Engvall’s Splinter

Effectively West Brom next round. Play the under 23s  

1 hour ago, RedsTilliDie said:

Was watching the game from the top of the south stand so I didn’t get a good view of the penalty shouts in the first half. How bad was it?

Probably as bad as the language up there. 

It’s like we are playing with 9 men. They have acres all around the pitch. We are miles off. No urgency to press especially around our box. Absolutely diar. 

Looked a pen. 

Just now, old_eastender said:

FFS Schoolboy error by Atkinson, 0-1

Max initially. 

Why are we playing there. FFS. 

2 hours ago, Ron W said:

He's young and hopefully sorts himself out, but as others have said he should let his football do the talking because at the moment, his comments about Pearson when he left look pretty silly. He had a poor attitude at Yeovil too, partly why Cooper got rid.

What happened at Yeovil?

Looks like a few taking some pleasure in a young man’s current misfortune/downward spiral (probably the wrong words!). 
 

As @Numero Unostates, let’s hope he gets back to enjoying his football and a settled period for him. 

7 minutes ago, LondonBristolian said:

I agree with this. I also think LJ tends to be portrayed as a much worse manager for us than the reality suggests. In truth, he got us established as a stable Championship team that was closer to the top end than the bottom. He didn't do as good a job as we all hoped but he did better than most of our managers do. You could easily argue he was lucky not to be sacked during the extended losing streak but, after that, I honestly think he got us moving in the right direction until a disastrous transfer window in summer 2019. He did a poor job in his final season and I was relieved when he was sacked but the job he did for us was - on the whole - steady and a bit underwhelming rather than the complete disaster some paint his time here as.

He’s had more funds available than any of our managers too. Many of the others haven’t had a fighting chance. 

1 hour ago, Spike said:

Vyner is a crazy one atm, I think a lot of our fans want him to come good and whilst he's definitely improved it's frustrating seeing people say he was MoM today when Pring was another gravy today. Vyner was better today for sure, but on three occasions he got tight to a defender and gave away fouls leaving space behind him of which one of those fouls put him on a yellow which forced him to be more cautious. The commentary team picked up on it too, he kept pushing into the back of his man and whilst it didn't cost us a player like Semenyo lives for those kinds of defenders as one quick turn when receiving the ball leaves the defender flat footed.
I don't want to bring negatives to Vyner because he's been through so much but it's also frustrating seeing people get carried away because he's not made any major mistakes. Vyner is capable but he's still making the odd bad decision that is getting overlooked because it's not cost us. Also his decision to keep playing long balls down the wing is frustrating, this may not be down to him, this could be what Peason has told him to do but it rarely does anything other than give away the possession.

Pring on the other hand, dangerous going forward, solid in defence, was taking players on, strong on the ball, he had the best performance by far.

Superb post and exactly my thoughts. The guy has significantly improved and is performing well, yet I think the lower expectations we’ve become accustomed to have allowed a few posters to get slightly carried away. 

I thought this too. Very strange decision. 

Pearson praising Atkinson on RB. That’ll disappoint the “naughty step” groupies. 

2 minutes ago, GrahamC said:

So did I, someone is either desperate to criticise or wasn’t watching properly.

Zak used the ball excellently tonight, bit of a gutter for those looking for something to moan.

I’m sure someone will dig out the stats, especially those in the second half. I know fans can sometimes get a bit overexcited but I’d certainly challenge “excellently”.

As I said, he defended well. 

Whilst I appreciate his primary role is to defend, which he did well, his distribution is woeful. 

You know it’s coming ….

Oh my days. 

Just now, westred1 said:

Think Vyner defending very well tonight.

His distribution is as good as Semenyos shooting though. 

Semenyos shooting has regressed. I thought he’d cracked it too. 

Looks a very decent appointment. Fair play to SL. 

6 hours ago, Simon79 said:

I definitely agree with the point that this group should be doing better. I can’t get my head around people talking about avoiding relegation as some sort of par. We have Bentley on the bench, who I would say is a Championship top 10 keeper, so presumably Pearson thinks O’Leary is better, we have DaSilva on the bench who I again would say is a top ten Championship left back, we have Naismith who is a top 10 Championship defender, Kalas the same if not higher( accept he’s been out a large chunk of this season ), Atkinson who is rated quite highly on here it seems (not 100% convinced myself yet ). In midfield we have James who is Pearson’s go to man & has promotion/prem experience & is highly rated on here ( again, not convinced myself ), Williams would fall into a top half Championship midfielder I would think, Massengo who I rate very highly would do very well at most top end Championship clubs for me, Scott who is wanted by Prem clubs & then the forwards who I think most top half teams would be interested in if not higher with Weimann, Wells, Semenyo & Conway. We then have a few of Pearson’s signings to back that group up Klose, King, Sykes, Tanner & Wilson who I would presume he thought was better than what was here. And then a group of players that were here before to back those two groups up Martin, Vyner, Pring, Bell. So for me, that group is mid table minimum. January will be interesting & I wouldn’t be in too much of a hurry to pull the trigger Pearson just yet. COYR 

I’m astounded you feel Dasilva and Williams are top players in their respective positions. 
 

Just because it’s been speculated that Scott has been linked with Prem clubs doesn’t confirm he has - and if he has that could be more for future than now. 
 

The squad is bottom half at best. 
 

Pearson needs to revisit the system though. 

4 hours ago, robinforlife2 said:

In the last 6 games, Hull have picked up 7pts to our 5, Wigan have picked up 5 to our 5.

Wigan in their last 3 have played Boro away, Sheff Utd at home and Millwall away. 1pt from those three fixtures is no disaster.

Hull's 6 fixtures which have yielded 7 points have included Blackpool (H), Sunderland (H), Watford (A), Reading (H), Cardiff (A) and Millwall (A) of which they only lost 1-2 against Reading and picked up a result against everyone else. I would hazard to say Hulls last 6 results have been largely a lot more positive than ours!

We've lost to West Brom, Lost to Stoke, beaten Rotherham, drew with Watford, drew with Boro and lost to Sheff Utd. If we went 6 games with 4 draws, 1 win and a narrow loss, we would be delighted.

Out of those I’d of expected 7 points max. West Brom (on a decent run, good squad), Sheff Utd (Top 2), Watford (should be top 6), Boro (new manager and now on a decent run). 
 

Real tough league. Even Stoke and Rotherham are no gimmes. 

1 hour ago, mozo said:

I'd be playing Massengo to add some energy to the midfield 100%. 

May aswell give Mo Farah a shout. 

Just now, Fordy62 said:

Yes. But we don’t have the luxury of the strength in depth that Johnson should have had given his outlay. 

Im not saying Pearson has done a Sterling job, I’m saying financially Johnson crippled us. 

Agreed - but we do have a centre half available to play who’s been binned for a midfielder with no legs. 

Huddersfield winning. 

Pearson persisting with an ageing centre midfielder at centre half whilst our £1.6m signing sits on the bench will ultimately do him no favours. Many understand the financial constraints and understand his interview comments but you do have to be playing your better players in their rightful positions. This won’t end well.