Points gained in 2018. January 4/12 February 3/15 March 8/15 April 0/3 Total 15/45 (30%) Thank goodness we got the points in 2017 otherwise who knows? Was it all down to bad luck (somewhat I will admit) or were our expectations too high and so for me the biggest question is what is on hand for next season - more of the same conversations? At least we haven't had a mention of the R word any time this campaign and that is a good thing I suppose.
I usually wait until work before I come on here (great way to waste time right?) but I had to vent my frustrations somewhere. That is the worst home performance I have seen live at the Gate since we lost at home to Swindon in the cup under Keith Millen. 27 shots for Brentford, and zero shots on target for us. I don't think their keeper picked up the ball until injury time. And it was coming... we could all see it. Having said that, the players don't deserve too much criticism for the most part, aside from a couple of offenders. This was entirely an LJ-created problem, you could see from the minute the team was announced that we were in for a long afternoon. We looked ok for 20 minutes, we created nothing but at least dominated possession, but from then on it was appalling. The players clearly didn't know where to go or what to do in certain situations - for this, Pack's exclusion was completely noticeable. We changed the system eventually, because we had to, with about 20 minutes to go, and from then on the players were utterly lost. They didn't know where their nearest man was, they didn't know where to look first in possession, it was clearly pot luck stuff. Evidently, if this was Plan B, the players were not aware of how it should work. This could be a long post but a few thoughts: - Why did we drop Pack? Liam Walsh was heavily criticised but he wasn't that bad, he was thrown in the den with a player who would expose his weaknesses (alongside Pack he'd be more comfortable) - it's not Smith's fault, but it's obvious a Walsh/Smith midfield is too lightweight when Smith/Pack is already pushing the boundaries. Even if Smith has been immense for us all year. Walsh was destined to struggle today. - Ryan Kent can't start for us again. Last minute option, maybe. But he doesn't play for the team, he creates nothing, passes only when he has no option but to pass, and tracking back he offers nothing. Which begs the question, with Kelly putting in a MOTM performance recently, why do we continuously play Bryan at left back. He excelled in numerous games, most notably Man Utd, from LM. Even in the first half he looked like the only person bringing possession forward and that was from LB. He's a left midfielder for me and always should be - particularly as his defensive qualities mean he could protect Kelly who's still new to this level. Perhaps we contractually have to start Kent a number of times... - Our lack of a player in the 'hole' is the main cause of our lack of creativity. When we had our injuries, how many times did Paterson drag us out with an assist or a random goal (Sheffield United anyone?)? Instead, we shoehorn him into a wing position where he's ineffective, just to play Diedhiou and Reid. The centre attacking mid position allows players ultimate freedom and creativity - he thrived in that role and since he's been on the wing he has been so much worse. It's not his position - square pegs, round holes. Even more frustratingly, we have so many players who could play well there - Reid, Paterson, Taylor, possibly even Walsh. - Djuric and Kelly were both very decent today. Brownhill not too bad either and Reid put a shift in as always. That's about as far as the positives go. Since the turn of the year, we seem to have changed from playing in a unified way as a team to trying to change elements of it to accommodate 'better' players. Diedhiou, for me, should be playing only when we want to play a particular way - the classic away from home, slightly more 'dirty' and up in the air way. As a 4-4-2, in a team which wants to play clean, possession football, he's incompatible. The gap between the midfield and attack is too large and Reid doesn't bridge that enough, especially when Diedhiou's touch isn't great. In fact, how many good teams do play 4-4-2 these days? It's too rigid and we completely lost the midfield today. I think the problems lie deeper than a simple formation, but a 4-3-1-2 or an attacking 4-5-1 would set us up much more nicely and play to our strengths. We could accommodate a proper attacking midfielder and a proper defensive midfielder, neither of which we really play at the moment, and still keep width and defensive rigidity. It's so frustrating seeing the talent in the squad go to waste with piss poor set up. Congrats if anyone decided to read that but even if no one does, it was at least therapeutic for myself. What a terrible effing football match.
I read it Rob and although I couldn't sum up the courage to watch the game live (even if it was available on BCFC) your great comments seem to sum up what I was expecting today. We have looked extremely inept over the last few games I have watched and it appears that something has gone off the rails. The obvious question for me is what has exactly gone wrong since the turn of the year and who, or what, is to blame? Unless we can pull a rabbit out the hat soon our season will be done and dusted followed by the usual autopsy and then what do we need to do. Never a dull moment.
Baker is a far better defender than Wright made worse by Wright's non left foot. Flint has to play - LJ picked Wright purely as he brought him to the club, gave him the 5 shirt and made him club captain last summer. The January non signings have ruined the fantastic 2nd position we were on Boxing Day. They're pretty much bench warmers. 2008 all over again.
Yep agreed mate. It just seems there is a complete lack of any kind of system. It's like Walsh and Smith were thrown in the middle and not told what to do, what was expected of them, how they should operate together, etc. Smith got away with it because he's a class act but Walsh was the unlucky one who was exposed. Having previously played so well in a relatively fluid manner, we now seem to be 100% rigid with little or no room to change without changing the setup completely. It's almost as if LJ has consciously got it all wrong, or even worse, didn't really know how he managed to get the players playing how he did earlier in the season. For the most part our recruitment has been very good, which could have masked a tactical ineptitude, so I wonder if it's the latter.
Once again Rob I agree with your thoughts and dare I be the first one to state that I never thought our manager was going to storm the footballing world, yet alone ours. It sounds like we have re-emerged as the old Bristol City we loved and moaned about all in the same breath. Ah well tomorrow's another day.
Did we really only have 2 shots against their 27 or did I read the statistics wrongly? If we make the playoffs or even the Premier League after this then I will be the first to call for Lee to win the Manager of the Year award or even for him to run the national squad.
2 must win games Millwall Middsbro either a loss or 2 draws and our season is over, and I can go on my annual break up to the north west knowing the last games don't matter!
Note the post was intended as a pop at RR, but it was a good job that he did for you all, otherwise you'd be 8th now.
