morty
Moderator
Staff member
Pritchard in for Brady?
Preston had a good win the other night, this could be a shock draw.
Preston had a good win the other night, this could be a shock draw.
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GJP
Well-Known Member
They're not a bad side. Not very exciting but well organised. Got a decent lad upfront on Hugill who will put a shift in.
We should beat them though.
We should beat them though.
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Bill and ben
New Member
Whatever happens we cannot throw away a lead again. We really don't need a reputation as being beatable no matter how far ahead we are.
with our squad we will take the lead for more than not so the last thing we need is for the opposition to believe that no matter how bad it looks they stand a chance. Last thing that is apart from our guys thinking the same.
with our squad we will take the lead for more than not so the last thing we need is for the opposition to believe that no matter how bad it looks they stand a chance. Last thing that is apart from our guys thinking the same.
ZLF
Well-Known Member
started poorly but on a good run with their draw at brighton impressive. will be a tight game but one we should squeeze three points from, although 6 consecutive wins at home will be tough!
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jon goddard
New Member
if we were offered 2nd place with 13 games gone at the start of the season I think we would have taken it, there are old results in the Championship, we just have to accept tht Fulham is one of our bogey teams
Din
Well-Known Member
Whilst I agree these types of things do happen occasionally, we've very nearly bottled it a number of times this season. Against Cardiff, Wigan, Burton, Newcastle, Wolves and Rotherham we've been easily winning the game and yet ended up conceding a goal towards the end of the match making it really uncomfortable for ourselves, and in the case of Newcastle we ended up giving up a 3-1 lead. All the signs that sooner or later we were going to throw away a comfortable lead were there and yet neither the management team or any of the players seem to know how to address it. We're quite lucky really that in terms of quality a lot of teams, particularly the ones we've played at home, aren't actually very good. I am a bit fearful how we'll fare when we come up against the stronger teams in this league.
On this game though, it should be one we are winning. Not expecting an easy game though. I am expecting Pritchard to come back into the side though, shouldn't have been dropped in the week and it wouldn't even surprise me to see Jacob Murphy drop out as he hasn't been quite as influential in the last couple of games
On this game though, it should be one we are winning. Not expecting an easy game though. I am expecting Pritchard to come back into the side though, shouldn't have been dropped in the week and it wouldn't even surprise me to see Jacob Murphy drop out as he hasn't been quite as influential in the last couple of games
Din
Well-Known Member
I was just looking at the Championship table, and it has to be said that it makes for interesting reading.
Of the 6 teams that we've played who are in the top half of the table: Newcastle, Birmingham, Sheffield Wed, Bristol City, Fulham & Ipswich, we've taken 6 points, winning just 1 game.
Of the 7 teams we've played who are in the bottom half of the table: Burton, Wolves, Forest, Blackburn, Cardiff, Wigan and Rotherham, we've taken 21 points, winning every game. The latter 4 teams listed there are the current bottom 4.
Now obviously any side in the league is going to pick up more points against teams in the bottom half of the table than the top half, as the teams further towards the bottom are the weaker ones. Plus ultimately you can only beat what's in front of you, and we can't help that we've played all of the current bottom 4 in our first 13 games. Plus to take maximum points from 7 games against teams in the bottom half is still brilliant. Even so it is slightly worrying that our record against the better sides in this league isn't particularly good. Starting next Saturday vs Brighton we have a run of 11 games where 8 of them are against teams currently in the top half, and 2 of the games that aren't are against Villa and Derby, 2 teams who you would expect to be up there come the end of the season, and have recently appointed new managers. If we are serious about going straight back to the Premier League, then we're going to have to start picking up more points against the teams around us.
Anyway I realise how negative that post is
I don't mean to be but I have to say despite our superb league position I am slightly worried that we don't really seem to be playing to our full potential right now for whatever reason.
Of the 6 teams that we've played who are in the top half of the table: Newcastle, Birmingham, Sheffield Wed, Bristol City, Fulham & Ipswich, we've taken 6 points, winning just 1 game.
Of the 7 teams we've played who are in the bottom half of the table: Burton, Wolves, Forest, Blackburn, Cardiff, Wigan and Rotherham, we've taken 21 points, winning every game. The latter 4 teams listed there are the current bottom 4.
Now obviously any side in the league is going to pick up more points against teams in the bottom half of the table than the top half, as the teams further towards the bottom are the weaker ones. Plus ultimately you can only beat what's in front of you, and we can't help that we've played all of the current bottom 4 in our first 13 games. Plus to take maximum points from 7 games against teams in the bottom half is still brilliant. Even so it is slightly worrying that our record against the better sides in this league isn't particularly good. Starting next Saturday vs Brighton we have a run of 11 games where 8 of them are against teams currently in the top half, and 2 of the games that aren't are against Villa and Derby, 2 teams who you would expect to be up there come the end of the season, and have recently appointed new managers. If we are serious about going straight back to the Premier League, then we're going to have to start picking up more points against the teams around us.
Anyway I realise how negative that post is
I don't mean to be but I have to say despite our superb league position I am slightly worried that we don't really seem to be playing to our full potential right now for whatever reason. G
GJP
Well-Known Member
Well that was dull.
PNE were always going to be happy with us sending the ball long and we played right into their hands.
AN has got to be smarter and braver.
PNE were always going to be happy with us sending the ball long and we played right into their hands.
AN has got to be smarter and braver.
Din
Well-Known Member
Think it was a case of Alex Neil getting it wrong a couple of times today with Simon Grayson getting things absolutely spot on. Have to give Preston credit, they were really organised defensively and I think if either side deserved to win it then it was them, but even so it's frustrating that up until the point Preston scored we barely created anything, and even after they took the lead we didn't really have too many clear cut opportunities.
Neil really messed up today though. Pritchard should never have been dropped in the first place for the game in mid-week, but even after he had you would think there's no way he'll will stick with the same side that bottled a 2 goal lead in that Fulham game, and therefore Pritchard will likely be bought back for this one. Yet Neil kept the same eleven and once again it cost us. When he bought Pritchard on he looked really lively, and who knows what sort of impact he would've had had he started. I also don't really know why he bought on Oliveira to get two up front, and yet at the same time took off both our wingers, meaning there was no-one who was able to get down the line and deliver service into those two strikers. We were so narrow and predictable in the last 25 minutes or so that it was a joke.
Nobody really played that well. McGovern didn't do anything wrong and made a couple of good saves as well. I thought Jerome was actually our best outfield player despite the fact some fans were slating him after the game. Hoolahan was decent first half but ineffective in the second, as was Dorrans. Tettey, Martin and Bennett all had shockers. I think we really missed Pinto today. He gives us an outlet on that right hand side and is brilliant at getting forward at pace and putting balls into dangerous positions. I didn't think it was possible but Russell Martin is actually considerably worse as a right back than he is at centre back. He is just so slow nowadays and just doesn't move off the ball. Also I hadn't really ever seen Oliveira play for us properly before aside from 5-10 minute cameos here and there, but he was absolutely abysmal for the half an hour he played. Tried to many fancy flicks than actually just keeping it simple. Based on what I saw today then if Jerome gets injured we are f*cked. I will give him the benefit of the doubt a little bit though as apparently he was very good in the cup game against Everton, and he hasn't properly played in the league yet.
At the end of the day we're going to have days like today where teams set up well and we struggle to break them down, and we ultimately end up dropping points. The important thing is we don't make a habit of it and we respond well next Saturday. Nevertheless it's frustrating that this defeat felt like it could've been avoided if our manager hadn't made some very poor decisions.
Neil really messed up today though. Pritchard should never have been dropped in the first place for the game in mid-week, but even after he had you would think there's no way he'll will stick with the same side that bottled a 2 goal lead in that Fulham game, and therefore Pritchard will likely be bought back for this one. Yet Neil kept the same eleven and once again it cost us. When he bought Pritchard on he looked really lively, and who knows what sort of impact he would've had had he started. I also don't really know why he bought on Oliveira to get two up front, and yet at the same time took off both our wingers, meaning there was no-one who was able to get down the line and deliver service into those two strikers. We were so narrow and predictable in the last 25 minutes or so that it was a joke.
Nobody really played that well. McGovern didn't do anything wrong and made a couple of good saves as well. I thought Jerome was actually our best outfield player despite the fact some fans were slating him after the game. Hoolahan was decent first half but ineffective in the second, as was Dorrans. Tettey, Martin and Bennett all had shockers. I think we really missed Pinto today. He gives us an outlet on that right hand side and is brilliant at getting forward at pace and putting balls into dangerous positions. I didn't think it was possible but Russell Martin is actually considerably worse as a right back than he is at centre back. He is just so slow nowadays and just doesn't move off the ball. Also I hadn't really ever seen Oliveira play for us properly before aside from 5-10 minute cameos here and there, but he was absolutely abysmal for the half an hour he played. Tried to many fancy flicks than actually just keeping it simple. Based on what I saw today then if Jerome gets injured we are f*cked. I will give him the benefit of the doubt a little bit though as apparently he was very good in the cup game against Everton, and he hasn't properly played in the league yet.
At the end of the day we're going to have days like today where teams set up well and we struggle to break them down, and we ultimately end up dropping points. The important thing is we don't make a habit of it and we respond well next Saturday. Nevertheless it's frustrating that this defeat felt like it could've been avoided if our manager hadn't made some very poor decisions.
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GJP
Well-Known Member
The thing is, it was obvious PNE were going to play that way. So for me it was frustrating that we didn't give them something to think about. We played how they wanted us to play.
There was no real signs that AN and his staff had really looked at how to beat them. Probably exemplified by having Pritchard on the bench, a player who can pick the lock.
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GJP
Well-Known Member
As for Oliveira, not very inspiring so far but he needs games. He needs starts.
It could be that because he only has limited time to impress he's desperately trying to come up with something special rather than just doing the basics.
It could be that because he only has limited time to impress he's desperately trying to come up with something special rather than just doing the basics.
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