Holmes_and_Watson

And one day, some of us will be allowed to leave their fields and mix with normal folks. 🙂

It seems you don't have to have it for long to get points off of us. 🙂

Justice

I had read that Rooney wanted to implement a posession based philosophy. He's not had long, but hopefully enough that we'll outclass them on those points, by virtue of being further along The Process. Where they revert to the style they had, we'll have more problems with. Hopefully they will be disjointed enough, and resenting their old manager getting sacked, for this one to be comfortable win. One for Smallbone and a couple from AA.

A quick peek shows results have tanked. The last I heard was listening to a couple of fans on the radio not long after he joined. They loved him and his approach.

It has to be McCarthy in goal for the next game. But only because Baz will be up front.

Another late goal, this time for a point. Nearly another game where we'd look back at some familiar issues. We're always going to be susceptible to goals like their second. I had hoped we'd have learned to have enough cover. But if teams are direct enough, quick enough, and they are mostly stronger anyway, they get a run on goal. We're supposed to be offsetting that with possession, pinning teams back and creating chances so they can't organise and get out. But we don't. We no longer create enough useful chances to take ourselves clear either. After their lead, we struggled to break them down. They closed down the space, and we couldn't link up well enough. We saw some coordination from AA, KWP and later Stu. But just not together or far enough up. Martin is right that the final third has to develop. Che and Mara did little. But a lot of that continues to be that they are not given much to do. There were some changes tonight. There were some unforced errors first half. The opening seconds of the second gave the home fans a lift. Baz remained unruffled, having accumulated more scar tissue than most. We made decisions to not move into space instead settling for a safer sideways pass on occasion. Not for any greater advantage. That changes the dynamic of the game. We constantly allow resets. Setting ourselves up to unsettle teams would really help. Something that Tella did for us. Offering a direct outlet to compliment the passing. It changed in the period when we upped the tempo. We got a glimpse of it clicking. But it didn't last. We did keep going right to the last again though. We didn't give up. And again we got a reward for it. There were some positives. KWP is being developed even more. Good things from Stu, AA, Downes and Smallbone. The latter having to cover a lot of situations, some he needs work in as you'd expect. I don't know if he would be expected to stop their goals,but Baz got a lot of our moves started. His work in that department should be used better by the others. Just the usual frustrations, that more work and confidence will help with. RM's half time team talks need some work though.

Yaaaay! Went off someone, but Baz secures a new position!

They got their first by outmuscling us, getting it central for the shot. We get it out and central, but then look to thread a ball through. Not brave or direct enough in the final moments. Commentator said RM has got 1 point back from a losing position, and you can see why. Stu, Fraser and Alcaraz should be capable. But Preston have held us off pretty easily, apart from a couple of scrappy minutes ages ago.

The game stretches after a Preston attack. We're away...and have no idea how to get it into the box.

Oh for... Give it away... Big long direct run and blasted past.. Edozie not strong enough to do anything and we're vulnerable on this counters. Really need to get some control here. Not at the races so far. Stu on for Smallbone and Edozie off for Sulemana. Shame it's now when we're behind.

From the opening seconds of Baz/ Holgate mishap, we've been second best and now punished by a side that have outmuscled us about this half.

Preston had their spells on top. We took a bit to get into gear with the tempo of our passing. We made a few unforced errors along the way. A couple from Charles, one when we hadn't had an attack for a while frustrated RM. Baz made a good save on the side a lot have gone in. His distribution and vision good as usual. Made a fine stop with his leg later in the half, which went up onto Charles's arm. Thankfully, no VAR to even consider it. Preston tried to use those gaps left when we tuck in our full backs, at least 3 times. We'll always look a bit on the backdoor tearing back. But we've looked a lot more structured doing it as RMs instructions have taken hold. With 2 changes in the back line, it was good to see us look okay. Bookings for Bednarek and Smallbone could make it interesting second half there. Hopefully, we'll not have to worry about pressure. Lovely KWP goal. RM talked about him playing in midfield, and even as a 9 due to his quality pre-match. Good to see the manager freeing up some of the players like Stu and KWP. Nice to see Che also looking to get on the end of the shot. Smallbone and AA linked up well shortly after, as we had a strong spell. If we can have spells at our best tempo, when the passes are clicking, Preston might struggle to cope. Decent options from the bench too.

It's either another Smallbone goal, or a cheeky poacher's effrot from Adam Armstrong. Either way, it's a 1-0 win that will still divide supporters as to the effectiveness of the win.

Way

Express

Anthem

Cheque

Point

I've not seen a noticeable dip in Turkish's posting recently. It's a relentless Championship posting schedule and some days are going to be better than others. Harsh to think of us selling him on to another forum, never mind for less than his valuation price. 🙂

Villa will always have that doubt in their mind that they're not aggressive and front footed enough, having not gone with Jones themselves. 🙂

I was thinking that last last week, as a couple of positions on the flanks were crying out for Adams to be in the centre. Except, he was over on the other side, as that's where the passing had recently been, and he wasn;t going to be able to get there. And that wasn't his fault. That's just where our move had taken us. Yesterday, there were a couple where we were crying out for people in the box, only for there to be Arma as the only presence there, and not centrally either. Hopefully, as MartinBall improves, we'll see players more likely to take up the positions of others, being more aware of the options and risks. Smallbone would be a good example. He's being asked to perform a a lot of roles in the side, in any given match. By the time Sterwart is up and running, we'll have developed to the point we can evolve the tactic a bit round his strengths. No doubt, he'll still ahve to do a lot of things everyone else is, but within some structure that keeps him more likely to be in those dangerous areas.

That was against Hull. Now imagine we've just beaten Liverpool away... an on-pitch parade, followed by riverdance, then a light show, sky writing and *then* a flood of tears. Something to look forward to with The Process. 🙂 I don't mind a bit of acknowledgement for the support, with some consisent actions to to show the appreciation and bonding. From his comments, he know he's got a *lot* of work to improve on, so the late winner isn't going to his head as some sort of massive triumph.

I've just buy from local sources, that I've heard plenty of word of mouth about. Yes, it's probably more (although I've had some really good deals). Better that, than the horror stories I've heard from other places, and any uncertainty on just how good a deal I'm getting.

We worked hard to the final whistle and were on top for that closing spell, by some margin. Today's subs made a difference when they came on. Edozie still hit and miss with what he does, Mara taking up lots of good positions and working hard and Fraser with a good finish. There are going to be games where results are late, scrappy against the run of play. That goes both ways. But keeping going to the end, trying to make the difference shows commitment, professionalism and can pay off. Like it did today. We did well increasing the pressure after the subs, making use of the spaces and having much more of a forward presence forcing them back. But it wasn't always like that today. As someone focused on his process, Martin still has an awful lot to improve in a number of areas, we've commited ourselves to. 3 wins and a draw out of four looks great, that it's working and we are on the right path. But as Martin and SR will be more concerend with the underlying performance, they'll have seen many of the deficiences that resulted in better, more clinical sides hammering us. It sounds harsh. But that's the realistic expecation you'd expect to have for a side with our resources coming down to this division (As Leicester, and now Leeds are showing). Great for the club to reach out to show tactics and approach this week. However, I think they misjudge what they think is lack of understanding through their complexity. I think a lot of fans know exactly how it works but are weighing that against the realistic expecations for the season, the clear areas for improvement, and the effectiveness of the play that should be getting us there. Martin has been the first to point out there's a lot to be done for it to click. Which we're seeing. Looking forward to the points to be going along with that, now we're back to winning ways.