Calm down everyone! Always going to be a up n down season. Two wins next week and were best team in league again. Were playing better against the teams higher in the league. No expectation and other teams want to go for it and score. Struggling to break other teams down. It will click and get going. Couple through the door january and sorted.
We have no midfielder who will pick the ball up and drive us forward,until we do then it’s going to be a struggle
This. Yes, we are short up front but were coping ok up to Thomas getting injured. Without him driving forward we look slow and predictable. Hence the aimless lumps forward which are useless without anyone strong enough to hold the ball up.
For me, I'd give the season so far as a six out of ten. The team as a whole, as well as individual players, have shown they can do the job required. Unfortunately, there has also been games, yesterday being one, where there was no quality on show whatsoever. It seems unbelievable that eighteen months ago we were in the Championship Play Offs and currently we're a million miles away from that. The self inflicted issues have been covered well on here since and our board has still to bridge the gap with fans with regards to trust and belief, as far as I'm concerned. But there has been a start. It won't be achieved overnight and it's a long road back.
Agree completely Kev. There were boos yesterday at full time, reflecting frustration with the performance. Personally, my feelings were more a mixture of sadness and disbelief at just how far we've regressed. As you say, it's going to be a long road back.
Some of the players are not up to it . After a purple spell Cole is looking poor again . The service he’s getting is woeful though . I think a mid table finish is the best we can hope for
No one is in any doubt that we lack a couple more strikers but the service just isn’t there either. As I’ve alluded to before, Thomas had defenders back pedalling with his strong running with the ball. His end product might’ve been poor but he created space for others which we exploited to make scoring chances. It’s no coincidence that we haven’t scored a goal in the 3 games since he got injured. To be honest we haven’t even looked like scoring either. No easy remedy looking at our lack of options.
It is for me too. It's obvious we need to do what we can to try and get results on the board until January. It isn't going to be pretty but I'd rather that than play Jalo in midfield and get his confidence shot to pieces.
Jalo isn't the answer at all. He's a great prospect but he's only 16 and needs to get physically stronger yet. As you say, his confidence could get shot. He's better being given 10 or 15 minutes here and there in games when we're a couple of goals up, which isn't likely to happen much at present.
It needs a Kane or Benson to stop taking the safe option. I don't think they're playing badly. They're just going through the motions.
I don’t think he will. Duff has more sense. There’s a misconception that he’s a head down, beat 5 players ‘Roy of the Rovers’ type player, which isn’t his game at all. He’s a striker. His speed is over the first few yards to create space for himself to get on the end of summat.
He got pulled and pushed all over the place to negate that pace when he came on at Morecambe. In fact one instance was a blatant penalty to be honest but wily, experienced defenders at this level know how to get away with stuff.
Forgot about that. Blatant penalty! It’s a blight on the game as a whole. That’s a foul anywhere else on the pitch so why not in the area?
The professional foul rule p1sses me off. A professional foul is a straight red. Doesn't matter if it's in the centre circle or in your own half. A deliberate foul whether it be a trip or shirt pull should be given as a straight red. There was one the other night when Tierney got skinned by an Eindhoven player and stuck out a boot and tripped him up. It was straight in front of the referee and deliberate. Just a yellow after the advantage had been played.
For me, personally speaking, this season is actually going better than I expected. I didn't know how long it would take to instil a bit of confidence in the players and get them playing better as a team, but I didn't think it would be this soon. We now have a Head Coach that not only says it at he sees it, but actually looks like he knows what he's doing. I'm sure we'll do well with Duff in charge for any length of time. Yes, it's been inconsistent, but we do seem to be heading in the right direction. Yes, we need players to improve the team, but that is only to be expected given what happened in the previous 12 to 15 months. In summary, I think I'm pleased with how things are going so far. In Duff we trust. Up the Reds
