MATCHWATCH : Peterborough United (h)

[tidus_mi2]

This sort of performance is exactly why we'll never mount a serious charge towards the play-offs, for every good performance like Blackpool, there's a Doncaster or a Peterborough.

Unless we have a great January window, I think we'll see more of the same for the rest of the season and finish lower mid-table.

[windermereROYAL]

Sounds like it was a good match to miss.

In the cold light of day how bad was it actually?

Just a tiny bit more enjoyable than catching your foreskin in your zipper, but at least it wasn`t cold.

[WestYorksRoyal]

This sort of performance is exactly why we'll never mount a serious charge towards the play-offs, for every good performance like Blackpool, there's a Doncaster or a Peterborough.

Unless we have a great January window, I think we'll see more of the same for the rest of the season and finish lower mid-table.

Which I can live with if we build on it. If we have a mix of good performances and piss poor ones, then the objective over the summer is pretty obvious; bring in the right players who can help us bring in the consistency. We just have to be patient and accept it's the start of a long rebuild.

[Snowflake Royal]

I think Rinomhota should play when fit. Energy in the middle of the park and ball carrying ability. Surprised he didn't come on yesterday.

I'm sick of Doyle. He's a powderpuff girl. Someone said he was our best player yesterday. I thought he was typically rubbish.

What we really need is someone who can cause problems at AM, but we have no one. And don’t seem to be willing to try any of the wingers there.

So sod it.

Rinomhota, Wing
.........Savage

[Brum Royal]

First game of the season for, and what a joyous trip down from Brum it was...

Echo most of what's been posted here already.

1. The passing between JP and the two centre backs. Why so much?
1a). Why do we need two centre backs inside our 18 yard box for every goal kick, especially when one of them stands two yards from JP, passes it to JP and then JP lumps it up field - what does this achieve? Does JP need a rolling ball to get better connection? I can see no other reason as it certainly didn't move the Pboro side about.
1b). At points that passing between the three of them was verging on Stam ball season 2, getting increasingly risky and deeper, and then a mistake happening about 30 yards from goal allowing Pboro to win the ball high up the pitch and putting us under pressure.

2. If it wasn't between those 3, we had one of Wing or Savage stood almost between the centre backs picking the ball up then trying to hail Mary one in behind. Or we had one of the centre backs trying to play lob wedges up to the forwards. I've said it for years, but whenever a side starts doing this it's a sign of a lack of ideas as to how to break down the opposition.

3. Speaking of forwards, why are we playing one up front - either Kelvin or Marriott - and having them both be so isolated. Yes they didn't get great service for much of it (bar the 15 minute spell where we looked a threat after going behind), but that game was crying out for a second man up top to try and support the target man. Whether Kelvin won any headers or not, with a 20 yard gap to the next man it made little difference. For about 5 minutes after Ritchie and Marriott came on it looked like we were going with two up top and with the uptick in pace of play we started to look a threat again, then Ritchie dropped off and we were back to an isolated front man and Pboro looked comfortable for the remainder.

4. Pboro time wasting after going 1-0 up after 2 minutes. Seriously, what is that about? That coupled with a very weak ref allowed them to get away with so much. A good number of fouls, particularly on Kyerewaa, should have resulted in a few more yellows, and that lunging foul on Ritchie(?) on the edge of the box I'd be interested to see again because at the time I thought it was very close to a red. We were also very guilty of giving away silly fouls when Pboro players were looking for contact and we'd duly give it to them by trying to come through the back of them when we couldn't win the ball.

5. That said, Pboro pinned us in very well, and forced a lot of the passing issues mentioned in points 1 and 2 above. Their two wingers, Lisbie and the right winger caused us problems most of the night.

6. Some weird substitutions. I'm guessing taking Kelvin off around that time was pre planned but to hook him almost immediately after he got the equaliser felt a bit harsh on him. Taking Doyle off did make sense though, as he was anonymous. Having Marriott come on to play alongside him would have been more effective I think. Secondly, doing a straight swap of the two fullbacks when chasing the game with 10 to play? Odd. Again, we needed a second man up top to help with that.

7. That Pboro camo/khaki green kit is awful. Not great for picking out players against the stand on the far side.

[South Coast Royal]

I'm glad a few posters were as bemused as I was by the substitutions.
Kelvin had scored a rare poacher's goal and he is a player who thrives when his confidence is up so, on about 60 minutes, the presumably planned , substitution is made regardless of the state of the game.

I posted at the time that we signed Ritchie, what was the point?
5 yellow cards, one game suspended and , apart from an assist in his first game, so little contribution but much shouting and pointing.

I felt that we needed pace out wide on both sides but poor Abrefa was expected to do everything down the right while Doyle, Williams and then Ritchie just wandered about fairly aimlessly.

Surely Rino gets in for the next game and although I don't rate him that much (but what else do we have?) Camara wide right to give a structure to our side as surely hoofball down the middle is pointless, especially if Marriott plays, but 2 wide men getting down the line at pace and getting in crosses is a more sensible balance.

Don't expect changes though as , like the England cricket team, this is just the way we play..................as we move closer and closer to the relegation places.
Having said that, we will probably scrape a draw at Bradford and all will be well again because it is a team near the top , conveniently forgetting last night's performance against a team that had lost 4 on the trot and were in the relegation spots.

[Sutekh]

First game of the season for, and what a joyous trip down from Brum it was...

Echo most of what's been posted here already.

1. The passing between JP and the two centre backs. Why so much?
1a). Why do we need two centre backs inside our 18 yard box for every goal kick, especially when one of them stands two yards from JP, passes it to JP and then JP lumps it up field - what does this achieve? Does JP need a rolling ball to get better connection? I can see no other reason as it certainly didn't move the Pboro side about.
1b). At points that passing between the three of them was verging on Stam ball season 2, getting increasingly risky and deeper, and then a mistake happening about 30 yards from goal allowing Pboro to win the ball high up the pitch and putting us under pressure.

2. If it wasn't between those 3, we had one of Wing or Savage stood almost between the centre backs picking the ball up then trying to hail Mary one in behind. Or we had one of the centre backs trying to play lob wedges up to the forwards. I've said it for years, but whenever a side starts doing this it's a sign of a lack of ideas as to how to break down the opposition.

3. Speaking of forwards, why are we playing one up front - either Kelvin or Marriott - and having them both be so isolated. Yes they didn't get great service for much of it (bar the 15 minute spell where we looked a threat after going behind), but that game was crying out for a second man up top to try and support the target man. Whether Kelvin won any headers or not, with a 20 yard gap to the next man it made little difference. For about 5 minutes after Ritchie and Marriott came on it looked like we were going with two up top and with the uptick in pace of play we started to look a threat again, then Ritchie dropped off and we were back to an isolated front man and Pboro looked comfortable for the remainder.

4. Pboro time wasting after going 1-0 up after 2 minutes. Seriously, what is that about? That coupled with a very weak ref allowed them to get away with so much. A good number of fouls, particularly on Kyerewaa, should have resulted in a few more yellows, and that lunging foul on Ritchie(?) on the edge of the box I'd be interested to see again because at the time I thought it was very close to a red. We were also very guilty of giving away silly fouls when Pboro players were looking for contact and we'd duly give it to them by trying to come through the back of them when we couldn't win the ball.

5. That said, Pboro pinned us in very well, and forced a lot of the passing issues mentioned in points 1 and 2 above. Their two wingers, Lisbie and the right winger caused us problems most of the night.

6. Some weird substitutions. I'm guessing taking Kelvin off around that time was pre planned but to hook him almost immediately after he got the equaliser felt a bit harsh on him. Taking Doyle off did make sense though, as he was anonymous. Having Marriott come on to play alongside him would have been more effective I think. Secondly, doing a straight swap of the two fullbacks when chasing the game with 10 to play? Odd. Again, we needed a second man up top to help with that.

7. That Pboro camo/khaki green kit is awful. Not great for picking out players against the stand on the far side.

Don't be too rotten, remember it's early days still and the management only had 2 weeks preparation with all the players to get things organised.

[The Cap]

Sounds like it was a good match to miss.

In the cold light of day how bad was it actually?

Just a tiny bit more enjoyable than catching your foreskin in your zipper, but at least it wasn`t cold.

Thanks for providing a laugh amongst all the doom and gloom, windermere. Nice one mate.

[West F]

Saying that we lost the game in the first five minutes is worrying. We are at home and there is a whole ninety minutes left to turn it around. Playing with inverted wingers results in an inability to stretch teams out wide. When we are facing a team who have the lead, we cannot compress the pitch because our centre backs cannot deal with pace and have to sit too deep.
The manager promised ‘direct’ football, which is what we were doing constantly from both the keeper and the centre backs. The only time this changed was when Wing or Savage collected the ball deep and launched it. It is percentage based play. Do this thirty times in a match and you could create chances based on a defensive mistake or some lucky bounce. The Blackpool match was one where they were constantly having to chase the game, and we took advantage of the space it provided. When teams sit in and defend, this ‘direct’ play is our only solution.
The January window will be an opportunity to bring in some alternate loans that will hopefully give us enough to stay up. No player signed during the Redwood tenure would get into the Reading team twelve months ago.

[RoyalBlue]

Saying that we lost the game in the first five minutes is worrying. We are at home and there is a whole ninety minutes left to turn it around. Playing with inverted wingers results in an inability to stretch teams out wide. When we are facing a team who have the lead, we cannot compress the pitch because our centre backs cannot deal with pace and have to sit too deep.
The manager promised ‘direct’ football, which is what we were doing constantly from both the keeper and the centre backs. The only time this changed was when Wing or Savage collected the ball deep and launched it. It is percentage based play. Do this thirty times in a match and you could create chances based on a defensive mistake or some lucky bounce. .

Apparently we launched 70 long balls during yesterday's game with 53 being inaccurate! So it would seem a complete waste of time and potential points adopting that percentage based play!

[RoyalBlue]

I agree with others in that I think that was probably our worst home league performance of the season.

We couldn't string more than 5 passes together, we would then go long, bit we don't have the players for the long ball game. We couldn't deal with their press and defensively we were slow and scared to close down.

For me this just proves that Hunt was not the problem

The long ball game that Hunt favoured was the problem and Richardson has now doubled down on that! Why the f**k did he have Savage playing alongside Wing just in front of the CBs?!! He and Wing spent the whole game hoofing the ball forwards in the direction of our non-existent target man or over the heads of our midget wide men and straight out of play.

Maybe I'm imagining it but both WIng and Savage looked distinctly unhappy last night and I can see Savage looking for a move come January if Richardson persists in playing him in that role rather than further forward.

[RoyalBlue]

Sounds like it was a good match to miss.

In the cold light of day how bad was it actually?

Just a tiny bit more enjoyable than catching your foreskin in your zipper, but at least it wasn`t cold.

And if you missed the Carlisle horror show, this was a pretty good imitation of it.

[MR. CYNICAL]

I do find the conclusion that this dreadful performance means Hunt should have stayed/wasn’t to blame an odd take. He basically signed half of this side and we’re trying to recover from the mess he left

Still can’t get my head round how bad we were, esp second half. But also just exactly what LR was expecting to happen with those players on the pitch.

Agree Wing was a big problem last night. He was woeful.

We can certainly blame Hunt for the recruitment but you can't blame him for the hoofball that was on show last night. Players do tend to revert to it when things are going wrong but it was clear from the start that it was a tactic.
It was obvious JP was uncomfortable launching it, he much prefers to throw the ball out.
If LR wants to implement this draconian style of football he will have to sign a lot of new players next month.

[leon]

I've come to the conclusion that most football managers are stubborn thick cnuts who can't think for themselves and dogmatically copy the current trends. The ones not like this are the ones who have a chance of actually being good at their jobs.

[windermereROYAL]

Sounds like it was a good match to miss.

In the cold light of day how bad was it actually?

Just a tiny bit more enjoyable than catching your foreskin in your zipper, but at least it wasn`t cold.

And if you missed the Carlisle horror show, this was a pretty good imitation of it.

Yes I missed that thankfully, i decided after last night I`m done with evening games, at least if we lose on a Saturday I can get sloshed and forget it short term.

[leon]

Watched the Sky "highlights" and O'Connor just ambled around the pitch looking like he didn't give a shit. I know he isn't the most mobile but really?

[Hound]

Watched the Sky "highlights" and O'Connor just ambled around the pitch looking like he didn't give a shit. I know he isn't the most mobile but really?

He’s up there with the slowest players I’ve ever seen

[windermereROYAL]

Watched the Sky "highlights" and O'Connor just ambled around the pitch looking like he didn't give a shit. I know he isn't the most mobile but really?

He’s up there with the slowest players I’ve ever seen

Must be regretting the decision to leave Lincoln who are flying high.

[Brum Royal]

I've come to the conclusion that most football managers are stubborn thick cnuts who can't think for themselves and dogmatically copy the current trends. The ones not like this are the ones who have a chance of actually being good at their jobs.

Brian was there last night from the pictures the club's social media put out. Leam would do far worse than have a word with him about what worked under his tenure.

I said to my Dad last night, you could pull a lot of the Coppell/McD ideas from their title teams and stick them in play today and have a successful side:
442
Solid keeper - JP
Solid CBs - PoC/DW as a pair not far off
Fullbacks who bomb on and support the winger - Garcia
Tricky wingers - Kyerewaa
One holding, one attacking centre mid - Wing/Savage with Rino
Variety of forwards (two up top) - Kelvin/Marriott

There's potentially components of the existing squad that could fill that set up, as I indicate. And it wouldn't need too much to implement, just do the basics well.

[MartinRdg]

I do find the conclusion that this dreadful performance means Hunt should have stayed/wasn’t to blame an odd take. He basically signed half of this side and we’re trying to recover from the mess he left

Still can’t get my head round how bad we were, esp second half. But also just exactly what LR was expecting to happen with those players on the pitch.

Agree Wing was a big problem last night. He was woeful.

We can certainly blame Hunt for the recruitment but you can't blame him for the hoofball that was on show last night. Players do tend to revert to it when things are going wrong but it was clear from the start that it was a tactic.
It was obvious JP was uncomfortable launching it, he much prefers to throw the ball out.
If LR wants to implement this draconian style of football he will have to sign a lot of new players next month.

And some taller ones as well!