Most of the play, dominaing but still needing that 1st goal. Same old, not creating enough chances. Should get 3pts and go on a run. COYBs
We're averaging 14 shots a game, and yet again no goals. Time to ditch the 3 at the back and go 442. And time for Freddie to start, cant do any worse than the other donkeys
Time for Lambexit and Evexit. With games in hand effectively 9th in the table and dropping like a stone.
This season is more depressing than last... So painful being a town fan atm. I'm still confident we'll get in the play offs, but the teams above us all look so much better equipped than us. Top six will stay as is, with us replacing wycombe.
It’s the hope that kills you. Every season, I hope for an enjoyable season. Attacking football, win some games. If we finished outside the play offs this season but were scoring loads of goals, I would be fine with that. However, we’re not scoring any goals, the stadium looks more run down almost by the week and yet we still get close to 20000 for every home game
On what basis? If you look at a form table that removes our earliest results - even just the last twelve - we’d be in a relegation fight. Last 15-20 matches sees us in 18th.
A poor result, considering the need to make up some ground. Since the win over Fleetwood back in October, our record in League One goes played 20 - won 5, drawn 7, lost 8, scored 20 goals, conceded 25, which adds up to 22 points. As Stuart Watson points out in the local paper, only Bolton, Tranmere, Southend (the bottom three), and MK Dons have claimed fewer points over the same number of games. And only Southend and Tranmere have won fewer matches. That's terrible form. As critical as we've been of the squad, we surely shouldn't be that bad. The wider issue around a lack of creativity within the team has been a regular criticism on this forum, and rightly so. Without Garbutt and KVY to break forward from wing back positions, we looked too pedestrian. Despite sticking with a 3-5-2 system, arguably we needed more creative players in the starting eleven than Wilson, Wolfenden, Chambers, Skuse, and Earls all starting. We had six or seven defensive players starting last night, it's almost like we came there for the point! I'm aware our creative players have been criticised throughout the season, but with hindsight, the likes of Judge, Nolan, Dozzell, or even Dobra would have certainly provided a bit more spark in the team. Most of our good opportunities last night came via set pieces, but without Garbutt or Judge to take them, we failed to fashion decent goalscoring opportunities. Norwood is out of confidence. Jackson, despite being full of running and effort, is not composed enough to be a consistent goalscorer. This team just isn't coached properly. We don't have incisive attacking patterns of play and we look so predictable to defend against. Something has got to change.
Not based on any particular reason. This is a poor league, of poor teams (with us being one of them), and i just have this feeling that we'll more than we'll lose over the next 12 games or so. As i said, i think we'll make the play offs, but, winning them is another matter. If we do end up there, and we have to play either Rotherham or Posh, then we'll definitely lose. Against anyone else, we may win on a good day. On Saturday, Burton will try and play good football, and go for the win...which, as they are not as good as the teams above us, might be beneficial to us. We can't handle good teams attacking us, and we can't penetrate stubborn teams that sit back and defend. So, for us, mid table teams are probably our best shot at winning games (Burton, Donny, Blackpool etc)
I would say it goes deeper than that and these details are distracting from the bigger picture. We were terrible last season under Lambert apart from one purple patch and the same this season at a much lower standard. He has been given no financial backing whatsoever and a five year contract which shows a lack of judgment from the owner (no surprise there). Meanwhile we were apparently wasting time enquiring about Connor Wickham and surprised that we couldn’t afford him. Next season we will be fighting not to drop into the fourth tier. It’s time for heads to roll.
Oh the club's malaise is undoubtedly wider than that, I was purely focusing on the on-pitch issues and how these could be mitigated with the players that we have. Playing that many defensive players, in a formation that isn't a good fit with our wing-backs injured, is a self-inflicted error in my opinion. We had the team to win that game last night. Regarding the bigger picture, as bad as Roy Keane, Paul Jewell, Paul Hurst, and Paul Lambert have been at Portman Road (and they've all struggled to varying degrees), they joined the club off the back of a fairly strong managerial careers. most with promotions on their CVs. Marcus Evans is the common denominator in our decline over his 14 odd year ownership. The structure of the club and the lack of good support functions (poor physio team, no sports science until recently, no joined up thinking etc) has not helped Evans' appointments.
