Passing

[Waconda]

7 minutes ago, Mr Popodopolous said:

Yeah yesterday he wasn't great- can't disagree, although one statistical metric seemed to have him in the team of the week- lack of good CM performances?

King and James as 1st team regulars could provide leadership maybe- although King isn't really at this stage of his career a 1st team regular. Leaders wise, seems the personnel change- talented, hit and miss, poor whatever- but the leadership issue rolles on.

Kalas is a fantastic leader and role model for the others unless you are looking for a "screamer and shouty" type ?

 

 

Edited October 31, 2021 by VT05763

[Mr Popodopolous]

1 hour ago, VT05763 said:

Kalas is a fantastic leader and role model for the others unless you are looking for a "screamer and shouty" type ?

True, leadership can be shown in different ways I guess. His post match comments after Barnsley and Huddersfield were a good example, thinking last season when he was almost pleading for a more positive approach.

[Waconda]

7 minutes ago, Mr Popodopolous said:

True, leadership can be shown in different ways I guess. His post match comments after Barnsley and Huddersfield were a good example, thinking last season when he was almost pleading for a more positive approach.

Yes, he needed more help.

We were sat behind the goal at the front yesterday and he was definitely in charge.

[maxjak]

4 hours ago, Davefevs said:

We had a much better mix of play earlier this season.  It’s gone to pot in recent weeks.

Have to agree.........I was under the impression that under NP, gradual and steady progress was the mantra..........but quite honestly we have regressed in the past 4-5 games.  i am concerned that for whatever reason we are not improving or making progress.  Surely a manager or coach begins to create a style/pattern of play and create an identity over a period of time, with it a given that there are bound to bumps and  setbacks along the way.

I see very little progress being made, and although we won yesterday, we were pretty awful, and rode our luck.  I appreciate patience is needed, but a modicum of evolution would be expected by now, and i am still on the fence as far  as Nige is concerned.

[maxjak]

1 hour ago, billywedlock said:

Team has no confidence and players are not being brave . Atkinson does not bring the ball out anymore , James has no one to pass to . It’s a tough one to solve . With a tight squad you cannot have your seniors pros , namely Palmer and COD not contributing , they are taking up squad space . Add to that Williams unable to get fit and Antoine missing ( our only power player ) and very soon your options in midfield are limited . The case of Palmer is significant. Big fee and big wages , that sort of investment should have given us a regular starter in midfield . So where some of our investment should have given us the big players to drag us out of our panic stations we are relying on youthful players like HNM and Bakinson. Both very talented but unable to take on a misfiring teams lack of confidence . 
 

We can undoubtedly play better than we are and Nige has to come up with better solutions in formation . We are so narrow , like a triangle almost and we leave so much space on the flanks . Play us , tactics simple , hit diagonals !

But every comment on here I have heard from NP also , so it is not a case of him not seeing it or not recognising what is said. But imho there has been far too many changes , back 3 or back 4 and we are yet to find a midfield set up that does not leave all that space . The coaches wanting to leave ( it seems they asked to leave ) is a blessing and an opportunity. If we use it correctly . Nige has to set us up better in my view as there is simply too much space available to the opposition . I like a lot of what Nige is doing but need him and the coaches to solve an issue that every team we play now focuses on. 
 

The pressure on the players at home was huge , and was getting them increasingly stressed . It was obvious . Look at the comments on here . They were scared to lose and scared to win .

Amongst all of this , I still see some excellent traits that will help as we rebuild . The desire and willingness of some of our big players is there . Incredible professionalism from Kalas , Bents and James . 
 

If the team can gain some confidence , win a second home game , get a few goals , there is so much more to come . The 2 goals yesterday , and many others this season , are of the highest order . Showing what we could do . 
 

A year of highs and lows and development . But from that you do build great strength and a team working for each other is something we have missed for a few years now . 

Great post.........I really feel that if somehow we had recruited a goalscorer to take the pressure off of Martin and to have been a foil for Wells....it would make a tremendous difference, as the team as a whole would expect that, a forward popping up with some goals when we are maybe not playing particularly well, would allow the pressure to be taken off.  Easily said I know.....but it is such a shame, as it would be such a massive benefit?   I am not even talking about a 20 goal a season striker ......but someone akin to Barnsley's  Woodrow would have done, maybe?

[Waconda]

3 minutes ago, maxjak said:

Great post.........I really feel that if somehow we had recruited a goalscorer to take the pressure off of Martin and to have been a foil for Wells....it would make a tremendous difference, as the team as a whole would expect that, a forward popping up with some goals when we are maybe not playing particularly well, would allow the pressure to be taken off.  Easily said I know.....but it is such a shame, as it would be such a massive benefit?   I am not even talking about a 20 goal a season striker ......but someone akin to Barnsley's  Woodrow would have done, maybe?

Piroe cost Swansea £1 million

He would have been ideal.

[Mr Popodopolous]

Unless I dreamt it, I'm sure we were linked with Piroe at one point in the summer? Was going to mention him but already done.

£1m fee and at that age is fine- all depends on the wages he's on though I guess, although as a young player at PSV perhaps not that large.

3 year deal, £1m- about £0.33m per year in amortisation.

Edited October 31, 2021 by Mr Popodopolous

[Davefevs]

15 minutes ago, maxjak said:

Have to agree.........I was under the impression that under NP, gradual and steady progress was the mantra..........but quite honestly we have regressed in the past 4-5 games.  i am concerned that for whatever reason we are not improving or making progress.  Surely a manager or coach begins to create a style/pattern of play and create an identity over a period of time, with it a given that there are bound to bumps and  setbacks along the way.

I see very little progress being made, and although we won yesterday, we were pretty awful, and rode our luck.  I appreciate patience is needed, but a modicum of evolution would be expected by now, and i am still on the fence as far  as Nige is concerned.

I hope yesterday is a new baseline.  Back 4 whatever Nige, sod the back 5.  And build a cohesive front 6.  I know it’s all a bit “hopeful” but if we can get Williams back for Blackburn, and Semenyo too, then I see them making a big difference.

Think it’s going through that tough stage at the mo.

Its easy to throw around comments like - “I’m not sure he knows his best team or system”, but most team are very different in November than expected in August!  It’s not trying to make excuses, shit happens.

As I posted in the week, James, Williams and Massengo have not played 1 minute together this season.

Nige seems to finally be positioning some players as “buck up now”.  When asked how Vyner and Palmer can get back in the 18 he responded “train well”.  Let’s hope they get the message.  I think he’s getting close to going with the youngsters again in some cases.

Tuckman: 

Forming

Storming

Norming

Performing

Think we are still somewhere between stage 1 and 2.

[Mr Popodopolous]

I would not mind seeing this 18, when available and especially when they can have a bit of a run together...outline the CM 3 in whichever way. The miss by Wells of course not ideal but I just wonder when we will need to start using Martin a bit more sparingly- switch Wells and Martin as appropriate. Although every time I wonder if Martin needs a bit of rotation he comes up with something!

               Bentley

Tanner Kalas Atkinson DaSilva

   James Williams Massengo

    Weimann Wells Semenyo

Subs: O'Leary, Vyner, Baker, King, Pring, Scott, Martin.

Bakinson first reserve for King or even you could switch between the two- because King probably wasn't brought to play a lot of games.

Weimann out of possession, will need to pull wider at times to help Tanner out, Semenyo definitely with DaSilva- Pring on the bench, usable as either LB or LM.

Edited October 31, 2021 by Mr Popodopolous

[Waconda]

3 minutes ago, Mr Popodopolous said:

I would not mind seeing this 18, when available and especially when they can have a bit of a run together...outline the CM 3 in whichever way. The miss by Wells of course not ideal but I just wonder when we will need to start using Martin a bit more sparingly- switch Wells and Martin as appropriate. Although every time I wonder if Martin needs a bit of rotation he comes up with something!

               Bentley

Tanner Kalas Atkinson DaSilva

   James Williams Massengo

    Weimann Wells Semenyo

Subs: O'Leary, Vyner, Baker, King, Pring, Scott, Martin.

Bakinson first reserve for King or even you could switch between the two- because King probably wasn't brought to play a lot of games.

Weimann out of possession, will need to pull wider at times to help Tanner out, Semenyo definitely with DaSilva- Pring on the bench, usable as either LB or LM.

I do feel we have missed Semenyos physical presence and general chaos making runs of late and although never going to be a prolific scorer of goals. he definitely unsettles teams, breaks the lines and is proactive. I would be tempted to try him alongside Weimann or Wells in a front 2 if we are to continue with our current style of play.

 

[Davefevs]

4 minutes ago, VT05763 said:

Piroe cost Swansea £1 million

He would have been ideal.

Excellent recruitment.  Got to say I’d never heard of him, but a bit of research and you find out he was wanted by a whole host of clubs 3 years ago, compared to RVN but not attained the heights expected.  Ends up in Swansea.

Those are the types of player Nige has mentioned, those with a good grounding who’ve had a downturn but still harbour the desire to come back.

Credit for Tanner and Atkinson though, both fall into that category above.  Tanner, Man Utd, Carlisle.  Atkinson, Cannes, Basingstoke, Fulham, Eastleigh is not your typical route.

Oh, to have access to Sean Gilhespy’s shortlist. 

2 minutes ago, VT05763 said:

I do feel we have missed Semenyos physical presence and general chaos making runs of late and although never going to be a prolific scorer of goals. he definitely unsettles teams, breaks the lines and is proactive. I would be tempted to try him alongside Weimann or Wells in a front 2 if we are to continue with our current style of play.

 

Amen, Brother VT.

[Mr Popodopolous]

1 hour ago, VT05763 said:

I do feel we have missed Semenyos physical presence and general chaos making runs of late and although never going to be a prolific scorer of goals. he definitely unsettles teams, breaks the lines and is proactive. I would be tempted to try him alongside Weimann or Wells in a front 2 if we are to continue with our current style of play.

 

Front 2 could be interesting, although I have a certain wariness about whether it's compact enough out of possession, for control and stability- wonder about some kind of loose front 3 that contains Semenyo, Scott and Weimann...

In some phases, the 4-3 is the same and then...

           Scott

Weimann Semenyo

Which at other times, means Scott can pull wide to avoid 2 v 1 for Tanner, Semenyo likewise for DaSilva and Weimann does his ferocious press out of possession.

Perhaps in some phases, Scott wide right, Semenyo wide left and Weimann through the middle- where he has stated a preference for playing in the past.

Edited October 31, 2021 by Mr Popodopolous

[Mr Popodopolous]

General observation on the passing and types of passing too.

Though the stats yesterday overall were not good, and it was all about the result- watched the highlights again a couple of times and thought the 2nd goal was pretty crisp, well worked- same for the breakaway that Wells missed and the equaliser, though that begun with the Bentley long ball, thereafter from the intervention of Kalas onwards, it was good stuff.

Would be nice if we focused a bit more on the short sharp passing bits and a bit less on the long ball from Bentley to Martin, think we are capable- especially when we get a fully fit side again, let's not forget we had strong phases technically speaking vs a passing side like Swansea back in August.

2nd goal, the ball to Martin was into feet- he is good technically, a clever player- we should look to do this a bit more.

Edited October 31, 2021 by Mr Popodopolous

[Waconda]

44 minutes ago, Mr Popodopolous said:

Front 2 could be interesting, although I have a certain wariness about whether it's compact enough out of possession, for control and stability- wonder about some kind of loose front 3 that contains Semenyo, Scott and Weimann...

In some phases, the 4-3 is the same and then...

           Scott

Weimann Semenyo

Which at other times, means Scott can pull wide to avoid 2 v 1 for Tanner, Semenyo likewise for DaSilva and Weimann does his ferocious press out of possession.

Perhaps in some phases, Scott wide right, Semenyo wide left and Weimann through the middle- where he has stated a preference for playing in the past.

I did say if we are to persist with the current style of play, long ball and very narrow, which is not the way I feel we should be set up.

Despite the popular opinion that our squad is full of lazy, inept and useless wasters I believe we have a decent Championship squad with many quality and technically adept footballers within it.

I feel we are playing this way through choice and not necessity.

Edited October 31, 2021 by VT05763

[Mr Popodopolous]

58 minutes ago, VT05763 said:

I did say if we are to persist with the current style of play, long ball and very narrow, which is not the way I feel we should be set up.

Despite the popular opinion that our squad is full of lazy, inept and useless wasters I believe we have a decent Championship squad with many quality and technically adept footballers within it.

I feel we are playing this way through choice and not necessity.

Think Williams and Semenyo are quite big misses but we have shown what we can do at times even with the current injuries. I gave 2-3 examples from yesterday despite the overall worrying performance 

As to the Piroe bit, had a quick look back and unsure we were linked. With Henry yes and Piroe came up when suggesting Swansea may not go for him if they got Piroe.

Although what a good signing for Swansea, at £1m too. Aged 22, bit of a snip!

[maxjak]

9 hours ago, billywedlock said:

I think that maybe a more rampaging forward is what we need. Kodja would be a good example , more so than Fam. Tammy in your dreams, but Kodja had that mix of pace and skill and goalscoring. Wells has not been bad recently, but he has a few occasions in his prime operating zone (down the middle) where he fluffed the execution. If you look at the highlights of a lot of our goals, they are actually really damn good goals, well executed with some slick moves. It is just that we only do it for 5 minutes a game , but it shows we have that in us. We are missing also a proper power player. Antoine gives us some of that (yes he needs to improve, but I don't think any side likes to have him charging at them) . Oh , of course we are all frustrated, we want to be better, the club and Nige know it too. But I do honestly feel we are going to get there. When I hear the support of the last ten minutes on Saturday and the effort and commitment of the team , hell we will get it right. Last season no one gave a poo. If we can get all working together, players and fans,  in 12/18 months I will be amazed if we are not a strong top 6 side. Nige clearly sees what people write here, he has said so. Recognising your issues is the first step to recovery. He now has to find all the ingredients. Hell, he is up for it, he could be walking the hills of Dartmoor, but chose to take on our sh1t show. He has done so because, IMHO he has seen huge talent in our youth and seen where we have not been set up off the field for a club to be a Championship to Prem side. He must see the gaps. I love that he will play youth , that is so rare, and shows our youth they can pave a path to a huge career if you take it. Anyway, yes we are playing crap, Nige said the same. But we have finally found some heart and soul again, and that really excites me. It will be a rough road, but next season when we are shot of the final remains of the Ashton debacle (4 years in the making) I am so convinced we will have a team to be very proud of. I am not a Pearson evangelist , but I can see he is addressing some big issues our club has had for many many years. Without doubt our club will be a far better club for his tenure. I really hope his role develops into a genuine DOF and he ultimately brings through a young coaching set up. Mr Lansdown should have appointed a proper football advisor 20 years ago. He would have saved a fortune and we would have almost certainly been in the Prem with the money spent. Sorry... ramble over. I just think we need to be patient and that we are slowly moving in the right direction to not be that amateur west country football club. 

Yet another Great Ramble..........sorry Post Ha!  I agree to a large extent, although I would really like to see a quality coach brought in, with bags of experience, effectiveness and Moxie!

[maxjak]

14 hours ago, VT05763 said:

Piroe cost Swansea £1 million

He would have been ideal.

Yep I do wonder if our scouting network is up to standard?  But the signings of Atkinson and Tanner, from lower league clubs, at least prove they are getting it right on occassions.

Edited November 1, 2021 by maxjak

[maxjak]

14 hours ago, Davefevs said:

I hope yesterday is a new baseline.  Back 4 whatever Nige, sod the back 5.  And build a cohesive front 6.  I know it’s all a bit “hopeful” but if we can get Williams back for Blackburn, and Semenyo too, then I see them making a big difference.

Think it’s going through that tough stage at the mo.

Its easy to throw around comments like - “I’m not sure he knows his best team or system”, but most team are very different in November than expected in August!  It’s not trying to make excuses, shit happens.

As I posted in the week, James, Williams and Massengo have not played 1 minute together this season.

Nige seems to finally be positioning some players as “buck up now”.  When asked how Vyner and Palmer can get back in the 18 he responded “train well”.  Let’s hope they get the message.  I think he’s getting close to going with the youngsters again in some cases.

Tuckman: 

Forming

Storming

Norming

Performing

Think we are still somewhere between stage 1 and 2.

I think your right, a Fully fit Semenyo and Williams would make a big difference.  I have everything crossed that they both come back and have a good long run of fitness.

[Waconda]

12 minutes ago, maxjak said:

Yep I do wonder if our scouting network is up to standard?  But the signings of Atkinson and Tanner, from lower league clubs, at least prove they are getting it right on occassions.

We may have been in for him but he chose Swansea for instance.