Offside

Both were superb. Mature, confident, gritty and skilful performances, with added shithousery. 

After a worrying opening to the game we grew into it. The effort put in by the players was superb. 

There seem to be some green shoots. 4 points out of 6 at home, great determination from the players, a clean sheet and performances that have more shape about them. We have also shown we can hold out for a 1-0 home win  

We still need to be much better at retaining the ball. 

Small steps and three very welcome points. 

Saturday’s performance was decent enough to warrant an unchanged lineup. Glad to see NP not using a tombola for the sake of it. What we need to do is make sure we keep possession better if we find ourselves in the lead. 

 

Shoplifters Of The World Unite...The Smiths

That’s Not My Name - The Ting Tings. 

Yep, they were a massive distraction. Much too bright. 

On Saturday I couldn’t distinguish between the colours of the kits worn by the Blackburn keeper and their outfield players. In the second half whenever he caught the ball my first instinct was that we’d get a penalty for handball . 

Loved that incident. That’s the sort of thing that makes fans really warm to a player. 

A much improved performance. In the first half we played some nice stuff and deserved the lead. For the first 30 mins of the second half it was our usually habit of failing to retain possession. 

The long throw in is becoming a concern - we seem very susceptible to being caught on the break. 

Positives today: 

COD and Bakinson both had a decent game. 

Scott stuck to his task in an unfamiliar role and his set piece delivery was impressive.

Vyner looked solid.

Williams’ return is a big plus. 

Benarous looked much better today. 

We finished the game strongly. 

48 minutes ago, Dodgy_Giefer said:

I think first half we had lots of energy and hassled them into mistakes but second half we sat off and let them play. We don’t hold onto the ball at all well enough and constantly give it away cheaply. Joe Williams was a plus and we didn’t concede late so that was a bonus. 

Completely agree. It was frustrating that their goal game from a mistake, but for what felt like a long spell beforehand we did our usual thing of failing to keep hold of the ball and inviting pressure. 

That’s awful news. Best wishes, John.

That heat map shows how much ground he covers. His work rate is excellent, most noticeably when he tracks back. If only all our players worked so hard to win the ball, or at least make it difficult for the opponent.

I also note the reference to his passes carrying a “high threat”.  He has been more creative at times this season, like his drive into the box at QPR for Martin’s goal and his pass that led to Weimann’s winner v Barnsley. 

I don’t mind the occasional earlier kick off or Friday night game, but I much prefer 3pm on Saturdays. 

The key thing in my opinion is the return of Williams. For all his strengths, James lacks mobility and Massengo is still young. They both need Williams to help bring out their qualities. Plus he gives us more bite. 

I’d go with:

                  Bentley

Tanner   Kalas   Atkinson  Pring

     HNM    James   Williams

                   Palmer

          Wells       Weimann

Sad news. RIP Gerald. 

Like other posters, it’s in my blood. I’ve been going to games since my dad starting taking me in the early 80s and my kids are now season ticket holders. I can’t imagine life without it. 

Get well soon, Nige. We look forward to seeing you back at Ashton Gate. 

The lack of urgency when we have a corner really annoys me too. And the way none of players move when we’ve got a throw-in. I also get annoyed when Bentley takes an age to decide what to do before lumping it long. 

It hurts more and more. I hate the predicament we’re in at the moment. 

Losing to last minute goals is bad enough in itself. When it’s a habit to concede in injury time it’s even more sickening. 

And when it’s on top of a run of really poor performances stretching back for couple of years, it’s even worse. 

I really don’t know where we go from here. When LJ went we (me included) were crying out for experience. After Holden’s exit we went for an overwhelmingly popular choice in NP (I was thrilled), but our football is still as bad as at any time I can remember in 40 years of supporting the club. I was hoping NP would at least drill the team into a coherent shape, but we are a mess. A complete soft touch. 

49 minutes ago, Davefevs said:

When was the last time we picked up a yellow card for a strong challenge?  It’s all little trips (Bakinson - which I liked) and shirt pulls.

By my reckoning it was Cameron Pring v Luton, when he left one on Harry Cornick.

Need a few more George Tanner tackles.

Let their opposite number know they’ve been in a battle.

COYR

Completely agree. We tend to stand off players or get out-muscled. Other sides always appear to be physically stronger. We need to get in their faces more. 

I’m feeling very pessimistic about this game. We have been so lightweight and lacking in shape, and with Williams and presumably James out injured we’re looking threadbare. 

I really hope the players prove me wrong show some grit in adversity. And wouldn’t it be good to see some organisation to our play. 

1 hour ago, Davefevs said:

….and in the same interview, words to the affect of “stopping the root cause”, the initial pass with little pressure.  We’d not parked the bus at all this season.  The above quote would not lead me to think we were gonna park the bus tomorrow.

Do you have a source at the training ground….quite a few “IMOs”, which is like adding a to a post?  Nobody is gonna ask you who, but you post things like above, which you’ve taken from an interview yet imply in other posts you have some inside knowledge.  That’s fine if you do btw.

As above, we’ve yet to park the bus this season, and I honestly can’t remember when that has been our intention.

Not convinced Vyner is at fault.  It was him that chased a long ball into the bottom left wing corner, laying it to Bentley to clear to Gardner.

 

Gardner strides on, Atkinson starts to engage Vyner not in picture yet, having been in corner.

 

Gardner plays it wide, Atkinson marking him / closest to him Vyner now in shot with Kalas looking to mark Jutkiewicz and Hogan.

 

Graham shapes to cross Atkinson not checked his right shoulder, he’s basically lost Gardner.

 

Vyner realising Atkinson has got caught ball-watching tries to get across….too late

 

My analysis, if you want to blame a player….then it’s Atkinson.  But it definitely isn’t Vyner.

We cannot tell what comms have gone on, but I find it hard to believe that at any stage Atkinson has said “I’m passing Gardner on”….let alone to Vyner.

It also concerns me how far Dasilva is away from their player who puts the cross in. No pressure on the ball whatsoever. 

Get well soon, Nige.  

Whoever is picked and whatever system we play, first and foremost the players need to take responsibility for making it as difficult as possible for Coventry. 

Some of the goals we’ve conceded recently have been so cheap.

A couple of examples: 

Barnsley’s goal - their player who got the assist outmuscled our player (James)? too easily.

Birmingham’s first goal - yes it was a deflection, but we didn’t make it difficult for him to shoot. 

Birmingham’s second goal - straight from a big punt from the keeper, we were brushed aside too easily. 

Far too often we are outmuscled or give opponents space to pass/cross/shoot. Our full backs are regularly left exposed.

11 hours ago, Super said:

Said it before this is the worst passing City team i can remember. Embarrassing.

Agree, it is truly awful. We often can’t even make basic passes and there is so little movement. 

We are playing as poorly as I’ve  ever seen us, and it’s a blessing that the sides currently in the bottom 3 are quite far adrift of us. 

We feel like a makeshift side. I was expecting that this season. But we are so very low on quality and we don’t have much to compensate for that at the moment, like a coherent style of play. I was hoping NP would be able to deliver that, but after some encouraging signs early in the season our performances are falling apart to a degree I was not expecting. 

Will we be relegated? Possibly, yes, we look like a side bad enough to end up in the bottom 3 and confidence is shot. We can barely string any passes together and are often wide open. I’m just hoping the teams below us will continue to find it difficult to pick up points.