BFTG Wigan

[melonhead]

we didnt turn up, they did, and as a result looked a class above us.
agree pearce should have started, but not bothered about guthrie-still not seen him do anything of note in any of his games.
not sure it would ahve made a difference if everyone else still played shit.

thought we coped well till the goals, 2nd was a killer, and if we had gone in 0-0 it may have been different.

realistically means we will need a result against all the other bottom teams, and also get something from one of the bigger boys
which realistically means we are probably down.


spineless performance

fed played well, marriappa played well, thats about it



pearce and shorey back at the back please.
and stop changing the team for no reason!

[Maguire]

Generally supportive of BMac but I don't understand why we devi8ed from the team that put in our best performance for ages against Sunderland.

Going three in the middle is fine if one of them is a creator, but that selection made no sense.

We got absolutely schooled and Brian's assessment just seems bizarre to me. "There was nothing in it until they handballed a goal in" - err yes there was, they played all the football and Federici had kept us in it with a couple of good saves.

Terrible performance and I totally agree with comparisons to that 2-0 defeat by Fulham in 2008.

[Spud Gun]

Sadly it reminds me only too well of the two ******* humiliating ****** disgraceful perfromances this club put up against Bolton Wanderers and Fulham at home the last time they were in this division

I though the exact same thing. There was so little fight and quality on display from Reading that we made Wigan look like Brazil for long periods of that game. Seems the players were so afraid of doing something wrong that they couldn't do much right ...

[Kebe is our Messi]

Everyone who wants guthrie back in the team can jog on, he has been useless the last few weeks.

Oh fcuk off, he absolutely hasn't.

Name me one match in the last 5 matches where he played well? I'm talking recent weeks, i said before he did well when he came into the side 10 games ago.

Put it this way, we havent missed him at all. Nobody mentioned him after the draw against chelsea and wins against sunderland did they?

[Snowball]

Akpan played solidly and showed loads of promise.

Pogs worked his balls off first half and some of his hold up play was top-drawer,
but he got very little support.

What did Kebe do wrong? He was awesome in the first half (on the live thread people said so
and praised Legs)

Kelly was solid

[Wimb]

You do have to question whether this team can handle the pressure of 'must-win' games.

Last season's great run came from a pressure free situation of having to chase down the top two.

The play-off win at Cardiff came in a game where we weren't expected to do anything, as soon as we got to the do or die game, well you saw what happened....

This year we've got games against midtable+ sides who have been happy to have a bit of a go and maybe not taken us as seriously as others, look at the wins.

Everton, West Ham, Newcastle, West Brom, Sunderland with draws against Newcastle, Swansea, Stoke, Fulham, Chelsea. None of them really struggling.

The only two results we've got from fellow strugglers is a 1-1 draw at QPR and a 0-0 with Norwich who aren't even really in the mire.

Brian's teams just don't seem to know how to dictate a game or know how to keep calm under pressure. I don't know if that's to do with training/coaching, psychology or just a lack of quality but it's become a worrying pattern.

Maybe it's just a coincidence but based on recent history I just don't fancy this team to dig out the results in these must-win games and maybe that's why Brian tries to downplay their importance so much, because even he doesn't feel they've got the belief either.

[Haag Royal]

Just seen this in the paper from Hunt:

The striker said: “I thought the atmosphere was a bit flat and it looked a bit dead around the ground - that didn't help.

Well mate let's get a few things straight shall we: If You (the players) start showing a bit more commitment in games that we should win rather than let your heads drop that might help. It may also have missed your notice that you are getting well paid for doing what you do and, on the other hand we are paying to do what we do i.e. watch, which gives us the right as fans to show the team what a pile of cr*p you all were collectively on Saturday.

Sorry that we did not help you - maybe you should start to help yourselves.

PS hope you all enjoyed Dubai

[wingnut]

Wigan's first goal had been signposted moments before when we showed massive hesitation and poor decision making in try to clear another set piece do it wasn't much of a surprise (to me anyway) when they did get the breakthrough. The second was just stupid and looked like the players were just waiting for the half time whistle rather than trying to get the equaliser.
I can't say I was that impressed with Pog's play before he got sent off - admittedly, I'm not a fan but he had been playing well in recent games, but on Saturday, he wasn't winning anything in the air or retaining possession well. Granted, he wasn't helped by the midfield 5 who were playing too deep even before we went behind. The red card looked deserved from where I was sat. The booing of the Wigan player was a bit lame but it did mean we got a comical limp from him to try to prove he was hurt.

[Maguire]

What did Kebe do wrong? He was awesome in the first half

Awesome?

LOL

[Huckleberry Hound]

We can't play 4-5-1 at home against a team that likes to knock the ball around at the back. That lesson should have been learned from the Spurs game.

It looked like we were allowing Wigan to play four up front.

The one time we did close all the defenders down, they had a simple pass to a midfielder in acres of space. (Maloney, probably. I thought he ran the game.)

Hopefully that result will be as much a kick up the backside as the Arsenal game was. I expect at least a point at Everton.

[Snowball]

What did Kebe do wrong? He was awesome in the first half

Awesome?

LOL

You are so erudite. You almost actually used a word

[Maguire]

What did Kebe do wrong? He was awesome in the first half

Awesome?

LOL

You are so erudite. You almost actually used a word

Do you really, honestly, think Jimmy Kebe's first half performance against Wigan Athletic last Saturday could be best summarised as "awesome"?

[Jano]

Was also feeling pretty flat coming into the game, had hopes beforehand, but something seemed off right from the start. Thought we did ok for the first 40 minutes, just about. What is pretty telling to me is that as soon as the opposition knows Ian Harte is on the team sheet, they know exactly where to target - Wigan were searching out Maloney pretty much all game and he had a field day against him. Jobi was anonymous, positionally atrocious, is slow, offers nothing offensively and Harte was just all round pants.

First goal, didn't look like handball from where I was but there were a lot of players in there. Came after a spell of pressure from Wigan that we couldn't break out of, thought a goal was coming and it duly did. Can't really understand why we were so weak at defensive set pieces when Morrison must be 6 inches taller than anyone on the pitch. Second goal was an absolute joke and was typical of how much space the team like to give opposition danger men, no one was anywhere near Kone, regardless of Morrison losing the ball as he did, it was suicide. Third goal, couldn't see too much of it as it was up the other end, but again it looked pretty simple, they just seemed to walk the ball through the centre of the team.

Pog, thought he played ok with very little to work with, again. Sending off was silly, he did lash out, but could quite easily have been a yellow. Figeroa made the most of it and was quite comical when he remembered to limp after the boos rang out.

Akpan was summed up by the 5 year old sitting behind me at half time - "Dad, why has Apkan (he gets it wrong every time) not come out? he was our best player?", he also muttered we're gonna lose 4-0 after every were gonna win 4-3 chant, good kid

Kebe must have been injured. I can't think of any other reason why he was taken off, while not at his best he was far better than the majority of the rest of them out there. Leigertwood was appalling. He offers absolutely nothing other than getting in the way and winning the ball back from the opposition, who he then gives the ball back to when attempting to pass. It genuinely scares me every time he is on the ball, he's the biggest threat to our goal every single game. Karacan works hard but in the end isn't good enough.

I also heard the McDermott interview and was just laughing, I don't know if he truly believed what he was saying, but it was pure nonsense.

[Sagaris]

What the hell will Brian say to them before the Everton game on Saturday, will it be...

1. "You're the worst squad in the Pem by a mile, so go out and prove me right!"
2. "If any of you gits show any sign of creativity, I'll have you sitting back on the bench in a heart beat..."
or
3. "Remember our performances at Stoke away, Wigan away, Spurs at home, Villa away, Sunderland away... well let's have another one of those performance today because Wigan last Saturday was just a bad days for us..."

I wouldn't mind losing 0-3 at home to a relegation rival Brian if we showed some ambition...

CLUELESS, ABSOLUTELY FCUKING CLUELESS...

[cmonurz]

Name me one match in the last 5 matches where he played well? I'm talking recent weeks, i said before he did well when he came into the side 10 games ago.

West Brom (h). That's 3 starts ago for him, 5 games including his sub appearances.

Either way, he hasn't been "useless".

[sandman]

No one played well in the West Brom game apart from the last 10 minutes so try again.

[Warfield North Stand]

The 3rd goal summed up Ledge. He was walking but was at least in the way of the goal. 2 simple passes around him and they are through on goal while he has barely moved. The bloke is oxf*rd useless and to take Akpan off while he stayed on, is quite remarkable. Shite..

[semtex1871]

As sad as it seems, I'm afraid that after that performance we should just accept that we are not Premiership quality.

RFC are a very good championship side at most and apart from a few moments when Lady Luck has been with us the team have really struggled. As usual the players ring pieces start to quiver the minute they are under any kind of pressure.

I am looking forward to next season. I will be there cheering on RFC. Thankfully my season will be a bit cheaper than the £3500 it cost me this year!!!

[Gordons Cumming]

I can't say I was that impressed with Pog's play before he got sent off - admittedly

Afterwards he never missed a pass.....................

[Gordons Cumming]

After watching Wigan play us off the park I got thinking the unthinkable.

The only way we're going to play passing football like Wigan & Swansea is when Brian leaves...............