That was very sobering

Or frightening, depending how you look at it.

Different system last night, Bradshaw up top on his own, with Moncur playing off him in what has become known as the number 10 position. When I was a nip the number 10 position was Mike Lester or Ray McHale kicking lumps out of the opposition, but anyway. Made sense to try this out against lower league opposition, but the conclusion has to be that it failed. It seemed to fail because Moncur and Bradshaw couldn't play those roles.

We dominated possession for the entire first half. Northampton rarely getting the ball or venturing in to our half of the field, but all too often the move broke down when the ball reached Moncur or Bradshaw. On far too many occasions Moncur's second touch was a sliding tackle and I don't remember him finding Bradshaw with a single pass all evening or putting either winger in to space. Bradshaw doesn't have the physique to compete with central defenders and lost out every time the ball was played to him when his marker was close, whether the ball was on the ground or in the air. If he dropped deep, because of the system there was never a player ahead of him, but if he received the ball he never turned anyway and invariably played the ball back to a defender. I struggle to recall a time when he attempted to run beyond the defence.

We went 4-4-2 second half with Kent replacing Moncur and playing on the wing, and Watkins moving up top to first partner Bradshaw and then Payne . Payne had his moments and even hit the bar, at other times he looked like a striker we've signed from non-league, which isn't a criticism really, that's exactly what he is. Kent is clearly capable of beating a man, but he looks like kid with potential not a player ready for Championship football. The move broke down every time he got the ball, either he picked the wrong option or was dispossessed, out-muscled by the opposition. His positioning looked like he was new to the game and he'll offer no cover at all for the full back. I wouldn't like to play behind him.

Ultimately we lost due to two errors, the first a shocking punch in to his own goal by Davies who should have simply caught it under no pressure without even having to jump. The second terrible marking at a set piece. You could argue we also lost due to the amount of missed chances. But you could definitely put forward the case that we lost because we just weren't good enough. You can cut out mistakes, start taking your chances, but I don't know what you do about not being good enough. We appear to have taken massive leaps backwards after losing Isgrove, Brownhill and Fletcher, all of whom were pivotal parts of last season's successful team.

Not sure what we do Saturday. We could try the same again, but if Bradshaw and Moncur put in similar performances, this time against much better opposition, it will be like starting the game with nine men. We could bring in Kent and move Watkins up top to partner Bradshaw, but that would leave Tom Ince with a free run at either Bree or Yiadom and I reckon we'd get massacred. Payne and Bradshaw up top with Watkins on the wing? I suppose, but I'm not sure Payne is ready to face a Championship defence.

It's worrying. I don't know what we do with Moncur if he continues to struggle in the number 10 role. I don't believe we have a striker on the books who can play up top on his own anyway if that's the chosen system. I dread to think what we'll do if either Scowen or Hourihane are injured, both of whom actually played quite well last night, the only real positive I could take from the match.

 

I'd play yiadom right wing with Bree behind him. That should offer enough protection then go Watkins and Bradshaw up front.

I'd also ban 451 from ever being played again

 

The BBC stats make it look like we absolutely hammered them, was that not the case?

 

That's probably the best option.

 

Dominated possession as I said and for reasons I can't quite work out, refused to shoot. But the only chance I can think of that we should have scored but didn't was a poor miss by Watkins. Had we taken the opportunity to shoot on other occasions we may well have scored, but it's difficult to put it down as a missed chance when we didn't even have an attempt on goal.

 

Davies to mawson to Roberts to Bree to Roberts to Mawson to white to Mawson to Davies to Roberts to Bree to Mawson to white to Roberts to Davies to Bree to roberts to Mawson to Roberts to Mawson to white to Davies. BOOM big boot to nobody and they're on the attack.

That's he game in a nutshell.

 

The BBC stats said we had(on my last glance in ET) 26 attempts at goal.

 

Really? Pmsl. Good old BBC. Put it this way their keeper doesn't need to wash his kit.

 

It's a weird one, LD. The stats do suggest that, and we were comfortable enough in the first half, when Northampton never really threatened. But we seemed less and less confident as the game wore on. And for all the efforts (a minority on target) we somehow didn't really look likely to get another goal.

Jay: I share your concern, because I got the impression that this was a game Hecky was taking seriously. I know nothing about tactics, etc, but I keep imagining a 3-5-2 with Kevin Long organising the two beside him, and the wing backs supporting both attack and defence. Naive?

And another thing. Everybody at the club seems to set great store by James Bree's potential, but I have to say that I've not really seen a great deal of justification for that. As things stand at the moment, I'm thinking Andy Yiadom gives us a little bit more option going forward and looks equally as good defending. Interested in others' views.

 

Hourihane put a couple just wide when running on to it, Hammill curled any number in to the stand from 25 yards, nowhere near the goal, never looking like scoring, I remember their keeper making one diving save, but it was never going in, then there was the Watkins miss and Payne hitting the bar.

 

That pretty much sums it up, shot shy despite what the stats say. OH and the East Stand does bugger all for this Ponty Ender, may think twice if they shut it ageean.

 

Seconded

 

Completely spot on.

 

I know it's a bit early to say but I think this has been another poor summer of recruitment so far. I still think we're 4 players short of being competitive in this league.

 

This

 

We're lacking depth, pace and experience but there's still time to sort it.


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I'd add 'physicality' to that list. All the successful teams I've seen in this division have a central midfielder who adds a physical presence and can play a bit. I don't think we have that.

 

I thought the performance was, at best, insipid and pedestrian. However, I'm certainly not going to write any off our players & the season based on last night. We've struggled in this competition for years, as have many other Championship clubs. For example, Andy Ritchie's promotion winning team were beaten by MK Dons, Simon Davey's team who reached the FA Cup Semi Final a few months earlier was beaten by a Crewe side who were later relegated to the lowest tier, Mark Robins' side lost to Rochdale, Keith Hill's lost to Morecambe and Danny Wilson's team which won promotion to the Premier League were knocked out of the League Cup that season by Gillingham.
With regards to Brownhill, Fletcher and Isgrove, I thought all three were extremely talented, making huge contributions to our winning promotion, despite being loan players at a time when this type of signing was very much maligned and criticised. However, I also recall less than favourable comments made on here about all three. Brownhill ("can't pass, "can't tackle", "offers nothing to the team"), Fletcher ("not good enough to start a game", "at best, an impact sub", "not strong enough to play against big mesters"), Isgrove ("heart of a pea", "no end product", "will never score a goal for Barnsley").
I'm still optimistic that we'll be fine this season, although it may take some time to adjust to the higher level, and certainly have no fear for the team & club's immediate future,

 

Yep agree 100%.


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Depends what we are recruiting for. Staying in the championship or getting promoted from league 1 next season.