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Post by davidm on Oct 8, 2022 15:59:44 GMT
Terrible again.
Missed chances – Charles & Sadlier – but it was a really poor performance.
I look at the manager because of the negative make up of the starting line up.
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Post by chip on Oct 8, 2022 16:02:45 GMT
10 corners 10 shots only 2 on target lost 1-0 again but in Ian we trust, my arse he is more bothered about possession than trying to put the ball in the net that’s two teams we have given a leg up in one week, next up it’s Barnsley a tough team after two crap teams so we should win that and all will be rosey 🤷♂️ COYWM
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Post by davidm on Oct 8, 2022 16:30:25 GMT
Another woeful performance and I have to point the finger at the manager.
As I said before the match, we are set up too defensively. Two holding midfielders and only one genuine striker. If the wing backs don’t get forward, we really struggle with this shape.
Why play 2 holding midfielders against 2 of the worst teams in this league?
This had the effect of us just not attacking in the 1st half. Yes, we had more possession but it was all Santos/Johnston/Jones passing amongst themselves and then a long punt forward. Thomason spent most of the 1st half playing deeper than Williams. Kachunga spent his time in midfield so we just had Charles chasing long ball up front. And you wonder why we had no shots on target in the 1st half.
We may have the best defensive record in the league but our two main centre halfs don’t half daydream. We were caught, yet again, with a through ball in between Santos and Johnston. Neither had bothered to mark the runner and Trafford got us out of jail with a good one on one save.
But we don’t learn! Santos and then Williams allowed a man to run with ball just inside our half on the left. He ran away from them across the pitch where the ball finished out on the right. No real danger but John allowed the man to centre without challenge, Santos stood 5 yards off an unmarked striker and Whickham obliged and scored. Hopeless defending. Again Santos thinks he does not have to mark a man.
So 1-0 at half time and another poor effort.
Iredale came on for Johnston at half time following a knock to the head but no other changes so we still had a negative shape to the team.
Second half, Forest Green gave up attacking and decided to hold on to what they had.
We actually created a few chances – unfortunately Charles managed to miss a relatively easy header, a sharp chance which the keeper saved (was that our only effort on goal) and a wide one on one which the keeper deflected wide. He really should have scored.
But the worst miss came in the last minute when Lee set up Sadlier who blazed over the bar from 10 yards out – a terrible miss.
Overall, a rank bad performance.
Little creative play, mainly long balls forward together with our usual one moment of slackness in defence.
As I say, a second very negative line up and a second very negative display. Not good enough
Marks:-
Trafford - 7 Great one on one save in the 1st half. Again, the only player to come out of this match with credit Bradley - 5 Couldn’t really get into the game. Not many positive forward runs Jones - 4 Some poor passing in the 1st half. Rarely got forward Santos - 3 OK with the passing between the back 5 and the long passes but AWFUL with defensive marking. At fault for the first clear chance Forest Green had and then never bothered to mark for the goal Johnston - 5 Caught out, along with Santos, for FG’s first clear chance. John - 4 Couldn’t get going in the 1st half. Allowed the cross to come in for the goal Williams - 4 No midfield control at all Thomason - 3 As I said before the game, we did not need 2 defensive midfielders. He created nothing positive at all in the game Lee - 4 Just could not get in the game Kachunga - 4 He runs about – full stop. He rarely if ever gets into the penalty box and created nothing Charles - 4 Nightmare. At least he was in position to have chances but he should have scored today Afolayan - 4 Flattered to deceive. Two or three crosses into the box were dreadful – either overhit or straight to the keeper Sadlier - 3 Terrible miss in the last minute Iredale - 5 Reasonably strong in the 2nd half but Forest Green had given up attacking by this stage. Terrible corners – yet again
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Post by whitesince63 on Oct 8, 2022 16:30:43 GMT
Been out all day and just got back in to look at the result. I genuinely had to look twice to take it in because I really did not expect this at all. FGR must currently be the weakest and most lacking in confidence of all the teams in L1 yet we still can’t beat them and from reports it doesn’t even sound like we even threatened them. It’s a total disgrace really when you look at the players we’ve got. Sadly this just illustrates how unlikely it is that we’ll finish any higher than last season and certainly nowhere near the automatics, maybe not even the play offs. Good teams don’t capitulate like this and it has to be down to the system. Against the likes of these surely we should be 443 with an attacking midfield and forward line with Dapo back on the left wing and two proper strikers who are there to concentrate on scoring and not chasing defenders down. I’m genuinely questioning Evatt’s capability now and maybe that answers why despite the number of jobs available recently nobody appears to have come knocking for him. He can’t complain that he hasn’t been backed despite the financial situations but I fear he’s completely failed to appreciate that it’s goals that win games not possession and until he gets that I just don’t see any way we’ll progress. These are not just bad performances but a total disgrace and if this is a pumped up team after Tuesdays abysmal affair then you have to seriously question Evatt’s motivational skills too.
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Post by kenglowhite on Oct 8, 2022 16:47:37 GMT
I really expected a good result today, until I again saw that Evatt had picked a defensive team. You can't pick John as I suggested without Afalayon in front of him, because that relies too heavily on the right wing pair getting behind the defence and I fear defences have twigged that Bradley's main asset is speed and not craft. It is significant that Evatt had got things wrong when you look at the chances created by the revised team in the second half. Unfortunately they were apparently too shocked to convert the chances created. I noted Iredale stood in well for the injured Johnson, but Evatt is obviously stuck with his basic philosophy and can't see the problems it is creating in the dressing room. Is his promising reign coming to a close? If we can't do better than these two performances against mediocre teams in the West Country maybe it is.
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Post by riochforthereebok on Oct 8, 2022 17:05:13 GMT
Like W63, I’ve been out all day. At a street party and booody glad I missed it
Someone mentioned Chris Wilder on the BN thread, why not? Ian Evatt has done as much as his ‘skills’ will allow and perhaps the time should be right for change as I, along with many others, are not enjoying our football under his leadership.
I’ll probably get a backlash for saying that as we still sit in the play off zone, but he has reached his peak and his level and his level is exactly where we are. We will not progress further than where we are whilst he is in charge
Our squad today, as with at Cheltenham, should have got a result, even a draw, at worst, but that’s just where we are lacking and why we will go no further, Evatt is far too stubborn to adapt, too stubborn to attack and top stubborn to be told his methods lack credibility.
Another promising start obliterated in 5 days
Barnsley up next, just been beaten at home 2-0 by Exeter so they’ll give a reaction, unlike us and they’ll beat us in our turf I’ve lost all confidence and optimism yet again
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Post by thegrud1 on Oct 8, 2022 17:22:29 GMT
any possesion based team needs a creative midfield player...our strikers are just not getting enough chances
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Post by OohMac on Oct 9, 2022 8:13:51 GMT
Last season we made a good start. Maybe not the points we had our position we were in but actually thought better than this. We had a lot of spirit coming back into games from losing positions. Putting 5 past Ipswich, 4 past Charlton. Dapo was flying. Then we lost. And lost again.
Then Ian lost the changing room and it had all gone wrong. Had Covid not intervened we probably would have lost those games too and been near the relegation zone.
We are now in danger of doing similar because we cannot score goals, puts a huge strain on the defence and they arent good enough to get clean sheets every game.
Away from home weve played 6. Scored 3. (1 penalty) we got 2 in that MK Dons match so in the other 5 games weve got 1 goal. How can we compete at the top with that.
In total 12 games 13 goals. Again 2 pens. Course they count but does show from open play 11 goals in 12 games. Its not good enough.
So I understand thay any talk of Evatt out would be dismissed as lunacy but my argument would be over all his time we keep making the same mistakes over and over. January has saved Ian twice already. I doubt that FV will go down that line again.
We cannot rely on a full back to be our biggest threat. He was never going to continue at that rate. He'd probably be in Liverpool squad if he did.
Every week I say it but we have given up on set pieces havent we? We should be doing drills every session until we can get it right because with a toothless, unsyncronised front pair, an ultra defensive midfield its our best hope.
Does Ian need to surround himself with better and more experience coaches? Honestly had to google who our assistant manager was forgot Peter Atherton. Does Evatts ego allow him to get people in. Think he knows Athertons not taking his job from him.
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Post by riochforthereebok on Oct 9, 2022 14:19:05 GMT
Yet another game where our possession stats are north of 60%
This manager is not deserving of his coin! 2 shots on target in 96 minutes - shocking 10 corners and nothing to show for them - shocking Substitutions almost replicating the ones he made at Cheltenham and not one of them made a difference
It’s not good enough. As we move into Autumn we always seem to fade away. In the USA they call it The Fall, in England we call it Bolton Wanderers😞😞😞
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Post by andyl on Oct 9, 2022 15:31:32 GMT
Just watched limited highlights. We certainly missed some chances. Again Santos at fault, now to 5 goals Doesn't mark his man. Ends up on floor. Highlights showed earlier example of same. Just can't defend.
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Post by whitesince63 on Oct 9, 2022 18:30:47 GMT
I may be wide of the mark here but has Evatt lost the dressing room. We know from last year that any dissent or opposite views go down badly, ask Doyle and Sarce, so is it possible that there is again discomfort about the system which is clearly producing little. It’s too rigid, too inflexible with virtually nothing notable to watch unlike last year when Dapo’s runs down the left created excitement and some atmosphere as well as goals. I’m feeling maybe the likes of John, Aimson and possibly even Dadlier may be unhappy at the lack of game time they’re getting. There just hasn’t seen any real spark from the players recently and with so many players not even making the bench I can’t believe there isn’t some discontent behind the scenes. Even those in the team might be unhappy with the way we’re set up, especially Dion and Bod who are getting absolutely no service. As a measure look at how Wednesday handled Cheltenham yesterday, this same team we couldn’t make a chance against, who they beat 3 nil with all goals shots from outside the box, including a cracker from Bannon, just like the ones Dapo used to score. We don’t even have any shots, even when there’s a chance players mostly choose to pass. It’s as if they don’t have the confidence to shoot in case they miss, or it might be against Evatt’s rules. I just don’t know but one thing I’m sure of is that Evatt isn’t going anywhere whilst Sharon’s here.
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Post by OohMac on Oct 9, 2022 18:31:30 GMT
Just watched limited highlights. We certainly missed some chances. Again Santos at fault, now to 5 goals Doesn't mark his man. Ends up on floor. Highlights showed earlier example of same. Just can't defend. Must be some bad defenders if hes the best outside the premier league? Hes far from Zat Knight school of awful but hes not much of a step up from Aimson. Our good run last season seemed to be Aimson Johnson at the back in a "no frills" set up.
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Post by OohMac on Oct 10, 2022 8:12:40 GMT
I may be wide of the mark here but has Evatt lost the dressing room. We know from last year that any dissent or opposite views go down badly, ask Doyle and Sarce, so is it possible that there is again discomfort about the system which is clearly producing little. It’s too rigid, too inflexible with virtually nothing notable to watch unlike last year when Dapo’s runs down the left created excitement and some atmosphere as well as goals. I’m feeling maybe the likes of John, Aimson and possibly even Dadlier may be unhappy at the lack of game time they’re getting. There just hasn’t seen any real spark from the players recently and with so many players not even making the bench I can’t believe there isn’t some discontent behind the scenes. Even those in the team might be unhappy with the way we’re set up, especially Dion and Bod who are getting absolutely no service. As a measure look at how Wednesday handled Cheltenham yesterday, this same team we couldn’t make a chance against, who they beat 3 nil with all goals shots from outside the box, including a cracker from Bannon, just like the ones Dapo used to score. We don’t even have any shots, even when there’s a chance players mostly choose to pass. It’s as if they don’t have the confidence to shoot in case they miss, or it might be against Evatt’s rules. I just don’t know but one thing I’m sure of is that Evatt isn’t going anywhere whilst Sharon’s here. Like lots of clubs I think its hard to complain when the teams winning. As you said though only took a couple of defeats last year to open that Pandoras box and all of a sudden captains kicking off and vice captain and senior player is off too. I cant see any striker other than Kachunga being happy. Either with lack of game time or lack of opportunity on the pitch. Like Charles at the weekend he did miss chances but he gets so few hes probably not in the right mindset to take them. Other disgruntled people I think have also got to be Sadlier, who I think has told Evatt to stick his wing back role, Dempsey, Morley, Sheehan, Aimson and something is definitely not right with John. Dixon and Toal too. Im not a fan of Dixon. I think you would need to have the surname Dixon to be but how demoralising it to make a mess up and know it will be 3 weeks before your next game. Train all week and not even get to sit on the bench. I think Evatts doing a 'Par' job. I think bookies would have us promoted from L2 and top 10 last season and top 6 this. So not a failure by any means but also not the Pep he thinks he is. "I'll take it on the chin" he says. Ive never known a manager to take it on the chin less than him. Its never his fault. Its the ref, the pitch, the changing room, the dug outs being the wrong way round, its the travelling, too many games, too few games. I get the sense others are like me and plain dont like the guy. Sharons not one so hes here to stay. No doubt they're at Lostock now training doing exactly the same thing theyve done before.
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Post by riochforthereebok on Oct 10, 2022 8:58:29 GMT
And these 17-20,000 crowds will definitely be at risk if he continues to serve up the tripe we’re witnessing.
That said, If we head towards the 12-14,000 crowd with a loss of 4-5000 fans (circa £120,000 loss) it’s hardly going to make Sharon take note. It’s not like the atmosphere is buzzing, even with 17k+ in, so SB won’t really see or feel the loss, other than a third full Reebok Evatt has that much stock in his backpack, I too cannot see SB ousting him either, but his football is not entertaining nor winning at all
Why has no one questioned why Evatt has had last seasons top scorer on the bench for most of the last 8 games Dapos form was dropping off a bit but not to the tune of being thrown on the bench. We are not scoring goals and he can help in that department
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Post by realtrottersforever on Oct 10, 2022 12:01:34 GMT
I am with you both on this,
I cannot warm to the guy at all, I just don't like him,
I actually don't like his style of play and don't think it's entertaining in the slightest, it's so one dimensional.
He has such faith in his game plan that he cannot or won't change anything, he has one plan and that's Plan A. If Plan A isn't going to plan he changes a few players, who come on and he expects them to make a difference by playing Plan A (Mk II), which is exactly the same as Plan A (Mk I)
I have never felt so disinterested so uninvested in a team. I go to the matches and watch them as if I'm an impartial fan. I feel ashamed when the fans are baying for a free kick that so obviously wasn't, and are baying at the ref when he/she gives a free kick against us, that so obviously was. It annoys me when Santos is fouling players left, right and centre and yet never seems to get pulled up for it. I can't stand Evatt's constant remonstrations on the sidelines. If I never saw his face in the ground again it wouldn't be a day too soon.
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