| How do we get back on track? 21:05 - Feb 12 with 8311 views | Greenbay |
It's taken several hours to sort of recover from such a disappointing defeat at Barnsley.
On the match thread (FT REPORT page 12 @1711) nothing has changed - and what everybody else largely mentioned during a tough afternoon.
It was a terrible performance - not that we didn't try - we did - but our skill levels were awful.
The first thing is - to get back on the winning road - we have to be truthful.
And to Warbs credit - he doesn't hide - his post-match interview was spot on.
No cover-up - he said what it is - we were not good enough.
What Warbs, Hoos and Ferdinand have done AND the Board members - over nearly 3 years - is given us hope. Too much hope.
We have over-achieved - by a long way.
It's remarkable that the club has cut costs - millions of pounds - and improved our position every year. That's in addition for the directors keeping the club alive by pumping in - is it one and a half million a month?
When Warbs took over as manager we had just avoided relegation. We finished 19th.
The next year we were 13th and last year 9th.
Now we're in a promotion play-off spot of fourth.
Last August if anyone had said that on February 12 2022 we would be in 4th spot and five points clear of the 7th placed club - I'm sure most of us would have been happy with that.
Clever buying, smart loans-in - have played their part - and all with such a small budget.
We are really a small club - but credit to everyone at HQ.
We are punching well above our weight.
Who would want to follow a big Premiership club - with all their millions - instead of our highs and lows at QPR. It's so much more fun - and painful at times too.
So why do we have these amazing runs and then fall flat on our face against lower clubs - like Peterborough and Barnsley?
Our strength is our togetherness with some exceptional talent in Willock and Chair along with some good quality all around the park.
Our weakness IMO is our attack. Can you imagine how well we would be doing with say a Mitrovic. I know - it's impossible to acquire someone like that - but just a thought.
What we lack is pace.
No pace up front. The only pace we have is from our wonderful Uncle Albert.
Remarkable with his poise, balance and speed - at this Championship level and at the age of 34.
What pace do we have in midfield - Chair and Willock of course - and also Thomas - but it seems at the moment - his skill levels are below those outstanding two.
Defence has much improved but we are not the fastest of hares out of the traps.
But now for the next 16 matches we've got the squad that hopefully will take us to the Promised Land - and the money that will benefit us in the long run - regardless whether we become as most likely - a yoyo team - like Norwich.
The major thing we do have is the togetherness of our squad.
And this has been created by Warbs - respect for one another and work hard for one another.
What perhaps worries me is that the loan acquisitions in the transfer window of Sanderson and Hendrick might have upset the apple cart.
Warbs says we have to have competition for places. But before these two very good players arrived we were doing ok. It takes time for players to adapt to a new club and new surroundings.
So in this special situation where our pre-transfer window players had done really well and for the whole season - I question whether to acquire these loan players has been beneficial.
But I do understand the reasons why - quality players - ready in case of injuries and suspensions.
The only way though that we will achieve promotion - and that's a massive IF - is to recapture that togetherness and energy - and then deliver on the field - as if our lives depended on it.
We have to be over-achieving for the rest of the season.
We have to be better than the sum of our parts.
It didn't happen against Peterborough, Middlesbrough or Barnsley.
Hope we recapture that energy and resume our winning ways at Milwall on Tuesday.
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| How do we get back on track? on 21:23 - Feb 12 with 6025 views | newgolddream |
Absolute spot on Greenbay. Anyone know what odds Barnsley were today? |  | | |
| How do we get back on track? on 21:32 - Feb 12 with 5973 views | Toast_R |
| How do we get back on track? on 21:23 - Feb 12 by newgolddream |
Absolute spot on Greenbay. Anyone know what odds Barnsley were today? |
10/5 most places.
I went in for a crazy acca with Barnsley, So'ton to beat Man united and Fulham to win. Almost |  | | |
| How do we get back on track? on 21:42 - Feb 12 with 5909 views | BlackCrowe |
You're right, we lack pace. It was the stark difference between us and Boro midweek. |  |
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| How do we get back on track? on 21:52 - Feb 12 with 5849 views | StreathamRanger |
| How do we get back on track? on 21:42 - Feb 12 by BlackCrowe |
You're right, we lack pace. It was the stark difference between us and Boro midweek. |
I agree about lack of pace. Love Wallace but maybe McCallum coming back might give us a bit of much needed pace. A pacey striker would be a good addition in the summer and probably at least one more quick full back. I'm still unconvinced by Odubajo. Some more minutes for Amos would be good as he seems to cover the ground pretty quickly. | | | |
| How do we get back on track? on 21:56 - Feb 12 with 5822 views | CliveWilsonSaid |
Do we need to be more vocal? That was noticeably better end of last season and earlier this but we seem to have gone quiet again. |  |
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| How do we get back on track? on 22:00 - Feb 12 with 5788 views | PlanetHonneywood |
| How do we get back on track? on 21:32 - Feb 12 by Toast_R |
10/5 most places.
I went in for a crazy acca with Barnsley, So'ton to beat Man united and Fulham to win. Almost |
Forgive my naivety but is that not 2-1? |  |
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| How do we get back on track? on 22:02 - Feb 12 with 5788 views | BerkoRanger |
Great post, Greenbay. Thankyou.
I believe the club was hoping / planning for a similar sale to Eze in the January window so they could have reinvested the money in 4 or 5 players (including pace upfront) but it didn't happen.
Now there are stronger teams eg Bournemouth in a theoretically better position that us. | | | |
| How do we get back on track? on 22:17 - Feb 12 with 5731 views | T_Block |
All fair points,Truth is we need to solve these issues before we achieve promotion.Go up with those issues and we have to accept the hammerings ,go down take the money while we keep buying young and or cheaply..
Tricky choices. | | | |
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| How do we get back on track? on 22:58 - Feb 12 with 5601 views | superhoopdownunder |
We’ve lost our way since Reading.
What’s changed?
We’ve dropped Luke Amos.
Chris Willock has been injured.
Chair and Dieng have returned.
We’ve loaned Hendrick and Sanderson.
Hendrick has been playing although he only had 70 minutes play all season before joining us.
Has this impacted our harmony in the dressing room?
People at the club have been speaking about promotion.
I’d suggest not talking about promotion.
Making sure everything is good amongst the playing group.
I’d bring back Amos and Willock (if fit for Millwall)
Play one up front probably Dykes
Drop Moses bring back Albert
Drop one of the defenders and play Sanderson.
We’ve lost our way in the past week and need to bounce back and fast as otherwise we won’t stay in the top 6. We have quite a few difficult games to go - Barnsley was not meant to be one of them. | | | |
| How do we get back on track? on 23:08 - Feb 12 with 5557 views | CliveWilsonSaid |
| How do we get back on track? on 22:58 - Feb 12 by superhoopdownunder |
We’ve lost our way since Reading.
What’s changed?
We’ve dropped Luke Amos.
Chris Willock has been injured.
Chair and Dieng have returned.
We’ve loaned Hendrick and Sanderson.
Hendrick has been playing although he only had 70 minutes play all season before joining us.
Has this impacted our harmony in the dressing room?
People at the club have been speaking about promotion.
I’d suggest not talking about promotion.
Making sure everything is good amongst the playing group.
I’d bring back Amos and Willock (if fit for Millwall)
Play one up front probably Dykes
Drop Moses bring back Albert
Drop one of the defenders and play Sanderson.
We’ve lost our way in the past week and need to bounce back and fast as otherwise we won’t stay in the top 6. We have quite a few difficult games to go - Barnsley was not meant to be one of them. |
"We’ve lost our way since Reading"
Come on. Let's not lose a grip on reality. Reading were terrible against us. They haven't picked up any points since Jan 3rd and also been knocked out of the cup against Kiddeminster.
Not having a go, I loved it at the time too but if Amos was as great as people were making out he'd be playing. | |
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| How do we get back on track? on 23:32 - Feb 12 with 5492 views | superhoopdownunder |
| How do we get back on track? on 23:08 - Feb 12 by CliveWilsonSaid |
"We’ve lost our way since Reading"
Come on. Let's not lose a grip on reality. Reading were terrible against us. They haven't picked up any points since Jan 3rd and also been knocked out of the cup against Kiddeminster.
Not having a go, I loved it at the time too but if Amos was as great as people were making out he'd be playing. |
I agree Reading are rubbish.
However so are Peterborough and Barnsley but we managed to lose to them.
In my opinion Luke Amos should have not been dropped.
We look like a mediocre side without Chris Willock. [Post edited 12 Feb 2022 23:34]
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| How do we get back on track? on 07:05 - Feb 13 with 5304 views | NorthantsHoop |
Our run of good form has come to an end, it is all about the bounce back. I expect us to do a lot better at Millwall, under Warburton we are unbeaten there in the last 2 seasons.
Keep the faith, in my mind it is all about maximising the home form in the run in and picking up a couple of victories away, which we are capable of doing. |  | | |
| How do we get back on track? on 08:13 - Feb 13 with 5176 views | Logman |
I agree with the OP. I also don't think Luke Amos will make much difference.
To be honest our hopes of a top six finish rely on Chair, Willock and Dykes being fit. If ever we lose any of those three then any points are a bonus. | | | |
| How do we get back on track? on 09:06 - Feb 13 with 5050 views | kernowhoop |
We should keep a sense of perspective.As fans, our highs are too high and the lows go too low. This is a low-budget, second-tier football team which, with shrewd management, has broken free of a period of mediocrity and shows great promise. The machine (the team) is composed of a mix of parts - some old and well-worn, some refurbished and others newer but un-tested. We take it for granted when the machine runs well and forget how much of a challenge that is.
I reckon it will run well again when Chris,William returns! | | | |
| How do we get back on track? on 09:09 - Feb 13 with 5038 views | kernowhoop |
| How do we get back on track? on 09:06 - Feb 13 by kernowhoop |
We should keep a sense of perspective.As fans, our highs are too high and the lows go too low. This is a low-budget, second-tier football team which, with shrewd management, has broken free of a period of mediocrity and shows great promise. The machine (the team) is composed of a mix of parts - some old and well-worn, some refurbished and others newer but un-tested. We take it for granted when the machine runs well and forget how much of a challenge that is.
I reckon it will run well again when Chris,William returns! |
Predictive text... WILLOCK! | | | |
| How do we get back on track? on 09:25 - Feb 13 with 4994 views | Rangersw12 |
Pretty simple really
Play 1 up top and actually move the ball quickly going forwards rather than back all the time.
My team for Millwall
Seny
Albert
Wallace
Dickie
Dunne
Barbet
Field
Amos
Chair
Willock (Johansen or Thomas if not fit)
Dykes | | | |
| How do we get back on track? on 09:32 - Feb 13 with 4962 views | StreathamRanger |
| How do we get back on track? on 09:25 - Feb 13 by Rangersw12 |
Pretty simple really
Play 1 up top and actually move the ball quickly going forwards rather than back all the time.
My team for Millwall
Seny
Albert
Wallace
Dickie
Dunne
Barbet
Field
Amos
Chair
Willock (Johansen or Thomas if not fit)
Dykes |
I'd go with this team. Field and Amos deserve a go together in the middle. Johansen not been at his best | | | |
| How do we get back on track? on 09:33 - Feb 13 with 4957 views | PunteR |
We need to sack the manager, drop Austin, go 442, and toe punt Jude the cat out of the stadium.
I blame Tony Fernandes. |  |
| Occasional providers of half decent House music. |
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| How do we get back on track? on 10:59 - Feb 13 with 4836 views | Hunterhoop |
It may be pure coincidence but without Chair we won 5 and drew 1 from the 6 he missed. Since he’s returned we have 2 losses and a draw from 3 games, with the 2 loses coming to bottom 3 sides with no goals scored in those 2 games.
Now, Chair is clearly a very good player, but I do think he slows us down at times playing to “look after the ball” rather than create a chance. And I still maintain he doesn’t like/rate Lyndon as he refuses to cross it early to him. |  | | |
| How do we get back on track? on 11:11 - Feb 13 with 4800 views | ParkRoyalR |
| How do we get back on track? on 10:59 - Feb 13 by Hunterhoop |
It may be pure coincidence but without Chair we won 5 and drew 1 from the 6 he missed. Since he’s returned we have 2 losses and a draw from 3 games, with the 2 loses coming to bottom 3 sides with no goals scored in those 2 games.
Now, Chair is clearly a very good player, but I do think he slows us down at times playing to “look after the ball” rather than create a chance. And I still maintain he doesn’t like/rate Lyndon as he refuses to cross it early to him. |
In all his time with us, Chair very very rarely crosses (and passes) early / first time to anyone, due to ingrained habit of playing with his head-down when controlling the ball - unlike Willock (or Eze) who controls the ball without barely a glance and plays with his head up.
Common denominator in those losses likely to be absences of Willock rather than return of Chair, and we were very fortunate to win at Coventry without Chair as just could'nt retain possession in the final 3rd. | | | |
| How do we get back on track? on 11:19 - Feb 13 with 4770 views | wortonranger |
Good perspective from Greenbay. In the cold light of day some reality. We don’t have the depth at the moment to seriously contend for automatic, but play offs are very much on. Thus there’s no need to throw prom toys.. as long as we win more than we lose we should get there and then be confident of our best line up for the big games at the end.
That means some rotation and patience.
For me, Mcallum will be the key. Looked fine playing for U23’s the other day and will reduce pressure on Wallace. Also think Thomas needs another try, particularly if we are in this league next year. |  | | |
| How do we get back on track? on 11:40 - Feb 13 with 4725 views | distortR |
Amos's half against Peterborough seems to have been conveniently forgotten, and I'm not digging him out for that, just pointing out that the solution to our little malaise may not be so simple. I'm also one of those who think we could have lost quite a few more than we have recently - Bristol City first half hour and coventry spring to mind.
We've had some really hard fought victories recently, a small squad, and I'm wondering if that's taken it's toil - they looked physically and mentally tired yesterday and didn't seem to believe they could get back into it, which is unlike them.
We also need to adapt - Barnsley looked quite happy for us to have possession at the back and overload the midfield, and with our defenders strangely adverse to stepping forward we resorted to the long ball far too much. We also seem to get players isolated on the ball.
Charlie needs to adapt. He is a finisher, we know that, and if he has lost pace, he needs to work out how to accommodate that, while staying onside!
I do wonder how many are carrying knocks.
It would have been very nice to have brought a nippy goal scorer in in January, and other teams were handing them out for fun. | | | |
| How do we get back on track? on 11:51 - Feb 13 with 4690 views | ParkRoyalR |
| How do we get back on track? on 11:40 - Feb 13 by distortR |
Amos's half against Peterborough seems to have been conveniently forgotten, and I'm not digging him out for that, just pointing out that the solution to our little malaise may not be so simple. I'm also one of those who think we could have lost quite a few more than we have recently - Bristol City first half hour and coventry spring to mind.
We've had some really hard fought victories recently, a small squad, and I'm wondering if that's taken it's toil - they looked physically and mentally tired yesterday and didn't seem to believe they could get back into it, which is unlike them.
We also need to adapt - Barnsley looked quite happy for us to have possession at the back and overload the midfield, and with our defenders strangely adverse to stepping forward we resorted to the long ball far too much. We also seem to get players isolated on the ball.
Charlie needs to adapt. He is a finisher, we know that, and if he has lost pace, he needs to work out how to accommodate that, while staying onside!
I do wonder how many are carrying knocks.
It would have been very nice to have brought a nippy goal scorer in in January, and other teams were handing them out for fun. |
Agree, Barbet (since his injury) and Dickie (maybe since Bournemouth) have been much more conservative in travelling with the ball and drawing an opposition midfielder on to them,
One of the biggest frustrations and stand-outs from yesterday was this and trying to break through their two banks of four, too easy to pass all the responsibility to Moses to do this and Adomah when he came on. Easy to criticize Moses when he loses possession but Barbet and Dickie need to be braver on the ball. | | | |
| How do we get back on track? on 14:23 - Feb 13 with 4538 views | essextaxiboy |
Marshall
Albert Dickie Dunne Barbet Wallace
Field Johanson
Amos Willock Chair |  | | |
| How do we get back on track? on 15:01 - Feb 13 with 4457 views | ngbqpr |
| How do we get back on track? on 14:23 - Feb 13 by essextaxiboy |
Marshall
Albert Dickie Dunne Barbet Wallace
Field Johanson
Amos Willock Chair |
The old false 9 malarkey, play your most skilful / in form players? Decent shout, I wouldn’t be unhappy if I saw that on Tuesday night. |  |
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