3 points thrown away today

I thought Madine did what he was expected to and won headers and laid it off to the playmakers

Main issue today was all the half chances that fell were not finished.
If just one was taken in the first 70 mins then I couldn’t see them getting back into it.

Formation worked. We created chances. We nullified their attack.

Ref was gash, our finishing was gash and Bowler fell asleep allowing one decent cross to be bundled in (probably offside too)

For the 5th biggest league in Europe the standard of officiating is very poor. Look at that Nobbers goal today too
 
We got bullied off the pitch early season with small strikers, it was only when Madine came back and Lavery/Yates played off him. We were very good first half but lacked the finishing that Yates or Lavery could have provided. I'm really not sure that Lavery and Yates as a partnership works. If Simms comes back it gives us another option. I think Carey when fit will also give us an attacking threat from midfield,
 
As we've no mid week game, the coaching team have a full week to work on our absence of goals. The defence did well, as their two main strikers never got a sniff at goal.
Wins are hard to come by in this division, and with Brums absences, this is one game that was there for the taking.
 
Disagree that we’ve thrown 3 points away today we just weren’t good enough to win it.

I’ll be honest and say I don’t think anyone deserved to win it today thought it was 2 poor teams in a poor game.
 
Madine was in as much for set plays in defence as attack. As he always is.

Sterling picked for the same reason.

It worked for most of the game.

No set up, no formation, no planning can expect free kicks, or crosses, to be hit over players or the bar, half chances to be scuffed wide. Had we been more efficient in finishing the second half would have been comfortable. Even in the second half we had two over and didn't make it count.

Perhaps we worried about them too much, instead of concentrating on our skills.
 
thought Madine did pretty well but he needs some-one alongside him. We as per usual created very few even no clear cut chances and that's becoming the norm. We need a creative midfielder in the team operating behind our front line and for me the only way to do that is by only playing with one winger/wide man.
 
Haven’t seen any of the game so can’t comment on specifics today, but some obvious things stand out to me.

1) Yates and Lavery work better with Madine than together or without Madine. Both those players offer our best scoring threat. I don’t really know why we’d ever start games without at least one of them on the pitch unless forced.

2) As much as I don’t like us losing, we should remember where we’ve come from in a short space of time and also remember that in the Championship, teams like us, Birmingham and (sorry to say it) Nob End will have plenty of 50:50 games where form or league position count for nothing and it’s literally about who grabs it on the day. Nothing more, nothing less. It’s important not to get overexcited by wins and equally as important to not get overly negative about defeats.
 
straightatthewall said:
Haven’t seen any of the game so can’t comment on specifics today, but some obvious things stand out to me.

1) Yates and Lavery work better with Madine than together or without Madine. Both those players offer our best scoring threat. I don’t really know why we’d ever start games without at least one of them on the pitch unless forced.

2) As much as I don’t like us losing, we should remember where we’ve come from in a short space of time and also remember that in the Championship, teams like us, Birmingham and (sorry to say it) Nob End will have plenty of 50:50 games where form or league position count for nothing and it’s literally about who grabs it on the day. Nothing more, nothing less. It’s important not to get overexcited by wins and equally as important to not get overly negative about defeats.
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Couldn’t have put it better myself. We’d have killed to be where we are now at the start of this season. And if you’d have suggested it at this point last season, people would have thought you were mad.
 
tangerine_neil said:
Re the absence of goals and folk saying we need more goal scorers…
We had two perfectly good goal scorers warming the bench today.
Bet Brum were fcuking delighted
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I think the problem must lie with our midfield: The defence is performing exceptionally well. The strikers get very few chances & appear to usually have to create them themselves. The midfielders selected to play, are not creating chances for the strikers or scoring goals themselves. However, as I don't watch us live every week, I can't say which player(s) are in need of improvement / replacement.
 
2 goals scored and 3 points from 15 suggests we may be on the slide. The side lacks creativity and goals. Organisation and hard graft isn't enough at this level
 
Service was poor from midfield and wingers. Gabriel has better delivery. Wintle is tidy and rarely wastes a pass. Need a creative midfielder in January. Is Carey injured?

Chopping & changing the starting 11 and formation isn’t helping us. Don’t think it’s a coincidence our run of wins came with a far more settled 1st eleven
 
O4tonygreen said:
Cant help thinking we have thrown 3 points away today. We were miles the better side but cant score at the mo. We all love Critch, but I cant understand his preferring of Madine to Yates/Lavery. TWo blanks on the trot with Madine up front, who, to me, offers very little.

I would love to see him start Yates and Lavery together and see what happens
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I've never thought Yates/Lavery was a good combination but nothing else is working so it's got to be worth a shot. However whatever Critch decides we need to give it a few games. Good striking combos are typically are built on developing an understanding on one another's game.
This isn't happening.
We would need to stop the long high ball though so it would need some work on the training ground to adapt.
 
Never mind the stats. From winning a few games in October to drawing a few in November then losing. Hoping December isn’t a slippery slope because this is when we need to be gathering momentum.
 
Not sure why we broke up the Reece James/Keshi partnership down the left side to accommodate Dale. I can understand giving players a rest but that seemed unnecessary. I agree with previous comments that either Yates or Lavery should have partnered Madine. Also Wintle has been our most effective midfielder and Connolly is a back up player if either Dougall or Wintle are not available.
 
Survival still the goal for me, saw something yesterday about hulls 19/20 season in this division, they were over 30 points near this stage of the season and ended up relegated. They also sold Jared Bowen which might have had something to do with it, but though we really could use a win I'm not panicking, we're in a great position to stay up comfortably.
 
We were by far superior today, but we should have made more of our chances. I suppose Sheffield Utd felt the same when Keshi scored our goal.
Also, the referee was a Cnut !!!
 
Birmingham were there for the taking today but the team selection and setup was the strangest I've seen probably all season, but hopefully we’ll get back on track next Saturday. That defeat would have hurt Critch and the players as they all know they can do better.
 
Birmingham we’re by far and away the worst side I’ve seen this season. An average L1 side at best. Yes our approach play was good, but our final third was garbage today. We move on and hope NC and the coaching staff get to work on the training ground.
 
Adams Kebab said:
Definitely had them there for the taking.

I like what Madine does for the team a lot, but he’s a Centre Forward and he’s scored 1 goal this season. He needs to be alongside someone.
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*2. Agree though. Madine is a good foil for a Yates or Lavery. Don’t think he can be a lone striker in this team. He gets a lot of shite because of what he is/does, but on that role, the service into him isn’t good enough. Not only that, but we have negligible runners in and around him, as per today.
 
As_Cold_As_The_Rockies said:
We need someone like Madine who can put himself about and also hold up play winning headers but who is a goal threat. Madine just doesn’t score enough for me and needs Yates or Lavery around him. Simms maybe the answer.
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Agreed. We need a Madine type player, but one that seems to now where his feet is. Sometimes he’s like bambi, other times he gets a good shot in, but sadly as a one man striker - he just isn’t enough at this level. Not in his own anyway.
 
Brett scores for fun said:
I think the problem must lie with our midfield: The defence is performing exceptionally well. The strikers get very few chances & appear to usually have to create them themselves. The midfielders selected to play, are not creating chances for the strikers or scoring goals themselves. However, as I don't watch us live every week, I can't say which player(s) are in need of improvement / replacement.
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I personally feel we play with one too many defensive midfielders.
Dougall is quality, but is more Southern than Adam, as is Wintle, Connolly, Reece James, Kevin Stewart… you get the picture.
So out of those, who gets picked?
For me, it’s Dougall. He’s got enough about him to be able to do the work and then pass to those who are better at creating.
We’ve not scored from midfield this season.
We’ve had goals from the wing (working in a 4-3-3 or 4-4-2, but not one through the middle from a midfielder.

Just let that sink in a bit. Do we settle for being solid and relying on the forwards to create their own chances, or do we play someone who knows how to strike a ball?
I’m betting NC&Co have already seen this and are actively working on it, as to me it’s a glaring problem. Thankfully, we aren’t conceding too many as well but at some point a balance needs to be found.
 
It just didn't work yesterday - ref, pen, offiside, and yes the questionable starting 11.

Victim of our own success here - too many were thinking we were promotion contenders. We'll be fine, and a lower to mid table finish will be a massive achievement.

Critchley gets thinks right more often than not so I'm not worried. As a miserable bugger if I can remain positive then there's some serious over reactions.
 
Bloody hell, we lost a game to an average side. Those of us who went froze our gnads off watching it, and were then made to stand in the freezing cold outside the shelter of the stands for a good ten to fifteen minutes at the end of the match. Not a good day, and I agree that we needed someone up front who could put the ball in the onion bag , but, for some reason, which is beyond me, both out options were sat on the bench.

We were pretty good in defence and midfield, but it all went to pot when in front of the goal. Why some of the players do not take a shot when in a great position baffles me. I would rather see an attempt rather than another breakdown.

Madine did, what Madine does, but had no one beside him to capitalise on his game. He is not a goal machine, even though that is his chant, he is more of a provider.

As others have said, we have a week for the coaches to sort it out, and I'm sure Critch will be as frustrated as anyone on this board.
 
BramTheBlackpoolFan said:
I personally feel we play with one too many defensive midfielders.
Dougall is quality, but is more Southern than Adam, as is Wintle, Connolly, Reece James, Kevin Stewart… you get the picture.
So out of those, who gets picked?
For me, it’s Dougall. He’s got enough about him to be able to do the work and then pass to those who are better at creating.
We’ve not scored from midfield this season.
We’ve had goals from the wing (working in a 4-3-3 or 4-4-2, but not one through the middle from a midfielder.

Just let that sink in a bit. Do we settle for being solid and relying on the forwards to create their own chances, or do we play someone who knows how to strike a ball?
I’m betting NC&Co have already seen this and are actively working on it, as to me it’s a glaring problem. Thankfully, we aren’t conceding too many as well but at some point a balance needs to be found.
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Spot on. Balance between solid shield for the back four or maybe selecting one from the CM list and pairing with Carey or Keshi more centrally.
 
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