| We are very frustrating this season 19:53 - Dec 26 with 917 views | Steve_M |
We’re doing a lot right but the fluency and intensity of our play is so variable. Today a succession of poor decisions compounded by poor execution and a general sloppiness that cost us the opportunity of a further two points.
Defensively we were good today, dealt well with the physicality of a limited but strong Millwall side. First half we passed the ball about quite nicely but just a bit too slowly or inaccurately. It felt at half-time like a game we could win if we stepped it up.
Which we didn’t manage to do. That was a poor half of attritional Championship football, we sunk down to Millwall’s level and rarely threatened to break out with any quality. And yet, we still did enough that better shooting would have won it. Fans yelling “shoot” at every occasion can be overdone but today we overworked the ball too often Hirst hasn’t been great this season but we are much better when he does play, Azon doesn’t look robust enough for the division and can’t score consistently enough, Akpom well I think that one looks a mistake all round.
So here we are half-way through the season, well placed in a season that won’t require 90 points for third but not really convincing anyone we are more than a top six side. Coventry have definitely chosen a good season to be good, anyone else? Well, we’re as good as anyone else really but need to start making it count.
January looks like a big month, we need a far better transfer window than in the Summer - cover for Leif and Matusiwa, a 9 & a 10; as the absolute minimum - but we haven’t made enough of the financial advantage we have. That’s on everyone at the club from Ashton down. Which way are we going to go?
[Post edited 26 Dec 20:36]
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| We are very frustrating this season on 19:57 - Dec 26 with 850 views | cbower |
Excellent post! |  |
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| We are very frustrating this season on 20:38 - Dec 26 with 752 views | BloomBlue |
Excellent post. |  | | |
| We are very frustrating this season on 20:40 - Dec 26 with 750 views | Herbivore |
Good post on the whole, although I actually felt we were better (mostly) second half than first. We seemed to have more control and were applying more consistent pressure, albeit suffering from the same sloppiness and lack of execution in and around the box. |  |
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| We are very frustrating this season on 21:00 - Dec 26 with 696 views | ElderGrizzly |
The financial advantage is huge too vs almost all the league.
And I don’t mind if that is spent on a big loan for the No.9 to get us over the line too. |  | | |
| We are very frustrating this season on 21:10 - Dec 26 with 657 views | Joey_Joe_Joe_Junior |
| We are very frustrating this season on 21:00 - Dec 26 by ElderGrizzly |
The financial advantage is huge too vs almost all the league.
And I don’t mind if that is spent on a big loan for the No.9 to get us over the line too. |
It has been huge since May. [Post edited 26 Dec 21:19]
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| We are very frustrating this season on 21:19 - Dec 26 with 611 views | SomethingBlue |
It does feel as if we are the right player or two away from streaking away into second place. Whether or not we should be in the position of needing those players is a very fair point for discussion. I sense we will sort that out in January and come on very strong in the second half of the season, we are helped by the fact virtually nobody else can put much together and we seemingly have the strongest base. |  |
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| We are very frustrating this season on 22:06 - Dec 26 with 477 views | ITFC_Forever |
Our net spend was next-to-nothing in the summer because of the fees received for Omari, Delap and Boradbean.
But good strikers are hard to find at the best of times, never mind the January transfer window. |  |
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| We are very frustrating this season on 22:09 - Dec 26 with 464 views | Steve_M |
| We are very frustrating this season on 20:40 - Dec 26 by Herbivore |
Good post on the whole, although I actually felt we were better (mostly) second half than first. We seemed to have more control and were applying more consistent pressure, albeit suffering from the same sloppiness and lack of execution in and around the box. |
Ok, I think you’re right about the control second half but it never really felt like we had the composure to make the composure to make the most of any pressure we built up. | |
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| We are very frustrating this season on 23:05 - Dec 26 with 359 views | LankHenners |
Yes felt like it could have been a typical Championship away performance i.e. not necessarily playing particularly well but dealing with the home side competently enough and finding the quality to get a winner. Obviously that last bit never materialised due to things we've seen too much of for most people's liking unfortunately.
As you say we tried to do too much with the ball at wrong times either through individuals making wrong decisions or almost the opposite where no-one wanted to really take the situation by the scruff of the neck.
Obviously easier said than done but not good that we're going into another winter window having to try and sort out the mess we made of the forward position(s) in the summer. I think there's plenty to like about Azon but he feels more 'wildcard 3rd choice with an eye on the future' than outright 2nd (and temporarily 1st) choice. Signings don't work out sometimes for whatever reason, happens all the time, but Akpom feels more and more like a deal we just went for because he became available than any meticulous planning. Nunez's tendency to get on the ball and move it on quickly has to some degree been an asset in the 10 but his lack of instinct for that role is laid bare fairly often.
And yet we're right on the edge of where we want to be with half a season to tip ourselves the right side of it. Does add to the frustration that we can't seem to properly take more than a couple of steps forwards without rocking back one but we're in a good position to change that. |  |
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| We are very frustrating this season on 09:31 - Dec 27 with 123 views | ElderGrizzly |
| We are very frustrating this season on 21:10 - Dec 26 by Joey_Joe_Joe_Junior |
It has been huge since May. [Post edited 26 Dec 21:19]
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Not really, as we had no idea what players would leave or how other clubs would fare post-relegation
I think we are stronger in comparison now and that leaves zero excuses for Ashton and co to deliver | | | |
| We are very frustrating this season on 09:37 - Dec 27 with 108 views | LeoMuff |
| We are very frustrating this season on 21:19 - Dec 26 by SomethingBlue |
It does feel as if we are the right player or two away from streaking away into second place. Whether or not we should be in the position of needing those players is a very fair point for discussion. I sense we will sort that out in January and come on very strong in the second half of the season, we are helped by the fact virtually nobody else can put much together and we seemingly have the strongest base. |
Feels very reminiscent of league 1 where we huffed and puffed and were inconsistent from Aug to Dec then the January buys really kicked us on in Feb
Hopefully history will repeat. |  |
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| We are very frustrating this season on 09:55 - Dec 27 with 74 views | mellowblue |
| We are very frustrating this season on 20:40 - Dec 26 by Herbivore |
Good post on the whole, although I actually felt we were better (mostly) second half than first. We seemed to have more control and were applying more consistent pressure, albeit suffering from the same sloppiness and lack of execution in and around the box. |
Seems to me that fatigue is playing a bigger than usual role in football. We seem to conserve energy where possible first half to allow for a better spread of energy over the whole match. Whereas Millwall put more into it first half and looked jaded second half until they had made all their sub changes. Hence why our recent first half displays have often looked lacklustre and our second half performances better. Probably completely wrong, but that is how it sort of looks. So saying, even with more energy second half, we struggle to kill teams off. | | | |
| We are very frustrating this season on 11:00 - Dec 27 with 24 views | tractorboy1978 |
| We are very frustrating this season on 21:19 - Dec 26 by SomethingBlue |
It does feel as if we are the right player or two away from streaking away into second place. Whether or not we should be in the position of needing those players is a very fair point for discussion. I sense we will sort that out in January and come on very strong in the second half of the season, we are helped by the fact virtually nobody else can put much together and we seemingly have the strongest base. |
You look at the table as it stands and you have to say it’s going to a huge opportunity missed if we don’t get 2nd. Southampton, Leicester and Birmingham are all comfortably behind us and miles off 2nd, to the point it feels impossible they can make it up. Have any of the others got enough about them to put a proper run together?
If a PL club comes in for Hackney they are probably done as well.
Our challenge now is to differentiate ourselves from the rest of the pack in terms of spending power in Jan and the depth in quality of our squad. | | | |
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