The worrying thingwasnt just the result but the manner in which we played and the fact that in the main those that played were in the main experienced players.
The first excuse trotted out after the loss to Millwall was that we shouldnt worry too much this wasnt our first side, to a degree that is true, however most of those who played if they arent first choice at present, have been or hope to be, surely this should have been a game to cement their claims for a place in the team, but sadly most didn take it.
Pwerhaps most worring of all though was the back four, this was the exact same back four that started the opening day fixture against Leeds, indeed at least three of them from last night will have to play on Saturday, so why were they so poor last night >
Of the other six outfield players, three started the game against Leeds and another two came on as sub in the game, add Lambert to that equation and of the 13 outfield players who featured in that opening day win, 10 of them played a part last night, so why has their form etc detiorated so much.
Im afraid we were a shambles from start to finish, apart from a brief spell in the second half just before the Millwall equaliser, the players just didnt seem motivated to win the game and that probably starts to lead us to a few questions to which we probably wont like the answers.
Tactically we are one dimensional and we dont have a plan B, our plan A is simple we look to pass it out from the goalkeeper to either a centre back or a midfielder driopping deep, he will in turn look to play it out wide for a winger to run at the full backs and get a cross into the box, apart from that we rarely do anything different, we dont play into channels and we certainly dont shoot from distance unless we really have to and to be blunt the players seem too scared to deviate from the system.
Hence we have the situation when the keeper loses confidence in kicking and passing the ball out as Bart did last night and Kelvin has struggled with for much of the season, we have midfielders who are always trying to pass the ball instead of taking people on and we have forwards scared to shoot, we always want one more touch, one more pass and usually it ends up as one too many.
But it isnt just that, certain players just arent good enough, Steve De Ridder is in danger of becoming a joke figure to the crowd, the cries of Steeeeve etc whilst once complimentary are becoming more ironic by the game, here is a player who last night was made for, a rare start and the chance to really show Nigel Adkins he has what it takes, initially he did well, in fairness he usually does, however a couple of decent runs were ruined by firstly a ball that blazed so far and wide over the bar it nearly laid out one of the guys shouting Steeeve at the back of the Northam and that was fiollowed by a series of crosses that went nowhere and before long even these had virtually stopped, if Steve De Ridder was going to prove his worth then last night was the time to do it.
Harding at least did try and keep trying, but to be blunt he isnt really good enough for this level either and again showed just why Fox is a quality player, well at least compared to Harding himself.
Guly of course got the most stick of the evening, how frustrated must he feel, he has had to play out of position for most of the season, he has hit 10 league goals, joint fourth highest in the League, he has a number of assists, yet he is ridiculed whilst the likes of De Ridder and Harding are hero worshipped, he is villified for the pompey game, yet it wasnt him who gave the corner away under pressure and it wasnt him who let the goalscorer have a free header six yards out, perhaps this tells you a few things.
But I think the most contibutory factor to our poor showing was that the competitive element has gone out of our game, too many positions are not up for grabs, take right back for instance, where is Danny Butterfield ? last year butterfield was solid and he has been this year when called upon, yet he has barely had a look in, how must he feel watching from the stands as Richardson puts in a sub standard performance, but knows the manager will put in a left back in tha position before him, I would say the same for a few other places as well including in goal and right midfield, where putting Puncheon back in is a sign of desperation and must deflate a number of players who could play there and probably wonder why they remain loyal when Puncheon returns and steps back in, Im not passing judgement here, but people like De Ridder, Holmes, Butterfield & Guly to name but four must feel a little bewildered.
Our signings havent been great either, in the summer we expected a solid centre half, some will say Hooiveld is that man, our goals against column disagrees with them, we failed to address a problem area properly, indeed since the January transfer window last season I would suggest that we have barely signed a player who has improved the squad zand is a cast iron first name on the team sheet, hopefully Billy Sharp will be the exception to this rule, but of our other business, Falque was clearly not up to it and Im afraid whilst I am still prepared to give Tadanari Lee time, I feel that he is no better than Lee Barnard, both are full of running but Barnard is stronger and wont need the time to adapt that Lee does, time that we can ill afford.
Perhaps this is a bit of a doom and gloom bit, but last nights performance was dire and not of an acceptable standard from what was in the main a team made up of players who could well expect to be in the starting line up or very near too it in the coming weeks, I dont feel im being too quick of the mark in this criticism, nor being over critical, after all I have watched the very same game in the main since November