The Summer clearout / Coming in thread. Updated 27/8

[Snowball]

Priorities in the summer are:

1. Get some pace into the defence - is Morrison a quick player?
2. Find a striker or two

Remember that MCANUFF got skinned on Monday for one of the goals
and remember that despite how Sunday felt, overall our defence has
a good record this season. We let in 51 goals against Championship
teams, in 46 games. But 21 of those goals were conceded in 7 games


Doncaster (3) WIN,
Forest( 3) WIN
Norwich (3), DRAW
Palace (3) DRAW,
QPR (3) LOSS
Boro (3) LOSS
and Sheff Utd (3) LOSS

That means we conceded 30 Championship goals in the other 39 games or .77 goals per game

QPR, champions, conceded .7 gpg, Swansea .91, Norwich 1.26

There cannot be that much wrong with the set up. (Though granted it will be tougher next season with Griffin and Harte a year older)


For me the problem is leadership on the pitch, discipline, a powerful team ethos.

That isn't the same as not-giving-up or being super-fit and getting late goals

it's about keeping your head.

Just before Swansea's second goal, they got a free kick when it looked like it should have been ours, with Harte banging in one deep. Bad luck, bad refereeing, but the anger/petulance from Millsy didn't help our cause. We need someone who can get the other ten to hold it together, NOT show his own anger/petulance and instead pump up his mates and tell them, "We can beat all twelve of them!"

Have you applied the same analysis to those other teams defensive records and removed the goals conceded from individual matches where they might not have played as well? For example Swansea letting in 4 at QPR, Norwich letting in 3 against us.

Again you are not comparing like for like and are being selective to make it look better than it is.

No, I'm not being selective, I don't care about the other teams.
I'm just making a point that in a few games this year we BADLY blew it. (and remember we had a very good defense INCLUDING those games)

Best Defences

1 32 Goals QPR (Champions)
2 42 Goals Swansea (Promoted)
3 48 Goals Millwall
4 50 Goals Forest (Made POs)
5 51 Goals Reading

Ten of our goals conceded came in a fortnight where defensively we just lost the plot.
Monday was like that. NOT a defensively-weak team but one game where we just were horrible

Sat 30 4-3 H Doncaster
Sat 6 1-3 A QPR
Wed 10 1-1 H Cardiff
Sat 13 3-3 H Norwich

[Svlad Cjelli]

Lack of concentration. When something bad happens to us we lose the plot, mentally, for 10-15 minutes.

It's where we need a leader - but all too often the one who should calm the team down is the one who's lost the plot more than anyone.

[brendywendy]

just oxf*rd shut up snowers, and leave the shit stats for next season you massive gimp

[Snowball]

Snowball - in your latest stats have you just removed those games in which we conceded lots of goals and pointed out that when one does that the goals conceded per game average is dramatically reduced? If so, I'm not sure that that's of too much use.

A side can steadily ship goals like this


2-2-1-2-1-2-1-2-1-2-2-2-2-0-2-1-2

or this

0-3-0-0-3-0-3-0-3-0-3-0-3-0-3


What was bizarre about RFC (to me at least is that we hardly ever lost by 2 goals

1 46 32 25 13 06 1 1 Queens Park Rangers
2 46 42 21 12 10 2 1 Swansea City
3 46 48 20 13 08 3 1 Millwall
4 46 50 14 20 08 2 2 Forest
5 46 51 16 17 08 2 3 Hull City
5 46 51 13 22 04 7 Reading


Note that Swansea had TEN 2-goal concessions, Millwall, Forest, Hull EIGHT, QPR, 6. Yet we had only 4 2-goal concessions


Now look at the column for conceding THREE goals. Our rivals did this 1-2-3-2-2 times but we managed to concede three SEVEN times


Even if you add the concessions of 3/4/5/6 goals our rivals fell apart just 2-3-4-5-5 times versus our seven.


That to me says we are a very strong defence but if we concede two we'll probably concede three. And that's lack of bottle, or lack of leadership, or panic, or something.

[Snowball]

Lack of concentration. When something bad happens to us we lose the plot, mentally, for 10-15 minutes.

It's where we need a leader - but all too often the one who should calm the team down is the one who's lost the plot more than anyone.

ABSOLUTELY.

And the reason for the stats Brenders is to show it clearly and not subjectively.

Why I would prefer Pearce to be playing

[Hoop Blah]

I actually agree with Snowballs sentiments, if not is use of stats to back up his point.

Our defence has done ok for most of the season and getting ripped apart by Swansea doesn't change that. However, at the same time we do have areas that need to be addressed and I'd say we've often conceeded far too many chances to oppositions, especially at home.

I thinks partly down to a lack of pace and composure at the back but also it's a major downside to the way we play. We don't look to keep the ball and so whenever you just play the percentages and look to get the ball forward you give possession away cheaply. If you do that you're automatically giving the opposition more chances to create openings because they see more of the ball.

I still maintain that although the individuals in our back four are all adequate the balance of them as a unit is missing something, mainly pace and someone who isn't going to lose his head.

The illdiscipline in this squad has been growing for some time and for me that shows a lack of mental toughness and calmness under pressure which I'm sure has contributed to our poor record against the better teams this year.

Ingimarsson and Gunnarsson leaving will mean we've lost two of the calmer and more assured members of the squad. That might be a bigger impact than losing two players who have been absolute legends for the club over the last however many years.

[Bandini]

Snowball - in your latest stats have you just removed those games in which we conceded lots of goals and pointed out that when one does that the goals conceded per game average is dramatically reduced? If so, I'm not sure that that's of too much use.

A side can steadily ship goals like this


2-2-1-2-1-2-1-2-1-2-2-2-2-0-2-1-2

or this

0-3-0-0-3-0-3-0-3-0-3-0-3-0-3

That to me says we are a very strong defence but if we concede two we'll probably concede three. And that's lack of bottle, or lack of leadership, or panic, or something.

But, if that is the case*, that would appear to just be a feature of our present defence. You can't just ignore the bad parts of our team's performances and look at the good bits in isolation.

*Perhaps it could just as easily be said that certain teams are well placed to exploit our defence's weaknesses/

[holsgrove breaks a leg]

Zurab interview on BBC sport, doesnt look like he is on his way here in August...

[brendywendy]

farewell zurab.

[PEARCEY]

Zurab interview on BBC sport, doesnt look like he is on his way here in August...

No problem with that at all. Pearce will do a better job anyway. If Mills stays they will be a strong defensive partnership.

[No Hoops]

It's my thread and it's about in's and out's not bloody statistics.

No arguing either please.

Pic's of women are allowed

[Wycombe Royal]

Zurab interview on BBC sport, doesnt look like he is on his way here in August...

Good. I believe there is better value out there.

[Snowball]

Zurab interview on BBC sport, doesnt look like he is on his way here in August...

No problem with that at all. Pearce will do a better job anyway. If Mills stays they will be a strong defensive partnership.

And Pearce is a long-term prospect, solid now, likely to get even better over the years

[Hoop Blah]

Pearce and Mills are both good defenders at this level (although Mills really needs to find some consistency next season) but I still think they're just too similar.

Kishanishvili added a little more ability to bring the ball out of defence, and some canny fouling (found out on Monday of course), but I agree with WR that there is probably better options out there for the money as Blackburn were probably still paying some of his wages and he couldn't really hold down a place in McDermotts first 11.

I enjoyed watching him play though, but at his age and likely wages he probably isn't for us.

[No Hoops]

Zurab interview on BBC sport, doesnt look like he is on his way here in August...

No problem with that at all. Pearce will do a better job anyway. If Mills stays they will be a strong defensive partnership.

And Pearce is a long-term prospect, solid now, likely to get even better over the years

That's better SB

[Snowball]

I actually agree with Snowballs sentiments, if not is use of stats to back up his point.

Our defence has done ok for most of the season and getting ripped apart by Swansea doesn't change that. However, at the same time we do have areas that need to be addressed and I'd say we've often conceeded far too many chances to oppositions, especially at home.

I thinks partly down to a lack of pace and composure at the back but also it's a major downside to the way we play. We don't look to keep the ball and so whenever you just play the percentages and look to get the ball forward you give possession away cheaply. If you do that you're automatically giving the opposition more chances to create openings because they see more of the ball.

I still maintain that although the individuals in our back four are all adequate the balance of them as a unit is missing something, mainly pace and someone who isn't going to lose his head.

The illdiscipline in this squad has been growing for some time and for me that shows a lack of mental toughness and calmness under pressure which I'm sure has contributed to our poor record against the better teams this year.

Ingimarsson and Gunnarsson leaving will mean we've lost two of the calmer and more assured members of the squad. That might be a bigger impact than losing two players who have been absolute legends for the club over the last however many years.

THIS.

I suspect, four years from now, Mills may be one of those players, but right now
he's not, and we need one. Harte isn't right either, Griff appears too quiet. Maybe
Elwood can be the man, dunno. If not it's Pearce is the nearest or we need to buy a
leader and they don't come round often.

[No Hoops]

Complete list of todays ins and outs on page 1

[Royal Rother]

Eve Post saying Ingi, Gunna and Mooney all going this week.

Thanks for everything guys.

Maybe I'm not keeping up but OP says Gunarsson offered new contract...?

[hatrick_hero]

from what i heard a week before the final mills won't be here next season now we didn't go up.

[PEARCEY]

Eve Post saying Ingi, Gunna and Mooney all going this week.

Thanks for everything guys.

Maybe I'm not keeping up but OP says Gunarsson offered new contract...?

Yes a one yrear deal. A good move in my view.