Match Day Thread Bristol City v QPR

I'm sorry, but I just don't hold with this experimenting with your team philosophy. Personally, if I was a manager, I would seek to put out the best eleven available for selection for each game and try to win every point with what I have at my disposal. None of this stupid pragmatism for me. The fans deserve more for their hard-earned than to watch a series of failed experiments.

 

I only half agree ..he does need to see who can play where and with whom..and in what combination...and who to get rid of (gladwin, doughty, Morrison, Henry)
But he should now be putting out a no1 team on specific occassions....experiment vs BC but play his top team vs Brighton and Wednesday...

If this cements his mind...ok ....then no experimenting next season.... We go for it from August

 

Not worth a currant

 

I've got too much time on my hands. Stats for starting line-ups only.

Four Games Unbeaten in March: 5 players started consistently (Smithies, Onuoha, Hall, Luongo, Bidwell); 3 players started in 3/4 games (Lynch, Smith, Freeman); 17 different players started overall.

Four Games Lost in March/April: 2 players started consistently (Smithies, Onuoha); 7 players started in 3/4 games (Hall, Furlong, Manning, Freeman, Bidwell, Smith, Luongo); 19 different players started overall.

Make of it what you will; I can't see straight anymore.

 

Shouldn't experimenting be done on the training ground? Shouldn't the manager/trainers look at certain pairings in match-like-training and play those that show the best understanding. Have Cilla and Smith been tested together in training or started a game together? What did Morrison do in training to warrent a start?
From Highball's stats we can see that we won games when the back 5 was mostly consistant. Surely who plays up front or if we play 442 or 433 or whatever should depend, to some degree, on who we are playing. At BC the tactics were far too negative until we went 2-0 down - WHY?
Too many questions without any real hope of any answers.

 

You're as bad as Ollie!!

The problem is that only picking what you consider to be your best team now and then means that they haven't played together enough.
It's totally ridiculous to expect anything other than what we've seen.

Pick your strongest team, consistently, with minimal changes and good results will normally follow.

 

Truth is I think hes with us for a long time
and one thing we have is time

 

Nice work. So basically he's been chopping and changing for ages now but it only becomes an issue when we lose.

 

Carrying on from Col's comments on consistency, the winning streak shows a settled defensive group (the basis of any team - superior defending, don't let the other team score, means points); the losing streak shows an unsettled back line ... and what do worried defenders do? Leave gaps, lose that understanding with each other, create nervousness in the team; and when in doubt... hoof the ball away! Anything sound familiar?
Add to that a shuffled midfield... critical to have partnerships in the middle, knowing where the other person will be to feed the ball - take that away and you have indecision, losing the ball (and letting the opposition through to our already nervous defence), loss of creative attack play. When you hope a player will do something individual to create something, not the team.
I just do not see how any of this helps the team. It's all square pegs in round holes - and seems to paint over the cracks and ignore the potential that the winning run gave us early on. We are consistently inconsistent, and that responsibility lays firmly at the feet of the manager in my eyes. It certainly doesn't help the club in terms of points (and Holloways win ratio is not at all good as we get towards the end of the season - he still has an awful lot to prove).

 

I think we're losing sight of what the most important factor is here, too many of our players are just not good enough. Arrange shyte in any formation you like and the result will be a shyte performance, even some winning ones...

 

I disagree. We have a reasonable squad in my opinion, which, with a couple of improvements (CB and CF), could challenge for play-offs next year if Holloway is able to get the best out of them. He's really got to stop the long-ball stuff, though.

 

I just don't see it - I think the best we can hope for next season will be a top half finish, possibly top 8, but play-offs? You must wear some very rosy glasses. And if, by some miracle he does achieve his promotion, what then, as this squad would be more embarrassing in the PL than any of our recent seasons up there. The squad needs at least two more transfer windows to get us anywhere near to being even ready to fight for promotion, and Ollie must be given this time that he needs - we are no longer big spenders.

As I've said before, I'm hoping that all his tinkering in the last few matches is his way of checking over the squad and deciding who to keep and who to jettison, just wish he'd waited til we were mathematically safe.

It would also be refreshingly honest if he came out and admitted that was his plan, thus appeasing the fans who are splashing out their hard earned cash on watching a team who play like they are all strangers every week.

 

I'll be interested to see who he jettisons at the end of the season. I think even with three or four additions the play-offs will be a tall order as our ball retention skills are sadly lacking. Look at Brighton and Fulham, they are light years ahead of us in every department, until we start putting the emphasis on skill rather than thud and blunder we'll be looking behind us rather than upwards...

 

There is definitely potential but we'll never know how good our midfield can be if our defenders keep bypassing them in favour if lumping it up. The confusing thing for me is Ollie has been critical of the team for hoofing it to Smith but by all accounts that's still what we're doing. Really hope Hall is fit today.

 

I agree if that CF stays fit all season and scores 30 or so goals!

 

All this talk about not being anywhere near good enough for the playoffs next year. Haven't Reading proved you can be pretty average and still do it?

 

Difference being is that Reading have been consistently average, whilst we have been consistently below par - I wonder how often Jaap Stam makes 5 changes to his team each match?

 

Er no!! The stats show that more changes have coincided with more defeats.

 

That's my point. They are average.

 

But he started 17 players different players in the good run and 19 in the bad run, yes he's making more changes now but he was hardly playing a settled team before.