Esmond Million's Bung

At the risk of sounding churlish after such a commanding performance Paterson is having another mare.

1 hour ago, Alessandro said:

Can't see how that line up is anything but a variation on 4-4-2.

Agree about Korey at RB, let's hope we are bettered prepared this week with this set up.

Well definitely 3 at the back with Brownhill and Bryan as wing backs.

Hopefully 3 at the back, if not playing our best midfielder at right back is a mistake IMO, I am surprised Paterson is being given another chance.

I see the Evil post has highlighted 6 players the gas could target as being unattached, top of the list Nile Ranger, also on the list is Stephen Caulker.

S' got to love em.

Apparently their astute totally FREE signings are to keep their powder dry and Bodin money for a marquee signing in the summer.

They really do still believe the BS they are being spoon fed don't they?.

Still never let it be said the us BCFC fans are not willing to help the much less fortunate, they want marquee?, they want a ground refurb?, then look no further.

http://www.houseoftents.co.uk/Party-Tents-Marquees/?gclid=EAIaIQobChMIicvX8cCE2QIV4ZPtCh3AdwBrEAAYAiAAEgLoZPD_BwE

Evidence that the gas have started the refurb of the Minimal.

http://www.devonlive.com/news/devon-news/police-catch-motorist-driving-through-1103378#ICID=sharebar_facebook

2 hours ago, OldlandReddies said:

ok, all you lot of little faith, 3-0 this 2-0 that, just get it into your heads.....we are a very, very good side. Stop this negativity, we are pushing bigtime for the playoffs and, with the next three games coming up, we have still got a chance of Automatic. About time these City boys are given the credit they deserve for what they have given us so far. Any negative posts from now on can **** off abd support the gas. 

Brilliant, well considered comment, well done you.

1 hour ago, OldlandReddies said:

Utter , utter, tripe. You have never played the game my son. He has been one of our most consistent players for some time and Lee has finally proved that by leaving him on tonight. He is very crucial to our sucess this season.

If true then why exactly is it that Magnússon is the player who always seems to get dropped to the bench or replaced at half time until needs must and injuries mean that he gets a recall?. Perhaps LJ has never played the game my son?.

To be honest I would say if Baker is fit for the next league game Magnússon's place is the one most at risk after tonight.

Talking about penalties not given, close to the 5th minute of the 2nd half, we broke down the right and as the cross was about to be delivered, Curtis Davies who was struggling to get back into position grabbed hold of Diedhiou around his neck stopping his run.

1 minute ago, Garland-sweden said:

Well done City. Luck with the pen and the woodwork. Think it was a good game, we were better in the second half. Hörður is ok but sometimes he is to slow and give the ball away in dangerous situations. Think he is more himself as a cb. Derby the better team, but hey, we could have won also. One point away is very well done after Wolves, Villa and Norwich. We show that we still can beat any team in this leauge. Happy with the result and performance. COYR!!!

This is a good assessment of the game.

10 minutes ago, WECANDO said:

Your having a laugh mate. Agree with the keepers. Wright was ok. Flint did good but needs to mark tighter. Baker we missed by Magnússon. Magnússon worked hard and was involved in a lot of the play. But he was let down by a Bryan who had that lost look about him and was casual. Also with Pack way off the pace and continuously losing the ball, it kept coming at the back four. So he gets a 7 from me. Bryan a 5. Paterson a 6. Reid an 8. Duedhiou 6 but as he hasn’t played an 8. LJ a 7 could have been an 8 but he doesn’t get the need to bring on a sub in extra time to give us a breather and break up the oppositions rhythm. But we got lucky with a point and we are still up the top. Play the subs we had today against Man C and give the lads a rest.

I refer you to post 717 on this thread.

10 minutes ago, Squire Dastardly said:

I can't believe the moaning and complaining on this forum after a dogged strong performance away to a team who were totally on form and scoring goals in abundance. Our boys applied themselves physically and mentally and brought their poor spell to an end. Every team goes through a bad time at some point in the season (look at Cardiff and the two Sheffield sides recently). Cardiff have sorted themselves out of late and hopefully City did tonight. Expect the jitters from Wolves soon. Villa and Derby had their rough times earlier in the season. It's still all to play for.

And neither can I.

6 minutes ago, AshtonGreat said:

I didn't think Bryan was solid at all.

The way I saw it, we played some nice tiki-taka one-touch football but were absolutely blunt going forward. Too many high balls pumped into the final third, which either went to one of their defenders or into thin air. It's a frustrating tactic because a) we're easily good enough to play it on the ground, b) the balls are rarely accurate enough and c) Bobby Reid is tiny. 

Paterson didn't do a lot today, and I think LJ should've brought on Kent to test their tired legs.

Korey Smith was immense.

Well it's all about opinions of course, tonight we were playing the form team of the division, with incredibly dangerous offensive players, a team who could take off Vydra, Nugent and Lawrence and replace them with Winnal, Wiemann and Jerome and we managed to keep them at a distance and apart from maybe 2 chances in the 2nd half they created very little, we had presentable a presentable chance in the first half and probably 3 in the 2nd half.

2nd half we were able to play it more to feet towards the tiny Reid but also go long to the big Diedhiou, I mentioned that Paterson wasn't wearing his shooting boots but he is always a threat.

It might interest you to know that according to sky we had 56.1% of the possession.

It was a brave performance, a brave performance from a depleted squad, who had to survive another 2 more injuries at halftime, I couldn't be happier.

Well I thought we were going to be well beaten tonight, but to be fair play I thought we were fully deserving of a point tonight and I think the summarisers all called it right, go down in a theatrical way and you run the risk of not getting a penalty, sympathy? have I ****.

We are strong, we will not be bullied and we don’t feel the need to throw ourselves to the ground.

Diedhiou was terrific and certainly the catalyst for our improved 2nd performance, a little ring rusty obviously but my god it shows what we have missed.

The good news is apart from Cardiff away we have now played all of the better sides twice.

Fielding/Steele 7 Both played really well, did what they had to do with little or no fuss.

Wright 6 He was ok, but I have to say again he is not a full back.

Flint 7 A few mistakes but solid enough.

Baker 7 Look his usual self for the first 45 minutes.

Magnússon 5 I know this is probably not going to be popular, but he makes me nervous and I think that it also makes Flint nervous, he is far too casual at times, the way he allowed Russell past him in our box after doing the hard work was a carbon copy of a huge mistake he made at home earlier in the season against Cardiff, luckily this time it did not cost us a goal and I think his positional play is suspect.

Brownhill 6 Not at his best but boy does he put in a shift every game.

Smith 8 My MOM, I thought he was terrific tonight, attacking and defending, what an engine.

Pack 7 I thought he played well within himself all night, but certainly did his bit, I wonder if the spectre of a ban might be stifling his normal all action style?.

Bryan 7 I thought his best work was defensively tonight, solid.

Paterson 6 Always a threat but his shooting boots are missing.

Reid 7 I just love his energy, defenders cannot take there eyes off of him at all, he came alive in the 2nd half having Diedhiou with him.

Diedhiou 8 Because he gave balance to an unbalanced team, we need him fit.

LJ 9 Tactics were spot on, picked the best team initially available to him, brave as usual with his unenforced substitution.

A very similar performance to the last 3, lots of pretty football but we either over complicate or run out of ideas in attacking situations and we have no scoring threat, poor crossing as well.

It doesn't help with playing 2 players who are not full backs, Magnússon has been ok but occasionally strays to far forward but Wright for me is on the edge of a second yellow.

That all said it was refreshing to see that we are not over awed by them and boy what another team of whingers and whiners, who know how to go down easily, more of a presence upfront would help.

2 hours ago, JamesBCFC said:

Brownhill has filled in at RB too I believe.

Neither is ideal, question is who's style is needed more against Derby.

I believed that we needed a right back before the season started and I still believe that we do.

2 minutes ago, The Bard said:

That's not the point.  It's the effect on the midfield.

i'm sorry but under the circumstances what do you suggest?

2 minutes ago, LeeJohnsonsFlatCap said:

Can see us holding on for the draw full 90 tonight. The break we have got will help the squad massively however, if Wright isn't fully fit and we have Korey in RB, can see trouble happening

He has played there before and never let us down.

1 hour ago, tommytank1985 said:

Glass half empty right there 

And you would be totally wrong.

I am actually more than happy with the position that we find ourselves in, in fact i'm ecstatic, I would have been happy with a mid table flirting with play offs position, because it would have been an improvement on last season and any improvement means we are moving in the right direction, but so far this this season LJ and the players have totally exceeded mine and I suspect most peoples expectations.

To be honest even the Villa result didn't phase me too much because that's BCFC and a result like that is always around the corner and some of us could see it coming, I was more upset with the Wolves result because we should have gotten a point from that game all day long, the only other game that pissed me off was Birmingham away, we were poor for most of that game against an incredibly poor side, the Norwich game I can forgive because we were tired and I think it showed up our need for a right back and for striker cover.

So please it's not about glasses full, half full, half empty or empty, I am stating my opinion and looking at the game from a realistic stand point given the circumstances of both teams, I have highlighted the most important part of my reply because of course given our season so far we could quite easily upset the form book again and I totally hope that we do but I am expecting a defeat.

I personally cannot see anything other than a comfortable Derby win myself because I am struggling to see where any goals might come from, 3-0 defeat for me, but I am always ready for the unexpected because this is BCFC and almost 60 years on anything can happen.

Come on let's give the poor bastards a break, more bad news today.

http://www.devonlive.com/news/devon-news/shiver-timbers-brixham-pirate-festival-1079684

12 hours ago, Miah Dennehy said:

You're still dreaming of clawing your way back to where you were in the 1970s

Technically 1980.

2 hours ago, BTRFTG said:

No we should not have: we were (but only in some areas.)

We were no different yesterday than we have been for months. Whilst we keep managing to win it looks like a wonder formula but it takes the realization of defeat to crystallize our fundamental issue. I think we could be debating as much for the next few weeks.

Long term, you can't play football without strikers.

We've effectively been playing with 6 mids and nobody upfront but have been fortunate enough to have notched goals most weeks, sharing them around. Had either of Brownhill's strikes been six inches to the left we'd likely have celebrated at the end. We'd have winged it for another week. Reid played on his own upfront is not a striker. Whether he could be alongside a proper frontman we've yet to find out, though I don't think he is.

In the attacking department we are unable to see the wood for the metaphorical trees. Woodrow, Engvall, Taylor, Elliasson are totally failed acquisitions. We should move on.

Injuries notwithstanding I personally think WeeLee got it wrong by dropping Hodour. I'd have moved Bryan to left side mid and dropped Pack which I think provides greater balance and means Joe only has to make a 25 yard run to shoot cf the length of the pitch. 

I see many comments hereabouts finally realising if we need to bring somebody in then who do we drop from midfield? They've all done well, problem is they've done well when there's far more of them than their opponents. We need to work out whose best when there's parity?

I thought Walsh started to come into it second half after a sluggish start and can't believe people here are slaughtering Kent, who showed a number of great touches, deceptions and a real willingness to get forward. OK he lost all confidence by switching off and not covering the run for their goal, but  we should have handled that (far too narrow at the back, Bryan picked up nothing but the junction of the 6 yard box and Baker shouldn't have got sucked in.) If Walsh is the future then Pack or Smith would seem natural for the bench, though if Bryan is wide left that's both gone and how does that get us the ball? I assume Reid is the front of the midfield 5 , between the line of 4 and targetman.

Norwich showed what a striker gives you, especially if they've pace. We may have had the ball, lots of lateral passes, very little goal threat and I laugh when punters bemoan ' they played on the break'. They did and boy is it effective. If we had the personnel perhaps we could do likewise.

 

 

You will not get an argument from me reference strikers, we have 3 so called 'specialist' strikers who cannot even get a game when we have 2 strikers long term injured, this for me renders these 3 unfit for purpose IMHO and we need a 'proper' striker and will have to pay whatever it takes to sign the 'right' one.

However I would put Magnússon in the same category as we both put our failed strikers, I really don't think that he is good enough and I don't subscribe to the 'there's a good player in their somewhere' theory, I would shift Woodrow, Taylor, Engvall and Magnússon and add GON and Hegeler, even when fit the last 2 offer nothing.

As for Eliasson, for me the jury is still out in the same way that the jury was out regarding ODowda last season, a player who won me over with his huge improvement up until his injury this season, I think he just needs time.

Where I do disagree is your last paragraph because other than the goal (which was down to a shocking and total meltdown by midfield and defence alike), I cannot remember Fielding having to make anything other than routine saves, they did play on the break and it worked once apart from that the threat was usually nullified at the edge of our box, on reflection there was also Baker's first half brilliant goal  line clearance, but that was it for me.

Where I think they really did win it was pinning back/down both of our full backs, keeping them both fully occupied and when they did manage to venture forward they doubled up on them as well, making them both impotent.

All season our free kicks (apart from one Patterson v Derby was it?) have been embarrassingly poor, uninventive and shockingly executed and that really needs serious attention, also our crossing has been generally poor, we never seem to have the ability to tailor our crosses the strikers playing for us on any given day and that is another area that needs attention.

In short we need a right back (a loaner might suffice) and a striker worthy of the title.

I do agree with the premise that to an extent we have gotten away with it striker wise and now that our plan B of pushing Flint up top isn't working, I think we now need a proper fix and quickly.

But IMHO we should have won the game and we were the better side, I don't think there is much wrong but the sooner we bring in a 'proper' striker and push Reid back into the number 10 role the better, but I fear that the slide will carry on at Derby and we only know to well about BCFC and losing streaks.

A game we should have won, we were technically better all day, but today showed up how we over complicate our play and when that goes wrong we put ourselves in danger.

Our crossing was shocking and Bryan the worst offender, or free kicks lack any invention whatsoever, we barely created a worthwhile chance all game.

We had more than enough bodies in the box for their goal but the poor marking and lack of closing down was amateurish and a throwback to last season.

Last week the sky super computer predicted that we would end up coming 8th and on this performance they are correct.

Disappointing to say the least.

That all said I have decided to be generous with my marks, but there needs to be a lot of improvement and without doubt IMHO we need a right back and even more so a striker.

Fileding 6 Little or nothing to do and let down by his midfield and defence for the goal.

Wright 6 Defensively OK, offers nothing going forward.

Flint 7 Played well and gave everything as usual.

Baker 7 Also cool, calm and collected.

Bryan 6 Defensively fine but his crossing was awful.

Brownhill 6 Not up to his usual standard today, apart from his shot that hit the woodwork.

Walsh 7 Some neat touches, looks a find.

Pack 6 Couldn’t fault his effort, just never happened for him today.

Smith 6 Same as Pack.

Patterson 6 Tried his best but another not on his game today.

Reid 6 Same as Patterson.

Subs:- Firstly I thought taking Walsh off was a mistake, I would have taken Brownhill off.

Kent 6 Obviously a talent but should have scored with a good chance.

Taylor 3 Not championship quality, now doesn’t even off er anything coming off the bench.

Magnússon 6 Did nothing wrong.

LJ 5 I thought today we looked sluggish and bereft of ideas in the last third of the pitch, we never properly tested their keeper, we need a lot of crossing and free kick practice because today it was lousy. But having said that any danger today was self inflicted. 

And as I said I believe we need a right back and a striker, over to you LJ.

The positives, we have had a lot of possession and look the better side.

The negatives, we have created nothing, we lack energy, we are unnecessarily complicating things when in good positions, all of Norwich's dangerous moments have been self inflicted by sloppy passing, Brownhill looks off of the pace wouldn't be surprised if he is replaced at halftime, our free kicks are shocking absolutely no invention whatsoever and of course Fielding's kicking is shocking but now he wants to try to play football and delay his kicks it will end in tears.

We should win this game, we need to up the tempo.

Just now, Major Isewater said:

He just looks too cumbersome for a left back . I prefer him at Centre back but he's got his work cut out there to dislodge the three excellent CB's in front of him .

 

I agree, I find him too casual at times and also feel his worst performances have been in the more physical games, I believe that if Vyner and Kelly had more experience he maybe wouldn't get a look in.