joe Williams was better than any of the 3 that started In midfield. Good as well that Sam Bell is off the mark.

Negatives were Tanner’s distribution was poor, the midfield looked sluggish & Max made a right mess of it when he came a long way to punch the ball clear.

Fair result & with Weimann presumably unavailable now & the Scott saga rumbling on, a few things for Nige to ponder.

Positives - a composed but aggressive Vyner. Aggressive! More please. 

Negatives - the rest of it, including the coaching staff who reckon we're fit and the staff who've spent pre-season not bothering to work on patterns of play, of which there was precious evidence compared to Preston who were infinitely superior in virtually all facets of play. 

God help us if the absence of 1 midfield player has reduced us to this level of mediocrity. Only another 45 games to go! 

Edited August 5, 2023 by Merrick's Marvels

[MC RISK77]

8 minutes ago, Sturgess said:

Where are we at with his contract negotiations?

Indeed that came up with the guys sat around me today- not sure to be honest

[Merrick's Marvels]

39 minutes ago, WoodsDTES said:

Passing stats today according to Sky were 

Tanner-45 passes 68.9%

Vyner-55 passes 85.5%
Dickie-69 passes 72.5%
Pring-38 passes 57.9%
Weimann-6 passes 66.7% subbed 23
James-39 passes 76.9%
Knight-34 passes 64.7% subbed 88
Cornick-16 passes 56.3% subbed 70
Wells-13 passes 84.6% subbed 69
Bell-14 passes 42.9% subbed 87
Williams-35 passes 60% subbed 23
Sykes-8 passes 50% subbed 70
Conway-4 passes 100% subbed 69
King-6 passes 33.3% subbed 88
Mehmeti-1 pass 100% subbed 87

team 425 passes 65.6% accuracy

clearly very poor down the left side today and the failure to keep possession after the subs shows we weren’t good enough with the ball.

20 tackles 75% successful and 18 clearances.
 

This is where stats are bollox though because if there's one player who needs a boot up the arse after that (not the only one) it's Conway. 

[Merrick's Marvels]

40 minutes ago, Roger Red Hat said:

If you thought they looked unfit, how fit did you think we looked!!?

Very. Pring blowing out his sphincter after 10 minutes! 

[glynriley]

40 minutes ago, GrahamC said:

In what way?

The only places seriously up for grabs in the absence of Atkinson, Naismith & Scott were in the front three, Wells was excellent (& looked rightly pissed off to be subbed) Bell scored our goal & Cornick was ok.

Weimann wasn’t great true, but he only lasted about 20 minutes anyway.

Looking at the rest of the bench no one seriously thought either of the 2 young centre backs, Roberts, King or Wiles-Richards would start, so this is an odd comment.

We weren’t great today but possibly Sykes for Cornick is about the only questionable selection.

Cornick was piss poor. I’m 5 foot **** all and I reckon I’d win more headers than him. His feet rarely lift off the floor. For a 6 footer he’s terrible in the air. 

[robin_unreliant]

34 minutes ago, Bar BS3 said:

I didn't think we looked unfit.

We didn't look like we had any game plan or ideas, or shape to our play.

When their players were struggling with cramp, we still couldn't muster any composed control of the game.

No game plan - that was what stood out for me. Why were we hoofing long, high balls that their No.6 won virtually every time? I'm a Pearson fan but the way we played today felt like we had no nous behind the way we set about the game, which is pretty puzzling.

[The Coach]

The game plan played today felt like Lee Johnson is still in the dugout 

[Ivorguy]

What I find disappointing is that none of our new signings appear to have set Ashton Gate on fire.

If we are serious about top six finish we need quality, and our only quality/exciting player is on the cusp of leaving.

Of course our new boys may need time to settle in, but that in itself raises questions about our pre season preparation.

This sort of recruitment is, imo, only going to see us stay where we are.  As someone else commented same old same old City.

 

[weepywall]

38 minutes ago, OddBallJim said:

I suppose another negative was the painfully flat atmosphere throughout the match, only livened up by some suspect refereeing. Not sure how we address this, and clearly with a significant portion of people attending under mates rates tickets, it isn’t an easy fix.

I thought the atmosphere today was awful, all felt good before the game nice buzz, get in the ground and it was flat as a pancake, disappointing all round today.

[ExiledAjax]

38 minutes ago, Bar BS3 said:

I think most were surprised not to see Conway & Sykes in the starting 11.

 

36 minutes ago, Dullmoan Tone said:

I think most would have started Conway - who was very disappointing when he finally arrived.

So one or two of the starting XI were, in your opinions, surprising, and you've then voluntarily ascribed your opinions to be those of "most". Ok fair enough.

Wells' form in pre-season was decent so I'm not sure it was that mad to pick him over Conway. As for Sykes/Cornick - I personally would have gone Sykes, but I can understand Cornick. I'd not really qualify either as a "baffling" decision though.

It's a question of language I guess, I think "baffling" is a little overblown.

[GrahamC]

3 minutes ago, Ivorguy said:

What I find disappointing is that none of our new signings appear to have set Ashton Gate on fire.

If we are serious about top six finish we need quality, and our only quality/exciting player is on the cusp of leaving.

Of course our new boys may need time to settle in, but that in itself raises questions about our pre season preparation.

This sort of recruitment is, imo, only going to see us stay where we are.  As someone else commented same old same old City.

 

I was disappointed in Knight but it is only one game, not sure what more Rob Dickie could have done today, he had a very good debut.

Roberts didn’t even get on the pitch & McCrorie wasn’t available so this is a really odd comment overall.

[Leveller]

A pretty terrible performance. We seemed to be on the back foot almost throughout and unable to string a few passes together. Perhaps that was deliberate- we seemed to bypass the midfield and hit long balls a lot of the time. 
 

Preston’s first touch and passing was better than us all afternoon.

[IAmNick]

Lackadaisical, careless in possession, slow to second balls when out of possession, afraid to take risks or chances, and more... not much of it good. Disappointing overall. Really disappointing in fact, as we were almost the opposite to what I thought we were.

However, it's also only one game and Preston are always a tough team to play against and my guess is quite a few teams will come away after playing them feeling like we did today over the course of the season. I'm not getting despondent or even that down yet, there's a long way to go and if we're still looking like this half a dozen games in then I'll start to worry.

That said - we must do better.

[old_eastender]

1 hour ago, Super said:

Sorry Cornick was dreadful. He isn't a wide man. Sykes should definitely have started.

I agree, Sykes all day long for me. Trouble with Cornick he, as you say, is not a wide man, he is not a CF, not sure what he is or adds, other than a really good long throw.

[Bar BS3]

24 minutes ago, ExiledAjax said:

 

So one or two of the starting XI were, in your opinions, surprising, and you've then voluntarily ascribed your opinions to be those of "most". Ok fair enough.

Wells' form in pre-season was decent so I'm not sure it was that mad to pick him over Conway. As for Sykes/Cornick - I personally would have gone Sykes, but I can understand Cornick. I'd not really qualify either as a "baffling" decision though.

It's a question of language I guess, I think "baffling" is a little overblown.

I'd disagree. I found the decision to start Cornick ahead of Sykes baffling - hence the descriptive of "baffling"

You may not agree with it  & that's you perogative.

For me, it was baffling & to those who sit around me.

[Jeez]

1 hour ago, glynriley said:

I’m a big fan of Nige but he got it all wrong for me today. 

Agreed 

[firstdivision]

3 minutes ago, old_eastender said:

I agree, Sykes all day long for me. Trouble with Cornick he, as you say, is not a wide man, he is not a CF, not sure what he is or adds, other than a really good long throw.

I’m absolutely baffled why we bought him. A Luton fan told me he is decent alongside a big target man - and we don’t play with one of those. In fact, we don’t have one in our first-team squad. 

[Engvall’s Splinter]

Thought Dickie had a solid debut despite a slight hiccup in the second half which gave Preston an opportunity. 
 

Weimann is either played as a forward or not at all, regardless of his injury, in my view. We need more than just energy in midfield. For the time he was on, he’s busy but doesn’t seem to know where he should be or go when in or out of possession, often reacting to something rather than anticipating. Williams isn’t the answer but offers more than Weimann in my opinion. 
 

Preston looked a very capable and physical side. Typical Preston. They shaded the game. Point was a good result in the end. They had a real strong period after Bell’s goal. We did well to hold out until 80 odd minutes. 
 

Was expecting more from Knight. That said, as we know the Championship is a level up from League 1. It’ll take him a few games to find himself - and I’m confident he will. 

O’Leary needs genuine competition if we have ambitions of a top ten finish. 

Sykes over Cornick every day of the week.

Id also like to see move the ball quicker right to left, missing a centre back and zipping it in to the full back. We are very laboured in position - notably due to a lack of forward movement but there’s no reason not to zip it across and open up the opposition. We let them reset too comfortably.  
 

Quality to see a good crowd.
 

Sam Bell showing good forwards instincts for his goal. 

 

[Stockwood gate]

We are just so easy to play against sit deep and give us no space in  behind , we need a big striker to be able to  hold up the ball stop it coming back all the time ,just to easy for Preston defenders we then can play further up the pitch and get the full backs higher 

[BS3 Ark at Ee]

I thought Cam Pring was pretty poor today, I think he’s a great player but today he looked off it and sluggish. Also Surprised Cornick started and it just didn’t flow, especially down the channels. Scott seemed like a massive loss today, no one took control of the midfield and conducted the play....all too static. Onto next week.....

[ralphindevon]

I’m just going to go with a positive.

I got to meet the great Mick Hartford 

[KegCity]

Defended well. Dickie looks solid to me.

Negatives are we were very predictable when we chose to build through the midfield and most of the time chose to bypass them entirely. 

[Merrick's Marvels]

59 minutes ago, weepywall said:

I thought the atmosphere today was awful, all felt good before the game nice buzz, get in the ground and it was flat as a pancake, disappointing all round today.

They spunked all their energy waving flags and throwing smoke bombs on West Street 3 hours before kick off mate. 

Given the weird mixture of booze and coke that was probably ingested at that time, they all felt flat as a pancake by 3pm.

Cos it's not the old East End, Dolman or Grandstand that gets the place rocking is it? 

So respect to S82 and we'll let them off today. 

Alternatively... what was there to get excited about once we'd kicked off? What comes first, the chicken or the egg? 

Edited August 5, 2023 by Merrick's Marvels

[RedReg]

The booing at full time after a 1-1 draw in the first game of the season was comical. 

[mattjb]

1 hour ago, Bar BS3 said:

I think most were surprised not to see Conway & Sykes in the starting 11.

Especially with AS out injured, surely you want your strongest players filling in elsewhere.

I thought he ran willingly & did OK generally - as he usually does (I'm not a hater of his atall) but there is no way that starting Cornick over Sykes is picking your strongest possible 11 - imho.

The rest of the team was pretty straightforward selection, granted - but baffling by way of leaving 2 or 3 of your most attacking threats on the bench, against an average team, coming into the season off the back of a crap pre-season, at home, in front of a sell out crowd - it felt like an opportunity missed and so it proved to be. 

Agree 100% as did others in the group I was with . 

[Merrick's Marvels]

1 hour ago, Dullmoan Tone said:

I think most would have started Conway - who was very disappointing when he finally arrived. Thought he was caught flat footed and moved too easily off the ball.

I’m also far from convinced even a fit Weimann can play the Scott role. Only Nige seems determined to get his most experienced players on the pitch which is playing Andi out of position.

I’m also convinced most would have made changes much earlier, it was obvious they were much the better team in the final third of the match.

I agree 100% (out of likes for the day). Today Conway looked like a child playing a man's game - which is what he is, tbh. Weimann is NOT a midfield player - certainly not one in a team that wants to keep the ball. He's a forward- a good one. Substitutions? How about Sykes for Cornick after 5 seconds or here's an idea... Sykes from the start. Not that he's Tom Finney, either. 

Edited August 5, 2023 by Merrick's Marvels

[Dr Balls]

Poor team selection given the opposition. Poor performances across the pitch from most of those who did play. All the positivity from pre-season dissipated in less than 45 minutes.

Which makes me question our pre-season build up. After the “walks in the park” against League 2 teams, our last 2 pre-season matches were against League 1 opposition. We drew against Cheltenham, who today lost to Shrewsbury and beat Portsmouth 1-0, who needed a 92 minute equaliser to draw with the Sags. Hardly testing opposition.

So come, the first physical and competitive Championship team that we face, we look pretty toothless, and pretty similar or possibly even worse than last season. Without a major improvement, anyone hoping for the playoffs needs to take a bit of a reality check.

[Merrick's Marvels]

31 minutes ago, Stockwood gate said:

We are just so easy to play against sit deep and give us no space in  behind , we need a big striker

I kind of agree but would make this observation: 

Preston's central striker was thin as a rake, no more than 5'11" and had no pace  - yet every single ball into him stuck.

So we don't need a "big" striker - we need one that's better than Wells or the boychild Conway at hold up play (they're both basically "finishers" and not enough else). Conway had a wake up call today - he was dismissed today as an irrelevance by their CBs. 

I'd have picked him start though! So what do I know. 

[johnheadbcfc]

Unsure of all the Conway comments tbh, service was awful. Conway made a decent run and Williams pass was like sunday league reserves standard.

 

Ah well 3 points at the den it will have to be

[Wrongagain]

29 minutes ago, mattjb said:

Agree 100% as did others in the group I was with . 

Cornick no better now than when he arrived, Sykes offers so much more and Weimann wasted in midfield - if we don’t need or have a decent centre forward where will the promotion winning goals come from ? I won’t mention the ref either - if I write what I feel is the truth I’ll get banned!