Back from the game..... Donny Rovers

[Ian Royal]

It's crazy that people are getting so upset about a 0-0 draw. Anyone who thought all our problems would be solved with one win and 4 or 5 signings either wasn't engaging their brain or didn't have much of one to use.

Rodgers needs to find the right blend for the team, unfortunately whilst we appear to have some stand out players, they all have quite large flaws to their game and don't necessarily combine well.

If we can get the 5 in midfield right, then we'll be fine. For those saying Hunt can't play as a lone striker, he did score twice in the previous game in that role.

Saturday our midfield was totally unbalanced. Kebe was obviously not happy on the right and had only just had a good game so was always likely to be poor. Siggurdsson was not a winger by any stretch of the imagination. Howard was clearly lacking in support and people to create with and Hunt was therefore looking isolated.

If we can get two genuine wide players on the pitch, who are able to both hug the touch line and get forward and more central to support Hunt and give Howard/Siggurdsson/Davies/Matejovsky options, we'll be alright.

I'd like to see Hunt and Rasiak playing together upfront, but that would either leave us looking weak in the centre of midfield or with no wingers. Rasiak and Hunt are strikers who look morelikely to thrive on crosses, so no wingers would seem foolish.

[Tilehurst End]

'greed

new players showed real promise
the kids continue to grow

give it time peeps

+1

As frustrated as anyone about the home form but we have a new,young side and if you analyse the results we've lost to 2 teams that will almost certainly be in the top 4/5, kept three clean sheets and seem to be working the opposition keeper more each game.

OK everyone expects us to beat Doncaster at home but they've only been beaten by 'boro and gave a good account of themselves there, as well as beating Cardiff fairly comfortably.

[No Fixed Abode]

I, for one am glad I watched it on Teletext.

[Royal Rother]

Indeed. Little old Doncaster are a decent enough team - only M'Boro and Newcastle have conceded fewer goals than them so far this season.

[wolsey]

Indeed. Little old Doncaster are a decent enough team - only M'Boro and Newcastle have conceded fewer goals than them so far this season.

Indeed, and only, ...um..., no-one has scored less goals at home than us

[weybridgewanderer]

Changes that might help us move in the right direction = Play a narrow midfield diamond and let the two full backs be our wingers in open play. Bertrand is already very good at this.

This is exactly what we did against sheffield and after 20 minutes when they worked it out they ran riot by spreading the ball out wide

[Royal Rother]

Indeed. Little old Doncaster are a decent enough team - only M'Boro and Newcastle have conceded fewer goals than them so far this season.

Indeed, and only, ...um..., no-one has scored less goals at home than us

So, a point gained against the odds! With a new team... Brilliant result.

[wolsey]

Indeed. Little old Doncaster are a decent enough team - only M'Boro and Newcastle have conceded fewer goals than them so far this season.

Indeed, and only, ...um..., no-one has scored less goals at home than us

So, a point gained against the odds! With a new team... Brilliant result.

Yep, can't wait until pre-season has finished!

[OLLIE KEARNS]

Changes that might help us move in the right direction = Play a narrow midfield diamond and let the two full backs be our wingers in open play. Bertrand is already very good at this.

This is exactly what we did against sheffield and after 20 minutes when they worked it out they ran riot by spreading the ball out wide

Disagree with you on that one. The major change SU made at half time was to go and pressure our two centre backs when we had possession. In the first half they allowed us to pass it into their half so that we always had controlled possession and so also had control of the game. In the second half they were in our faces high up the pitch which meant we started making mistakes giving them possession in our final third.
But then football is all about opinions

[Seal]

Can the optimists at least give us pesimists an idea of when it becomes unacceptable to use "new team", "young players", "new formation", "need time to bed in" etc etc as excuses for woeful performances - which lets face it Saturday was.

Is it 10 games? 15?

At some point it is going to wear pretty thin, and we are going to have to deliver some results. So far we have 1 win, against a team who are bottom of the league and in all sorts of trouble, essentially relegation certainities.

[Ryn]

+1 to the whale food.

[londinium]

Can the optimists at least give us pesimists an idea of when it becomes unacceptable to use "new team", "young players", "new formation", "need time to bed in" etc etc as excuses for woeful performances - which lets face it Saturday was.

Is it 10 games? 15?

At some point it is going to wear pretty thin, and we are going to have to deliver some results. So far we have 1 win, against a team who are bottom of the league and in all sorts of trouble, essentially relegation certainities.

Ok, I am as pissed off as most with the lack or results so far but I would judge the bedding in period to be 5-7 games after the transfer window closes. So that takes us up to the game against Boro at the start of October (I think by then the league will have settled down and we can judge ourselves against one of the teams that will surely be at the top end).

How long did it take Fergie to get Man Untd 'bedded in''????

[weybridgewanderer]

Changes that might help us move in the right direction = Play a narrow midfield diamond and let the two full backs be our wingers in open play. Bertrand is already very good at this.

This is exactly what we did against sheffield and after 20 minutes when they worked it out they ran riot by spreading the ball out wide

Disagree with you on that one. The major change SU made at half time was to go and pressure our two centre backs when we had possession.

Well we will have to agree to disagree

My view they changed things about about 20 / 25 minutes, hence their equaliser before half time. I also noted from the north stand that every time they got the ball at the back they look to spray it out wide, had 2 players there and all we had was one full back who was horrendously exposed.

[ZacNaloen]

I remember them doubling up on Rosenior after they noticed the right side wasn't tracking back, don't remember them doing it to bertrand.

[Starry Blue Hooped Wonder]

Usual good analysis Ollie

Totally agree re the fullbacks, although Cummings does give us more height atthe back. I also thought that he seems to be of the right type to provide the wide threat. He was trying hard to get forward second half but had no one to play off. I think as his confidence grows we will see him pushing on in the way Bertrand already does.

It was hard to judge Cummings on Saturday as he looked very nervous. Fully understandable on what was his debut at a new club. My hopes would be that a) he can defend the back post better than Rosenior and b) he can match Bertrand in terms of going forward. Time will tell as it always does

I thought that Cummings disappeared for a large part of the second half, to me it looked like he was worn out and was saving his legs by playing more defensive - he seemed to get a second wind for the last 10 minutes and then got more involved.

There were also clear misunderstandings between him and Kebe, quite often Kebe tried to make a run past their back line but had to check as Cummings didn't release the ball. Hopefully that part of their game can be developed so they start playing as a unit down the right side. I seem to remember that it took quite a while before Murty and Little developed into the formidable right sided partnership they ended up as for the '106 season' so I would give Cummings time to settle in before judging him too harshly.

[Sun Tzu]

There were also clear misunderstandings between him and Kebe, quite often Kebe tried to make a run past their back line but had to check as Cummings didn't release the ball. Hopefully that part of their game can be developed so they start playing as a unit down the right side. I seem to remember that it took quite a while before Murty and Little developed into the formidable right sided partnership they ended up as for the '106 season' so I would give Cummings time to settle in before judging him too harshly.

There were also a number of times when Cummings pushed forward and looked for an outlet only to find Kebe tucked away behind his full back.
I actually thought Cummings coped quite well as mostly he didn't then try and play an unplayable ball, he turned and played it back to a hoop and kept possession.
Howard and Bertrand looked more comfortable but I would expect Howard to be more vocal than kebe in terms of sorting things out.

As you say, partnerships and understanding take time.

I'm expecting them to have it sorted by Wednesday !

[Ian Royal]

Indeed. Little old Doncaster are a decent enough team - only M'Boro and Newcastle have conceded fewer goals than them so far this season.

They looked to be giving us a pretty comprehensive lesson on how to play passing football IMO. Just lack a decent threat upfront.

I can't emphasise enough how much it showed that they were a team who'd been playing together properly for some time. We've got more quality, it's just going to take time to get the balance right and get the performances to reflect that.

[Ian Royal]

Can the optimists at least give us pesimists an idea of when it becomes unacceptable to use "new team", "young players", "new formation", "need time to bed in" etc etc as excuses for woeful performances - which lets face it Saturday was.

Is it 10 games? 15?

At some point it is going to wear pretty thin, and we are going to have to deliver some results. So far we have 1 win, against a team who are bottom of the league and in all sorts of trouble, essentially relegation certainities.

15 - 20 games, depending on how consistent the first 11 is in terms of personel.

And it certainly wasn't a woeful performance. Just not a very good one.

[Muskrat]

How long did it take Fergie to get Man Untd 'bedded in''????

From memory, three years, with unlimited resources.

But then again he is a shit manager...

[AthleticoSpizz]

Rodgers = potential