| Biggest mistake this season? 07:31 - Feb 26 with 8431 views | Dubtractor |
For me I think failing to get a target man in the summer and making do with an unfit Keane as he was available..
Lambert was clearly after a target man, Elliot from Millwall was even in the door, and lacking that physical, direct option up front has cost us.
We are so easy to defend against when a team keeps their shape. We can't pass through teams, and every time we play a quick direct ball the opposition easily mop it up.
This isn't really meant as a dig at Keane, though I'm not a fan, more that he was the wrong player for what we needed.
[Post edited 26 Feb 2020 7:34]
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| Biggest mistake this season? on 10:00 - Feb 26 with 2696 views | Bluefish |
| Biggest mistake this season? on 09:54 - Feb 26 by itfcjoe |
Doing your transfer business to set the squad up to play 433/4231 and then basically playing 442 or 352 all season.
We had 2 strikers fit for the first 3 months of the season, and 3 senior CBs in the squad until january - that we've ended up playing shapes that don't fit th squad is beyond me.
Recruitment looked decent on paper (and still is) but it's not been matched by what we've tried to stick out on the pitch. |
Which part of the recruitment makes you think it was aimed at 433? All of our strikers have to play in a 2. Judge has to play centrally behind 2 strikers so none of that fits 433 [Post edited 26 Feb 2020 10:00]
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| Biggest mistake this season? on 10:05 - Feb 26 with 2672 views | itfcjoe |
| Biggest mistake this season? on 10:00 - Feb 26 by Bluefish |
Which part of the recruitment makes you think it was aimed at 433? All of our strikers have to play in a 2. Judge has to play centrally behind 2 strikers so none of that fits 433 [Post edited 26 Feb 2020 10:00]
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So Judge can't fit in a 4231? And he played on one of the flanks a lot for us in a 433 last season.
No part of our recruitment was set up for 2 up front, Norwood scored 30 goals playing in a 4231 last season
No part of our recruitment was set up for 3 at the back |  |
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| Biggest mistake this season? on 10:11 - Feb 26 with 2657 views | RobTheMonk |
The dropping of Holy was an odd one. If I recall correctly, he was dropped the game after making a ridiculous penalty save and if anything, seemed to be, no pun intended, growing into the role. And then he gets dropped, Norris comes in and makes about 7-8 errors that lead to goals. [Post edited 26 Feb 2020 10:19]
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| Biggest mistake this season? on 10:11 - Feb 26 with 2655 views | PrideOfTheEast |
| Biggest mistake this season? on 10:05 - Feb 26 by itfcjoe |
So Judge can't fit in a 4231? And he played on one of the flanks a lot for us in a 433 last season.
No part of our recruitment was set up for 2 up front, Norwood scored 30 goals playing in a 4231 last season
No part of our recruitment was set up for 3 at the back |
This is it.
Lambert wanted to play 4231. How many times have we played that? Which game was it that Judge excelled in during pre-season? Basically that was pretty much the position he wanted Judge to be in, and how he wanted the team to play. |  | | |
| Biggest mistake this season? on 10:12 - Feb 26 with 2647 views | Bluefish |
| Biggest mistake this season? on 10:05 - Feb 26 by itfcjoe |
So Judge can't fit in a 4231? And he played on one of the flanks a lot for us in a 433 last season.
No part of our recruitment was set up for 2 up front, Norwood scored 30 goals playing in a 4231 last season
No part of our recruitment was set up for 3 at the back |
It could be said that KVY and Garbutt were perfectly set up for 3 at the back. Also Keane as it means playing with a 2 and Judge as it means 1 in the hole
Norwood likes to wander as does Keane and Jackson cant hold the ball up (not bought this season) so as much as Norwood has played there at lower level he isn't really suited to it especially when the rest of the team is so deep | |
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| Biggest mistake this season? on 10:13 - Feb 26 with 2647 views | tractorshark |
Agree about a target man. Keane is not that man and we could have signed more effective players.
Rotherham have shown you can bully defences in this division with a physical presence up front.
However, most fans at the start of the season were clamouring for prettier football without lumping it long. Going back to a ‘Murphy’ is almost an admission that Mick knew what he was doing!!!
As I said on another thread, good footballers cost good money. That’s our problem at the moment.
Evans doesn’t want to spend but the fans want the beautiful game. It’s difficult to deliver on a shoestring. And our players, including some of our youngsters, are nowhere near as good as many on here think.
I know Mick’s Plan A was attritional but, as the thread suggests, it would have been nice to have the option as a Plan B this season. | | | |
| Biggest mistake this season? on 10:15 - Feb 26 with 2642 views | BlueBadger |
| Biggest mistake this season? on 10:11 - Feb 26 by RobTheMonk |
The dropping of Holy was an odd one. If I recall correctly, he was dropped the game after making a ridiculous penalty save and if anything, seemed to be, no pun intended, growing into the role. And then he gets dropped, Norris comes in and makes about 7-8 errors that lead to goals. [Post edited 26 Feb 2020 10:19]
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I suspect that part of Norris' loan agreement was that he had to play a certain number of games. Lambert in his hubris decided that the 'Lambingo' period would be the ideal time to do that, rather than use cup games to do it is my guess.
Emphasis on the final word there. [Post edited 26 Feb 2020 10:15]
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| Biggest mistake this season? on 10:17 - Feb 26 with 2630 views | NthQldITFC |
Biggest mistake? This season! |  |
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| Biggest mistake this season? on 10:34 - Feb 26 with 2616 views | urbanblue |
By no means the biggest mistake (They've all been covered in this thread) but it does look like we rushed KYV and indeed Norwood back after Ops far too soon. With both then needing further surgery it would seem like the club were taking short cuts with their fitness. If it had been done properly in the first place and KYV in particular, hadn't been rushed back he could be playing now.
Also minor but a factor is that I think it was disruptive dropping Holy for Norris. It started to go a bit pear shaped about the same time. |  | | |
| Biggest mistake this season? on 10:35 - Feb 26 with 2606 views | SouperJim |
| Biggest mistake this season? on 10:13 - Feb 26 by tractorshark |
Agree about a target man. Keane is not that man and we could have signed more effective players.
Rotherham have shown you can bully defences in this division with a physical presence up front.
However, most fans at the start of the season were clamouring for prettier football without lumping it long. Going back to a ‘Murphy’ is almost an admission that Mick knew what he was doing!!!
As I said on another thread, good footballers cost good money. That’s our problem at the moment.
Evans doesn’t want to spend but the fans want the beautiful game. It’s difficult to deliver on a shoestring. And our players, including some of our youngsters, are nowhere near as good as many on here think.
I know Mick’s Plan A was attritional but, as the thread suggests, it would have been nice to have the option as a Plan B this season. |
Worth remembering that Murphy scored 67 goals for us and is our top goal scorer of the last 20 years by some distance.
It's possible to mix it up a little while still playing decent football, having an effective physical presence upfront does not mean you have to resort to all out hoofball and Murphy did most of his bullying for us with the ball on the floor. With that said, having someone who can receive a longer ball gives you an outlet when the other team work hard to shut you down. Most of the top teams play more than one way and it's almost impossible to only play one way and not get found out. |  |
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| Biggest mistake this season? on 10:38 - Feb 26 with 2600 views | Sikamikanico |
I think Lambert as a whole is the biggest mistake this season.
- Could not decide on a formation or ethos for how the team should play
- Rotated the squad in the league more than a rotisserie chicken moaning about the number of games we were playing.
- Managed to wangle a new contract at a point in the season where form was terrible.
- Signed Norris on what must have been an agreement with a set number of league appearances when he clearly isn't good enough.
- Moans about how young our squad is (when compared to others it really isn't)
-Persisted when Nsiala when he was clearly shot of confidence. | | | |
| Biggest mistake this season? on 10:41 - Feb 26 with 2584 views | BlueBadger |
| Biggest mistake this season? on 10:38 - Feb 26 by Sikamikanico |
I think Lambert as a whole is the biggest mistake this season.
- Could not decide on a formation or ethos for how the team should play
- Rotated the squad in the league more than a rotisserie chicken moaning about the number of games we were playing.
- Managed to wangle a new contract at a point in the season where form was terrible.
- Signed Norris on what must have been an agreement with a set number of league appearances when he clearly isn't good enough.
- Moans about how young our squad is (when compared to others it really isn't)
-Persisted when Nsiala when he was clearly shot of confidence. |
A confident Nsiala is rubbish too, so persisting iwth him full stop. | |
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| Biggest mistake this season? on 10:43 - Feb 26 with 2573 views | Sikamikanico |
| Biggest mistake this season? on 10:41 - Feb 26 by BlueBadger |
A confident Nsiala is rubbish too, so persisting iwth him full stop. |
While I agree, there must have been something about him in the Shrewsbury playoff season | | | |
| Biggest mistake this season? on 10:43 - Feb 26 with 2568 views | BlueBadger |
| Biggest mistake this season? on 10:34 - Feb 26 by urbanblue |
By no means the biggest mistake (They've all been covered in this thread) but it does look like we rushed KYV and indeed Norwood back after Ops far too soon. With both then needing further surgery it would seem like the club were taking short cuts with their fitness. If it had been done properly in the first place and KYV in particular, hadn't been rushed back he could be playing now.
Also minor but a factor is that I think it was disruptive dropping Holy for Norris. It started to go a bit pear shaped about the same time. |
Our post-injury rehab practices seem to have been an issue for several years now - think how many good players we've lost to long-term injury who've broken down again very soon after returning. | |
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| Biggest mistake this season? on 11:15 - Feb 26 with 2546 views | itfcjoe |
| Biggest mistake this season? on 10:12 - Feb 26 by Bluefish |
It could be said that KVY and Garbutt were perfectly set up for 3 at the back. Also Keane as it means playing with a 2 and Judge as it means 1 in the hole
Norwood likes to wander as does Keane and Jackson cant hold the ball up (not bought this season) so as much as Norwood has played there at lower level he isn't really suited to it especially when the rest of the team is so deep |
Keane was often used as a 10 last year behind Quaner when we played 4231
We haven’t seen Norwood on his own, so whilst he may ‘like to wander’ his form last year, which he was signed off the back of shows he can play as a lone striker | |
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| Biggest mistake this season? on 11:19 - Feb 26 with 2535 views | Sikamikanico |
| Biggest mistake this season? on 11:15 - Feb 26 by itfcjoe |
Keane was often used as a 10 last year behind Quaner when we played 4231
We haven’t seen Norwood on his own, so whilst he may ‘like to wander’ his form last year, which he was signed off the back of shows he can play as a lone striker |
A friend of mine who sits in the lower co-op stand reckons Norwood is struggling to cope with the larger crowds we get at PR compared to his previous clubs | | | |
| Biggest mistake this season? on 11:22 - Feb 26 with 2527 views | Bluefish |
| Biggest mistake this season? on 11:15 - Feb 26 by itfcjoe |
Keane was often used as a 10 last year behind Quaner when we played 4231
We haven’t seen Norwood on his own, so whilst he may ‘like to wander’ his form last year, which he was signed off the back of shows he can play as a lone striker |
That is where I think Keane is best. Despite his height he is not a target man. He is similar to McGoldrick in that he needs to be able to roam centrally. We have no one to play wide of him, apart from Sears and he isn't in the team due to form and fitness. Jackson or Edwards wont give you sufficient cover and won't link the play well enough | |
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| Biggest mistake this season? on 11:22 - Feb 26 with 2527 views | WarkTheWarkITFC |
| Biggest mistake this season? on 11:19 - Feb 26 by Sikamikanico |
A friend of mine who sits in the lower co-op stand reckons Norwood is struggling to cope with the larger crowds we get at PR compared to his previous clubs |
Well he should be back to his prolific best then next season when crowds drop much closer to Tranmere's! | |
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| Biggest mistake this season? on 11:32 - Feb 26 with 2509 views | LankHenners |
The attempted signing of Elliot is an underrated funny moment of the 'banter era'. Spend the whole summer trying to work a deal for him, push ahead with it despite him being injured, look close to completion then decide he's too injured to sign after all, run out of time to do any other business, end up signing an unfit Will Keane who's a different type of striker.
In answer to the OP, the contract to Lambert will end up being the biggest mistake as despite what should be obvious he'll be here for next season at least and will see us become, at best, nearly men every year without ever pushing through. |  |
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| Biggest mistake this season? on 11:44 - Feb 26 with 2479 views | Guthrum |
| Biggest mistake this season? on 08:10 - Feb 26 by Steve_M |
That. And then the excessive rotation - of formation as much as players - in November and December that turned a minor blip into a crisis. |
The rotation of players in the League can be overstated. The core of the team has been pretty consistently selected, you only have to look at the numbers of matches played by key personnel, most of whom have only been left out of starting lineups through injury, suspension or due to being replaced (e.g. Kenlock, Donacien).
Wholesale changes were mainly confined to the cup games, of which a whole bunch (including replays) came along together at a crucial time.
Which brings me on to a seemingly forgotten point, being a major contributor to the interruption of our winning flow - once again, we were struck by a slew of injuries and suspensions. First Vincent-Young and Downes (occasioning our first loss of the season), then Norwood's struggles with his groin (and loss of form). That was when the rotation-heavy run of cup games arrived, our momentum evaporated and it was shortly thereafter that Lambert seemed to lose the plot tactically. All of which turned a potential minor blip into a serious problem. |  |
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| Biggest mistake this season? on 11:45 - Feb 26 with 2479 views | ITFC_Forever |
| Biggest mistake this season? on 07:53 - Feb 26 by tractorboy1978 |
And even more galling when the perfect player was available in Murphy - he was even put to Lambert in a couple of pre season interviews. |
The Murphy thing was never going to happen because of the drugs ban he got last season.
Although it wasn’t known publicly until well in to the autumn, people in the football industry would have known about it. |  |
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| Biggest mistake this season? on 11:46 - Feb 26 with 2470 views | BlueBadger |
| Biggest mistake this season? on 11:22 - Feb 26 by Bluefish |
That is where I think Keane is best. Despite his height he is not a target man. He is similar to McGoldrick in that he needs to be able to roam centrally. We have no one to play wide of him, apart from Sears and he isn't in the team due to form and fitness. Jackson or Edwards wont give you sufficient cover and won't link the play well enough |
He reminds me a bit of Peter Crouch. A man of mine always used to describe him as 'surprisingly sh1t in the air for a big man'. | |
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| Biggest mistake this season? on 11:49 - Feb 26 with 2463 views | BlueBlood90 |
Giving Lambert a 5 year contract after a long winless run was by far the most idiotic mistake we've made this season.
It was totally undeserved and the amount of money we'd need to pay him off now means he'll be here for as long as he wants to be. |  |
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| Biggest mistake this season? on 11:50 - Feb 26 with 2457 views | Bluefish |
| Biggest mistake this season? on 11:46 - Feb 26 by BlueBadger |
He reminds me a bit of Peter Crouch. A man of mine always used to describe him as 'surprisingly sh1t in the air for a big man'. |
Correct but Crouch could get away with it a bit more. He was still poor in the air though despite him having a record for most headed goals. It was cringeworthy to see england bring him on to ping it at his head while chasing the game. He was also the best volleyer since Sparky. Keane likewise has a beautiful touch.....his control is decent too  | |
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| Biggest mistake this season? on 12:30 - Feb 26 with 2411 views | Ryorry |
| Biggest mistake this season? on 09:30 - Feb 26 by SitfcB |
Not. Signing. Daryl. Murphy. |
The way things are these days, he'd probably have got injured after 23 mins in his first game with something that seemed relatively minor, but which kept him out for the rest of the season anyway :( |  |
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