Masochist? Here is a match report all for you.

[Olé]

This was a monumentally bad performance on a day that was all about the managers - given that this was a game where both clubs had two weeks to prepare and so their respective managers had every opportunity to study and conceive a ‘set piece’ performance designed to beat their opponents. But in a proverbial battle of wits, we turned up unarmed. 

We now know (as if it were a surprise) that Lee Johnson wouldn’t win a tactical battle with an empty can of Fanta. The first half today, as well as being amongst the most anonymous from our team since the depths of January, was as comprehensive tactical victory as you will see. Brentford’s manager must have felt like he was pushing against an open door.

It was unquestionable to me that he had watched us and knew our flaws. Keep the ball, use the full width of the pitch, target our full backs, pass and move in the knowledge we won’t press and we won’t tackle up the pitch and will stand yards off and invite the cross. Do so also knowing we will quickly get demoralised and sit deeper and start hitting long balls.

This is what happens when a halfway competent manager actually studies an opponent and sees what to punish. The way Brentford went about punishing us was quality - passing and switching play, committing players forward onto knock downs. We got off lightly to be just two down at half time. At times they were queuing up to shoot, it was Brentford vs Frankie.

It was obvious within 5 minutes of the start that this was a match only one team prepared for. Whereas Brentford had a plan and set about executing it, we offered nothing in midfield and our only threat was two breaks by Joe Bryan with few options - there was so little in front of him. It wasn’t the shape from Huddersfield, Tomlin was far deeper, not playing off Tammy.

With Brentford’s first attack they had the time and space to setup a knock down and shot that Fielding had to beat away. The half would continue in broadly the same one-sided way - passing easily through us and creating the space to test Fielding repeatedly. Time and again they would target our full backs and Joe Bryan in particular was simply miles off their winger.

We were sluggish and statuesque. It was honestly like watching 2 teams playing at different speeds. This had already been well evident before it gifted them their opener as they lifted a second ball over a flat, static City line to setup an easy chance (to howls of derision from City fans behind the goal who could see Brentford movement far more quickly our players would).

The second came soon after, a spot of pinball and close range finish but again the result of Brentford being able to knock the ball about at will without City players getting close to it. It was total one way traffic. Joe Bryan was beaten repeatedly and our central midfield was non existent. The crosses rained in and Brentford always had a spare man over to take the shot.

The only surprise at half time was that we weren’t further behind. It is no exaggeration to say that Brentford were quite simply teeing off on us - they knew how to exploit our weaknesses and kept on doing it. Lee Johnson argued with Tomlin about his positioning - and it’s true he was far too deep and wasteful - but in truth none of the players knew what they were doing.

The second half continued the same with shots flying in at Fielding - the poor guy must have wondered where his defence was - while our shape got progressively worse as Cotterill and O’Dowda drifted to control Brentford’s movement. One early Bryan cross did let Tammy head onto the post, and Cotterill knocked in two dangerous crosses, but it was against play. 

Whether it was just Brentford sitting back deciding to hold what they had, but we only got going after our subs for a final 20 minutes, with our abysmal central midfield removed. Bobby Reid, and particularly Hegeler offered something we hadn’t seen yet, players actually playing with their heads up and seeing where the space to run or pass was. We started to build.

In the end we could still have nicked something from the game - though scarcely deserved. Hegeler was a class above what we’d been doing all game and was taking on opponents (compare to Tomlin, by now virtually anonymous brooding deep in midfield). Several times he beat players and had the likes of Reid, Taylor and even Korey Smith streaming forward.

Reid hit the outside of the post from a well worked move, and then unforgivably Taylor - who looked off the pace and rusty of touch - missed a sitter after Tammy did brilliantly to take on the defence and square the ball unselfishly. But that was it, and we finished with Joe Bryan - among our worst - miscuing one ball out for a throw in and lifting a cross into the stand.

This was a shocking performance. It was replete with many of the worst aspects of the past 5 months. That it came on the heels of a mini unbeaten run and big win last time out, says more about incompetence of the manager than losing 8 in a row does. It was a well prepared game you couldn’t possibly screw up this badly unless something is very rotten at City.

It’s not hard to see what it is.

Fielding 7 Embarrassingly overworked.
Smith 6 Works his proverbials off, says a lot about how abjectly we’ve invested in full back that this is the best we’ve got.
Bryan 4 Not a left back not a left back not a left back not a left back. Miles off their winger. Hit and miss going forward.
Flint 5 Not quick enough - battled in the second half but badly exposed in the first.
Wright 5 Sluggish and also slow to react.
O’Neil 4 Never got in the game.
Pack 4 Barely got in the game.
Cotterill 5 Our shape fell to pieces which limited him, but unlucky to be subbed when he is probably our best crosser of the ball. Not surprised he reacted badly to being taken off.
O’Dowda 6 Also limited by the complete collapse of our midfield and disappearance of Tomlin. Had to drop back to stem the tide in midfield. Didn’t really get the chance to go at them.
Tomlin 4 I’ve been told I’m too negative about the guy. I like him. He’s a flare player. Against Huddersfield he played off Tammy just like he used to with Kodjia and he looked great. What the hell was that today? Didn’t look interested and got deeper and more anonymous the more the game went on.
Abraham 6 First half was like the worst of winter - punting long balls to the poor guy on his own. In the end he had to start creating openings, which he did, but it’s getting to the point where he looks like a good player wasting his time in a poor poor team.

Subs:
Taylor 4 Had the appearance of a League one footballer who hadn’t played for a month. Which is exactly what he is.
Reid 6 Looked bright and intelligent when he came on, offered a link up to attack which Tomlin failed to provide. Whether he could do so over 90 minutes remains to be seen.
Hegeler 7 Played with far more poise and belief than any of the rest of them. Perhaps it was just the luxury of playing against a team who had largely done their job, but he took the game to Brentford far more than anyone else did.

[exAtyeoMax]

blimey

[lenred]

Agree about Hegeler. Quite literally head and shoulders above anyone else wearing the 'gold' (or whatever it is) today.  Looked seriously peeved when Tomlin didn't let him take that free kick towards the end as well. Begs the question why he hasn't been more involved. Guess that his ticket hasn't come out of the tombola for the last few weeks. 

[054123]

5 minutes ago, Olé said:

. We now know (as if it were a surprise) that Lee Johnson wouldn’t win a tactical battle with an empty can of Fanta.

The first time I've smiled this evening.

How depressing. 

 

[Chairman Mao]

Time to get Hegeler, Reid and Pack (or Brownhill) in the midfield. Drop Tomlin and push Reid behind Abraham. Bryan needs to move to the left for now and O'Dowda the right. Flint needs to be replaced by Mags. How can it be that Smith is our best right back. Matthews is a disgrace.

[Kid in the Riot]

How utterly depressing. 

In the words of Jason Williamson taken from Sleaford Mods new album English Tapas:

"We're going down like BHS"

Just like BHS we are being shafted by a billionaire...

[CotswoldRed]

Far clearer, more eloquent and honest than LJ could ever hope to be. 

The man is lamentably out of his depth and is anything but a football coach in the truest sense. 

[Sniper]

10 minutes ago, Olé said:

This was a monumentally bad performance on a day that was all about the managers - given that this was a game where both clubs had two weeks to prepare and so their respective managers had every opportunity to study and conceive a ‘set piece’ performance designed to beat their opponents. But in a proverbial battle of wits, we turned up unarmed. 

We now know (as if it were a surprise) that Lee Johnson wouldn’t win a tactical battle with an empty can of Fanta. The first half today, as well as being amongst the most anonymous from our team since the depths of January, was as comprehensive tactical victory as you will see. Brentford’s manager must have felt like he was pushing against an open door.

It was unquestionable to me that he had watched us and knew our flaws. Keep the ball, use the full width of the pitch, target our full backs, pass and move in the knowledge we won’t press and we won’t tackle up the pitch and will stand yards off and invite the cross. Do so also knowing we will quickly get demoralised and sit deeper and start hitting long balls.

This is what happens when a halfway competent manager actually studies an opponent and sees what to punish. The way Brentford went about punishing us was quality - passing and switching play, committing players forward onto knock downs. We got off lightly to be just two down at half time. At times they were queuing up to shoot, it was Brentford vs Frankie.

It was obvious within 5 minutes of the start that this was a match only one team prepared for. Whereas Brentford had a plan and set about executing it, we offered nothing in midfield and our only threat was two breaks by Joe Bryan with few options - there was so little in front of him. It wasn’t the shape from Huddersfield, Tomlin was far deeper, not playing off Tammy.

With Brentford’s first attack they had the time and space to setup a knock down and shot that Fielding had to beat away. The half would continue in broadly the same one-sided way - passing easily through us and creating the space to test Fielding repeatedly. Time and again they would target our full backs and Joe Bryan in particular was simply miles off their winger.

We were sluggish and statuesque. It was honestly like watching 2 teams playing at different speeds. This had already been well evident before it gifted them their opener as they lifted a second ball over a flat, static City line to setup an easy chance (to howls of derision from City fans behind the goal who could see Brentford movement far more quickly our players would).

The second came soon after, a spot of pinball and close range finish but again the result of Brentford being able to knock the ball about at will without City players getting close to it. It was total one way traffic. Joe Bryan was beaten repeatedly and our central midfield was non existent. The crosses rained in and Brentford always had a spare man over to take the shot.

The only surprise at half time was that we weren’t further behind. It is no exaggeration to say that Brentford were quite simply teeing off on us - they knew how to exploit our weaknesses and kept on doing it. Lee Johnson argued with Tomlin about his positioning - and it’s true he was far too deep and wasteful - but in truth none of the players knew what they were doing.

The second half continued the same with shots flying in at Fielding - the poor guy must have wondered where his defence was - while our shape got progressively worse as Cotterill and O’Dowda drifted to control Brentford’s movement. One early Bryan cross did let Tammy head onto the post, and Cotterill knocked in two dangerous crosses, but it was against play. 

Whether it was just Brentford sitting back deciding to hold what they had, but we only got going after our subs for a final 20 minutes, with our abysmal central midfield removed. Bobby Reid, and particularly Hegeler offered something we hadn’t seen yet, players actually playing with their heads up and seeing where the space to run or pass was. We started to build.

In the end we could still have nicked something from the game - though scarcely deserved. Hegeler was a class above what we’d been doing all game and was taking on opponents (compare to Tomlin, by now virtually anonymous brooding deep in midfield). Several times he beat players and had the likes of Reid, Taylor and even Korey Smith streaming forward.

Reid hit the outside of the post from a well worked move, and then unforgivably Taylor - who looked off the pace and rusty of touch - missed a sitter after Tammy did brilliantly to take on the defence and square the ball unselfishly. But that was it, and we finished with Joe Bryan - among our worst - miscuing one ball out for a throw in and lifting a cross into the stand.

This was a shocking performance. It was replete with many of the worst aspects of the past 5 months. That it came on the heels of a mini unbeaten run and big win last time out, says more about incompetence of the manager than losing 8 in a row does. It was a well prepared game you couldn’t possibly screw up this badly unless something is very rotten at City.

It’s not hard to see what it is.

Fielding 7 Embarrassingly overworked.
Smith 6 Works his proverbials off, says a lot about how abjectly we’ve invested in full back that this is the best we’ve got.
Bryan 4 Not a left back not a left back not a left back not a left back. Miles off their winger. Hit and miss going forward.
Flint 5 Not quick enough - battled in the second half but badly exposed in the first.
Wright 5 Sluggish and also slow to react.
O’Neil 4 Never got in the game.
Pack 4 Barely got in the game.
Cotterill 5 Our shape fell to pieces which limited him, but unlucky to be subbed when he is probably our best crosser of the ball. Not surprised he reacted badly to being taken off.
O’Dowda 6 Also limited by the complete collapse of our midfield and disappearance of Tomlin. Had to drop back to stem the tide in midfield. Didn’t really get the chance to go at them.
Tomlin 4 I’ve been told I’m too negative about the guy. I like him. He’s a flare player. Against Huddersfield he played off Tammy just like he used to with Kodjia and he looked great. What the hell was that today? Didn’t look interested and got deeper and more anonymous the more the game went on.
Abraham 6 First half was like the worst of winter - punting long balls to the poor guy on his own. In the end he had to start creating openings, which he did, but it’s getting to the point where he looks like a good player wasting his time in a poor poor team.

Subs:
Taylor 4 Had the appearance of a League one footballer who hadn’t played for a month. Which is exactly what he is.
Reid 6 Looked bright and intelligent when he came on, offered a link up to attack which Tomlin failed to provide. Whether he could do so over 90 minutes remains to be seen.
Hegeler 7 Played with far more poise and belief than any of the rest of them. Perhaps it was just the luxury of playing against a team who had largely done their job, but he took the game to Brentford far more than anyone else did.

I always look forward to your match reports Ole, and as someone said a few weeks ago you could/should do it professionally.

The three words above just about some's up nearly every player on the pitch today. Second half better but the game was lost by then. It just seems that BCFC is like a well paid Holiday Camp with no come backs.

[Kid in the Riot]

4 minutes ago, Chairman Mao said:

Time to get Hegeler, Reid and Pack (or Brownhill) in the midfield. Drop Tomlin and push Reid behind Abraham. Bryan needs to move to the left for now and O'Dowda the right. Flint needs to be replaced by Mags. How can it be that Smith is our best right back. Matthews is a disgrace.

He's tried it all mate. He's tried every formation,  every player, every substitution, two new assistant managers - everything.

But everything he tries doesn't work because he is fuxking useless. You could give him Chelsea's squad and he would piss about with the tactics, formations and line ups, annoy the majority of the squad and end up turning them into relegation candidates.

Promise you, the longer he stays the further we will fall.

[Cider red]

This game reminded me of the Huddersfield away performance I also watched online. Out passed, out fought, out thought, and out classed - Today by an average mid table Brentford side. To be fair to them they played well, but we made it so easy it was ridiculous, its a typical Johnson performance. I wouldn't care if the footy was dog awful and we picked up the odd result, ala Warnock. But we have no bite and no set way of playing, are we a passing side? Are we an effective closing down side? no neither. Johnson bangs on about 'identity' till the cows come home, but we dont have one.

Today looked like Championship vs conference, how the clown hasnt gone is ridiculous, if we stay up this year, with him in charge we will be Rotherham esque im afraid, all with spending 20 million plus (by the time he has had this summers transfer window). Its all a bit depressing really! The only hope is that teams like Brentford show you CAN compete at this level without spending obscene amounts of money, you just need a clear plan, something that 99.9% of city fans have known Johnson isn't capable of for months. Just a shame Lansdown doesn't want to sack his friend, I'm beginning to think he should sell up to someone who can actually make football decisions. 

Anyway, gone off tangent slightly, I'd say your bang on the money OP - Hegeler looked heads and shoulders above the rest, I said after the Huddersfield Oneil is our weak link, he can't pass and hes not mobile enough to press, I'd go as far as having Brownhill and Hegelar in CM on Tuesday to get some mobility in there. Joe Bryan is never a left back and never has been, its a discrace we have an international class LB on the bench when he is playing there. Lets hope Johnson has some sense to play with him and Hegelar next game.......I won't hold my breath. 

[CotswoldRed]

Just now, Kid in the Riot said:

He's tried it all mate. He's tried every formation,  every player, every substitution, two new assistant managers - everything.

But everything he tries doesn't work because he is fuxking useless. You could give him Chelsea's squad and he would piss about with the tactics, formations and line ups, annoy the majority of the squad and end up turning them into relegation candidates.

Promise you, the longer he stays the further we will fall.

I accept its probably too late this season, but, if he manages to to keep us up he should be given his P45 as the final whistle goes on the season.

Oh, the same if he takes us down.  

[TRL]

1 minute ago, Kid in the Riot said:

He's tried it all mate. He's tried every formation,  every player, every substitution, two new assistant managers - everything.

But everything he tries doesn't work because he is fuxking useless. You could give him Chelsea's squad and he would piss about with the tactics, formations and line ups, annoy the majority of the squad and end up turning them into relegation candidates.

Promise you, the longer he stays the further we will fall.

Makes you wonder how much say he has in player purchases judging by the amount of new payers he decides to play.

 

Whole setup looks a shambles to be honest,especially when you consider these signings are supposed to be better tan we have already got.  From Ashton down, it looks like the decisions are not joined up.

[REDOXO]

Thanks Ole. You saw what I saw. I just can't understand people who didn't...

I have noted a few Apologists in other threads. But do note that they are few and far between. I particularly don't miss some of the usual suspect apologists who have buggered off winging about their treatment.

Utter toss bought and paid for!....Season ticket, shirt, subscription, membership they can stick them all up their ass even if we stay up....If we do It wont be down to anyone within the club, it will be down to the supporters backing who have suffered this complete and utter ******* ineptitude....!

[GrahamC]

9 minutes ago, Kid in the Riot said:

He's tried it all mate. He's tried every formation,  every player, every substitution, two new assistant managers - everything.

But everything he tries doesn't work because he is fuxking useless. You could give him Chelsea's squad and he would piss about with the tactics, formations and line ups, annoy the majority of the squad and end up turning them into relegation candidates.

Promise you, the longer he stays the further we will fall.

Spot on.

I know you were regularly critical of Cotterill and I do of course accept he was a "my way or the highway" marmite character, but I bet even you would concede that he would do a far better job with what we currently have to pick from.

[stephenkibby.]

1 minute ago, TRL said:

Makes you wonder how much say he has in player purchases judging by the amount of new payers he decides to play.

 

Whole setup looks a shambles to be honest,especially when you consider these signings are supposed to be better tan we have already got.  From Ashton down, it looks like the decisions are not joined up.

Yeah that must be as bad as it get's That first half well. Could anyone even control a football?

And if they could. maybe that old tactic of pass and move.

When I played football witch was so many levels below this.

We had an ex pro coach who would give a free kick against you if after passing the ball you stood and admired your pass.

Did we have any players doing give and go today? No but Brentford had a few!!!!

[yardy]

Very good report as always.

To me it seemed like we needed to change tactics within the first 20 mins, we gave Brentford far too much possession, we allowed them to pass it around the back without any pressure from us which built their confidence and it was just a matter of time until they scored. I think a change in formation to a 4-3-3 with O'Dowda and Cotts either side of Tammy was needed so we would pressure them from goal kicks and not allow them to pass the ball out of defence, i was surprised LJ didn't change formation considering the amount of tinkering we've had in the last few months!

I haven't seen the possession stats but i would be surprised if we had more than 40% (especially 1st half)

 

 

 

[jrabrewer]

Can't argue with much of that, actually thought we were marginally the better side in the 2nd half, if only because our 1st half performance was so pathetically abject that Brentford correctly assumed they had the game won long before the end. All in all a really depressing away day

[hollydog]

44 minutes ago, Olé said:

This was a monumentally bad performance on a day that was all about the managers - given that this was a game where both clubs had two weeks to prepare and so their respective managers had every opportunity to study and conceive a ‘set piece’ performance designed to beat their opponents. But in a proverbial battle of wits, we turned up unarmed. 

We now know (as if it were a surprise) that Lee Johnson wouldn’t win a tactical battle with an empty can of Fanta. The first half today, as well as being amongst the most anonymous from our team since the depths of January, was as comprehensive tactical victory as you will see. Brentford’s manager must have felt like he was pushing against an open door.

It was unquestionable to me that he had watched us and knew our flaws. Keep the ball, use the full width of the pitch, target our full backs, pass and move in the knowledge we won’t press and we won’t tackle up the pitch and will stand yards off and invite the cross. Do so also knowing we will quickly get demoralised and sit deeper and start hitting long balls.

This is what happens when a halfway competent manager actually studies an opponent and sees what to punish. The way Brentford went about punishing us was quality - passing and switching play, committing players forward onto knock downs. We got off lightly to be just two down at half time. At times they were queuing up to shoot, it was Brentford vs Frankie.

It was obvious within 5 minutes of the start that this was a match only one team prepared for. Whereas Brentford had a plan and set about executing it, we offered nothing in midfield and our only threat was two breaks by Joe Bryan with few options - there was so little in front of him. It wasn’t the shape from Huddersfield, Tomlin was far deeper, not playing off Tammy.

With Brentford’s first attack they had the time and space to setup a knock down and shot that Fielding had to beat away. The half would continue in broadly the same one-sided way - passing easily through us and creating the space to test Fielding repeatedly. Time and again they would target our full backs and Joe Bryan in particular was simply miles off their winger.

We were sluggish and statuesque. It was honestly like watching 2 teams playing at different speeds. This had already been well evident before it gifted them their opener as they lifted a second ball over a flat, static City line to setup an easy chance (to howls of derision from City fans behind the goal who could see Brentford movement far more quickly our players would).

The second came soon after, a spot of pinball and close range finish but again the result of Brentford being able to knock the ball about at will without City players getting close to it. It was total one way traffic. Joe Bryan was beaten repeatedly and our central midfield was non existent. The crosses rained in and Brentford always had a spare man over to take the shot.

The only surprise at half time was that we weren’t further behind. It is no exaggeration to say that Brentford were quite simply teeing off on us - they knew how to exploit our weaknesses and kept on doing it. Lee Johnson argued with Tomlin about his positioning - and it’s true he was far too deep and wasteful - but in truth none of the players knew what they were doing.

The second half continued the same with shots flying in at Fielding - the poor guy must have wondered where his defence was - while our shape got progressively worse as Cotterill and O’Dowda drifted to control Brentford’s movement. One early Bryan cross did let Tammy head onto the post, and Cotterill knocked in two dangerous crosses, but it was against play. 

Whether it was just Brentford sitting back deciding to hold what they had, but we only got going after our subs for a final 20 minutes, with our abysmal central midfield removed. Bobby Reid, and particularly Hegeler offered something we hadn’t seen yet, players actually playing with their heads up and seeing where the space to run or pass was. We started to build.

In the end we could still have nicked something from the game - though scarcely deserved. Hegeler was a class above what we’d been doing all game and was taking on opponents (compare to Tomlin, by now virtually anonymous brooding deep in midfield). Several times he beat players and had the likes of Reid, Taylor and even Korey Smith streaming forward.

Reid hit the outside of the post from a well worked move, and then unforgivably Taylor - who looked off the pace and rusty of touch - missed a sitter after Tammy did brilliantly to take on the defence and square the ball unselfishly. But that was it, and we finished with Joe Bryan - among our worst - miscuing one ball out for a throw in and lifting a cross into the stand.

This was a shocking performance. It was replete with many of the worst aspects of the past 5 months. That it came on the heels of a mini unbeaten run and big win last time out, says more about incompetence of the manager than losing 8 in a row does. It was a well prepared game you couldn’t possibly screw up this badly unless something is very rotten at City.

It’s not hard to see what it is.

Fielding 7 Embarrassingly overworked.
Smith 6 Works his proverbials off, says a lot about how abjectly we’ve invested in full back that this is the best we’ve got.
Bryan 4 Not a left back not a left back not a left back not a left back. Miles off their winger. Hit and miss going forward.
Flint 5 Not quick enough - battled in the second half but badly exposed in the first.
Wright 5 Sluggish and also slow to react.
O’Neil 4 Never got in the game.
Pack 4 Barely got in the game.
Cotterill 5 Our shape fell to pieces which limited him, but unlucky to be subbed when he is probably our best crosser of the ball. Not surprised he reacted badly to being taken off.
O’Dowda 6 Also limited by the complete collapse of our midfield and disappearance of Tomlin. Had to drop back to stem the tide in midfield. Didn’t really get the chance to go at them.
Tomlin 4 I’ve been told I’m too negative about the guy. I like him. He’s a flare player. Against Huddersfield he played off Tammy just like he used to with Kodjia and he looked great. What the hell was that today? Didn’t look interested and got deeper and more anonymous the more the game went on.
Abraham 6 First half was like the worst of winter - punting long balls to the poor guy on his own. In the end he had to start creating openings, which he did, but it’s getting to the point where he looks like a good player wasting his time in a poor poor team.

Subs:
Taylor 4 Had the appearance of a League one footballer who hadn’t played for a month. Which is exactly what he is.
Reid 6 Looked bright and intelligent when he came on, offered a link up to attack which Tomlin failed to provide. Whether he could do so over 90 minutes remains to be seen.
Hegeler 7 Played with far more poise and belief than any of the rest of them. Perhaps it was just the luxury of playing against a team who had largely done their job, but he took the game to Brentford far more than anyone else did.

Not there today but sounds a very comprehensive report which sounds awfully familiar. In Germany at the moment- saw Fortuna Düsseldorf lose at home last night- all too familiar/ big city club underachieving in the second tier,

[Kid in the Riot]

21 minutes ago, GrahamC said:

Spot on.

I know you were regularly critical of Cotterill and I do of course accept he was a "my way or the highway" marmite character, but I bet even you would concede that he would do a far better job with what we currently have to pick from.

I would accept that, yes. There wouldn't be the level of disunity that there currently is in the squad that's for sure. You'd be getting 100% effort from all the players too, which we clearly haven't had the benefit of this season.

[Spike]

I never saw the game so genuine question but did Tomlin sit too deep from the start or did he drop deeper and deeper as we were pinned back? Watching him in the past I've noticed when he goes missing is when we're pinned back, it's almost like he drops deeper to try and get ready for a counter but ends up just playing himself out of the game. Was this the case today or just a lazy attitude?

 

I'm not sure what to make of him, he seems like a player that cares, he's definitely got the ability so I don't get why he's so hit and miss. It's all good and well LJ telling him to get further up the pitch but when you're being bombarded and the ball is barely coming out of your defensive area it's got to be frustrating.

Tomlin aside it sounds like our best bet of survival is hoping Blackburn are worse than us. Burton are 3 points ahead of us and look like they're giving more of a fight and Forest are getting some decent results here and there including a point at Preston today.  I honestly can see us being the third team to go down, Rotherham have lost 30 games, Wigan have lost 21 and we've lost 20! Blackburn may only be 1 point behind us but they've only lost 17 and in turn are getting a lot more draws, if we lose next week and they pip another draw the only thing keeping us out of the relegation zone is our goal difference.

[Offside]

What a depressing match report. No fault of Olè, who as ever has summarised the match eloquently , but because the usual failings in our team have returned. Sounds like an utterly inept performance. I listened to the radio commentary up until they got their second goal and it sounded shocking - even the commentators were bemused. I switched the radio back on about 10 mins from the end in the vain hope we'd clawed our way back but it sounded like City were huffing and puffing with little quality. It says a lot that after 2 weeks' preparation time we were so poor. I wouldn't trust LJ and the current team as far as I could throw them.

[Chairman Mao]

1 hour ago, Kid in the Riot said:

I would accept that, yes. There wouldn't be the level of disunity that there currently is in the squad that's for sure. You'd be getting 100% effort from all the players too, which we clearly haven't had the benefit of this season.

I also thought Cotts was badly out of his depth last season but no doubt he was far superior to LJ. 

[megansdad]

Tomlin had a dreadful game and absolutely nothing he tried in the 1st half came off. Hard to believe it was same 11 who played so well against Huddersfield. cotterill anonymous and Brentford had too much time and space. Agree entirely re Hegeler. Let's hope for an appropriate response on Tuesday. 

 

[glynriley]

3 hours ago, Olé said:

This was a monumentally bad performance on a day that was all about the managers - given that this was a game where both clubs had two weeks to prepare and so their respective managers had every opportunity to study and conceive a ‘set piece’ performance designed to beat their opponents. But in a proverbial battle of wits, we turned up unarmed. 

We now know (as if it were a surprise) that Lee Johnson wouldn’t win a tactical battle with an empty can of Fanta. The first half today, as well as being amongst the most anonymous from our team since the depths of January, was as comprehensive tactical victory as you will see. Brentford’s manager must have felt like he was pushing against an open door.

It was unquestionable to me that he had watched us and knew our flaws. Keep the ball, use the full width of the pitch, target our full backs, pass and move in the knowledge we won’t press and we won’t tackle up the pitch and will stand yards off and invite the cross. Do so also knowing we will quickly get demoralised and sit deeper and start hitting long balls.

This is what happens when a halfway competent manager actually studies an opponent and sees what to punish. The way Brentford went about punishing us was quality - passing and switching play, committing players forward onto knock downs. We got off lightly to be just two down at half time. At times they were queuing up to shoot, it was Brentford vs Frankie.

It was obvious within 5 minutes of the start that this was a match only one team prepared for. Whereas Brentford had a plan and set about executing it, we offered nothing in midfield and our only threat was two breaks by Joe Bryan with few options - there was so little in front of him. It wasn’t the shape from Huddersfield, Tomlin was far deeper, not playing off Tammy.

With Brentford’s first attack they had the time and space to setup a knock down and shot that Fielding had to beat away. The half would continue in broadly the same one-sided way - passing easily through us and creating the space to test Fielding repeatedly. Time and again they would target our full backs and Joe Bryan in particular was simply miles off their winger.

We were sluggish and statuesque. It was honestly like watching 2 teams playing at different speeds. This had already been well evident before it gifted them their opener as they lifted a second ball over a flat, static City line to setup an easy chance (to howls of derision from City fans behind the goal who could see Brentford movement far more quickly our players would).

The second came soon after, a spot of pinball and close range finish but again the result of Brentford being able to knock the ball about at will without City players getting close to it. It was total one way traffic. Joe Bryan was beaten repeatedly and our central midfield was non existent. The crosses rained in and Brentford always had a spare man over to take the shot.

The only surprise at half time was that we weren’t further behind. It is no exaggeration to say that Brentford were quite simply teeing off on us - they knew how to exploit our weaknesses and kept on doing it. Lee Johnson argued with Tomlin about his positioning - and it’s true he was far too deep and wasteful - but in truth none of the players knew what they were doing.

The second half continued the same with shots flying in at Fielding - the poor guy must have wondered where his defence was - while our shape got progressively worse as Cotterill and O’Dowda drifted to control Brentford’s movement. One early Bryan cross did let Tammy head onto the post, and Cotterill knocked in two dangerous crosses, but it was against play. 

Whether it was just Brentford sitting back deciding to hold what they had, but we only got going after our subs for a final 20 minutes, with our abysmal central midfield removed. Bobby Reid, and particularly Hegeler offered something we hadn’t seen yet, players actually playing with their heads up and seeing where the space to run or pass was. We started to build.

In the end we could still have nicked something from the game - though scarcely deserved. Hegeler was a class above what we’d been doing all game and was taking on opponents (compare to Tomlin, by now virtually anonymous brooding deep in midfield). Several times he beat players and had the likes of Reid, Taylor and even Korey Smith streaming forward.

Reid hit the outside of the post from a well worked move, and then unforgivably Taylor - who looked off the pace and rusty of touch - missed a sitter after Tammy did brilliantly to take on the defence and square the ball unselfishly. But that was it, and we finished with Joe Bryan - among our worst - miscuing one ball out for a throw in and lifting a cross into the stand.

This was a shocking performance. It was replete with many of the worst aspects of the past 5 months. That it came on the heels of a mini unbeaten run and big win last time out, says more about incompetence of the manager than losing 8 in a row does. It was a well prepared game you couldn’t possibly screw up this badly unless something is very rotten at City.

It’s not hard to see what it is.

Fielding 7 Embarrassingly overworked.
Smith 6 Works his proverbials off, says a lot about how abjectly we’ve invested in full back that this is the best we’ve got.
Bryan 4 Not a left back not a left back not a left back not a left back. Miles off their winger. Hit and miss going forward.
Flint 5 Not quick enough - battled in the second half but badly exposed in the first.
Wright 5 Sluggish and also slow to react.
O’Neil 4 Never got in the game.
Pack 4 Barely got in the game.
Cotterill 5 Our shape fell to pieces which limited him, but unlucky to be subbed when he is probably our best crosser of the ball. Not surprised he reacted badly to being taken off.
O’Dowda 6 Also limited by the complete collapse of our midfield and disappearance of Tomlin. Had to drop back to stem the tide in midfield. Didn’t really get the chance to go at them.
Tomlin 4 I’ve been told I’m too negative about the guy. I like him. He’s a flare player. Against Huddersfield he played off Tammy just like he used to with Kodjia and he looked great. What the hell was that today? Didn’t look interested and got deeper and more anonymous the more the game went on.
Abraham 6 First half was like the worst of winter - punting long balls to the poor guy on his own. In the end he had to start creating openings, which he did, but it’s getting to the point where he looks like a good player wasting his time in a poor poor team.

Subs:
Taylor 4 Had the appearance of a League one footballer who hadn’t played for a month. Which is exactly what he is.
Reid 6 Looked bright and intelligent when he came on, offered a link up to attack which Tomlin failed to provide. Whether he could do so over 90 minutes remains to be seen.
Hegeler 7 Played with far more poise and belief than any of the rest of them. Perhaps it was just the luxury of playing against a team who had largely done their job, but he took the game to Brentford far more than anyone else did.

Apologies @Olé.  I only read the first 6 words, that just about summed it up. 

[Cidre Monita]

Whilst it is of course down to players , and result, as they are on the pitch and can make and break any plan.

However, the man leading the "group" (as the current vogue of terminology that describes the team) has to provide the following

• Leadership is the capacity and will to rally men and women to a common purpose and the character which inspires confidence 

• Every soldier must know, before he goes into battle, how the little battle he is to fight fits into the larger picture, and how the success of his fighting will influence the battle as a whole 

• Decisions! ..., a commander in chief who has not got the quality of decision, then he is no good.

Montgomery (who said these things) was one of the more outspoken generals, a different man, but having spent my youth talking to many veterans who fought with (for him) in Africa, all of them, to a man, said they would have died for him, they believed in him, and felt he was with them. His defining skill was to see battle through the front line troops who had to apply his battle strategies. He was credible and the troops believed in what he was advocating.

People are getting confused between management and leadership. 

The players at BCFC do not believe in LJ and he has no leadership skills. He potentially(?) could be an able coach, but he is not a leader of men.

I really do not understand why SL has self inflicted on the club this ridiculous situation.

We have to beat Blackburn away, of course, but we also need to match their form over other 6 games. I do believe we can avoid relegation, just. But it will be despite LJ not because of him. 

If we do survive, any triumphalist hyperbole by SL or MA would be grossly inappropriate. This season has been a catastrophe on multiple levels. 

 

 

 

[havanatopia]

53 minutes ago, Psychopomp said:

This season has been a catastrophe on multiple levels. 

Sorry mate I only read this bit... all that is required really.

Very decent write up Olé, much appreciated.

[gordie]

Where was the side that pressed high, hassled the opposition in 2's and 3's, worked their socks off and got the crowd going against Huddersfield because they weren't at Brentford.

[BigAl&Toby]

8 hours ago, Olé said:

This was a monumentally bad performance on a day that was all about the managers - given that this was a game where both clubs had two weeks to prepare and so their respective managers had every opportunity to study and conceive a ‘set piece’ performance designed to beat their opponents. But in a proverbial battle of wits, we turned up unarmed. 

We now know (as if it were a surprise) that Lee Johnson wouldn’t win a tactical battle with an empty can of Fanta. The first half today, as well as being amongst the most anonymous from our team since the depths of January, was as comprehensive tactical victory as you will see. Brentford’s manager must have felt like he was pushing against an open door.

It was unquestionable to me that he had watched us and knew our flaws. Keep the ball, use the full width of the pitch, target our full backs, pass and move in the knowledge we won’t press and we won’t tackle up the pitch and will stand yards off and invite the cross. Do so also knowing we will quickly get demoralised and sit deeper and start hitting long balls.

This is what happens when a halfway competent manager actually studies an opponent and sees what to punish. The way Brentford went about punishing us was quality - passing and switching play, committing players forward onto knock downs. We got off lightly to be just two down at half time. At times they were queuing up to shoot, it was Brentford vs Frankie.

It was obvious within 5 minutes of the start that this was a match only one team prepared for. Whereas Brentford had a plan and set about executing it, we offered nothing in midfield and our only threat was two breaks by Joe Bryan with few options - there was so little in front of him. It wasn’t the shape from Huddersfield, Tomlin was far deeper, not playing off Tammy.

With Brentford’s first attack they had the time and space to setup a knock down and shot that Fielding had to beat away. The half would continue in broadly the same one-sided way - passing easily through us and creating the space to test Fielding repeatedly. Time and again they would target our full backs and Joe Bryan in particular was simply miles off their winger.

We were sluggish and statuesque. It was honestly like watching 2 teams playing at different speeds. This had already been well evident before it gifted them their opener as they lifted a second ball over a flat, static City line to setup an easy chance (to howls of derision from City fans behind the goal who could see Brentford movement far more quickly our players would).

The second came soon after, a spot of pinball and close range finish but again the result of Brentford being able to knock the ball about at will without City players getting close to it. It was total one way traffic. Joe Bryan was beaten repeatedly and our central midfield was non existent. The crosses rained in and Brentford always had a spare man over to take the shot.

The only surprise at half time was that we weren’t further behind. It is no exaggeration to say that Brentford were quite simply teeing off on us - they knew how to exploit our weaknesses and kept on doing it. Lee Johnson argued with Tomlin about his positioning - and it’s true he was far too deep and wasteful - but in truth none of the players knew what they were doing.

The second half continued the same with shots flying in at Fielding - the poor guy must have wondered where his defence was - while our shape got progressively worse as Cotterill and O’Dowda drifted to control Brentford’s movement. One early Bryan cross did let Tammy head onto the post, and Cotterill knocked in two dangerous crosses, but it was against play. 

Whether it was just Brentford sitting back deciding to hold what they had, but we only got going after our subs for a final 20 minutes, with our abysmal central midfield removed. Bobby Reid, and particularly Hegeler offered something we hadn’t seen yet, players actually playing with their heads up and seeing where the space to run or pass was. We started to build.

In the end we could still have nicked something from the game - though scarcely deserved. Hegeler was a class above what we’d been doing all game and was taking on opponents (compare to Tomlin, by now virtually anonymous brooding deep in midfield). Several times he beat players and had the likes of Reid, Taylor and even Korey Smith streaming forward.

Reid hit the outside of the post from a well worked move, and then unforgivably Taylor - who looked off the pace and rusty of touch - missed a sitter after Tammy did brilliantly to take on the defence and square the ball unselfishly. But that was it, and we finished with Joe Bryan - among our worst - miscuing one ball out for a throw in and lifting a cross into the stand.

This was a shocking performance. It was replete with many of the worst aspects of the past 5 months. That it came on the heels of a mini unbeaten run and big win last time out, says more about incompetence of the manager than losing 8 in a row does. It was a well prepared game you couldn’t possibly screw up this badly unless something is very rotten at City.

It’s not hard to see what it is.

Fielding 7 Embarrassingly overworked.
Smith 6 Works his proverbials off, says a lot about how abjectly we’ve invested in full back that this is the best we’ve got.
Bryan 4 Not a left back not a left back not a left back not a left back. Miles off their winger. Hit and miss going forward.
Flint 5 Not quick enough - battled in the second half but badly exposed in the first.
Wright 5 Sluggish and also slow to react.
O’Neil 4 Never got in the game.
Pack 4 Barely got in the game.
Cotterill 5 Our shape fell to pieces which limited him, but unlucky to be subbed when he is probably our best crosser of the ball. Not surprised he reacted badly to being taken off.
O’Dowda 6 Also limited by the complete collapse of our midfield and disappearance of Tomlin. Had to drop back to stem the tide in midfield. Didn’t really get the chance to go at them.
Tomlin 4 I’ve been told I’m too negative about the guy. I like him. He’s a flare player. Against Huddersfield he played off Tammy just like he used to with Kodjia and he looked great. What the hell was that today? Didn’t look interested and got deeper and more anonymous the more the game went on.
Abraham 6 First half was like the worst of winter - punting long balls to the poor guy on his own. In the end he had to start creating openings, which he did, but it’s getting to the point where he looks like a good player wasting his time in a poor poor team.

Subs:
Taylor 4 Had the appearance of a League one footballer who hadn’t played for a month. Which is exactly what he is.
Reid 6 Looked bright and intelligent when he came on, offered a link up to attack which Tomlin failed to provide. Whether he could do so over 90 minutes remains to be seen.
Hegeler 7 Played with far more poise and belief than any of the rest of them. Perhaps it was just the luxury of playing against a team who had largely done their job, but he took the game to Brentford far more than anyone else did.

Spot on.

I watched from a different perspective today. Standing on the terrace amongst Brentford fans. An experience!

The difference between us was stark. Their keeper was confident and I thought impressive. As was the rest of their team. 

They moved the ball around confidently and swiftly. At times they seemed to have an extra player.

What did we offer?

**** all. Until Jena came on but by then it was too late.

Long old day.

[Jacki]

Fantastic report as ever Ole. 

I didn't see the game yesterday. Was getting regular updates from a notoriously pessimistic mate who was watching the live stream. When he said it waso the worst he'd seen on years I took it with a pinch of salt, but it seems that even in this woeful season that he was right. 

LJ is clearly totally and utterly out of his depth but we're stuck with him. We need to somehow win 3 from 8 and it feels like a very tall order. How on earth can a team go from the sublime v Huddersfield to the ridiculous yesterday? It's as baffling as it is depressing. 

 

[havanatopia]

5 minutes ago, Jacki said:

We need to somehow win 3 from 8

Sadly we only have 7 games left.