MATCHWATCH : Lincoln City (a)

[The Cap]

Fine with that.

Supposedly going to lose 4-0 according to the experts on here and controlled much of the game with most of the possession. Not got our forward line set up yet and there's limited understanding, but we still hit the post twice, had a goal disallowed and a penalty turned down. Camara was better than expected. Lane looked promising. Kyerewaa raw but something about him. O'Mahoney works hard.

Defence was much improved on Pompey. Abrefa was a revelation. Stickland mostly comfortable, Burns vastly improved and Dorsett good. Jacob did ok, again big improvement on Pompey.

We went behind to a fluke, and then got suckered against the run of play. Always going to be tough up there, especially playing catch up.

Oh, and we have a functional club.

So yeah, lots of positives. The season isn’t one game long.

I know everybody's entitled to their own opinion, however, for me, this is the most balanced response I've seen on here. Kudos to SR. Plus, for the record, I also thought today's commentary was fine. Made a pleasant change from listening to the knitting club trio. Funny ol' thing....change.

[traff]

Think we could have got something from the game yesterday and I think Hunty needs to shoulder some of the blame.

As POC was out I thought it might have been a good opportunity to play Dorsett along side Burns at CB, as in his own words he is lightning.
I believe it's his natural position anyway and we have a number of players who can play LB.

The tactic of playing a high line last year worked because of Mbengue (the difference was very apparent when he was out for a couple of games) pace isn't a "nice to have" using this tactic, it is essential.

Still early days for Hunt in his managerial career and I am sure things will improve as the season progresses

[LUX]

Nil goals again....

Woah, woah. Ian has done a Frimleyesque goalpost move here. His subsequent long posts may be accurate, but he replied to Ascot’s post above saying he was fine with it.

There may well be positives out of this defeat, but we definitely need reinforcement up front, “ anyone” can see that. No, I am not fine with the fact that we drew a blank again. I am sure Noel knows things are not satisfactory on that front and is not fine with it.

[windermereROYAL]

Just seen that it`s been 40 years since the last time we won at Lincoln, 1-0, Trev scored and it was one of the 13 game winning spell at the start of the season, I was there.
Obviously we probably haven`t played them much in that time.

[Hound]

Nil goals again....

Woah, woah. Ian has done a Frimleyesque goalpost move here. His subsequent long posts may be accurate, but he replied to Ascot’s post above saying he was fine with it.

There may well be positives out of this defeat, but we definitely need reinforcement up front, “ anyone” can see that. No, I am not fine with the fact that we drew a blank again. I am sure Noel knows things are not satisfactory on that front and is not fine with it.

I think it’s pretty clear we are trying to get another forward in. Lane should help a lot

The lack of chance creation is a bigger worry for me - didn’t watch yesterday but I couldn’t really blame the forwards esp for the lack of goals in pre season, they had zero to feed on. Though sounds like we went close a few times yesterday

I’m not mad on the system Noel is using tbh. Somethings not quite right there

[Snowflake Royal]

Nil goals again....

Woah, woah. Ian has done a Frimleyesque goalpost move here. His subsequent long posts may be accurate, but he replied to Ascot’s post above saying he was fine with it.

There may well be positives out of this defeat, but we definitely need reinforcement up front, “ anyone” can see that. No, I am not fine with the fact that we drew a blank again. I am sure Noel knows things are not satisfactory on that front and is not fine with it.

I didn’t reply to Ascot. You can tell because I didn't quote him. I ignored the doom monger and posted my reaction to the match.

[Linden Jones' Tash]

Given the personnel we have & evident vulnerability to balls over the top, I was wondering whether a change of shape might help.....

A 3 - 5 - 2 maybe

The spare man to shore up the lack of pace down the middle & a midfield with Wing a bit further forward...

The wide players might help create more as well as putting a second forward behind the CF so they are not so isolated...


I'm not sure whether Hunt & his team would change things up to that extent...

Maybe the current shape just needs a bit more practice & repetition...

[RoyalBlue]

Just seen that it`s been 40 years since the last time we won at Lincoln, 1-0, Trev scored and it was one of the 13 game winning spell at the start of the season, I was there.
Obviously we probably haven`t played them much in that time.

Wow was it that long ago?! I was there too. Wasn't it win number 13 before we then, in true Reading style, brought that glorious run to an end with a 2-2 draw at Elm Park v bottom of the table Wolves?

[Snowflake Royal]

Given the personnel we have & evident vulnerability to balls over the top, I was wondering whether a change of shape might help.....

A 3 - 5 - 2 maybe

The spare man to shore up the lack of pace down the middle & a midfield with Wing a bit further forward...

The wide players might help create more as well as putting a second forward behind the CF so they are not so isolated...


I'm not sure whether Hunt & his team would change things up to that extent...

Maybe the current shape just needs a bit more practice & repetition...

I think it needs time. I'm sure Hunt and the team will keep improving and adapting until it does.

Worth remembering that our defence has barely played together.

That was Stickland and Burns first match playing with each other as far as I can tell. Burns and O'Connor have managed maybe a couple of games total together. Stickland and O'Connor I think less than a game.

I'm not even sure how much Stickers and Abrefa have played together in the last couple of seasons.

Etc.

Teams with lots of changes often start slow.

[Hound]

Given the personnel we have & evident vulnerability to balls over the top, I was wondering whether a change of shape might help.....

A 3 - 5 - 2 maybe

The spare man to shore up the lack of pace down the middle & a midfield with Wing a bit further forward...

The wide players might help create more as well as putting a second forward behind the CF so they are not so isolated...


I'm not sure whether Hunt & his team would change things up to that extent...

Maybe the current shape just needs a bit more practice & repetition...

I think it needs time. I'm sure Hunt and the team will keep improving and adapting until it does.

Worth remembering that our defence has barely played together.

That was Stickland and Burns first match playing with each other as far as I can tell. Burns and O'Connor have managed maybe a couple of games total together. Stickland and O'Connor I think less than a game.

I'm not even sure how much Stickers and Abrefa have played together in the last couple of seasons.

Etc.

Teams with lots of changes often start slow.

Hopefully not as extreme but Selles took half a season to get us going two years back - and that was with Wing, Smith and Knibbs coming in

I do agree we shouldn’t change too much and panic or just throw more new players at the team. It needs time. And that includes Noel and the system - but it’s not quite functioning from what I’ve seen - too big gaps between the lines

[Extended-Phenotype]

The result was worse than the performance. Clearly lacking a goal scorer, but on another day our goal would have been given and that jam doughnut of an own goal doesn’t go in. Thought we looked decent in spells. Looking forward to seeing us play when we have gelled more, and hopefully with some fresh faces up front.

[PieEater]

Apart from the game it was a pretty good day out at Lincoln. We got the early train and had time to look around the Cathederal and the castle. Lol at the name of the steep hill up to the Cathederal is called, "Steep Hill", apparently the 4th steepest in Britain. My knees didn't like walking back down. Lots of nice pubs to visit.

There was a great turn out and good atmosphere until the game started and it all turned to shit. We may have won the stats but we were out fought by Lincoln and they took their chances. They would have had a third except for a wonder save from Periera. We played as I expected, tidy on the ball, toothless in attack and a defence prone to going missing.

The offside for our goal looked harsh but looking at the highlights I think the lino got it right. I was never expecting a pen for the push.

The pressure is on for the home game against Huddersfield after their trashing of Orient.

[Snowflake Royal]

Given the personnel we have & evident vulnerability to balls over the top, I was wondering whether a change of shape might help.....

A 3 - 5 - 2 maybe

The spare man to shore up the lack of pace down the middle & a midfield with Wing a bit further forward...

The wide players might help create more as well as putting a second forward behind the CF so they are not so isolated...


I'm not sure whether Hunt & his team would change things up to that extent...

Maybe the current shape just needs a bit more practice & repetition...

I think it needs time. I'm sure Hunt and the team will keep improving and adapting until it does.

Worth remembering that our defence has barely played together.

That was Stickland and Burns first match playing with each other as far as I can tell. Burns and O'Connor have managed maybe a couple of games total together. Stickland and O'Connor I think less than a game.

I'm not even sure how much Stickers and Abrefa have played together in the last couple of seasons.

Etc.

Teams with lots of changes often start slow.

Hopefully not as extreme but Selles took half a season to get us going two years back - and that was with Wing, Smith and Knibbs coming in

I do agree we shouldn’t change too much and panic or just throw more new players at the team. It needs time. And that includes Noel and the system - but it’s not quite functioning from what I’ve seen - too big gaps between the lines

That was at least partly because of Selles' self destructively narrow and easily stoppable 4-2-2-2.

This is just a case of keeping the defensive line straight and maybe dropping it a bit, imo. A more drastic change may be needed I guess, but early days.

Definitely improved as well. They tried it a lot, but only got in three or four times. And that second goal was so well played it may have come off even in good shape.

[Ark Royal]

Nice day out in Lincoln as always, but the result was not surprising as they seem to have become our current bogey team. I noticed in the friendiy against Pompey how much of a high line we played and thought it suicidal to repeat that given our lack of pace. Hunt should have played Dorsett at CB and Garcia at LB. Wing/Camara unlucky with the disallowed goal and Wing hitting the woodwork again, but we really struggled up front with O'Mahony just not getting any service at all and the little we had just did not stick. A stern test to come against Huddersfield next week.

[RG30]

Easily one of the best away days in the division. Good choice of pubs throughout, not far to walk to the ground and locals always pleasant enough.

[Sutekh]

Nice day out in Lincoln as always, but the result was not surprising as they seem to have become our current bogey team. I noticed in the friendiy against Pompey how much of a high line we played and thought it suicidal to repeat that given our lack of pace. Hunt should have played Dorsett at CB and Garcia at LB. Wing/Camara unlucky with the disallowed goal and Wing hitting the woodwork again, but we really struggled up front with O'Mahony just not getting any service at all and the little we had just did not stick. A stern test to come against Huddersfield next week.

Not beaten Lincoln since November 1998 (2-1 at the Mad Stad) since then there’s been 6 games and Reading have managed just 3 draws.

If Hunt does a Russell Martin manager type thing and persists on a high line when there’s sod all pace in the defence then he’s probably going to get sacked very quickly.

[Esteban]

Felt like a 5/10 performance and yet we could have got something out of it. Need someone with an x factor. Could be Elliott, but needs longer to get over his injury.

Not too worried yet, trust Carey to do what he needs to do in the transfer market.

More than a 5 for me, I`d give it a 7/10, I didn`t see too much of this hoofball that`s being touted about, I thought we played some decent stuff up to their area where we didn`t create chances. felt very sorry for the new CF, he was living off scraps.
Hopefully the promise of new players will come to fruition very soon, we`re not far away from being a decent side.

Yeah, having slept on it, 5/10 is a bit harsh.

I watched Noel's post match interview this morning and he said something I found interesting. He said they need to "tweak their shopping list", so I wonder if that means a different type of striker, a pacy defender or another creative player. Or possibly all three! If Cole and Ritchie do sign, then maybe the creative player.

[Sutekh]

Felt like a 5/10 performance and yet we could have got something out of it. Need someone with an x factor. Could be Elliott, but needs longer to get over his injury.

Not too worried yet, trust Carey to do what he needs to do in the transfer market.

More than a 5 for me, I`d give it a 7/10, I didn`t see too much of this hoofball that`s being touted about, I thought we played some decent stuff up to their area where we didn`t create chances. felt very sorry for the new CF, he was living off scraps.
Hopefully the promise of new players will come to fruition very soon, we`re not far away from being a decent side.

Yeah, having slept on it, 5/10 is a bit harsh.

I watched Noel's post match interview this morning and he said something I found interesting. He said they need to "tweak their shopping list", so I wonder if that means a different type of striker, a pacy defender or another creative player. Or possibly all three! If Cole and Ritchie do sign, then maybe the creative player.

Mahony needs a strike partner to play off, really don’t think he’s suited to a solo role. He can press to help win the ball back but doesn’t look like someone that will create something for himself out of nothing very much.

First rule of football, these days I thought, was players must have pace as that’s the most worrying thing for any side to defend against.

[hughsies no.1]

Always take a few days before my BFTG post to mull over it. I wasn’t wowed, I wasn’t gutted - I saw some positive shoots and saw negative ones.

The biggest concern is always when you see opposition fans question your teams set-up, and let’s face it - we played straight into their hands with a high line - they could defend in a block and let us have the ball, and it worked a treat with only really two long distance Wing shots causing problems. So for me, blame lands on the manager and coaching staff there & as rightly pointed out in here, without a pacey cb it’s suicide football with such a high line anyway.

From a personnel perspective, I thought Abrefa looked good, Wing didn’t get the ball enough to dictate play, Savage ran around a lot, Lane looked a handful when he came on and the lad up top worked hard but was at fault for the second goal as he couldn’t hold up play. Our best player, and who I’m convinced will be our POTS was Elliott. Can turn on a sixpence, drives forward, he will be key to our season.

Learnings -
- need to set up better to cater for opposition and our own strengths
- need a few more options up top, so cliche but to get promotion you need goals and we have one recognised striker in the squad, need to acquire at least two more for competition and versatility

[traff]

Always take a few days before my BFTG post to mull over it. I wasn’t wowed, I wasn’t gutted - I saw some positive shoots and saw negative ones.

The biggest concern is always when you see opposition fans question your teams set-up, and let’s face it - we played straight into their hands with a high line - they could defend in a block and let us have the ball, and it worked a treat with only really two long distance Wing shots causing problems. So for me, blame lands on the manager and coaching staff there & as rightly pointed out in here, without a pacey cb it’s suicide football with such a high line anyway.

From a personnel perspective, I thought Abrefa looked good, Wing didn’t get the ball enough to dictate play, Savage ran around a lot, Lane looked a handful when he came on and the lad up top worked hard but was at fault for the second goal as he couldn’t hold up play. Our best player, and who I’m convinced will be our POTS was Elliott. Can turn on a sixpence, drives forward, he will be key to our season.

Learnings -
- need to set up better to cater for opposition and our own strengths
- need a few more options up top, so cliche but to get promotion you need goals and we have one recognised striker in the squad, need to acquire at least two more for competition and versatility

Would pretty much echo this.
Also, rather damning comments from the Lincoln Manager
https://www.readingchronicle.co.uk/spor ... ay-defeat/