Seems that purely looking at the table it looks a pretty ok start to the season. A few points off 2nd slot and fringes of playoffs. However i cant help thinking that this league this season is poor. Maybe we all need to reset our expectations as we will find it more and more difficult to compete in this league, despite its low standard. We have very little revenue from resale of players, our main sustainable income maybe. So we might need to get used to this. Our performances haven't been great and the question is, do we have a squad thats good enough for getting out of this league. So far the answer looks like a No, but plenty of time to go. However i havent seen much improvement since the season start. We cant keep clean sheets and cant open scoring gaps. Either way our game management is almost non-exstent. Manager? Players? Both? But for me, we arent good enough in a league thats poor and an outlook that shows no signs of improving. I can only hope we can find a way to improve and change this. However, hope isnt a strategy.
At this stage of the season, the extra game played really flatters us in terms of our league position. We're closer to mid-table when you factor in the points that some teams will pick up to match our 9 games played. Like last season, our away form is propping up a poor home campaign, which doesn't help inspire confidence in the majority of supporters who only attend the Oakwell games. I'm still waiting to see Clarke's identity on this team, and it feels like he doesn't know what it is.
Last night and Saturday it felt like Collins was still in charge.....disappointing as last night proved twice if we need to score we can but once we do it's every body back. .yet again we're back to pack the box at corners with no outball..expected much better from this guy so as we haven't changed tactics the question is who's really in charge.
You’re right hope isn’t a strategy, but is what all fans must have or what’s the point? If folk go with expectation then it is more likely they will end up disappointed. I’m yet to be convinced either way, that the current squad is good enough to mount a promotion challenge, or that we have the right coach in place to lead us to promotion. The last 2 home games especially, have been far from convincing. Going to a game with hope not expectation is not being negative or naive, but it can save you from constant disappointment. We would all love to be going to games feeling confident. It is still early days and I do believe we have good players, we just need some sort of consistency. I will continue to be disappointed by defeats, even draws and poor performances, but to wallow in misery and resort to ‘name-calling’ and even abuse of players and coaches, at the club, to me says I’m following the wrong club, or football isn’t for me.
Yea i agree.....we have a plethora of tidy "touch/ passy" midfielders but they and the team in general look very poor at passing (an absoute minimum requirement along with controlling a ball). Imho Clarke has inherited this but a well organized team, l I ke us under Val or Stevenage, now, have identity and get results based on say lesser football but with their application and ahem a style.
Apart from Birmingham, who have spent a gazillion pounds this summer, it is a poor league. There will be the usual bottom 6 or 7 teams who are incredibly poor but then the rest will all have a sniff of promotion/playoffs I reckon. I suppose in one sense it’s good that we are still picking up points when we are *****. But we need to drastically improve in many areas if we are serious about going up.
Just seems a bit ‘same old’ to me. Similar points total to previous 2 seasons, manager and certain players again being scrutinised. I appreciate that the detail might be different, but the feeling around the place is generally the same. I still expect we’ll be there or thereabouts at the end of the season, but there’ll be much more of this along the way. It’s that kind of league.
Quick Summary Owners: Poor decision making Sporting Director: Out of his depth Head Coach: Out of his depth
Very average start for me. We’ve had a gentle start in terms of opposition played and have been very unconvincing. The same problems as last season are still there, especially the home form with only one win in five. Blackpool and Huddersfield away will tell us a bit more about our likely prospects.
Perhaps the problem lies with the coaching staff rather than the players. Daryl Clarke, Jon Stead, Connor Hourihane, Martin Devaney plus all the anaylists on their tablets giving their imput and countermanding the others. It's a simple game and perhaps their are too many 'coaches' backroom staff giving Clarke their imput. Choose a formation and then give the players time to make it work.The training pitch is where the coaches need to coordinate the play not three blokes all screaming instructions at the same time(for example last night) at corners, free kicks etc so the players know the roles before the kick off. After all Stendel (kicked everyball and encouraged his players) and Big Val only had one assistant coach with him on the bench(and took f__ __ all notice of them anyway) But they got the players working for them and as a team. Clarke and his 4 assistants is seems is yet to do that.
League is stronger. We have worryingly player the weaker teams so far so we have a false impression. We have no pattern of play. A manager struggling to find a formation that works and who insists on playing 2 defensive midfielders which destroys the tempo and negates the quality attacking CM we have.
Looking at the teams we have played so far the points total is poor. Last 4 games stevenage burton Stockport wycome only 5 points out of 12 shoukd be looking at 9 points from them fixtures all poor teams
I posted at the time that the win against us, might get Stevenage's season going, and maybe it has!. And look at Blackpool and Bolton now all of a sudden, it shows what a decent run of wins can do. And look at the poor form all of a sudden for Bristol Rovs and Crawley, they both started the season well. Last night's opponents Wycombe btw, have started decently, and are just behind us. So while I thought we would beat them, it was never going to be easy.
We struggle to play a back 4 as we've no proper full backs, we struggle with 4 in midfield as we've no natural wingers Jalo aside, we haven't a front 2 partnership that's gelled. The alternative is 352 or 343, we haven't great wingbacks that can defend leaving us open down the sides. It's a mess. I thought appointing a DOF in January would propell us, it's made things far worse, head coach looks confused and let down by those above, he's trying to find a formula but there's no balance to the squad chose which formation he uses nothing fits naturally.
