vonwright

Just now, vonwright said:

Ha those of us who are huge experts and said PW needed to change formation/system are going to have our day.

(Obviously we'll lose now.)

...unless Sibley goes to wingback in which case we will know for sure that PW will never, ever change his system

Just now, Caerphilly Ram said:

Chester coming off and McGoldrick on 

Ha those of us who are huge experts and said PW needed to change formation/system are going to have our day.

(Obviously we'll lose now.)

If he plays RWB then what does that mean for Mendez-Laing? Dropped? Left wing back? There's no other position for him in Warne's set-up.

1 hour ago, Unlucky Alf said:

ATM Warne is stuck between the Devil and Deep Blue Sea, Trying to put together a team that that can 1st compete then overhaul the other teams above us, A tranfer window will show us...what's what 

For me the issue is if LR was never the long term plan it didn't make much sense to let him recruit the players he did in the summer. They don't really fit Warne's style or preferred formation, and for all the talk that they were just short-term, get-whoever-we-can signings, I don't think that's right. Hourihane, NML, Barkhuizen, McGoldrick are all fairly big names for League One and are on multi-year contracts. Neither is it a given we will be able to sell whoever we want, and even if we do Warne will still be operating under major restrictions as to who he can bring in. 

It would have made more sense to bring Warne in before we committed a significant amount of wages to the players we got. Or alternatively to have looked at a manager who suited the squad a bit more. It is just a very odd time to bring in a manager who will need to rip up the (newly assembled) squad, when he won't be able to do any serious business until next summer and even then will have limited room for manoeuvre.

Personally my hope is that Warne is flexible enough to work with what he has. I don't think it has to be black and white: ie we can still be a more physical and direct side, but maybe in a different formation that better suits our better players. Warne might have to compromise a little; if he's as good a manager as people say, he must know that's the right thing to do.

(Pearson of course didn't want to give an inch.)

10 minutes ago, Gee SCREAMER !! said:

You've pretty much named the players we have in the squad with ability to craft a goal for themselves or others .  Pains me to say your right.  Perhaps we should get a new manager who doesn't want to play Rotherham rollerball and we can keep the players instead.  Is there someone out there who can set up a team to play the opposition rather than a system.  It smells of Jewell to me. great at smaller clubs like Bradford and Wigan.  w*** at Wednesday and Derby.   

Thing is, I do think there's a world in which Warne tweaks his preferred system slightly and gets this team playing well. But I don't think it's 3-5-2 with NML and Barkhuizen as wing backs. I hope he's up to it but tonight was depressing. 

4 minutes ago, Mckram said:

To be honest I think the summer signings were just getting bodies through the door. Weren’t we in preseason with absolutely nobody?

I think it’s 100% going to be a rebuild. Signing how many players over the age of 30 was never us building for the future, it was getting a team that can compete in league 1 whilst spending no money. For a while I was worried that we would go straight down to league 2 as we would be playing kids. 

What would you have preferred this summer? We bide our team and only sign players that fitted a 5 year plan?

We survived as a club and fair play to Rosenior for getting anyone through the door he could. I won’t be pointing figures at anyone within the club if they hold their hands up and admit any of this summers signings were wrong. 

We signed good players for this level - some really good players. I assumed the point was to play them in a system that got the most out of them, and also suited the young players we'd managed to keep (and who had played that way for years), with a view to getting promoted either this season or (at the latest) next? I certainly didn't realise they were 'bodies through the door' whose job was to simply keep us in this league until Paul Warne arrived, sold them all, and the 'real' rebuild began!

Hourihane, NML, Barkhuizen, McGoldrick - all of them could easily have been playing a level above League One. They aren't 'bodies through the door', and it's insulting to them (and Rosenior and Clowes for that matter) to suggest otherwise.

4 minutes ago, Monty said:

Think we were watching different games - see the stats to see the ITFC domination - we basically had a good first five minutes 

It's bizarre. Sixteen shots to three in a game we were 'chasing' for half an hour. No shots on target for us, and we never looked like having one. Eleven corners to three. In what world is that an evenly balanced game? 

It's just like the 'officials conspiracy' crowd. The referees aren't the problem here. 

Just now, plymouthram said:

Paul Warne does'nt do passing work in training, he does hoof ball. Would'nt be surprised if some players left in January, so they can go to a club that plays football.

I think we now find out whether he's a good manager who can get the most out of what's at his disposal, or a one-trick pony who can only play one way, with one type of player. Hope for the former but how often does that happen, really? Managers tend to believe in 'their' system and recruit accordingly. It makes the decision to bring in Warne after we'd signed a new squad (and kept 'possession' players like Bird) all the more mystifying. 

19 minutes ago, Mckram said:

I think we will sign 2 or 3 in Jan as a minimum.

Osula, Robert and Dobbin are on loan. Davies and Forsyth will probably retire.

NML and Barks will want out if they’re played as wing backs.

I think the team first game next season will be totally different to the side tonight.

Assuming NML and Barkhuizen do go (and someone wants to take them), how are we a 'work in progress'? They were two of our big signings. Hourihane won't want to be on the bench either. McGoldrick's getting on and doesn't fit Warne's football -let's add him in too. Even in a magical world where we can sell any player we want, whenever we want, getting rid of those players would just be an admission that we got all our big signings wrong and need to start again. Again. 

Just now, Rammy03 said:

We weren't great but neither were they really. It was a tight game 

They had 16 shots, we had three, and none of ours were on target. We defended pretty well (apart from the CD blunder) but they were by far the better, more effective team. I think we need to be honest about that.

2 minutes ago, Black ('n' White) Sheep said:

Bird's done okay... Sibbo has had a shocker and needs to start justifying a place in the squad.

I think they have been alright, not great and not helped by the system. But they've been absurdly hyped over the years ('good enough for the Prem' etc). Let's be honest: they are struggling to make an impact in League One. 

3 minutes ago, Mckram said:

McLaren had players who fitted the mould and a fairly decent team.

Our striker partnership tonight had how many senior games between them…

I think people forget we had about 6 players in the summer. We need another window or two before we even have a squad! 

A lot of the players we have signed are on multi-year deals. We aren't going to sign loads more players. This is the core of the squad for a while - we need to play to their strengths 

2 minutes ago, Mckram said:

We have a new manager, trying to make players he didn’t sign play in a way that he wants

The players he has don't really fit the way he wants to play. He is a strange appointment to make after we've signed a load of players to play a completely different way. Long and frustrating season ahead I guess.

4 minutes ago, Ilsonram12 said:

Where's this direct play? Can't recall a shot on target, woeful 

Don't see the plan to be honest. Get crosses in early for... Sibley and McGoldrick? Either the tactics or the personnel don't fit and we can't change the personnel

Bird has had the second fewest touches of any outfield player (after Osula)

Hmm. Not terrible but we are getting dominated. They just seem first to every second ball. Not sure this kind of football suits Bird, Sibley, Dobbin... And this formation definitely doesn't suit Barkhuizen or NML. 

Barkhuizen's having a mare

3 minutes ago, JuanFloEvraTheCocu'sNesta said:

This system suffers from forcing wingers to play as wing backs. They are doing their best, but it's not natural to them.

3-4-3 would make more sense - you could play Roberts/Forsyth and Smith/Knight and still have much more natural slots for NML/TB

1 minute ago, JuanFloEvraTheCocu'sNesta said:

Warne is getting out Warne'd here.

To be fair they have more of the kind of players Warne would probably like - they look fitter and stronger

Not sure Bird and Smith is giving us the midfield control and decisive passing we really need. 

I do like Bird but he tends to do everything so slowly.

Just now, Tombo said:

Barkhuizen isn't showing his best here is he? Nothing he's tried has worked

I feel sorry for a right footed attacking player being asked to play left wing back. It's not like playing further forward and you never really get a chance to cut in. 

(But yeah he's not had a good game so far!)

Still not sure where Hourihane's best position is, but am increasingly sure I don't want him and Bird in the same midfield, or we end up lacking physicality/mobility. 

I guess he might be better suited to coming on later in games when there is more space and the speed of the game has dropped.

Whether he'd be happy with that is another question but at the moment for me it's Bird/Knight/Sibley starting. 

Smith is a (very good) squad player for me if we are playing three at the back. I'd swap Bird for Bielik in a heartbeat if he ended up coming back after the world cup (which he won't).

Amazing to think that at the end of this season Wolves, Cardiff and Swansea all went down another tier.

On 10/10/2022 at 18:13, Reggie Greenwood said:

Finished top 

They went off the boil a fair bit though.

Reading's first 13 games: 13 wins, 0 draws, 0 losses

Reading's last 33 games: 16 wins, 7 draws, 10 losses

Mid-season in the second tier the next season, while both Plymouth (seventh) and us (Champions) finished better.

I can also quite understand why people go for a more cautious counter-attacking style at this level (and above). Fans say they want to watch good football but, more than that, they want to win. Ideally they want both, but in reality they want the latter more than the former. 

BD took us to the Premier League playing cautious, counter attacking football.