Evening, can't really comment on the performance as I couldn't follow the game as out at friends but it doesn't sound good from the comments on here. Draws are killing us and will keep us lower middle table. Not wanting to sound pessimistic but I don't understand talk of being "nine" points off the playoffs, if we can't beat MK Dons, Charlton or Rotherham at home then we've no chance of making top six. It'll just drive us all mad hanging on to the hope AND we never close the gap
I'm certainly no expert but wasn't the backpass hit on the half volley which is allowed? I think so but I've not checked the rules so... you know.
Silvestri - My comment was he made an amazing save and I agree. However, Bamba caused a fuss with him and put him in awkward situations. But, I stand by the fact that the way he deals with awkward situations are well - awkward. Bamba - I think you're being slightly harsh (only slightly mind) he's a limited defender. Not a ball playing one. But he was often put in that position when Cooper should have been. It's not his fault people kept passing to him when he can't handle it. Erwin - I don't know what you saw, but he didn't look good to me. That's only 1 game though, he may still come good.
I take your point about Bamba - I'm slightly biased I guess as I deplore him. Still think out of all the bad performances today, his was the worst. On Erwin, I don't mean to say that he showed much today. However, he showed me glimpse of potential. I was sat in the west stand, sort of level with the edge of the penalty area at the kop end. This gave me a good view along the MK defensive line. When Erwin came on I decided to watch him specifically and it was his constant movement along the line to try and beat the offside trap that I liked. All he needed was for someone to ping a ball in behind the defence and he could have been on the end of it. But we didnt try it once. As I say, he didnt do a lot, but I think he may have if given the right balls. For all we know though his finishing may be awful, but, we didnt get a chance to see that
I think the fact he sliced the half volley with his shin plays a part. If he did it with his foot it would be a back pass.
I agree in a sense that Bamba was the worst. But only because he was allowed to be the worst. He shouldn't of seen the ball as much as he did.
Orian, Rev - thanks for the informative posts, sounds like we were very lucky to get a point. Bamba's a strange one, can physically dominate attackers without putting a foot wrong one month, be a liability the next. Maybe why we got him?
1, no, imo playing a lone striker home or away isn't working for us, it seems to be more detrimental than beneficial to team. In defence of lone striker position, I agree with Kiwi, and have mentioned it numerous times myself, our midfield don't know how to make through passes or feed our striker/s, whether we play a lone striker or 2 up front. Evans needs to see we need some big changes in midfield; bring back Bianchi and give Sloth a chance, it can't be any worse, but law of averages says it can only get better. 2, I mentioned previously I didn't think Duke was ideal as the lone striker, I think it was natural instinct for him to wander out towards flanks, either that or it was to make some space for our mids to attempt through passes, Antenucci does same when getting no service. 3, Cook has no finishing imo, and it's been an ongoing opinion. Cooks occasional runs are fine if they amount to something , but more often than not they don't and is a waste of time with no benefits.to team or our other players, he loses the ball somewhere along line and muffs the others. I remember some fans saying same about Aidy White's finishing. 4, Good question, whoever it was is wise in laying low. 5, Did we have any shots on target? other than MKD showing us how it's done by scoring for us, even the commentators were scratching their brains to find a second shot. I've said it all along, we need to take more shots from edge of box and worry the keeper, it's not happening and never will while we have midfield problems. Other teams are doing their homework on us and seem to know our weak points. 6, Inability comes to mind. 7, I think Antenucci does give a damn, he must've felt frustrated when Redders continually picked Morison and Sharp above him while seeing no benefits, and I don't blame him if he's thinking he's stuck in a groundhog day situation. Adding 8, Evans completely screwed it up against MKD, from start to finish. I think it was Ristac who said he's becoming complacent, I have to agree even though I like Evans. He seems to be slowly becoming consistent in being stubborn and not recognising our problems, just like Rosler and Redders before him. 3 games in 7 days, even a 5 year old would know we had to rotate with fresh legs. Cellino will not be amused by that performance.
OK chaps, here we go with my version of War & Peace: Silvestri - Didn't put a foot wrong, IMO. Great asset to have. My biggest worry for him is Bamba undermining his confidence. Bamba pus him on the spot on a regular basis by short-passing him & panic-passing to put him on the spot. Wootton - Another solid defensive performance from the lad. No the best overlapper or crosser, & I could get back to defend quicker than he could. But he's a CB - what do you expect? Bamba - A cancer in our defence. No chance of a clean sheet whilst he's playing. Can bully people off the ball, head, & make the occasional interception. I could list his faults at length, but I'd like to get to my bed tonight. Cooper - Should be our captain & first name on the teamsheet every week. Another solid performance. Even manages to cover for Bamba. But not always. How can he cover for that moron all the time - and why should he have to? Taylor - Actually, he should be joint first name on the teamsheet with Cooper. Couple of sublime crosses today. Could have graced any World Cup, they could. Tailed off when switched to LM, but what do you expect? My only criticism of him is that he doesn't cut in & have a pop often enough, but that'll come. He's still a youngster. Bridcutt - Likes a wee battle, and got one. Makes mistakes, but bloody hell, he works hard to get the ball back when he loses it. Consistently inconsistent, you might say, but in his case not a bad thing. Byram - Not one of his best games today, but how much of that was down to him & how much was down to his teammates, it's hard to say. He was part of a general malaise. Cook - Something's not right with this boy atm. Off colour, no spark, gets lost in the final third, lacking in confidence, lacking in stamina. Not lacking in effort, application, or aggression, but it's just not clicking at the moment, & hasn't been for a while. Long rest required, I think. Murphy - Think he may be a casualty in the window. He has a history of blowing hot & cold, and the last few weeks have illustrated that nothing has changed with him. He is everything that's wrong with us just now, and just wasn't at the races again. We can't afford to carry him any more. Dallas - Poor lad was knackered. Tried his best, but probably shouldn't have been picked. He's probably put in more miles in the last 2 games than anyone else has in 3. Totally above criticism for his poor performance as far as I'm concerned. I'm now a fan of his, but I've taken a wee while to come round. Doukara - Never led a line in his life on his own, but got thrown in at the deep end. So what do we do? We criticise him for doing what we signed him for - to play wide or as part of a 2. Bit like us moaning about Wootton playing like a CB at RB. Poor sod. Kept going wide left, was rarely in the box. Unexpectedly, won a good few aeriel duels - so he can head a ball! Sadly, like Woods, he didn't have the greatest control with his headers. He still struggled when Antenucci came on to help hm out, but gain, I'm not sure how much was down to him, & how much was down to his supply. One thing it did highlight was how much work Wood gets through for up front on his own. it could be that by not playing, Wood proved how useful he is for us! Antenucci - I'm a fan, but this was not his best performance by a long way. Again, could have been lack of service, but even when he had the ball ..... Let's leave it at that. And I won't mention him lying on the ground crying when he should have been getting on with it. Erwin - Reminded me a bit of Smith, but more of the Smith when he was overweight & lumbering about unfit. Had some moments, but the lad is not match fit. i'd deffo persist with him. I don't believe hes ready to lead a line yet, personally, but I'd like to see him play alongside Wood. Rosler always maintained he was 'a no. 10', but then didn't play him as you don't have a no. 10 in a 4-3-3! He had a couple of pre-season games playing wide. One on each side, if I remember rightly. Who knows what he has to offer us in the future. Coyle - Says a lot for the boy when his manager plays him out of postion with so little first team experience. Did ok too. Didn't set the heather alight, but wasn't awful either. I'd be comfortble with him playing RB from the start of a match. I'm almost 100% sure he'll play from the start in the cup game. As will Phillips. Not sure about Bianchi & Sloth - who knows if they'll still be with us! Referee - Evns said that he was normally a good referee, but awful today. Straight talking, but I thought he was worse than that. Some of the decisions were unbelievable. His assistants didn't help him either. MK Dons - For once I'm going to mention the other team. It's not all about us - there was another team playing too, and their pressing & harassing game was superb. They did everything we should have been doing & did it well. We didn't have time to think until they tired towards the end. Perhaps it wasn't just about our team not producing the goods - perhaps it was more about not being allowed to show the goods on this occasion. Top marks to them. They might not have the skills, but they have the heart. Hope they avoid relegation.
Is playing a lone striker at home against the likes of MKD acceptable? Not if it's Doukara! Problem is not necessarily with the strike force - we do not have a midfield that wants to score! They're all penalty box-shy, with the possible exception of Byram. No-one runs forward of the lone striker, which is essential to make the system work well. Does Doukara have any idea that a lone striker needs to remain central? No, but I don't believe it's his fault. It's a very disciplined ole that not everyone can do. I honestly believe that Byram is probably our next best after Wood, but not even sure if he can do it. Erwin is an unknown quantity, but like Antenucci, i don't think he can do it either. Why is cook **** scared of having a shot? Sadly, it looks like it was Austin who coached him in shooting. Seriousl, though, I think he needs a long rest. Think he's lacking in confidence atm, & needs thepressure taken off him. Who told Bamba he can play? Probably anyone who he asks! You seen the size of the guy? If he was 3 feet shorter & 5 stone lighter, I might tell him on the phone. Not going to say any more - he's a disaster waiting to happen every match, and has a consistent track record. Of shiite! How many shots did we have on a target? Own goal and the only other on target effort was another near own goal. None officially, but I reckon Byram's shot in the box was on target before it got blocked. Was too close not to be on target. Not sure of the stats rules, so perhaps there's a reason for it not counting. Why get a great attacking free kick and not try and create any thing? You've not been to a lot of matches recently, so won't be aware of just how bad our set piece crossing has been. That free kick just summed up our attitude in the whole match. When did antenucci stop giving a ****? Has he ever?
Good Morning Neil I thought I heard Taylor had hit the post .In the match at MKD I mentioned that Hall was their beat player so I was not surprised when he scored.He's on loan from Bolton and has they need a goal scorer he must be just what they need
At the start of the season the signing of Bamba was a "must" for many of us, why is it so many players like Bamba turn out to be duff. Do we turn them into uncertain poor players or do they pull the wool over everyone's eyes to begin with?
Good point Ristac. What we sometimes forget though with modern professional footballers, they have ridiculous amounts of free time. Some will handle it well some won't. I saw a recent Twitter video of one of ours bladdered drunk while out injured. Won't name him but a poor reflection on his professionalism. Who knows what players get up to in their down time that affects on field performances. Remember wood gate bowyer and duberry. Imagine had social media been around at that time. Clubs will try to offload problem players but clearly won't advertise any players bad habits beforehand
Apart from the swipe at my poor attendance ( you seem happy to listen to tele watchers when they praise performances) we seem to in broad agreement. Let's go for two more..... Can you tell me when you last saw us play as poorly as yesterday, and on what basis you feel we are any better than last year. Oh and on Silvestri, his piss poor distribution led him to roll the ball to Bamba 15 times in the game and on all but two occasions we lost possession by the distance a hopeful punt would have landed. We would be winning circa 50% of hopeful punts that went vaguely In the intended direction. Not only did we cough the ball up but it took us forever to shift it forward even when we should have been chasing the game.
To be fair he shinned it and he didn't intend it... I think the first time their guy went over in the box whilst running with the ball it was a stonewall penalty. Was right in front of me and there was no contact with the ball and he caught and brought down the man. The second in an identical position was a dive pure and simple. Half expected the ref to give it to make up for missing the first one, and am sure that's why he didn't book the diver.
Last year it was end of January when we reached 32 points. Almost a month earlier this year. That is progress
Last year we then went on a decent run in spring....... Can't see it happening this year..... Grab the points we are fluking because our luck can't hold forever.
Sorry I edited it before your reply. 55-58 points is where we will end up IMO. That would not be progress worth talking about..,.
