well that was poor - passing, challenging, crossing, all below standard - the Coyle / Longman double act down the right was as bad as it gets - Longman was wanting passes for him to run on to, Coyle kept beckoning him back for a short ball - have they ever played together before - is there any plan - no end of possible through balls missed by Coyle - appears to have no football brain and as for being captain, I didn't see any evidence that he was encouraging, motivating, directing or anything, no fight, no heart, nothing - when we pushed forward, just trotted along - sorry but he needs a long rest - having said all of that I can't think who should be our captain as there doesn't seem to be anyone remotely up to the task - unless we sign a few magicians in January we aint going anywhere fast
**** happens. I have been a martyr to trapped stools for years now. The hamstring can easily give with the extra exertions.
My vote for this game went for a draw, but then I realised I’m back to work tomorrow, they always send me back to work totally pissed off with a crappy loss!
With Millar, Belloumi, Palmer and now Hughes out injured, that’s all our best players out for a significant length of time. What’s left is no better than what Rotherham or Huddersfield had last season. I didn’t get carried away after the Swansea game, even though it was a massive relief, because we need to go on a solid run of form before I start having confidence in this group of players. I was adamant that the players weren’t good enough all season and that Walter was only a small part of the problem. Sellés’ appointment has probably improved morale a bit but leopards don’t change their spots and this squad is a bottom three squad of players in terms of quality. Anyone who still believes this is a top half squad that was just poorly coached by Walter is deluding themselves.
The bloke next to me today said “Kamara never tackles”. Five seconds later he put in a really strong tackle with his first touch. I was surprised he came on today, wasn’t his kind of game at all. I think he overthinks things and makes poor decisions, he’s a good player but he needs to keep it simple and just use his assets - a neat stopover and blistering pace.
You’re right, he should be our number 10. He has very rarely been given this role and that is why his output has been so poor. Most of his starts he has been put on the wing - which never makes sense.
Really disappointed today. Lost count of how many times our players kicked the ball too far ahead and had it taken off them. Our skill/quality levels are rock bottom but we have the right coach to get some confidence back into them and if we survive it will be close. Hughes loss is a massive blow. This season we have had the worst luck of every part of the set up, starting from what ever was going on with tan to probably the worst manager at the worst possible time. Bringing in inexperienced players and asking them to perform in this **** show for a manger who frankly sounded like a nasty twat to work for. What we are seeing is a result of all this twattery, but it still can be repaired. We have the manager to do it. The owner and the fans have to get behind him and support him 100%. If we do we might, just might stay up
There's a player in there somewhere but he seems loathe to take his man on? The big difference for me today was they had players comfortable on the ball not scared to turn and take a man on and their passing was better. We're treating the ball like a hot potato and our passing is rushed.Ruben Selles needs to squeeze every ounce of potential out of this squad,we're in trouble and we're not going to get out of it if our best players don't step up to the mark. P.S,Good on you for travelling over there on a Boxing Day,the journey home would be a sore one..(I do Preston every season but the trains were off so it was a no-no).
We had more possession today but the theme from the four games under Sellés is that we don’t really control games in possession like we have done under Walter and Rosenior. Rosenior epitomised patient, possession-based, horizontal football. Walter’s style was more unorthodox with players rotating into areas and more vertical passing. Saying that, you could probably pinpoint when the players collectively reverted to more orthodox possession football under Walter, either because Walter asked them to be more conservative (unlikely) or the players took it upon themselves (more likely). Sellés’ football seems more vertical and direct than both Rosenior’s and Walter’s but I’m noticing a lot more aimless long balls from the keeper and centre-halves. It doesn’t seem like a tactical decision either; it just looks rushed and leads to a scrappy game of football. Pretty sure Sellés’ himself said after one of the games that he wasn’t happy that the team was making so many long balls and wanted them to be better with the ball. That tells me Sellés has asked them to be more direct and progressive with their passing and the more limited players like Coyle and Jones have heard that as ‘hoof it long’. The types of passes Hughes was making against Swansea are probably what Sellés wants when he means ‘more vertical’, not hoofing it aimlessly like Coyle and Jones are doing.
Modern football speak. Everyone thinks they're a coach and use their fancy terms. "Low block" is the new one, for defending deep.
Because that’s the terminology Sellés himself has used. Also ‘vertical’ is fewer words than ‘pass the ball forward’. ****’s sake
Didn't Walter have those best players available for a number of games ? I suppose it depends what you mean by a "small" part of the problem but I just think Walter was a terrible appointment
I don’t disagree that he was the wrong appointment. We had a massive squad rebuild, his style of football was unorthodox, his man-management style was very cold and distant and it ultimately led to a team that didn’t believe in the manager’s approach nor particularly liked him as an individual. He was a problem but that doesn’t mean he was the problem. The same problems we see now under Sellés were the same problems under Walter and even under Rosenior i.e. no physicality, poor finishing and decision-making in the final third across the board and technically-limited players like Coyle, Slater and Jones being key starting players. The last one wasn’t as much of an issue last season as they had much better teammates who carried the team in terms of goals and assists and passing ability but when they’ve been expected to step up, their limitations have been laid bare for all to see.
I know he’s gotten stick and I don’t want to make him a scapegoat either because a lot of them are ****e but I’m sorry, Kamara is absolute toss. If he was on loan like Ebiowei was, we’d be begging for him to go back in January. I think some people, myself included, are holding onto hope that he might come good because we paid £4 million+ for him but he’s terrible.
