Ghost of Clough

We limited them to 8 shots (2 penalties), only 1 of which was target (the first penalty), so even though the defence was exposed, the defence held out quite well. Saying that, I do worry that we'll see a few red cards to our defenders over the course of the season as things stand.
I disagree that it's the midfield trio who leave the defence exposed though, as I put that more down to the wingers, who leave a lot of space in behind for the opposition to attack. They had 3 clear chances to score, and only one in open play.
1. The crossbar effort was a result of giving the ball away far too easily and Chester being weak in the challenge
2. The first penalty was from not dealing with a corner and getting done down the side
3. The second penalty was from not having any control following the first penalty. Knight not getting it under control, and Chester being way out of position and being beaten far too easily again, essentially giving them a 4 on 3 (one of the three being Bird)

1. Most comments tend to relate to having control of the game (or not as the case may be). Long balls, to forwards to don't win the ball in the air very much is pointless as the ball ends up coming straight back and having to defend against another wave of attack, often without resetting in time.
2. The occasional long ball behind the defence is useful, but it has to be with purpose, not aimless into the corner with little chance of getting something from it.
3. A quick glance at the stats will show teams towards the bottom tend to have less of the ball than those at the top. This is shown by actually looking at the stats in more detail, where only 3 sides in the top half of the table are in the bottom 12 possession stats. Ipswich are the leaders in possession and are 2nd, whereas Morecombe are 24th in the table and 24th in the possession ranking. 
The other thing is, having possession doesn't mean you can't go long very often, just like having little of the ball doesn't mean you go long all the time. Yet, we see a similar trend. 5 out of the current top 6 are in the bottom 12 for long balls per pass attempt (Portsmouth are 13th lowest), whilst only 3 of the top 12 are in the top 12 for successful long passes per pass attempt.
You also have the belief that possession means fewer goals. However, there's a general trend of more possession = more goals. Ipswich are the obvious example, leading the charts in both, whereas Morecombe are bottom in both. Only 3 sides with less than 50% possession have scored more than 15 goals, whereas 6 with more than 50% have.
4. Since you're asking people if they want to stay in L1 for a long time or having a better chance of going up, the answer would be choosing the option which involves playing a possession based side with shorter passing.

What a crazy 5 minutes!! ???

8 Feb 2022. 3-1 win at home vs Hull
21 Nov 2021. 3-2 win at home vs Bournemouth 
8 May 2021. 3-3 at home to Sheff Weds

I must be greedy. 1317 received vs 88 given. Thanks for quenching my thirst ?
 
I'm also sadder than you, at 3.7 per day.
Definitely a lot of sad people out there, since I also have 1.04 'likes' per post.

Best side this season is a promising sign, considering we could have easily conceded three goals and had two men sent off. How poor is everyone else? ?

And a front two who are both 19 ?

Isn't that because they all played in Europe in midweek, rather than for Sky?

It's the midfield a number of us on the forum have been begging for for the best part of 2 years. I think it's criminal that this is probably doubled the playing time they've had as a midfield trio in that time.
It's a very well balanced midfield for most games, throw Bielik into the mix when we finally get him back for a bit of physicality/height and you rotate between the four of then to keep them fresh. 

Something like this? The mind explained
No idea about the actual detail of the tv showt, but the title suggests it's what you're looking for.

Might not need screamers so often if we were better in the rest of the game. 

The red cross here is where the Championship average sits, which somewhat suggests better sides are 'slower and more inticate', so Derby sitting in the bottom right (under Rosenior) is exactly where we should expect to be. Given Ipswich, considered the best side in the division this season, are also in this general area i think it backs up my interpretation.
My hope is that Warne's intense and more direct playing style results in us drifting closer to Ipswich than Shrewsbury.

 

It's the midfield a number of us on the forum have been begging for for the best part of 2 years. I think it's criminal that this is probably doubled the playing time they've had as a midfield trio in that time.
It's a very well balanced midfield for most games, throw Bielik into the mix when we finally get him back for a bit of physicality/height and you rotate between the four of then to keep them fresh. 

Most of what he said was spot on, but some exaggeration for a couple of points.
30 minutes of battering was more like 15 minutes being on top.
I felt Sibley's challenge was certainly over physical. I'd have to see a couple of replays to judge whether it was a foul and if it was worthy of a card or nor. It's rare for a player to go off injured in that manner without a yellow card being shown.

And a front two who are both 19 ?

It's the midfield a number of us on the forum have been begging for for the best part of 2 years. I think it's criminal that this is probably doubled the playing time they've had as a midfield trio in that time.
It's a very well balanced midfield for most games, throw Bielik into the mix when we finally get him back for a bit of physicality/height and you rotate between the four of then to keep them fresh. 

Most of what he said was spot on, but some exaggeration for a couple of points.
30 minutes of battering was more like 15 minutes being on top.
I felt Sibley's challenge was certainly over physical. I'd have to see a couple of replays to judge whether it was a foul and if it was worthy of a card or nor. It's rare for a player to go off injured in that manner without a yellow card being shown.

And a front two who are both 19 ?

It's the midfield a number of us on the forum have been begging for for the best part of 2 years. I think it's criminal that this is probably doubled the playing time they've had as a midfield trio in that time.
It's a very well balanced midfield for most games, throw Bielik into the mix when we finally get him back for a bit of physicality/height and you rotate between the four of then to keep them fresh. 

8 Feb 2022. 3-1 win at home vs Hull
21 Nov 2021. 3-2 win at home vs Bournemouth 
8 May 2021. 3-3 at home to Sheff Weds

It's the midfield a number of us on the forum have been begging for for the best part of 2 years. I think it's criminal that this is probably doubled the playing time they've had as a midfield trio in that time.
It's a very well balanced midfield for most games, throw Bielik into the mix when we finally get him back for a bit of physicality/height and you rotate between the four of then to keep them fresh. 

@archram is clearly our lucky charm. 3 goals scored, 2 penalty misses, crossbar smashed when there was an open goal, and lucky the escape 2 red cards
Permanent matchday thread ban for @David incoming as he's obviously bad luck. 2 penalties (conceding 1) and 1 red card.. can't chance having one of those games again.

All three loaned out CFs have scored today. Really encouraging!

All three loaned out CFs have scored today. Really encouraging!

8 Feb 2022. 3-1 win at home vs Hull
21 Nov 2021. 3-2 win at home vs Bournemouth 
8 May 2021. 3-3 at home to Sheff Weds