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Thoughts as our Season reaches half time

Jerseybean

By Jerseybean
in Football Chat

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Jerseybean

Jerseybean

Posted
Posted

As we’ve now played every Championship team once it’s a good time to take a look at our season to date and take stock.

Given our hideous injury list and the ramifications this has had on team selection and rotation we might at least hope that for the remaining fixtures we have more players to select from. However, we are where we are!

Looking forward to hearing others thoughts, my reflections are.....

As is said all too often the Championship is about ‘fine margins’ and for the large part our results  have been decided by fine margins.

The obvious exceptions being our opening home game against Leeds, the late November nightmare away at WBA and our victory over Huddersfield. We were completely outplayed by the two teams IMO most likely to gain promotion (WBA and Leeds). On the day the gulf both tactically and technically was immense. Other than Leeds and WBA I haven’t really seen a stand-out team.

Another well used cliche about the Championship applies to us (again perhaps with a couple of exceptions) as - on our day - we are capable of beating any team, but equally capable of being beaten by any team. For me this is what makes the Championship what it is.

Yet again our home form has been very poor. To date we have recorded nine draws and we can only speculate about how many of these would have been three points if only we had more strikers and/or had not suffered so many injuries, but again we are where we are!

In typical City style we have tended to:

  1. Huff, puff and struggle against some of the so called ‘poorer sides’
  2. Play poorly at home and are generally unable to break-down opponents who set up to contain us
  3. Never manage to play really well in any game for the majority of the 90 minutes [Fulham away aside] and sadly
  4. Lack any real eye-catching football identity, aside from the odd glimpse of good play, such as the late, late winner at home to Charlton - what a ball from Palmer and what a first touch and finish from Brownhill or another example would be Josh’s superb strike at Cardiff.

I think overall we are a stronger squad than last season, certainly the addition of Bentley, Nagy, Williams, Massengo and the surprising success of Rowe, along with securing the trio from Chelsea, on a permanent basis, gives me the feeling that we are a better, more balanced squad, with more strength in-depth.

Our weaknesses and failings have been well documented on here and elsewhere, so I don’t see there’s much to gain from reiterating them.

My overriding observation of our style of play so far this season is that it has been massively hampered by our limited forward options (to be clear I am not having a pop at Fammy here). We consistently have to hold the ball up at the back and in midfield as there are so few forward runners/options/outlets and the options we do have, generally AW, FD, work their socks off but are normally isolated and therefore too easily dispossessed. Usually this means pedestrian sideways/backwards possession in midfield or an attempt to play a forward ball through the eye of a needle or passing forward to an isolated team mate......which, when compared with the fast, slick movement of some of our rivals leaves us very much wanting/limited. The notable exception to this was the Huddersfield game, especially the first half, when we played forward more directly with tempo and incisiveness. Certainly the players selected and the formation worked perfectly on that occasion. The same line up then impressed, in the next game, away at Fulham with a fine team performance and victory. However, this was followed by the woeful performances against Millwall and Blackburn.

What should we expect/hope for in our remaining fixtures? To be honest I think it’s likely to be much of the same. Unless, that is, we address our glaring inadequacies in January. As things stand my money is on WBA and Leeds securing the automatic slots, with any one of probably eight to ten teams (including us) looking to finish in the top six.

My thoughts to date.....

Performance of the season: Fulham

Player of the season contenders: Bentley and Brownhill

Young player of the season contenders: Massengo, Eliasson, Moore

Unexpected bonus of the season contenders: Williams, Moore and Rowe

Goal of the season contenders: Brownhill v Charlton, Brownhill v Cardiff

Disaster of the season contenders: Our injuries, our home form

Looking forward to reading others mid-season thoughts.

My ten year old daughter is making her first to Ashton Gate for the Luton game, I’ve tried to explain to her that supporting City is for life, not just for Christmas.

Finally, as I mentioned earlier today on here, if you really want to follow an unbeatable team, try Jersey Bulls, who have won every league and cup game they’ve played this season.... https://bulls.je

 

 

 

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Prinny

Prinny

Posted
Posted

We're doing fine for the squad we have, the injuries that we've had, and we have reinforcements coming.

That's the critical bit. If the recruitment department fail to get the forwards in to turn the season around then they really need to be looked at. That includes the manager.

I'm buying what he's saying because it exactly matches with what I see (except O'Dowda) so I'm happy to wait for the transfer window to see if he can fix the problems (again) as well as identify them.

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steveybadger

steveybadger

Posted
Posted
2 hours ago, cidercity1987 said:

Crap football, no progress from last season, below clubs we should never be behind. 

Missing an open goal at the play offs with relegated teams being rubbish and two big clubs above us last year being in transition.

Not happy.

Behind clubs we should never be behind? An open goal? That just reeks of arrogance and also ignores the numerous teams who ‘’should’’ be above us.

Respectfully.

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RedLionLad

RedLionLad

Posted
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1 minute ago, Fordy62 said:

Yeh. Fair one. But there are some failing to accept there’s an issue. 

The issue is, there are better teams than us in this league, and some much better players. Under the circumstances (including losing a few good players and having several long term injuries) we really are doing quite well.

I accept it could go either way for us from now on in......but being where we are at 23 games in, just before the transfer window? I'm not too unhappy about that.

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spudski

spudski

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Posted
7 minutes ago, Fordy62 said:

 No. It’s fact. It’s the bit that’s unsurprisingly missed out by the happy clappers who refuse to believe there’s an issue. 

Mate...apart from Leeds and WBA...there is inconsistency with all the Clubs in this division.

We've been up four seasons...look at the teams below us. Look at the teams one win above us. 

Yes we've been playing shit offensively, yes certain players are putting in below par performances...but it's happening at approx 90% of the rest of the league.

It is what it is.

It's bloody frustrating...I get it...but fans have to see the bigger picture. Mistakes happen at the Club...in all departments. Just like at the majority of all the Clubs.

Yes it pisses us all off...but we have to stand back and look at everyone else pretty much making the same mistakes.

 

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RedLionLad

RedLionLad

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1 minute ago, spudski said:

Mate...apart from Leeds and WBA...there is inconsistency with all the Clubs in this division.

We've been up four seasons...look at the teams below us. Look at the teams one win above us. 

Yes we've been playing shit offensively, yes certain players are putting in below par performances...but it's happening at approx 90% of the rest of the league.

It is what it is.

It's bloody frustrating...I get it...but fans have to see the bigger picture. Mistakes happen at the Club...in all departments. Just like at the majority of all the Clubs.

Yes it pisses us all off...but we have to stand back and look at everyone else pretty much making the same mistakes.

 

I agree. Most teams in this league would swap places with us right now. Look at teams like Stoke, Boro, Derby etc.

2 minutes ago, Fordy62 said:

I know. See above... it’s sort of a veiled apology! ?

Wimp ! :)

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pillred

pillred

Posted
Posted
2 hours ago, Jerseybean said:

As we’ve now played every Championship team once it’s a good time to take a look at our season to date and take stock.

Given our hideous injury list and the ramifications this has had on team selection and rotation we might at least hope that for the remaining fixtures we have more players to select from. However, we are where we are!

Looking forward to hearing others thoughts, my reflections are.....

As is said all too often the Championship is about ‘fine margins’ and for the large part our results  have been decided by fine margins.

The obvious exceptions being our opening home game against Leeds, the late November nightmare away at WBA and our victory over Huddersfield. We were completely outplayed by the two teams IMO most likely to gain promotion (WBA and Leeds). On the day the gulf both tactically and technically was immense. Other than Leeds and WBA I haven’t really seen a stand-out team.

Another well used cliche about the Championship applies to us (again perhaps with a couple of exceptions) as - on our day - we are capable of beating any team, but equally capable of being beaten by any team. For me this is what makes the Championship what it is.

Yet again our home form has been very poor. To date we have recorded nine draws and we can only speculate about how many of these would have been three points if only we had more strikers and/or had not suffered so many injuries, but again we are where we are!

In typical City style we have tended to:

  1. Huff, puff and struggle against some of the so called ‘poorer sides’
  2. Play poorly at home and are generally unable to break-down opponents who set up to contain us
  3. Never manage to play really well in any game for the majority of the 90 minutes [Fulham away aside] and sadly
  4. Lack any real eye-catching football identity, aside from the odd glimpse of good play, such as the late, late winner at home to Charlton - what a ball from Palmer and what a first touch and finish from Brownhill or another example would be Josh’s superb strike at Cardiff.

I think overall we are a stronger squad than last season, certainly the addition of Bentley, Nagy, Williams, Massengo and the surprising success of Rowe, along with securing the trio from Chelsea, on a permanent basis, gives me the feeling that we are a better, more balanced squad, with more strength in-depth.

Our weaknesses and failings have been well documented on here and elsewhere, so I don’t see there’s much to gain from reiterating them.

My overriding observation of our style of play so far this season is that it has been massively hampered by our limited forward options (to be clear I am not having a pop at Fammy here). We consistently have to hold the ball up at the back and in midfield as there are so few forward runners/options/outlets and the options we do have, generally AW, FD, work their socks off but are normally isolated and therefore too easily dispossessed. Usually this means pedestrian sideways/backwards possession in midfield or an attempt to play a forward ball through the eye of a needle or passing forward to an isolated team mate......which, when compared with the fast, slick movement of some of our rivals leaves us very much wanting/limited. The notable exception to this was the Huddersfield game, especially the first half, when we played forward more directly with tempo and incisiveness. Certainly the players selected and the formation worked perfectly on that occasion. The same line up then impressed, in the next game, away at Fulham with a fine team performance and victory. However, this was followed by the woeful performances against Millwall and Blackburn.

What should we expect/hope for in our remaining fixtures? To be honest I think it’s likely to be much of the same. Unless, that is, we address our glaring inadequacies in January. As things stand my money is on WBA and Leeds securing the automatic slots, with any one of probably eight to ten teams (including us) looking to finish in the top six.

My thoughts to date.....

Performance of the season: Fulham

Player of the season contenders: Bentley and Brownhill

Young player of the season contenders: Massengo, Eliasson, Moore

Unexpected bonus of the season contenders: Williams, Moore and Rowe

Goal of the season contenders: Brownhill v Charlton, Brownhill v Cardiff

Disaster of the season contenders: Our injuries, our home form

Looking forward to reading others mid-season thoughts.

My ten year old daughter is making her first to Ashton Gate for the Luton game, I’ve tried to explain to her that supporting City is for life, not just for Christmas.

Finally, as I mentioned earlier today on here, if you really want to follow an unbeatable team, try Jersey Bulls, who have won every league and cup game they’ve played this season.... https://bulls.je

 

 

 

You said it, a stronger squad (on paper) yet we seem to be in no better a position than we were at the same stage last season or the one before, what does that tell you? me it says that the more toys you give LJ to play with the more confused he gets, today was a classic example tried to play a tactical game and ended up being to clever for his own good instead of picking a team to win the game he tried to make sure we didn't lose, the players must be utterly confused as to what they are supposed to do and it showed.

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RedLionLad

RedLionLad

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Forest have taken 2 points from their last 5 games (possible 15 points).....yet they sit 1 point below us with a game in hand. If they draw that one, they go above us having taken only 3 points from a possible 18.

It's tight at the top, and I reckon the play-off places will chop and change right up until the last game.

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RedLionLad

RedLionLad

Posted
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3 minutes ago, pillred said:

You said it, a stronger squad (on paper) yet we seem to be in no better a position than we were at the same stage last season or the one before, what does that tell you? me it says that the more toys you give LJ to play with the more confused he gets, today was a classic example tried to play a tactical game and ended up being to clever for his own good instead of picking a team to win the game he tried to make sure we didn't lose, the players must be utterly confused as to what they are supposed to do and it showed.

Is that true?

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Northern Red

Northern Red

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Posted
2 minutes ago, RedLionLad said:

Forest have taken 2 points from their last 5 games (possible 15 points).....yet they sit 1 point below us with a game in hand. If they draw that one, they go above us having taken only 3 points from a possible 18.

It's tight at the top, and I reckon the play-off places will chop and change right up until the last game.

Yep. Plus Fulham lost 3 on the spin before yesterday, Preston 4 recently. Happens to everyone except the very best at some point.

Yet you'd be forgiven for thinking that it's exclusive to us.

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mozo

mozo

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2 minutes ago, RedLionLad said:

Forest have taken 2 points from their last 5 games (possible 15 points).....yet they sit 1 point below us with a game in hand. If they draw that one, they go above us having taken only 3 points from a possible 18.

It's tight at the top, and I reckon the play-off places will chop and change right up until the last game.

And I'll bet Forest fans are tearing their hair out too, although maybe their team has more cohesion and prettier football. 

The problem is that City and Forest are now slipping behind the pack, and will have to out perform more teams in the 2nd half of the season. 

If we lose to Charlton, we'll have an uphill struggle.

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pillred

pillred

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1 minute ago, RedLionLad said:

Is that true?

yes unfortunately, no worse but supposedly with a better squad and a lot more players that he has bought, people said give him time well he's had that and still we seem to be inconsistent and if today is anything to go by going backwards.

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Red Exile

Red Exile

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Posted

My thoughts:

...excited at the start of the season...even with injuries we have some outstanding players who'd get into any City side of the past few decades...travelled to watch us a fair bit, saw some good performances on the road...but always fragile...

...at home, the matches I've been able to get to have been dire, not worth the journey...

...conclusions, we have the squad...we lack the coaching staff to get the very best from them week in and week out. Very frustrating. If things are to improve Johnson must go, he's had his chance.

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