MATCH: vs Scunthorpe United (A) 16/03/21

[TheBigDog]

5 hours ago, Gary1906 said:

There’s a fine balance when you are winning a game in the closing stages - especially away from home - between trying to get another or protecting what you have. He chose the latter and that’s fair enough. If he had brought Bahamboula on and then we had conceded he would have been hammered on here for not bringing on a more defensive minded player, and rightly so in my opinion.
Its about game management and grinding out a result. We’ve conceded 60 odd goals this season though and that tells me that collectively the defence hasn’t been good enough.
A lot of the time it’s been due to  the weakness of the midfield players and the defence gets overrun, but they have to take responsibility for what happens in our penalty area and Scunthorpe’s equaliser came from a guy totally unmarked in our box in the dying minutes.
Really poor defending.

 

 It is significant that, in my opinion, our three best players on the pitch yesterday were Piergianni, Walker and Jameson.

 

For large parts of the game we were on the back foot and Scunthorpe attacked us with pace; Green and Brown in particular caused problems. Despite scoring first, we were second best in the second half. If watching Latics this season has taught us one thing it’s that we cannot sit back and defend a single goal lead. 

 

In Whelan, McCalmont, McAleny and Keillor-Dunn we have a midfield of attacking intent but limited defensive skills. Our passing yesterday was much improved but it still varied from the sublime to the ridiculous - and if a team cannot keep hold of the ball then it simply invites pressure.

The two defensive minded substitutions signalled Curle’s intent and we dropped even deeper. And yet, through a combination of good defending and elements of luck, we were ahead deep into added time.

 

I feel for Badan as he is obviously not comfortable in a back three but he was often caught in possession and failed to track his man for the oh so cruel equaliser. Both Clarke and Borthwick-Jackson, when fit, should play ahead of him at the back.

 

However it’s up front that we are struggling  - Grant is limited in the impact he has coming on as a replacement and why Bahamboula is being left out is hard to take. The ball comes back too easily as there is no one to hold it up. We have to accept that Dearnley is long term injured but where are Blackwood and Barnes? 

 

We will see the return of Danny Rowe on Saturday... if only....

 

 

 

 

 

[Littlemoor Lad]

1 hour ago, JoeP said:

Bar the subs, I didn't think it was that bad. 

 

A million miles from Saturday's debacle - passing, control and movement actually looked professional. Both centre-backs looked decent. Not convinced about the keeper. 

 

We've got too many sub-standard players, but we nearly did a job on them. Hopefully Curle will take note of the impact the subs made. We move on. 

 

 

We looked far better but they were so poor and it was ours to lose at 1 nowt up.

McAleny was doing more defending than striking, he was in our own half most of the time, no out ball and that points to an over defensive attitude from the touchline shouter.

Two up top Saturday or we'll have another debacle 

[LightDN123]

A back three of Jameson, Pidge and Clarke could do okay.

 

Whelan did well and took his chance. But Alfie is better and I’m not sure if both can play together. 
 

I can’t believe Curle took off both CM’s at the same time! That is something you should not do as they both have to get a feel for the game at the same time. Wouldn’t have hurt to leave Whelan/Alfie on for 5 more minutes. 
 

The pressing Alfie does is ridiculous, he puts a hell of a shift in which will suit him at Leeds. 

[Guest Stanley30]

Did we lose? 

[BP1960]

2 hours ago, Gary1906 said:

There’s a fine balance when you are winning a game in the closing stages - especially away from home - between trying to get another or protecting what you have. He chose the latter and that’s fair enough. If he had brought Bahamboula on and then we had conceded he would have been hammered on here for not bringing on a more defensive minded player, and rightly so in my opinion.
Its about game management and grinding out a result. We’ve conceded 60 odd goals this season though and that tells me that collectively the defence hasn’t been good enough.
A lot of the time it’s been due to  the weakness of the midfield players and the defence gets overrun, but they have to take responsibility for what happens in our penalty area and Scunthorpe’s equaliser came from a guy totally unmarked in our box in the dying minutes.
Really poor defending.

 

Totally unmarked with Diarra yards away from any attacker.

He was dire in the previous game so the last person I'd want on the pitch. Similar for Ntwambe has makes little impact on games.

Who'd have thought the dysfunctional owner and his brother would bring in a manager capable  of destroying the confidence of one of the most entertaining attackers we have seen in years.

 

[BP1960]

11 hours ago, Littlemoor Lad said:

He's got until the end of the season to change his ways

 

A leopard springs to mind.

[BP1960]

8 minutes ago, Stanley30 said:

Did we lose? 

 

Felt like it.

[BP1960]

21 minutes ago, LightDN123 said:

A back three of Jameson, Pidge and Clarke could do okay.

 

Whelan did well and took his chance. But Alfie is better and I’m not sure if both can play together. 
 

I can’t believe Curle took off both CM’s at the same time! That is something you should not do as they both have to get a feel for the game at the same time. Wouldn’t have hurt to leave Whelan/Alfie on for 5 more minutes. 
 

The pressing Alfie does is ridiculous, he puts a hell of a shift in which will suit him at Leeds. 

 

Whelan hardly misplaced a pass all night and this enabled McCalmont more freedom than usual. Strangely its the more experienced Hilssner who looks off the pace and was caught in possession several times.

 

[Gary1906]

1 hour ago, SweeperKeeper said:

If your defence can't be trusted, that's all the more reason not to rely just on them for 30 minutes.

I don’t think he was relying on them. I thought he was trying to protect them. If he had brought Bahamboula on and we had conceded I guarantee virtually everyone on here would be slating him for bringing an attacker on when all we needed to do was see out the game.

[BP1960]

31 minutes ago, Littlemoor Lad said:

We looked far better but they were so poor and it was ours to lose at 1 nowt up.

McAleny was doing more defending than striking, he was in our own half most of the time, no out ball and that points to an over defensive attitude from the touchline shouter.

Two up top Saturday or we'll have another debacle 

 

More likely we will see Ntwambe and Diarra start to hold on to a 0-0 from the start.

Wouldn't surprise me at all to see Whelan and Hilssner 'rested'.

[Careca9]

1 hour ago, TheBigDog said:

 

 It is significant that, in my opinion, our three best players on the pitch yesterday were Piergianni, Walker and Jameson.

 

For large parts of the game we were on the back foot and Scunthorpe attacked us with pace; Green and Brown in particular caused problems. Despite scoring first, we were second best in the second half. If watching Latics this season has taught us one thing it’s that we cannot sit back and defend a single goal lead. 

 

In Whelan, McCalmont, McAleny and Keillor-Dunn we have a midfield of attacking intent but limited defensive skills. Our passing yesterday was much improved but it still varied from the sublime to the ridiculous - and if a team cannot keep hold of the ball then it simply invites pressure.

The two defensive minded substitutions signalled Curle’s intent and we dropped even deeper. And yet, through a combination of good defending and elements of luck, we were ahead deep into added time.

 

I feel for Badan as he is obviously not comfortable in a back three but he was often caught in possession and failed to track his man for the oh so cruel equaliser. Both Clarke and Borthwick-Jackson, when fit, should play ahead of him at the back.

 

However it’s up front that we are struggling  - Grant is limited in the impact he has coming on as a replacement and why Bahamboula is being left out is hard to take. The ball comes back too easily s there is no one to hold it up. We have to accept that Dearnley is long term injured but where are Blackwood and Barnes? 

 

We will see the return of Danny Rowe on Saturday... if only....

 

 

barnes is obv not up to it. Couldn’t regularly get in match day squad for kewell and no other club has taken him and he’s 24 now. Blackwood again is half decent but would imagine curle wants proven league 2 players not people who could make it. Rec both will struggle for any game time to end of season 

[Stainrod]

Big overreaction on here.

that was an entertaining game of football. We looked much more organised and solid than previously, Clarke replacing Badan in a back three will much improve things.

we passed much better but we still look incredibly small and have no aerial threat unless we put the centre backs up which we can only do for set pieces. If we had held onto the win the reaction would have been so different. The only contentious issue I agree with is the replacing of two midfielders at once, 10 minute gap would have been less disruptive. Trying to shore up the defence when one up away from home? fully understandable.

the cry for Bahamboula I get, what a player at times, presume Curle dislikes how often he actually loses possession.

[BP1960]

We have the best attacker in years and this manager won't play him. Says a lot about his philosophy.

 

 

[Littlemoor Lad]

2 hours ago, Stanley30 said:

Did we lose? 

No but the chances of taking the 3 points far outweighed the 1 we had to accept.

Those two points lost could end up being the difference between us staying out of the National league,

A scary thought.

 

 

[ceskylatic]

8 minutes ago, Littlemoor Lad said:

No but the chances of taking the 3 points far outweighed the 1 we had to accept.

Those two points lost could end up being the difference between us staying out of the National league,

A scary thought.

 

 

50/1 for the drop with Paddy Power if you reckon there’s a chance we could go down.

[Littlemoor Lad]

2 minutes ago, ceskylatic said:

50/1 for the drop with Paddy Power if you reckon there’s a chance we could go down.

I bet the odds were greater than that back in 2018 

We shouldn't even be looking over our shoulders but after last night we still are.

[Bristolatic]

Despite saying I would never fork out another tenner this season, I'm pleased I changed my mind last night. Well, I was pleased until the last 20 minutes or so. We played some good stuff going forward, but aren't we just crying out for a genuine goal scorer? 

 

Most of our passing was very good as was a great deal of our ball retention, but we still gave it away too many times when not under pressure. Pidge was MOM for me; did he miss even one header? Jameson had a decent game too, but that foul/kick on him late on was a red card in my (blue tinted) eyes. Possibly the only poor decision the ref made.

 

I was impressed with Whelan too, worked very hard and gave McCalmont some more freedom to get forward and are we sure that was Fage wearing number 14? Not a natural left footer and has been so poor in most of the games he's played, but he had a really good game wide left. Well done to the lad.

 

Hilßner is a real enigma. He obviously has loads of talent and very good left foot, but why does he lose possession so much running into blind alleys? McAleny was pretty anonymous most of the evening, but I'd still play him because he can always produce just that one moment of magic.

 

Some of DKD's ball control is excellent and he can turn defenders inside out on his day, but he'll never be able to put in a decent tackle, so he doesn't recover quickly enough when he loses the ball. Again, I'd persevere with him; he's young and still learning. There's a footballer in there.

 

Adams is a class act for this division. Yes, he'll make the odd mistake and he mishits the odd cross, but the team needs him playing where he was last night, not at right back. We have always suspected that Badan is not a CB, and he keeps proving it. I'm not convinced he's even a defender. He loses his man too easily and gets beaten too easily. Until CBJ returns, he's probably our only option and not a very good one at that. Let's hope Clarke regains his early season form when he's back in the side.

 

We need Lawlor back at the weekend if he's fit and he maintains his form of the last few games. Walker worries me no end. Yes, he made a couple of decent saves low down, but he has a nasty habit of pushing the ball back into the danger areas and there were a couple of occasions last night when he punched the ball instead of catching it. He didn't punch it very far and put us back under pressure. Actually, I'm not sure one was even a punch, more a push. And what was that kick all about straight to their man?

 

It was a game we could, and should, have won.  After we scored, they were all over the place for the next fifteen minutes and that was the time to press. Instead, we started to sit back, gave them possession and invited them to attack us. It saw them grow in confidence as we got steadily worse. We needed Bahamboula on to occupy at least one of their defenders. If they have done their homework, they would know the threat he poses and it could have kept the ball more at their end than ours. He'll come back to defend as well, more than some others will.

 

KC cost us 2 points last night with those substitutions. Diarra is a liability and Ntambwe's distribution is so wayward. I said at the time that if ever we needed a second goal, it was then. Once they came on, the writing was on the wall, so I hope he doesn't keep insisting on the same tactics once we're a goal up. Or, more likely these days, IF we're a goal up.

 

I might watch another one next month.

[deyres42]

17 minutes ago, ceskylatic said:

50/1 for the drop with Paddy Power if you reckon there’s a chance we could go down.

You can have 1000/1 with me.

[Littlemoor Lad]

23 minutes ago, Bristolatic said:

Despite saying I would never fork out another tenner this season, I'm pleased I changed my mind last night. Well, I was pleased until the last 20 minutes or so. We played some good stuff going forward, but aren't we just crying out for a genuine goal scorer? 

 

Most of our passing was very good as was a great deal of our ball retention, but we still gave it away too many times when not under pressure. Pidge was MOM for me; did he miss even one header? Jameson had a decent game too, but that foul/kick on him late on was a red card in my (blue tinted) eyes. Possibly the only poor decision the ref made.

 

I was impressed with Whelan too, worked very hard and gave McCalmont some more freedom to get forward and are we sure that was Fage wearing number 14? Not a natural left footer and has been so poor in most of the games he's played, but he had a really good game wide left. Well done to the lad.

 

Hilßner is a real enigma. He obviously has loads of talent and very good left foot, but why does he lose possession so much running into blind alleys? McAleny was pretty anonymous most of the evening, but I'd still play him because he can always produce just that one moment of magic.

 

Some of DKD's ball control is excellent and he can turn defenders inside out on his day, but he'll never be able to put in a decent tackle, so he doesn't recover quickly enough when he loses the ball. Again, I'd persevere with him; he's young and still learning. There's a footballer in there.

 

Adams is a class act for this division. Yes, he'll make the odd mistake and he mishits the odd cross, but the team needs him playing where he was last night, not at right back. We have always suspected that Badan is not a CB, and he keeps proving it. I'm not convinced he's even a defender. He loses his man too easily and gets beaten too easily. Until CBJ returns, he's probably our only option and not a very good one at that. Let's hope Clarke regains his early season form when he's back in the side.

 

We need Lawlor back at the weekend if he's fit and he maintains his form of the last few games. Walker worries me no end. Yes, he made a couple of decent saves low down, but he has a nasty habit of pushing the ball back into the danger areas and there were a couple of occasions last night when he punched the ball instead of catching it. He didn't punch it very far and put us back under pressure. Actually, I'm not sure one was even a punch, more a push. And what was that kick all about straight to their man?

 

It was a game we could, and should, have won.  After we scored, they were all over the place for the next fifteen minutes and that was the time to press. Instead, we started to sit back, gave them possession and invited them to attack us. It saw them grow in confidence as we got steadily worse. We needed Bahamboula on to occupy at least one of their defenders. If they have done their homework, they would know the threat he poses and it could have kept the ball more at their end than ours. He'll come back to defend as well, more than some others will.

 

KC cost us 2 points last night with those substitutions. Diarra is a liability and Ntambwe's distribution is so wayward. I said at the time that if ever we needed a second goal, it was then. Once they came on, the writing was on the wall, so I hope he doesn't keep insisting on the same tactics once we're a goal up. Or, more likely these days, IF we're a goal up.

 

I might watch another one next month.

Spot on Bristol 

[TheBigDog]

1 hour ago, Stainrod said:

Big overreaction on here.

that was an entertaining game of football. We looked much more organised and solid than previously,

 

We did look somewhat better in our organisation and passing I agree. But (and there’s always a but) for a large part of the game we were firmly on the back foot. And I’m not sure that I found the last twenty minutes entertaining... 

 

I’ve read from some on here that Scunthorpe were poor and yet this poor team managed 18 shots with 9 on target and one hitting the crossbar. Walker made a number of good saves and Piergianni was immense.

 

No overreaction from me, just a view that, although an improvement, last night showed that Curle needs one or two more to come back into the squad. It also showed to me that Curle needs to modify his approach to get the best out of the players at his disposal.

 

Looking forward to the new manager bounce starting this weekend

[L1onheartNew]

1 hour ago, Bristolatic said:

Despite saying I would never fork out another tenner this season, I'm pleased I changed my mind last night. Well, I was pleased until the last 20 minutes or so. We played some good stuff going forward, but aren't we just crying out for a genuine goal scorer? 

 

Most of our passing was very good as was a great deal of our ball retention, but we still gave it away too many times when not under pressure. Pidge was MOM for me; did he miss even one header? Jameson had a decent game too, but that foul/kick on him late on was a red card in my (blue tinted) eyes. Possibly the only poor decision the ref made.

 

I was impressed with Whelan too, worked very hard and gave McCalmont some more freedom to get forward and are we sure that was Fage wearing number 14? Not a natural left footer and has been so poor in most of the games he's played, but he had a really good game wide left. Well done to the lad.

 

Hilßner is a real enigma. He obviously has loads of talent and very good left foot, but why does he lose possession so much running into blind alleys? McAleny was pretty anonymous most of the evening, but I'd still play him because he can always produce just that one moment of magic.

 

Some of DKD's ball control is excellent and he can turn defenders inside out on his day, but he'll never be able to put in a decent tackle, so he doesn't recover quickly enough when he loses the ball. Again, I'd persevere with him; he's young and still learning. There's a footballer in there.

 

Adams is a class act for this division. Yes, he'll make the odd mistake and he mishits the odd cross, but the team needs him playing where he was last night, not at right back. We have always suspected that Badan is not a CB, and he keeps proving it. I'm not convinced he's even a defender. He loses his man too easily and gets beaten too easily. Until CBJ returns, he's probably our only option and not a very good one at that. Let's hope Clarke regains his early season form when he's back in the side.

 

We need Lawlor back at the weekend if he's fit and he maintains his form of the last few games. Walker worries me no end. Yes, he made a couple of decent saves low down, but he has a nasty habit of pushing the ball back into the danger areas and there were a couple of occasions last night when he punched the ball instead of catching it. He didn't punch it very far and put us back under pressure. Actually, I'm not sure one was even a punch, more a push. And what was that kick all about straight to their man?

 

It was a game we could, and should, have won.  After we scored, they were all over the place for the next fifteen minutes and that was the time to press. Instead, we started to sit back, gave them possession and invited them to attack us. It saw them grow in confidence as we got steadily worse. We needed Bahamboula on to occupy at least one of their defenders. If they have done their homework, they would know the threat he poses and it could have kept the ball more at their end than ours. He'll come back to defend as well, more than some others will.

 

KC cost us 2 points last night with those substitutions. Diarra is a liability and Ntambwe's distribution is so wayward. I said at the time that if ever we needed a second goal, it was then. Once they came on, the writing was on the wall, so I hope he doesn't keep insisting on the same tactics once we're a goal up. Or, more likely these days, IF we're a goal up.

 

I might watch another one next month.

This.

 

 

[Dave_Og]

15 minutes ago, TheBigDog said:

 

 

Looking forward to the new manager bounce starting this weekend

 

Can't find them but I've seen stats that confirm the concept of a new manager bounce is mythical.  Just gets notice when it happens but there are more times that it doesn't

[Littlemoor Lad]

49 minutes ago, Dave_Og said:

 

Can't find them but I've seen stats that confirm the concept of a new manager bounce is mythical.  Just gets notice when it happens but there are more times that it doesn't

In this case it most definitely hasn't and will most probably cost us even in the short term.

Hope I'm proved wrong.

[LightDN123]

5 hours ago, BP1960 said:

 

Whelan hardly misplaced a pass all night and this enabled McCalmont more freedom than usual. Strangely its the more experienced Hilssner who looks off the pace and was caught in possession several times.

 

Whelan is a very tidy player.

[Worcester Owl]

3 hours ago, Littlemoor Lad said:

I bet the odds were greater than that back in 2018 

We shouldn't even be looking over our shoulders but after last night we still are.

Spot on. It's scandalous that we are closer to the drop now than we were just a few weeks ago. 1 win in the last 9 matches and only 10 goals scored. Keep that up and we really could be in trouble.