Yeah a contribution definitely. It plays a big part as we don't hold it up, take the the pressure off and or close games out. Mowbray has mentioned this in most of his interviews.
We've yet to play West Brom and Preston, and many other teams in and around it have to play each other yet too so someone has to drop points. I've not done the maths but would be very surprised if there is any combination of results which ends up with us not getting top 6, if we win all our last 3 (not that I'm expecting us to).
Think they deserved a point for flying out of the traps in the second half. We didn’t handle it that well and their goal was coming. We miss a natural holding player, and also IMO, some genuine pace for an out ball which can ease the squeezing up. Should have got the second in that period before half time mind, but still some season given the injuries and age and inexperience of the team.
Still incredibly tight right now but alot of teams play twice before Sunday, still doable but could be slightly adrift by kick off now
I reckon our formation/tactics were poor last night, plus we seemed to lack energy all over the pitch. Patterson and Neil ( seemed outnumbered in midfield, but give it his best shot) are my MoM.
2nd half was flat. We are down to the bare bones and many of the lads on the pitch last night (Patterson, Hume, Neil, Roberts, Amad, Gelhardt) have never, or rarely played 30+ games in a season With a fully fit squad, we would have seen more rotation, but when you are bringing on a 16yo striker when chasing the game it shows where we are......
Cant argue with that, we’ve come so far it’s amazing. Like all of us I want to see us continue that trajectory and the higher you want to go the higher you need to push the standards. If we want to get promoted and stay up then we have to strive for that standard now. Don’t let success blind us to areas where we can continue to improve. I think the injury front is another area to look at, I’m not a big believer in bad luck nor in good luck on that front either - I don’t think big Sam was lucky when he kept the extremely brittle Kirchhoff in one piece.
Mowbray's update on Michut's injury https://footballleagueworld.co.uk/t...uard-michuts-current-situation-at-sunderland/
Of course people can think and say whatever they like. So can I and I'm astounded at some of the comments tbh. We didn't play well but Amad missed a sitter at 1-0, Clarke missed the target when he cut into the area, various other decent chances were missed, Gooch brought a good save out of their keeper. Amad, at the death, was in on goal and let the ball run off him. Huddersfield played well but Patterson's involvement was mainly catching high balls into the area, the goal was a hopefull effort that was deflected in. I can't remember any great saves or anything cleared off the line. If we'd scored again, as we could've, we'd be looking at three wins on the bounce, as it is it's two and a draw, pretty good form at this stage. I doubt Preston supporters have raised the white flag and they're behind us with Blackburn, Sheff Utd and Sunderland to play. If we win at West Brom, which we can do, will anyone who's thrown the towel in ask for it back ... .... I'm not being confrontational, just wondered if we've ever given up before only a point off where we want to be. Would people think we were already relegated if we needed a point to stay up with three games to go. The Norwich performance, which was universally praised, came off the back of a disastrous 1-5 defeat. We drew last night.
No out ball. No-one to occupy the centre halves and pull them out of position/disrupt the back line. No presence in the box. No additional height when defending free kicks I'd say it's been a MASSIVE factor in our form, or lack thereof
I think the general feeling is that last night was the end of our small chances of making the play offs. We need/needed to win all our remaining games to have a chance. There's also the element that we are down to the bare bones and woul struggle against the likes of Luton/Middlesbrough if we did sneak into 6th place Last night was what it was - a young team, fatigued after a long season and a missed opportunity - we were good 1st half, wasted loads of chances and got sucker punched in the 2nd half when our performance fell away. No rage or regret here, walked out the stadium last night feeling like it was a fair result and hoping we can take some momentum into next season
Still can't get my head around, effectively, only having one out and out centre midfielder on the pitch, not the first bloody time mowbray has done it either. I'm sorry but still seething about last night and that tactic in particular. Said to my father before the game when I saw Pritchard centre midfield, we're not going to win tonight. As for substitutions or lack thereof, dear me. Last night felt like some last day of the season game with nothing to play for. So ****ing disappointed. Huddersfield and Warnock did nothing to earn a point imo, we handed it to them on a plate.
lots of sensible discussion, good to see. while there is a general agreement that TM got it wrong selection wise, the first half was pretty good, it all really fell flat on the start of the 2nd half when they came out all guns blazing...a lot put people such as TM and warnock down because they are not 'international-whizz-kids' but last night saw two teams trying to outdo each other and there was far less of the sh1thousery we have seen at the SoL too many times and two blokes stood in the dug-outs having a good time. i am already looking forward to the window, we will need replacements so i feel this will be a very important test for the recruitment team who, so far, have not let themselves down, get it right this time and we might really start moving.
I'd agree that we don't have a strong case for promotion but there are plenty of clubs who've unexpectedly sneaked their way into the PL by the back door. I'm not desperate to go up but don't see the harm in hoping we can play a part in, at least, the fight if not the play offs and even Wembley. It would be a shame if any of that happened and people had to come back on with, 'No one's happier than me to have been wrong.' It's as if some find it easier to live without hope but surely that's all most supporters ever have. So what if we're beaten at Wembley, surely it would be a great reward, to be there, for players who've given us such an enjoyable first Championship season.
I agree, think Warnock deliberately changed their approach knowing we would expect them to sit back and Mowbray didn't know how to respond. We were overran in midfield which was really frustrating, Dan was often having to mark 2 players as Roberts and Pritchard offered very little cover. The number of wingers we had on the pitch must be some kind of record.
Always a pleasure mate. It was well worth getting the earlier train to have a drink with you and the lads ... ... all the best.
In my mind it was as much about the players as it was the manager. We set up badly and struggled to adapt. But we missed quite a few chances to score and, for whatever reason, failed to get shots off in good positions ... Amad could've taken the match ball home with him. Huddersfield were good value for the draw but, in my opinion, didn't really bother Patterson that much ... ... most of their attacks came from our misplaced passes tbh.
The difference last night is that Trai Hume was stepping into midfield when we were in possession so we had 3 in there with Neil and Pritchard. I don't think midfield was a particular problem for us last night
