Kicking The Habit....

[SimplyRed]

I haven't read any of the posts since the Watford game because I know it'll be more of the same... one side saying it's Johnson's fault and the other side defending him and saying he'll get it right in the end...

I grow tired of all this bickering and and the same old arguments being rolled out, for and against, every week. The very activity of discussing the shortcomings and so-called 'solutions' of the team's latest antics is becoming tedious - mainly because it's been going on for so long.

Well, dear reader, you may even dismiss this post as 'more of the same', but I'm trying a different tack of not trying to slag anyone off, but point out the positives (not much) and negatives (where the real problem is)...

All I REALLY want to say is that 'something' in the current team and management setup needs to change because it's all becoming rather stale.

On the positive side, I enjoyed the football - for the most part - yesterday, and that Haines, Hartley and Skuse provided a valuable contribution - Skuse especially (probably one of the best games I've ever seen him play - he was everywhere).

BUT on the negative side... We are poor in defence and we are poor in attack, but that doesn't let midfield off the hook. To flesh that out a bit...

We struggle to retain possession and we struggle to find a telling pass in the final third. Even when we find a telling pass in the final third, our finishing is atrocious.

For me, the reasons for this are:

1) Defenders ball-watch too much, which leads to

2) Poor marking in the box (too many free shots and headers yesterday)

3) We don't win the second ball enough

4) Our passing, in general, is poor

5) We don't get enough players forward when attacking

6) Skuse was the only midfielder that really operated 'box to box' yesterday - all midfielders should be doing this.

The last minute goals we have been conceding at home wouldn't matter if we were more than 1 goal ahead when it came to the last 5 minutes. What needs to change is not conceding in the last 5 minutes of the game, but scoring more during the first 85 minutes.

We need to get back to basics - the midfield needs to protect the defence and support the attack more, we need to be more crisp and more accurate in our passing and we need to be more clinical in front of goal and take the chances when they come along.

This may be sounding like I'm stating the obvious, but maybe that's what it needs in the dressing-room?