| Cracks have been widening over the last 7 games 10:59 - Oct 30 with 7477 views | TalkingBlues |
The key to this league is consistency and it is testament to our manager that, unlike many before him, he has identified a system and squad that compliments the rotation of players to provide the desired level of consistency.
For me, yesterday wasn't a "freak game" as it is being labelled by many, it was an inevitable outcome "at some point" which just happened to be yesterday. Despite our lofty position in the table, we have had some clearly definable weaknesses over the course of the season to date, mainly, not converting a high enough % of chances in attack and conceding too many goals to aerial balls at the back. Despite those obvious issues, we do enough to get results at this level, happy days.
More recently (the last 6 or 7 games for me) there has been a perceivable decline in the consistency of performances and there are a number of plausible arguments for this, the injuries we have sustained, combined with the sheer number of games and our very physically demanding style of play must hold some level of responsibility, as must the inevitable dip in form some players will experience during the course of a season (perhaps a result of some of the factors already highlighted? fatigue?). These are all tangible and can be (mostly) easily remedied, but the bit I'm struggling with is the undesirable weakness that has crept into our game, the giving away of match winning positions, is it just a result of the identifiable weaknesses in our game, or is this a more intangible mental weakness running through the team? That would be a lot trickier to resolve.
A less hectic schedule over the next couple of weeks will undoubtedly help us, some of the players look tired and hopefully some of the injured will return to the playing squad.
I'm not a fan of the 65 minute same substitutions every week, but the manager has a process and it's difficult to argue it when we're second in the league.
The January transfer window should be a good window into the mind of our manager. For me, we need a finisher up top (easier said than done at this level) and a specialist defensive coach for our aerial issues at the back, or new personnel who can jump and head a ball.
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| Cracks have been widening over the last 7 games on 20:58 - Oct 30 with 1809 views | TalkingBlues |
| Cracks have been widening over the last 7 games on 18:49 - Oct 30 by blueislander |
Point of order. That was in the Championship not League 1. You’re a bit of a glass half empty aren’t you? |
Not Championship I don't think, pretty sure it was the Covid interrupted season under the stewardship of the "wee fella" in League 1, we were definitely going up that season, would have bet the house on it after 15 games. | |
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| Cracks have been widening over the last 7 games on 21:23 - Oct 30 with 1763 views | Rozz |
| Cracks have been widening over the last 7 games on 20:58 - Oct 30 by TalkingBlues |
Not Championship I don't think, pretty sure it was the Covid interrupted season under the stewardship of the "wee fella" in League 1, we were definitely going up that season, would have bet the house on it after 15 games. |
2019/20. Incidentally it was almost exactly this point in the season we started to slide. After 17 games games we are currently 2pts better off, but in both instances we sit 2nd in the table.
Our form over the next 6 games (18 thru 23) was 0W 3D 3L.
https://www.11v11.com/league-tables/league-one/01-january-2020/ |  | | |
| Cracks have been widening over the last 7 games on 21:35 - Oct 30 with 1757 views | skinnybob72 |
I think we have to consider that if Woolfenden and Edmundson were brilliant at both playing out from the back and also totally dominant in the air they wouldn't be playing in League 1!
Yesterday was disappointing the way that 2 points were thrown away but the current style of play - which does lead to mistakes and goals against - is a lot more entertaining than the football that has been served up in the last couple of seasons. |  | | |
| Cracks have been widening over the last 7 games on 22:16 - Oct 30 with 1724 views | hoppy |
| Cracks have been widening over the last 7 games on 21:35 - Oct 30 by skinnybob72 |
I think we have to consider that if Woolfenden and Edmundson were brilliant at both playing out from the back and also totally dominant in the air they wouldn't be playing in League 1!
Yesterday was disappointing the way that 2 points were thrown away but the current style of play - which does lead to mistakes and goals against - is a lot more entertaining than the football that has been served up in the last couple of seasons. |
”… a lot more entertaining than the football that has been served up in the last couple of seasons.”
“…a lot more entertaining than the football that has been served up in the last decade of seasons.”
Corrected it for you. |  |
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| Cracks have been widening over the last 7 games on 07:21 - Oct 31 with 1669 views | blueislander |
| Cracks have been widening over the last 7 games on 22:16 - Oct 30 by hoppy |
”… a lot more entertaining than the football that has been served up in the last couple of seasons.”
“…a lot more entertaining than the football that has been served up in the last decade of seasons.”
Corrected it for you. |
Or “ since Joe Royle was manager”. | | | |
| Cracks have been widening over the last 7 games on 07:24 - Oct 31 with 1666 views | hoppy |
| Cracks have been widening over the last 7 games on 07:21 - Oct 31 by blueislander |
Or “ since Joe Royle was manager”. |
Actually, I realised my own error… it should’ve been “…last couple of decades” not “…last decade of seasons”. I apologise. | |
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| Cracks have been widening over the last 7 games on 07:31 - Oct 31 with 1648 views | blueislander |
| Cracks have been widening over the last 7 games on 07:24 - Oct 31 by hoppy |
Actually, I realised my own error… it should’ve been “…last couple of decades” not “…last decade of seasons”. I apologise. |
Apology accepted x At a certain age one’s memory tends to fail. | | | |
| Cracks have been widening over the last 7 games on 07:32 - Oct 31 with 1648 views | Wallingford_Boy |
Agree to an extent, we’ve been looking far less convincing in recent weeks, but personally think it’s down to a dip in form of several players all at the same time.
Not sure you can say fatigue is a part when the attacking players are rotated every week, but Harness, Chaplin and Burns have all dropped of lately and they are arguably our strongest three attacking players.
Can’t put my finger on the defensive errors, but it seems the unit itself is vulnerable rather than one individual making glaring errors.
Either way we are second in what looks like a pretty average division, so we have time (and a transfer window) to fine tune everything and gain promotion. [Post edited 31 Oct 2022 7:32]
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| Cracks have been widening over the last 7 games on 07:40 - Oct 31 with 1640 views | Churchman |
We’ve scored seven in the last two games, are the divisions top scorers and won five of the last seven games. I’m not going to shed too many tears over that. Yesterdays game was freaky. Find me another with four goals in injury time. We scored three at Barnsley once late on but I recall no game quite like Saturdays’s
Where can we improve? Well, when we get a few players back, we will automatically be stronger as a squad including two summer signings who’ve not played. When KM and the coaches have a bit of time on the trading pitch. Effectively eight games in a month (including the Mickey Mouse affair at Camb U) is play and rest stuff.
Have teams worked us out? I don’t think so on reflection. Use of subs? It works sometimes but is never going to all the time.
Players? Another goalscorer would be nice, if only to replace Aluko, but Ladapo is now getting into the tap in positions as well some spectacular ones and we are not goal shy. Defenders? We’ve loads of them - I’m happy with that side of it, though I think we’ve missed Burgess.
KM has between now and new year to assess any gaps. He appears level headed and thoughtful, so I doubt there will be the level of panic I’ve seen from one or two supporters on here.
We are in a competitive position and have a great chance. |  | | |
| Cracks have been widening over the last 7 games on 08:17 - Oct 31 with 1618 views | itfcjoe |
| Cracks have been widening over the last 7 games on 14:35 - Oct 30 by TalkingBlues |
I think ITFC fans are all too well aware of how deceptive this league can be, I am still haunted by the season we were 7 points clear at the top of this league at Christmas and managed to be outside the play off places by February, things can and do change rapidly at this level. I'd like to think we are a different team now, but until the season is over, there is no proof that we are. |
You are doing well to remember a season that doesn't exist, no wonder you are so panicked about losing a game when you catastrophise over situations that didn't even happen |  |
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| Cracks have been widening over the last 7 games on 08:22 - Oct 31 with 1604 views | The_Flashing_Smile |
| Cracks have been widening over the last 7 games on 19:32 - Oct 30 by ibbleobble |
Isn’t it more that when you’re winning and doing well there’s less to debate because it’s working. When there’s issues there’s more to debate hence the wider reaction from different sources. Whether you think there’s an issue or not could be the debate but if you’re of the opinion that throwing two 2-goal leads away in a game, doing it for the 4th time this season and surrendering leads 9 times isn’t a concern, I’d have to say it’s very blinkered.
It’s not a crisis but it is eyebrow raising and needs addressing before we get into the thick of it in the upcoming months. |
You've built two straw men there. No-one's saying it isn't a concern. And if it were just a few eyebrows raised there'd be no issue there either. But people are losing their sh!t over it. Pointofblue has pretty much admitted he's overacting, above. |  |
| Trust the process. Trust Phil. |
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| Cracks have been widening over the last 7 games on 08:28 - Oct 31 with 1595 views | The_Flashing_Smile |
"yesterday wasn't a "freak game" as it is being labelled by many, it was an inevitable outcome "at some point" which just happened to be yesterday."
No. Just no. I can't remember any game involving Ipswich that finished like that - the nearest would be the famous Pablo v Coventry one. Therefore it's a freak. If you thought that was inevitable I hope you had some money on it because you'd get some incredible odds.
"we have had some clearly definable weaknesses over the course of the season to date, mainly, not converting a high enough % of chances in attack and conceding too many goals to aerial balls at the back."
We have the joint best GD and have the best goals for column. If you think we're not converting a high enough % of chances in attack despite being top scorers then you must have ridiculously high standards! | |
| Trust the process. Trust Phil. |
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| Cracks have been widening over the last 7 games on 09:14 - Oct 31 with 1556 views | Wickets |
For me your best point is that we are second in the league . |  | | |
| Cracks have been widening over the last 7 games on 09:27 - Oct 31 with 1549 views | vilanovablue |
| Cracks have been widening over the last 7 games on 13:56 - Oct 30 by Guthrum |
There is a trade-off. If we want defenders who are good with their feet and can play out from the back, they may not be hulking giants who can get to every aerial ball. Likewise fast, skilled attacking players who end up bouncing off brick sh1thouses like some of those Charlton deployed yesterday (e.g. Davis and the no.22 for their first goal). At League One level, all-round superstars are not going to be available, every player having their vulnerabilities.
If Xg is to be believed, we're converting a very high proportion of available chances, certainly by comparison with anyone else in League One. |
This for me is really the key. We need to remember we are in League One so mistakes will be made, it's why we are in League One. Overall cracking start to the season. How long did it take us to accumulate this many points last season? [Post edited 31 Oct 2022 10:11]
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| Cracks have been widening over the last 7 games on 10:30 - Oct 31 with 1508 views | jayessess |
We won 5 games from our last 7, what are you on about? |  |
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| Cracks have been widening over the last 7 games on 10:44 - Oct 31 with 1495 views | TalkingBlues |
| Cracks have been widening over the last 7 games on 08:17 - Oct 31 by itfcjoe |
You are doing well to remember a season that doesn't exist, no wonder you are so panicked about losing a game when you catastrophise over situations that didn't even happen |
I certainly cannot recall exact dates/games/pts, but what I do remember was being 7 pts clear at the top December time, having been top of the table for 15 games+, then dramatically falling off and by the end of Feb/beginning March we were something ridiculous like 6 or 7 pts below 6th place and other teams had games in hand on us | |
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| Cracks have been widening over the last 7 games on 10:52 - Oct 31 with 1472 views | TalkingBlues |
| Cracks have been widening over the last 7 games on 21:23 - Oct 30 by Rozz |
2019/20. Incidentally it was almost exactly this point in the season we started to slide. After 17 games games we are currently 2pts better off, but in both instances we sit 2nd in the table.
Our form over the next 6 games (18 thru 23) was 0W 3D 3L.
https://www.11v11.com/league-tables/league-one/01-january-2020/ |
Thanks, didn't know how to find the info. My memory tells me that we had been doing really well starting virtually the same 11 every week, then Lambert started rotating players and momentum immediately reversed and we never recovered it (save for a brief 3 or 4 game spell that weren't utter disasters). To this day, I don't know how he managed to turn a team that were miles ahead of 99.9% of the rest of the league into one of the worst, another season that we could/should have been promoted. | |
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| Cracks have been widening over the last 7 games on 10:57 - Oct 31 with 1457 views | jayessess |
| Cracks have been widening over the last 7 games on 08:28 - Oct 31 by The_Flashing_Smile |
"yesterday wasn't a "freak game" as it is being labelled by many, it was an inevitable outcome "at some point" which just happened to be yesterday."
No. Just no. I can't remember any game involving Ipswich that finished like that - the nearest would be the famous Pablo v Coventry one. Therefore it's a freak. If you thought that was inevitable I hope you had some money on it because you'd get some incredible odds.
"we have had some clearly definable weaknesses over the course of the season to date, mainly, not converting a high enough % of chances in attack and conceding too many goals to aerial balls at the back."
We have the joint best GD and have the best goals for column. If you think we're not converting a high enough % of chances in attack despite being top scorers then you must have ridiculously high standards! |
Like, of course giving up 2 goals in stoppage time is a freak occurrence. The last time it happened was 2015, ffs.
Prior to Saturday, we'd gone into extra time with a lead 11 times this season (6 times with a one-goal lead) and won every game. We categorically don't have a general problem with defending in stoppage time. | |
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| Cracks have been widening over the last 7 games on 11:03 - Oct 31 with 1443 views | TalkingBlues |
| Cracks have been widening over the last 7 games on 08:28 - Oct 31 by The_Flashing_Smile |
"yesterday wasn't a "freak game" as it is being labelled by many, it was an inevitable outcome "at some point" which just happened to be yesterday."
No. Just no. I can't remember any game involving Ipswich that finished like that - the nearest would be the famous Pablo v Coventry one. Therefore it's a freak. If you thought that was inevitable I hope you had some money on it because you'd get some incredible odds.
"we have had some clearly definable weaknesses over the course of the season to date, mainly, not converting a high enough % of chances in attack and conceding too many goals to aerial balls at the back."
We have the joint best GD and have the best goals for column. If you think we're not converting a high enough % of chances in attack despite being top scorers then you must have ridiculously high standards! |
We are top scorers, but we have a terrible shots/on target/goals conversion rate, the two things are not mutually exclusive. Every post match interview that I can recall McKenna giving mentions chances that should have been taken and our lack of putting teams to the sword when we ought to have been out of sight, it has been a feature of our season to date.
The reason I thought a result like this was inevitable, was because despite our poor conversion rate we do score plenty of goals, but at the same time, we had been conceding many more goals over the last 6 or 7 games and soft goals at that, several times giving away 2 goal cushions. Charlton had a decent home record and were also high scorers, so somebody who looked at form, might have thought that this had the potential to be a high scoring game, though I doubt anybody could have predicted the fashion in which they arrived. | |
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| Cracks have been widening over the last 7 games on 11:21 - Oct 31 with 1420 views | LankHenners |
| Cracks have been widening over the last 7 games on 11:03 - Oct 31 by TalkingBlues |
We are top scorers, but we have a terrible shots/on target/goals conversion rate, the two things are not mutually exclusive. Every post match interview that I can recall McKenna giving mentions chances that should have been taken and our lack of putting teams to the sword when we ought to have been out of sight, it has been a feature of our season to date.
The reason I thought a result like this was inevitable, was because despite our poor conversion rate we do score plenty of goals, but at the same time, we had been conceding many more goals over the last 6 or 7 games and soft goals at that, several times giving away 2 goal cushions. Charlton had a decent home record and were also high scorers, so somebody who looked at form, might have thought that this had the potential to be a high scoring game, though I doubt anybody could have predicted the fashion in which they arrived. |
We have the best shots on target per 90 rate in the division, are 6th (very narrowly behind the rest) in terms of goals per shot, 10th for goals per shots on target but have more shots on target in general than anyone else so naturally unlikely to be much higher. It's not been a feature at all that we fail to put teams to the sword. We've had some very comfortable victories and even the ones with a narrow scoreline we've seen out without much worry - Forest Green, Morecambe, Portsmouth, Derby. When you create and score as much as we do you'll always come away thinking this or that chance should have gone in but that's football.
You're 2nd para is a bit confused, starts off saying the result was inevitable and therefore not a freak but ends saying no-one could have predicted how it turned out, which is exactly what you've been arguing against the whole thread. |  |
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| Cracks have been widening over the last 7 games on 11:24 - Oct 31 with 1408 views | jayessess |
| Cracks have been widening over the last 7 games on 11:03 - Oct 31 by TalkingBlues |
We are top scorers, but we have a terrible shots/on target/goals conversion rate, the two things are not mutually exclusive. Every post match interview that I can recall McKenna giving mentions chances that should have been taken and our lack of putting teams to the sword when we ought to have been out of sight, it has been a feature of our season to date.
The reason I thought a result like this was inevitable, was because despite our poor conversion rate we do score plenty of goals, but at the same time, we had been conceding many more goals over the last 6 or 7 games and soft goals at that, several times giving away 2 goal cushions. Charlton had a decent home record and were also high scorers, so somebody who looked at form, might have thought that this had the potential to be a high scoring game, though I doubt anybody could have predicted the fashion in which they arrived. |
We have the second best shot conversion rate in the league (behind Lincoln City).
https://www.transfermarkt.co.uk/league-one/chancenverwertung/wettbewerb/GB3
We conceded 3 goals from open play on Saturday, but are statistically the best team in the league defending in open play.
Our goalkeeper, who I assume no-one thinks is an issue, managed to concede 4 goals from (effectively) 5 shots yesterday, 2 of them eminently saveable.
Whatever issues we have to sort out, yesterday was categorically not a case of things we do regularly finally catching up with us. | |
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| Cracks have been widening over the last 7 games on 12:12 - Oct 31 with 1355 views | TalkingBlues |
| Cracks have been widening over the last 7 games on 11:24 - Oct 31 by jayessess |
We have the second best shot conversion rate in the league (behind Lincoln City).
https://www.transfermarkt.co.uk/league-one/chancenverwertung/wettbewerb/GB3
We conceded 3 goals from open play on Saturday, but are statistically the best team in the league defending in open play.
Our goalkeeper, who I assume no-one thinks is an issue, managed to concede 4 goals from (effectively) 5 shots yesterday, 2 of them eminently saveable.
Whatever issues we have to sort out, yesterday was categorically not a case of things we do regularly finally catching up with us. |
I'm not about to get into a stat off, because every website has a remarkably different set of numbers from one another, depending on what they class as a shot/shot on target etc etc and it's impossible to determine which is right and which is wrong, eg I just checked whoscored.com and it shows a significantly different number of shots than the stats you have produced. The only thing that does appear to be consistent, is that we have a much higher shots pg total than any other club (but not considerably more goals) and also we appear to be rock bottom, or second bottom of the league for "aerial duels won" which confirms what I already perceived to be an issue. | |
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| Cracks have been widening over the last 7 games on 12:29 - Oct 31 with 1333 views | jayessess |
| Cracks have been widening over the last 7 games on 12:12 - Oct 31 by TalkingBlues |
I'm not about to get into a stat off, because every website has a remarkably different set of numbers from one another, depending on what they class as a shot/shot on target etc etc and it's impossible to determine which is right and which is wrong, eg I just checked whoscored.com and it shows a significantly different number of shots than the stats you have produced. The only thing that does appear to be consistent, is that we have a much higher shots pg total than any other club (but not considerably more goals) and also we appear to be rock bottom, or second bottom of the league for "aerial duels won" which confirms what I already perceived to be an issue. |
Whatever way you want to slice it, there's nowhere that shows us with "terrible" shot conversion, relative to other teams in the league.
We're mainly second bottom of the league for "aerial duels won" because... our games have very few aerial duels full stop (21st for aerial duels contested, we keep the ball, we generally pass on the floor)!
Stop being so determined to be miserable. [Post edited 31 Oct 2022 12:40]
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| Cracks have been widening over the last 7 games on 14:54 - Oct 31 with 1258 views | TalkingBlues |
| Cracks have been widening over the last 7 games on 12:29 - Oct 31 by jayessess |
Whatever way you want to slice it, there's nowhere that shows us with "terrible" shot conversion, relative to other teams in the league.
We're mainly second bottom of the league for "aerial duels won" because... our games have very few aerial duels full stop (21st for aerial duels contested, we keep the ball, we generally pass on the floor)!
Stop being so determined to be miserable. [Post edited 31 Oct 2022 12:40]
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We do have poor shot conversion from shots to shots on target on most sites and given our higher shots pg than all teams, you'd expect to see us further ahead in the goals scored list (but, as previously stated, there's such an array of numbers between sites that I couldn't rely on any of them to be accurate).
The "aerial duels won" is a percentage outcome, regardless of the number "contested" which is irrelevant for this point, we are trying to understanding whether we win, or lose aerial duels and it's clear that we lose a vast majority stats wise and it just so happens that this perfectly matches my perception of what occurs in-game. There are of course 2 teams in a game and the fact that we like to play the ball on the floor does not impede opposition aerial tactics, proof of which is the fact that we have conceded an usually high amount of goals, in a short spell of recent games, pretty much all of which were the result of aerial balls from open play, or set pieces.
At no stage have I tried to be miserable, I just posted my view (which is happily open to interpretation and disagreement by others, naturally) on our recent form and some of the possible reasons for some less consistent performances of late. No problem if you disagree and btw it's not doom and gloom, we're 2nd in the league etc etc, I just don't think we've maintained our high levels of consistency lately, which has led to some bizarre games and unusual scorelines, we've made life hard for ourselves IMO and the less congested diary should help us out. | |
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| Cracks have been widening over the last 7 games on 15:37 - Oct 31 with 1232 views | pointofblue |
| Cracks have been widening over the last 7 games on 08:28 - Oct 31 by The_Flashing_Smile |
"yesterday wasn't a "freak game" as it is being labelled by many, it was an inevitable outcome "at some point" which just happened to be yesterday."
No. Just no. I can't remember any game involving Ipswich that finished like that - the nearest would be the famous Pablo v Coventry one. Therefore it's a freak. If you thought that was inevitable I hope you had some money on it because you'd get some incredible odds.
"we have had some clearly definable weaknesses over the course of the season to date, mainly, not converting a high enough % of chances in attack and conceding too many goals to aerial balls at the back."
We have the joint best GD and have the best goals for column. If you think we're not converting a high enough % of chances in attack despite being top scorers then you must have ridiculously high standards! |
I think there's a divide. It's a freak for a game to finish in the way it did Saturday. it is not a freak for us to be dropping points, or threatening to drop points, after taking the leads. Then we have Barnsley and Portsmouth where we twice got pegged back after taking the lead plus Plymouth, where we lost after going 1-0 up.
Including Sheffield Wednesday, Port Vale and Charlton that's six games where we took the lead and let the opposition back - nearly a third. Out of the remaining eleven we came back against Bolton and Morecambe to pick up four points. In all other games we either took the lead and held it, or lost.
It's not something to go absolutely ballistic over, asking for McKenna to be sacked and for the players to be sold (  ) but it's a concern for a team which is fighting for top spot. And it does bug me slightly when people say "we can learn from this" - we had warnings to heed from before Saturday.
ETA - But credit has to be given for our fight when we do concede. Beat Portsmouth, beat Port Vale, should have scored a third against Barnsley if the officials had done their jobs properly, scored twice more against Charlton... The only time we've struggled was Plymouth. [Post edited 31 Oct 2022 15:44]
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