I can see some of the ingredients of a very good Town side. COYB List them? What? Goalkeeper all over the shop......... check. Cannot defend set pieces........ check. Powderpuff infront of goal............. check. Opposition allowing our midfield to guff around with the ball as they realise there is zero goal threat from us and it will make our fans think we're playing good football .................. check
Absolute nonsense. We played with a high tempo and caused problems from the first whistle. We all know Bart is a class goalkeeper at this level. Defence is absolutely solid in open play. First half we created loads of good opportunities. Jackson was excellent for most of the game. Even in the second half he was huffing and puffing to try to make something happen. Second half we played too deep again, but if we can replicate the spells of good football we had in the first half and in injury time across 90 minutes (and there is still lots of room for improvement) we'll be closer to the play off zone than the drop zone.
Why is it nonsense to claim that Bart has not looked as good this season, that we struggle defending set pieces, and that our strikers are not scoring goals? Bart does not look as solid, we’ve conceded from set pieces every league match, and our strikers have not scored a single goal in the league yet. I really want Hurst to do well, I want our football club to do well, I want our new style of play to work, and I want to see us win games. I think, and continue to believe, that we will get better and we will climb the table. But the fact of the matter is we are rock bottom in the table and are seriously struggling to get points. We put our stamp on games more often this season (so far), but that means nothing if we cannot win games and we don’t take our chances.
It’s nonsense that Bart is all over the shop. He made a couple of mistakes - but not in the last couple of games. We won’t do better than Bart. If you read the post that Westlake rubbished - you’ll see I said we need to fix those but that I can see the ingredients of a good side here. We are not ROCK bottom we are bottom of the table after 5 games. A couple of wins and we’d be mid table.
I have followed the posts on here and while no-one is happy about our present predicament and position, we all seem to agree that there is a different style of play, new skills on the pitch, some real talent, a much younger manager with ideas, ok, no track record in this division, and we have frequently proved to be the better team for much of all 5 games. In my simple book - and sadly I have not travelled to watch yet - this doesn't spell total disaster. A classic clash of the East Anglian titans next Sunday, and a resounding win will see us gain confidence, belief and hopefully the new style of WATCHABLE footie will see us climb the table on a decent run. I am still with Hurst. He has a new fresh team of his players, 9 on the park last time out, masses of changes and he needs the Club and fans to maintain their support while things settle. Basically, it would have been better if MM had left 6 months earlier () and the new set-up had 3 months longer to prepare for the new season.
There are plainly things that need improving. But winning games wasn't exactly something we came by easily at the end of last season. In fact just under half of the games we won were in that remarkable spell at the start of the season. To me it's not overly surprising that the players coming in for the most criticism are players from previous era. (Knudsen, Chambers, Bart) - Harrison being mostly given benefit of doubt - and the players coming away with most praise are Nsiala, Nolan and Edwards. The leeway being given can only go so far but I remain faithful that it will click into gear. My biggest frustration is how the work in preseason is seemingly being reaped by the Under23s instead of the first team.
Giving leeway to players? That's entirely up to the manager. Ellis Harrison scored an average a goal every four games at Bristol Rovers and so far he's played one full 90 minutes and 4 x 60-odd minutes in a side creating few chances including tackling back against Wednesday to cover the full back. He missed a sitter but he's also looked lively in spells. As for defenders - they have looked so solid in open play that if we can solve the set piece issue we might have the best defence in the league. The way we are defending from open play is such a massive improvement on the seasons before when we always left gaping holes. In the next few games some elements will improve and some things we are getting right players will get less right. We will come up against teams that cause us a new problem that we haven't faced. The difference between climbing the table or not is just going to be down to confidence and the terraces.
I meant Leeway from the fans, Hampy. In terms of patience with and not criticisng the new cohort. Reading back that wasn't overly clear. My central point was what PH has brought is widely considered to be performing better than what was left behind. Results will need to come sooner rather than later otherwise the atmosphere will quickly turn toxic again but there is no reason to knee jerk into calls for sacking.
Do you seriously think Bart is looking as good as he has done over the past few seasons? He’s made at least one mistake in every match. I don’t think he has much confidence in our defence, which clearly needs more playing time together. Hopefully when they get more integrated, the errors will be reduced. I agree with you that there are signs of a positive future, particularly around our improving performances and lack of good luck, however dismissing Westy’s facts as “nonsense” is nonsense in itself. We have conceded a goal from a set piece in every match and our strikers are goalless in league games are two statistical facts. Even you must admit that you cannot argue against those two facts? We are bottom of the table, 24th, so we are rock bottom. The only way is up.
I said that we need to sort the set pieces. And Bart has always made the odd mistake. He hasn’t made one in the last couple of games. His distribution is the main problem. He also saves a lot more points than he costs us. He is still one of the best keepers in the league. To describe him as all over the place is complete and utter nonsense. Westy described the forwards as powderpuff, not the indisputable fact that they hadn’t scored.
Well what am I meant to call them? Powderpuff to me would describe forwards who haven't yet scored. I'm more than happy for Harrison + Jackson to score 25-35 this season, I'd be the first to jump up and down and congratulate them. The fact of the matter is they've scored ZERO in the league to date, and Jackson's goal was a massive error from the Exeter goalkeeper. That 4 vs 3 absolute tepid soft ZERO clue play just about sums us up!!! Pedestrian. Extended highlights - Bart definitely at fault ( in my view ) for goal 2 and goal 1 a keeper should be getting something on that. Teams are quite aware at present you stick it near post - you have a good chance to score. He was at fault vs Villa for a goal, Exeter, at least 1 today. Go on - I'll be generous - he's been at fault for 3 goals this season - So I AM sticking with ' all over the shop ' because - he currently is. Superb keeper generally but this season if he carries on with fundamental errors, Gerken is going to have to get a chance sooner rather than later. Hopefully you're back to usual vs Norwich Bartman.
For me being all over the shop for a goalkeeper means flapping at everything, kicking the ball to attackers, conceding lots of goals. Not really making a couple of major mistakes and a couple of minor mistakes. Bart shouldn't be coming for a ball he doesn't get, but it happens. It'll be more symptomatic of our poor organisation on set pieces than anything wrong with the keeper. The big mistake is the man being free on the far post for the first goal - and that's a training ground issue. If that first goal doesn't go in the way we were playing I reckon we'd have won the game. Jackson has barely played and Harrison generally averages 1 in 4. We know chance creation has been an issue so it's not all down to the forwards. They should have put one or two away, but it hasn't happened. In More Than A Manager Gary Lineker talks about Bobby Robson keeping faith with him in a dry spell. Was Gary Lineker powderpuff?
No I don't agree with that. ANYTHING in the 6 yard box the keeper has to deal with. Both goals six yard box = bad goal keeping. Christ alive that's a point but a surreal one at that. I mean I'm actually going to dig up the goal machines record for us to all see. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gary_Lineker A manager MIGHT be more inclined to keep faith with one of the best finishers, of all time, that England have ever produced - yes.
What is surreal is calling a forward 'powderpuff' who has started two games and scored one goal. The same average as Lineker who is apparently one of the best finishers of all time. Can you start to see how ridiculous this is? By the way, the lad Reach had a hell of a game for Wednesday. We need to be mindful that we don't have these £5m / £10m players in our side and nobody has really outplayed us yet. With the foundations in place we can start to add one or two of these players who can influence the result of a match on their own.
Words fail me for post one. Woah. Just woah. Reach is a good little player for Wendy. Love Bannan + Fessi. Ballers.
Haha. If you say so. Interesting.... point to say the least. What a forum is there for after all......
Hampy, you are equating Kayden Jackson’s scoring record at Ipswich (while excluding substitute appearances) with Gary Lineker’s entire career scoring record and then claiming that comparison refutes the point that Jackson is a “powderpuff” striker (and by extension, based on Westy’s description, argues against the fact he hasn’t scored a league goal for us). Do you realise how ridiculous that sounds? If you’re taking Lineker’s career average, let’s compare it to Jackson’s career average (at a far lower level): Lineker - 460 games, 238 goals Jackson - 191 games, 50 goals Doesn’t look as impressive, does it? But this is beside the point, it’s too early to claim Jackson or Harrison are “powderpuff” strikers, in that they are not good enough for this division. They haven’t scored a goal in the Championship, which is a concern, but there is still plenty of time and hopefully they’ll get off the mark against Norwich.
Nuggets, Jackson's played 2 games and scored 1 goal. About the same ratio as Lineker's entire career both for club and country. Not at the same level. Not the same talent. I'm glad you don't agree these strikers are powderpuff based on what we've seen so far, so on that basis let's tick that one off as 'nonsense' as well.
