Holmes_and_Watson

Is this connected with Liz Truss' cheese obsession? I guess he took those glasses of milk from waifs and orphans on the way into the studio.

A lesson to us all, Mr Martin. 🙂 I vent on here. By the time I'm a couple of words in, that perspective has kicked in and shapes the posts.

Well we ent on a great unbeaten run. A run we needed to go on, just to make upthe lost ground and keep pace with 3 other clubs. Although we're light in the striker and fensive midifelder positions, we know we've got a strong team, with good support from the bench. Martin decided to pick a team that emphasised the weaknesses in our squad. Agianst a team who were sharper, quicker, with more pace and urgency than anything we could produce. Smallbone and Rothwell were never going to control the midfield. Manning was a weak link in both supporting the midfield and certainly in defence. Mara was a passenger up front. Edozie reverted to the poor decision making that saw him eased out of the team a while back. Neither AA or the more forward placed Stu could keep us in it. KWP was left to try some solo runs. We were poor across the team for the first, which epitomised the lack of tempo, aggression and control we'd ben showing. The second was a sloppy implementation of MartinBall. Bieng kind, you could argue that we'd not offered decent passes all evening. But Rothwell had other options and ran into trouble anyway. We offered none of the positives from MartinBall. And September and some recent games have shown us what happens when we don't have those positives. It took until very late in the game for us to have any kind of control or urgency. Notably, Hull dropped back after a few end to end exchanges, and certainly when we got one back. It's disapointing that the manager has slipped back into some of the issues that gave us September's form. He's not helping himself by not picking a team capable of carrying out his plans. Hopefully, that will be the last of that.

Aribo just not on the same wavelength as KWP there.

6 mins! COYR!

Some good blocking. Manning failed a bit there, thinking Aribo was going to make the tackle.

Nice move with Fraser, Brooks, Adams and Aribo. Imagine, our experienced attackers get a goal, Mr Martin.

Ariiiboooooooo!

Aribo had to stab his foot out to make contact with Manning's cutback. Nothing wrong with the pass, and our players should be prepared to run onto those sorts of passes.

Nice passage of play this. Both from Hull and ourselves. End to end with some excellent passing.

I never quite got why ROthwell went into the eleven so quickly. From all the huffing and puffing he was doing just to keep up with our fitness, to the systems he would supposedly have to learn that Martin got all the others doing. Martin rally eased Fraser and later Aribo into the team. All very gradual. Rothwell, while showing good attacking skill, seemed to be an instant favourite.

Arobo bouncing aorund their box lookign for the ball. Aribo the one chasing down their keeper. What a difference.

Ah. Smallbone. Good position, nice touch and pass that doens;t reach it's man. Sums up his night (being a bit generous now I'm remembering the lack of control in midfield)

Aribo wins it back again. More than both Smallbone and Rothwell combined in the game. When Hull were pushing forward in numbers, Sule would have been an option to stop them doing that. More centrally, and very capable of getting past a high line.

Sule nearly well. Getting past his man.

Sule guided away from the ball he wanted to run onto. Ref not interested. But hopefully a sign he can get past a Hull marker.

Oooh Aribo wins the ball back. So few of our players can go in and win tackles.

Sule for Stu

We were getting in each others' way to get a shot away. A much quicker attack. Adams, Fraser, Aribo and Brooks. The first two starting the move and who should have been starting.

Form the comments, it looks as though a lot of us looked at that midfield and realised there was no physical presence, capability of control in the side. Now we have Adams and Aribo on there, but needlessly chasing the game.

I thought, when he came back we'd seen at least some of that replaced with better decision making. But reverting to what he likes best tonight, even when there is some support/ people waiting in the box.

Aribo looking very mobile again. Good to see.

Well wide from Smallbone. But at last some decent passing to give the space for the shot. Before that, we had 3 in the box. Edozie still tries to take on his man.

Martin has repeatedly said he does not believe in a plan b. Just a better plan a. Which should lead to 5 half time subs, and everyone with a kick up the rear, after that 45. 🙂

Oooft. That was a tough watch. We've talked about the strength and depth of our bench. Unfortunately we have decided to start with our weak links in the first eleven. Others aren;t capable of putting a stamp on the game, partly as a result of that. Downes is the biggest miss. Rothwell isn;t cpable at present of fulfilling that role. We had no control over the midfield and he was constantly giving it away when we had it. Poor decision making on a standard press gifted them their second. Smallbone looks caught out both defensively and going forward. He makes himself availalbe form the back two. But isn;t a DM. So not much control. Not many passing options around him, so unable to make an impact there either. Edozie used to just run at defences due to poor decision making. Tonight, he's had very few options around him to help him out. Manning has offered nothing in support, either wehn trying to push up and offered little defensive cover when Hull have pushed forward. Mara needs support to thrive. He's not ahd any and has been peripheral. Half a team of players not anywhere near the required level tonight. Stu, with a couple of late moments, and AA, who has been very quiet, not able to carry them. Across the team, we've managed little control, haven;t made much of our possession and have given no real moments of our trademark passing moves. Looking forward to a much better second half from us.