Preston North End home match thread

[The chief]

3 minutes ago, Ska Junkie said:

Extremely disappointing performance.

What annoys me, and supports those that were concerned about the level of our pre season opponents, is that we didn't do any of the things we did in pre-season, no pace, no high press apart from Cornick and no intricate sharp passing.

It felt as we were undercooked tbh. Happy to take a point from that in all honesty. 

Yes - it was lethargic. All the talk of fittest group ever yet it felt like we were really off the pace . Passing, movement and options in possession were poor too. Primg was symptomatic of the malaise - seemed to need too much time on the ball and was missing his usual burgeoning style. 
On the plus side Vyner was decent and we didn’t lose!

[Robbored]

2 minutes ago, chinapig said:

A number of people have used the word lacklustre to describe our performance, which is about right. Where on earth was the intensity and high press we were led to expect?

The opposition Preston is why.

[Kingswood Robin]

If that was away from home I'd be happy, but it wasn't, so I'm not. Creativity zilch, but a long way to go.

[And Its Smith]

We are a fair bit worse without Scott. Gone through a good pre season with him playing every game. We needed his bravery on and off the ball today 

[bcfc01]

3 minutes ago, Ska Junkie said:

Extremely disappointing performance.

What annoys me, and supports those that were concerned about the level of our pre season opponents, is that we didn't do any of the things we did in pre-season, no pace, no high press apart from Cornick and no intricate sharp passing.

It felt as we were undercooked tbh. Happy to take a point from that in all honesty. 

100%.

OK, its just the first game, but its PNEs first game as well and they were stronger, won most 2nd balls, and on the front foot and, to me, they looked sharper and fitter.

As a game, it was a perfect example of how to extinguish optimism and lower expectations. Maybe some needed to do that anyway.

As I say, just the first game, but there were a hell of a lot of the negative things from last season in that performance.

Millwall will give us a much harder game and it'll be interesting to see how they react after today.

At least we didn't lose.

[italian dave]

6 minutes ago, The chief said:

Yes - it was lethargic. All the talk of fittest group ever yet it felt like we were really off the pace . Passing, movement and options in possession were poor too. Primg was symptomatic of the malaise - seemed to need too much time on the ball and was missing his usual burgeoning style. 
On the plus side Vyner was decent and we didn’t lose!

Vyner impressed today. I thought he was the only City player who didn’t allow himself to be bullied, and a few times he did the bullying. Not what you’d have seen from him a couple of years ago. 

[chinapig]

4 minutes ago, Robbored said:

The opposition Preston is why.

True to the extent that if you are not press resistant you are going to struggle to press yourself. Which is a problem if intensity and a high press is supposed to be the basis of your game.

We also intend to be more of a possession team, which is also a problem if our passing is as poor as today.

A lot of work still to do.

[Johnr1986]

Never got going today didn’t play with any intensity all game , as many have said midfield poor really missed Scott and he will need replacing with a forward thinking midfielder, positive is we have the Conway , Memetti & Sykes to all all start against Oxford which will improve us. Going off todays preformace  creativity from central midfield is a concern . 

[Robbored]

11 minutes ago, italian dave said:

Vyner impressed today. I thought he was the only City player who didn’t allow himself to be bullied, and a few times he did the bullying. Not what you’d have seen from him a couple of years ago. 

Indeed - Vyner was my MotM. He was excellent.

[Lew-T]

13 minutes ago, chinapig said:

We also intend to be more of a possession team, which is also a problem if our passing is as poor as today.

Do we?

I’ve always seen us as a high pressing, play on the break side. 

[tin]

Bit of a false dawn, that. Typical City in that we got stage fright in front of a decent crowd - again. They shaded us in midfield, which massively missed Scott, but I’d like that Dane of theirs in our midfield. 

[Jose]

As we are all having a good moan, two things. The atmosphere was surprisingly flat even early doors. Secondly why did the clock not keep going on the scoreboard? Stopped at the usual 45/90. As for the screens, one was faulty and both were taken up by the score and advertising so don’t see the point in the game being shown while playing.

Awww I’ve missed having a good moan.

[RedorDead BCFC]

We seemed like all our players barring Dickie was small against their players. Midfield the ball just seemed to be over the heads of our players. 

[Sturny]

20 minutes ago, italian dave said:

Vyner impressed today. I thought he was the only City player who didn’t allow himself to be bullied, and a few times he did the bullying. Not what you’d have seen from him a couple of years ago. 

Yup, couple of seasons ago we would see these promising performances from him only a handful of times in the season. Now its more often than not he puts in thoses performances. 

[glynriley]

Well, for all the bluster and talk of play offs, today showed without any doubt , a City team without Alex Scott is nowhere near. I love Nige to bits for the job he’s done in getting us on an even keel, but he ****** it up today. 
 

We were absolutely awful, no cohesion in the play from back to front, as soon as we scored we looked frightened to death to go and win the game. Vyner the only player to come out with any credit for me. Lots of work to do. 

[chinapig]

1 minute ago, Lew-T said:

Do we?

I’ve always seen us as a high pressing, play on the break side. 

Nigel has said we want to transition to a more possession based side, though without Scott I don't see we have the players to do that.

Which makes getting the intensity and high press right even more important. Today we didn't get it right.

[1team]

28 minutes ago, bcfc01 said:

100%.

OK, its just the first game, but its PNEs first game as well and they were stronger, won most 2nd balls, and on the front foot and, to me, they looked sharper and fitter.

As a game, it was a perfect example of how to extinguish optimism and lower expectations. Maybe some needed to do that anyway.

As I say, just the first game, but there were a hell of a lot of the negative things from last season in that performance.

Millwall will give us a much harder game and it'll be interesting to see how they react after today.

At least we didn't lose.

It was a crap performance but this is the bit that bothered me the most. My favourite City teams always fought fir everything. 

[cidered abroad]

Now I realise why, apart from a few seasons, I'm nearer pessimistic that the positive .  Oh well, back to normal.

And some had the stupidity a few weeks ago to suggest that PNE would struggle in the bottom three or four.

[Ron W]

32 minutes ago, bcfc01 said:

100%.

OK, its just the first game, but its PNEs first game as well and they were stronger, won most 2nd balls, and on the front foot and, to me, they looked sharper and fitter.

As a game, it was a perfect example of how to extinguish optimism and lower expectations. Maybe some needed to do that anyway.

As I say, just the first game, but there were a hell of a lot of the negative things from last season in that performance.

Millwall will give us a much harder game and it'll be interesting to see how they react after today.

At least we didn't lose.

Early season probably plays more into a team like Preston’s hands than one trying to play.

Being organised and physical is a perfectly valid and valuable resource but if either side were going to need to find their feet today, it was City.

It is a bit disappointing it was very different to pre-season but friendlies are friendlies for a reason. Long way to go yet, plenty of time to find our rhythm.

[Supersonic Robin]

1 minute ago, cidered abroad said:

Now I realise why, apart from a few seasons, I'm nearer pessimistic that the positive .  Oh well, back to normal.

And some had the stupidity a few weeks ago to suggest that PNE would struggle in the bottom three or four.

I wouldn't say bottom 3 or 4, but I do think PNE will be relatively underwhelming this year - likely that they finish in the bottom half, if not the bottom third.

That's part of why today was so frustrating IMHO, it's a game we should be winning if we're serious about pushing towards the top third of the table.

[nickolas]

12 minutes ago, Jose said:

As we are all having a good moan, two things. The atmosphere was surprisingly flat even early doors. Secondly why did the clock not keep going on the scoreboard? Stopped at the usual 45/90. As for the screens, one was faulty and both were taken up by the score and advertising so don’t see the point in the game being shown while playing.

Awww I’ve missed having a good moan.

The club obviously didnt get the EFL memo to carry it on. Laughable.

[exAtyeoMax]

11 minutes ago, Jose said:

As we are all having a good moan, two things. The atmosphere was surprisingly flat even early doors. Secondly why did the clock not keep going on the scoreboard? Stopped at the usual 45/90. As for the screens, one was faulty and both were taken up by the score and advertising so don’t see the point in the game being shown while playing.

Awww I’ve missed having a good moan.

Yes the screens weren’t readable. They should just go back to how they were last season. Couldn’t see the clock clearly and the logo/team crests and the score looked messy. Showing the game was a bit weird. 
oh yeah, they started playing one for the Bristol City midway through which a bit weird and shouted the team over it very quickly. 
steak & ale pie was nice. 
Great to be back though

[ashton_fan]

I think Preston had one of the best away records last season but couldn't win at home so maybe that was one of our more difficult matches.at AG but disappointing nevertheless. 

After watching the match on TV last night I  was looking forward to seeing how we compared to Southampton but we looked more like Wednesday. Without Scott we might struggle to challenge for the top 6.

[Wellspokenman]

Well, we will know in a few weeks whether that was a poor performance or a point gained. Time will tell.

I do despair that we seem to gone back to hitting a long ball when we are against bigger opponents

Cornick over Sykes ? Still don’t get it, or what he brings to the team, and disappointed overall really that we seem to have not progressed and have a gaping hole in midfield with no playmaker.

Hey ho…..

 

[KegCity]

Agree with others, knocking it long to Wells, Bell and Cornick is atrocious to watch and only going to result in Preston winning the ball back.

Will be interesting what adjustments Pearson makes for Milwall.

[joe jordans teeth]

1 hour ago, formerly known as ivan said:

Not doom and gloom, just a truly awful performance 

We have played better and lost 

[Cardy]

I agree with a few others. That was a very flat uninspiring performance where we didn’t actually look ready for the start of season.

We were a team full of 5s & 6s today with no-one taking the responsibility of leading by example.

Both full backs & the midfield were so poor going forward that the forwards had nothing much to work with.

We are going to be bang in trouble if / when Scott leaves & we don’t reinvest well. That was a reality check today for sure.

Edited August 5, 2023 by Cardy

[Coxy27]

6 minutes ago, Cardy said:

I agree with a few others. That was a very flat uninspiring performance where we didn’t actually look ready for the start of season.

We were a team full of 5s & 6s today with no-one taking the responsibility of leading by example.

Both full backs & the midfield were so poor going forward that the forwards had nothing much to work with.

We are going to be bang in trouble if / when Scott leaves & we don’t reinvest well. That was a reality check today for sure.

It wasn't a reality check.

We drew with a decent championship side.

Reset your expectations to a reasonable level and you'll see that a draw with Preston is not a reality check.

[fisherrich]

1st game of the season so stay calm.

But long ball game just does not work with current setup. As others have mentioned, not enough creativity from midfield. Wingbacks stay too deep so pressure builds. Needs sorting.

Suppose work in progress, but most on here, expect an improvement this season. For me the Championship is going to be a stronger division this year, which means City must improve. Mid table wilderness will be a good result for me. 

[fanjita]

BBC gave the attendance as 29,359