whitey1980

As said by someone earlier on the thread I believe we are the archetypal league 1 club. The league is competitive but low on quality in many cases. Wolves on Tuesday were the first team to arrive at BP since Peterborough and Southampton in the 2010? season who have really impressed me and as such it comes down to taking your opportunities to escape. We have had them within the last 10 years but have missed them. In some ways I think many fans have struggled to recover fron the disappointment of the capitulation of a talented side under Shez that should have gone up. As such we are sat watching and waiting for our opportunity to arrive again - others such as Yeovil have been good enough to take theirs. Unfortunately in the meantime we have stagnated and the support base has dwindled to the extent that I feel many will not return. This leaves us as unfortunately a plucky upstart if we do manage to hit the golden ticket and gain promotion. In the meantime we have to avoid the potential trap door at the other end that could leave us like Stockport. That said strangely, watching Burnley trading blows with QPR is quite uplifting. It certainly shows that for all it is a difficult proposition, a talented manager and motivated squad can work wonders! The new stand is massively important to the clubs self esteem and image - we all need a lift and need to see some hope that we can move forward again!!

Frustration has been building for a good few weeks and I daresay it was precisely some of the fans who have been at Walsall and Port Vale who decided to walk. I couldn't be there yesterday and am gutted to have missed it but the comment that we have issues to work on is surely a fair one? The players, manager and fans who stayed deserve enormous credit for their response to adversity and claiming a famous result but to concede 4 horrendous goals at home is a massive concern. Great result however and a springboard to hopefully better things!!!

Dyche was definitely at Walsall as he was in the McDonald's on the adjoining shopping complex!

Am very interested to see the name of Leon Mettam mentioned. I am watching Worksop on Saturday as a good friend of mine is assistant manager. Having watched them on a number of occasions I would imagine fitness would be an issue but he can certainly finish - including an absolute peach at Stalybridge in the FA cup. Has had an interesting past and presented a number of problems to managers, hence his drop through the leagues. A recent attitude shift has seen him fitter and sharper than in previous seasons, but would be a massive step up. Is also quite selfish and tough to play with at times - that said the side is at 80 goals and counting in all comps. Would be surprised if anybody in league 1 took a punt but he is certainly much better than his current level - as he proved at Stalybridge.

O4U makes a number of excellent points which boil down to the following. We are too slow, predictable and narrow. We need our wide players to give us genuine width rather than passing responsibility inside, and we have to give them somebody to hit in the box. There is nothing wrong with our midfielders taking possession deep but we have to get out of the mindset of making 15 passes where 5 will do. Finally, we need to shoot, we don't do it well or often enough!!!

I think what has caused frustration to mount is the repetitive nature of the errors. To see the same errors repeated game in and game out causes irritation and a sense of a lack of direction. I don't think the team are :censored: and watching games I very rarely feel the opposition are superior to ourselves. That said, I have no confidence we will win close games and would have predicted the eventual scoreline from 25 minutes into the game (who didn't to be honest?) Where LJ is at fault is that he has not adapted our play as sides have worked us out. Teams sit deep against us, press when we try and play into the final third and break quickly. We do not transition well both in defence (where we are slow to get back behind the ball) and in attack where we do not commit bodies, or the ball, forward quickly enough!! That said our finishing as someone has said earlier betrays the players mindset. We are snatching at everything and players do not want to shoot in and around the box. Philiskirk is slicing everything at the moment our midfield continually pass on shooting opportunities and nobody commits to the box. The manager needs his players to take responsibility and he needs to accept that we need to open up our style of play. If not we are firmly in trouble!

It isn't just LJ who can be questioned. He can't make players take responsibility and be brave on the pitch, or pick up a runner from a basic set play for the players!! There are senior players who need to drive the team forwards not pass the responsibility sideways!

Very very poor again today. We have so little forward commitment from midfield it is painful to watch. Every sideways pass from midfield today reduced the space to attack as it simply allowed them time to regroup defensively! We lack pace and end product. Our attempts to play more directly later in the game were equally useless!! I agree with those who have pointed to the lack of a second front man as our formation (and lack of confidence to move effectively to make it work) is killing us at the moment. Was disheartened after Tuesday but am angry tonight - that was awful!! One positive word for Oxley, who was excellent throughout!

I don't fully understand why you have to be in a pro, or anti Johnson position. He is clearly an intelligent and driven young man who has the makings of an excellent manager. He engages well with our small fanbase and offers real signs of progress from a disastrous period for the club (knocking down of the Lookers, diminished attendances, stalling in League 1 etc....). Crucially, he also shown an ability to identify and develop talent. The acquisition of Smith and development of Tarky are evidence of this. BUT......we clearly should be in a better league position than we are. We lost and dropped points in a number of games early in the season that we should have claimed and that is what we are paying for now. As key players (Tarky and Smith in particular) who have not been rotated tire, we look stale and vulnerable and the level of our play has dropped markedly. No sane man would want rid of LJ should we stay up or go down. His potential is clear and it is potentially a much higher ceiling than ours as a club. That said he is not beyond criticism - and neither are a number of his senior players who have let us down at times of late. Its an average division, with a number of clubs without players capable of playing higher. I firmly believe that we have players who can. That begs the question why we continue to fail to progress from lower mid table? I believe LJ will sort this out - but hr hasn't yet!

This is absolutely true Chaddy, but in fairness to the wide players they have to have men to hit in the box to deliver the ball earlier. Last night, they had little or nothing to hit for the vast majority of the game. As said earlier, it is a major issue in our play. We require width to retain possession - but have little or no way to use it effectively!

We have serious issues within our play that have not been mentioned in this thread. Earlier in the season our movement was excellent and created space for the man receiving the ball. Increasingly we are looking for the easy ball and players are failing to take on the more difficult ball that will open up an opponent. Ironically the only player who did tonight - Dayton - was slated for most of the game. We are also commiting so few men to the box that the final ball has to be so precise and cannot often be delivered early. Also we are not gambling in the box, twice late on we had balls that were crying out for somebody to attack at the near post but we had players hiding behind defenders. Finally, we are wide open almost every time we have an attacking set play. As it breaks we frequently are jogging back whilst opponents are attacking the space. This is going to cost us sooner or later. I am really concerned after tonight. You need courage to use the ball as we attempt to do. Without it we appear flat and insipid. In a division of fine margins, I don't see us winning close games and that spells trouble!!

The same disappointing fare, and another horrible season that cannot end soon enough. The reality is that the people who would have applauded that point at Walsall that we so desired clearly didn't go. We have missed the three best chances in a drab game and conceded a rank poor effort ourselves. That sort of behaviour will see this team take us down. So tired of seeing us lose that game, we've done it far too many times over the last ten years.

I think some of the applause also started due to the fantastic introduction it was given on the PA that was so fulsome in its praise of a clearly highly thought of young man. It was uncomfortable for a moment but I thought had a warmth and genuine respect. It is such an incredibly sad story that to celebrate his obvious talent and zest for life worked for me. Some on the Liverpool forum agreed with those who remained silent and I hope his family felt it appropriate.

Excellent as he otherwise was, our delivery from set plays was poor and cost us arguably our best chance of a goal. Far too flighted and often overhit!

I thought it was very moving and was handled superbly by Liverpool as a club, both sets of supporters and the players involved. The introduction by the announcer was superb and far more in depth than the sometimes cursory announcement that is given in cases like this. His family who could well have been present would have been very proud.

Jonathan Grounds?

Ha ha ha!!

Agree, ha ha!!

Ha ha, agree!!

Just got back and agree with the above completely. We lacked a target without JCH and had very little shape in the final third. As soon as we found his feet and he brought our midfield into the game as an attacking force we looked dangerous. Felt we were a little deep and a touch sloppy in possession at times but positive changes and a will to win the game brought its reward. Great 3 points and all to play for in the next couple of weeks!!

Great post sir!!

Really poor performance today, that as last week (when playing with 11) suggests some sides have started to figure us out. They pressed high up the pitch when level early and in front and sat deep to preserve their point and looked to hit us on the counter after a pretty undeserved equaliser.....worryingly both were successful! We were too ponderous in possession and our final ball lacked any quality. 5 yard passes are all well and good, but if there is no movement we look as bad as we did today. Totally agree with someone earlier who said Moore was the best player on the pitch and his use of the ball embarrassed our own efforts. Due to commitments, I've on only seen the last 3 games but I feel there is as much to be concerned as excited about at present!!

The above is absolutely spot on, the game really reinforced how effective Wes is as the second pivot receiving the ball from the back, without him we really struggled centrally!! With 10 we were superb!