Pre season

[MackworthRamIsGod]

2 hours ago, Duracell said:

Why are we listening to him all of a sudden? Is he ITK?

Last night would suggest he is the least ITK of us all.

Sack him and get Big Trav in.

Joking aside. I remember watching us play Southampton in a friendly, Max Lowe looked like a 10 million pound player, one of the best performances I have seen from a player for us. Next week in the league he went back to his usual rubbish self...proved to me that friendlies mean very little.

[ramsbottom]

2 hours ago, Saturn5 said:

Slept on it 

think the fact we were so unorganised and sloppy was the biggest shock as it looked like they had never played together before 

As Warne eluded to there was not great drive or desire throughout the team

Cash had a nightmare 1st 30 minutes Thommo barely touched the ball in the same period and none of the wingbacks looked a threat for long periods as they were pinned back, Grigg made Bradley look well past it 

was hoping to see Brown and Osborn and then find out we have six or seven injured already - seem to be a big issue every Pre-season (are we killing them off in Training ?)

Don't like the formation

Warne seems to be forcing players into positions they are not comfortable in - NML & Jackson playing upfront as a 2 the most obvious and then second half have CBT as a wingback (yes it game them minutes) 

Why buy Wingers like CBT and Jackson when you don't play wingers - odd !

Clearly an issue at Goalkeeper but hopefully the Giant Swedish Helmet will sort that 

Definitely need a GK, LB/LWB and a Striker/Target Man

Could switch to a 4-2-3-1 like he had to last season following the awful start but doubt he will

Positives are the new signings do look like an upgrade, Kenzo obviously stood out, Jackson has pace, Ozoh looks a beast and Yates could do a job with a decent partner.

Thankfully it's pre-season and we can grab a bit of pride back in the Carabao cup - See you all at Shrewsbury for a massively improved performance 🤞

 

I'd rather we not risk anyone with a knock, than pushing them for the sake of it.

Until we sign his preferred striker target, I don't think we'll go with a 2 up top.  It'll be the 3-4-3 we saw towards the end of last season, or maybe 4 at the back.

1 hour ago, May Contain Nuts said:

"Trying out different things"

...except we didn't, really.

It was like an amalgamation of all the things that didn't work or were a bit lacking last season put on display for Chesterfield to take advantage of.

We didn't learn anything new about our existing players and the new players looked pretty much as foretold by fans of their previous clubs. For instance we already know Jackson really isn't a central striker and will miss his share of chances so it's not really 'unlucky' that we weren't 2 up early on when the chances fell to him.

There was the same emphasis and over reliance on hitting the wings, we've bought in Kenzo who's a technically capable player who could link up with his fellow midfielders but I think we only tried to produce one chance by passing it through the middle all game. (it was a nice move)

There was the same 'upside down' midfield with the creative player sitting deeper than the 'destroyer'... I say sitting but that's not actually true because again just like last season nobody ever really sits because all of our midfielders are expected to play box to box, leaving the defence exposed.

It's not a disaster, It's nothing that can't be fixed and we saw last season that once we've completed our.business and everyone is settled some of the issues go away by themselves (or at the very least it appeared that way against League One opposition) but I just didn't see any signs we were particularly looking to evolve or alter any aspects of our play ready for the Championship.

Warne has spoken in interviews recently and said that the formations/combinations we're playing at the moment are all about getting the lads minutes.  The proper stuff will be in the next couple of matches.  Personally I thought we saw the better of Kenzo when he was sat deep, as it gave him a little more time on the ball.  Certainly agree he needs to release it quicker at times, but he'll get used to it with more games.

[The Scarlet Pimpernel]

43 minutes ago, TuffLuff said:

I see a lot of people talking about shape, and it’s fair enough, but I will just say one thing and that’s I think being at the stadium we were so low it was really hard to try and watch the game and get a perspective on how the shape should look, who should be where etc. It may have been easier on RamsTV but to be honest I kinda doubt it.

What I would say is that, a lot of our midfielders and even defenders would make good initial forward runs but poor recovery runs. So if you think of it in two phases, first phase is good, second phase bad. For example, there were a few times Goudmijn would make good passes and movement forward, but we’d lose the ball whilst he’s pressed forward and Adams hasn’t covered the run or Goidmijn positionally has pushed too forward than he needed to. There was a time in the first half where Nyambe burst forward, and we lose the ball which then goes over to the left and pushes Cashin forward leaving Bradley on a one on one as no one has covered or has the legs to run back. 

So yes, it’s shape but i think it comes from running 10 yards further forward than what their legs can currently cope with. It’s the type of thing that makes us look crap now but once we are match sharp I’d expect we’d be able to recover faster than what happened last night 

Oh and one final point, as I keep scatter gunning throughout this thread. If you want one thing to actually be concerned about over shape or things that can be solved with fitness, we are about to enter a league that is a lot more possession based. League One, you can get away with a misplaced pass because you will have the ball back very quickly. In the Champ, you’ve got to keep the ball a lot more and from what I saw last night aside Thompson and Goudmijn, our keeping of possession was absolutely woeful.

Nice cheery one to end on!

 

This is my main concern. The ball retention was so so poor last night. It was either poor passing or poor control. I dont know why it was so bad. A bit embarrassing really as Warne said.

[Jimbo Ram]

14 hours ago, mozza said:

Truth be known, I was quite impressed by the level of commitment shown by both sides tonight.

Lush 😉

[Saturn5]

37 minutes ago, ramsbottom said:

I'd rather we not risk anyone with a knock, than pushing them for the sake of it.

Until we sign his preferred striker target, I don't think we'll go with a 2 up top.  It'll be the 3-4-3 we saw towards the end of last season, or maybe 4 at the back.

 

Agree - but was stating i was hoping to see them and was disappointed that we seem to be getting a lot of injuries already, as we did last year

[Mick Brolly]

2 hours ago, Mr Ramtastic said:

I will continue to go to games like I did last night and if I think it’s justified I will continue get angry when we don’t perform because I care. My expectations for next season are anything above relegation is a bonus but that doesn’t mean I will accept cr@p performances because my expectations are low. If we lose when we have done our best or have been outplayed by patently better sides so be it. If we are not meeting our own minimum standards that needs calling out. 
 

Listen to what Warne said post game last night he called it an embarrassing performance and one that should not be associated with the Club. Are you suggesting he finds something else to do because he is calling it out when “it was only a friendly” ?

Why are you getting angry about a pre season game I can understand Warne doing so because it's his job you need to chill out or you'll not make it to August 

[Premier ram]

Was there last night , forget the result, forget the performance, if the bed wetter scared to listen to Matt Hamshaws interview before the game he said the lads would be doling a double session training and would enter the game  with tired legs, this was definitely the case with most of them 

        This match like any other friendly is a training session , Warne will be monitoring and gauging fitness levels , with still more players to come in I’m sure the starting 11 for Blackburn is far from cast in stone , the time to start judging for me is around Christmas when the team has taken shape, new players have bedded in , let Warney and the club get on with the job in hand and stop pressing the panic button after a friendly mid July

[chezzyram]

Well I for one am grateful to catch up on all the insightful observations on here both positive and negative. Having sat near the front of the west stand I missed most of the second half as I couldn't see a bl00dy thing past the 500 substitutes massed on the touchline!

My only comment on our perceived lack of goal threat would be that Chesterfield felt comfortable enough to play their 3rd choice centre forward at centre half for the last 10-15 minutes or so

[May Contain Nuts]

Calling people 'bed wetters' and accusing them of (paraphrasing) 'disgusting(ly) dismantling the euphoria of last season' for what's not really been that extreme of a reaction to a terrible performance the manager himself was embarrassed by. Classy stuff as ever.

Edited July 25 by May Contain Nuts

[Ambitious]

Last night I did go to see how Rotherham got on last season in their preseason to see if there was any results (like ours) that would lay the groundwork for their atrocious season: -50 goal difference  & 4 wins. 

Fortunately, for us, not. They had a very decent preseason in all honesty - finishing by beating a Premier League side 1-0 in Sheffield United and then comfortably hammering (what we know now to be) a good Lincoln team 3-0. It didn't stop them from losing seven of their first 10 games. Huddersfield had an equally good, if not better, preseason. Birmingham had a good one too.

West Brom, on the other hand, had an awful preseason - failing to win 5 out of 6 which included losses to Cheltenham, Forest Green & Bolton. They lost only twice in their first 10 games when the league started. 

[RoyMac5]

28 minutes ago, Ambitious said:

Last night I did go to see how Rotherham got on last season in their preseason to see if there was any results (like ours) that would lay the groundwork for their atrocious season: -50 goal difference  & 4 wins. 

Fortunately, for us, not. They had a very decent preseason in all honesty - finishing by beating a Premier League side 1-0 in Sheffield United and then comfortably hammering (what we know now to be) a good Lincoln team 3-0. It didn't stop them from losing seven of their first 10 games. Huddersfield had an equally good, if not better, preseason. Birmingham had a good one too.

West Brom, on the other hand, had an awful preseason - failing to win 5 out of 6 which included losses to Cheltenham, Forest Green & Bolton. They lost only twice in their first 10 games when the league started. 

Shouldn't you have looked at the Rotherham Warne part preseason for 'proper' comparison, if that was your thing?

Edited July 25 by RoyMac5

[Kernow]

Hull City have also just lost 4-0 away to a League 2 side.

With two of the three relegation spots now decided, it’ll be interesting to see who takes the 3rd spot over the next 46 games.

[Ambitious]

27 minutes ago, RoyMac5 said:

Shouldn't you have looked at the Rotherham Warne part preseason for 'proper' comparison, if that was your thing?

Rotherham stayed up that season, to be fair. I was more looking to see whether there was any signs in preseason that a catastrophic season was upon them. 

Rotherham under Warne actually got on ok - a few draws and played only weaker sides (mind). No losses. 

[Ambitious]

9 minutes ago, Kernow said:

Hull City have also just lost 4-0 away to a League 2 side.

With two of the three relegation spots now decided, it’ll be interesting to see who takes the 3rd spot over the next 46 games.

Hull also sent the kids, not sure a first-team player was involved. 

[Gee SCREAMER !!]

3 hours ago, Saturn5 said:

Agree - but was stating i was hoping to see them and was disappointed that we seem to be getting a lot of injuries already, as we did last year

That'll keep happening with a double training session and a match on the same day.

[Shipley Ram]

It was s****, but only a pre season so doesn't matter. Hopefully we'll learn and improve.

I do feel sorry for all the Rams who suffered at the game, and those live up near Clay Cross etc who presumably are getting some stick today.

[Tyler Durden]

5 hours ago, Mr Ramtastic said:

I will continue to go to games like I did last night and if I think it’s justified I will continue get angry when we don’t perform because I care. My expectations for next season are anything above relegation is a bonus but that doesn’t mean I will accept cr@p performances because my expectations are low. If we lose when we have done our best or have been outplayed by patently better sides so be it. If we are not meeting our own minimum standards that needs calling out. 
 

Listen to what Warne said post game last night he called it an embarrassing performance and one that should not be associated with the Club. Are you suggesting he finds something else to do because he is calling it out when “it was only a friendly” ?

 

[RoyMac5]

46 minutes ago, Gee SCREAMER !! said:

That'll keep happening with a double training session and a match on the same day.

So why would Warne be disappointed, he must have expected that sort of game to happen?

[Crewton]

It was good to see Max Bardell on the pitch last night. He looked a threat going forward too. It was a pity the mix up between him and Darren Robinson led to a goal but neither of them should take it badly because others should have closed the door even after that. I hope he can stay fit because I've always thought there was a decent player there.

[Comrade 86]

52 minutes ago, Gee SCREAMER !! said:

That'll keep happening with a double training session and a match on the same day.

Has this been confirmed? Seems a hefty workload.