Pretty much the only opportunity we actually created was when he, for once, went outside his man and put a good ball across the box which Meite and then Hoilett failed to convert.

He was dreadful for the first 25 minutes or so but after that I can totally see how he would feature as one of our better players.

I also can’t help but think that if Ejaria had delivered the consistently poor final balls that Hoilett and Ince did in the second half he’d be getting pelters on here because when it comes down to it all 3 are incredibly inconsistent in that department .

He played RCB but second half you could maybe argue we reverted to 4 at the back with him RB. He certainly led the charge a lot.
I couldn't figure out the formation at all. For a while I thought it was a 4-4-2 with Ince as a second striker who just wasn't playing as a striker. Anyway. Let's move on quickly.
That's because it's a disorganised dysfunctional mess.

It's a very odd habit that both Paunovic and Ince seem to have, very strange not to go hell for leather with 10 minutes left. I understand that we have a young bench but sometimes you have to put your trust in them and hope for the best.

Yeah I suppose you could argue that we were playing ok so Ince didn’t want to break up the small amount of momentum we’d built up but I can’t shake the feeling that Ince ( and also Bowen ) is not a manager that particularly trusts young players . I get that Long probably only had 10-15 minutes in him but to completely ignore the rest of the bench on the opening day of the season in trying conditions suggests he has zero faith in them .

Not really sure how Sarr will make much difference, Holmes and McIntyre both played pretty well. NGW looked ok. At best it frees up Yiadom to play RWB, but that means dropping Hoilett probably. Not really much of a plus for me.

Loum presumably for Fornah could be handy. But it wasn't really any of the cogs that were the problem for me, it was the way they were put together.

I thought NGW looked awful; another day and he solely could have cost us 3 goals.

Pretty much the only opportunity we actually created was when he, for once, went outside his man and put a good ball across the box which Meite and then Hoilett failed to convert.

He was dreadful for the first 25 minutes or so but after that I can totally see how he would feature as one of our better players.

I also can’t help but think that if Ejaria had delivered the consistently poor final balls that Hoilett and Ince did in the second half he’d be getting pelters on here because when it comes down to it all 3 are incredibly inconsistent in that department .
They at least consistently attempt to deliver balls in, and both play at the right tempo.

Absolutely stunning ball across the goal by Meite that Ejaria watched whistle through rather than be in position to tuck away.

It's a very odd habit that both Paunovic and Ince seem to have, very strange not to go hell for leather with 10 minutes left. I understand that we have a young bench but sometimes you have to put your trust in them and hope for the best.

Yeah I suppose you could argue that we were playing ok so Ince didn’t want to break up the small amount of momentum we’d built up but I can’t shake the feeling that Ince ( and also Bowen ) is not a manager that particularly trusts young players . I get that Long probably only had 10-15 minutes in him but to completely ignore the rest of the bench on the opening day of the season in trying conditions suggests he has zero faith in them .

Yep get that feeling as well. Also not sure how much he rates Fornah

Yeah I suppose you could argue that we were playing ok so Ince didn’t want to break up the small amount of momentum we’d built up but I can’t shake the feeling that Ince ( and also Bowen ) is not a manager that particularly trusts young players . I get that Long probably only had 10-15 minutes in him but to completely ignore the rest of the bench on the opening day of the season in trying conditions suggests he has zero faith in them .

Yep get that feeling as well. Also not sure how much he rates Fornah
Given he signed him, hopefully quite highly. Or not sure he should have bothered.

Could have been a Bowen call

That would be worryingly dysfunctional if our DoF is signing players the manager doesn’t rate.

Yep get that feeling as well. Also not sure how much he rates Fornah
Given he signed him, hopefully quite highly. Or not sure he should have bothered.

Again we’re assuming he has final say on all the players that arrive and I’m not sure that’s the case . By his own admission in the week we were desperate to cover central midfield so reckon he’d have taken pretty much anyone. FWIW I thought like most of the team he got better as the game went on .

That would be worryingly dysfunctional if our DoF is signing players the manager doesn’t rate.

Not sure he’d necessarily have known much about him. He didn’t trial

Anyway just a feeling rather than basing it on anything more than a few quotes

Did we threaten from the corners

Suspect with Holmes, Sarr,McIntyre, Loum, Meite and Joao (if and when fit) will be big targets from them. Surely a big source of goals this season.

Need the delivery to be good of course

Pretty much the only opportunity we actually created was when he, for once, went outside his man and put a good ball across the box which Meite and then Hoilett failed to convert.

He was dreadful for the first 25 minutes or so but after that I can totally see how he would feature as one of our better players.

I also can’t help but think that if Ejaria had delivered the consistently poor final balls that Hoilett and Ince did in the second half he’d be getting pelters on here because when it comes down to it all 3 are incredibly inconsistent in that department .
They at least consistently attempt to deliver balls in, and both play at the right tempo.

Absolutely stunning ball across the goal by Meite that Ejaria watched whistle through rather than be in position to tuck away.

You mean where Ejaria dropped for the pull back and it got delivered across the box . The same as he did when Hoilett got free and lobbed the ball tamely into the keepers hands.

It seems to happen a lot to us that supposedly good balls are delivered where nobody has made a run .

I mean we finally have someone who can take a reasonably long throw and basically rule 1 for that is it’s a near post flick for someone to come in at the far post . Near post flick was won and nobody was coming in on it .

Don’t know if it’s the players who are not clued up or the coaching staff but for some reason that infuriated me more than pretty much anything else in the game .

Is it too early for an ince out poll

Poll Ince

For several seasons now I have admired and defended Ejaria, perhaps excessively, but now I find myself realising we can't use him. A player who can only provide "on his day" and slows down play to his tempo in the attacking third just cabt be relied on for a team in the position we are in.

I know he'll play a lot because he's clearly got buckets of talent but honestly, I'd rather have another full back (lol, like we have one) play on that wing.

Just got back from the game, disappointing all around really. Not enough up front and our midfield was being bypassed yet again in the opening half. NGW struggled up against Bowler all afternoon who caused him issues and we didn't start quickly enough, poor goal to give away as well really.

There's a serious lack of creativity in the side really now and not one player ever looked like scoring. Poor decision making in and around the penalty box and a lack of a ruthless in front of goal. We probably should have drawn, but it was a pretty poor game in all honesty. Meite and Hoilett definitely should be doing better with those chances, at least one has to go away. Wasted the (generally little) that we created and it was a sloppy goal to give away. Nobody really stood out either for us. Fiorini was the best player on the pitch as well today, Bowler caused a lot of issues and Williams and Ekpiteta dealt with most things thrown at him, granted not much.

P.Ince takes some blame as well here. Had some impetuous in the game after about 60 minutes and, even though we didn't have much on the bench at all, Long had to come on sooner. He started warming up on about 73 minutes and it took us 10 minutes from that point and even when he did come on he came on the left. Should have switched it up to a 4-4-2 at that point and stretched the defence more. Hopefully Loum and Sarr can come in and give some more depth to the team and quality as well as Omari Hutchsinson (if we get him) to provide us with more creative quality.

No, we didn't threaten from corners with Blackpool's 2 central defenders having a distinct advantage height wise.
We were very fortunate not to concede early in the second half and again towards the end.
In the second half we had a lot of possession without doing much with it and their keeper had very little to do all game.

I posted earlier that I had heard that Joao will be out for 8-10 weeks but hopefully that is not the case otherwise we might well struggle to score in these early games and if the rumour is correct about Joao that means him missing about a quarter of the season.

One piece of encouragement though was that we didn't suffer from lack of fitness so we can probably anticipate plenty of effort even if the quality isn't there.
Only 45 games to go.

We are not bottom. Stoke have conceded more goals than us. We are joint 20th. on goal difference/scored. at least we are above the dotted line.

No, we didn't threaten from corners with Blackpool's 2 central defenders having a distinct advantage height wise.
We were very fortunate not to concede early in the second half and again towards the end.
In the second half we had a lot of possession without doing much with it and their keeper had very little to do all game.

I posted earlier that I had heard that Joao will be out for 8-10 weeks but hopefully that is not the case otherwise we might well struggle to score in these early games and if the rumour is correct about Joao that means him missing about a quarter of the season.

One piece of encouragement though was that we didn't suffer from lack of fitness so we can probably anticipate plenty of effort even if the quality isn't there.
Only 45 games to go.
Our corners pretty much all went far post didn't they? Very far post. Too far post. Except for one in the second half that was played short. I missed it because they were showing the replay of the previous corner.

Interesting comments. I really hope we get another left back in as I don’t think Guinness-Walker is close to good enough on the defensive side of his game. We also need another ten. We haven’t replaced Swift.

I do think we will be a fitter side this season but one that struggles to create.

Interesting comments. I really hope we get another left back in as I don’t think Guinness-Walker is close to good enough on the defensive side of his game. We also need another ten. We haven’t replaced Swift.

I do think we will be a fitter side this season but one that struggles to create.
I mean, I just trashed him but Ejaria is a 10.. Hendrick is too at heart.

Where is Tetek??

Interesting comments. I really hope we get another left back in as I don’t think Guinness-Walker is close to good enough on the defensive side of his game. We also need another ten. We haven’t replaced Swift.

I do think we will be a fitter side this season but one that struggles to create.
I mean, I just trashed him but Ejaria is a 10.. Hendrick is too at heart.

Where is Tetek??

Tetek appears to be injured again.
Agree Ovie is a ten but we need another. Not convinced Hendrick is.

I mean, I just trashed him but Ejaria is a 10.. Hendrick is too at heart.

Where is Tetek??

Tetek appears to be injured again.
Agree Ovie is a ten but we need another. Not convinced Hendrick is.
I'm not convinced he's the box to box midfielder he wants to be. His best season at Burnley was as a 10.. a non scoring, non assisting 10 but a 10 nonetheless.

They at least consistently attempt to deliver balls in, and both play at the right tempo.

Absolutely stunning ball across the goal by Meite that Ejaria watched whistle through rather than be in position to tuck away.

You mean where Ejaria dropped for the pull back and it got delivered across the box . The same as he did when Hoilett got free and lobbed the ball tamely into the keepers hands.

It seems to happen a lot to us that supposedly good balls are delivered where nobody has made a run .

I mean we finally have someone who can take a reasonably long throw and basically rule 1 for that is it’s a near post flick for someone to come in at the far post . Near post flick was won and nobody was coming in on it .

Don’t know if it’s the players who are not clued up or the coaching staff but for some reason that infuriated me more than pretty much anything else in the game .
Yes, we often seem to play the ball into a good area where no one has gone. Ideally we need to spot the areas the player is to target and to make the right runs.

You'd think the likes of Meite, Ejaria, Hoilett and Ince should know each other's game well enough by now to get it right.

I mean, I just trashed him but Ejaria is a 10.. Hendrick is too at heart.

Where is Tetek??

Tetek appears to be injured again.
Agree Ovie is a ten but we need another. Not convinced Hendrick is.
I fancy Ince as 10. Driving runs, pace, technique. He's got what it takes imo.

The only thing I fear this season is Paul Ince. Today, and the latter part of last season, showed that inept attitude of a good manager.

Saying that, it is only the 1st game. We have a much healthier squad than last season, with most new signings that look exciting, it is how the manager puts this on the field of play. Unfortunately, I don't think he is up to scratch.

Proove me wrong. I hope he pulls it off though.

You mean where Ejaria dropped for the pull back and it got delivered across the box . The same as he did when Hoilett got free and lobbed the ball tamely into the keepers hands.

It seems to happen a lot to us that supposedly good balls are delivered where nobody has made a run .

I mean we finally have someone who can take a reasonably long throw and basically rule 1 for that is it’s a near post flick for someone to come in at the far post . Near post flick was won and nobody was coming in on it .

Don’t know if it’s the players who are not clued up or the coaching staff but for some reason that infuriated me more than pretty much anything else in the game .
Yes, we often seem to play the ball into a good area where no one has gone. Ideally we need to spot the areas the player is to target and to make the right runs.

You'd think the likes of Meite, Ejaria, Hoilett and Ince should know each other's game well enough by now to get it right.

Two or three occasions where that happened today. We never had enough numbers in the box at a time where we were on top though.

I remember after around 65 minutes we had it on the right in a good area and they were looking a bit stretched and all we had in the box at the time was Meite with both Ejaria and Ince looking for it on the egde.

A few minutes after that P.Ince was jumping up and down on the touchline after Meite slid a ball across the 6 yard line for their full back to have time and space to get it under control and clear. That was the time we needed Long, where we could go and have another body in the box who would nick a goal and then suddenly we can go for the win.

Particularly when we have 5 subs and when we made our first, it's frustrating we didn't change our shape and bring on someone like Clarke, just another forward to go and cause as much chaos in the Blackpool defence, nothing to lose at that point. I can fully understand a reluctance to use youngsters, but not in a game where you're chasing a goal.

Tetek appears to be injured again.
Agree Ovie is a ten but we need another. Not convinced Hendrick is.
I fancy Ince as 10. Driving runs, pace, technique. He's got what it takes imo.

Hmmmm can Ince make that clever, incisive pass to split open a defence?

I fancy Ince as 10. Driving runs, pace, technique. He's got what it takes imo.

Hmmmm can Ince make that clever, incisive pass to split open a defence?

No but his decision making might be a bit better than the others. Ejaria overhit a couple of passes in decent areas or made the wrong decision and Hendrick had one in the first half where he slipped Meite through, when I thought the better choice would have been to take a shot on from 20 (or so) yards.

Ince has a decent strike on him so you'd expect would contribute with goals from that area and being direct in the middle of the pitch, if the space opens up, would be a good option to have. He tried playing that way a bit today, but Blackpool closed the middle of the pitch quite well, so we needed to stretch the game more.