That was ****, we're boring as hell to watch. Pointless having Hirst on the pitch when the likes of Clarke, Enciso and Hutch don't pass the bloody ball. I'm not sure McKenna is the right man now, we have got steadily worse over the season. My main frustration is how ****in' slow we pass the ball when attacking. Palmer, whilst a slight upgrade on Muric, holds on to the ball too damn long EVERY time he has it in his hands. By the time we start any move forward, the opposition are already back in place. Almost every match has looked like an FA Cup game between a Premier League team and a lower league one trying to cause an upset while not getting embarrassingly thrashed. There is no cohesion in this team and hasn't been for most of the season, we actually looked better early on using more of the players that got us promotion. There is no confidence to attack, always one pass too many and too many mavericks trying to do it all themselves and just running the ball into dead ends. Another goal scored against us between the 60th and 70th minute because McK has been late with his subs all campaign. Pretty pissed off that we showed no urgency to give it a real go, regardless of scorelines. It's the end of the season, we're going down, just try to bloody entertain the fans with some quick attacking football!
Our play out from the back, passing and chance creation has improved significantly. That in the context of massive strides forward that Wolves, Palace and Everton in particular have made - everyone improves over the season. Psychologically, in the latter stages of the season our opposition always know in all likelihood they’ll be making off with the points and I think it has a great bearing on the outcome. Szmodics is a big miss to put chances away from the #10 position. On the other hand, Leif is still a liability, defensively we haven't improved at all - for all the injuries the continued absence of the Woolfy Burgess partnership is self-inflicted - I'm wondering if Muric is a stronger shot stopper than Palmer and McKenna once again made subs too late. To give ourselves a chance this season, I think we needed to give ourselves a defensive base to build upon but we’ve failed rather spectacularly in the end.
Poor performance and disappointing result. We had more than enough chances to get something from that game - but we couldn't finish our chances. Poor showing all around, but that one felt like the attacking players in particular underperformed. Since Christmas, this feels like a squad that's thrown in the towel. McKenna hasn't hit on a formation or system which we can point to and see positive signs for the future. The players give off the impression that they know this season is a 'free hit' and they won't be judged badly. They got applauded off the pitch after that Leicester loss. Fair enough for supporters being positive, but I think it sends the wrong message. We have failed to beat Leicester and Southampton in four games this season - two of the worst Premier League sides in recent history, and add us for a third. That isn't good enough. The pressure will rightly be on McKenna and the players next season. If we start slowly or go on a prolonged poor run of form, the patience and understanding of the supporters will snap. It feels like many supporters are expecting us to 'walk the league' next season, which will only set them up for disappointment. Promotion from the Championship is a slog. Will the psychological impact affect the mood next season? Can McKenna and the coaching staff get everyone fired up for promotion again, with players knowing what they're going to be walking into? Given what McKenna has achieved and done for us over the last few years, I think it's way too soon to write him off as a Premier League manager. He's still a young manager and he'll likely to be the first to say he's still learning. We were always going to struggle this season with a squad primarily built in the third tier and initially designed to survive in the Championship.
Spot on Nuggets, it was always going to be a struggle this season even if we had a fully fit squad, but coupled to long term injuries, some dodgy signings, and some useless loans the writing was on the wall a long time ago. Because it's McKs first managerial post and his spectacular achievements for 2 seasons I believe he has some well earned credit in the bank, but that's not to say it won't run out if we get a poor start to next season.
We need to see that fluidity and balance in the team next season. The biggest disappointment for me this season is despite the major investment I feel in particular our attacking play has regressed this season. Too slow, hold onto the ball too much, too many players hog the ball, not enough diversity in those forward positions with the majority of them liking to run onto the ball from deep. I think the biggest concern for me next season would be if we continue to see that disjointed unbalanced approach continue.
