Dykes simply shouldn't play. His link up play was non-existent. All he did was delay the pass or fall over.....again and again and again. Why he's played in that slightly withdrawn position is a complete mystery. Marti presumably has his reasons, but Dykes is about as good in that role as Dunne would be.
He’s not available for work enough to be a scapegoat. He’s just an average player whose legs have gone the rare weeks he’s not injured or suspended.
It was me who said he turned his back, Col. I stand by that, but I agree that he played well otherwise. Unfortunately, he missed a very good chance at 0-1 and then missed what should have been a comfortable block. Have another look where his instep was!
Too much picking out the negatives on here and that most likely feeds onto the pitch and the players heads. We were actually very good today but went behind to an absolute screamer. Not too much could have been done to prevent that. We then got hit on the counter literally seconds after we should have scored at the other end. How Dunnes shot failed to go in almost beggars belief. Still on a positive note, we did put in a pretty good finish when in the past two down would have finished four down. Dykes gets stick on here because he doesnt score and people perceive him to be a goalscorer, he really isnt. He is a target man and does that role very well, big plus for him when he has Armstrong as a foil. Everyone can see we need a goalscorer but I am certain that a poll on here would get many different answers as to who the goalscorer would replace. Oh to have a Nahki feeding off Dykes.
Interesting that Marti said in his post match interview on Sky about needing to do something in January to strengthen and that the board know all about it
It was Dykes's link up play that led to the goal he scored wasn't it? You're every bit as one-eyed re Dykes as you accuse other people of being re Colback.
I totally agree with you. The boys are actually playing well as a team and we're creating chances which is all el Cif can ask. If we could only finish, we wouldn't be in this mess. My biggest fear is either that losing becomes a habit we can't shake off or the boys start losing belief in getting out of this mess. Both are purely mental issues and i think it's critical that the club not only concentrates on getting things right on the pitch but also that they spend time restoring self-belief in the players.
When Watford missed a great chance to make it 0-3, I said to my missus 'They're gonna regret not finishing the game there cos we're now going to get one back and end up winning this 3-2 and our season will turn around. But we have to score right now'. We duly did score right then. I looked at her and screamed 'It's on! This is happening!!' Only of course, it didn't happen. After all these years supporting the R's I really should know better. They just dangle enough hope to suck you in, to make defeat even more painful to take.
There were two others who could have made a better attempt to block it too though. It wasn't a "comfortable block" at all. None of them were sharp enough to get there. Look, I agree that Colback has been poor for us and that his best days are a long way behind him. I just don't accept that he was as terrible as some on here are suggesting today. Armstrong should get pelters for not scoring at least 2, probably 3. Clarke-Salter was dreadful, as were Cannon and Paal. Why is Colback called out? Because he's been poor in the past. Doesn't make sense.
Funny how differently people see matches. I thought overall we were undone by two pieces of quality and let down by two or three situations where we lacked quality in our finishing. Watford looked bang average. Plenty of games to go.
Taken from the Guardians match report- 'News last week from a club that have oscillated between crisis and farce for most of the 21st century was the appointment of 26-year-old data expert Christian Nourry as chief executive. Described as “extremely competent” by Lee Hoos, the predecessor who remains as chairman, Nourry arrives from the company behind the recruitment of the director of performance, Ben Williams, and the head coach, Martí Cifuentes. “He has a lot of experience,” Cifuentes said afterwards of his new boss, 15 years his junior. “Age for me is not relevant.” That Cifuentes’s team, second from bottom, have picked up one point from the past six matches suggests the underlying numbers must be the focus of the suits’ stats‑based approach. Watford were on the end of 16 shots to nine but from 22 QPR league goals all season, their top scorer is Lyndon Dykes on four. Kenneth Paal, a left-back, is joint‑second on three.'
Its easy to look quality when the opposition give you all the time in the world. The respect we gave Livermore all game was embarrassing. Someone needed to close him down.
Only saw the first half and thought we were ok in that, certainly better than against Cardiff, which was shocking. I can’t really judge how individuals do from the telly, you don’t see the whole picture, movement off the ball etc. This squad of players are serial losers though, they can never be relied upon not to lose 5 or more on the trot, even after a few decent performances. We have drifted into the competitive set which stinks up the bottom of the championship and the top of league one season after season - Birmingham, Huddersfield, Rotherham, Barnsley, Derby, Peterborough, Blackpool, Wednesday. Of course, should we drop there’s no guarantee we stick in this group, could easily go the way of Reading or Wigan.
I actually think Dykes worked really hard yet again and is pretty effective as an old fashioned target man. He also did well when helping defend corners. But with chance after chance zinging across the Watford goal where even a half decent striker would have helped himself to tap ins it's 100% clear that he's not a goal scorer. Armstrong also showed us again what he's good at with the pace required to latch onto any half decent long ball but his touch and control are awful and his composure in front of goal non existent. Either would complement a proper striker in this division at least, but as a pairing it was a comedy show of how not to do it. Unless we can find a goal scorer from somewhere we are down. BTW I can't believe that golden boy Sam Field yet again seems to escape any criticism on here. Cart horse slow, booked after five minutes because of that, and totally unable to provide an outlet to those trying to play out from the back against a press. And it wasn't surprising that both Watford goals came as a result of not closing down quickly enough on the edge of the area where your holding midfielder needs to be. I don't care what his touch count and pass completion stats look like, he is ineffective where it matters.
I would rather have Colback instead of Dozy, even when Colback was underperforming. I thought that both CS and Dunne were okay, Paal was still okay, although not as good as usual. Cannon was probably our worst player. I know this is a silly thing to say, but, if we play as well against Millwall and Hudds, we should get six points!
I was at the game and thought we played reasonably well and deserved at least a point. But it's the age-old problem that most of us can see: we're not taking our chances. For example, the Colback effort was poor and, one-on-one, Armstrong should score, like our opposition always seem to do in the same circumstances. We seem to do just enough to be gallant losers and I'm sure this gets inside the players' heads. Losing can be habit-forming. Livermore's first goal, in particular, was high quality but you do wonder, in situations like that, why we didn't close him down more quickly. I think Marti is playing Dykes as well as Armstrong in order to get two half-good strikers on the pitch (two halves make a whole) and, unlike some contributors, I thought Dykes did OK in his deeper role and got forward well when needed. Colback is both irritating and worrying because he looks like a red card waiting to happen and I think that's why many of us would prefer him to warm the bench. I don't know how we can break out of this losing rut with this set of players and I can see League One looming. I sincerely hope we can keep Marti because he wants to play football the right way and he will give us an edge against some of the old guard managers who populate the lower leagues.
Recorded the game and just watched it back, **** me we were unlucky today. Barring a miracle we are going down but if we can at least go down fighting like we did today it'll be easier to take. Really wish Armstrong had managed the goal he deserved today, he was rampaging all over the shop, more of that please sinclair. Haven't read the thread yet so don't know the general consensus but Colback was his usual 'can't really be arsed, guaranteed booking, offer nothing' self, Cannon was a bit all over the shop, Dunne and JCS were decent but Willock and even Chair were a bit anonymous. Smyth had a cracking cameo and if we had a proper striker they would surely have got on the end of one of his 3 or 4 great crosses. I know we've all scoffed at it but a Chris Martin would've been there. I do not understand why we don't have players, Dykes especially, busting a git to get in the box. Anyway so unlucky, deserved at least a draw if not the win but once again an opportunity to make up ground lost, I won't say squandered as we were better than that.
