It's comedy gold. One of the QPR posters wondered if Cov had declared as they hadn't scored for 20 minutes.
Evidently we're not yet at the bottom of this particular down. Scoring has become an issue - feels like a regular feature with McKenna, goals are rarely from anything other than moves planned on the training ground. Seem to be missing a talisman that will take responsibility for scoring and take a risk. Still have confidence it'll come together, but might have a longer wait than I was anticipating.
A couple of wins on the board will make a world of difference but there’s clearly something toxic bubbling under that’s going to have to be cleared up before we can push on. Hopefully we are firing by the time derby day comes around.
No offence taken. My post started by offering two alternative ways of looking at our start (the second sentence more negative). Personally, I think it’s been a disappointing start, even before today’s loss.
I agree-we're dealing with the disappointment of the latter part of last Season and all relegation entails,the loss of our main striker,one of our best creative players,our driving force skipper,our first choice RB,the reintegration of long term injured players and new arrivals.Is it any wonder we're not making the best of starts?Patience,patience,patience....
Agree BigAl my concern is I think we need to start clicking soon before we fall into more of the pitfalls many clubs relegated from the PL do. Whilst I appreciate I have leveled some criticism at the club for how they've dealt with certain things, the gap between the PL and Champ both in terms of quality but mainly finance causes some real challenges in managing the squads when you go between the leagues.
Even with that all being true our performances have been well below what we could expect. All three goals we’ve conceded from defensive howlers. We have barely created anything going forward. It’s not about time for players to gel because there’s only been one new signing in the side. Szmodics is playing nowhere near his capabilities and Greaves is a much better player than he’s shown over the three games. We’ve seen plenty of other clubs that come down that have the mentality to go straight back up. There’s no sign of it in our camp and I don’t believe amongst these professionals it can be down to being unsettled over the Omari transfer saga. I have no idea where the problem is but so far there are no signs at all of a group relishing the challenge. The number of players and coaches that didn't fancy it and moved on coupled with our performances over the first three games suggests to me there is one or more level of relationship at the club that’s gone sour.
I think that staff leaving is down to the fact that their opportunities will be at an optimum having been at a premier league club, so that is understandable and allows the club to freshen things up a little. Pretty much the same with the players that left, I think if things were that poor behind the scenes then Cajuste would not have chosen to return. We are coming off of a successful period with the promotions and even the foray in the premier league so a bit of a lull is no great surprise really, we have to find a way to go from battling to even stay in games to breaking down teams that are more than happy with a point in most games. Now is the time when we find out how good our fans truly are it’s easy to be a fan while it’s all going well…….
I was playing the gracious host at a BBQ yesterday, so could only really keep up with the game on here and the Beeb. Caught the extended highlights this morning and agree that was a really poor performance and result. Having possession and looking comfortable on the ball is one thing, but if we’re making silly mistakes, unable to link up as a team, cannot take our chances, and completely lacking in confidence then it’s looking like a prolonged period of struggle. The worrying thing is that unchanged team only has one new starter in the starting eleven. It’s concerning we’re playing like strangers when a vast majority of that team have played with one another for at least a year. Confidence is an underrated quality in a football side, and these players do not look confident after the first few games. In defence - Woolfenden, Kipre, and Young might be kicking their heels a bit on the bench. The latter in particular is due a start. Matusiwa has struggled with the pace of the Championship and Taylor isn’t starting level calibre. The sooner Cajuste is match fit and we’ve got a star midfielder through the door, the sooner our attacks might click a bit more. But the main criticism from me for yesterday was all the attacking players. Jack Clarke in particular just seems so lightweight on the ball. He and Philogene struggled with a quality final ball. We’ve surely got someone in the building who can impact games more than Clarke? While Hirst didn’t get great service, he had two stand out opportunities to score and fluffed them both. Hopefully Akpom can provide a bit of competition because my concerns about Hirst’s poor finishing is becoming really apparent. Szmodics huffed and puffed but again just didn’t look threatening enough. McAteer had a chance late on which he skied over. I really hope we can bring in someone like a Hutchinson or Delap that can grab the game by the scruff of the neck and inspire us through some individual brilliance. Two big home games coming up against Derby and Sheffield United - both teams below us in the table. Anything less than six points and a credible automatic promotion campaign will look a lot harder.
A very frustrating day at Deepdale with a soft penalty deciding the result. The longer the game went on the more Town dominated the match, the second half in particular was spent almost entirely in the home sides half with Town playing some good football until they got just outside the penalty area then instead of being incisive we reverted to the hated tippy tappy sideways and backwards going nowhere boring football. At times we had 5 or 6 players in the box waiting for the ball which of course never came, Hirst in particular had nothing to work with, we had hardly any shots at goal and even less on target, Clarke continues to disappoint but he's not the only one, Young looks like he's still got the quality and will be an asset. I lost count of how many home players were booked so great was the Town domination but without scoring it was all worthless, as far as I can tell we are desperate for more midfield strength and skill which Cajuste I'm sure will provide and a fully fit Akpom should add to the fire power, God knows we need it.
