Saints v Sheff Utd - Wednesday 1945

[Osvaldorama]

28 minutes ago, Sheaf Saint said:

Yep. If you take out that purple patch in November and extrapolate our PPG from the runs of games either side of it, we would currently be sitting on about 21 points, with only the basket case of Wednesday keeping us off bottom.

That’s absolutely fucking abysmal tbh. 
 

Generally I don’t like fans getting on players backs, as it doesn’t really help.

But this group actually aren’t fit to wear the shirt and I’m glad the fans let them know this weekend. 
 

[Saint_clark]

1 hour ago, Gloucester Saint said:

We’d be several points adrift with only Sheff Weds below us by now. Appreciate that the current form is where we’d have landed anyway and relegation looks very likely still without appointing a manager whose balls and voice have dropped. But it wasn’t for that string of victories in November, we’d have been nailed on to join the Owls in L1. 

You literally have no idea how we would be doing now if we'd kept Still. None of us do. I'm willing to bet though that had we kept working on it, we'd have improved steadily and been in a better position than we are now - lest we forget that there were many games where we cut through teams and created dozens of chances but were let down by poor finishing. Then first game after he'd gone, we played shite, created two chances and scored them both. Go figure. 

[Osvaldorama]

1 minute ago, Saint_clark said:

You literally have no idea how we would be doing now if we'd kept Still. None of us do. I'm willing to bet though that had we kept working on it, we'd have improved steadily and been in a better position than we are now - lest we forget that there were many games where we cut through teams and created dozens of chances but were let down by poor finishing. Then first game after he'd gone, we played shite, created two chances and scored them both. Go figure. 

Nah.. not having that. He was horrendous. He’s a big part of the reason we are still this bad. We’d probably be in the relegation zone without the new manager bounce. 
 

Complete lack of fitness and patterns of play. Baffling subs too.  

[saintant]

Just now, Saint_clark said:

You literally have no idea how we would be doing now if we'd kept Still. None of us do. I'm willing to bet though that had we kept working on it, we'd have improved steadily and been in a better position than we are now - lest we forget that there were many games where we cut through teams and created dozens of chances but were let down by poor finishing. Then first game after he'd gone, we played shite, created two chances and scored them both. Go figure. 

I would probably agree with you on two conditions;

1) the players respected him and fought tooth and nail for him.

2) there was no influence from within the club and he was allowed to get on and put his own ideas into practice.

[Gloucester Saint]

25 minutes ago, Saint_clark said:

You literally have no idea how we would be doing now if we'd kept Still. None of us do. I'm willing to bet though that had we kept working on it, we'd have improved steadily and been in a better position than we are now - lest we forget that there were many games where we cut through teams and created dozens of chances but were let down by poor finishing. Then first game after he'd gone, we played shite, created two chances and scored them both. Go figure. 

As @saintant posted above, any improvement would have been contingent on the senior players putting some effort (only Scienza was, and Fellows wasn’t even getting a game). Given AA practically admitted that they didn’t for Will afterwards, I’m not convinced.

We were creating a lot more chances but missing them but also conceding horrifically eg Hull away, which has only re-appeared at Boro onwards. He did at least drop Baz and Jack which probably was fuel for more stabbing in the back from the dressing room and Staplewood.

He was still wedded to the same formation and we just went longer without a midfield. Even the wins like Wrexham were a 5 minute purple patch with us very patchy through the other 85. That game could have been 5-5, we had no pattern as a newly relegated side v a newly promoted one.

I liked what he said and clearly capable of independent thought unlike Tonda-bot. But it rarely translated onto the pitch and in our job our size you have to manage or dispatch Martin’s lovers, the rest of the players, the press and upwards with SR. Very challenging and needs a more experienced head who will call Rasmus, Spors and Martin’s core out on poor and slow performance, on the pitch, and in bringing in the much-needed strong and quick spine through the squad. Neither Still nor Tonda have the body of experience to help them deliver that.

 

Edited 1 hour ago by Gloucester Saint

[Sheaf Saint]

1 hour ago, Saint_clark said:

You literally have no idea how we would be doing now if we'd kept Still. None of us do. I'm willing to bet though that had we kept working on it, we'd have improved steadily and been in a better position than we are now - lest we forget that there were many games where we cut through teams and created dozens of chances but were let down by poor finishing. Then first game after he'd gone, we played shite, created two chances and scored them both. Go figure. 

I completely disagree. We were going backwards under Still and getting steadily worse, not better. That Blackburn game in particular was without doubt the single worst team performance I've ever watched us attempt. Nobody had the slightest fucking clue what they were supposed to be doing that day. I've seen Sunday league teams still pissed from the night before play with better organisation.

As poor as we have been recently, we're still nowhere near that level of utter shitness yet. We at least look a little more organised now than then. The problem is we're still coughing up easy chances game after game because of individual errors, and we've forgotten where the net is at the other end.

BTW - this is in no way an endorsement of Tonda. I still firmly believe he was a fucking terrible appointment and should never even have been considered, let alone given the job.

[derry]

I see we've employed another bloody analyst. Does nobody believe their eyes any more. What's wrong with us. Simply too much possession, the God of Stupidity. Most of that inflated possession is short passing in our own half. All that does is buy the opposition the time to form their defence, get plenty of players back and have enough bodies to block the bulk of our efforts. Every match its the same. Manning on Saturday made the most decisive pass of his season a perfect through ball to McBurnie for Hull's first goal.

Our defenders stand in their zones and although we outnumber the forwards we are cut apart time after time because nobody is attacking the ball whether on the ground or crosses, Wood trying to grapple an opponent who just jumps and heads the ball in. Too many centre backs, nobody taking responsibility. Full backs who play like wingers don't defend and leave acres of space behind them. Three centre backs who haven't a clue about playing together or attacking crosses. Yet the analytics tell a different story, loads of chances created etc. The analytics bring in Downs etc, Ekhert quotes them as if we were too good to lose, Total Bollocks. 

The best football, is maximum effort, high tempo, constant pressure, quick breaks. We are the opposite and getting the results our play is deserving.