Well were do I start on that absolute shower? Today we had a chance to make up some ground on the top 6 with so many of them having lost of the weekend but we well and truly bottled it. This wasn't an unlucky defeat but neither were Brentford anything special. We were simply so bad that they couldn't not win. This is a humiliating defeat and I feel sorry for anybody who paid £30+ to watch that embarrassment.
Right from the start it was clear something was wrong. Brentford played high pressure and our players couldn't cope one bit. They dominated the game early on because we kept gifting them chances and that was very much what happened for their first goal. Somehow we scraped an equalizer against the run of the play when the ball fell very kindly for Redmond but that didn't wake up at all. In the end we gave away ANOTHER penalty and predictably lost the game. Grabban had a golden chance to smash and grab a point late on (but it's Grabban and he's a donkey) but other than that we didn't even create any chances. Honestly, I would say that was the worst performance of the season (yes, even worse than Wolves, Boro and Preston!).
What on Earth was the manager thinking with the line-up today? Too many players out of position! Lafferty is a striker not a winger and Hooper playing as an attacking midfielder? So essentially we were playing 3 forwards, Redmond and then 2 rather uncreative midfielders. Shock horror, we created absolutely ****ing nothing!
But the thing that stank most about the game for me was Whittaker? What on Earth is he doing in a midfield role? Yes it is unlucky that a combination of injury and the FA's utter ineptitude mean we have FOUR of our central mid fielders out (assuming that's why there was no O'Neil) but even so Whittaker should be nowhere near being picked there. I've always maintained he is a liability but just look at it logically; his weaknesses are his sloppy passing and lack of composure on the ball whilst he also has a tendency to get caught out of position, give away fouls and make defensive errors. In other worse he is completely unsuited to this role! So of course, he gets mugged off in midfield and Brentford can break and score.
You don't need to be a UEFA qualified coach to realise today was never going to work! I fear with that result we can say goodbye to automatic promotion. You cannot lose to a team like Brentford at home if you are serious about going up.
Right from the start it was clear something was wrong. Brentford played high pressure and our players couldn't cope one bit. They dominated the game early on because we kept gifting them chances and that was very much what happened for their first goal. Somehow we scraped an equalizer against the run of the play when the ball fell very kindly for Redmond but that didn't wake up at all. In the end we gave away ANOTHER penalty and predictably lost the game. Grabban had a golden chance to smash and grab a point late on (but it's Grabban and he's a donkey) but other than that we didn't even create any chances. Honestly, I would say that was the worst performance of the season (yes, even worse than Wolves, Boro and Preston!).
What on Earth was the manager thinking with the line-up today? Too many players out of position! Lafferty is a striker not a winger and Hooper playing as an attacking midfielder? So essentially we were playing 3 forwards, Redmond and then 2 rather uncreative midfielders. Shock horror, we created absolutely ****ing nothing!
But the thing that stank most about the game for me was Whittaker? What on Earth is he doing in a midfield role? Yes it is unlucky that a combination of injury and the FA's utter ineptitude mean we have FOUR of our central mid fielders out (assuming that's why there was no O'Neil) but even so Whittaker should be nowhere near being picked there. I've always maintained he is a liability but just look at it logically; his weaknesses are his sloppy passing and lack of composure on the ball whilst he also has a tendency to get caught out of position, give away fouls and make defensive errors. In other worse he is completely unsuited to this role! So of course, he gets mugged off in midfield and Brentford can break and score.
You don't need to be a UEFA qualified coach to realise today was never going to work! I fear with that result we can say goodbye to automatic promotion. You cannot lose to a team like Brentford at home if you are serious about going up.
