What is going wrong

[rb92]

Got attitude written all over it, this. We've all seen it plenty of times before. Some of these lads know they're out the door if we were to go up.

If they think they’ll get a new deal by downing tools so we don’t go up then they’re going to get a shock. I’ll be absolutely furious if any of them get a new deal, except for Wyke and McGeady (is McGeady out of contract this summer?)

I’m absolutely disgusted with the lot of them, the sad thing is they probably don’t give a ****.

 

[John Wick]

Not only to go up, some of them will know that they’re away whatever league we’re in

complete overhaul needed in the summer. I think KLD will want, within reason, fringe Championship players.

 

[rooch 3]

complete overhaul needed in the summer. I think KLD will want, within reason, fringe Championship players.

When you are wanting to crack on and are stinking filthy rich why would you want fringe players, I hope he goes the whole hog and makes us league ones Man City.

 

[Brainman]

We only have one regular goalscorer.
Let’s hope Stewart beds in for the last few games.
The defence is now a shambles. Ridiculous that all our cb’s have had lengthy injuries.
Sanderson stepped up and held the back 3/4 together, but he’s gone. Wright doesn’t seem to be on the same level. I really hope Flan and Conor are back soon.
We don’t have anyone in midfield who can create. Someone like Maddison would have been great, but there are obvious problems having someone like him at the club.
LJ has been dealt a bad hand and has had to mix and match but hasn’t managed to find the formula.
We’ve been sacking managers for a decade and patching up the problems. So I would hang on to him and give hime a season. We lost to a worldy last night and could/should have scored three. I really hope things start to go our way.

 

[Teessidemackem]

I think our team are missing Sanderson physically and mentally.

 

[E.T. Fairfax]

Even nearing the end of our good run we were playing pretty averagely. We were getting the rub of the green then. We are not getting it now. We were picking up wins when we didnt outright deserve to. We are now picking up losses when we dont deserve to. We havnt been getting totally outplayed have we? I mean 2-0 up at home to Accrington, should have had more and been out of site by half time? 9 times out of 10 we would have won, no matter how badly we play in the 2nd half. A combination of injuries, season catching up to the rest of them, mediocrity on the pitch and bad luck is the culprit. Manager must take responsibility too, but the tools hes had to work with, gives him time till the middle of next season to try and work it out as far as I'm concerned. Dont like the guy mind.

 

[Zidane]

We weren't exactly terrifying teams even when things were going well. It was fine margins, one touch of quality in 90 minutes. When you are playing at 51/49 margin then it doesn't take much e.g. confidence loss, to tip it the other way.

But more recently

1) Wright has been horrendous since returning, a definate drop from Sanderson.
2) O9 has been found out a bit and is probably questioning himself more now.
(So centre of defence is not good at present)
3) Our one tactic of getting it onto Wykes head has been stopped to increasing degrees by the opposition.
5) Jones looks poor at present. Mcgeady had been wandering around doing nothing in the middle rather than left wing.
5) We have no other creative element to our game. Nothing, not a single other thing. We did previously have a spectacular goals tool in our toolbox to bail us out, but with Maguire shunned and Gooch not really producing magic that's pretty much gone.
6) The constant formation changes and team changes would be difficult for a top class footballer to handle never mind L1.

But really, there's only number 6 that the manager can do much about. I am as perplexed as anyone why he won't play 433 when looks great for us. However I think he will in the playoffs

So overall, a just above average one dimensional team has injuries and confidence hit and results suffer

 

[FellTop]

I too think it a mix of things. Missing Sanderson massively. I thought he and O'Nien were great as a partnership and really bounced off each other. It was a bit unorthodox defending at times but they got it done. Sanderson was also a good communicator and led by example, both attributes missing. Since he has gone out of the team O'Nien's confidence seems to have gone.

I think some players have lost form. Jones has gone from looking a star to struggling. Winchester I thought was doing a good job but has dropped off too. Power isnt able to do the full back role he seemed to have sorted previously (although Sandersons pace got him off the hook a lot). Scowen has dropped off a bit too in my opinion.

LJ seems to have lost his way with subs. There was a time when they would nearly always make a difference but they rarely do now. It is like he is trying to force the game rather than change the way we are playing.

Something LJ said last night after the match worried me. He said we really wanted a clean sheet. I hope he is not becoming cautious. I have been a fan of his because he has a history of playing attacking football at a high intensity. We have to get back to that as when we press in their half and get bodies in the box we are dangerous. It has to be high tempo and with width because we dont have players to play through the middle. So I worry LJ has lost a bit of belief in the way he wants to setup.

It can still be turned around of course. A win on Saturday, whilst performances would suggest is hard to predict, might just be the thing needed. If we do win the next 2 then we might have a bit of confidence going into the play offs. I havent lost faith yet, but it has been dented...

 

[sheepman]

We weren't exactly terrifying teams even when things were going well. It was fine margins, one touch of quality in 90 minutes. When you are playing at 51/49 margin then it doesn't take much e.g. confidence loss, to tip it the other way.

But more recently

1) Wright has been horrendous since returning, a definate drop from Sanderson.
2) O9 has been found out a bit and is probably questioning himself more now.
(So centre of defence is not good at present)
3) Our one tactic of getting it onto Wykes head has been stopped to increasing degrees by the opposition.
5) Jones looks poor at present. Mcgeady had been wandering around doing nothing in the middle rather than left wing.
5) We have no other creative element to our game. Nothing, not a single other thing. We did previously have a spectacular goals tool in our toolbox to bail us out, but with Maguire shunned and Gooch not really producing magic that's pretty much gone.
6) The constant formation changes and team changes would be difficult for a top class footballer to handle never mind L1.

But really, there's only number 6 that the manager can do much about. I am as perplexed as anyone why he won't play 433 when looks great for us. However I think he will in the playoffs

So overall, a just above average one dimensional team has injuries and confidence hit and results suffer

Absolute nail on the head mate
Really hope you're right and we go 433 in the playoffs. Three in midfield is a must with these players
LJ has tried every combination of a two (even a different one in each half last night) but non has worked.
If nothing else it will push McGeady back out wide and up the field. He's been a bit lost lately.

 

[Bank of England 2]

I too think it a mix of things. Missing Sanderson massively. I thought he and O'Nien were great as a partnership and really bounced off each other. It was a bit unorthodox defending at times but they got it done. Sanderson was also a good communicator and led by example, both attributes missing. Since he has gone out of the team O'Nien's confidence seems to have gone.

I think some players have lost form. Jones has gone from looking a star to struggling. Winchester I thought was doing a good job but has dropped off too. Power isnt able to do the full back role he seemed to have sorted previously (although Sandersons pace got him off the hook a lot). Scowen has dropped off a bit too in my opinion.

LJ seems to have lost his way with subs. There was a time when they would nearly always make a difference but they rarely do now. It is like he is trying to force the game rather than change the way we are playing.

Something LJ said last night after the match worried me. He said we really wanted a clean sheet. I hope he is not becoming cautious. I have been a fan of his because he has a history of playing attacking football at a high intensity. We have to get back to that as when we press in their half and get bodies in the box we are dangerous. It has to be high tempo and with width because we dont have players to play through the middle. So I worry LJ has lost a bit of belief in the way he wants to setup.

It can still be turned around of course. A win on Saturday, whilst performances would suggest is hard to predict, might just be the thing needed. If we do win the next 2 then we might have a bit of confidence going into the play offs. I havent lost faith yet, but it has been dented...

I hope he isn't going to be ultra-cautious in the search for a clean sheet too. That was Jack Ross' undoing. He had a reputation for playing attacking football, but became obsessed with keeping clean sheets, which we never did. As a result we became more and more negative.

 

[samwise_new]

We weren't exactly terrifying teams even when things were going well. It was fine margins, one touch of quality in 90 minutes. When you are playing at 51/49 margin then it doesn't take much e.g. confidence loss, to tip it the other way.

But more recently

1) Wright has been horrendous since returning, a definate drop from Sanderson.
2) O9 has been found out a bit and is probably questioning himself more now.
(So centre of defence is not good at present)
3) Our one tactic of getting it onto Wykes head has been stopped to increasing degrees by the opposition.
5) Jones looks poor at present. Mcgeady had been wandering around doing nothing in the middle rather than left wing.
5) We have no other creative element to our game. Nothing, not a single other thing. We did previously have a spectacular goals tool in our toolbox to bail us out, but with Maguire shunned and Gooch not really producing magic that's pretty much gone.
6) The constant formation changes and team changes would be difficult for a top class footballer to handle never mind L1.

But really, there's only number 6 that the manager can do much about. I am as perplexed as anyone why he won't play 433 when looks great for us. However I think he will in the playoffs

So overall, a just above average one dimensional team has injuries and confidence hit and results suffer

nothing there to argue with mate, spot on.

i would possibly add, what has happened to our high pressing game?

winning the ball high up the pitch suited us, we are no good when teams just constantly come at us and we sit back...the amount of times we had a good attacking position yet the ball ended up with the lads at the back to be hoofed upfield was doing my head in, while the defence may be needing games to settle that cannot alone be blamed for the sitting deep approach, the midfield should take care of that or are they all running onto the pitch feeling they have to try to protect the defence?

 

[Makemstine Roger]

i was just thinking it's only a few games now, until our best manager in recent times becomes available again, he kept injuries to a minimum with kryo, had an eye for a good bargain ,instills a winning attitude into players, and has been a winner most places he has been, wonder how people think about Big Sam,

 

[Zidane]

nothing there to argue with mate, spot on.

i would possibly add, what has happened to our high pressing game?

winning the ball high up the pitch suited us, we are no good when teams just constantly come at us and we sit back...the amount of times we had a good attacking position yet the ball ended up with the lads at the back to be hoofed upfield was doing my head in, while the defence may be needing games to settle that cannot alone be blamed for the sitting deep approach, the midfield should take care of that or are they all running onto the pitch feeling they have to try to protect the defence?

The high press seems to come and go and what happened to playing on the break? In about games 3, 4 and 5 since Johnsons arrival it looked like it was going to something new in our armoury. Then it disappeared completely. Then we did one on Saturday randomly.

 

[Zidane]

i was just thinking it's only a few games now, until our best manager in recent times becomes available again, he kept injuries to a minimum with kryo, had an eye for a good bargain ,instills a winning attitude into players, and has been a winner most places he has been, wonder how people think about Big Sam,

I think he suddenly looks very old. And he's not going to come to league 1

 

[Bank of England 2]

i was just thinking it's only a few games now, until our best manager in recent times becomes available again, he kept injuries to a minimum with kryo, had an eye for a good bargain ,instills a winning attitude into players, and has been a winner most places he has been, wonder how people think about Big Sam,

I would have him back in a heartbeat mate, but I don't think he'd come to a League One side and I don't think the owner will get rid of Johnson until he's had time to build his own side with 'his players'.

 

[FellTop]

i was just thinking it's only a few games now, until our best manager in recent times becomes available again, he kept injuries to a minimum with kryo, had an eye for a good bargain ,instills a winning attitude into players, and has been a winner most places he has been, wonder how people think about Big Sam,

That is a question and a half. He did a great job here and I would have loved to have seen what he would have done in a second season.

I wouldnt fancy him now though. I am not sure he has the appetite for a long term job. He seems happy to do his red adair thing. I also reckon he would want the whole behind the structure we have created dismantling. I wonder how much he really knowa currently about league 1 / championship. Also there is a lot of chat on the board about promoting youth players. I may be wrong but I am not sure he has a strong reputation for that? I seem to recall Everton not happy on that front. Just my opinion, and I rather like the memory of the everton game as my lasting memory.

 

[Disco down under]

What a baffling case of free-fall.

KLD has his work cut out for him this summer.

The way we are headed we could end up looking for a new ****ing manager which a month ago was completely unthinkable.

 

[Billy Batts]

Mentally weak squad with a manager who thinks he is too clever

Pretty much this.

 

[rooch 3]

I think he suddenly looks very old. And he's not going to come to league 1

So did LJ last night to be fair aged 10 years since he joined us poor lad.

 

[Oldsandy]

i was just thinking it's only a few games now, until our best manager in recent times becomes available again, he kept injuries to a minimum with kryo, had an eye for a good bargain ,instills a winning attitude into players, and has been a winner most places he has been, wonder how people think about Big Sam,

He’ll do for me. He was my choice when LJ got the job. Some on here are dead against him though.