garnersfags

Interesting thoughts around how critical we were on Tuesday night compared to today. I think most of the criticism following the Cardiff performance was justified. We just looked so uncomfortable on the ball, for 90 minutes. Our passing and ball retention was very very poor, and many of us worry that our consistently poor away performances may derail our play-off chances. Calling for JDT's head was of course over the top, based on genuine emotional disappointment. The Rotherham performance was positive and continued the run of one decent 90 min home performance every 3 or 4 games, the last one was against a v poor Watford. We have yet to dominate and beat a settled side with a decent manager. Our good performances have been against teams with new young managers, or teams who's managers are under real pressure. If JDT can overcome his inability to select an eleven and tactics to consistently retain and pass the ball effectively away from home, we will be on track for a good season. This for me, is a big IF though, purely based on away performances so far. One issue I have, even at home, is that Morton(or Wharton, or Dack) is our only real creative passing force, with the impressive work-rate(but more limited passing ability) of Hedges, Gallacher, and Travis around him. For me, whoever plays in the Szmodics role really needs to be more creative and more involved in the game, and hopefully Szmodics's improved 2nd half showing bodes well, but I'm yet to be convinced. Whoever is in this position needs to score 12-16 goals a season for us to be promoted, as we score very few goals from any other position. All this may sound critical after a really good win, but we're now talking the detail of what it takes to nail the consistency to achieve promotion, and I think that's what this forum is here for. The full league table below, with both home and away stats, shows how our away form needs to improve. If we lose on Tuesday, our away form, in terms of results, will be the opposite of our home form, which would leave us around the bottom of the top half at the end of the season. https://thefishy.co.uk/leaguetable.php?table=2 Here's hoping we break the cycle at Wigan!

All good points. I just keep coming back to our inability to keep the ball long enough to set up any type of attack. Especially away from home. Our main issue has been putting in 2 good performances in a row, which for me, seems to mean JDT doesn't know his best 11 on any given matchday. I find it really hard to watch.

Could anyone on here unhappy with the criticism, please give their honest opinion on our lack of ability to retain possession all season? I thought we played well for 90 minutes against Watford, but that was because they had a manager(now sacked) who was trying to make a decent team play in a way that was totally unsuited to the players abilities. Sound familiar? In most of the other games, we have been unable to pass the ball, and play with any quality or freedom. BBD, and our central defenders have done their thing in a few games, which has papered over the cracks, but JDT is, so far, unable to help us adopt a style which would help us to retain possession. We are nervous with the ball at our feet, in every area of the pitch. What are the cheerleaders seeing that the rest of us aren't, that is giving you hope or cause for optimism?

He is not a decent penalty taker at this level. Fact.

This makes it even worse. If Hirst is higher up the list than Dack, then I give up. I repeat, who on here, or anywhere in the footballing world would think Hirst would be more likely to score that penalty than Dack. The answer is very, very, very few. Most of us thought he would miss. It's a simple game.

Only you and JDT thought Hirst would score that penalty. Out of thousands watching. Most of us are just saying that that was one of the poorest displays we have seen for a long time, and that we seem to be going backwards. You and one or two others seem to think we're improving, but you are in the 1% minority. Make that 0.1%.

He will say absolutely nothing throughout the interview. He took off the only player who was going to score.... Happy days.

No-one in or out of the ground thought Hirst would score that penalty. Except JDT, and Hirst. I repeat, in terms of ball retention and passing, that is as bad as I have ever seen, and ever is a long time....

Wow. Awful refereeing. Cost us a point. Why the F*CK did HE take it. Unforgivable, but we didn't deserve a point.

I've rarely seen a poorer and more frustrating performance, under ANY manager.

Morton and Dack just stood and watched Harris in acres of space on the edge of the box, then continued to stand and watch as the ball came to him, and had a lovely view as the ball hit the back of the net. I'm so proud....

Not a single player has looked comfortable on the ball in 75 minutes. That's down to the manager. We get away with it to an extent at home, but away it's just pitiful And to make matters worse, he's taken off the only player who might nick one at the other end....depressing....

Travis is a liability at the moment!!!!!!

It doesn't matter who we play, unless they are coached to play in a way they are comfortable with. That was handball by Gally.

The malaise is effecting BBD, which is criminal. We are less bad at the mo, suppose that's progress...🤣

Travis and Buckley just not at the races, defending or attacking. I think that's the main reason for our total lack of effectiveness. JDT now accepting that another starting 11 selection has failed.

We cannot pass and retain the ball with this manager. That's on the evidence of 12 or so matches. Every now and again we snap out of the system and manage to keep the ball for 10 or 15 passes, but generally we look edgy, nervous and just really lacking in quality. We have given them eight 1st half scoring opportunities, so bringing Dack on won't cost us anything more at the back. Better from Dolan!!!!!

Consistently chosen the wrong option for 47 min. I still can't see JDT's style & philosophy. We seem to be trying to repeatedly pass the ball back, to practice our piss poor playing out from the back. The only way is up. COYB!!!!!

I really worry when Trav's on the ball, although we have shown zero quality here. I've rarely seen us pass the ball effectively and consistently all season. We look really poor more than we look really good. If we can stop gifting them the ball in the final 3rd, we'll hopefully grow into the 2nd half.

Really, really, really can't wait to be part of the reception on Saturday for BBD. His post-match interview at Bloomfield was truly inspiring, and made me like and respect him even more.

If only. Just need to hear BBD has signed a new contract and I'll be content. That will be the best of both worlds, although Dembele will be a brucie bonus...

Think Mola will be a better signing than people think, and won't just be filling in. Hope all his indentures are in order, so he can play on Saturday. I'll be rooting for him to show how incis-ive he can be, and hope he ends up with an Ewood plaque, and we don't have to extract him from the canal. Really think he could bridge the gap.

https://www.thesun.ie/sport/football/5049392/chelsea-lose-another-highly-rated-youngster-on-deadline-day-as-clinton-mola-joins-stuttgart/

😄 Would be telling to review how many pages per confirmed signing....

Possibly the most interesting thing about tonight was JDTs comment post-match that he thought we maybe ran with the ball too much (when we could have passed it more quickly). I think he wants us to pass the ball quickly through midfield, creating progressive triangles around the opposition midfielders, which will give us the chance to release our forwards to run into space and shoot/score. I liked that he chose to say this in a post-match interview. Very insightful.