Ratings

[old_eastender]

Another disappointment today, LJs obsession with playing 2 holding midfielders contributed once again to us offering nowhere near enough attacking threat. Heggler looked class, we didn't need Smith or Park in the side as well.

Ratings

Fielding - 5 : One smart save, but our tedious slow build up play started with him dawdling about.

Little - 6 : It says something when the player most likely to make something happen in attack was Mark Little, even though his trademark bustling runs didn't quite come off.

Flint & Wright - 6 : Both looked solid at the back, not really tested that much.

Bryan - 5 : All too often just played the ball back and stood still, on the couple of occasions he did carry the ball forward his crosses were poor.

Heggler - 8 : Looked class, could easily play the holding midfielder role with no need for Smith or Pack.

Smith - 3 : Apart from one burst forward, just played 10 year passes backwards and sideways.

Brownhill - 7 : Worked hard, box to box, at least tried to get us moving forward.

Tomlin - 5 : Had to continually drop deep to get the ball, which is not where we want him. Seemed to be knackered after 60 mins.

Tammy & Duric - 6 : Both tried, too much space between them, precious little decent service.

Pack - 3 : Awful. Stole the ball brilliantly twice in the second half, first time then turned and passed backwards into out own half, second time ran with ball away from attack and eventually lost it on the halfway-line, which against a better side could have been punished.

Paterson - 5 : Only on for 10 minutes, should have taken Tomlin off earlier. Did get involved but hard to judge given short game time.

Manager - 4 : Fair play for selecting strongest side with all 3 new signings, but must lose his obsession with 2 holding midfielders which stifles our attacking options.

[sh1t_ref_again]

Cant believe you gave Pack a 3, thought he looked so much better than smith

[Fontaineofallknowledge]

29 minutes ago, old_eastender said:

Another disappointment today, LJs obsession with playing 2 holding midfielders contributed once again to us offering nowhere near enough attacking threat. Heggler looked class, we didn't need Smith or Park in the side as well.

Ratings

Fielding - 5 : One smart save, but our tedious slow build up play started with him dawdling about.

Little - 6 : It says something when the player most likely to make something happen in attack was Mark Little, even though his trademark bustling runs didn't quite come off.

Flint & Wright - 6 : Both looked solid at the back, not really tested that much.

Bryan - 5 : All too often just played the ball back and stood still, on the couple of occasions he did carry the ball forward his crosses were poor.

Heggler - 8 : Looked class, could easily play the holding midfielder role with no need for Smith or Pack.

Smith - 3 : Apart from one burst forward, just played 10 year passes backwards and sideways.

Brownhill - 7 : Worked hard, box to box, at least tried to get us moving forward.

Tomlin - 5 : Had to continually drop deep to get the ball, which is not where we want him. Seemed to be knackered after 60 mins.

Tammy & Duric - 6 : Both tried, too much space between them, precious little decent service.

Pack - 3 : Awful. Stole the ball brilliantly twice in the second half, first time then turned and passed backwards into out own half, second time ran with ball away from attack and eventually lost it on the halfway-line, which against a better side could have been punished.

Paterson - 5 : Only on for 10 minutes, should have taken Tomlin off earlier. Did get involved but hard to judge given short game time.

Manager - 4 : Fair play for selecting strongest side with all 3 new signings, but must lose his obsession with 2 holding midfielders which stifles our attacking options.

Take it you weren't at the game? Heggler was playing on the right side of a three man defence. We did play 2 defensive midfielders, smith and then pack when he came on for smith!

the game was like testimonial with no tempo-total non event so you are lucky you didn't attend the match!

[old_eastender]

6 minutes ago, Fontaineofallknowledge said:

Take it you weren't at the game? Heggler was playing on the right side of a three man defence. We did play 2 defensive midfielders, smith and then pack when he came on for smith!

the game was like testimonial with no tempo-total non event so you are lucky you didn't attend the match!

I was at the game, unfortunately.

Smith and Pack were both awful and not needed. Heggler, to me looks tailor made to play the covering midfielder role.

[Fontaineofallknowledge]

3 minutes ago, old_eastender said:

I was at the game, unfortunately.

Smith and Pack were both awful and not needed. Heggler, to me looks tailor made to play the covering midfielder role.

Agree, heggler in that role is an exciting prospect. what formation would you play then?

[old_eastender]

34 minutes ago, Fontaineofallknowledge said:

Agree, heggler in that role is an exciting prospect. what formation would you play then?

4-4-2 with diamond midfield, Heggler at the base, Tomlin at the fore, either Brownhill/Reid on the right, LF/COD on the left. No place for Pack or Smith.

[Fontaineofallknowledge]

4 minutes ago, old_eastender said:

4-4-2 with diamond midfield, Heggler at the base, Tomlin at the fore, either Brownhill/Reid on the right, LF/COD on the left. No place for Pack or Smith.

Think we would get overrun with that line up unfortunately. Can't have 5 non-defensive minded players on the pitch imo

[Davefevs]

1 hour ago, old_eastender said:

Another disappointment today, LJs obsession with playing 2 holding midfielders contributed once again to us offering nowhere near enough attacking threat. Heggler looked class, we didn't need Smith or Park in the side as well.

Ratings

Fielding - 5 : One smart save, but our tedious slow build up play started with him dawdling about.

Little - 6 : It says something when the player most likely to make something happen in attack was Mark Little, even though his trademark bustling runs didn't quite come off.

Flint & Wright - 6 : Both looked solid at the back, not really tested that much.

Bryan - 5 : All too often just played the ball back and stood still, on the couple of occasions he did carry the ball forward his crosses were poor.

Heggler - 8 : Looked class, could easily play the holding midfielder role with no need for Smith or Pack.

Smith - 3 : Apart from one burst forward, just played 10 year passes backwards and sideways.

Brownhill - 7 : Worked hard, box to box, at least tried to get us moving forward.

Tomlin - 5 : Had to continually drop deep to get the ball, which is not where we want him. Seemed to be knackered after 60 mins.

Tammy & Duric - 6 : Both tried, too much space between them, precious little decent service.

Pack - 3 : Awful. Stole the ball brilliantly twice in the second half, first time then turned and passed backwards into out own half, second time ran with ball away from attack and eventually lost it on the halfway-line, which against a better side could have been punished.

Paterson - 5 : Only on for 10 minutes, should have taken Tomlin off earlier. Did get involved but hard to judge given short game time.

Manager - 4 : Fair play for selecting strongest side with all 3 new signings, but must lose his obsession with 2 holding midfielders which stifles our attacking options.

Assuming we can't have half marks, I agree with all bar two;

Fielding - 6, smart save, did nothing wrong.  O'Donnell 6 too...even with his Phil Michelson sand wedge trick shot.

Pack - 6 - thought he was ok when he came on, although did get too deep at times.

1 hour ago, sh1t_ref_again said:

Cant believe you gave Pack a 3, thought he looked so much better than smith

See above.

I too would like to see Hegeler in midfield.  Haven't really thought about formation, but could see Brownhill and Bryan on either side, taking the Reading game into account.

[Luxo Jr.]

1 hour ago, old_eastender said:

Heggler - 8 :

Is this spelling of Hegeler's name deliberate? Not that fussed if it is, just personally get a bit irrationally annoyed when I see names like Kodjia and Hodor.

[EnclosureSurge]

FF - 5 O'Donnell 4 for his poor kicking and general buffoonery.

Little 5 - did what he always does, head-down try and run the ball over the by-line or run through opposition players. He was ok!

Bryan 5 - he only played 45 mins, didn't he? Where was he 2nd half? Poor, well-educated chap could do with being given the ball to cross it to the new big bloke. Bet he used some multi-syllabic words in frustration in the changing room after the game.

Flint 6 - big and strong. And big.

Wright 6 - smaller but strong. But definitely smaller.

Hegeler 9 - class. Classy guy.

Smith/Pack (indistinguishable) 5 - they're sort of on the pitch, but don't really ever do anything. Except go sideways.

Brownhill 8 - boy, he runs a lot.

Tomlin 4 - boy, does he not. He was nice to the new signings, though. Best skill on the pitch available but chose to fluff it up every time.

The Big Bloke 6 - ran around, headed the ball a bit, flattened some people, ran around some more. We could do with more of this, frankly!

Tammy 5 - probably should have stayed in bed. Or played 1v1 with his brother in his garden. Definitely shouldn't be allowed to shoot from further than 6 yards. Or leave the opponents 6 yard box.

Subs - maaaah, whatevs. 

Uwe Rosler MOM 9 - splendid latter day Michael Stipe impression.

And that's my take on it!

[Son of Fred]

1 hour ago, old_eastender said:

Another disappointment today, LJs obsession with playing 2 holding midfielders contributed once again to us offering nowhere near enough attacking threat. Heggler looked class, we didn't need Smith or Park in the side as well.

Ratings

Fielding - 5 : One smart save, but our tedious slow build up play started with him dawdling about.

Little - 6 : It says something when the player most likely to make something happen in attack was Mark Little, even though his trademark bustling runs didn't quite come off.

Flint & Wright - 6 : Both looked solid at the back, not really tested that much.

Bryan - 5 : All too often just played the ball back and stood still, on the couple of occasions he did carry the ball forward his crosses were poor.

Heggler - 8 : Looked class, could easily play the holding midfielder role with no need for Smith or Pack.

Smith - 3 : Apart from one burst forward, just played 10 year passes backwards and sideways.

Brownhill - 7 : Worked hard, box to box, at least tried to get us moving forward.

Tomlin - 5 : Had to continually drop deep to get the ball, which is not where we want him. Seemed to be knackered after 60 mins.

Tammy & Duric - 6 : Both tried, too much space between them, precious little decent service.

Pack - 3 : Awful. Stole the ball brilliantly twice in the second half, first time then turned and passed backwards into out own half, second time ran with ball away from attack and eventually lost it on the halfway-line, which against a better side could have been punished.

Paterson - 5 : Only on for 10 minutes, should have taken Tomlin off earlier. Did get involved but hard to judge given short game time.

Manager - 4 : Fair play for selecting strongest side with all 3 new signings, but must lose his obsession with 2 holding midfielders which stifles our attacking options.

I think Lee feels he needs more protection to accommodate Tomlin's lack of battle,mobility/work rate....

[Engvall's Splinter]

Fielding 5 - Slow when distributing the ball. Good save first half. Not the commanding keeper needed right now. 

Little 7 - Got up and down well. Looked the brightest spark second half on the flanks. No tricks but direct. 

Bryan 4 - Good in the air. Pants on the ground. Slow and half hearted when trying to stop crosses. Lacking confidence. For me, the revolves around bing asked to play left back when not an out and out left back. 

Flint 6 - Steady. 

Wright 6 - No pace. No left foot. Hung out to dry on the left side a little. The situation reminded me a little of El Abd I must say (no comparison ability wise). 

Hegeler 8 - Cool customer. Like to see him in the middle of midfield. As someone mentioned you'd only need him rather than 2 defensive mids. 

Brownhill 4 - Did nothing defensively or offensively. 

Smith 4 - Looked less than Fleetwoods level. Something's not right. 

Tomlin 7 - Pay your money to watch him first half. Second half you want a refund. 

Djuric 7 - Decent debut. Good touch. Good in the air. Not close enough to Tammy. Yet positive. Showed well. 

Tammy 7 - Way above us as a club. 

Can't believe Pack has got stuck also. Tried to love the ball. Showed urgency and a range of passing. Ultimately if the option isn't forward, which it wasn't often owing to a lack of width he'd go back. Unless you want him to ping the ball into the corners and play percentages I'm unsure what he should do?? 

[BobBobSuperBob]

4 hours ago, EnclosureSurge said:

FF - 5 O'Donnell 4 for his poor kicking and general buffoonery.

Little 5 - did what he always does, head-down try and run the ball over the by-line or run through opposition players. He was ok!

Bryan 5 - he only played 45 mins, didn't he? Where was he 2nd half? Poor, well-educated chap could do with being given the ball to cross it to the new big bloke. Bet he used some multi-syllabic words in frustration in the changing room after the game.

Flint 6 - big and strong. And big.

Wright 6 - smaller but strong. But definitely smaller.

Hegeler 9 - class. Classy guy.

Smith/Pack (indistinguishable) 5 - they're sort of on the pitch, but don't really ever do anything. Except go sideways.

Brownhill 8 - boy, he runs a lot.

Tomlin 4 - boy, does he not. He was nice to the new signings, though. Best skill on the pitch available but chose to fluff it up every time.

The Big Bloke 6 - ran around, headed the ball a bit, flattened some people, ran around some more. We could do with more of this, frankly!

Tammy 5 - probably should have stayed in bed. Or played 1v1 with his brother in his garden. Definitely shouldn't be allowed to shoot from further than 6 yards. Or leave the opponents 6 yard box.

Subs - maaaah, whatevs. 

Uwe Rosler MOM 9 - splendid latter day Michael Stipe impression.

And that's my take on it!

Wasn't there , so can't comment other than to say it made me laugh !!

Nice 

[redfieldred]

6 hours ago, sh1t_ref_again said:

Cant believe you gave Pack a 3, thought he looked so much better than smith

Typical city fan. Blind to pack's good points. If he deserves 3 then Tomlin deserved 1 and smith 0, made one big error otherwise he helped nullify fleetwood attack whereby the only chance they had was due to a Rick by odonnell which he and flint defended brilliantly. 

[FlintWonderwall]

5 hours ago, EnclosureSurge said:

FF - 5 O'Donnell 4 for his poor kicking and general buffoonery.

Little 5 - did what he always does, head-down try and run the ball over the by-line or run through opposition players. He was ok!

Bryan 5 - he only played 45 mins, didn't he? Where was he 2nd half? Poor, well-educated chap could do with being given the ball to cross it to the new big bloke. Bet he used some multi-syllabic words in frustration in the changing room after the game.

Flint 6 - big and strong. And big.

Wright 6 - smaller but strong. But definitely smaller.

Hegeler 9 - class. Classy guy.

Smith/Pack (indistinguishable) 5 - they're sort of on the pitch, but don't really ever do anything. Except go sideways.

Brownhill 8 - boy, he runs a lot.

Tomlin 4 - boy, does he not. He was nice to the new signings, though. Best skill on the pitch available but chose to fluff it up every time.

The Big Bloke 6 - ran around, headed the ball a bit, flattened some people, ran around some more. We could do with more of this, frankly!

Tammy 5 - probably should have stayed in bed. Or played 1v1 with his brother in his garden. Definitely shouldn't be allowed to shoot from further than 6 yards. Or leave the opponents 6 yard box.

Subs - maaaah, whatevs. 

Uwe Rosler MOM 9 - splendid latter day Michael Stipe impression.

And that's my take on it!

At least somebody has noticed Tammy's strengths great post

[sh1t_ref_again]

6 hours ago, redfieldred said:

Typical city fan. Blind to pack's good points. If he deserves 3 then Tomlin deserved 1 and smith 0, made one big error otherwise he helped nullify fleetwood attack whereby the only chance they had was due to a Rick by odonnell which he and flint defended brilliantly. 

Whoosh, not sure you understood my post, I was making the point I could not believe he only gave pack a 3, thought he was excellent and a big improvement on smith who was awful.

But yes typical city fan who as had a season ticket for over 30 years and still frustrated

[Olé]

Good ratings from the OP - agree entirely. For me Hegeler, Little and Brownhill were our best players.

Mark Little is pure effort despite limited ability, I just love watching it, it's everything the rest of the squad lacks, a bit of brute force will to win even if the quality isn't there. Josh Brownhill is also not quite there on quality but a revelation in terms of engine and strength, doesn't get knocked off the ball and keeps going - if ever there was a lesson for Joe Bryan's stalled progression this past year, it's called Josh Brownhill and is playing alongside him.

The thing about Brownhill and Little is their self-belief about their right to be better than the opponents around them, in whatever tactics they're given (not very good ones if you ask me), is such as example to everyone else about the will to win. I don't want to make this about Joe Bryan being poor because he has had worse games this season, but when you look at him you see the opposite - a player who is unsure he is better than his opponents.

[samo II]

33 minutes ago, Olé said:

Good ratings from the OP - agree entirely. For me Hegeler, Little and Brownhill were our best players.

Mark Little is pure effort despite limited ability, I just love watching it, it's everything the rest of the squad lacks, a bit of brute force will to win even if the quality isn't there. Josh Brownhill is also not quite there on quality but a revelation in terms of engine and strength, doesn't get knocked off the ball and keeps going - if ever there was a lesson for Joe Bryan's stalled progression this past year, it's called Josh Brownhill and is playing alongside him.

The thing about Brownhill and Little is their self-belief about their right to be better than the opponents around them, in whatever tactics they're given (not very good ones if you ask me), is such as example to everyone else about the will to win. I don't want to make this about Joe Bryan being poor because he has had worse games this season, but when you look at him you see the opposite - a player who is unsure he is better than his opponents.

We've discussed the highlighted section elsewhere, and for me it is the key thing that seems to have dropped off the last few months.

It is easy to be sly about tactics like changes and 'square pegs round holes' (and justified in the current run, no denying), but that isn't what has lost us games recently; it's the squad's mentality.

Plenty of limited teams in this division, and above and below (and everywhere really) go out with  players played out of position, or in their non-ideal role, and are competitive and able to grind out results.

Hell; back earlier this season we had Brownhill brought on at right back (want to say forest at home?) and he put in a more than impressive shift.  But that is the crux of it; he (or others out of position elsewhere) went out believing they could impact the game, and that alongside their teammates they could win.

I don't think we (or a least a good number of the players) are thinking this way.

And my problem is this is something that has to come from their head coach/manager.

Honestly; people lionise Rowett, and he did a great job at Brum in trying circumstances.  But not because they played great football (as I understand they were often not pretty to watch), but because he took a bunch of bargain basement buys and made them believe they could win every game, regardless who they faced. Same can be said for the dark wizard of the English leagues (and worryingly our next opponent) Warnock, who regularly makes winning sides out of players no one else can see doing anything more than getting thumped.

Hopefully the lift of new players in the door can flush out this negative attitude that has fallen over the squad (and for the record; think this can look like losing dressing room, when it is nothing quite as dramatic, and isn't indicative of rifts), because if he cannot find a way of motivating a clearly talented side for a game that is both a vital match against fellow relegation contenders and a local derby, then I'm not sure he's got that vital factor that you need to succeed.

Formations and personnel are at this point irrelevant to me; putting out eleven players who believe they can win is.

[Engvall's Splinter]

42 minutes ago, Olé said:

Good ratings from the OP - agree entirely. For me Hegeler, Little and Brownhill were our best players.

Mark Little is pure effort despite limited ability, I just love watching it, it's everything the rest of the squad lacks, a bit of brute force will to win even if the quality isn't there. Josh Brownhill is also not quite there on quality but a revelation in terms of engine and strength, doesn't get knocked off the ball and keeps going - if ever there was a lesson for Joe Bryan's stalled progression this past year, it's called Josh Brownhill and is playing alongside him.

The thing about Brownhill and Little is their self-belief about their right to be better than the opponents around them, in whatever tactics they're given (not very good ones if you ask me), is such as example to everyone else about the will to win. I don't want to make this about Joe Bryan being poor because he has had worse games this season, but when you look at him you see the opposite - a player who is unsure he is better than his opponents.

I want more from my centre midfield than what Brownhill offered yesterday. Often made the game tighter than it needed to be by closing space when we had the ball, looking like he's available when in reality hiding behind a man, didn't move the ball quick enough, didn't press the opposition enough and didn't have any noticeable efforts on goal. Sat on Flints toes a fair bit, giving the look of nearly a back 7. 

Haven't watched the previous 2 games. Would be keen to know if he played similar in those games or if he was better yesterday after people were raving about him.  

[Olé]

8 minutes ago, samo II said:

Formations and personnel are at this point irrelevant to me; putting out eleven players who believe they can win is.

Well you're right about formation and personnel being irrelevant because we've changed it all repeatedly but the instructions always seem to be the same. I can't believe it's about putting 11 players out who believe they can win, as that implies on recent form that most of our squad have no will to win or do not believe they can win, yet for those we've seen before (so everyone bar Engval and new signings) we know they have it in them.

This is not meant as a slight on either player, and I could be completely wrong (it happens frequently!) but it occurred to me that both Brownhill and Little might not be the brightest, and as such I wondered if their distinct will to win and drive on the pitch was a product of not being hampered by over-complicating their thinking. I wonder if a lot of the other players are over-thinking lots of instructions rather than just "win the ball and get forward".

I've been reading an old Oldham thread about LJ's Powerpoint and was struck by similarities in the complication resulting in being flat/dull.

[JBFC II]

Surprised to see people rating tomlin so low, was the only player yesterday to give us something going forward, ran the show first half and although he tired the 2nd half was the only player to give us some attacking impetus

[1960maaan]

15 hours ago, old_eastender said:

Another disappointment today, LJs obsession with playing 2 holding midfielders contributed once again to us offering nowhere near enough attacking threat. Heggler looked class, we didn't need Smith or Park in the side as well.

Ratings

Fielding - 5 : One smart save, but our tedious slow build up play started with him dawdling about.

Didn't think either keeper did much wrong, ROD's slice? still don't know why we pass to the keeper to lump it when the pass usually comes from a better position.

Little - 6 : It says something when the player most likely to make something happen in attack was Mark Little, even though his trademark bustling runs didn't quite come off.  Yep

Flint & Wright - 6 : Both looked solid at the back, not really tested that much. Thought Wright took a time to settle but did ok in the end.

Bryan - 5 : All too often just played the ball back and stood still, on the couple of occasions he did carry the ball forward his crosses were poor.Yep

Heggler - 8 : Looked class, could easily play the holding midfielder role with no need for Smith or Pack. Taylor made for CM role, quality.

Smith - 3 : Apart from one burst forward, just played 10 year passes backwards and sideways. Yep not the same player as 18 month ago.

Brownhill - 7 : Worked hard, box to box, at least tried to get us moving forward. Yep

Tomlin - 5 : Had to continually drop deep to get the ball, which is not where we want him. Seemed to be knackered after 60 mins. Yep , but always available and open for the ball. Needs to be 20 yards further foward, maybe Hegeler could help that.

Tammy & Duric - 6 : Both tried, too much space between them, precious little decent service.Yep Duric fluffed his one chance and Tammy needs to work on his finishing from outside the 6 yard box.

Pack - 3 : Awful. Stole the ball brilliantly twice in the second half, first time then turned and passed backwards into out own half, second time ran with ball away from attack and eventually lost it on the halfway-line, which against a better side could have been punished. As others have said , harsh. He tried to get things going, picked the ball up off of the back  four and at least tried to unstil some energy.

Paterson - 5 : Only on for 10 minutes, should have taken Tomlin off earlier. Did get involved but hard to judge given short game time. Strange sub to make, Freeman would probably have fitted better, an enigma to be sure.

Manager - 4 : Fair play for selecting strongest side with all 3 new signings, but must lose his obsession with 2 holding midfielders which stifles our attacking options. I think it was an easy decision to make playing the new boys, supposedly weaker opposition, give them game time before a very important game against Colin and his mob. I still wonder about his tactical subs tho'.

 

23 minutes ago, samo II said:

We've discussed the highlighted section elsewhere, and for me it is the key thing that seems to have dropped off the last few months.

It is easy to be sly about tactics like changes and 'square pegs round holes' (and justified in the current run, no denying), but that isn't what has lost us games recently; it's the squad's mentality.

Plenty of limited teams in this division, and above and below (and everywhere really) go out with  players played out of position, or in their non-ideal role, and are competitive and able to grind out results.

Hell; back earlier this season we had Brownhill brought on at right back (want to say forest at home?) and he put in a more than impressive shift.  But that is the crux of it; he (or others out of position elsewhere) went out believing they could impact the game, and that alongside their teammates they could win.

I don't think we (or a least a good number of the players) are thinking this way.

And my problem is this is something that has to come from their head coach/manager.

Honestly; people lionise Rowett, and he did a great job at Brum in trying circumstances.  But not because they played great football (as I understand they were often not pretty to watch), but because he took a bunch of bargain basement buys and made them believe they could win every game, regardless who they faced. Same can be said for the dark wizard of the English leagues (and worryingly our next opponent) Warnock, who regularly makes winning sides out of players no one else can see doing anything more than getting thumped.

Hopefully the lift of new players in the door can flush out this negative attitude that has fallen over the squad (and for the record; think this can look like losing dressing room, when it is nothing quite as dramatic, and isn't indicative of rifts), because if he cannot find a way of motivating a clearly talented side for a game that is both a vital match against fellow relegation contenders and a local derby, then I'm not sure he's got that vital factor that you need to succeed.

Formations and personnel are at this point irrelevant to me; putting out eleven players who believe they can win is.

Very well put.

Said before you can visibly see shoulders drop as we concede, with luck a new team spine will shake that negativity out of the squad and a few wins eliminate it all together.

[samo II]

4 minutes ago, Olé said:

Well you're right about formation and personnel being irrelevant because we've changed it all repeatedly but the instructions always seem to be the same. I can't believe it's about putting 11 players out who believe they can win, as that implies on recent form that most of our squad have no will to win or do not believe they can win, yet for those we've seen before (so everyone bar Engval and new signings) we know they have it in them.

This is not meant as a slight on either player, and I could be completely wrong (it happens frequently!) but it occurred to me that both Brownhill and Little might not be the brightest, and as such I wondered if their distinct will to win and drive on the pitch was a product of not being hampered by over-complicating their thinking. I wonder if a lot of the other players are over-thinking lots of instructions rather than just "win the ball and get forward".

I've been reading an old Oldham thread about LJ's Powerpoint and was struck by similarities in the complication resulting in being flat/dull.

Sure; I'm maybe over-simplifying it somewhat.

But I do think that results like Reading suggest there is a lack of belief in the team at the moment; I wasn't at that game, but my father was, and he said there was a grim sense of inevitability evident on the faces of the players when the first Reading goal went in, and pretty much everyone looked to go back into their shell and desperately avoid losing, not just playing how they had been before.

My feeling are basically that the tactical changes, and lack of a settled starting eleven have exasibated the mentality problems, coupled with this insistence on playing through the middle, have left the players unable to expesss themselves, and as a result unable to focus on just getting at teams and trying to win.

I don't think we're completely broken yet, but I also think we're running out of time to find a rhythm and run of form to do more than scrap against relegation.  Again.

Cardiff are in good form (lost once since start of December, and scored three goals in that game), and have no doubts they'll come at us next week.  The question is can Lee fire them up enough to get something from the game?  I'm worried at what the answer is to that.

[redfieldred]

2 hours ago, sh1t_ref_again said:

Whoosh, not sure you understood my post, I was making the point I could not believe he only gave pack a 3, thought he was excellent and a big improvement on smith who was awful.

But yes typical city fan who as had a season ticket for over 30 years and still frustrated

Not you mate I was talking about original poster

[DaveF]

14 hours ago, Luxo Jr. said:

Is this spelling of Hegeler's name deliberate? Not that fussed if it is, just personally get a bit irrationally annoyed when I see names like Kodjia and Hodor.

I get your point and agree with it, 'Goldbourne' 'Tomlinson'. Kodjia is his actual name though!

[Luxo Jr.]

4 hours ago, DaveF said:

I get your point and agree with it, 'Goldbourne' 'Tomlinson'. Kodjia is his actual name though!

Ha, seems the forum autocorrects K o d g e r  to Kodjia.

[Red-Robbo]

Some bizarre views on this thread.

In my humbles, I see it this way  (doing without the rating thing):

MOTM Heggeler

Other good to reasonable  performances: 

Little; Flint; Tammy; Wright; Djuric; Brownhill

Average/Mixed

Bryan; Pack; Fielding; Tomlin

Below par

ROD; Smith; Patterson