After cooling off a little overnight I started my Post Mortem to see if I could find out what went wrong again... If you look at yesterdays stats (from the BBC, if they are to be believed) we had the lions share of possession but failed to capitalise on it! We could and should have been 3 or 4 up by half time!! (Not the first time that has happened this season alone). we had 20 (YES 20!) shots at goal, only 5 on target! And WE STILL DIDN'T SCORE!!! (The Equaliser is not included as that was from the spot!) Is that a 25% success rate or a dismal 75% failure? We are not scoring because we are not hitting the target! That is partially composure, confidence, belief and technique on the players side, but also has to do with training methods and practices! Our two main Strikers Wyke and Grigg have 1 goal between them!! NOT GOOD ENOUGH!!! Perhaps we need to introduce new 'Vegas' style goals with flashing neons and arrows pointing to the net with a BIG Flashing Sign saying "Place Ball in Here to WIN!' I have said previously, J.R. has had over 18 months at the helm and still does not know his best side, best formations and his tactics are non existent! We have played 9 games in the league, Won - 4, Drawn - 4, lost - 1. This is NOT Promotion or Play Off Standard!!! If we do not get a 'GOOD' manager in soon we can look forward to next season in this league...... It's up to S.D. and the new owners to sort this out and make a decision fast! Too many of our players pull on the Jersey and think that thats all they need to do! We have 3 - 4 who constantly play their hearts out and raise their game, but others just coast and think it's a god given right for them! They need to learn EVERY GAME WE PLAY HOME OR AWAY IS THE OPPONENTS CUP FINAL!!! We don't need Super Stars (Though one or two would be Nice) but we do need 11 DETERMINED and COMMITTED players with Talent out there! 9 League Games and not a single Clean Sheet to be found!!!!! It's no good using the 'Glass half full or half empty' saying! The top and bottom line is at the moment under the current Manager and what staff he has WE ARE NOT GOOD ENOUGH AND ARE NOT IMPROVING. RANT accomplished!!! Thanks and sorry bout that' Home TeamBoltonAway TeamSunderland Possession Home40% Away60% Shots Home7 Away20 Shots on Target Home2 Away5 Corners Home4 Away9 Fouls Home12 Away13
Have you heard what Kieron Brady has to stay on that subject? If you believe him, that's a deeply ingrained culture that goes way beyond Jack Ross and stretches back almost 40 years at least.
each season a owner/manager has to come in and 'improve' on the previous seasons mess and it has been going on for more than 40 years,why ?. the last clean sheet i think was at home to doncaster about April, no idea about the last away game clean sheet Accy most likely 0-3. I said the one record he has got is 26 league consecutive home scoring games and we have scored in the last 30 league games !
I missed the match yesterday, but I just watched the replay. I don't really see what's all the hubbub. Bolton put out a bigger, more physical side and we always struggle with that matchup. Grigg and Flanagan both missed open headers from about 6 yards out. After McGeady received a yellow for a challenge where he just nipped the player before he got the ball, Maguire, during a challenge in the penalty area, had his inside leg completely collapsed, before the defender made contact with ball, and no penalty was called. The same thing happened to McGeady later, and still no call. So that's your 3, 4, 5 to 1 scoreline right there. As for the clean sheet, it was Grigg who lost his man on the free kick, allowing his mark to head the ball across the 6 yard box for the tap in. All we need is McNulty and Watmore returned to fitness.
Anyone who was there would probably admit it was a dreadful performance against a very poor team. The crowd wouldn't have booed and chanted 'Ross out' if we'd put in a decent effort.
Grigg needs sacking off. Mcnuilty has come in and been able to score, so Grigg has no excuse. Wish Kimpioka would sign the contract, he'd probably get in ahead of Grigg of he did. Wyke isn't great, but at least he puts a shift in
Wyke with Kimpioka might not be a bad combination, he's got the pace and agility to run onto Wyke's headers, which have got better and better but there's never anyone there to do anything with them.
This is about Wykes only contribution, effort, and heading the ball on, is this enough, I don't think so, not sure about Kimpy either, we have to look at other alternatives up front, and I dont mean Grigg. .
Nah mate it's not enough, if it's all he can do well though then may as well try to make something of it. Mind you step one should be to get the ball into his or whoever's feet and to stop the endless long balls, apart from Stoke under Pulis it's not a tactic that works. I'm not sure about Kimpi either it's just something you'd maybe give a try in the absence of much else working. McNulty looks a player, he's probably the best we've got if he can stay fit. What are the other alternatives you mentioned are there any other bairns we could try do you know?
The only suggestion I can make is to try McGeady behind McNulty or even Grigg, but Grigg looks so slow and drained to me, maybe a run out with the U21,s might be in order just to get him going again. Our academy seems to be short on alternatives and ideas these days, and I regret loosing Stockdale he was the best we have had at that level, and we miss him badly, but if we moved McGeady central it would make a place for something new out wide, we could try Embleton out there, and play de Bok in defence to give Hume a breather, out wide we are missing the direct play of Watmore, Morgan and even Molyneux from last season, but that's another story which reflects badly on JR , who has suffered from bad luck as much as bad judgement, to be fair, sadly one seems to follow the other in football as in life.
5 different managers have had 20+ goals in a season out of Grigg in this league. Is it Grigg's fault? Or are we not playing to his strengths like the 5 managers who set up around him did?
It's less the lack of goals, and more the fact he doesn't seem to put his full effort in. And even when he does get a chance, he isn't putting them away. We need a striker who can score goals for the team we've got. It can be done. Maja did it, mcnulty seems like he can. Grigg isn't going it.
When managers don't play to strikers strengths they get frustrated and lose confidence and composure. Fact is Ross(the man scared to play attacking football) has turned a goal machine into a shell of a player.
Can’t argue with the OP. Only just got around to watching the highlights (can’t sleep!!) and, we take our chances it’s 4 or 5-1. Grigg’s header in the first half showed a player with no confidence. His volley second half was a lovely finish but the keeper made a great save! I wonder if our 5 on target had gone in, how much stick the manager would’ve got. None I suspect. I’m firmly “ensconced” on the fence when it comes to Ross, but the players are as much to blame at least surely. 2 free headers missed, 2 or 3 top saves. 20 attempts at goal with only 5 on target! Probably more attempts than we’ve had all season (collectively??)
I think that we have a very delicate situation here, where being in limbo is not a good place to be, especially for Jack Ross. Imagine being a player where, because of imminent upheaval, you know that you'll not be here next season, due to new wealth and the club being able to afford better/higher lever players to replace you . . . . where's the incentive It's obvious where it is if you think about it, but we need someone, a leader, to manage expectations, to find the right balance and to encourage players in the right way to secure future careers . . . . whether at S.A.F.C. or elsewhere. It doesn't seem to me, unfortunately, that Jack Ross has the right attributes to do that job because he doesn't seem to be able to motivate our team/squad sufficiently (if at all) As already mentioned, it's not 100% his fault that we miss chances, but he, and his apparent lack of motivational skills, must be partly responsible. I'd really like him to be 'the one' and I still, like I have from when doubts first surfaced, harbour thoughts about Fergie's initial rough period at 'United, and the possibility of this being similar, but maybe I'm just dreaming 'cos I like to 'give the benefit of the doubt' where I can. We'll find out shortly whether or not other, far more important, people think positively about Jack like I try to do
This is all just various opinions and everyone's entitled but the stats and the actual game don't quite match up. I take your point about the manager not being criticised after winning 5-1 but we won at Accrington and he was. In my opinion he's making what should be a very good team much less than the sum of it's parts. The actual performance, at Bolton, was dreadful and Ross deserved criticism win, lose or draw. We were grindingly negative despite playing a team cobbled together and shipping goals. We allowed them to dominate the play but naturally the vastly superior skill, from McGeady, etc, surfaced now and again. Yet we looked timid and disjointed for most of the game. Never mind stats, about wayward shots, etc, we never looked like winning that game at any point. The irony is that the only time we looked like a team was at the end when Ross's tactics were abandoned and the players attacked the game. That's happened far too many times and clearly points the finger at Ross. They say a team reflects its manager and, in this case, it's true ... Ross is quiet and inert, on the touchline, moving around slowly and watching the game go by. The players perfectly mirror that on the pitch, it's absolutely draining to watch.
I wonder how much different things might be had Grigg not missed an open goal. 1-0 down things change for a team in their position. As we know all too well. They get an air of “here we go again” and it gives impetus to the opposition.. This isn’t me backing Ross by the way. This result moved me from Ross in to on the fence. The substitution of Maguire prompted an angry reaction from the fans from what I could hear. The likelihood is that that is a fitness thing not tactical. We have the top scorer in league one of all time I believe and he looks like he could hit a barn, let alone the door! That can’t be the manager. It’s a massive confidence thing. His head drops so quickly and it takes a top top manager to change that mentality. Ross isn’t that. And we won’t get one in this division.
Our problem is that no one is worried about playing Sunderland. Even when we go ahead we never look in control, you only have to look at the two Wembley games as examples. Ross has perfected the art of quietening thousands of away supporters with the grindingly negative approach. If Grigg had scored we'd have sat back and attempted to defend the lead I'm afraid. I can't remember coming out of many Ross games thrilled with the performance even when we've won tbh.
