It was no lack of concentration yesterday though. It was an entirely freakish deflection.
The regularly repeated opinion on here that this team / squad / structural management setup, is better than our league position would suggest and that we will be playoff challengers next season is laughable.
We're battling relegation for a reason. That reason being that we're one of the worst performers in this league.
We're down at the bottom because we can't score goals.
We're down at the bottom because our defence make too many calamitous errors.
We're down at the bottom because our midfield flatters to deceive.
We're down at the bottom because we've been unlucky with injuries.
We're down at the bottom because the owner made a poor managerial choice in the summer.
We're down at the bottom because we're inconsistent.
We're down at the bottom because our home form is crap.
We're down at the bottom because Sinik exists.
It doesn't matter.
We're down at the bottom because we're down at the bottom.
We'll remain down at the bottom until we start winning consistently.
I don't think we're capable of that.
I can’t see anybody poaching either of those players. Hughes has class but ultimately he’s been pretty crap, Pandur has been steady but not spectacular. Who is going to spend the money required for us to allow either of them to leave?
Saying a goal is our defence’s fault because they allowed the ball to enter our penalty box is, I suppose, technically right but doesn’t really advance the argument. It happens tens of times every game.I wouldn't blame concentration but it wasn't purely the freak deflection. The deflection was able to hurt us because we allowed them to have the ball on our penalty spot requiring a last ditch intervention within 10 seconds of the kickoff. That happened primarily because Hughes was easily and comprehensively beaten in the air from the long ball. Someone said it was a 50/50 but how often do teams let us win headers in or on the edge of their box? We can't let that happen and then blame our luck when it ends up in our net via a deflection.
Never mind Baz's stat about one win in 16 after international breaks... whats the stat for when cheap tickets have been on offer...
Why do people say the priority in summer is to sign a striker?
To have even half a chance, you need 2, even 3 good strikers, and that's without even considering the seemingly inevitable **** luck we have with injuries!
TC, yep, the stats for that must be awful. On that at least, you have to feel for the owner. Time and again these gestures are made, but the team manage to screw it up.
I think you've missed the point Mr Toast!Because in the last few seasons in the Championship, our striker's totals read as follows:
Pedro - 6
Bedia - 2
Burstow - 2
Delap - 8
Connolly - 8
Carvalho - 9
Ohio - 3
Oscar - 13
Smith - 3
Allahyar - 2
Eaves - 5
Magennis - 2
Wilks - 3
That's an appalling record for strikers at this level. Last season Morgan Whittaker managed 19 for Plymouth, who finished 21st. If we have any ambition of at least staying in the division, then this idea of needing a striker needs to stop being played down. We've consistently relied on wingers and AMs scoring the bulk of our goals for nearly four seasons, there has to come a point where this is addressed if we want to actually make progress.
I think you've missed the point Mr Toast!
Yes, of course we need a striker who scores goals. But the point I was making was that people keep talking in the singular. Whilst even one would at least be a start (until they inevitably get crocked), we need more than one! We should be looking at 2, maybe even 3, proper strikers coming in during summer.
p.s. it goes further than that too. I posted a few months back the goal scoring record of all our senior players. It was gob-smackingly poor. Not only do we need strikerS who score, we also need players across the park who contribute; defenders, midfielders and wingers.
You're ignoring the critical fact that our record since Selles was appointed is a mid table record. So objectively, we're not at the bottom because of anything he or the players have done since December. It's because we gave the rest of the league such a head start before then.
Saying a goal is our defence’s fault because they allowed the ball to enter our penalty box is, I suppose, technically right but doesn’t really advance the argument. It happens tens of times every game.
Our player cleared the ball and it took a one in a thousand deflection off a teammate. That is vanishingly unlikely to happen.
That's a relief then.
It's good to know that the season only started in December and therefore we can't be relegated.
This is exactly the point I'm making!
Whilst you're pointing out that we're too good to be relegated, we're slipping towards the bottom three.
We're not slipping towards it. We've been getting steadily further from it since Selles took over. Obviously it can't be 100% linear, we make steps forward and back, but the overall trend is very clear.
I didn't say we're too good to be relegated or that the record prior to December doesn't count. Clearly it does count and that is still our problem currently. I was saying that our record since December isn't the problem, and that disproves several of the things that you listed as reasons that we're near the bottom.
Apparently Luton have 2 strikers that scored more than 10 goals each last season in the Premier league. Neither have got to double figures this season in the championship. It's not easy to go buy a goal scorer.
We need to give Joseph time. My Preston supporting mate could not believe me that Liam Delap was a top championship striker talking to him last year. He told me he couldn’t score in a brothel when at Deepdale. Clearly time and the right coaching can make a massive difference. Joseph has the right attitude and is young, he could be one of the 3 decent strikers we need next season (hopefully in the championship).
And yet if you swapped the strikers between us and Luton round yesterday we probably win
Do we have any strikers?