Agree, losing that one puts us a long way off a surprise top 6 place. We won't get near there playing like that at the back.
Driving back from the game, some post-match thoughts. Not a good advert for the championship with both teams very poor. Starting with a positive, Osayi-Samuel looked great in the second half. Would hope that McClaren agrees he's earnt a few starts to show what he can do. Others looked scared to take people on and he didn't, which opened up space for Bidwell too. Deserved his goal Lumley and the distribution at the back was a complete joke. I'm sure it was him following Steve's orders, but no idea why they persisted with it Matt Smith was also good when he came on. Made an impact and won a dangerous free kick with some nice footwork. Credit to McClaren for making subs early, and the subs did help Thought our set peices were generally poor on that note Eze. Where to start. The kid has so much potential but just seemed so anonymous today. I think some criticism of him is very OTT but perhaps needs a rest for a few games to reflect on his performances Ref was a massive homer and generally poor Most frustrating thing today was the general lack of pace, movement, energy and fight. Never appeared that our players were as up for it as theirs Thankfully my Dad and I rented a nice car (Jag XF) for the day as we fancied a pleasant journey and didn't want to rely on the game for joy. Sensible move in the end!
Slam dunk pen BUT the ref was unsighted. Can only give what he sees (though he gave at least one Wigan free kick due to crowd reaction). Roll on VAR and the right to appeal.
Yes, unfortunately , another season of mediocrity. With our contingent of loan players we are, at best a good middle of the table Championship side. Without them we are dicing with death as the results show. As much as Steve's work has moulded the side into something respectable we can only win games with goals. The dilemma is where do they come from? Luongo, Pav, Freeman and Eze are not natural goal scorers and their combined efforts per season probably wouldn't break into double figures. It's the same old story. We need a goal scorer, a poacher, a maverick, someone to delight the crowd. As rare and as expensive as hens' teeth. These we haven't got(and can't afford) although it would be to our advantage to keep Wells if possible. I've enjoyed our frequent ups this season and cringed at the downs but will forever be an R's fan. It's in the blood!
That looks a pretty daunting month ahead, having now lost three on the trot in the league we could find ourselves looking at a nervous end to the season. Clearly our squad isn't strong enough to cover the injuries to key players and we need to get them back in the side asap. The cup game is a nice distraction but our form has tapered off since the turn of the year...
I don't know, we tend to do better against better sides and have looked at our best counter attacking out of a solid defense. Trouble is we have no solid defense now. We were better when Cameron was playing in front of our back 4 and Rangel was the right back. Let's hope these 2 are back pronto.
hum....we always have tight games against Wigan, whether home or away. There is never usually more than two goals in it. At start of the season If you had offered me 0,1,2,3,4 or 6 points against Wigan as much as I would have liked 6, I would have settled for 3, a win at home and away defeat. After our first 4 games of the season, we were at rock bottom. We are now moaning when we lose to sides we think we should beat. We are still in transition - Steve Mac is still working out the right team / formation against different opponents and to be honest, the championship IS the hardest league as any team can beat anyone else on their given day. If we win on Tuesday I guess this result will be forgotten. Hopefully we will not go down and will get a top 10 finish.
