joey_big_nose

Yeah Im not sure I really blame Ismael... Hes come into a really strange situation with no pre-season or any of his own players. Potentially it looks like maybe he is confusing them more, but I don't really know the template for a manager to come in and completely mimic what went before. Ultimately the manager will try and do things their own way, and that might work quickly or more likely not. The avoidable issue here is 100% the owners not being able to put basic long term planning in place. Its not really about huge investment money, its just the ability to be clear on what the plan is over the next couple of seasons. Not being able to do that has lost us both JDT and Eustace. A decent owner with much less money than Venkys would be better if they just had an ability to be engaged with the club and create a plan.

I dont think theres anything wrong per se with any formation as long as you have a clear system everyone is signed up to and you know collectively how you are going to defend and create chances. But we didnt seem to know our plan to do either.

Yeah - in JDTs first season we won only 2 of our last 11 games and only missed out of the playoffs on goal difference. Madness. But thats the Championship.

Dennis has offered absolutely nothing... Really disappointing. Lots of slating of the players on here but they've been pretty good for much of this season. The big issue is the manager looks all at sea. Players who have looked decent like Brittain, Hyam, Pears, Travis, Gueye look confused and demotivated. The defensive solidarity we had seems to have gone. Its hard for a new manager to come in mid season and make an impact. Eustace had a terrible start with us. But got bad vibes about Ismael, if you dont look organised its always a bad sign.

I reckon this is the worst we have played this season, genuinely absolutely terrible.

Surely we need to go to a back four and get another mid on. Buckley I guess?

There are few things I am more sure of than Gallagher will score in this game.

Yeah Eustace got the best out of players who had previously struggled by giving them an organised defensive platform - Travis, Hyam, Pears all really benefitted. Feels like we've lost that now and they are all back at sea.

Have to agree... I dont like writing anyone off early but we seem so unorganized. A real mess.

I don't think its just that... Eustace would have had a specific way to work the defence and him going it will atrophy away. The team generally looks a bit unsure about how to play.

Definitely feels like we've lost the defensive organisation thats been our major asset this season and added nothing elsewhere.

Yeah really annoying as he looks a genuinely good one. Was looking forward to him and Gueye combining. Injuries a big problem for us again.. Very annoying. Team I would go : Pears Brittain Carter Hyam Riberio Travis Tronstad Ohashi Dennis Dolan Gueye Would love to see a reaction but not that hopeful.

Yeah.... I dont think we'll ever make the playoffs until we are able to win away at the bottom teams. We are absolutely horrendous in those games.

Really could have done with Hedges coming on.. he massively improved us against Norwich. He carries the ball into the final third which once Ohashi went off no one was doing. I'd take Hedges every week over ACD. ACD's final ball is as bad as hedges, but he doesn't have the ability to carry the ball either. That last 15 mins was bizarre, we had all the possession but we just didn't cross it in, just messed around with it outside the box. Think realistically that's us done for the playoffs. We can always put a run together but so can everyone else out of half a dozen teams.

Yeah Dolan did very well, and Ohashi. Defensively we have been absolutely shocking, otherwise probably been slightly better on the balance of play. If we could come out of this a draw it would be something as I dont think we've managed to get anything out of a game after going 2 down in a long long time. It is worrying that I am not getting good defensive vibes from Ismael... We're a team whose success has been built on a solid back line but that seems to be eroding away. That said I suppose Eustace had a lot of defensive shockers when he first took over (Bristol away etc)...

Whose Powell?

Good team... Tronstad back in for Forshaw, Cantwell dropped for Ohashi. Very offensive.

Looking at how we played against Norwich I am a bit concerned that we are abandoning our tight compact game for more direct style. We had a great big hole in midfield for much of the game on Saturday and our pressing was really bad as we could get picked off very easily. We couldn't really string much together. If we are going to play with that distance between our forwards and our defenders we are going to need to reconfigure a bit. I think maybe the way to address it is to drop the number 10 role, get another body into the middle with Travis and Tronstad, and let the wide players really push up. This is what I would be tempted to go for, with an expectation on Ohashi and Kargbo to drop in and do the defensive work also when needed. I like also that it could get all of Ohashi, Gueye and Kargbo into the same XI. Pears Brittain Carter Hyam Riberio Travis Tronstad Cantwell Ohashi Gueye Kargbo

Rothwell always looked like he had the ingredients though.. could take players out in the middle of the park running with the ball, decent pace, always looking forward, took shots on, got the ball into the box. It didn't quite come off for a long time but you could see it was there. Cantwell I really struggle to see how, even if it comes together for him, he will impact games consistently. Just doesn't get in the right areas of the pitch.

I thought Cantwell was atrocious through most of the last 3 months but last few games he has been better. He was decent off the ball against Norwich working hard, and made a few good passes. That said if he became unavailable (injured, suspended, sold) I dont really think that would be much of a concern. I think we would get as much out of Buckley, Weiman or Ohashi in the 10 role. Also obviously not really seen yet if Dennis could slot in there too. So ultimately thats pretty depressing considering he was supposed to be our "proven quality" signing.

I thought our set pieces have been much better recently but today back to being absolutely shite.

I was surprised how differently we seemed to play already. Pushed all five forward players very high and Travis dropped off to join the back four leaving a great big gap in the middle of the field, very unlike Eustace who always kept us compact. Actually took Hedges coming on to make us look a bit more joined up in the middle of the park. On top of that as others have said we didnt really press and we struggled to pass out of the back. Obviously Ismael has only had a couple of days and its one game, but I didnt come away thinking we are going to build on what we have had before... On the positive side we very rarely get anything from games when we go behind, so that we got a point back is to be respected. Kargbo looked good again, and Carter slotted straight back in

Been impressed with Cantwell - looks very motivated and involved. Wonder how much that us we are playing Norwich or if its the new manager. Generally defence not looking great. Travis doing well. Dolan really struggling, Forshaw having a mixed gane. Sure we will see Ohashi and Tronstad soon.

Going to this one today! No idea what to expect, will watch the new manager and how the players respond with interest.

I would slightly adapt it... Pears Brittain Carter Hyam Ribeiro Travis Buckley Dolan Kargbo Cantwell Gueye Subs : Toth, Sanderson, JRC, Tronstad, Forshaw, ACD, Hedges, Dennis, Woodrow, Ohashi 2-1 to Rovers.