saintant

Was very hard to tell we were chasing the game as we continued to pass sideways and backwards as though we were trying to hang on to a lead.

I think he's been bullet proof because Semmens ran things for Gao and would never have sacked his pal Ralph. The new owners are likely to take a far less tolerant view of poor results because relegation will seriously damage their ambitions for the project they've undertaken. Semmens will not be able to save Ralph's skin now.

It gets easier for them....they play us soon.

Ralph is happy to keep the goals against column down at the expense of any risk-taking attacking football hence 2 shots on target in 180 minutes. It will continue in this vein until he instructs the players to cut out the sideways, backwards negative passing accompanied by long hopeful hoofs up the pitch. It is not football and will not achieve results other than defeats.

Even Bmuff are above us now!

If that's the criteria he might as well go now then.

Spot on.

Not really, he's reduced it from a few passes to one - ie a big lump forward 🙂

I think you largely agree with me because I did point out that it's hard to believe we are so reliant on one so young and also questioned the wisdom of letting Romeu leave.

I've said it before, Ralph is scarred from the two 9 nils and other heavy defeats. He therefore sets up to contain the opposition at the expense of our attacking ambitions. Clear as day this tactic is going to lead to many defeats by one nil and we have already suffered 3 in 7 games.

Watching last night's tepid, inept performance one thing was blatantly obvious - boy do we miss Lavia. There was a gaping void in front of the back four where he patrols and amazingly nobody was designated to fill it. He is so good at sniffing out danger and snuffing it out. Also he is the glue that holds everything together, the link between the back four and midfield that was so clearly absent last night. Lavia is always available when we play out from the back, he'll comfortably receive the ball from Salisu or ABK in tight areas and move it on to begin attacking play. I lost count of the number of times our two central defenders looked forward for someone to pass to, saw nobody available and had to either launch it upfield or turn and go back to Bazunu who then had little option but to punt a long ball. Making matters worse we have absolutely not a single forward capable of winning the ball in the air. It is no surprise that since Lavia limped off against Chelsea we have barely put together a forward move worth the name nor created hardly a chance of note. He is that crucial to us and it is clear we were foolish to let Romeu leave as he is the nearest we have to Lavia. Maybe AMN is being groomed for the role and that is why Ralph stated he is not ready to start yet. Hopefully the international break gives Lavia time to recover but it was a mistake by those at the club to not have someone available who could do his job because injuries are part and parcel of the game and we are a nothing side without a player capable of covering the role in front of the back four. We were like a car stuck in neutral with no forward gears. It seems hard to believe we are so reliant on such a young player but last night showed that to be the case. Ralph and the coaching team need to do some serious work during this break because we look nailed on for relegation judging by that woeful performance.

What you mean the team in 1966 that had up front Ron Davies, Mick Channon, Terry Paine and John Sydenham? Different era but they would all walk into the current team.

Yes and currently he is part of the problem. A full England international needs to be offering far more than he has so far this season. I can only think he is playing with a slight knock which is hampering his mobility because sadly he is nowhere near up to speed.

The current midfield pairing of Diallo and JWP is not going to cut the mustard at this level - no pace or power in your engine room is a sure fire way to get over run by most teams at this level which means you'll win few matches. At the moment neither of them are playing anywhere near well enough to warrant holding down a place in midfield. We look very short of options without Lavia especially if Ralph feels AMN isn't ready to start which is basically what he's said.

Problem is, the way we are set up to be hard to beat negates a lot of our offensive options. I said before we will end up losing a lot of games 1-0 and that's already happened in 3 matches out of seven.

That should have been a picture taken after tonight's game.

When JWP plays like he has done for most of this season I'm afraid he is a liability. He is contributing very little and even his free kicks and corners have been pretty average. He's a passenger we can ill afford at the moment - not closing down, getting caught in possession and making poor passes unless they are five yards square or backwards. Not sure if he's carrying a knock but he's a yard off the pace and a player like him can't afford not to be right on his game. Unfortunately there's not much to put in his place but he must be running the risk of being rested although I'm sure Ralph wouldn't consider it. Tonight we passed the ball around the back until there was no other choice but to lump it upfield to a forward line that do not win headers. It was food and drink to the Vlla defence. Where was our pass and move or players taking up intelligent positions between the lines? It was a bunch of statues with zero movement. I look forward to hearing what spin Ralph puts on this. We may live to regret failing to get in a big, strong striker during the transfer window as we have no out ball. A better side than Villa would have filled their boots tonight.

Where on earth do you start with an analysis of how gut wrenchingly poor that tepid performance was from start to finish? Every person, manager, coach or player who contributed should hang their head in shame. Against a poor Villa side we managed the sum total of zero decent attempts on their goal. We lost every battle on the pitch, won precious little second ball and when we did we just gave it straight back to them. It wasn't the 4-0 of last season but must rank as just as bad a performance. Feel sorry for the poor sods who made the trip and were rewarded with that inept pile of shit and now have to make the journey home. They didn't even have to work hard to beat us as we resembled a bunch of strangers who'd never met or kicked a football - if that is the sort of performance our manager and coaches churn out then we must be staring down the barrel this season. There was not a single saving grace. A disgraceful display and nothing positive came out of it.

This is totally embarrassing.

We have only hopeful punts forward to nobody in particular to offer. Pathetic.

Set up too passive. Just happy to stay in the game, no desire or bravery on the ball and this against a very poor side. Have made it hard for ourselves now because of the timid first half. Very disappointing but no real surprise with the team selected. One bright spot was Djenepo who has done well. Not sure what has happened to JWP this season - he still hasn't got out of first gear. Changes needed at half time but doubt Ralph will have the balls.

Time for Diallo to step up to the plate and take the game by the scruff of the neck. He needs to come out of the shadows and show he is worthy of a place in the team. Too often he seems to be on the periphery, a bit of a shrinking violet.

Guess that's it.

Think we might get out played in midfield. Let's hope Ralph has a plan up his sleeve that most of us are not seeing.

What is the story with AMN? Surely he would be a certainty for the bench unless there is an issue we are not aware of.