Despite QPR's best efforts, Posh left to reflect on sad Championship return - Interview

QPR have done their best for Peterborough this season, but the long-awaited Championship return hasn't gone to plan for the Posh and @WeAreThePosh has the transfer window recruitment squarely in the cross hairs.

I guess it's always tough as a promoted side, but why has it not gone right for Posh?

Every Posh fan has a different idea as to why things have gone wrong this season, but the majority of them all centre around recruitment. When you look at our squad that came up last year, there was very minimal Championship experience, if any at all, and that wasn’t really added to in the summer.

Posh league results thus far…
Luton 3-0 Peterborough Adebayo 30, Cornick 68, Onyedinma 71
Peterborough 2-1 Derby Dembele 90, Burrows 90 — Stretton 77
Peterborough 2-2 Cardiff Burrows 49, Dembele 51 — Flint 83, 90
Preston 1-0 Peterborough Bauer 14
Peterborough 0-1 West Brom Ajayi 90
Sheff Utd 6-2 Peterborough Ndiaye 14, 70, Fleck 51, Osborn 53, 90, Gibbs-White 68 — Marriott 14, Clarke-Harris pen 79
Reading 3-1 Peterborough Swift 64, Dele-Bashiru 67, 88 — Thompson 74
Peterborough 3-0 Birmingham Dean og 1, Clarke-Harris pen 35, Grant 50
Coventry 3-0 Peterborough Hamer 57, Gyokeres 61, 64
Peterborough 0-0 Bournemouth
Peterborough 2-3 Bristol City Szmodics 22, 43 — Thompson og 34, Tanner 40, Martin 84
Boro 2-0 Peterborough McNair pen 85, Coburn 90
Hull 1-2 Peterborough Magennis 45 — Taylor 43, Dembele 72
Peterborough 2-1 QPR Burrows 56, Dembele 90 — Chair 50
Swansea 3-0 Peterborough Bidwell 3, Piroe 13, Ntcham 45
Peterborough 1-1 Huddersfield Clarke-Harris 84 — Ward 74
Peterborough 0-1 Fulham Mitrovic 74
Stoke 2-0 Peterborough Vrancic 3, Campbell 90
Blackburn 4-0 Peterborough Pickering 16, Brereton-Diaz 35, 60, Lenihan 45
Peterborough 0-0 Barnsley
Forest 2-0 Peterborough Garner 72, Yates 84
Peterborough 2-1 Millwall McNamara og 64, Clarke-Harris 67 — Bradshaw 16
Blackpool 3-1 Peterborough Anderson 27, Carey 86, Yates 90 — Dembele 11
Peterborough 1-4 Coventry Grant 37 — Hamer 15, Godden 35, 90, Thompson og 81
West Brom 3-0 Peterborough Kipre 78, Grant 85, Diangana 89
Birmingham 2-2 Peterborough Gardner 85, Hogan 88 — Marriott 16, Clarke-Harris 67
Peterborough 0-2 Sheff Utd Sharp 54, Morton og 81
Cardiff 4-0 Peterborough Ralls 4, Flint 39, Hugill 57, Ikpeazu 85
Peterborough 0-1 Preston Archer 80
Peterborough 0-0 Reading
Derby 1-0 Peterborough Sibley 90
Fulham 2-1 Peterborough Mitrovic pen 28, 62 — Marriott 89
Peterborough 0-3 Hull Smith 25, Lewis-Potter 51, 70
Huddersfield 3-0 Peterborough Sinani 3, Lees 7, 72
Bournemouth 1-1 Peterborough Christie 52 — Marriott 30
Peterborough 2-2 Stoke Clarke-Harris 33, pen 90 — Brown 28, Baker pen 84
Peterborough 2-3 Swansea Szmodics 51, Marriott 63 — Obafemi 44, 71, Piroe 90

Darren Ferguson, time to go?

Unfortunately, I think it was probably time for Fergie to go. I was quite vocal on Twitter about wanting a change, but it was still sad to see him go. All of the success I’ve seen as a Posh fan is down to that man. I Just think the Championship is a step too far for him.

Grant McCann, right man for the job?

It’s hard to tell. He couldn’t get Posh out of League One when he was with us before, but he’s grown a lot as a manager. He took Doncaster to the play-offs and helped Hull win League One last year. I thought he was doing a decent job at Hull this year too. Time will tell whether he’s the right man for the job, but he is highly thought of at Posh so I’m glad to see him back at the club.

Results haven't improved much, what has he tried to change?

There has been a clear shift in the effort the players are putting in. They seem to be working a lot harder, which is something we’ve been crying out for all season. Players’ heads aren’t dropping as much anymore when we go behind. At times under Fergie we would just crumble, but the players have stood up a bit since McCann has come in. In terms of tactics, we’ve got quite a restricted squad, so there’s not much you can really change there. Long balls have seemed the order of the day recently, but McCann himself has said he likes to play attacking football so we’ll see what he can do when given a bit more time.

What January business did you do? What did you need to do?

January was make or break for Posh, and as you can see from the Championship table, it broke us. It was always going to be a crucial month but I was not happy with the business that the club did. Jeando Fuchs is an exception to that, and he has looked an incredible addition. Luckily, he’s the only one that’s in permanently. We signed five loan players: Bali Mumba (Norwich), Hayden Coulson (Middlesbrough), Reece Brown (Huddersfield), Steven Benda (Swansea) and Callum Morton (West Brom). Bali Mumba has rarely featured because of Joe Ward’s form. Hayden Coulson has not been good enough and the same can be said of Callum Morton. Reece Brown was a strange one because Posh declined the opportunity to buy him in the summer. It seemed like a bit of a panic buy but he has been decent when he’s played. Steven Benda has been quality for Posh in goal and I’d love to be able to get him on a free at the end of the season, although I think he may opt to sign elsewhere.

Summer Ins: >>> Oliver Norburn, 28, CM, Shrewsbury, £350k >>> Joel Randall, 21, MF, Exeter, Undisclosed >>> Kwarme Poku, 19, AM, Colchester, Undisclosed >>> Jorge Grant, 26, MF, Lincoln, Undisclosed >>> Josh Knight, 23, CB, Leicester, Undisclosed >>> Emmanuel Fernandez, 19, CB, Ramsgate, Undisclosed >>> Joe Tomlinson, 21, LB, Eastleigh, Undisclosed >>> David Cornell, 30, GK, Ipswich, Free >>> Jack Marriott, 26, CF, Derby, Free >>> Kobe Jae Chong, 20, CM, Sutton, Free >>> Conor Coventry, 21, DM, West Ham, Loan

Winter Outs: >>> Siriki Dembele, 25, AM, Bournemouth, £2.3m >>> Daniel Gyollai, 24, GK, Maidenhead, Free >>> Christy Pym, 26, GK, Stevenage, Loan >>> Idris Kanu, 22, CF, Northampton, Loan >>> Joe Tomlinson, 21, LB, Swindon, Loan

Player of the season candidates?

It’s tough to think of player of the season candidates because it’s been such a dreadful season. Nathan Thompson has probably been the standout for me but unfortunately he’s out for the season so I think we’ve seen the last of him in a Posh shirt. Ronnie Edwards has been our breakthrough player this season and I’m sure the owners will get the money they want for him. Ollie Norburn, who we signed in the summer, has been phenomenal in midfield, but he wanted to leave in January so that’ll be a big loss.

Key weaknesses in the team?

If you catch our defence on a good day it’s a tough test, as QPR found out twice this season. Unfortunately, their good days have been rare this season. We’ve struggled down our left hand side all year, and we can’t deal with a ball into the box, which always leaves us vulnerable to set pieces.

Any chance of survival? Hopeful of bouncing straight back if not?

It’s unlikely, but there’s always a chance if we can get a couple of wins from somewhere. We haven’t won in the league since December 11, and our only win in 2022 came against QPR in the FA Cup, so I’m not holding out too much hope. We’ve been in this position before so we know that getting back out of League One is tough. Ultimately it will boil down to the recruitment in the summer. Our current team would do well in League One so with the right additions, there’s every chance we could be up at the top next year.

Links >>> Posh Official Website >>> Peterborough Telegraph — Local Press >>> London Road — Forum >>> Football Ground Guide

The Twitter @loftforwords @WeAreThePosh

Pictures — Action Images

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