Why not? I know we think they are our best players except for Smithies and Robinson, but it ain’t working. Playing a winger might help.
What people perceive to be our strength is actually our weakness when it comes to accommdating players in the team.
A dissapointing result. To lose two goals against 10 men opposition is very poor. Real questions need to be asked.
I dont know much because i was not watching the match, but isnt the statistics from the match disgraceful? 60 min against 10 men and TWO shots on target. Every league one and maybe league two sides would have attacked much more keen against BC defence. Holloway has totally lose the team.
The facts to me look easy enough You know that against ten men you have move that ball quicker and undo the opposition. Without the ball it’s an even game anyway and you press harder Sounds like they the players did neither Of course it’s not in any way good but I could not see a single point coming from the last two games. Both City and Boro look very strong and are those teams that will only get stronger as the season concludes Again best we should be looking at is 14th to 4th from bottom. With no teeth up front at all and very poor final decisions going forward It’s the best we can do. Again I say we will scrap through and then review and possibly start again with another new format Holloway just has to keep us active in this division and that’s the target imo always was
you won't go down, there are at least 5 teams worse than you in this league. I thought Oteh looked good for you and Smith is always a threat from long balls with his height.
a two footed lunge from behind and gets a yellow, Baker slightly mis-timed tackle at full speed with no intent of malice gets a straight red. The ref has no clue.......
Based on what Holloway was saying Smith and Smyth are his preferred front two at this time. Any idea how long Smyth is out for?
My initial reaction to the Baker challenge was yellow whereas my son immediately thought red. Difficult to see the tackle properly from the away end I thought the Robins were excellent when down to 10 - resilient at the back and quick on the break. A really excellent ground now too, albeit that the away end concourse could do with remodelling
It's always funny how with QPR tinted sun glasses on, and Bristol City tinted sun glasses, the same thing can be seen in such a different way. Must say though, your red was a tad harsh. Just good for you that we are too awful to take advantage of it.
It's not uncommon for teams to struggle against 10 men. Not defending the performance, it doesn't sound like we deserve it but City are a much better side than us.
It's a myth as you all know that playing against ten men is easy - particularly when the ten have a sense of injustice and are in every way a better team.
A harsh red from the ref stopped the game from being a fair contest....Utterly depressing and a must win game next week. I know, let’s play 3 5 2, playing at a slow tempo and funnelling our play in to the middle with no width. That should work.
The question in reply to that is, why are they a better team? Oh and it's not a myth that playing against 10 men is easy. It certainly is easier as logic states. Generally a 10 man team will park the bus and limit the damage. These lot put 2 past us. The way you play agains 10 is to make the pitch as big as possible but doesn't help you if youre a clueless manager who believes the pitch is only 10ft wide!
Honestly fed up with mis perceptions of how we are playing , you are absolutely right about accommodating the players . We are playing currently 5 at the back , three in midfield , two of which are holders and 1+1 up top . No wonder we never look like scoring and can't break teams down . We constantly get over run in midfield as other teams seem to have full backs and wide men pushing onto our ' wing backs ',( honestly i can't believe people call them wing backs its another crowd appeaser ). With scowen dropping so deep to pick the ball up we literally have only one or two options going forward , so many people behind the ball . It really is not so much about the personnel we have it is more about the way we are playing . We can still be compact and play with some width , be hard to beat but also cause problems. Personally with players we have id like to see maybe a 4 - 2 - 3 - 1 type formation ( personnel can obviously change ) smithies furlong - Onouha - Baptiste - Robinson Scowen - Luongo Oteh - Smyth - Freeman Smith
The bloke is learning nothing from these defeats/performances. That to me is the most concerning aspect of his management. People bang on about this midfield 3 being good.....really? Are they? Freeman is a good player I agree. Scowen and Luongo are decent and most teams have better, similar players. I watched Powell for Wigan yesterday (league 1) better than any of those. Dack at Blackburn league 1 I would take above scowen and Luongo any day. Yes league 1 players better than these.
IMO if we're going to play Smith, especially as a lone striker, we have to play with genuine wingers or genuine wing-backs. This has neither, although Freeman has played as a winger. I'd prefer him more central. Powell is a very, very good player.
