He should have been played central to day, in a 3/5/2 formation, picking up those constant throw ins and free kicks slung into our box, Stoke fashion, it got them the point they deserved, but only because we didn't prepare for it, one of these days, maybe we will, but its a long time a-coming.
After listening to his verdict...Still think we did not handle the aerial bombardment well nor did we restrict the opportunities for the to sling balls at us. Yet he implied they knew what was coming. Our front 2, were far less effective than theirs. Overall we were bullied and did not stand up to them!
Yeah there was a lot of pressure on Flanagan who a) hasn't played for ages b) isn't great at the best of times. Three at the back would have been a good idea, I wonder how flexible Johnson is with formations.
We simply need to impose ourselves on teams like Gillingham ... ... of course they'll raise their game against us, we're Sunderland ffs. We need bigger characters, more risks taken, more arrogance, they're not bad things.
Of course if we had a stronger keeper to command his area, jumping for high balls with knees and feet discouraging the big striker's. If their big forwards had taken some hard tackles from out lot ( on the half way line) it might have slowed them down a bit. Instead our CBs were taken a battering. Sometimes like, when you were playing Stoke, you just have to roll your sleeves up and get down and dirty. Lots of 'Stoke sides in this turd division.
The whole division is Stoke under Pulis, mixed with the old Wimbledon crazy gang with a few blokes dragged in from the local working men's club to referee and run the lines. It's particularly ****e this season.
Plus we can no longer keep using the ref as an excuse or the state of the pitch... just get stuck into them showing plenty of passion and fight for gods sake. Insipid was our overall performance today... but yet we nearly won. It won't take much more to make these draws wins... desire and bottle!
We should have won more home games against the lower teams earlier on, that's what will cost us imo. If we had beat Wigan, Burton, MK Dons, Wimbledon, Plymouth we would be top!
I think we’ve been quite lucky with the rest of the results today. Other than Hull, everyone around us have dropped points.
Only winners in the top half today were Hull City Tigers and Donny. Dropped points all over the place. Donny with games in hand on everyone. We're not out of it by a long way but jeez we need to sort our 'Home' form out!!
Arithmetically, i believe spot on...too many draws..we are not imposing ourselves on games, rather we are being out-fought on our home ground..lack of fans?
All the things you've said there, I agree with btw, were the things Johnson said had to change as soon as he came in. Haven't seen much of it yet by and large.
I thought it was our fault when we didn't win! I think the fans not being there are a massive leveler for the away sides, more so because of the actual size of the ground. I went to the check a trade games when just the east stand was open and that was weird enough but I've also been to a few u23 games when they have moved them to the SoL and only the posh West Stand seats are open and there is less that 100 fans in. It's quite a strange experience, whereas an empty Gillingham stadium might not be as weird. Edited due to my **** spelling.
