All the teams below us that have played this weekend have won or drawn so it's beginning to tighten up below us, let's hope we can get that first away win next week at Bolton...
17 shots on goal with 12 on target, our inability to stick the ball in the net is crippling us and adds pressure to our defence. Our away form is shocking and has been for the last six years.
As Nines said, our finishing really cost us, we should have been out of sight before they fluked a goal. Just before they scored their supporters were really getting on to them. Two points well and truly dropped.
Dreadful game littered with numerous mistakes by both sides Both of us looked like relegation or near relegation material On the bright side Massive now 3 losses in a row
Starting to look worryingly tight down there again........ Need to start converting good performances into a few points or we're going to be in another dogfight......
An away point. On balance a point gained To be honest ninesy and I know I won't be popular when I say this but Washington is not the answer, not by a long chalk I would give Wheeler a run, see how he does
Almost agree with you except the 'why not' is answered by not paying for a top notch striker who puts away 20+ goals per season. 14th, 4 points off the drop zone and 6 points off the playoffs. We just need a mini run. Thanks goodness for the early points many did not expect. Can one be happy with the point and simultaneously disappointed?!
I thought Sylla had a good game yesterday, but got little support from Mackie or Washington other than their running. Would have liked Smith to have come on for Mackie as they looked dodgy in the middle of their defense especially in the air. He and Sylla together could have won us that. Bidwell did well I thought at CB. Better than I've seen him before. And Baptiste made some goal saving blocks.
There's the frustration! When we were completely crap there were no positives. Now there's positives in most games but still missing that cutting edge / skill/ luck or whatever it is.
True. That was our weakness - we did not take our chances. I also have the impression that we want to “over pass”. Ollie needs to encourage the offensive players to go more direct. For example, Paweł decided yesterday to pass when he was probably much better placed to shoot. Let’s hope that we can coach the players and give them more confidence in this matter.
If our forward players haven't got the message by this point of their careers then they're never going to get it, our summer transfer dealings ignored our two biggest problems whilst bringing in more midfielders. Sir Les and Ollie have basically f*cked up...
Do you really think they didn't know what was required?! Three constraining factors: 1. Money, FFP, £250m already spent etc. 2. Availability. 20 goal per season strikers are not at the job centre looking for work. 3. Finding players who want to play and will fit in and not mercenaries. I don't think anyone screwed up. We're acting within our means and, come January, if it looks a reasonable gamble, we might see some more funds released.
Spot on - there was palpable frustration amongst the travelling fans when Pawel (in space) decided that a back post cross was a better option than a shot That said most of our shots yesterday were weak or poorly placed, when with a decent striker we would've had more than one goal Sylla was his usual frustrating self yesterday. Got the goal but then spent as much time moaning / sitting down as he did running about, Probably why he seems to be most effective as an impact sub
Sylla had a few decent goal attempts too. Agree he probably should have taken one more but at least he got in the right places, worked the Keeper, and got the one in. His volley from distance on the turn from his own chest down needed a decent save and was great to see.