Player Ratings: Bull 7 - Conceded 5 without doing much wrong! Foster 3 - Got absolutely skinned every time and made a series of horrific aimless passes Laing 5 - Had a shocker of a first half but improved in the 2nd half Winfield 6 - Played OK and scored a goal Basey 7- Nothing really got past him and has a good delivery from set pieces Lewis 6 - Didn't really do much wrong but got injured Bloomfield 5 - Once again outclassed in midfield Harper 4 - A million miles away from match fitness, didn't have any impact on the game Grant 6 - He's so hit and miss, was awful at times but good play for strevens' goal and took a beautiful touch to set up a chance in the second half. Never defends either Strevens 7- Put himself about and got himself a well taken goal Beavon 7- A lot of endeavour and deserved a goal Subs: Ainsworth 6 - Side looked more balanced with him on, but he didn't do a great deal that stood out
First half was an absolute shambles. Simple balls into the box were not dealt with and just left alone for Brentford to attack. We severely lack basic defensive skills. Second half was much better but the game was already lost. You can argue that at 3-1 the momentum was definately with us for some time and if we stole another goal it was game on, but on balance we were thoroughly beaten. Foster was awful but was also given no help by Grant, which seems to happen every week. Going forward, Grant was by far our biggest threat. So surely Waddock should arrange the team to help Foster more and allow Grant more freedom if he is going to play that way. The midfield were out played and out muscled. Harper needs games and Bloomfield lacks the quality needed to get hold of games like this. Ainsworth made a difference in the second half and put in a good shift. The 1000 odd Wycombe crowd were mostly excellent and the 'let's pretend we scored a goal' and 'let's pretend we won the league' chants brought some much needed humour to a dismal day.
I don't think it is necessarily too late to change manager. As you mention the teams around us are poor so there is a chance that we could stay up but ultimately I don't think Waddock can cut it and I think we will go down. However, bringing a new manager in could change things and give us the motivation we need and we may just stay up but if not it gives a new manager 3 months to review the cr*p we have and hit the ground running in the summer in terms of looking at new players. I think ultimately its a decision do the Board think Waddock is good enough? If not then get rid now, what is the point in keeping him until the summer.
i have been a big waddock fan since he came to adams park but i have lost faith in him now.we are bottom of the league and its his team that has got us there.tactically he is clueless,there is no pride ,no passion, no effort,and no team formation.as i mentioned before grant doesnt track back and help the defense yet he persists in playing him ,when will he ever learn.some of his signings have been baffling to say the least.steve hayes sacked taylor early in the season when things werent going well and yet he sticks by waddock when we have an even worse team now.hayes needs to go and take waddock with him.
I think that's a bit harsh on Harper and Foster. I'm not saying Foster had a good game, but how many times did he have two players coming at him and no help from the midfield? As often as not when Harper got the ball he had noone to pass to. For me it's a collective failure with too many players failing to do the basics of defending. I realise it's sacrilige to say it, but I even think that includes Nikki Bull. He may be a brilliant shot stopper, but there were times when a more dominant goalkeeper would have come and collected crosses, and he's rooted to his line.
agree on foster he needs help from the midfield,i cant comment on harper because i wasnt there but his name was hardly mentioned on player commentary.nikki bull i also agree on ,he is a brilliant shot stopper but he is like dracula dont like crosses,he should be commanding his six yard box but nearly always seems to be rooted to the goal line.we should be defending as a unit and attacking as a unit but we are like 3 teams in one ,neither the midfield the defence or the attack seem to work together.if waddock cant sort out this basic problem then he should go.
These are basically the problems that I observed on my visit to Adams Park when we played Aldershot last year. 10 months or so later and we still have the same problem. Orient were rock bottom without a hope. Look at them now. The teams around us may be poor but between them they beat Bournemouth, Preston and Bury this weekend. "[FONT=verdana, helvetica, arial, sans-serif]Gary Alexander grabs a hat-trick [/FONT]as Brentford win for the first time in eight matches[FONT=verdana, helvetica, arial, sans-serif] to send Wycombe bottom."[/FONT] [FONT=verdana, helvetica, arial, sans-serif]From where I'm sitting, the players (at least some of them) are not pulling their weight. Not enough movement off the ball, and little attempt to be first to the ball. Whenever a player receives or wins/collects the ball he should have options. That involves players off the ball to be moving into accessible spaces to help out each other. They need to want the ball. It's the only way to keep possession. Maybe Waddock doesn't know how to make 2+2 = 5. I'm beginning to agree that he isn't up to the job. Either he's bringing in the wrong players, making bad tactical decisions or failing to fire up the players to play for each other and play to win. Unfortunately it's beginning to feel like all 3. I still think though that there is a cloud over the club which does make the motivation aspect very difficult.[/FONT]
agreed ron the players seem to go out onto the pitch with a couldnt give a **** attitude and thats down to waddock to motivate them.as you say there is a cloud hanging over the club and that is steve hayes who seems to have gone into hiding this season since he didnt get his way with the booker white elephant and seems to be having a big sulk over it ,the sooner he goes the better and i am sad to say the same goes for the clueless waddock
I don't think the 'Foster doesn't get help from Grant' argument holds water. In the second half, Foster had Ainsworth helping him out and he was still completely exposed and was at fault for the 4th goal. Also, Grant played on Basey's side on the second half yet Basey still kept out their attacks reasonably well. Foster's poor performances are a reflection on no-one but himself and he doesn't deserve his place in our side.
Grant doesn't help Foster but thats not a defence of how badly Foster played. He still made stupid mistakes with or without help. But having a winger in front of him who tracks back will reduce the amount of exposure to Foster. Ainsworth helping him in the second half showed that. But this is far from ideal obviously, you can't have a right back who is so easily beaten and allows so many crosses in. McCoy should replace Foster next week, he isn't much better than him but at least has a lot more pace and strength to get him out of trouble.
McCoy should have replaced Foster in the first half yesterday but Gary Waddock is still not making enough tactical substitutions. It was so frustrating.
Just to give a slight good spin on it ... we were two points from safety before the weekend. We're two points from safety after the weekend.
I know I was bleating on about potential managerial changes before XMas and a lot of you wanted to keep faith in waddock, thinking that a new manager would be unlikely to alter things. However, surely our defensive naiveties have lost us countless points over the last couple of months? Last weeks first half display against a terrible Rochdale side proved enough to me that the team lacks confidence and any defensive shape when under pressure. Sorry Waddock, but you must go now if we are to have any chance of survival! Bring in someone new, shore up the defence and restore some pride and confidence. We may then just about keep our heads above water.
thats the one chance we still have. ben campbell has also hinted on his twitter we are in for a busy couple of days, so hopefully GW sorting it out
I was a Waddock believer when others doubted, however after saturday I have lost my patience. The only problem being, im not sure with our resources who can come in and do a better job, i.e get us back up (resigned to relegation) and keep us up the following season. When waddock arrived and we got relegated he said judge me on the team that I build. Lots of praise for that as we got promoted straight away with his team, but if he is going to stand by that statement he has to take responsibility for the cack that he has signed this summer and our dismal performances! So who is the best man for the job? Stick with Waddock and hope he keeps us up by picking up points from the teams around us or someone new?
