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Post by spanishjonny on Sept 12, 2015 19:42:47 GMT
A nervy 3 points, should do us a lot of good Defence looked solid against 2 good strikers Afobe and Le Fondre, yes some scary moments but overall not bad
If we can take our chances when we're on top it would settle the nerves but that's a lot easier said than done
Can't criticise anybody really, Madine struggled like he did at Blackburn but if Lennon sticks him upfront on his own against two big centre half and he doesn't get any help until the 70th minute he is going to fade.
I was disappointed with Vela he got a chance to play 45mins and stake a claim but strolling round trying to look like Steven Gerrard doesn't bode well.
Mark Davies came alive for the last 20 mins and what a good player he looked, creating 2 good chances that Le Fondre would have buried We now have a good goalkeeper as well
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Post by joanna on Sept 13, 2015 7:53:49 GMT
Looking quite promising now. Apart from the Middlesborough aberration, we have at least matched every team and are shaping up better than last year. Lennon is beginning to get the best out of the newcomers and the more established players, as he did with Chungy. The one exception is Madine; in Cravies we have lost a player better than his replacement, it seems, though neither is really good enough. We still lack pace and speed of thought; we don't exactly buzz, do we?
Still, mid-table beckons and if we can somehow find a striker to take advantage of even just the sitters, we could go some way towards the play-offs. Injuries will always play a part, but we must be due some good luck in that respect and it will be good to have back soon the current crop of crocks.
A good defensive coach to replace Mjallby is needed: any ideas, anyone?
I think many fans are viewing Alf through rose-tinted spectacles:- judging by yesterday and some of his displays for us last year, he is in decline. We can do better in the loan window and I think Lennon will find someone affordable who is a more natural poacher than Madine. Currently, I think Dobbie is more likely to score and could be given a chance.
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Post by riochforthereebok on Sept 13, 2015 9:43:57 GMT
What about looking at Holland, Sweden, Denmark, Norway like we used to do in the Rioch days! There'll be some unearthed gems like DeFreitas, Johannsson, Pederson, Frandsen still to be discovered and for n
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Post by riochforthereebok on Sept 13, 2015 9:44:37 GMT
What about looking at Holland, Sweden, Denmark, Norway like we used to do in the Rioch days! There'll be some unearthed gems like DeFreitas, Johannsson, Pederson, Frandsen still to be discovered and for not much coin. Who actually is a outing for us these days as they don't appear to be doing their job too well?
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Post by andyl on Sept 13, 2015 9:46:31 GMT
I have read the various posts above and broadly agree. There may be some mark divergence but not to any significant degree. I haven't checked BN or LoV marks but they ought to show internal discrepancies.
I do agree that there is some improvement from last year. That said it was a very Freedmanish game yesterday. Lots of possession conceded, a 4-2-3-1 set up, two wide players who became increasingly marginalised and peripheral and, managerial reluctance to use substitutes and incredible tension and stress for fans as we hung on desperately. I really feared the five minutes of added time which perhaps should have been eight ? Yet one difference: I think is that last year at this time we would have let one in?
That we didn't lose the game is in my opinion due in part to the fact that Amos is a better keeper all round than his predecessors. Time will tell whether his saves are as good but he is confident, talks to his defenders, directs them, kicks well, throws well and by and large does things at the right time. If he made a couple of mistakes yesterday they came from positive decisions rather than negative. Also Osede and Prince if not entirely the antidote to fan coronary activity are quick and decisive. That added time tackle by Osede at the end of he first half was magnificent and vital. And there were others. I also agree with Joanna that Neil and his team seem to be getting more out of some players. Mark D is playing better than ever. His defensive work is much improved and his contributions going forward are not only occasionally brilliant but much more controlled and well timed. We really look good on the counter attack. There is though no better example of player improvement than Moxey. For seventy minutes he was excellent yesterday and our bright begiinning owed as much to his advance play as to that of the wingers. If he faded it was because Silva , and this is picked up above, gave him negligible cover.
Yet there were weaknesses. Danns and Davies did very well as the defensive 2 but we had limited capacity to spray the ball wide to the wide players from midfield, neither being skilled at the long pass. There is criticism of Vela above but in this I thought we were far better when he came on. It was not by coincidence that we were able to swing the ball left and right to greater effect on the counter attack nor that his work allowed Wilson to press forward more. I just wonder if Osede might gradute to a Campo role not just in appearance but also in distribution. We haven't really offered much in terms of passing of that kind since the days of Campo, Hierro and Okocha. Time will tell
It's certainly true that Silva made a number of good incisive attacks.I disgree with DavidM in relative marks here. He needs to add shooting to his repertoire, to learn to pass, to improve his crosses and to improve defensively. He had a good game and is exciting and match winning, great qualities but yesterday made a lot of errors of judgment. Feeney scored a good goal. He had no time to think and struck it well. He also made a couple of excellent crosses. In general though he lacked the strength to hold the ball and alo made a lot of errors. Towards the end he was awful and any pass to hm took us backwards or lost possession. There was in my opinion no sense in keeping both him and Silva on much after we went two up. If we were not going to add a third quickly we should have brought Spearing on. It was just the sort of game where he does well and where hs weaknesses don't matter s much late on as the game opens out. Or alternatively added Dobbie
Of course the elephant in the room here is the relatively poor showing of Clough and especially Madine. Clough is young and full marks to him for both taking and converting the penalty. But he hasn't the strength to play up front, back to goal, nor the speed or passing ability to play behind a solitary striker whose knock- ons he can't get to. He needs two ahead of him and the flexibility to roam, break from deep positions and ghost in unseen. There were about fifteen minutes in the second half when he got a bit of space and Madine got a few headers or chested balls to him but otherwise he was struggling. Madine though in his own play was awful. 20% distribution accuracy at half time!!! Is he a write off? No. The Madine we saw v Derby and MK Dons was much more engaged and won lots of challenges. But he cannot operate on his own and nor does he want to. Yesterday at times he was downright lazy. He was unlucky with one difficult chance but the avoided header was an awful miss. He is bound to evoke comparisons with SKD andJutkiewicz and he doesn't come out well. It looks like a confidence thing and he may need a special kind of psychological support but the suspicion has to be there that he just isn't good enough? Can't conclude that yet but.....
So to Neil Lennon. He is still basking on his name, reputation, approachabilty and his predecessors who in the end failed dismally and proved unpopular; and this buys him time. The financial context is dire abeit the same more or less as Dougie's. Some on here were very critical of Dougie throughout but have been more restrained in criticisng Neil. Others have raised questions. Yesterday Neil stood in his technical area, hands in pockets and repeatedly sat down again. Familar? He hates to rock the boat by making substitution. He sets out to hang on. e has favourites (maybe every manager does) but repeatedly picking Feeney and Heskey and never turning to Spearing or Dobbie is blinkered? Not everyone agrees with this, I know, but I also think Trotter has experience,goals and some ability to offer. He can dribble past defenders and he can pass but he is not even an option. Vela also has been downgraded ?
But yes all these issues are just worries and a few wins or a cup run will put them to bed. We are in transition and Neil could just take us forward. His signings are by and large encouraging and need tme to bed in. Yesterday won't ease worries much. It was a win, yes, but as Joanna has often reminded us re Freedman, wins achieved when we are under the cosh and have scant possession do not please posterity as much as the moment. They are lucky wins. Freedman pulled off lots of wins like that! Our cardiologists yearn for less stress. That as a game we could have won more easily- even if their penalty was a soft one.
PS New scoreboard good for bold adverts ( which I don't want to watch but I couldn't see the detail from North Upper. Too small!!! I need to see time ticking down!!!
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Post by spanishjonny on Sept 13, 2015 10:08:15 GMT
The criticism for Madine is understandable but IMO unfair, he's had a difficult last few years, by his own making we know but he cost nothing, gives 100%, has played every game, not been injured and with Lennons current tactics is left alone to try and batter centre half's who are bigger than him, we should cut him some slack because we have no body else, at the moment
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Post by westandlower on Sept 13, 2015 12:19:36 GMT
No one has picked up on how weak we looked at defending corners. A Wolves player seemed to win just a about everyone. Our central defenders both look compartively short with small shoulders for good measure (in fact on the whole we are short and physically weak). Teams will pick up on this and we will be punished before long.
Clough needs to spend some time lifting weights as he is easily pushed off the ball. Not worth his place at the moment.
We looked most dangerous when Davies started to dribble through the centre and set up chances late on. Heskey was denied by a good save rather than missing an easy chance. Although Madine was slow to get a shot away when found by a Feeny cross most balls to him were reminiscent of Big Sam days of up and under. Need to find someone who can take the ball to the by line and cross to the penalty spot and not over hit it to the far side of the penalty area.
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Post by andyl on Sept 13, 2015 13:34:06 GMT
Yes! Good point re aerial deficiency.. If you look at our starting eleven only the central defenders and Madine have any aerial ability and they aren't tall and powerful. Wolves on the other hand had heigt and heading ability -and we did indeed look very vulnerable at corners and free kicks. That said my impression is that Osede Prince and Moxey did enough to come out on top most of the time. Compared to Mills(inconsistent) Dervite and especially Ream they seem stronger and less easily knocked over
From what I've seen our best headers of the ball in the squad are the centre halves, Pratley &Wheater(injured) Twardzik, Walker , Trotter and at defensive corners Spearing . All of these are out of favour.
In this league we could surely do with a belligerent brute or two. But NL's preference seems to be for a more earthbound strategy. So we will be vulnerable at defensive set pieces
This is another argument for Osede in midfield and Wheater at the back if ever fit.
In attack Prince and Dervite have already each missed a hat trick of headed chances and some easy ones too. That also needs to be addressed
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