Think for me the disappointment was getting back into the match and looking like we might nick a point to conceding that daft third goal
Ballard was dreadful today but his partner at CB has had many a dreadful performance and people will argue til they’re blue in the face he shouldn’t be dropped. Mepham is arguably better than both of them at the minute (say that because Ballard is always improving) so we have options there now to challenge for a place. We’ve brought in Mepham and Samed who’ve performed well at a higher level than the players we’re currently fielding have and Isidor who’s played at a decent level albeit it questionably is Russian PL. Can’t sit on the bench forever
Fair to say we didn't turn up, too many players off the boil, such as Patto, Ballard and Cirkin. Not the end of the world so long as we can get things back on track but we will have bad days like today from time to time. Oddly unsurprising.
Careful not to overreact lads and lasses. It was a poor performance all round, from coaches to everyone. Win as a team, lose as a team. Yes Patto made a mistake, but in reality made less than anyone else in the side. Goalies need a tough mentality, he has one and the lads will get round him. He is still our number 1 and a top class keeper for our level. Ballard and Hume had tough days but they will have a vast majority of good days and have had. Again, they will bounce back. Calling for big changes to the side is folly in my opinion and elite coaches dont panic. These lads are suddenly incapable. If we start dropping playera after 1 game we will never ever have a consistency of style or performance. He picked our best 11 today imo, and they got a bit of a lesson by a side that put in a performance second half. We didnt match it. Lessons to learn, but lets not suddenly jump to Mepham, Browne, Isidor etc have to be starters. They are still new boys in the house. Isidor in particular wouldnt be at the top of my thinking right now. Calm heads needed, coaches are generally that these days. Analysis tomorrow, debrief Monday and back to the same plan tuesday for me.
I agree we are short in the striker position, I mentioned at the end of the window that we needed another 1 imo. However, not every defeat is because of not signing another striker or because of the age of the squad - sometimes it's just too many players have an off game. The championship will see more 'shock' results than pretty much every league in the world, it's so unpredictable and that's why I personally love it! Today is disappointing - made worst for me sitting next to a Plymouth fan n 2 newcastle fans when scouting the hibs game today - but it's only 1 game. I try to not get too high when we win or too low when we lose. We have a big game to bounce back with next weekend, and I know the stadium will be rocking - hope the boys bounce back Be interesting what team he selects next weekend, I suspect Mepham and Browne will start, need those type of players in a 'derby' match. On a side note I do think we've really missed Alese's pace the last 2 games (I know we were comfortable against portsmouth) as his pace allows us to push up higher
I would have liked changes earlier as well, let's see if lessons get learned - a win against boro will be huge
Just read RLB post match comments and he talks a lot of sense. He's fully aware we're not the finished article, we don't play well but still score 2 goals away from home and we all know we were never going to win every week. Next week's game is important but no more than the remaining 41 we have left. Hope he doesn't throw the baby out with the bath water. OaU.
3 awful goals to concede really but we allowed them to boss the second half really and that's the root cause. Horses for courses but their keeper gets a slight less of a finger tip on the Roberts chance and it's 2 zip and game over. Not great, adjustments needed and despite being light up top we can mix it up with Isidor and we've got significant depth in midfield really. When I look at Browne and the other midfielder from France i can see them being first 11 players, the statistics and reputation speak for themselves for both.
Plymouth didn't have to do much to score their goals - that's not me being salty, but it reminded me of last season where we showed a real soft underbelly at times. At 2-2 we should have thanked our lucky stars and been professional enough to see the game out. There was no press, the defender was allowed to shoot without any pressure, patterson should have pushed the ball wide and our defenders should have reacted. That's football. Move on to the next one...
Important we react well next Saturday and beat Middlesbrough. Wouldn't be racing to make changes, but maybe we need Browne in that midfield and fit the other kids around him.
Pretty tricky run of fixtures before the international break. Boro (H), Watford (A), Derby (H), Leeds (H).
We lost. We will lose again I will not over react ............ We have started well Are some our fans a bit fickle HTFL Bring on the boro
I'd say 7 points would be a good return from those 4 matches, 19 points after 10 games is right on promotion form
Expected the run to come to an end against Boro or Shrek's lot. If we beat Boro, I will be fully content. Sad but not surprising to see some knees being jerked in response to our first loss in five.
