The middle of our defence opened like Moses parting the sea. Three central defenders and no one marking Gray. Then they all look at each other wondering who should take the blame. Apart from that first half was okay despite the lack of goals. Second half they pressed us and we fell apart at the back and were absent in midfield. Couldn't win a second ball to save our lives. I don't think it matters who the manager is, our players aren't good enough and to carry on like this could easily destroy the confidence and ability of the promising youngsters.
Just back home now after going over for the game (bloody motorway junction closure added a good 30 mins to my return journey). It was generally a decent performance but we were a little short of a cutting edge. Agree with BfB, 1st half much better then the 2nd but we deserved a point out of that. Colwill looks to be growing in confidence. Even Vaulks looked half decent with some nice footwork and tidy passing for much of the game. Giles was sadly off the pace though and I though Moore was a little lackluster at times. Pack was frustrating as he kept slowing things down (as always) but it really didn't help when we were trying to get on the front foot more. At least there are signs of life there and it was pretty clear the players are, in the main, up for the challenge of carrying out the managers instructions and trying to play in a more controlled and expansive manner. Despite the result I am relatively enthused by what I saw.
Ralls added energy and direction when he came on and must be a shoe in for Saturday. Giles was less effective as a wing back although it was clear Adomah's brief was to mark him up and stop him getting forward. Perhaps we should go to a back 4 with Bagan at left back and Giles left midfield? That way we won't get over run in the middle of the park and allow Giles to get forward more to get best use out of him. The worry then is the back 4. We concede a stupid goal with a back 5, how will 4 manage and with Ng on the right who would be the cb's of choice? Answers on a post card please.
Sean Morrisons defensive errors are costing our club,he has been a good servant in the past but is now past his sell by date,it was his error that cost us their goal and was then looking at other players as if it was their fault,and later on a really bad pass went to their player and should have been a second goal,this has to stop or we will be relegated this season.The defence needs to look at them selves and sort it out or bye bye championship.
I'm not sure what any of you guys saw positive about that. The only comfort I can take is we were beaten by a much better footballing side. They had the ability to pass the ball to one another instinctively whereas we have to think about every pass in advance slowing our game down. Even before their goal when we looked reasonable in possession, getting the ball forward was laboured. After they scored, and particularly in the second half it was back to route one because we have no other real option - it's been coached out of this squad. We reverted to type and went back to front as soon a possible trying to catch them out spraying long passes to Harris out wide on the right where he was isolated. There was huge space beween our players. No one went to him to help him out and we lost the ball a number of times- very poor team involvement. Not sure what's wrong with Sean Morrison but he's way off the pace, Very slow over the ground and mentally too - Flint would have done a better job. Felt sorry for SM who's trying to coach something totally alien into a group of players in a limited time span. Having said that, I reckon he made a mistake in dropping Bacuna to the bench instead of Vaulks. For all his faults, Bacuna can play football through the middle which is something we're sorely lacking. Vaulks in the main just puts himself about and when Pack is alongside him, everything just slows down.
We all see things differently but totally agree on Mozza. Way off the pace and no longer a set piece threat although it is obvious other teams train the sh1t out of themselves to defend against those. Up until they scored I thought Vaulks was having his better (I won't say best) game of the season but second half he lost the plot and had his headless chicken hat on. Ralls was a major upgrade when he came on. So correct about reverting to hoof ball second half. They pressed us hard and we had no one with the ability to deal with that at the back, hence the regular confusion. I thought Evans tried a bit too hard. He was effective for the first 25 minutes but once they worked him out he lost the ball too often. Loved his attempt at a Cruyff turn early on. He will get lots more opportunities. On to Saturday. Ralls must start over Vaulks and Flint for Morro. Revert to a back 4 maybe with Bzgan at LB and push Giles forward where he will be more effective.
Some brief observations on last night. Their goal was due to Vaulks/Pack marking space as usual and no defender marking Gray. Cut the ball out at source and it ain’t getting to Gray. (To the naked eye it looked yards offside but haven’t seen a replay?) Our crossing was so poor - Ng in particular. The endless passing back and fore the defensive line isn’t getting us anywhere. Why wait until 85th minute to go for it? It should have been 0-0. That’s 4 average teams who’ve taken 3 points off us each time by not having to do much other than get a first half goal and sit on it.
Admire what SM is trying to do, but didn't see much of a change once we'd gone 1 down. Up until then we seemed to be trying something different, but it all fell apart once they'd scored and the senior players virtually reverted to route one in desperation, particuarly second half. That was just confirmation that we don't have experienced players at the club who can play with the ball on the floor effectively to pass through the opposition. The youngsters who actually can operate this way albeit at a lower level need to be given time to adjust. Evans and even Colwill to a certain extent were bullied by a quick and effective QPR closing them down. The difference then was when they won the ball, they knew how to move it on to a team mate - we didn't have a clue. The under 23 squad players are part the future, but not all of it. They should be introduced to the rigours of Championship football as members of an effective team on the pitch, not just an experiment. We need to address our target for this season and that must acceptance of what we need to keep us in the Championship. A lot of the current side wont be here next season so use the rest of this one to target replacements. Go again next year in the same division - not League One. Thinking it wouldn't be a bad thing to go down to rebuild is ridiculous. The lid would come off Tan's investment and we'd struggle to get back up like so many clubs before. Stay up at all cost even if we have to put up with some more of the dross experienced so far this season to do it. I'm not saying we necessarily need to suffer more of the the same rubbish and I'd love SM (or his replacement) to conjure some decent performances and results, but experimentation for the sake of it in the hope it might come off could be a disaster.
Give QPR some credit for changing their game second half and pressing us all over the park to protect their lead - and could easily have had a second. Playing 2 in midfield in those circumstances just doesn't work and, as I said earlier, they made sure Uncle Albert stayed close to Giles all night to push him back. Ng had a bit more room but is not as effective as Giles - poor crossing as Ninian pointed out. All history now but last night was the sort of game where a fit, experienced no. 10, like Tomlin of 2 or 3 seasons ago would have made a difference. A natural link between the defensive midfield and forwards. How often do we, as fans, have to clamour for someone half decent there. Ralls is not that player but even he made a difference to what Trigger and Vaulks were doing. At times it seemed Colwill, who had a pretty free role, tried to do the number 10 stuff but he does not have the experience or skills in the dark arts like Tomlin or their 2 main midfielders, Chair and Johansen, to succeed, yet. Sparks is dead right about how we use our rising stars. You can't throw them into that sort of game and expect them to shine no matter how hard they try. Also it does their future confidence no good. As an aside, I see there were 2 former cast members of Only Fools and Horses on the pitch. Uncle Albert for them and Trigger for us. Now, who was Rodney the Plonker, or Dave as Trigger knew him?
