The Journalist

9 hours ago, Fordy62 said:

No two ways about it. We keep playing like that and we will win miles more than we lose. All over that game from the first minute and lady lucky (and the officials) were against us. 

We also shouldn’t forget that we’re without a whole back line that wouldn’t look out of place at the top end of the division.

There really is no need to panic here. We’re slowly turning into a really good team to watch, the results will come. Trust in Nige. 

I think this is the thing - we do have to keep playing like that!

We know we’ve got it in us, but we need to make sure when we’re not quite on it we don’t just because ultra passive like we’re really guilty of every 2-3 games. As Nigel says himself, we need to turn our losses into draws instead of either being brilliant or woeful.

No issue with losing games like last night in those circumstances - those aren’t our issue.

As you say, we’re getting there but the next step - becoming consistent and a bit more hardened - is probably the hardest.

It was arguably the one bit Lee Johnson never cracked in four years.

4 hours ago, Davefevs said:

 

Biggest takeaway here is Beanhead pretending he's mates with Adrian Bevington.

So… you’re staying for the game this time?

We look more solid with a genuine midfield three.

Instant change in tactics - no splitting the centre-halves.

Very much going back to basics on early evidence.

Wells has to take that early and chip the goalkeeper. Relatively easy finish.

If we can get back to our best we can absolutely get something out of this.

Predicting a 4-1 West Brom win.

1 hour ago, Harry said:

The thing that the common fan doesn’t understand is that managers look for a performance as much as a result. 
You’ll hear it from Pearson most weeks, as well as most other managers. 
The theory being that, if your performance is good, then in the majority of cases the result should follow. 
In this game, Hibs had 64% possession, 18 shots, 7 on target (vs Dundee Utds 1), nearly twice as many passes than their opponent, with a pass accuracy of nearly 80%. 
On paper, and on the pitch, the actual performance was dominant and in most cases, this would normally end in a positive result. This time it didn’t. And that will always happen on occasion. 
So to the common fan, it’s a bollox comment but to him and his players, they’ll be happy with the performance. 
 

To be fair, he’s got them 3rd in the table after 10 games, so given that 3rd place is the best you’re ever gonna get in that league, he ain’t doing too bad so far. 

I know you’re a big fan of Lee (me too, really - anyone who works as hard as he did for our club gets my support), but surely you know that’s not really the issue here, right?!

It’s clearly not the sentiment of what he’s saying that makes this laughable. Team played well, should’ve won but didn’t - that’s fine and I’d have thought even most “common fans”, to use your horrible phrase, will understand that.

It’s how he’s said it and the words he’s used. The language he turns to time and time again to get his messages across.

Any leadership role is about being able to communicate simply and effectively with people and this has always been a major weakness of his - at least his public-facing communication - and why he’s so widely derided and mocked by fans.

And, regardless of all that, while we can agree or disagree about what the “common fan” does or doesn’t understand about football… that’s still his audience when he’s giving these interviews. It’s his job to communicate effectively to/with those people!

8 minutes ago, The Journalist said:

We’ve gone into our shell uncomfortably early.

We’ve stopped playing since our goal. And there it is.

Not sure he’s even given a foul has he?!

We’ve gone into our shell uncomfortably early.

I think we’ve broadly played alright, but again the delivery into the box has been so poor.

I’d hook Conway at half-time and put Martin on. Ditto Dasilva for Pring.

Weimann and Williams both having more influential games, though.

Conway has to switch on a bit here. Far too passive, being completely bullied.

Would like to have seen at least one of the wing-backs changed. Also think O'Leary is one of the least-imposing Championship goalkeepers I've ever seen, if that's what we're after.

39 minutes ago, Davefevs said:

As @Lew-Tstates below I think it see some changes.

I think Nige will go:

Bents

Vyner Klose Atkinson

Sykes Williams Scott Dasilva

WSM

Martin and Klose gives us better capability at set-pieces too (at both ends of the pitch).  Got a feeling Massengo won’t make the 18 either.

I thought Nige might be a bit prickly today after Saturday, but he was in very open and informative mood.  Good questions too.

Ed Hadwin’s very much under rated as an interviewer. Of the local BBC reporters, he has be far and away the best rapport with Pearson.

28 minutes ago, Robbored said:

I remain unconvinced about that - City reached the play off final that season. That particular season couldn’t have been such a grind as some make out.

It was an absolute grind for large parts - I was at every game that season, home and away, so I know. I was there.

The 11-match winning run, during which we regularly got out of jail with late winners, was a complete anomaly and dragged us from being a mid-table team. 

During the seven games after that run ended we lost five and scored just three. That was more like the City we saw for most of that season.

It was in complete contrast to the season before, during which we WERE free-scoring, free-flowing and played some of the best football in my lifetime. That team wasn't that dissimilar to Pearson's side now - great going forward but shocking at the back. It was bloody good fun though.

In two games we conceded six goals to the team who finished bottom, for goodness sake! Thankfully we scored 10... 

But I know you'll continue to ignore me on this, @Robbored, because you've lost your mind.

11 minutes ago, Robbored said:

Nige is a proper manager - remind me where GJ is managing these days…………..

You've hit the nail on the head. It really irks me.

People say the same about Alan Dicks and Terry Cooper but I ask them... where are they managing these days? Exactly. 

Just now, GrahamC said:

That’s true but as a comparator during this time Plymouth under Sturrock won back to back titles to go straight from League Two to the Championship.

I’m sure a few of their players fancied a beer too but he achieved far more in a shorter time at a club that has the hardest of all jobs to attract players.

The fact that Wilson still gets annoyed by the question & won’t accept he had a team that contained a large number of drunks is very revealing, no self awareness at all.

In fairness, though, he still lived in Chesterfield throughout his time here and wasn't really that present for a lot of it. Proper manager.

We played some really shit, dour football that season. Our performance in the final was actually in keeping with 75% of that campaign.

Surely nobody is going to argue against that?

15 minutes ago, GrahamC said:

I think you mean Brian..

James was an academy product (Chepstow lad), still playing at Argyle.

So obscure that I got the name of my own suggestion wrong. The suggestion that was also wrong. Not gone well, has it?

Was pretty pleased with myself to have plucked out a fairly obscure one - James Wilson joining us from Cheltenham when we were in the Championship, but they were in bloody League One at the time!

2 hours ago, spudski said:

I've mentioned about the effectiveness of crosses from open play before. Many times.

It's one of the least proficient ways of scoring. The odds are often stacked against you. GK can jump and use hands, and often more defenders than attackers in box. 

You are relying on the defence making mistakes rather than your own good play.

There is so much analysis and study on the subject. 

Yesterday it seemed our only form of creativeness was to come from the flanks.

We were pedestrian and missed Alex Scott's creativeness and speed of feet and mind.

We offered nothing from CM. Hence Weimann and Semenyo often dropping back and trying to link play and create something. Which left no overloads in the box to try and win a cross. Even our wing backs were lack luster in getting on the back post from crosses.

For all his faults Naismith creates from the Centre of the park as does Scott. That became even more apparent in the second half.

After watching that yesterday...I really do see an opportunity missed if Kai and Scott aren't used together in CM. Both can defend...both can create.

A case for Vyner, Atkinson, Pring back three before Kalas is back? To keep defensively sound. 

Kai and Scott CM 

The rest as usual...

 

PROBABILITY OF SCORING A GOAL FROM A CROSS [1.6%].

---

This means that, on average, it takes 64 crosses to score a goal.

Obviously, from these stats we cannot extrapolate the number of times a goal is indirectly scored after cross, like after a failed clearance by the opponents. However, we are not sure this really matters. Our point is: should you really base your attacking strategy on exploiting the opponents’ defensive mistakes?

So, if anything, what you’re saying is… we didn’t put enough crosses in? Another 20 or so and we’d have pinched a 1-0?

3 minutes ago, Northern Red said:

It's almost as if we're a middling Championship side who are going to have good days and bad...

Though obviously that's far too nuanced for the numpties who just scream and whine every time we don't win and/or play well.

And it was good to see us make sure we didn’t lose it if we couldn’t win it.

I do think our body language could’ve been better in the last 20 minutes, though. We looked too comfortable with a 0-0 draw and I don’t think we should ever be that really.

With Scott and James both out and Naismith injured, though, no real qualms with the performance. Just lacked any cutting edge, which you can’t say has happened often this season.

Just now, robin_unreliant said:

Just shows how much difference Alex Scott makes to midfield. 

By far our best player and nights like tonight show it. For an hour we were without the two players most important to the way we play.

Was quite surprised by how content we seemed with a point, even just in body language and setting up when the ball was out of play. That’s not the Bristol City I thought we were developing into three games ago.