The current improvement, if in fact that is what it is, under Adam Murray has been achieved with basically the same team as Daniel Stendel's. Would things have been different if DS had still been at the helm ? The only difference to me has been the change of formation and having Kenny Dougal back in the side. I have long been an advocate of 3-5-2 with the squad we have and thought so with the squad of last season.
I don't think there is too much difference in the level of performance - especially if you factor in Dougall's absence until the last two games and Diaby's injury spell. Daniel did and Adam will do as good a job as they can with a squad which lacks depth and experience (but certainly not skill and commitment).
We have yet to win a match and gone to the bottom of the league. There is always a slight improvement in performances when a caretaker comes in. Good to see Murray being his own man and changing different things but hardly a dramatic turn around in form yet. We need some wins desperately.
This reminds me a little of the Andy Ritchie / Simon Davey situation. I wouldn’t say one was a better manager than the other, but sometimes a change sparks a fresh impetus.
Agree , Davy went for a more defensive set up when he came in not easy on the eye but effective in keeping us up . Murray’s done the same so far
This is exactly as I see it. Some will no doubt compare the last 2 performances with Preston away, but a 5-1 loving isn't the story of life under Stendel.
When the decision was made about Stendel, I was torn, because like most I really liked the chap and he has been a breath of fresh air for our football club, but I did have concerns and a suspicion that the issue wasn't so much the players, but a lack of organisation. Yes, Dougall has come in and the formation has changed, but Stendel didn't pick him because he wasn't match fit (neither was Brown but he picked him as soon as he was available). We have missed individual players, like Diaby and Woodrow through the 10 games since the Fulham win, but the performance and team set up at Preston rang alarm bells. I would sum up the difference as being that we were too easy to play against and we gave opposition players too much time and space to play in. Arguably we have not been rewarded for our last 2 games, possibly should have had 4 points and conceivably could have had 6. Prior to that we were being soundly beaten, by Luton and Brentford at home and away from home we didn't look capable of picking up a point anywhere (Wigan apart).It is too early to tell of course but my suspicions so far are looking like reasonable ones
My guess is he would’ve gone with a more defensive minded 4-3-3 with Dougall alongside McGeehan & Mowatt in midfield & probably Brown & Chaplin either side of Woodrow up front with a back four of Sibbick, Diaby, Halme & either Cavare or Ben Williams. Just going by the system he used to use in the big games last season
I guess we will never know as Murray appointment was matched up by the availability of a number of key players previously unavailable. But the comparisons can be made for the fun of i suppose. Hopefully we will see the team build some confidence as we do see to be a ‘confidence team’ I hope we can maintain energy levels though as we have looked worryingly a 60 min team recently. Also i think the system seems to be ok but we have no real options if we have to chase a game or shore it up. I would have seen Thomas’ energy a better option than Wilks last game. I reckon Saturday perhaps a better measure of where we are right now
They need to stop over playing at the back and up front. There were some opportunities to be had both first and second half had Cavare, Chaplin looked up. I know it was Cavare's cross for the first goal but he was particularly wasteful especially second half. Brown's distribution was none too cracking either.
Agree re Brown. Tough job to play on the left when right footed you can’t play a pass down the line in the same way a left footer would. In the same way the defender up against him knows more than likely he’s going to cut inside and shoot or float a cross over so they never have to worry about defending a cross from the left hand byline. Makes it quite predictable to play against.
We've played much much worse than these last two games under Stendel this season. We've also played just as well and probably better under Stendel. Big difference between the WBA game and a few others this season where we've played well up until at least half time was that Woodrow scored his two chances. In other games other players have missed their chances. The second half against WBA went pretty much as others have done, we got tired, we faded and the opposition scored. Where in previous games we've lost, this time we had a two goal cushion and drew. The system has changed but the same problems still exist and are being played out. We're inexperienced and we tire excessively in the second half as so much energy is used from players clearly wanting to do their best but unable to keep to those levels for 90 minutes. No one could.
I'd have brought Williams and Bahre on and gone 4-6-0. 11 men behind the ball and said to WBA shoot from range.
One change I have noticed from the last two games is that Collins are not playing out from the back nearly as much there were a lot more long clearances by-passing midfield in both the Swansea and WBA games.
Over the last 2 games I genuinely think we’ve been more effective than most previous games this season. Certainly against West Brom we were more direct (and I mean by passing rather than hoofing it) which created some great opportunities. There has been one downside of that way of playing. Stendel preferred to play out from back and keep possession more. There’s some major downsides to that if we lose the ball in dangerous positions but it does allow the players some opportunity to recover. That recovery is so important when you play a high tempo style. When you don’t have that (as happened against West Brom) we can see the effect in the last 20-30 minutes of a game. In our last 2 games we’ve played a less risky game with the aim of making us more difficult to beat. That’s totally understandable against teams 1st and 4th in the league. It’ll be interesting to see whether we adapt our style against teams who aren’t at the top.
It's playing the same style against all teams that will yield the wins. I hope we play exactly the same in every game regardless where they are in table. That's the main reason I was so disappointed on Tuesday.
