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[yellowsubmarine]

53 minutes ago, Gavlar Somerset Rover! said:

What was our other shot on target yesterday? Brereton’s pea roller, and? Their GK may as well have had the afternoon off.

Not sure if it was that Armstrong's shot outside the box which hit Gally, that was on target i assume.

[K-Hod]

Was out walking yesterday in a place with no signal, so only caught up with the score later on. Frustrating to lose in the 90th minute, but, I suppose if nothing else, the result highlights the fact that we desperately needed those new signings! Tough game Tuesday, too!!

[JHRover]

I was baffled when the commentator said that we had been much improved in the second half. I must have watched a different game because in terms of chances I felt our best chances (not many) came in the first half and in the second whilst we had loads of meaningless possession we did nothing to test their goalkeeper.

Mowbray simply doesn't have it in his locker to break teams down when they are well organised.

Very frustrating and whilst I appreciate that we've got a lot of players missing the game still happens and the points still slip by. If you want promotion or to 'challenge for the top six' you need better than we've seen the last two games.

I think there is something seriously wrong medically looking at who we have missing. Usually an international fortnight would be useful in getting people back to fitness and yet bizarrely the opposite seems to have happened with us and we end up with more missing than before despite only a couple having international duty.

5 games into the season and we've already had these players missing:

Williams, Lenihan, Nyambe, Bennett, Evans, Travis, Rankin Costello, Rothwell, Holtby, Dack, Gallagher plus not calling upon Elliott, Trysull or Douglas when eligible.

That is outrageous.

Edited October 18, 2020 by JHRover

[Hoochie Bloochie Mama]

9 minutes ago, K-Hod said:

Tough game Tuesday, too!!

And on Wednesday. We're going to need that big squad! 

[G Somerset Rover]

14 minutes ago, yellowsubmarine said:

Not sure if it was that Armstrong's shot outside the box which hit Gally, that was on target i assume.

Lol is all I can say if true!

[unsall]

3 minutes ago, JHRover said:

I was baffled when the commentator said that we had been much improved in the second half. I must have watched a different game because in terms of chances I felt our best chances (not many) came in the first half and in the second whilst we had loads of meaningless possession we did nothing to test their goalkeeper.

Mowbray simply doesn't have it in his locker to break teams down when they are well organised.

Very frustrating and whilst I appreciate that we've got a lot of players missing the game still happens and the points still slip by. If you want promotion or to 'challenge for the top six' you need better than we've seen the last two games.

I think there is something seriously wrong medically looking at who we have missing. Usually an international fortnight would be useful in getting people back to fitness and yet bizarrely the opposite seems to have happened with us and we end up with more missing than before despite only a couple having international duty.

5 games into the season and we've already had these players missing:

Williams, Lenihan, Nyambe, Bennett, Evans, Travis, Rankin Costello, Rothwell, Holtby, Dack, Gallagher plus not calling upon Elliott, Trysull or Douglas when eligible.

That is outrageous.

Think only Bennett injured in international weeks, who wouldn’t have started anyway, couple with Coved, Holtby on paternity leave, Travis long term, Dack back shortly along with JRC, rest back playing, not sure it’s fair blaming medical folk, and a bit last minute to put 3 new signings in, need to get used to system etc.

This time time last season think Charlton were second in league after 5 games, let’s see where we are 10/15 games in.

[RoverCanada]

I'm often a 'defender' of Evans, but even I'll admit he had a pretty awful game. Aside from him just being technically 'off' (he's usually at least pretty tidy with the ball), he was often terribly positioned as the 'attacker' among the midfield trio. He did at least show some scrappiness and was a touch better in the 2nd half when re-positioned further back... He's at his best complementing more dynamic attacking, box-to-box-type midfielder(s), cleaning up at the back and then handing off. So beside the likes of Travis or Rothwell, or maybe Dack. But the midfield just dies if he's only partnered with slower/deeper lying midfielders, like Johnson and Buckley (or Lowe, Smallwood, etc in years past!). Probably wouldn't work in a pairing with only, say, Holtby or JRC either, but I think he can effectively shield the back as part of a trio with Dack or Rothwell driving things forward and working with Holtby/Buckley further back as part of a 4-2-3-1 or 4-3-3. Will be curious how Trybull fits in.

Didn't help that Johnson had his worst game since pre-COVID and Buckley weirdly being so 'off' technically (despite his technical promise, he's still very much a WIP in the other aspects of his game, so if his passing/long balls are off, he simply won't be effective out there. I do like the idea of him being the apprentice to Holtby as a deep lying playmaker this year!). In hindsight, maybe Davenport was a better option than Buckley, as he can drive forward a bit better.

Anyway, there has to be some sympathy for a midfield scrapped together at the last second... was hoping for a 0-0 'write-off' game, but losing at the end on a lucky deflection is quite annoying...

Some ratings, cause my (belated) opinion is important:

Kaminski 7: No fault for the goal and made some solid saves. Would give him an 8 if he hadn't hashed a couple kicks.

Nyambe/Bell: 6: certainly not bad, but not particularly good (maybe a 6.5 for Nyambe who handled Ameobi pretty well)

Ayala 7: makes you nervous at times as he's not always elegant with the ball, but thought he was quite effective

Lenihan 6: struggled passing from the left and had a couple sloppy touches, but his overall defending was fine

Evans/Johnson/Buckley 4: just all around bad

Armstrong/Dolan 5: hardly had any service from the midfield, but didn't create anything when they did get the ball. Thought Dolan was a touch better than against Cardiff, but have to dock him for that stupid giveaway in our corner.

Brereton 5.5: would give him a 5 with the above as he kept making bad first touches, but I'll give him some credit for actually managing a couple driving runs when the midfield was of no help and Armstrong/Dolan couldn't manage anything themselves

Gallagher 6.5: was a brief breath of fresh air as we tried change it up, but ultimately for nought

Chapman 5: I'll give him some credit for trying to create something when he had touches, but another sign that his legs just aren't what they used to be (quite sad at his age!)

Brennan N/A: he was actually pretty poor, but I'll cut a youngster some slack on a hastened debut! (you can credit Mowbray for continuing to try to mix up the attack, but I'd question throwing on an untested youngster in a tight game where despite generally being on top, Forest were still regularly threatening. Again, not to criticise a youngster, but his defending on Lolley's goal was poor...)

Edited October 18, 2020 by RoverCanada

[Miker]

End of the day there was no creativity in the squad to create decent chances for Armstrong. It was very frustrating to see Gallagher brought on on the right wing again when clearly we were struggling to break Forest down passing it around them. Gallagher to his credit won several aerial challenges when he first came on, but his chances were few and far between out on the wing. Given Armstrong was probably our most creative player on the pitch (other than maybe Buckley), it would have made way more sense to shift Armstrong out wide to help create chances, and have Gallagher through the middle and focus on getting crosses into him to at least try something different.

Bringing Brennan on as well was a mistake imo. Forest are doing poorly but probably have one of the best sides in the league, so to bring him on for his debut with the scores at 0-0 just seemed daft. We should have just stuck to it with the 11 we had on the field, but either tried a different tactic or formation if we really wanted to try and nick a win.

Being harsh on Mowbray here because we had way too many players out, but some of his decisions cost us today and he has to take some of the blame.

[Hoochie Bloochie Mama]

We had a couple of midfielders out that normally play. That's it.

Same front 3, better defence with Ayala and same keeper.

 

 

[rigger]

1 hour ago, K-Hod said:

Was out walking yesterday in a place with no signal, so only caught up with the score later on. Frustrating to lose in the 90th minute, but, I suppose if nothing else, the result highlights the fact that we desperately needed those new signings! Tough game Tuesday, too!!

and Wednesday

[rigger]

Mowbray said that the team was put together at the last minute because of call offs. If you haven't got the personnel available to play a certain system, then play a different one. With those available yesterday 4-4-2 would have been better. It may have meant that Forest came further forward, but that may have been better for us. Sometimes a long ball game is the correct tactic

[Hoochie Bloochie Mama]

Just now, rigger said:

Mowbray said that the team was put together at the last minute because of call offs.

Mowbray's full of shite. All those players are known to each other and the majority have been training/playing together for months, if not years. 

Edited October 18, 2020 by Hoochie Bloochie Mama

[Crimpshrine]

7 minutes ago, Hoochie Bloochie Mama said:

We had a couple of midfielders out that normally play. That's it.

Same front 3, better defence with Ayala and same keeper.

Very true. It's a squad game and we can't write points off because we have a few players missing.

Holtby, Rothwell and Williams were hardly first names on the team sheet last season so I don't see why they are suddenly so essential.

We played as badly against Cardiff when they were all present. we need to find ways of winning whatever the circumstances otherwise another mid table season beckons.

[Hoochie Bloochie Mama]

Just now, Crimpshrine said:

Very true. It's a squad game and we can't write points off because we have a few players missing.

Holtby, Rothwell and Williams were hardly first names on the team sheet last season so I don't see why they are suddenly so essential.

We played as badly against Cardiff when they were all present. we need to find ways of winning whatever the circumstances otherwise another mid table season beckons.

It's just excuses as it always is. It's never Tony's fault. Rich Sharpe laps it up though. Mowbray writes his articles for him. 

https://www.lancashiretelegraph.co.uk/sport/18802718.verdict-absent-xi-deadline-excitement-doesnt-transcend/

[rigger]

25 minutes ago, Miker said:

End of the day there was no creativity in the squad to create decent chances for Armstrong. It was very frustrating to see Gallagher brought on on the right wing again when clearly we were struggling to break Forest down passing it around them. Gallagher to his credit won several aerial challenges when he first came on, but his chances were few and far between out on the wing. Given Armstrong was probably our most creative player on the pitch (other than maybe Buckley), it would have made way more sense to shift Armstrong out wide to help create chances, and have Gallagher through the middle and focus on getting crosses into him to at least try something different.

Bringing Brennan on as well was a mistake imo. Forest are doing poorly but probably have one of the best sides in the league, so to bring him on for his debut with the scores at 0-0 just seemed daft. We should have just stuck to it with the 11 we had on the field, but either tried a different tactic or formation if we really wanted to try and nick a win.

Being harsh on Mowbray here because we had way too many players out, but some of his decisions cost us today and he has to take some of the blame.

I would say most of Mowbrays decisions today cost us and that he has to take most of the blame.

[K-Hod]

1 hour ago, Hoochie Bloochie Mama said:

And on Wednesday. We're going to need that big squad! 

Indeed. Assumed it was Tuesday, but I forget we like to be edgy and have games on different days!

[dingles staying down 4ever]

Just like other seasons, the fact is simple, if a team can counter plan A we have no plan B....we have plan A with different personnel.

[joey_big_nose]

 

1 hour ago, dingles staying down 4ever said:

Just like other seasons, the fact is simple, if a team can counter plan A we have no plan B....we have plan A with different personnel.

I agree we desperately need a plan B against deep defences. We did try something different in second half, pushing Buckley further forward and Evans and Johnson deeper. It looked a bit more fluent but we still struggled to create anything of note. I suppose when Dack is fit the idea when we want to go ultra attacking to break down teams it might be something like :

------------------Kaminski

JRC-------Ayala-----Lenihan-----Douglas

--------------Holtby-----Johnson

-----------------------Dack

----Dolan-----Armstrong----Elliot

The question is though why would the oppo do anything other than park 10 men on the edge of their box to deny us the room our small nippy players need? Cardiff and Forest have shown it works very well against us. Maybe Dack and Elliot will be more effective?

If we had a decent mobile target man you could scare  the opposition to push out. But as it is they are happy enough to just sit in and head out everything that comes in.

What's frustrating is Gallagher is supposed to be that mobile target man, but Mowbray has such little faith in him that he is left on the wing. Not signing a decent target man could be a big issue for us as the season wears on.

As it is we only have Gallagher (maybe McBride if he comes on?) so the next time we are in this situation (and I think it will roughly happen every other game as sides will be desperate to play tight against us) I would go for the following if we are after a goal in the second half until Dack is back: 

 

------------------Kaminski

JRC-------Ayala-----Lenihan-----Douglas

--------------Holtby-------Johnson

------------------Armstrong

----Dolan------Gallagher----Elliot

Edited October 18, 2020 by joey_big_nose

[Kie_BRFC]

In other news, glad we didn’t sign that Freeman when we were linked last summer. Fat, lazy and a gobshite 

[islander200]

2 hours ago, JHRover said:

I was baffled when the commentator said that we had been much improved in the second half. I must have watched a different game because in terms of chances I felt our best chances (not many) came in the first half and in the second whilst we had loads of meaningless possession we did nothing to test their goalkeeper.

Mowbray simply doesn't have it in his locker to break teams down when they are well organised.

Very frustrating and whilst I appreciate that we've got a lot of players missing the game still happens and the points still slip by. If you want promotion or to 'challenge for the top six' you need better than we've seen the last two games.

I think there is something seriously wrong medically looking at who we have missing. Usually an international fortnight would be useful in getting people back to fitness and yet bizarrely the opposite seems to have happened with us and we end up with more missing than before despite only a couple having international duty.

5 games into the season and we've already had these players missing:

Williams, Lenihan, Nyambe, Bennett, Evans, Travis, Rankin Costello, Rothwell, Holtby, Dack, Gallagher plus not calling upon Elliott, Trysull or Douglas when eligible.

That is outrageous.

Elliot wasn't eligible.

Is it Mowbray's fault Williams and Rothwell got tested positive for Covid now?

There was one new injury during the international break in Bennett.

Will say he deserves criticism for allowing Holtby such a long time off though and talk he won't even be back for Wednesday.

[Fraserkirky]

5 minutes ago, Kie_BRFC said:

In other news, glad we didn’t sign that Freeman when we were linked last summer. Fat, lazy and a gobshite 

Yeah thought the same thing, dodged a bullet, he is rubbish.

[Fraserkirky]

Can’t believe folk are posting teams again without Rothwell in them. First name on the team sheet for me.

[joey_big_nose]

4 minutes ago, Fraserkirky said:

Can’t believe folk are posting teams again without Rothwell in them. First name on the team sheet for me.

Great for an end to end game but does he offer that much when the other team is camped in their own half?

[Cherry Blue]

I'm still curious as to why Rothwell was out, not blaming anyone just asking? And what's the story behind Holtby? 

[davulsukur]

9 minutes ago, Cherry Blue said:

I'm still curious as to why Rothwell was out, not blaming anyone just asking? And what's the story behind Holtby? 

Rothwell is isolating but not sure if its because he tested positive or if its a family member or something.

Holtby was back home after his wife gave birth and Mogga gave him more time off to be with them.

Holtby back for Wednesday but Rothwell won't play Wednesday or Saturday