That ones on Nige today

[Gazred]

Just now, Son of Fred said:

Everyone has an offday.

Ask my wife...

Oh, she's mentioned it. 

[pongo88]

20 minutes ago, KegCity said:

Williams and James threw Bell under the bus big time. Bell was struggling but he had absolutely no support so could either close down a man and be passed around or stand off and be run at.

Once again we played at a lethargic pace that prevented us creating anything. If that’s our midfield next season we’re in trouble.

Bell may have had limited support but his defensive positioning and decision making  was abysmal. He looked like what he was, a player who isn’t a full back / wing back. He didn’t really look good defensively in his previous appearances, so why did Pearson pick him for today’s game. I think Pearson doesn’t like to admit he’s made a mistake, and perseveres regardlessly. As Henry Ford said - "The only real mistake is the one from which we learn nothing." 

[KegCity]

17 minutes ago, Silvio Dante said:

It’s been very noticeable from the first game Bell came in at RB that Kalas is reticent to pass to him. If you watch the Boro game, there were multiple times TK had the ball and the easy pass to Bell was on but he turned and looked for Klose instead.

My guess is that he is unsure of Bells onward distribution so doesn’t want to play to him to invite trouble. If you’ve got the time, dig the Boro game out and it’s glaring.

With that in mind, I think Kalas is playing further off Bell as he expects him to be beaten but doesn’t want to overcommit and leave the man in the middle with too much space.

Condensed version: I don’t think Kalas rates Bell there and it’s leading to knock on problems

Agree with that, you could see him turn to his right, see his option and then turn back in. That slowed our whole game down massively as everything had to go down the left, with all of Bells attacking moments coming from receiving the ball well up the pitch.

I just don’t think he’s quite ready for the championship yet. Absolutely no shame in it mind.

[GrahamC]

51 minutes ago, 1960maaan said:

No-one was thrown under the Bus, Bell was given a game in the wrong position. In a position he struggled in last time out , and while I think he's a decent player, he's not a WB/FB. I don't understand why you play a striker at FB when you have an experienced one on the books. I don't care if you think you made a mistake giving him a contract, just play round pegs in round holes FFS. Poor kid looked lost, just like he did last time, it's not fair on him.
If the team is firing, may be. But we're not, good players are struggling, so someone making his way in the game in an unknown position is bound to find it hard. 

I don't understand what Nige is trying to do today.

Bell actually did ok in his last game there (Coventry) but they sat off us, whereas Birmingham targeted him all first half with Hernandez too strong & too clever for him.

He didn’t get the support he needed from James or Williams either, but it was never going to work against these opponents.

If Klose is fit for Saturday we might have to go with Kalas there until Tanner is back.

Simpson is finished with us, he won’t play again, Pearson pretty much confirmed it in the press conference on Thursday.

[KegCity]

2 minutes ago, pongo88 said:

Bell may have had limited support but his defensive positioning and decision making  was abysmal. He looked like what he was, a player who isn’t a full back / wing back. He didn’t really look good defensively in his previous appearances, so why did Pearson pick him for today’s game. I think Pearson doesn’t like to admit he’s made a mistake, and perseveres regardlessly. As Henry Ford said - "The only real mistake is the one from which we learn nothing." 

Yeah Bell’s issues were down to himself, he’s not a wing back but his decision making was still awful. I just think that in fairness he got very little support from his team mates other than confused looks and a strong word in the ear. He should’ve had support in closing down their left flank from Kalas and either James or Williams. 

[Crackers Corner]

I thought the one thing the management got right first half was not subbing bell 5 mins before half time. Atkinson was ready to come on and np changed his mind I'm assuming to protect bell from boos.

[1960maaan]

4 minutes ago, GrahamC said:

Bell actually did ok in his last game there (Coventry) but they sat off us, whereas Birmingham targeted him all first half with Hernandez too strong & too clever for him.

He didn’t get the support he needed from James or Williams either, but it was never going to work against these opponents.

If Klose is fit for Saturday we might have to go with Kalas there until Tanner is back.

Simpson is finished with us, he won’t play again, Pearson pretty much confirmed it in the press conference on Thursday.

I thought he did well first game (Bell) , but struggled since. That's no slight on him. Hard enough coming into a side as a new player , so much ore difficult when you are playing out of position.

Simpson may have no future, Pearson may regret giving him a contract, but I'd rather se a fullback playing as a FB, that playing a young kid in a strange role.

[Snufflelufagus]

55 minutes ago, nickolas said:

Injury or fitness aside, am i the only one who thinks James is pretty crap?!

Doesnt offer a great deal and im not buying his ‘experience’. 
Marlon Pack was a better midfielder, and though slow, makes James look like a snail!

Tend to agree. I'm not sure James has actually played in a team that has won a home game for us. I'm sure he was out injured when we won the home games.

[REDOXO]

1 hour ago, Silvio Dante said:

Preamble: I’m a Pearson fan, we’re better than we were and we have developed a lot of the younger players. Under current financial circumstances I’m still glass half full.

However, today, he got it wrong. Matty James was an embarrassment - I can only assume not fully fit, but even with that, he didn’t even hit basic standards. The job he had as the back lying midfielder was twofold - first in screening/covering - which he didn’t do - and second in the picking up and distributing. He was slow on that, ponderous and meant by the time he had made a passing decision, the options had gone - it was a bad selection, fullstop, and the hooking indicates he wasn’t fit.

So, if he’s not fit, why also play Williams, who is coming back to fitness? Again, I’m a Joe fan - but he was poor today. However, what do you expect with a non fit player beside him as opposed to Massengo. It was a shocking combined decision.

Then, the actual subbing of James. Needed to go, but putting Wells on was insane. We ended up with four strikers, one of whom ended up at right back - and created nothing after we put the four on. We destroyed our shape like the worst days of Holden.

I think Bell was thrown under a bus today by more senior players. But the upshot for me is the manager got it wrong.

The way you get match fit is to play matches. 

Their first was a shanked clearance that fell perfectly to the on running forward. The heads dropped and same old same old stuff Semenyo did not track his man competitively from a corner. Heads dropped further. 
 

Second half we were much better and scored but never looked capable of getting another unless Scott was going to win t beat their entire team and score. 
 

Im as pissed off as the next gal about how crap we were particularly first half  and for much of the second but we have to get nineish points from somewhere and what we know is without getting certain players out there playing we will struggle as we have seen many times before while Williams, James, Baker, Anderson etc we’re unavailable. 
 

We lost because of our inability as a team to cope with going a goal down. An issue Pearson has brought up many times. 
 

Upside is Scott is some player and is not hamstrung by professional fear!

[WECANDO]

16 minutes ago, Harry said:

Yep. Those were my thoughts at half time but then having seen Klose withdrawn it was clearly an injury, so couldn’t happen. I’d definitely be looking at Kalas for RB though going forward. 
unless of course Simpson becomes Lazarus 

Agree with some of what's been said. But sat in the Dolman some 6 rows back so pretty close to Bell  whenever he got the ball from Kalas he wasn't allowed to much space or time by the opposition but he totally lacked support by our midfield and more so by Semenyo who seemed happy to go towards the Lansdown but rarely move across to the Dolman. Bell got the ball and there was nobody down the wing or closer to pass to and quite often nobody came short or made themselves available to the lad. Pretty poor. Had he had such support and help he would have looked a better player. At least he's getting some experience albeit it a bit painful for him. But yes, Kalas would be a better option at right back. 

[pongo88]

2 minutes ago, Crackers Corner said:

I thought the one thing the management got right first half was not subbing bell 5 mins before half time. Atkinson was ready to come on and np changed his mind I'm assuming to protect bell from boos.

I sort of agree with this and, at the same time, disagree. Pearson’s objective must be to win matches, so really Bell should have come off after 30 minutes. It would have been tough on him but, if he wants to succeed, he’s got to overcome setbacks 

[Dredd]

8 minutes ago, Crackers Corner said:

I thought the one thing the management got right first half was not subbing bell 5 mins before half time. Atkinson was ready to come on and np changed his mind I'm assuming to protect bell from boos.

Anyone booing Bell would need to have a word with themselves. A young kid playing well out of position as asked by his manager. 
He might have had a bad game but he certainly wasn’t alone in that first half. 
I completely agree with you about changing their mind on dragging him off on 44 mins. Would have achieved nothing bar denting his confidence further. 

[GrahamC]

6 minutes ago, 1960maaan said:

I thought he did well first game (Bell) , but struggled since. That's no slight on him. Hard enough coming into a side as a new player , so much ore difficult when you are playing out of position.

Simpson may have no future, Pearson may regret giving him a contract, but I'd rather se a fullback playing as a FB, that playing a young kid in a strange role.

I saw it the other way around, thought Bell looked like a complete fish out of water there against Boro for the first half hour but did a decent job v Cov.

Simpson just isn’t going to play now, he’s only been on the bench once in the last 15 games & hasn’t got on the pitch since October, he’s finished with us.

[GrahamC]

14 minutes ago, Crackers Corner said:

I thought the one thing the management got right first half was not subbing bell 5 mins before half time. Atkinson was ready to come on and np changed his mind I'm assuming to protect bell from boos.

Reckon that would have been for Klose, think he signalled to the bench he had a knock but soldiered on until HT in the end.

[Marina's Rolls Royce]

41 minutes ago, KegCity said:

Agree. He’s got a lot right but he’s also got a lot wrong. Have to wonder if he’s the right man to rebuild the club, but the wrong one to manage the team…

The summer is make or break. There’s no excuses after an important transfer window.

Really good point and something that @Davefevshas mentioned in that maybe NP will move "upstairs" and younger coach on coaching.

There is no doubt that there's got to be some tough love yet NP has done very little ,imo, to transform the team. After over a year and a pitiful record, I dont think this is an unreasonable statement.

[Dullmoan Tone]

7 minutes ago, Dredd said:

He might have had a bad game but he certainly wasn’t alone in that first half. 

He was the worst player on the pitch by a country mile - even the Birmingham fans were singing about him.

Yes he’s young and I can forgive the useless defending but even in attack he was worse than useless - he simply couldn’t adjust to the game to affect it or complete a pass.

He should have been subbed much earlier.

He now needs a league 2 loan. Surely even HNM would have been better?

[1960maaan]

9 minutes ago, GrahamC said:

Simpson just isn’t going to play now, he’s only been on the bench once in the last 15 games & hasn’t got on the pitch since October, he’s finished with us.

I don't disagree, just annoys me that he's been binned when we have no other RB's.

Seems a bit of cutting your nose off to spite your face. He may not be the answer, but just as a short term fix until others are fit. 

But I guess that ship has sailed now.

[YGBjammy]

1 hour ago, 1960maaan said:

No-one was thrown under the Bus, Bell was given a game in the wrong position. In a position he struggled in last time out , and while I think he's a decent player, he's not a WB/FB. I don't understand why you play a striker at FB when you have an experienced one on the books. I don't care if you think you made a mistake giving him a contract, just play round pegs in round holes FFS. Poor kid looked lost, just like he did last time, it's not fair on him.
If the team is firing, may be. But we're not, good players are struggling, so someone making his way in the game in an unknown position is bound to find it hard. 

I don't understand what Nige is trying to do today.

Agree entirely, it really winds me up. Pearson has talked plenty, particularly last season, about how the conditions have to be right to play youth players, and they should be able to play without pressure. Instead, he's now twice played a youth player out of position in a team that's not exactly a positive environment at the moment. We have Danny Simpson available, or just play Dasilva at RB? It's so bizarre. 

Okay it worked with Alex Scott at RWB, but he's an outlier. And that also gives you another player we could have put there over Bell. 

[Always red]

I differ from OP in that I'm not a Pearson fan.

Yes he's done some positive things ie bringing on some good youngsters (Pring, Scott etc al) but there are more negatives for me.

Lack of pace in the team in the defence and, on occasions, midfield. No really strong personalities or tacklers on the pitch, poor choice of captain (one of the senior players should have had an arm round Scott in a break in play) 

Woeful defence all season 

Finally, his general abrasive nature to the press 

And while I'm having a rant those absolute tools in the corner throwing stuff will really land us in trouble. Get a grip please BCFC. The stewards only seem to take an interest when it's too late. All in all great day out spoilt by 90 minutes on the pitch (albeit they gave it a go for 10 minutes or so) 

[Waconda]

1 hour ago, Davefevs said:

Neither Williams or James are a natural screen. Therein lies an issue if you play a diamond. When I say “an” issue, I don’t mean “an” I actually mean more than one issue.

Will build up the courage at some point to watch the highlights.

 

Playing an 18 year old centre forward at RWB is bordering on farcical.

And you can not play Williams and James in a Championship midfield together, far too ponderous, lacking mobility and energy.

These points are obvious !

[glynriley]

The young kid was excellent there against boro. Did you criticise then?

[Always red]

If Bell plays in a back 5 ie wing back you get away with a lack of defensive acumen with cover from the 3 in the middle but in a flat back 4 no way. 

[Waconda]

1 hour ago, Silvio Dante said:

It’s been very noticeable from the first game Bell came in at RB that Kalas is reticent to pass to him. If you watch the Boro game, there were multiple times TK had the ball and the easy pass to Bell was on but he turned and looked for Klose instead.

My guess is that he is unsure of Bells onward distribution so doesn’t want to play to him to invite trouble. If you’ve got the time, dig the Boro game out and it’s glaring.

With that in mind, I think Kalas is playing further off Bell as he expects him to be beaten but doesn’t want to overcommit and leave the man in the middle with too much space.

Condensed version: I don’t think Kalas rates Bell there and it’s leading to knock on problems

One very disappointing and worrying part today was when Williams was down injured around 35 minutes and both sets of players went to their benches while he was treated. 

Bowyer a "busy bee" getting amongst his players and encouraging/organising, being a positive influence.

NP just stood there and after a bit had a quiet word with Kalas, 

He should have got to Bell and given him support/advice/help/hope !!!

and "rallied the troops" FFS !!

 

[The Bard]

1 hour ago, Harry said:

Agree with most of what’s been said. 
If we’re struggling at right back, the answer isn’t a complete novice striker. 
He’s previously put Dasilva there. Whilst I don’t particularly like that, if you’ve got a fit Pring for left back then why not keep Dasilva on the right. It’s better to have a player who’s played full back all his life to be over there, even if it’s on his wrong side! 
What I’d have done today at half time was to have Atkinson & Klose as Cb’s and I’d have pushed Kalas to right back. He’s played there lots before and would be comfortable there. For me, he’s our best option. Yes, it takes away from our CB strength, but you either trust Atkinson or you don’t, and with the experience of Klose now in there, you can more afford to move Kalas across. 
 

To be honest, Kalas is probably the best right back we currently have fit. 

Klose had a calf injury 

[Waconda]

30 minutes ago, Marina's Rolls Royce said:

Really good point and something that @Davefevshas mentioned in that maybe NP will move "upstairs" and younger coach on coaching.

There is no doubt that there's got to be some tough love yet NP has done very little ,imo, to transform the team. After over a year and a pitiful record, I dont think this is an unreasonable statement.

Not for me, he doesn't deal with agents for a start, so pointless unless it is to run down his contract.

Success as the Manager or nothing IMO.

[RedM]

1 hour ago, harrys said:

His decisions are truly baffling, playing a young inexperienced striker at full back while the experienced Premiership full back he bought in is nowhere to be seen, playing two unfit midfielders while our best midfielder sits on the bench for 90 minutes, playing the divisions 4th highest scorer out wide, his stubborn refusal to not of used the loan market while most other teams in the division benefit massively (Forest’s three loanees last week were the best players on the pitch) his 12 month tenure has been a massive disappointment with very minimal progress.

Totally agree. I’ve also noticed that Pearson really doesn’t like players on a booking. In the majority of cases, whenever possible he will sub the booked player off. Sometimes it seems that sub isn’t the obvious one to make.

I really don’t think he trusts many of his players. If a Manager thinks like that can he ever get the best from his players? 

[RedM]

53 minutes ago, Dullmoan Tone said:

He was the worst player on the pitch by a country mile - even the Birmingham fans were singing about him.

Yes he’s young and I can forgive the useless defending but even in attack he was worse than useless - he simply couldn’t adjust to the game to affect it or complete a pass.

He should have been subbed much earlier.

He now needs a league 2 loan. Surely even HNM would have been better?

As people have said it’s not his position. On more than one occasion he had Bentley absolutely screaming at him, what did that do for his confidence? Answer, it affected his whole game. He had Kalas beside him not supporting him or bypassing playing the ball to him. I would like to see Sam Bell playing again, but not in that position.

I’m glad he wasn’t subbed during the match. I’m also wondering how the hate would be towards Vyner if he had a similar game to Bell today.

[richyy66]

1 hour ago, Dr Balls said:

The lack of loans is a big question. I know we want to develop our own Academy talent, but many of them are not ready for this level of football, and one or two loans in January could have shored up a few problem areas, particularly right full back. Other clubs seem to benefit hugely from loans so why don’t we?

We don't bring in Loan players cause we have not got a pot to piss in.  Next year will be the same so we may as well get used to it. Frustrating all round....

[The Original OTIB]

1 hour ago, Dr Balls said:

The lack of loans is a big question. I know we want to develop our own Academy talent, but many of them are not ready for this level of football, and one or two loans in January could have shored up a few problem areas, particularly right full back. Other clubs seem to benefit hugely from loans so why don’t we?

Captain Stubborn at the wheel.

[Waconda]

1 minute ago, The Original OTIB said:

Captain Stubborn at the wheel.

We actually have a fit and available to play RB on the books, signed by this very manager.