stfrancisofbenali

You’d certainly hope so. The season would be a write off if we let AA go with just the Loch Ness Anderton and the wayward Archer to rely on. And just when we seem to be building some momentum.

Players need to take a long hard look at themselves. How can this group of players have been so bad for so many weeks and so good today? Bite, effort, application, belief. No excuse to let it drop and go back to the sulkiness. Downes back to his best today and MOTM for me.

He has a part to play but he can go 5 or 6 games as a passenger and doesn’t offer enough. The reason it’s so frustrating is that he quite clearly has enormous ability but just can’t apply it consistently.

We’ve played injury ravaged sides in Norwich, Millwall, Oxford and Pompey and got one point from a possible twelve. That’s pathetic and relegation form.

Bree was very good and gives us more physicality.

After our goal we were starting to dominate and looked like imposing our quality but six minutes after going 1-0 up he changed it. Feel like he could have waited at least another 10-15 mins before making any subs.

Millwall, Norwich, Oxford. Zero points. Doesn't matter which players teams put on the pitch. If they have a go at us, we fold like a pack of cards.

As I said, we only see a fraction of the evidence.

We only see a fraction of evidence of course but to my mind he was far more talented than Wood and more accomplished than Quarshie. I think we will regret this.

Hope he's got a big gob and some personality. Now for a big striker, left back and gnarly old centre half.

They gave us Keegan, we give them Downs.

He’s powderpuff and horribly inconsistent and would be found out in an instant in the Prem. Nowhere near that level.

His lack of communication and chat is one of his biggest faults. No coincidence that he doesn’t assert himself vocally or physically.

Bazunu is very poor but let’s not pretend he isn’t playing behind a shambolic, disorganised and paper-thin defensive unit. Donnaruma would struggle behind that lot.

None of those (the majority) singing ‘Tonda’s at the wheel’ a few weeks ago.

What an absolutely abysmal Christmas. Two points from five games is relegation form. All very well TE saying that a point against Birmingham and Millwall are good results if we go and win the next, but we haven’t! We look toothless in attack and a shambles at the back. Blackmore needs to give him a proper grilling in the post match…but he won’t.

Why has it become so turgid and conservative compared to his first 7 games? No one has given a good explanation for this yet.

Jelert was also good.

The first time a CB attempted a penetrative through-ball to break the lines was THB in injury time in the second half which immediately created a chance. Why do they feel that they can only try this at the death?

7 games where we glimpsed a brave new dawn. Then the lights went out again.

Fellows didn’t come on for Scienza today and he has played them together. The biggest issue for me is TE not playing Fellows as an out and out attacker.

This is why his line about always trying to win games doesn’t add up. To go for three points today, in a drab deadlock game, you have to try something different and get Fellows attacking rather than defending. Me and my Northam cohort were all saying at half time that we couldn’t see how we would score. If we can see it, why can’t TE and get our best attacking player up the pitch asking questions?

Tin hat on but Tom Fellows is far and away our most potent attacking threat and a better team player than Scienza. He has to start…as an attacker!

We played a lot of Russball at The Valley and no one was complaining. Agreed he needs to find another way of playing (Plan B) but loving him one minute and then calling for his head when we lose a few is utter madness and unsustainable.