v Coventry (H) - Match Thread

[Jimbo Ram]

1 minute ago, 86 Schmokes & a Pancake said:

I don't agree with those saying we're worse, but I'm not sure I'm seeing improvement either bud. CKR is fit enough to start and he definitely brings something we've been missing and I've long maintained that Bielik is our new Gorgeous George. He was very good I thought. In so much you'd expect more of an uplift in results terms than we're seeing though, especially against other teams playing as poorly as we are.

The big concern for me is that defensively, we do appear to be going backwards. Cov could and maybe should have had two or three tonight and better teams most likely will. Bear in mind also that we had two DMs on the pitch tonight and still looked wide open at times. In all honesty, I'm really not sure how we can start winning games without addressing this basic deficiency and I see no evidence of that happening.

 

Not sure what’s up with Clarke...he makes me so nervous when he is trying to play it out of defence...seems to have lost all his confidence ?

[Alph]

More miserable because we played ok and still only managed 1 goal and a draw. 

Any result in isolation can look good or bad in a league so tight. And drawing or even losing to Wycombe or Coventry isn't a disaster

But it seems when we play well by our standards, when we are in form... we still don't win. We still can't score more than a goal. 

This draw with Coventry is bad. Its bad because we drew with Wycombe and drawing with Wycombe is bad because of the other results. 

You can't excuse not beating these teams when you're not doing anything in your other games either. This isn't a slip up. It's the opposite! We've picked up and still can't get the job done. 

Nigel left a decent team behind. It just needed to be let loose. Then bit by bit we've gone back below the level Nigel left us at. And we've spent a fortune doing it. Frustrated is putting it lightly. 

[Andicis]

1 minute ago, 86 Schmokes & a Pancake said:

I don't agree with those saying we're worse, but I'm not sure I'm seeing improvement either bud. CKR is fit enough to start and he definitely brings something we've been missing and I've long maintained that Bielik is our new Gorgeous George. He was very good I thought. In so much you'd expect more of an uplift in results terms than we're seeing though, especially against other teams playing as poorly as we are.

The big concern for me is that defensively, we do appear to be going backwards. Cov could and maybe should have had two or three tonight and better teams most likely will. Bear in mind also that we had two DMs on the pitch tonight and still looked wide open at times. In all honesty, I'm really not sure how we can start winning games without addressing this basic deficiency and I see no evidence of that happening.

 

We're definitely doing worse defensively. Tonight, I thought Clarke and Wisdom had particularly poor games, at times just ball watching and other times just looked like they didn't know what they're doing. In terms of pattern of play though, I thought we looked much more coherent. We moved the ball quickly and more aggressively, we put better crosses in, we got into good positions.

In my opinion, if we can sort out creativity, then we can worry about defending, but the biggest priority for us in my opinion is getting the goals flowing again.

I accept why you'd think it's not an improvement though. 

[Uptherams]

Overall deserved a draw. We conceeded just 1 goal again. It's the worst aspect for me. The fact is, post Blackburn, the number of goals we have conceeded overall has been good, inspite of Boro. 

I'm just furious at how we conceeded that. No one on the edge of the box. The coaches in the technical area should have been screaming at someone to be stood there. But they weren't. Can't fail at basic stuff like that. Goodbye the lot of them. Completely useless 4 horseman of the apocalypse. 

 

[Andicis]

4 minutes ago, Jimbo Ram said:

They had the more clear cut ones....

Debatable point. 

 

3 minutes ago, Ruud Aralliss said:

But these chances are to few and far between.  If we were clinical enough then maybe not. But we’re not.

The notion that we were the better team all over ( quoting another poster) really does Coventry’s shape, tactics and discipline a real disservice.  Too many teams come here and set up perfectly well to nullify any attacking threat,  we looked like we were controlling possession but in reality they let us have the possession as we simply did not really worry them like many teams, it’s a reoccurring theme.  Our goal was great but moments like that have been rare and none existent without a target man like CKR.

I mean we're a relegation threatened team. We're not going to be playing teams off the park and having 25 shots on their goal. We've improved in the area, we're not the end product yet, but nor would I expect a switch to be flipped and us to suddenly be pasting teams. 

[Comrade 86]

Just now, Jimbo Ram said:

Not sure what’s up with Clarke...he makes me so nervous when he is trying to play it out of defence...seems to have lost all his confidence ?

Hard to fathom isn't it? POTY last season and looking a shadow of himself currently. We're in a potentially terminal funk at the moment so I think we really need to try something different and soon. I've not been Wayne's biggest fan in recent weeks but in fainess to him, the players simply have to put up. They seem to roll over far too easily for my liking.

[Van der MoodHoover]

25 minutes ago, Monty said:

Evening dear boy I guess you knew the allardyce post was coming but well spotted ?

Good evening to you m'dear..... I was only ribbing gently. Actually I think Sam would have done a better job in ekeing out a few more points. 

Sadly tho I think our somewhat slim chances of him being interested have faded and he'd only be interested in the brown envelopes - that we cannot afford!!! ?

[Carl Sagan]

1 hour ago, Nuwtfly said:

5 changes and he's not made one. 15 minutes left. @Carl Saganwon't be enjoying this!

I didn't watch. It's too depressing at the moment. Don't have full Sky but had SSN in the background so saw our goal, Stretton hit the bar and then live commentary of the equalizer. Which was shocking defending, no one within 10 yards of an attacker on the edge of the box. 

You're right I'm furious about the lack of finishers coming on to maintain energy levels. For me it betrays a total lack of intelligence and foresight. 

[Archied]

48 minutes ago, 86 Schmokes & a Pancake said:

For the love of God, get Terry in and let him sort our fecking defence out. We can sack him for being a horrible twit if we must when we're safely out of the drop spots.

It’s big Sam for me , we need a big name big character man who knows his job and every player and coach at the club knows he knows his job , we need clear leadership ,if Rooney doesn’t get the job it has to be someone who is a well above him in manager stakes with the power and the balls to out him if needed or get him knuckling down and performing on the pitch , cocu was/is too nice a bloke to have handled the Rooney situation 

[RoyMac5]

7 minutes ago, Andicis said:

We moved the ball quickly and more aggressively, we put better crosses in, we got into good positions.

I didn't see much aggression and very little quick movement. Bielik did most of the good things, Byrne and Buchanan too. But most of it just blurs into meh nothingness.

[Alph]

To think, a lot of them came here to push for the play offs. They thought they'd joined a team that was a serious contender they could get over the line

What we are facing now requires a whole mentality switch. We're backed into a corner and some players would rather hide than fight now. Need to adapt and quickly. 

[1977 Ram Raider]

The sad thing is I knew as soon as we scored that a Coventry goal was coming.

[RoyMac5]

Just now, Carl Sagan said:

Which was shocking defending, no one within 10 yards of an attacker on the edge of the box. 

This, when you're defending a one nil lead. 

[Russell Ram]

I can see the argument for positives tonight as it was better than previous games. But is it better as the opposition is not the best? I can see the negatives too, a player free to strike the ball in the 92nd minute with no one round him, a goal scored that might have been ok, etc. We are getting closer to the situation where 1 point from certain games is not going to be enough. We are in catch up mode or very close to it. Our games coming up are not as ‘easy’ as the last few, especially at home. That makes fans nervous, that makes me nervous. I ask myself where is the next win coming from? We have Millwall and Brentford away next so I am not hopeful there. The games are going to get harder. We are not a good side. Let’s be honest here, if we were, we would not be in this mess in December, with one win and a handful of goals to our name. Regardless of your thoughts on individual players here and there being up to standard,  is the writing on the wall? I hate to say it, I really do. But I think it is.

[RoyMac5]

1 minute ago, Alpha said:

We're backed into a corner and some players would rather hide than fight now. Need to adapt and quickly. 

Not gonna happen without a manager experienced in the Championship. Before/if Rooney figures it out we'll be down.

[MickD]

40 minutes ago, TuffLuff said:

You know the goal they scored, you’d once have a Keogh running out at that. Wasn’t bad was he, covered up for a lot of what was going on around him. God, we miss him.

No we don't

[Ruud Aralliss]

4 minutes ago, Andicis said:

Debatable point. 

 

I mean we're a relegation threatened team. We're not going to be playing teams off the park and having 25 shots on their goal. We've improved in the area, we're not the end product yet, but nor would I expect a switch to be flipped and us to suddenly be pasting teams. 

I commend  your positivity in these troubled times, I really do.  It is important for the forum.  But not pasting teams isn’t what troubles me.  It’s being 1-0 up in quite possibly one of the most important games so far with only a few minutes left and still blowing it quite unnecessarily. 
But then my glass is usually half empty.  Hope I’m wrong!!

[Ambitious]

The problems lay at the doorstep of the management and coaching. The one aspect from tonight that I liked was that the fitness of the team finally seemed up to standard, however the strategy in entering the final third is completely amateur. We don't look to create overloads or mismatches, it's simply left to the players and they're all on different hymn sheets. 

We have absolutely no problem getting the ball around the edge of the area, the build up play this season has been much improved on last season, but we have absolutely no strategy once we get the opportunity to create goal scoring chances. Tonight was better in that regard, but it was still very painful to see us get the ball into the final third to then completely fall apart. It's happened in every single game this season. 

We desperately need someone to come in and coach this team up. This team has a lot of potential and it saddens me that it's being left in the hands of these pretenders due to circumstance. The takeover, hopefully, will be done soon and we can put this to bed. I don't think it's any exaggeration when I say this managerial appointment could well be the most important 130 plus year history. A bad one almost certainly gets this club relegated and destroys the club financially, endangers the academy and creates a situation that could well take the best part of a decade to put right. A good one would put all of that to rest and keep us up.  

[Comrade 86]

3 minutes ago, Archied said:

It’s big Sam for me , we need a big name big character man who knows his job and every player and coach at the club knows he knows his job , we need clear leadership ,if Rooney doesn’t get the job it has to be someone who is a well above him in manager stakes with the power and the balls to out him if needed or get him knuckling down and performing on the pitch , cocu was/is too nice a bloke to have handled the Rooney situation 

I have my reservations but I'd certainly favour him over the current set up. My thinking where Terry is concerned is that he was and always will be, a leader. Wazza never was. JT also carved an impressive career at the highest level having a fraction of Wayne's natural ability and IMO he did so through passion, a will to win and purely bloody mindedness. He wasn't quick and lacked the natural athleticism of VVD type CB but in his prime he was immense nonetheless. Seems to me there's much we could learn from him in those regards. The issue is that he brings some baggage and as such, would need to be winning games straight from the off. A lot of folk don't exactly like him and that's understandable, though I think everyone deserves a second chance and he seems a lot calmer these days than he was. The Villa fans seriously rate him too, so there's that.

Returning to Big Sam, he'd cost a fortune, even having been out of the game for over two years and as long as we are flirting with relegation, I'm not sure committing to another fat contract is a risk the club will want to take. No easy call really! 

[TheresOnlyWanChope]

Unfortunately it seems relegation is the only result at the moment. It's sad to be so negative but the fact is we can't hang onto leads or put ourselves into winning positions because we can't put chances away

We just don't have enough players who can stick the ball away. We have at least created a few chances last couple of matches but we are not a clinical team. In previous years we had attacking midfielders who could score a few to accompany strikers like Ince, Bryson Russell, but the quality in our team has really dropped and we just don't have enough goal scorers. Coupled with calamity defending every match and we are heading for relegation.