derry

Unchanged team.

I've got over 18000 hours as a pilot including thirteen years flying into southampton and it wouldn't be a problem for pilots.

Well that was new, defenders defending, quick breaks, longer passes and less possession. The only times we had problems when we tried to play it around in our own half.

So much for pressing and intensity. No Holding midfielder and two mincers in midfield.

What we have is an obsessive that can't see that it's his obsession is the flaw together with his ex Swansea favourites aided and abetted by Smallbone's unambitious just unload mentality.

I've just read the managers synopsis. A bigger load of deluded bullshit it would be impossible to find. His reason for bringing on Manning :- He would give us greater balance. Manning caused us more problems with his turning right onto his left foot and playing the ball back into the danger area in front of the centre backs almost every time. He brought on Sulemana and let the full back overlap. We have the fastest player in the Championship so we put in two ball recyclers who play a monotonous 360 degree don't care except to unload the ball then repeat. All we do is compact the opposing defence and close down any space. He won't play Alcaraz because he doesn't understand his bullshit or more probably sees it for what it is. He is one of the few players we have who can play a fast player in. Martin because of his obsession with possession at all costs has destroyed any chance of automatic promotion. More importantly until all the bullshit and it's exponents are dispensed with and we get back to a simple play the best players in a way that gets the best out of them. We are getting far less than the sum of the parts through this stupidity.

Neither is Adams and Armstrong needs a partner.

So play him up front.

That was a clusterfuck by the manager, yet again the passing around at the back cost us. Want to cure it, put a boot through any ball in our last third. It probably wasn't that Holgate was caught just before Middlesborough equalised it was that he wasn't passing back into the centre backs. He brought Manning on FFS. Every time he got the ball he turned inside and backwards and short passed back into our penalty area inviting pressure on the ball. That demonstrated his stupidity. The substitutions were bizarre and Manning and Aribo just made things worse.. Aribo doing nothing again FFS. We play off the cuff as there is no disciplined shape. Charles needs to play a rigid defensive midfield and not roam, Smallbone and Downes need to be ditched along with the tippy tappy because that's really all they do. S.Armstrong and Alcaraz replace them. Until Stewart is fit It's a lottery up front. Sulemana Armstrong Edozie possibly. Adams is on one of his all too regular barren runs. The back four that started looked better then the second half with Manning at left back.

Just had a thought, is he going three at the back? That doesn't look as good to me.

I hope this signals a more solid defence oriented team. Until we become hard to beat we can't expect to move up the table. I'm not sure about KWP at left back however I think the back four looks more solid especially if Charles slots in as the holding midfielder with Smallbone and Downes feeding the forwards and supporting. Manning has been a negative for me due to his continuous turning back and lack of defensive solidity. We'll shortly find out.

Sorted😇

Last night we had 59% possession and therein lies the problem. No player in football makes 100% successful passes. The average player 80% to 90% so that means 10% to 20% go to the opposition. We play a high proportion of all our possession in our own half so we give away the ball a lot in dangerous to us areas. On top of that teams know we are obsessive about passing out around our own penalty area however they also know that pressing us will produce even more errors. They also know that while we are short passing our way up the field they can consolidate and fill their defensive third denying us space if we eventually get there without passing backwards. We have played and been beaten by three pretty average teams including two hammerings. If RM wants an analysis, that's fine but for once look at the obvious. Playing a non tackling, pass it anywhere ball rotator like Smallbone is a nonsense. Not playing a proper defensive midfielder is a nonsense together with no ball carriers. The solution, a back four, two centre backs and two full backs, a specialist defensive midfielder that can stay in position. Two ball carriers, two wingers and a striker. I give you, Bazunu KWP Bednarek THB Manning (under duress} Charles Alcaraz S Armstrong Fraser/Edozie Adams Sulemana. Yes I do know Russell will feed his obsession and play his recyclers. The team that finished last night was better than the team that started it. As for Bazunu. stop passing inside our penalty area allowing us to be pinned and dispossessed in vulnerable areas.

Playing out slowly from the goalkeeper is suicidal. Players trying to bring opponents towards them then pass is suicidal. Passing without looking is suicidal. Manning always turns back onto his left foot and plays backwards when he receives the ball not facing forward. We are making it easy for opponents. We would be far more effective missing out the midfield and attacking the backline early, If Manning hadn't played backwards then across to Charles who had acres of space and loads of time passing to an attacker instead of missing out the midfield and playing to one of the wingers Ipswich couldn't have scored. The manager is a fucking idiot. What he is trying to do is a nonsense. Sort it or go. It doesn't need a genius just common sense which our genius doesn't seem to have. It is easy to sort the problem just stop the suicidal passing out from the goalkeeper.

A friend of mine who knows Dave and Pauline, lives in Romsey, told me of Pauline's passing the day it happened. It's terribly sad. Although football related I didn't post it out of respect for Dave. RIP Pauline.

There is no defensive structure or discipline. Freewheeling in our own box or nine players in the opponents box doesn't cut it. If RM doesn't want to fix it then he has to go. It's in his hands. The mistakes in themselves are minor but the kamikaze rush to get forward in numbers unhinges us and leaves the wrong players at the back. I'd love to play against us at the moment.

Being stupid not clever,

The simple fact is that after four iffy games we were found out and our weaknesses thoroughly exploited by two teams who played into our weaknesses and murdered us. If we keep doing it, more teams will do the same thing. There are two ways of dealing with it, be more disciplined defensively or change the manager.

RM's Sky interview last night was a car crash almost in denial and oblivious of the stupidity of no defensive organisation especially when in possession. Smallbone's actions when last defender for the fourth goal was naive. Instead of sticking a foot out and letting the player run past him he should have ruthlessly blocked him. So what if he was sent off as already booked. We don't need to change a lot but it seems RM doesn't get it. Firstly iron discipline and ruthless defending at the back. Play the passing game in the opponents half. Secondly both full backs play like defenders and the two centre backs make up a back four plus Shea Charles playing as a defensive pivot in front of the back four. We can then play five attacking midfielders and forwards. No short passing in our final third and certainly none from Bazunu. Play the ball up the lines and channels and play from there. We are at our most vulnerable when we have the ball and lose it. We don't want the left back taking corners, free kicks and throw ins down by the right corner flag. It's all about discipline and forget about freewheeling off the cuff showboating with no shape.

Sounds like a decent bloke, a bit different from the normal run of the mill managers. Now that the transfer window is shut and his squad is complete following the 5-0 hammering, there is the necessity to combine a mean defence with his football attacking ideals if we are to realise everybody's ambitions. I think it is time to buckle up and see how it turns out.

Some of the conjecture and claims about this defence and that goalkeeper have gone beyond utter stupidity. It is what it is. A team in transition, a manager who was an ex defender that doesn't seem to grasp that defenders have to defend not indulge in increasing possession statistics and kamikaze attacking. The consequences are a young goalkeeper exposed to easy goalscoring opportunities and a number of critics pushing their obsessive agenda.

It appears to me nearly always, unless full warts and all studies are published in full. I will go so far to say that I have never ever seen an argument made with statistics that wasn't selective picking a few from many. I've heard it said that statistics can be used to prove or alternatively using the same set of statistics to disprove whatever the author chooses to focus on. That is why I always look at the big picture.

There is a saying, "Lies, Damned Lies and Statistics". This is a phrase describing the persuasive power of statistics to bolster weak arguments. One of the best and best known critiques of applied statistics. It is also sometimes colloquially used to doubt statistics used to prove an opponent's point. People using statistics seem to cherry pick the most convenient statistics whilst ignoring other statistics that are available that cast doubt on their arguments. I personally favour the big picture approach over the devil is in the detail.

I get the anxiety about passing out from the back which is in my mind different from passing it around at the back. We need the midfield and wide players to be more aware and more available. Attracting a press into our own penalty area isn't smart. Furthermore there ought to be a irregular double bluff element where the goalkeeper immediately on possession hits it long into the corners with the forwards pressing the ball. Far worse for me was the first goal, 9 players in the opponents penalty area and Edozie the only covering player!!! We then were in disarray, outnumbered on Sunderland's break. The lack of discipline and an organised framework so that a break can be blocked is more worrying. It also displayed an arrogance and complacency on the part of the whole team. Playing off the cuff is great but only if there is a strict organised defensive framework behind if and once it breaks down. It seems to me the only jobs the full backs think they have is to get up the lines or invert into a narrow midfield exposing our wings to undefended attacks and overloading on the other side. That has to stop. Defenders first and foremost are defenders not freelance walkabout, self indulgent undisciplined liabilities.

In a nutshell we lack basic discipline. Full backs who play like out of work Kamekazi pilots. Saturday was an ideal example, 9 players in Sunderland's penalty area leaving Edozie as the only defender. A serious team would not have done this. If the players can't think for themselves the the management need to hammer the importance of organisation and discipline. If we are sending the centre backs up for corners we need to have a screen across the field to defend a break. We don't need 9 men up for corners, nor do we need the left back taking right wing corners, sheer stupidity. Logically we should be able to score twice nearly every game. From that I deduce the most important thing to do is block the opposition. KWP and Manning don't need to lose the ball by the corner flag, they don't even need to be there that's the job of the wingers. It is ludicrous for KWP to pass short to the winger then overlap. Give the through ball or give the winger the ball in front so that they can take on the defender. If Sulemana plays he could leave KWP standing so stay out of his space. Full backs are defenders. If the centre backs are up both full backs and two midfield players should be the defensive screen. One job take out the breaking player as far up the field as possible. Forget this inverted full back idea as it opens the door down our flanks. Not sophisticated, I'll tell you what's not sophisticated 68% possession and lucky to lose 5-0.