Lost 1 in 4 to the team second in the table. Conceded 3 in those games. A few weeks ago we were conceding 5 at Huddersfield, 3 at Watford & 3 against Leicester. That's called improvement. We've given ourselves a fighting chance again this last week or so and suddenly everyone is w.nk again? It wasn't great to watch tonight but our lack of quality shone through. Number of times we got into decent positions but fluffed it. Burnley's early goal killed us and let's not forget they're SECOND IN THE LEAGUE. There were a number of players who didn't make an impact but unfortunately when you looked at the bench he didn't exactly have loads of options did he? 2 winnable away games now too. Not over yet. Get a grip some of you FFS.
Five points behind a team who have a game hand and we have to go to their place. Dunt look good Liam. You're right - we have given ourselves a fighting chance but if we keep playing like we did last night then there is no hope.
The options on the bench looked more attractive to me than Mellis n Woods. Burnley are a good side and it was always going to be difficult. What as a paying supporter I cannot tolerate is the lack of effort and heart that was apparent last night. And just to top it off a manager who refused to change things when it was more than apparant our attacking formation wasn't working. Yes our options were limited but you cannot just leave things as they were.
I agree with you to a certain extent Dyson but it was that we never really had a go at them that frustrated me. Both subs were too late, it was clear Woods needed to come off at half time but somehow lasted 80 minutes. Let's not forget it was a significantly weakened Burnley side with both Trippier & Vokes missing. I don't have an issue with us losing it's that we never really had a go at them. I expected a similar amount of effort to what we got against Brighton. I'm well & truly behind Danny anyway & still believe there's a decent chance we'll leapfrog Blackpool
"Fighting chance" but no fight in us? Those who still think we can avoid the drop - let it go. You'll feel better afterwards. Honest.
I t was the way we played, the way we set up, the lack of fight and spirit that upset me not the fact that we lost. We gave ourselves a fighting chance and we've put ourselves right back in the ****. One step forwards, another two back.
Dyson, agreed that we are still in with a slim chance of survival......and again I admire your unswerving loyalty. But the fact of the matter is, DW played a poor team selection (midfield), adopted poor tactics with a negative formation. Yes, Burnley are 2nd in the League, but they did not perform like a 2nd in the League team.....and at Oakwell, should have been in for a tougher scarp than what we witnessed. That is what is frustrating REDS fans and surely you see this? I cannot really understand why you are "amazed" after watching that last night.
I have to say I was pretty amazed myself given that we narrowly lost to the second in the table but there's nowt so strange as folks is there? We should have had more of a go, perhaps but given the speed of some of the Burnley counter attacks first half our reticence was understandable.
I didn't see a lack of heart. I saw some poor performances but folk are very quick to confuse the two. I did see supporters getting on Mellis immediately despite him closing down and putting a tackle in. I didn't see the same treatment of RNL/Polish Tom etc but he seems to be our new boo boy. I also thought Woods was poor but looking on the bench we had Frimpong who may have been a better option but since Watford he's been out of the picture. Not exactly been great has he? I'd have been tempted by Bobby but then apparently we were very negative - not sure how putting a defender on in midfield helps that. People want effort and berated Nick ze German on Saturday. We wanted effort last night seemingly but then we want to bring him back on? Double f.cking standards. Lawrence was a big miss - Saturday he showed that bit of graft and quality we want. He'll be back for Saturday seemingly and I was more impressed by McLaughlin wide right than RB. The negativity after the mini run we've been on is mind blowing. One poor performance in 4 after a season full. PS - we got into some very good positions last night, second half especially down our right but poor cross each time. That's a lack of quality, not heart.
piss poor tactics and team selection lost that game. They may have been 2nd in the table but were there for the taking imho. Not one real shot at goal said it all. OGrady playing as a winger and we had nobody up front for 75% of the game. Terrible tactics. And we wonder why we cant trouble their keeper. I think we blew it last night. Not given up yet but i feel we need to win the next 3 games.
It's all about opinions and even though I disagree with yours I respect your views. After all we as fans are all hurting as relegation becomes closer.
I agree Dyson that in the grand scheme and taking into account recent results and performances, things aren't as bleak as some are making out. But you've got to admit that taking that performance in isolation, was as bad as it's been. I know they are second in the division and made it difficult but I was so disappointed that we made life so easy for them. It started with the selection. Yes, Danny isn't blessed with options but I thought he'd rightly written off Mellis and Woods. The former has shown very little desire despite numerous opportunities in favourable positions, the latter is simply inept. Given the choice I'd rather see Hassell running his guts to water or on the flip side, Frimpong tossing it off but doing the basics right than effectively play with a man short in midfield. Secondly, the formation. For a long time I've maintained that 4-5-1 is the way to go in this division. I think when you play through midfield and have some talent in attacking midfield areas it suits us better. However, if you're going to constantly knock it long to O'Grady you've got to support him. Even if you're kind and suggest that Burnley stopped us playing in midfield, why did he not bypass it and give O'Grady some support for the long ball stuff. We'd barely threatened in the entire first half and the second half was following a similar pattern, I don't think Danny helped us in changing that. Thirdly and probably crucially, too many players had off days. I don't particularly agree with some peoples assertion that there was no effort or guts. There looked to be plenty of toil from what I could see, just a worrying lack of ability. O'Grady had a thankless task but it wasn't sticking and as everyone knows when he's having a bad day, it's really bad. I don't know what had happened to Jennings but apparently he'd forgotten how to pass. Cywka was lightweight and largely ineffective. I've seen Dawson has come in for some stick but I actually thought he came out of the game with some credit, particularly as he was doing the work of the other two clowns in central midfield.
I agree it wasn't pretty and like you the issue is a lack of quality, however, Danny was playing 3 of the most talented players on our books last night. Not sure what else he could do? It was poor but conceding a soft goal in the first 5 minutes never helped. The first half performance v Brighton 3 days ago was possibly the best we've had at home all season. Which would we prefer to cling to?