| Not very clever at all 21:47 - Aug 17 with 3969 views | SomethingBlue |
That last 40 minutes was diabolical — on a par with the worst stuff at the tail end of last season. We had no idea how to reverse the tide and were thoroughly outplayed. Edwards the one and only bright spot.
I'm sure things will get better, that's obvious logic given the turnaround of the squad. But they now have to improve very quickly. The bare facts read that we have played Morecambe, Newport, Burton and Cheltenham this season, and scraped a single draw in the 92nd minute. No way to dress it up — it's a concern and Cook has to sort it sharply because we cannot waste this season or let the club lose momentum. |  |
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| Not very clever at all on 22:02 - Aug 17 with 1139 views | LankHenners |
Yeah was pretty stunned in a way how much we reverted to the scenes of the end of last season. Everything went very timid and Cheltenham realised they just had to be a bit more in our face and they could get something.
Cook’s subs were both too reactive and too weird. Needed 1 or 2 comfortable to have the ball and use it in tight spaces to come on as Cheltenham were putting 3 players on Edwards at times as he was the only one looking likely to change things on our favour.
Harper and Evans very tidy though we’re missing a prime Cole Skuse type in midfield to disrupt things and stop the other teams’ momentum. Amplifies the sorry end to the Downes situation.
As you say this first month is almost as comfy a start as you could feasibly expect the fixture list to throw up and really not good that we’re going into what would already be the trickiest fixture in such poor form.
We’re failing at both ends at the moment - Cook can’t work out how best to use his attacking options (Fraser shoved out of his natural number 10 role certainly doesn’t seem to be it) and we’re being undone by moments of sloppiness or poor concentration at the back.
It surely has to get better and there’s clear evidence we have some talented players but this is starting to get a bit worrying. |  |
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| Not very clever at all on 22:02 - Aug 17 with 1137 views | DavoIPB |
We have a problem,
our players were so much better than theirs, we ran through them in the first half. Still only created a couple of clear cut chances though. Then they changed tactics second half. We didn't respond. Not a clue how to cope, how to control the game, how to get passing forward again. What a joke.
Cheltenham looked like a league two side in the first half because we took control of the game. Second half we were tactically lacking in any ideas. What were the substitutions all about? Where is the person who can get the best out of these players.
Can't work out what Cooks tactics are. We seem to revert from slow languid passing to suddenly hoofing the ball forward with a 50/50 chance of winning it. We did that under Lambert only it was chambers hoofing the ball forward.
First half we were actually very good but you then have to be tactically astute to continue the momentum and we weren't.
Sorry not convinced of Paul Cook and now we have had such a bad start to the season that you can see the players head have dropped. Any momentum has been lost and it's going to be hard graft from here on in. Recogn this year we might just survive the league but its going to be 15th 16th place. We just played the worst team in the league and looked second best in the second half. | | | |
| Not very clever at all on 22:03 - Aug 17 with 1141 views | SomethingBlue |
| Not very clever at all on 21:59 - Aug 17 by Suffolktractor |
End of first half and all through the second, Cheltenham hassled and harried and made life difficult for us. We had no answer. For all our supposed quality, if you are not given space or time we are not good enough.
Second half we looked exactly like last season. No fight, no guile and no idea how to take the sting out of the opposition, who had one tactic and played it really well.
All the teams who play us this season will be up for the challenge against the supposed ‘big boys’, on tonight’s showing our team have as much bottle as last seasons. Cook has a lot to do, let’s hope we see some fight as well as the undoubted quality we have got.
No one will let us play pretty football, let’s get used to it. |
Yep, second to everything. Yes they scored from long throws but they earned them in the first place, and to be honest outplayed us in all areas from 55 onwards. Not good. | |
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| Not very clever at all on 22:04 - Aug 17 with 1128 views | WestStanderLaLaLa |
Add up the budget of those 4 teams and it’s a fraction of ours. |  |
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| Not very clever at all on 22:07 - Aug 17 with 1095 views | Dyland |
| Not very clever at all on 22:01 - Aug 17 by Funge |
No doubt - but Dyllers, honestly, and at risk of sounding like the entitled middle-class pr1ck that we all know I am - we really shouldn't be talking about 'moments' against Morecambe and fcking Cheltenham.
all respect due etc etc |
Well yes... one point against Morecambe, Burton and Cheltenham... think on it innit? FFS.
It's sh1te reading. To Fishers's dead horse comment, you cant give any more free hits. And our owners won't. Cook needs to own this and get results far quicker than I would be saying is reasonable. I don't see any absurd selections, but not sure the septics will even let it go to October. We shall see. And tbf, if we do a Hurst or Keane then quite right to let the axe fall which Evans never did cos he was such a useless twonk.
No dressing this up as anything other than sh1te, and no reason to think Cook can't still make it click. The credit aint there though is it. Saturday at home isn't a must win but it's a must perform.
COYFB |  |
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| Not very clever at all on 22:09 - Aug 17 with 1073 views | jayessess |
I'm withholding proper judgement on the manager until we're 10 games in - 3 is still a small sample size, maybe we'll work out what we're doing with these players soon, but...
At the moment we don't look like we have a clear idea how to progress the ball consistently up the pitch. It's going side to side, out to the full backs, back inside again, before eventually just going over the top. It's giving even very limited teams chance after chance at gaining good quality possession. There's sod all pressing going on too.
Not sure what we're trying to achieve when we do get good attacking possession either. It goes from side to side, we turn down crossing opportunities, we turn down through ball opportunities, we dwell on it until it breaks down.
I can't imagine either of these are how we're trying to play, but equally I'm not sure if there's one player that suddenly unlocks either problem. |  |
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| Not very clever at all on 22:09 - Aug 17 with 1071 views | gazzer1999 |
| Not very clever at all on 21:57 - Aug 17 by chicoazul |
Sooooo….if they aren’t bad players, why are they playing badly? |
Well I had never heard of any of them until they signed so don't know if they were good or bad players but I know what they are now. |  | | |
| Not very clever at all on 22:10 - Aug 17 with 1076 views | SomethingBlue |
| Not very clever at all on 22:07 - Aug 17 by Dyland |
Well yes... one point against Morecambe, Burton and Cheltenham... think on it innit? FFS.
It's sh1te reading. To Fishers's dead horse comment, you cant give any more free hits. And our owners won't. Cook needs to own this and get results far quicker than I would be saying is reasonable. I don't see any absurd selections, but not sure the septics will even let it go to October. We shall see. And tbf, if we do a Hurst or Keane then quite right to let the axe fall which Evans never did cos he was such a useless twonk.
No dressing this up as anything other than sh1te, and no reason to think Cook can't still make it click. The credit aint there though is it. Saturday at home isn't a must win but it's a must perform.
COYFB |
Everything about ITFC — and I mean almost everything — is now geared up to the Championship. The strides behind the scenes in the past four months have been extraordinary. Let's see if the first-team management is up to that standard. | |
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| Not very clever at all on 22:10 - Aug 17 with 1069 views | portmanking |
I don't like the balance of the team one bit. Donacien is never a right back for me. Penney is neat and tidy but vulnerably aerially. Harper and Evans are too similar and don't show enough appetite to play through the lines to feed the likes of Fraser and Edwards.
Pigott is having to do all his work in the channels and outside the box. Fraser is marooned on the flank with little support.
In my humble opinion, the one thing we needed was to recruit the defenders we wanted MUCH sooner. A settled back 4 and keeper is the cornerstone of any top 2 side. This could take months to get right, but do we have that luxury? | | | |
| Not very clever at all on 22:10 - Aug 17 with 1066 views | Herbivore |
| Not very clever at all on 21:57 - Aug 17 by Funge |
1 point from 2 games against relegation favourites (and very nearly none)
Woeful scenes.
Such a kind start, and we've p1ssed it away. |
This is it really. We all knew it would take a bit of time to hit our stride but thankfully the fixture list handed us a couple of kind fixtures early doors so that we should have been able to still make a decent start. Here we are with one point from three games, leaking goals and not really crating a lot. It's been far from good enough. |  |
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| Not very clever at all on 22:12 - Aug 17 with 1042 views | Dyland |
| Not very clever at all on 22:10 - Aug 17 by SomethingBlue |
Everything about ITFC — and I mean almost everything — is now geared up to the Championship. The strides behind the scenes in the past four months have been extraordinary. Let's see if the first-team management is up to that standard. |
They won't have too much longer to prove themselves will they.
Good.
Makes a pleasant change just thinking that... which doesn't make me feel dirty, though I feel I should. | |
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| Not very clever at all on 22:17 - Aug 17 with 979 views | Ryorry |
| Not very clever at all on 21:59 - Aug 17 by Suffolktractor |
End of first half and all through the second, Cheltenham hassled and harried and made life difficult for us. We had no answer. For all our supposed quality, if you are not given space or time we are not good enough.
Second half we looked exactly like last season. No fight, no guile and no idea how to take the sting out of the opposition, who had one tactic and played it really well.
All the teams who play us this season will be up for the challenge against the supposed ‘big boys’, on tonight’s showing our team have as much bottle as last seasons. Cook has a lot to do, let’s hope we see some fight as well as the undoubted quality we have got.
No one will let us play pretty football, let’s get used to it. |
Quite. I think some people just aren't allowing for the fact that in the lower leagues you have to play other sides at their own game, and that often means ugly muscling, well-rehearsed set pieces, breaking down sides who've parked the bus etc.
Am also disliking the amount of "only Cheltenham" "only Morecombe" etc on here tonight. If they've set themselves up well enough to play cohesively as *teams* & get the points, we've no right to feel "entitled". |  |
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| Not very clever at all on 22:17 - Aug 17 with 977 views | olimar |
| Not very clever at all on 21:53 - Aug 17 by SomethingBlue |
At least these are genuinely good players, I'd say. But then that should make it easier to get them firing. The clock will start ticking if we see too much more of this — we simply haven't got time. |
Was saying the same after Saturday re: quality of players- yes, it takes time to get things working, but Cook has had a hand picked squad of players for the specific jobs he needs doing, many of which have been the outstanding performers in their specific roles in L1 and many of them have even done those roles in Paul Cook sides.
So, whilst it will take time, it shouldnt take as MUCH time as manangers at other clubs might need. Thats why we are spending so much money, to try and shortcut that wait. | | | |
| Not very clever at all on 22:20 - Aug 17 with 952 views | Dyland |
| Not very clever at all on 22:10 - Aug 17 by portmanking |
I don't like the balance of the team one bit. Donacien is never a right back for me. Penney is neat and tidy but vulnerably aerially. Harper and Evans are too similar and don't show enough appetite to play through the lines to feed the likes of Fraser and Edwards.
Pigott is having to do all his work in the channels and outside the box. Fraser is marooned on the flank with little support.
In my humble opinion, the one thing we needed was to recruit the defenders we wanted MUCH sooner. A settled back 4 and keeper is the cornerstone of any top 2 side. This could take months to get right, but do we have that luxury? |
I think that's spot on.
KVY off the pace though, so changes made. Coulson still not ready? They are the two choice fullbacks yeh?
It's a new squad. Hardly surprising really, but it's already getting frustrating isn't it.
We'll be fine. There I said it :) | |
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| Not very clever at all on 22:23 - Aug 17 with 916 views | portmanking |
| Not very clever at all on 22:20 - Aug 17 by Dyland |
I think that's spot on.
KVY off the pace though, so changes made. Coulson still not ready? They are the two choice fullbacks yeh?
It's a new squad. Hardly surprising really, but it's already getting frustrating isn't it.
We'll be fine. There I said it :) |
A glaring lack of fitness throughout too. We've been blowing out our backsides during the last 20 mins in each game so far. Added to that, a growing injury list and it's only halfway through August. | | | |
| Not very clever at all on 22:27 - Aug 17 with 881 views | istanblue |
Not long ago 'fans' on here were saying ''don't worry the performances were good and that all we need is time to gel''. The reality is the performances were distinctly average and we flattered to deceive. Take tonight for example, we mustered just 3 shots on target against the mighty Cheltenham Town (who had 4). It is thoroughly embarrassing and needs to be sorted ASAP or Cook and his coaching mates can feck off back to Liverpool. |  | | |
| Not very clever at all on 22:28 - Aug 17 with 870 views | Dyland |
| Not very clever at all on 22:23 - Aug 17 by portmanking |
A glaring lack of fitness throughout too. We've been blowing out our backsides during the last 20 mins in each game so far. Added to that, a growing injury list and it's only halfway through August. |
Aye. Plus ca fookin change. | |
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| Not very clever at all on 22:29 - Aug 17 with 849 views | ITFC_Forever |
| Not very clever at all on 22:23 - Aug 17 by portmanking |
A glaring lack of fitness throughout too. We've been blowing out our backsides during the last 20 mins in each game so far. Added to that, a growing injury list and it's only halfway through August. |
It’s almost like the Bristol City fans warned us about the imminent injury list… |  |
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| Not very clever at all on 22:29 - Aug 17 with 843 views | Suffolktractor |
| Not very clever at all on 22:23 - Aug 17 by portmanking |
A glaring lack of fitness throughout too. We've been blowing out our backsides during the last 20 mins in each game so far. Added to that, a growing injury list and it's only halfway through August. |
I agree with that.
Cheltenham looked much fitter than us. Why?
Also, mentally sharper. We switch off for a breather every time the ball goes out. | | | |
| Not very clever at all on 22:31 - Aug 17 with 831 views | portmanking |
| Not very clever at all on 22:29 - Aug 17 by Suffolktractor |
I agree with that.
Cheltenham looked much fitter than us. Why?
Also, mentally sharper. We switch off for a breather every time the ball goes out. |
I'm not sure some of the players we've signed are mentally up to the task of playing for this club. Cook's signed HIS players, but whether we've had time to do the necessary due diligence on player character/mentality remains to be seen. | | | |
| Not very clever at all on 22:39 - Aug 17 with 787 views | Ryorry |
| Not very clever at all on 22:23 - Aug 17 by portmanking |
A glaring lack of fitness throughout too. We've been blowing out our backsides during the last 20 mins in each game so far. Added to that, a growing injury list and it's only halfway through August. |
I posted on Souper Jim's thread asking about fitness, and got a very different answer! C&P below as I don't know how to do the 'proper' tech stuff for it -
First half spell some of the best football we've played for years on 22:26 - Aug 17 with 137 views - SouperJim
Ryorry 22:26 - Aug 17
"I wonder if improvement in our sports science dept., which will inevitably take time, will help when it comes. I didn't see the game - did it look like our players tired quickly?" | |
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