windermereROYAL Not sure why Baldock is getting a lot of flak, what the hell do you expect from him when the midfield is non existent?
FiNeRaIn People talking about league one being a disaster for this club could well be right, but they better start setting their expectations now. There is no way there are three worse teams than this lot. The whole culture of the club from the top down is rotten and its directly reflected on the pitch. No skill, no tactical awareness, a lack of effort with some players, a losing mentality and no fight or grabbing games by the scruff of their necks when they are in the balance.
When we go down lets hope for a huge turnover in both playing and coaching personnel. Lets finally balance the books and silly contracts, get rid of the deadwood and lets blood the young guys and lower league players who WANT to be here to prove themselves. Yes we might not recoup much for the likes of Aluko, Gunter, Swift, llori, etc but they've shown enough in their careers at certain points that people will take their contracts off our hands, there are always panic buyers. I'd much rather watch 7 youth academy players find their feet and lose than 11 signed seasoned pros who are god awful. We're going down, start making a list of league one grounds you haven't visited and the pies you haven't tried and make peace with it.
Top Flight Although we lost again, I'm still optimistic we can stay in this division. Like I said after the Preston game, this side, the way they are playing currently look destined for relegation. But I think Clement will be able to improve the situation and sort us out.
On BBC Berks Adie Williams wanted to question Clement about his team selection. Why did Barrow not start. Why is Aluko still getting games. Why is Gunter still playing. However, I think Clement was right not to change a winning side. One of Sir Steve Coppell's mantras was never to change a winning team. If you win that is how you keep your place in the team. And after beating Preston this side deserved another run out to see if they could back it up with another three points tonight. Unfortunately they failed and now Clement is well within his rights to ring the changes.
When we were successful in this division with a three man midfield, our 3 were well balanced and complimented each other. We had Evans or Van Den Berg as the defensive protector. Swift or Kelly as the flair man supporting the attack and pulling the strings and Danny Williams as that box to box terrier providing the engine, the heartbeat and the inspiration to those around him. Right now our three are just not right and in my opinion is where the main problem in our team is right now.
We all know that we are weak at the back and let in far too many goals. After conceding four goals in the last two games it is lucky that we have managed to come away with three points from the two matches. I don't think the reason for our weakness is because of who our back four are. It is what is happening in front of them that I think is the problem.
I love Kelly and Swift but I don't think they should be playing together in the team. It should be one or the other. Against Hull on Saturday we should try Ezatolahi, Bacuna and Swift toghether as the midfield trio. Ezatolahi to do the Evans/Van Den Berg protector role. Bacuna to try and be the Danny Williams engine and heartbeat of the midfield and Swifty to provide the flair and pull the strings. Clement seems to know what the problems are and he is trying to find the solutions. He has brought the Iranian enforcer in and hopefully that will bind the midfield together and give it the right blend to work well.
But Clement needs several more transfer windows to sort this squad out. We just have to carry on supporting him, carry on being patient and let him do his stuff. We can't keep getting trigger happy and putting the manager under more and more pressure. He needs time to do the job right. Coppell needed three years. As did McGhee as did all our managers who have achieved something.
COME ON YOU ROYALS! THE TURNAROUND IS COMING!
bcubedZip Didn’t realise Ilori may have been at fault for the second goal. If true he drops to a 5.
He absolutely was at fault.
From memory he tackled with the wrong foot but in any case should have taken the ball and man if necessary and cleared both into touch. It was half hearted at best.
RoyalBluebcubedZip Didn’t realise Ilori may have been at fault for the second goal. If true he drops to a 5.
He absolutely was at fault.
From memory he tackled with the wrong foot but in any case should have taken the ball and man if necessary and cleared both into touch. It was half hearted at best.
To be fair, Moore is the player who should really get the credit for the 'assist' having teed up the scorer perfectly with an under hit, low clearance straight to his feet a few yards away. Row Z FFS!
Old Man Andrews I get the impression Gunter and Aluko are gone for Saturday, Gunter definitely. Clement went for him a little bit on Radio Berks.
Platypuss The recurring thread for me throughout the match was how stupendously weak we were, all over the pitch, continually bouncing off the Norwich players, and routinely losing 50:50s. It was only in the period where we passed the ball with some pace and so avoided having to compete physically that we looked half decent.
Pandoras Box Watching the EFL show on Quest last night, the most successful teams and style showed pace from all the players taking the ball and swiftly moving forward with it while the others moved into space and carried on the momentum.
Does anyone in our team do this? Everyone who gets the ball stands stationary and passes a lumbering ball to the next player (usually sideways) who does the same thing. You can sit in the stand and write in advance the next three players who are going to receive the ball ( if it ever accurately gets there). No one moves into space, even for a throw in.
If we can guess this, you can bet the opposition have researched this.
If you can’t guess to whom or where Gunter is going to pass to next you would probably fail the questions on Tipping Point.
You bring on Bod and then have a free kick on the half way line but pass it three feet to the right and then pass it back to the goalkeeper who hoofs it to nowhere anyway ffs.
There was a free kick slightly behind half way last night where they passed it back and had around six more passes to arrive back at where the free kick was taken!
The positional sense is diabolical, quite often literally bumping in to each other, yet everyone is AWOL when (if) we attack.
The job is so big to sort this out, I can’t see anyone going the distance.
NewCorkSeth I don't want to talk about the match but I know how much you all respect my opinions so I will. For your benefit.
I won't talk about the first half as it was literally (and I mean that) painful to watch. I winced in pain throughout.
We played with such great intensity For long periods in the second half but it actually pissed me off more than anything. Why can't they start like that?
Some standout moments for me, some have been mentioned.
- Baldock dragging the ball into his left then not shooting.
- Aluko falling over the ball.
- Gunter completely missing a tackle in the first half just outside our box
- Gunter sliding in hard on someone and Mick Gooding saying "That's not like Gunter, normally he stays on his feet and is very hard to beat". That was my favorite moment. Even Gunters biggest fans on here will admit he's not hard to beat at all.
- Kelly passing the ball a good 15 feet behind Gunter so we lost all momentum.
I think yesterday's match is a great example of why sometimes you should change a winning side. Same formation with Bod in for Baldock, Barrow in for Meite, Sims in for Aluko and anyone in for Gunter next game please. Anyone still arguing Gunter should start after the last 2 games is kidding themselves.
NewCorkSethPandoras Box Watching the EFL show on Quest last night, the most successful teams and style showed pace from all the players taking the ball and swiftly moving forward with it while the others moved into space and carried on the momentum.
Does anyone in our team do this? Everyone who gets the ball stands stationary and passes a lumbering ball to the next player (usually sideways) who does the same thing. You can sit in the stand and write in advance the next three players who are going to receive the ball ( if it ever accurately gets there). No one moves into space, even for a throw in.
If we can guess this, you can bet the opposition have researched this.
If you can’t guess to whom or where Gunter is going to pass to next you would probably fail the questions on Tipping Point.
You bring on Bod and then have a free kick on the half way line but pass it three feet to the right and then pass it back to the goalkeeper who hoofs it to nowhere anyway ffs.
There was a free kick slightly behind half way last night where they passed it back and had around six more passes to arrive back at where the free kick was taken!
The positional sense is diabolical, quite often literally bumping in to each other, yet everyone is AWOL when (if) we attack.
The job is so big to sort this out, I can’t see anyone going the distance.
I've been silently wondering why we are so shit at throw ins. We seem to get marked out of them easily while we don't defend them at all.
StrandedNewCorkSethPandoras Box Watching the EFL show on Quest last night, the most successful teams and style showed pace from all the players taking the ball and swiftly moving forward with it while the others moved into space and carried on the momentum.
Does anyone in our team do this? Everyone who gets the ball stands stationary and passes a lumbering ball to the next player (usually sideways) who does the same thing. You can sit in the stand and write in advance the next three players who are going to receive the ball ( if it ever accurately gets there). No one moves into space, even for a throw in.
If we can guess this, you can bet the opposition have researched this.
If you can’t guess to whom or where Gunter is going to pass to next you would probably fail the questions on Tipping Point.
You bring on Bod and then have a free kick on the half way line but pass it three feet to the right and then pass it back to the goalkeeper who hoofs it to nowhere anyway ffs.
There was a free kick slightly behind half way last night where they passed it back and had around six more passes to arrive back at where the free kick was taken!
The positional sense is diabolical, quite often literally bumping in to each other, yet everyone is AWOL when (if) we attack.
The job is so big to sort this out, I can’t see anyone going the distance.
I've been silently wondering why we are so shit at throw ins. We seem to get marked out of them easily while we don't defend them at all.
On the comms last night, Tim & Mick actually had a go at Gunter for throwing to a player who managed to turn and pass the ball out so we kept possession as it put Bacuna in a little bit of difficulty. Instead they were demanding he threw it down the line. We promptly did that for the rest of the night and lost the ball pretty much every time.
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