| What went wrong second half on Saturday? 09:14 - Jan 14 with 2403 views | unstableblue |
Me and my mates (mates mates mates) thoroughly enjoyed the first half on Saturday.
So many positives, but the main feeling was that we looked a far stronger and talented team than Rotherham, and I felt this was a marker and that we would rise the table to a position that reflected this improvement. Collins was just so cultured and effective, calm and just fizzing the ball around at will. Once Quarner (Quorner?) and Keane settled they just looked lovely on the ball. And for me a stand out change was at left back, Elder, much more dynamic, solid, sparse errors, and ability to get forward and release Sears.
BUT THEN, we just flopped the second half. Town got completely overrun and we gave away 3-4 chances that Rotherham should have scored and a better team would have done. It deflated our mood after the game as you look ahead to Blackburn, and the other 5-6 wins we need to survive. Gerken's kicking was a factor as some reference. But I think it had a lot to do with Skuse and Chalobah sitting deep and getting completely bypassed. We needed perhaps a Bishop to get a foot on it, and run into space. Our best other chance when Sears broke and should have found Keane - well this is the play we should have been thriving on as Rotherham pressed forwards, but we just could not find space.
I'm not sure of Lambert's plan or best starting 11. Leaving out a form Bishop at home and having two stronger front players who do a similar role seems wrong perhaps. Sears is becoming a little ineffective again - albeit he set up the goal Saturday.
Going to be interesting to see what he goes for against Blackburn. But Chalobah/Skuse partnership is really going to need Chalobah to be breaking forward to link midfield and attack, filling the void.
Mowbray will be a wiley opponent.
Having said all that we just HAD to win Saturday. I don't think you can underestimate how fired up Rotherham were - they knew how important the result was.
Finally - WHAT A CROWD. That atmosphere, that rabid and continuous support was off the scale. I don't think its just Lambert trying to win us over, I do think he believes that these fans are special.
As for next weekend:
Reading are away at Derby
Millwall away at Boro
Preston away at QPR
Rotherham home to Brentford
Wigan away at Sheff Weds
A win at Blackburn - even though that seems a tall order, given the negatives above - could be significant!
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| What went wrong second half on Saturday? on 10:45 - Jan 14 with 2266 views | Blue_Moses |
Colin got tired and wasn't holding the ball up like he did immensely in the first half. Then Lambert took him off, played a more defensive formation and invited them to attack us. Big gamble but it worked. |  | | |
| What went wrong second half on Saturday? on 11:00 - Jan 14 with 2217 views | SouperJim |
Agree with much of this.
Haven't seen much comment on Elder but I thought he was excellent, only made 1 error that I can recall and gave us a bit more going forward too, linked up well with Sears on the left wing. Looks a good bit better than Kenlock (who I'm a fan of) and on that performance is at least a good a player as Knudsen on one of his better days. Hope there's more to come. |  |
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| What went wrong second half on Saturday? on 11:22 - Jan 14 with 2142 views | bluefunk |
I think Saturdays team reflected the physicality of our opponents, hence Pennington at RB, Collins atCB the return of Skuse and Keane and Quaner up front to ensure we gave as good as we got. That meant we had 4 players whose match fitness was (severely) lacking so we were always going to be up against it as the game progressed, unless we could get well ahead.
So we got pushed back further and further and we couldn’t consistently get the second ball when it dropped and when we did, we didn’t have the composure or fitness to retain it .
That doesn’t mean it will always be that way, as players get fitter, as they gel as a team and as confidence grows we can and will stay stronger for longer. That will require everyone to pull together, including fans at the game as you point out. |  | | |
| What went wrong second half on Saturday? on 12:07 - Jan 14 with 2059 views | braveblue |
All back in our penalty area for every corner, free kick and throw in was a crazy tactic. We got the win but won’t be so lucky again. Great first half. Just play like that!! | | | |
| What went wrong second half on Saturday? on 12:10 - Jan 14 with 2052 views | Moisha |
This...
'Having said all that we just HAD to win Saturday. I don't think you can underestimate how fired up Rotherham were - they knew how important the result was.'
They knew it, and we knew it.... They had nothing to lose second half and threw men forward, we had everything to lose and got deeper and deeper to protect our lead.
I do believe if we had Collins for the Millwall game we wouldn't have lost that, he would have countered the threat of Morrison like he did against Rotherham.
Atmosphere was superb, the fans and team have come together in adversity. Lets hope it can continue long into the rest of the season and somehow we pull off the great escape. |  | | |
| What went wrong second half on Saturday? on 12:14 - Jan 14 with 2034 views | Parmigiano |
Well we lost the corresponding away fixture back in August 1-0 when we absolutely battered them for 89 minutes so now both teams are even. |  | | |
| What went wrong second half on Saturday? on 13:57 - Jan 14 with 1855 views | PauLambertIsABlue |
Spot on with all of that unstableblue.
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| What went wrong second half on Saturday? on 14:00 - Jan 14 with 1836 views | PauLambertIsABlue |
| What went wrong second half on Saturday? on 12:10 - Jan 14 by Moisha |
This...
'Having said all that we just HAD to win Saturday. I don't think you can underestimate how fired up Rotherham were - they knew how important the result was.'
They knew it, and we knew it.... They had nothing to lose second half and threw men forward, we had everything to lose and got deeper and deeper to protect our lead.
I do believe if we had Collins for the Millwall game we wouldn't have lost that, he would have countered the threat of Morrison like he did against Rotherham.
Atmosphere was superb, the fans and team have come together in adversity. Lets hope it can continue long into the rest of the season and somehow we pull off the great escape. |
Some sensible comments on this thread, good to see some normality back.
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| What went wrong second half on Saturday? on 15:26 - Jan 14 with 1724 views | Darth_Koont |
I thought it was an indication of how tight the margins are normally in Championship games. Rotherham had both the psychological and physical edge in the second half and it was one of the most one-sided games we've seen in years after that.
I suppose the good news is that the new players are a step closer to getting match-fit and up to speed. And everyone's confidence got a boost. Would be great if we could get an unexpected 3 or 4 points from our travels and really start climbing out of this hole. But either way I don't think those games will be as desperate as Saturday given the pressure will be as much on the home team. |  |
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| What went wrong second half on Saturday? on 15:40 - Jan 14 with 1685 views | Whymarkmariner |
My thoughts were that the Rotherham manager looked at how we were set up and that Collins was winning everything in the air, so he bypassed our midfield and isolated Collins by hitting crosses at a different angle. This was borne out by the fact that Pennington was heading far more balls out of our penalty area second half than Collins was. | | | |
| What went wrong second half on Saturday? on 15:47 - Jan 14 with 1670 views | Herbivore |
Thought Elder was underwhelming. His passing was hit and miss, a few hopeful balls up the line that went to nobody and some clearances hacked straight out of play, didn't overlap that effectively. Hopefully he'll improve but think it's a bit emperor's new clothes with him from some.
First half Saturday we showed promise at times but we're pretty toothless and disjointed, unsurprising really given the number of new players in the team. Second half was dire in terms of our performance but we showed great resilience and rode our luck. The three points were crucial and we bagged those, that's the main thing. |  |
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