How does it get better?

Teacher

Active member
Joined
21 Jan 2018
Messages
227
Yes, it is only 3 games and 9 points, but it really is the manner of the defeats.
KR has said the minimum is play offs. Barnsley will be top 3/4. Fleetwood and in particular Pompey will be pushing play offs.
Where does this leave us? A long way short.

Yes we can improve and I would expect us to over the coming weeks, but the fact of the matter is we are looking totally inept on the field right now.
We currently have issues in every position, as well as looking tactically poor. KR's constant PR spin is fooling nobody who has been at the last 2/3 games.

Tactics:

We are clueless. My take on why.....

Every ball that is put forward is in favour of the opposition defenders. The full backs (in particular Garbutt) are cheating by playing hopeless balls, quite often lofted, which give the CF no chance of bringing it down or doing anything with. Jamie Hanson did exactly the same thing yesterday. Went to get the ball off the full backs and played a first time ball in the air towards Smith which the centre halves deal with ease.

CF is totally isolated. Be it Obika or Smith, they are up against it. Even if they did manage to get the ball under control, they are having to hold on to the ball for ages in order to be supported. Its no wonder we haven't looked like scoring at all in the 3 games so far.

The back 4. No protection whatsoever. The wingers don't sit in to help their full backs who have struggled so far. The central midfielders offer no protection whatsoever. There is noone shielding the defence and there is noone pressing the ball in midfield.

Wingers. Or lack of. Absolutely no width and creativity in the league games so far. Hall had a good cameo against Barnsley but was then woeful vs Fleetwood. Holmes played well Fleetwood when in the 10 but offered little when wide. What happened to KR who said he 'absolutely loves wingers.'

Full backs. While TM was better yesterday, he was terrible the previous two. LG....I don't even know what to say. A boy in a mans game. Get him out of there. Both awfully one footed (I understand you get that at this level). Their passes are telegraphed. They don't have the pace to beat a man. They don't get forward enough. They don't offer enough either offensively or defensively on current evidence.




Players:

Dickie - Looks half the player he was last year. Been bullied every game. Having a torrid time.
Garbutt - Cant defend. Too weak. Looks scared. Worryingly no natural replacement. Yes Ruffles can do a job, but is that really where we are at till Jan?
Brannagan - Waiting for him to have an outstanding game. Will work hard but this young man was raved about. Yet to believe he is better than the quality of central midfielders we've been lucky enough to have had over the last few years (Ledson, Lundstrum, Rothwell, Sercombe).
Mackie - Been dreadful so far. Another who works hard but doesn't know what to do with the ball. Looks unbelievably leggy and slow.

A few other notes: Hanson had a shocking debut yesterday. Goalkeeper didn't fill me with confidence either. Browne doesn't look a natural winger, but we have an abundance of number 10's.

John Mousinho needs to play. Not everyone's cup of tea last year, but does keep the ball well and is a wise old head.

Karl Robinson:

Says he doesn't want to make excuses after making several excuses.
Watches something terrible happen for us and then comes marching out of his technical area.
Spends half the game in the ear of the 4th official, rather than talking to his players.
Has had more than 3 games. He has had since March to get his squad right. He knew in April who he didn't want as the released list came out before the Blackburn game.
Says about all the young players in the squad, but he was the one who brought them in. Remember, just 3 months ago, we had an ageing squad.
Blames injuries to Carruthers, Holmes and Hall - All of which he has worked with before and knows that they have history of getting injured.
Says he loves wingers, then plays without them.
Talks about sticking together and fans getting behind the team. You have given us nothing to cheer and those at Pompey kept singing yesterday.
Has now seen the players hold 2 post match meetings on the pitch after the game. Thats never happened. Has it?
Has slated the back 4 vs Fleetwood, then said he feels sorry for them vs Pompey. Which is it?
Says we are aiming for the play-offs, then bemoans that we are playing away to Barnsley and Pompey and how big their stadiums are. Yeah, they are play off teams. If you are expecting us to be up there, then we need to be at least competing.
Has terrible shoes.


I just want to see some improvement in the next few games. A sign of us wanting to string a few passes together. A sign of players who know what their jobs are in a particular system. Again, it is 3 games. I am not calling for the managers head. I am calling for improvement. I, like a lot of OUFC fans, have spent a lot of money to watch 3 absolutely dire performances which are unacceptable. KR has had lots of time to get this right. Stop talking. Start implementing.
 
Yes, it is only 3 games and 9 points, but it really is the manner of the defeats.
KR has said the minimum is play offs. Barnsley will be top 3/4. Fleetwood and in particular Pompey will be pushing play offs.
Where does this leave us? A long way short.

Yes we can improve and I would expect us to over the coming weeks, but the fact of the matter is we are looking totally inept on the field right now.
We currently have issues in every position, as well as looking tactically poor. KR's constant PR spin is fooling nobody who has been at the last 2/3 games.

Tactics:

We are clueless. My take on why.....

Every ball that is put forward is in favour of the opposition defenders. The full backs (in particular Garbutt) are cheating by playing hopeless balls, quite often lofted, which give the CF no chance of bringing it down or doing anything with. Jamie Hanson did exactly the same thing yesterday. Went to get the ball off the full backs and played a first time ball in the air towards Smith which the centre halves deal with ease.

CF is totally isolated. Be it Obika or Smith, they are up against it. Even if they did manage to get the ball under control, they are having to hold on to the ball for ages in order to be supported. Its no wonder we haven't looked like scoring at all in the 3 games so far.

The back 4. No protection whatsoever. The wingers don't sit in to help their full backs who have struggled so far. The central midfielders offer no protection whatsoever. There is noone shielding the defence and there is noone pressing the ball in midfield.

Wingers. Or lack of. Absolutely no width and creativity in the league games so far. Hall had a good cameo against Barnsley but was then woeful vs Fleetwood. Holmes played well Fleetwood when in the 10 but offered little when wide. What happened to KR who said he 'absolutely loves wingers.'

Full backs. While TM was better yesterday, he was terrible the previous two. LG....I don't even know what to say. A boy in a mans game. Get him out of there. Both awfully one footed (I understand you get that at this level). Their passes are telegraphed. They don't have the pace to beat a man. They don't get forward enough. They don't offer enough either offensively or defensively on current evidence.




Players:

Dickie - Looks half the player he was last year. Been bullied every game. Having a torrid time.
Garbutt - Cant defend. Too weak. Looks scared. Worryingly no natural replacement. Yes Ruffles can do a job, but is that really where we are at till Jan?
Brannagan - Waiting for him to have an outstanding game. Will work hard but this young man was raved about. Yet to believe he is better than the quality of central midfielders we've been lucky enough to have had over the last few years (Ledson, Lundstrum, Rothwell, Sercombe).
Mackie - Been dreadful so far. Another who works hard but doesn't know what to do with the ball. Looks unbelievably leggy and slow.

A few other notes: Hanson had a shocking debut yesterday. Goalkeeper didn't fill me with confidence either. Browne doesn't look a natural winger, but we have an abundance of number 10's.

John Mousinho needs to play. Not everyone's cup of tea last year, but does keep the ball well and is a wise old head.

Karl Robinson:

Says he doesn't want to make excuses after making several excuses.
Watches something terrible happen for us and then comes marching out of his technical area.
Spends half the game in the ear of the 4th official, rather than talking to his players.
Has had more than 3 games. He has had since March to get his squad right. He knew in April who he didn't want as the released list came out before the Blackburn game.
Says about all the young players in the squad, but he was the one who brought them in. Remember, just 3 months ago, we had an ageing squad.
Blames injuries to Carruthers, Holmes and Hall - All of which he has worked with before and knows that they have history of getting injured.
Says he loves wingers, then plays without them.
Talks about sticking together and fans getting behind the team. You have given us nothing to cheer and those at Pompey kept singing yesterday.
Has now seen the players hold 2 post match meetings on the pitch after the game. Thats never happened. Has it?
Has slated the back 4 vs Fleetwood, then said he feels sorry for them vs Pompey. Which is it?
Says we are aiming for the play-offs, then bemoans that we are playing away to Barnsley and Pompey and how big their stadiums are. Yeah, they are play off teams. If you are expecting us to be up there, then we need to be at least competing.
Has terrible shoes.


I just want to see some improvement in the next few games. A sign of us wanting to string a few passes together. A sign of players who know what their jobs are in a particular system. Again, it is 3 games. I am not calling for the managers head. I am calling for improvement. I, like a lot of OUFC fans, have spent a lot of money to watch 3 absolutely dire performances which are unacceptable. KR has had lots of time to get this right. Stop talking. Start implementing.
His shoes are the issue.
 
It needs to get better. This season i decided not to renew my season ticket, last seasons shennagans over manager recruitment and obvious crappy crappy (like tappy tappy but not moving forward) football and after last season signing players with injury history and missing 3-4 games a season watching superbikes means its no longer worthwhile for me. KR (of pr person claiming to be KR) text me to encourage me to get a season ticket the day before we produce that display at pompy, Im sorry Karl you don't give me much incentive to do that.

We play lump it forward football but no proper CF who can hold it up, we still havent replaced Chey Dunkley (who many on here mocked and now plays Championship football) Dickie (and nelson) get too dominated in the air and sometimes outmuscled. I know I am not such of a fan of the beautiful entertaining game as some more a win ugly person but we seem to do neither. But what worries me most is we seem to have no Plan B and a manager wedded to a particular system without the players to do it and when players do well like in mid week they don't make the first 11 because Karl has already decided his team before the game. Also worrying is not seeming to learn with both Mackie and Garbut still playing after two inept performances. If they play next then it really shows the manager isn't seeing the same game.

It's too early to sack the manager but KR needs to stop talking the talk and start producing otherwise he will be gone which is sad considering the end of last season.
 
It gets better by KR reacting to situations and being flexible with his tactics. 4231 won't beat every team. He has to learn to change formation and go out of his comfort zone. Sometimes 4231 will be good enough against teams who let us keep the ball like a Wimbledon or a Coventry, but when we play the more aggressive teams like Portsmouth or Barnsley he has to see we will be in for a midfield battle and respond to that.
 
In short the recruitment has been a shambles. KR has had since April to assess what was needed and now it seems to me we have a squad loaded with ‘No10s’ with little in the way of quick wingers or strikers. And a left back who’s drowning without a deputy to replace him. Add to that having to rush out and get an inexperienced goalkeeper when the first choice one gets injured, despite having two or three more on the books. You can’t go bemoaning injuries, it happens to everyone, that’s why you have several months through the summer to build a squad and get two players for every position. Robinson has said he’s had the biggest budget he’s ever had to work with, if so, he hasn’t spent it very wisely.
 
Yes, it is only 3 games and 9 points, but it really is the manner of the defeats.
KR has said the minimum is play offs. Barnsley will be top 3/4. Fleetwood and in particular Pompey will be pushing play offs.
Where does this leave us? A long way short.

Yes we can improve and I would expect us to over the coming weeks, but the fact of the matter is we are looking totally inept on the field right now.
We currently have issues in every position, as well as looking tactically poor. KR's constant PR spin is fooling nobody who has been at the last 2/3 games.

Tactics:

We are clueless. My take on why.....

Every ball that is put forward is in favour of the opposition defenders. The full backs (in particular Garbutt) are cheating by playing hopeless balls, quite often lofted, which give the CF no chance of bringing it down or doing anything with. Jamie Hanson did exactly the same thing yesterday. Went to get the ball off the full backs and played a first time ball in the air towards Smith which the centre halves deal with ease.

CF is totally isolated. Be it Obika or Smith, they are up against it. Even if they did manage to get the ball under control, they are having to hold on to the ball for ages in order to be supported. Its no wonder we haven't looked like scoring at all in the 3 games so far.

The back 4. No protection whatsoever. The wingers don't sit in to help their full backs who have struggled so far. The central midfielders offer no protection whatsoever. There is noone shielding the defence and there is noone pressing the ball in midfield.

Wingers. Or lack of. Absolutely no width and creativity in the league games so far. Hall had a good cameo against Barnsley but was then woeful vs Fleetwood. Holmes played well Fleetwood when in the 10 but offered little when wide. What happened to KR who said he 'absolutely loves wingers.'

Full backs. While TM was better yesterday, he was terrible the previous two. LG....I don't even know what to say. A boy in a mans game. Get him out of there. Both awfully one footed (I understand you get that at this level). Their passes are telegraphed. They don't have the pace to beat a man. They don't get forward enough. They don't offer enough either offensively or defensively on current evidence.




Players:

Dickie - Looks half the player he was last year. Been bullied every game. Having a torrid time.
Garbutt - Cant defend. Too weak. Looks scared. Worryingly no natural replacement. Yes Ruffles can do a job, but is that really where we are at till Jan?
Brannagan - Waiting for him to have an outstanding game. Will work hard but this young man was raved about. Yet to believe he is better than the quality of central midfielders we've been lucky enough to have had over the last few years (Ledson, Lundstrum, Rothwell, Sercombe).
Mackie - Been dreadful so far. Another who works hard but doesn't know what to do with the ball. Looks unbelievably leggy and slow.

A few other notes: Hanson had a shocking debut yesterday. Goalkeeper didn't fill me with confidence either. Browne doesn't look a natural winger, but we have an abundance of number 10's.

John Mousinho needs to play. Not everyone's cup of tea last year, but does keep the ball well and is a wise old head.

Karl Robinson:

Says he doesn't want to make excuses after making several excuses.
Watches something terrible happen for us and then comes marching out of his technical area.
Spends half the game in the ear of the 4th official, rather than talking to his players.
Has had more than 3 games. He has had since March to get his squad right. He knew in April who he didn't want as the released list came out before the Blackburn game.
Says about all the young players in the squad, but he was the one who brought them in. Remember, just 3 months ago, we had an ageing squad.
Blames injuries to Carruthers, Holmes and Hall - All of which he has worked with before and knows that they have history of getting injured.
Says he loves wingers, then plays without them.
Talks about sticking together and fans getting behind the team. You have given us nothing to cheer and those at Pompey kept singing yesterday.
Has now seen the players hold 2 post match meetings on the pitch after the game. Thats never happened. Has it?
Has slated the back 4 vs Fleetwood, then said he feels sorry for them vs Pompey. Which is it?
Says we are aiming for the play-offs, then bemoans that we are playing away to Barnsley and Pompey and how big their stadiums are. Yeah, they are play off teams. If you are expecting us to be up there, then we need to be at least competing.
Has terrible shoes.


I just want to see some improvement in the next few games. A sign of us wanting to string a few passes together. A sign of players who know what their jobs are in a particular system. Again, it is 3 games. I am not calling for the managers head. I am calling for improvement. I, like a lot of OUFC fans, have spent a lot of money to watch 3 absolutely dire performances which are unacceptable. KR has had lots of time to get this right. Stop talking. Start implementing.

An absolutely brilliant post.
 
How does it get better? Hard work from the players, hard work from the staff. Getting people like Mackie fit and in form. No panic or knee jerk actions. Getting a stable training base that will bring things back to a normal routine.

The manager has to make the team more compact and support the full backs so they aren't exposed so much. Something has to happen at centre back as well as they are being bullied in there.

And some belief.
 
It gets better by Robinson not picking players who are so obviously struggling that everyone can see it. Mackie and Garbutt have to be dropped. Never mind about Garbutt's confidence - match days are not training or therapy sessions. Yes, we only have one left back apparently (ridiculous) but Ruffels can do a job there, in fact any defender can probably made a better fist of it than Garbutt is currently managing. Mackie is either unfit or past it - try to get him fit, don't even consider playing him until he is, if he can't get fit then don't play him - he is supposedly on a pay if he plays deal, so we would lose little.

It gets better by Robinson realising that he has not signed a striker capable of playing on his own up front and getting the number 10 to stick close to the number 9. The striker is getting so isolated as to be useless.

It gets better by playing people who did well in the one match we have won this season (Baptiste, Mousinho and Whyte for example)

It gets better by not making excuses to lose before the game has even been played, by instilling a 'backs against the wall' mentality into the players, by not inventing silly free kick routines when basic positioning and team play hasn't been sorted, by thinking about what you say before you say it.
 
It gets better by building morale and confidence so that the players, perform to their best. Yesterday they looked nervous, tentative and, in some cases, unfit. This post match pitch pow wow concerns me too, why are the layers isolated from the coaching team at this crucial point? We need to get the best out of each player and ensure they communicate with each other to create a cohesive unit. Perhaps training needs to go right back to playing practice matches. We need to get the basics right - pass to a yellow shirt, keep possession.
 
It gets better by building morale and confidence so that the players, perform to their best. Yesterday they looked nervous, tentative and, in some cases, unfit. This post match pitch pow wow concerns me too, why are the layers isolated from the coaching team at this crucial point? We need to get the best out of each player and ensure they communicate with each other to create a cohesive unit. Perhaps training needs to go right back to playing practice matches. We need to get the basics right - pass to a yellow shirt, keep possession.
Other basics such as THIS is a goal.....



images.jpg


and THIS is a football .....




mitre_-_delta_efl_fluo_1.1517508179.jpg








......... put the ball in the back of the goal, we score. Score more than our opponents, we win games ....may help a bit?:eek:
 
Well written, Teacher, you sound like a guy who understands the game. Like many, I welcomed the appointment of Robinson, someone who knew this division and has a good track record with MK Dons - unlike Clotet who was completely clueless. But I can see no improvement at the moment.

At one point yesterday, I tried to imagine Pompey were in yellow and us in blue. But it was just too unrealistic. They were moving off the ball, anticipating where it was going and always supporting the player on the ball. Our players, when in possession, were completely isolated with most of the others standing still. Even children can understand that in any team game you attack space when going forward, and close it down when defending. Surely Robinson must appreciate this concept?
 
Basically we are hoping that we've played the top teams and the rest of the league are shitter then us.

What I don't understand is how we can go to Wigan and nearly get a draw with a s**t team, and now we have Robinsons team (whether it's the one he really wanted it not) going to these places and getting thumped.

You know what we are missing?

Ryan ledson.
 
Well written, Teacher, you sound like a guy who understands the game. Like many, I welcomed the appointment of Robinson, someone who knew this division and has a good track record with MK Dons - unlike Clotet who was completely clueless. But I can see no improvement at the moment.

At one point yesterday, I tried to imagine Pompey were in yellow and us in blue. But it was just too unrealistic. They were moving off the ball, anticipating where it was going and always supporting the player on the ball. Our players, when in possession, were completely isolated with most of the others standing still. Even children can understand that in any team game you attack space when going forward, and close it down when defending. Surely Robinson must appreciate this concept?

You’ve got to have the right players to do it, but I’m afraid we don’t.

We have too many players who are injury prone, carry injuries, too old or unfit. You might be able to carry 2 or 3 players in a game, but not 8 or 9.

We lack pace, width, height and strength all over the place. If I was Karl I would be trying desperately to get in on loan another left back and possibly a striker! Obviously I would have tried to do this when the transfer window was open, but needs must.

We need January now!!
 
Saw the highlights and EVERY goal conceded was down our left flank. LB backing off far too much and where/who was the supporting midfielder in front of him supposed to be?
 
Well, I asked for some improvement and there was some. However, there was nowhere near enough.

Lets start with the positive's (because there were some and the post was about the reality of the situation, not just to be negative):

Gavin Whyte - Superb from young Gav. The goal was terrific and the shot which hit the post after wasn't bad either. He probably had 4/5 shots throughout the game, not all to great effect, but its actually nice to see someone create a yard of space and have a go. Looked like he could shift the ball onto either foot and travel with it, making him unpredictable and hard to play against. Didn't stick to his position as an orthodox winger, kept coming inside to link up and that made it difficult for Accrington to get a hold of him. You have the choice as the full back against him, follow him and leave a gap, or leave him to keep your position but the midfield has more numbers for the opposition. Well played Gav!

Marcus Browne - Also terrific. Love his desire to constantly beat a man. Strong, powerful, quick and an absolutely belting finish. Slight (and very slight) negatives with Browne is he does always look to come in on his right. Also, despite being very quick, he does take 2 or 3 yards to get going, so is actually quicker over a longer distance. Carried the ball superbly all night and more importantly than anything else, wanted the ball. Think he will only get better with games!

These two were the standouts for me, but also will give shoutout's to:

Hanson - Still nowhere near good enough, but showed signs of putting his foot in and making a decent challenge or two.
Mousinho - Was praying for him to come in and he did. Not saying the defending was up to scratch, but we keep the ball better with him. He doesn't waste it and even when it looks like he is in trouble 9/10 he will keep it.
Henry - A quieter game from him, but still decent. He will have better games but we know his qualities (as a 10, not a winger).

Problem players from last night:

Nelson - This absolutely pains me to say this but Nelse is suffering a terrible run of form. He hasn't played as badly as Dickie and for me deserved to be in the team. Last night however, lack of leadership, looks slow, no organisation, no dominance. The only positive I can offer is he travelled with the ball like he used to. If he was having to look after another centre halve, then I dread to think how it may have ended.

Brannagan - Will say it again. Overrated. I have so many people suggest he should be playing as a 10. If thats the case, then there is some mitigation. My issue is, last year when he played as a holding midfielder he was playing better than he is now. He looks like a headless chicken in there. His passing has been nowhere near good enough. He is part of a problem that is killing us as a team (not entirely his fault and will come to this). Either way, given the reputation, simply not good enough.

Norman - Not good enough. This will be a controversial one I know, but he will be found out against better sides. Yes, he had a few good runs last night which went a long way but he kept trying it. He's very one dimensional, very easy to telegraph where he wanted to go. Defensively, Jesus Christ. How many fouls did he give away? Time and time again, pulling someones shirt, putting in a clumsy foul. He is nowhere near streetwise enough for this league. I understand, you only get streetwise through experience and playing, but against a better side, he would be shredded.

Obika - Not big Jon's worst performance last night, but he is so woefully passive. He ran around far more last night and pressured defenders, but it did seem all a bit one paced. For a guy as bulky as he is, he is not strong. Not going to berate big Jon for last night, but don't expect us to climb too high in the table with him as our main threat.

The real issue - Tactics and Recruitment.

Recruitment - awful. The full backs who have arrived remind me of Newey and Hunt. Not enough strikers. Not enough creativity. Not enough options. All a bit late in the window. Its clear to see, we obviously haven't got our first choice targets. Or if we have, then we need to reassess what our ambitions are. Its 4 games in I know, but you generally know a player when you see one. You can work players out after a few games.

Tactically - Abysmal. 4-2-3-1, where the striker is isolated and expected to hold it up against 2 massive centre halves. We don't have a centre forward for this style. The number 10 is a bit redundant. Its only because Henry was in there it kind of worked and thats because of his intelligence. The 10 is lost, not knowing whether to support or defend, and ultimately doing neither. The two central midfielders and the two full backs are the biggest issues tactically for me. What the hell are their roles? The full backs do not split wide enough and don't want the ball enough. That makes us narrow and the widening of the pitch is a beneficiary to the opposition. The two central midfielders are doing absolutely nothing. They aren't shielding the back 4, yet when we have the ball, they are so deep. When we have the ball, there are no options and that comes from the two CM's being so bloody deep.

As for KR - he lost the plot on the radio last night didn't he? How disrespectful to dismiss Raglan like that, who by the way is a defender I would've probably ranked fourth choice before the season, but would have no qualms in bringing into the side to be a top defender. How disrespectful was he to ASFC as well. Im sorry but Coleman has done a terrific job and they played a good game against us last night. I am so sick of him saying he knows his team for the next game about 5 mins after the final whistle. Im sick of his petulant attitude on the sidelines. Im sick of his moaning about everything. Im sick of him blaming anyone but himself. Im actually beginning to associate Derry as his puppet and despise him for it.

Again, I am not calling for the managers head. I just want some improvements. There were some yesterday, but we need to be better. Accy will survive IMO but will be bottom half. We didn't look capable of beating them yesterday. We need to be better.
 
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