OK Team. where are we going wrong?

[Seaford Saint]

I am mystified......we should be winning games and instead we are dropping points and yet the 5 nil against Huddersfield who were no mugs was sublime.

 

Instead of just knocking the team or the manager, can anyone pinpoint where on the pitch it is not working?

 

What ideas do you have for why we are inconsistent?

[Saint-scooby]

Tired

[Saint_clark]

No idea about the inconsistency, but tonight we lost because of the awful, awful positioning and marking throughout the entire team.

[Smirking_Saint]

Something that is inconsistant is always hard to understand and fathom.

 

Personally i think Pardew has his work cut out, and i hope it is sorted by the start of next season.

 

I am gutted we are spending another year in this poxy league.

[Winchester_Saint]

My take is simple - it's basically all a mental issue.

 

We have the confidence now which has seen us play exceptionally well recently and saw us start brightly today. Indeed, the 1st half saw us play well and we should have gone in ahead at half time.

 

However, after half time, Swindon played better and our confidence started to lower after we couldn't get that first goal. When Swindon scored, you could sense the frustration in the crowd build. Every loose pass was groaned at, and the players started to get more and more edgy and lose their way. They rushed things and didn't have the confidence to play with the freedom which they have been doing of late.

 

The longer the game went on, the more you could see the players' confidence fall and they tried more in hope than in belief. When we are playing with confidence the players have freedom and the crowd act as a 12th man. When things don't go our way, ie the opposition stop us from playing like tonight (2nd half), we don't keep our cool or our composure and we end up desperately trying in vain and lose all freedom and creativity and end up hoping for the best.

 

Of course, there will always be reasons such as the opposition being better than us, but I don't think Swindon were tonight, as we played well 1st half, then when they put us under pressure after half time we crumbled as we are not used to being bossed. It's almost as thought if we can't play the way we want to play, we end up just hoping we will get a break rather than playing with the freedom and belief which always sees us overpower teams, especially at home. And I'm tired so I'm going to stop writing now...

[Seaford Saint]

I thought our passing was poor tonight and we appeared a;most pedestrian at times. What I can't understand is why this should be when we have played so well against other teams recently. Did we run out of ideas?

[up and away]

I am mystified......we should be winning games and instead we are dropping points and yet the 5 nil against Huddersfield who were no mugs was sublime.

 

Instead of just knocking the team or the manager, can anyone pinpoint where on the pitch it is not working?

 

What ideas do you have for why we are inconsistent?

 

This is down to the manager, uses the same players and system irrespective of games in a week. Pardew likes his 442 and it certainly can work, but for these players only if we maintain a high tempo game from the midfield. Unless we get the goals to put us on top, we will struggle when they match us in midfield and we don't have enough in the tank. Play a more defensive line up such you don't need to expend so much energy in midfield to keep control should help the issue, it's not as if we do not have enough attacking options with 1 less, far more than any other team.

 

Either rotate the players such we can mange two games a week or line up with a more defensive system. It's exactly the same thing that has been happening time and time again. Luckily we have put in some very impressive performances along the way. As well as we have played in some games, I really am surprised Pardew has allowed this to go on for so long. Not quite good enough for automatic promotion as yet.

[Saint_clark]

When Pardew rotated his players he was slated on here.

Personally I think Seaborne should have started rather than Jaidi.

[BadgerBadger]

Out maneuvered tonight - thats football, happens everywhere, all over the world

[dune]

We were going wrong between november and feb, but we have improved and we are competing in games and should have won evry game we've played in the last month. we deserved to win them, but you always get what you deserve and have go that extra mile to make sure - thats what makes a champion and with the large and good squad we've got we should be able to consistently go that extra mill for most games next seaon.

[dune]

edit maybe we didn't deserve to win tonight, but you gotta respect the fact swindon did things right and you have to admire that

[Mattio]

I just watched Plymouth Argyle pretty much outclass Bristol City tonight when they've been shat on all season by every team they've played against. Clearly its just whether the team up up for the game or not.

[Kingsbridge Saint]

**** happens. We need to get more consistency though. It's a mental thing that needs sorting.

[for_heaven's_Saint]

A good start would be to tell the players never to give Jaidi the ball unless absolutely necessary. He seems to think he has the passing Ability of Beckham, when in reality all he does is give the ball away time after time.

[dune]

A good start would be to tell the players never to give Jaidi the ball unless absolutely necessary. He seems to think he has the passing Ability of Beckham' date=' when in reality all he does is give the ball away time after time.[/quote']

 

was he rubbish against hudds and wallsall, or would you say it's an issue of confidence - too much or too little. Or maybe it looks **** because he's playing good balls that aren't anticipated like they would be in a free flowing premiership game. There's a fine line between a great ball and giving it away, but less margin for error with a safe bog standard pass - these may look good possession wise and players like this don't have the critical eye drawn to them easily, but it's the clever balls and a strikers good anticipation that unlock defences when it works. Jaidi is maybe trying to do too much, but maybe he's determined to show what he can do and needs to be encouraged to continue to make balls that fans will hate him for until he gets it right.

[John B]

When Pardew rotated his players he was slated on here.

Personally I think Seaborne should have started rather than Jaidi.

 

I thought that after the match but not before.

 

I think the team he put out was the correct one after the performance on Saturday

[Teddy Nutkins]

There were a number of players last night who were not as good as they normally are, hence we did not keep the ball for too long, which in turn led us to hump it up front.Morgan was the only brave one to put his foot on the ball.Keep it on the green stuff lads ffs.

[Frank's cousin]

Think its also a simple case of relative fitness, some players simply dont perform wen its two in a week and that upsets the balance... Pards needs to use teh squad with more imagination - rest players who need it and play a few on the fringe who are hungry and fighting for a place - same week in week out can breed complacency as well as adding to fatigue...

[positivepete]

This line up can beat anyone at this level, but consistency comes from playing together for an extended period. This line up was put together two months ago, it has played a handful of games. Keep this squad together next season and we will be very consistent.

[broncoboy]

They really lack mental strength and that comes from the manager.

 

When they went one behind their tails went down and it just became hoof ball.

 

They did look tired. Papa had no impact at all for the second match and Ricky looked knackered.

 

We were exposed for pace at the back and even Kelvin couldnt hang on to a ball.

 

It was a **** poor result.

 

This inability to put the ball net is about mental strength too.

 

They really are the soft boys of the division.

 

The gulf between the top two and our position says it all.

 

****e performance and sadly AP will be gone by October having ensured he ****s up the start of next season.

He has no fire in him and neither do his teams

[channonball]

How much of this is down to Schneidelin? It seems when the team is playing well against open teams, he will spray the ball around and look very good. But when we are up against teams content on stifling us &/or combine this with a poor pitch (Brentford/Wycombe) , he doesn't seem to offer any creativity, goals or bite in the middle. I think a quality centre mid is the missing part of the jigsaw right now.

[The9]

I am mystified......we should be winning games and instead we are dropping points and yet the 5 nil against Huddersfield who were no mugs was sublime.

 

Instead of just knocking the team or the manager, can anyone pinpoint where on the pitch it is not working?

 

What ideas do you have for why we are inconsistent?

 

We were good last night, didn't score when we had the chances (somehow) and overall Swindon were better - in fact they were excellent. Simple enough, some other games we've underachieved but yesterday was an even, well-competed game and they got the result.

[Saint Fan CaM]

Reasons for last night were...

 

(a) Swindon were well briefed to put 11 men behind the ball, close us down at every opportunity and wait to hit us on the break. We cannot handle those tactics (same as Tranmere etc) and so resort to hoofball mostly which does not work.

(b) The lads looked tired and the pressure of the games is getting to them.

© Our three play-making players - Schneiderlin, Lallana and Puncheon - all had mares.

(d) We do not have the strength and depth of squad needed. James and Wotton for example would struggle to get into the Swindon side.

(e) We will not win every game in a season because of (a).

[The9]

Reasons for last night were...

 

(a) Swindon were well briefed to put 11 men behind the ball, close us down at every opportunity and wait to hit us on the break. We cannot handle those tactics (same as Tranmere etc) and so resort to hoofball mostly which does not work.

(b) The lads looked tired and the pressure of the games is getting to them.

© Our three play-making players - Schneiderlin, Lallana and Puncheon - all had mares.

(d) We do not have the strength and depth of squad needed. James and Wotton for example would struggle to get into the Swindon side.

(e) We will not win every game in a season because of (a).

 

I'd go for (a) Swindon worked their ar5es off for 90 minutes, passed the ball quickly, well and effectively and always looked like a threat every time they attacked. They didn't put 11 behind the ball, they got players TO the ball quickly, even attackers coming back and catching players in possession from behind.

(b) we were tired from having to work for everything everywhere due to Swindon's pressure

© Puncheon was a level below his recent performances but, none of the others did particularly badly considering they were closed down almost immediately all of the time, we moved the ball well across midfield and created the space for crosses and balls into the box - we played well overall.

(d) James had a 'mare, but you can't tell me Swindon have a stronger squad, they left a bloke on the pitch injured for 5 minutes presumably because they were desperate not to replace him.

(e) And also because you have to be some kind of machine to do that for 46 games.

[The9]

was he rubbish against hudds and wallsall, or would you say it's an issue of confidence - too much or too little. Or maybe it looks **** because he's playing good balls that aren't anticipated like they would be in a free flowing premiership game. There's a fine line between a great ball and giving it away, but less margin for error with a safe bog standard pass - these may look good possession wise and players like this don't have the critical eye drawn to them easily, but it's the clever balls and a strikers good anticipation that unlock defences when it works. Jaidi is maybe trying to do too much, but maybe he's determined to show what he can do and needs to be encouraged to continue to make balls that fans will hate him for until he gets it right.

 

You talk some cobblers. No, Jaidi generally just whacks 50 yard passes in the general vicinity of the opposition's half.

 

It's difficult not to anticipate a 50 yard hoof, sliced through with the outside of the boot or not.

[docker-p]

Last night you can put down to being just one of those games. We had a good first half, although Swindon defended pretty well. No doubt the Swindon dressing room at half time was full of talk about them 'weathering the storm and now it's our turn to play'. We started second half too slowly go caught out and couldn't find a way back.

Games like this happens.

What is more worrying is the Wycombe, Exeter, Tranmere results.

[surrey1saint]

IMO Swindon played like they wanted it more,with a lot more energy.They were 1st to the ball and fought for everything.

Were we tired?

[Wopper]

All down to Alan Pardew whose paid to make the right decisions.

[Kingsland Red]

We lacked a bit of energy last night but like against Pompey, as a compact team we get very stretched by pace.

Without Otsemobor our right side was solid with Thomas defensively, but gave away attacking possession too often and James was , well, his usual self and nowhere near good enough.

We also started lumping balls into the mixer far too early, from about 65 minutes onwards which meant the last half hour was non-percentage stuff.

Last night I also think Punscheon and Hammond had off games.

 

A couple of players in the summer and we'll have a good side next year.

[miserableoldgit]

I thought that they did look tired last night but I also thought (and this is taking nothing away from a very well organised Swindon side) that it was just "A Bad Day at the Office" last night. There were enough goalmouth scrambles (esp. in the first half) that on another day would have seen us 3 - 0 up at halftime. Swindon came out and absolutely slaughtered us for a good 20 mins, but after their goal, the game was played in their half and we just wouldn`t have scored if we had played for another 90mins.

[MerceSaint28]

I really feel the middle of the park has been the problem all season. They are marshmellow soft, especially away from home. Schneiderlin though looks pretty, never gets his foot in and we are often out muscled in the middle of the park.

This division is 46 games long, sometimes you have to win ugly, we can't do this.

The player i called for months ago was Abdou of Millwall. There is a guy who breaks up play, is quick, strong and solidifies the midfield.

 

Wotton's legs are gone and he is out of contract in the summer. Centre mid needs to be addressed. Hammond is neither attacking nor defensive, we need an energetic all action midfielder. Danns would of been great, but i think he will be moving on to QPR along with toung Clyne from Palace.

 

However teams are hitting the wall all over the place, we need to cherry pick early in the summer for once rather than leaving it the usual week before the season starts.

We need to be out of the traps like an olympic sprinter next season for Pardew's sake.

The centre midfiled remains the problem though and i will say contreverisally or not, if someone offered £1.5 mill for Morgan, i know what i would do

[David Strover]

Too many 'bad days at the office' and 'we were unlucky' games now.

 

The current squad is not good enough and partially living on reputation.

[S-Clarke]

I really feel the middle of the park has been the problem all season. They are marshmellow soft, especially away from home. Schneiderlin though looks pretty, never gets his foot in and we are often out muscled in the middle of the park.

This division is 46 games long, sometimes you have to win ugly, we can't do this.

The player i called for months ago was Abdou of Millwall. There is a guy who breaks up play, is quick, strong and solidifies the midfield.

 

Wotton's legs are gone and he is out of contract in the summer. Centre mid needs to be addressed. Hammond is neither attacking nor defensive, we need an energetic all action midfielder. Danns would of been great, but i think he will be moving on to QPR along with toung Clyne from Palace.

 

However teams are hitting the wall all over the place, we need to cherry pick early in the summer for once rather than leaving it the usual week before the season starts.

We need to be out of the traps like an olympic sprinter next season for Pardew's sake.

The centre midfiled remains the problem though and i will say contreverisally or not, if someone offered £1.5 mill for Morgan, i know what i would do

 

Morgan was probably our brightest player last night, the one player that looked alert and was actually trying to win the ball.

 

If we did sell him for a cut-priced fee as you say, you watch us look on in envy as he becomes one of the best midfielders in the premier league. He can potentially become that good.

 

The problem last night stemmed from Hammond, who IMO the jury is out on. I do like him, but recently he has had too many off-days and if i was Pard's i would seriously consider bringing in another midfielder to challenge him for his place.

 

I lost count of the amount of passes he gave away last night, he really had a total shocker.

[alpine_saint]

Morgan was probably our brightest player last night, the one player that looked alert and was actually trying to win the ball.

 

If we did sell him for a cut-priced fee as you say, you watch us look on in envy as he becomes one of the best midfielders in the premier league. He can potentially become that good.

 

The problem last night stemmed from Hammond, who IMO the jury is out on. I do like him, but recently he has had too many off-days and if i was Pard's i would seriously consider bringing in another midfielder to challenge him for his place.

 

I lost count of the amount of passes he gave away last night, he really had a total shocker.

 

The style of player that would do well in the Premiership is not necessarily the style of player that would do well in our more immediate situation - League One.

 

I have been saying all season our midfield is lightweight. Oh, and I was saying it last season too.

[dellgirl]

We all seem to see different games, Morgan gave the ball away twice, ran his socks off all game and was the only one hacking into Swindon..if he went in the summer which I pray he doesn't we would be very much poorer..he really tried last night and nearly scored twice,support him don't knock him, he is just 20.

[rolosfc]

The team looked tired. Having Jaidi and Thomas at the back, neither can make a 5 yard pass, is a bad idea. Rushing the ball forward as soon as we conceded, very naive and exactly why we collapsed against Pompey. If we had stuck to our football we would have broke them down eventually and got at least a point. Delivery into the box was also terrible and I thought Puncheon was very wasteful.

 

Positives, Harding and Morgan had solid games and looked lively, also nice to see Connolly back but why did we persist in playing crap balls into the box instead of actually passing to him?

[southamptonfc]

Swindon played well. You can't win every game.

[S-Clarke]

The style of player that would do well in the Premiership is not necessarily the style of player that would do well in our more immediate situation - League One.

 

I have been saying all season our midfield is lightweight. Oh, and I was saying it last season too.

 

tbh the problem is not having a consistent partner alongside Morgan, people that go to the matches (that isn't a dig at you btw) will recognise that Morgan is much more aggressive this year, it's an area of the game he's worked on and was one of the only players last night to be in the swindon players faces all game, nicking the ball off them.

 

The problem last night was his partner, and has been the case for the other games we've lost and the midfield have gone missing.

 

This isn't a slate-hammond-post or anything, but i just think he needs to either improve his consistency - or be replaced.

[broncoboy]

Swindon played well. You can't win every game.

 

Absolutely true and we dont.

 

We lose to teams we should be able to beat as we win against some of the really good ones.

 

However we are mid table miles off he top and playoffs

 

Surely you cant be happy with that. NC isnt

[southamptonfc]

Hammond has been our best midfielder this season. Our run of bad form coincided with him being injured. He comes back and suddenly we win 3-1 again for the first time in ages. I agree that he has has a couple of bad games - perhaps he is carrying an injury but he is one of the best midfielders you will find in this division, you will struggle to find a better replacement.

[southamptonfc]

Absolutely true and we dont.

 

We lose to teams we should be able to beat as we win against some of the really good ones.

 

However we are mid table miles off he top and playoffs

 

Surely you cant be happy with that. NC isnt

 

6 points off the playoffs without the -10 isn't too bad. Also remember we didn't win for 8 games at the start of the season while Pards got the team together.

 

Yes we should be beating crap teams home and away but sometimes you lose to good teams which Swindon are in this division. We hit the bar and were on top in the first half, we just didn't get the goal. I wouldn't say we need 2 new strikers!

[Whitey Grandad]

We started the first half ok but Cuthbert's injury took the sting out of the game and after half-time Swindon came out took control for a while, which is unacceptable. We persisted too long with the tactics of lumping the ball up to Lambert and looking for flick-ons. Our passing and distribution was sloppy and led directly to their goal. James was woeful and only put in one good cross out of several attempts. Puncheon's corners were poor. Davis was very slow to get the ball out, it almost looked like timewasting.

 

Apart from that, we were ok.

[david in sweden]

I am mystified......we should be winning games and instead we are dropping points and yet the 5 nil against Huddersfield who were no mugs was sublime.

 

Instead of just knocking the team or the manager, can anyone pinpoint where on the pitch it is not working?

 

What ideas do you have for why we are inconsistent?

 

 

I don't know that we are so wrong, really. The team looks good on paper and is more or less unchanged for the last half dozen games, and two of those brought 5 goals a piece. We haven't done so badly, after winning at Norwich (their manager said they had a bad day) and also v. Leeds although a good ref. might have given the "other " goal and a pen, too. (their manager said some of his players - didn't turn up!)

 

It isn't our Divine Right to win every game despite the fact that we want them to. There are lots of factors. There are games where we would have won - had the goal been or foot wider, or the bar had been 6 inches higher.:smt009

You can't legislate for bad refereeing, I wish we could. The Tranmere game was a farce with a penalty given that never should have been, and a better shout for us that got the "victim " Fonte - a booking for diving :mad:

 

Admitted we are rather spoilt playing on such a good surface as SMS, and maybe we should train in the mud at Jacksons Farm in preparation for some of our away fixtures. If you considet taht what we have now is AP mark 2.team. We started with last years leftovers and a few loans, and din't do well in the first ten games...and to start 10 points worse off than everyone else didn't help - did it ?

 

On balance we haven't had a bad season - but it's not over yet. Anyone whose read the history of the 1948/49 season will know that anything is possible and it's not over till the fat referee has blown the final whistle in the last game.

 

I'm a bit disappointed but not down-hearted, there are lost of positives so far this year.

Edited 17 March, 2010 by david in sweden

[Verbal Kint]

The style of player that would do well in the Premiership is not necessarily the style of player that would do well in our more immediate situation - League One.

 

I have been saying all season our midfield is lightweight. Oh, and I was saying it last season too.

 

Morgan isn't the problem though. Once again Hammond was totally anonymous last night. Morgan has really impressed this season mainly because he HAS added a physical side to his game. He does put his foot in and win the ball and he's a great passer. I'm struggling to see what Hammond brings to the team.

 

The last two games i've seen were Tranmere and last night. In both we did nothing but long ball from first minute to last. I hope i've just been unlucky in picking those two games

 

Also, a special mention for Lloyd James. I actually found his cameo last night totally laughable. The saddest thing about it is that AP clearly sees him as an attacking option from full back because he must think he can cross a ball. His crossing all season has been woeful

Edited 17 March, 2010 by Verbal Kint

[Capel Saint]

I don't know that we are so wrong, really. The team looks good on paper and is more or less unchanged for the last half dozen games, and two of those brought 5 goals a piece. We haven't done so badly, after winning at Norwich (their manager said they had a bad day) and also v. Leeds although a good ref. might have given the "other " goal and a pen, too. (their manager said some of his players - didn't turn up!)

 

It isn't our Divine Right to win every game despite the fact that we want them to. There are lots of factors. There are games where we would have won - had the goal been or foot wider, or the bar had been 6 inches higher.:smt009

You can't legislate for bad refereeing, I wish we could. The Tranmere game was a farce with a penalty given that never should have been, and a better shout for us that got the "victim " Fonte - a booking for diving :mad:

 

Admitted we are rather spoilt playing on such a good surface as SMS, and maybe we should train in the mud at Jacksons Farm in preparation for some of our away fixtures. If you considet taht what we have now is AP mark 2.team. We started with last years leftovers and a few loans, and din't do well in the first ten games...and to start 10 points worse off than everyone else didn't help - did it ?

 

On balance we haven't had a bad season - but it's not over yet. Anyone whose read the history of the 1948/49 season will know that anything is possible and it's not over till the fat referee has blown the final whistle in the last game.

 

I'm a bit disappointed but not down-hearted, there are lost of positives so far this year.

 

A nice balanced post Dave. Some of which other posters should take note of!

[doddisalegend]

All down to Alan Pardew whose paid to make the right decisions.

 

So the players take no responsibilty for not doing their job? The manager played our strongest side, no one would have suggested otherwise before the match. His subs all made sense and he had the balls to take the captain of for being ****.

 

No last night was down to to the players on the pitch they couldn't even string simple passes together, hardly tackled and made the wrong passing desicions so many times, most of them could hardly be bothered. Worse the subs weren't any better.

 

We need more midfield options some way of changing things when Hammond or Morgan decide they can't be arsed. When you look at the bench those options aren't there.

[redkeith]

I'm not sure that Hammond and Scheiderlin are a pair, particularly in this league. Both seem to be more effective when they can roam freely, which is difficult without a holding midfeilder behind them.

 

Maybe we need someone in the mould of Kavanagh at Carlisle, lots of experience, good tackler and better all round than Wotton.

 

Other than that we need to work out how to combat teams who put 10 men behind the ball all game. Not always easy. Remember Chelsea away at Barcelona last year, dull as ditchwater to watch, but Barca couldn't find space even with all their stars.

[Sheff Saint]

I have been saying all season our midfield is lightweight. Oh, and I was saying it last season too.

 

Not sure we've had a decent midfield since Jimmy Case was let go!

 

In all seriousness, if we had a team of the last 20 years, what central mid-fielders would make it? Oakley...

 

I wasn't there last night but for me at Tranmere and the games I've seen the midfield is the weak point.

 

I like Morgan and think he has the potential to be a great box to box midfielder. He reads the game superbly but I'm not sure his final ball or tackling is good enough.

 

Hammond is a question mark. I always find it hard to comment on the midfielder who need to keep things ticking over. By definition we shouldn't really notice them. But when you notice the path out of defence to attack isn't as smooth as it should be, that's when there is question marks.

 

For me that's where the biggest question mark is.

 

I know others have knocked the lack of width and, where as i agree to an extent, i think it's ok for this division.

[Clifford Nelson]

Huddersfield and Leeds were days when the team was on top of their form and when the individual efforts collectively makes our average playing of the 4-4-2 formation work.

 

Exeter, Tranmere and Swindon were days when the top form failed to arrive. That happens to all of us and to all teams, but you must have a plan for how to deal with those days, and we haven't. Instead we keep on doing what works on good days, time and time again, which makes us look a bit like nanas. Not an edifying spectacle at all.

 

This is the simple result of the pragmatism in the english game. Full of ideas of commitment, hard work, graft, playing for the shirt, but no application towards the strategic planning of how to play the game. It doesn't make us worse than anybody else, but it doesn't make us better either.

[West End Saint]

I'd go for (a) Swindon worked their ar5es off for 90 minutes, passed the ball quickly, well and effectively and always looked like a threat every time they attacked. They didn't put 11 behind the ball, they got players TO the ball quickly, even attackers coming back and catching players in possession from behind.

(b) we were tired from having to work for everything everywhere due to Swindon's pressure

© Puncheon was a level below his recent performances but, none of the others did particularly badly considering they were closed down almost immediately all of the time, we moved the ball well across midfield and created the space for crosses and balls into the box - we played well overall.

(d) James had a 'mare, but you can't tell me Swindon have a stronger squad, they left a bloke on the pitch injured for 5 minutes presumably because they were desperate not to replace him.

(e) And also because you have to be some kind of machine to do that for 46 games.

 

I would agree with you I think you have to give Swindon a lot of credit they came with a game plan stuck to it and played well when they had the ball I think they came for a point and got a little lucky

 

We were not as bad as some have made out hit the post and the bar goalline clearance fantastic save from the header and Ricky was unlucky with the free kick but they had chances as well I think a draw would have been a much fairer result.