| A few thoughts on this season 09:05 - Mar 8 with 3050 views | Steve_M |
I've found the reaction to Saturday a bit odd, certainly well over the top for the first game under a new manager. That change only took place because the squad had been underperforming, something three good wins in a week doesn't change instantly. Certainly Saturday wasn't objectively worse than Peterborough away or the first half against Northampton.
It was a poor performance though, I don't think anyone had a particularly impressive game and several players were well below recent standards. All three goals a culmination of multiple failings. Against that Gillingham played well, a mix of high-tempo play and a fair bit of gamesmanship when they lost the ball was very effective, the speed and precision of the break for the decisive second goal especially - even allowing for our errors.
I think it showed that a lot of those players were playing their fifth match in a fortnight, that with two long midweek away trips in too. It showed in the second half against Accrington too and, perhaps ordinarily, there would have been a few changes for Saturday but it would have been difficult for Cook to do that after three straight wins.
The other repeated failing was our decision making, pick a player and there was an example of it: Dozzell's tackle before the first goal, Norwood's concentration, Bennetts' dwelling on the ball, passing the ball sideways rather than lumping it into the box in the last 10 seconds of first-half injury time etc etc.
To read some of the flouncing then none of our players are good enough for this level which is nonsense but that commentary reflects fans who have seen three rubbish years in a row at this football club - some of that rubs off on the players too, the mentality is not one that believes we will come through every setback, because - recently - we clearly haven't.
Much of that comes from the confusion left by the previous manager (and his predecessor), a large unwieldy squad and players uncertain of their roles. It's something a good manager will improve, probably fairly quickly but not really in two days. We lost 5-0 and 6-0 in McCarthy's second and fourth matches here, the second half against Palace was far more pathetic than Saturday was (and Leicester apparently worse still although I didn't go to that) yet within weeks some of the resilience that MM bought was apparent.
Taken as a whole the last month has been fairly good, eighth in the third division isn't where I want us to be but without those three wins it would be a lot worse and we are only a couple of points off the play-offs which is the realistic ambition for this season now. It's up to Cook and the players too get there now, there's certainly enough ability in the squad to achieve that just needs some work on the basic failings that are too evident too often.
The real failing here is Marcus Evans' indecisiveness, it was clear Lambert was failing again in the Autumn but - again- he proved reluctant to sack a failing manager, leaving the change far too late and possibly consigning us to a third season in this division as a result.
|  |
| |  |
| A few thoughts on this season on 09:25 - Mar 8 with 2939 views | hype313 |
Good synopsis Steve, pretty much concur with all of that.
I'm quite relaxed about Saturday, it was always going to be a tough fixture, especially given the recent run of games.
We take it on the chin, I'm sure a bit of rest and a few days of Cook instilling his philosophy will reap benefits.
Thankfully results helped us too at the weekend. |  |
| |
| A few thoughts on this season on 09:27 - Mar 8 with 2922 views | chrismakin |
I think after the wins. People expected saturday to and even higher level of effort and reward the sad fact is it was worse than against Northampton. |  |
| |
| A few thoughts on this season on 09:30 - Mar 8 with 2891 views | Bluefish |
Agreed, I've stayed away largely because it seemed such a bizarre mass reaction
I am particularly confused by the fact that we apparently won't win games while Evans is here. I do wonder what people think his role is, in fact I wonder why people parrott out this nonsense without giving it a thought [Post edited 8 Mar 2021 9:33]
|  |
| |
| A few thoughts on this season on 09:32 - Mar 8 with 2892 views | Swansea_Blue |
I was at least hoping for a bit of a mental reaction and that one or two may have wanted to impress the new boss. Didn't see evidence of either strangely. |  |
| |
| A few thoughts on this season on 09:48 - Mar 8 with 2826 views | NthQldITFC |
Agreed. I'm not sure whether that scale of overreaction is peculiar to ITFC fans given our long, dark winter of decay, more likely just the habitual amateur dramatics of society today I think.
Also extra uppie for a suitable use of an apostrophe relating to Bennetts in paragraph 4.  |  |
| # WE ARE STEALING THE FUTURE FROM OUR CHILDREN --- WE MUST CHANGE COURSE # | | Poll: | It's driving me nuts |
| |
| A few thoughts on this season on 09:49 - Mar 8 with 2816 views | Darth_Koont |
My thoughts entirely. Even at League One level, it’s still all about margins and that’s compounded when we’re predominantly talking team issues re: confidence, set up and game plan that have all been relatively poor for a longer period.
As you rightly say, even when Mick came in and sorted these things out far quicker than anyone imagined, there were still teething problems at the very start. The silver lining in Saturday’s defeat and performance is now Cook has a lot more information about the players and the freedom if he wants to depart from the approach that had given us a pretty streaky winning run. |  |
| |
| A few thoughts on this season on 09:51 - Mar 8 with 2801 views | Guthrum |
Indeed. Spot on. |  |
| |
| A few thoughts on this season on 09:58 - Mar 8 with 2712 views | Keno |
well said |  |
| |
Login to get fewer ads
| A few thoughts on this season on 09:59 - Mar 8 with 2705 views | homer_123 |
Agree with that Steve, though, like Swansea, I'd have expected to have seen 'some' sort of reaction from the players, given Cooks first game in charge. |  |
| |
| A few thoughts on this season on 10:26 - Mar 8 with 2634 views | patrickswell |
If I can put my pseuds hat on for a moment, I think Saturday's reaction was three years' worth of frustration finally bursting over the heads of the players/squad at large. They have nothing to hide behind now. In the past, it was always someone else's fault (Hurst, Lambert, Evans) or there were mitigating circumstances (Hurst's methods will take time, Lambert's positive early PR built up a shield as we were relegated, coping with pressure etc).
There's none of that now though, and really won't be through to the end of the season. The performance on Saturday felt like a metaphorical slap in the face both to Cook and to us. "Getting a bit optimistic about the future are you? Well, we can't be having that..." For it to follow that limp relegation and capitulation last season, I think broke a few donkey's backs. They won't be "getting away with murder" anymore either in Cook's eyes or the fanbase's. |  | | |
| A few thoughts on this season on 10:48 - Mar 8 with 2539 views | Radlett_blue |
On the back of 3 wins, however they were achieved, some were hoping for another win & signs of intensity under a new manager. Gillingham weren't going to be an easy team to get the ball down against, which is the way to beat them, especially after we conceded early.
The timing of Cook's substitutions was unfortunate. He was probably going to make them & change was needed & then we equalised out of nowhere & Sears gave the ball away carelessly, leading to the decisive goal.
Cook has had no time to work with the players & far too early for him to assess Town's best XI, although they will need to fit into his 4-2-3-1. He will have relied on Gill, hence the virtually unchanged team. I guess it will be tweaking from here, but looking forward to some more clues as to how Cook wants Town to play. We controlled the ball so poorly on Saturday that it was impossible to tell. |  |
| |
| A few thoughts on this season on 10:49 - Mar 8 with 2534 views | OsborneOneNil |
| A few thoughts on this season on 09:49 - Mar 8 by Darth_Koont |
My thoughts entirely. Even at League One level, it’s still all about margins and that’s compounded when we’re predominantly talking team issues re: confidence, set up and game plan that have all been relatively poor for a longer period.
As you rightly say, even when Mick came in and sorted these things out far quicker than anyone imagined, there were still teething problems at the very start. The silver lining in Saturday’s defeat and performance is now Cook has a lot more information about the players and the freedom if he wants to depart from the approach that had given us a pretty streaky winning run. |
Like you say, it may not be a bad thing that we were so awful. Cook can see what he’s got, where we are etc. He can make decent changes and it’s fully justified.
People losing their sh1t after his first game. Mind blowing. |  | | |
| A few thoughts on this season on 10:49 - Mar 8 with 2532 views | Steve_M |
| A few thoughts on this season on 09:59 - Mar 8 by homer_123 |
Agree with that Steve, though, like Swansea, I'd have expected to have seen 'some' sort of reaction from the players, given Cooks first game in charge. |
That implies a lack of effort though, not sure that was really the case on Saturday. It didn't help we threw the game away so soon after getting back into it.
Certainly the way heads went down after that was disappointing. | |
| |
| A few thoughts on this season on 10:53 - Mar 8 with 2507 views | RegencyBlue |
I agree with a lot of that but I just do not get why so many people think this squad is so much better than it really is.
Primarily it’s still mainly the remnants of MM’s final season, when the cracks were already beginning to show, Hursts suicidal dismantling and rebuilding and then relegation under Lambert. It really isn’t all that!
As I said on a thread yesterday we have a huge squad of players that nobody else wants, sick notes, players coasting to the end of their careers and, frankly, dross. Lambert didn’t cover himself in glory here, and needed to go, but Gillingham showed there are many other failings on the playing side. [Post edited 8 Mar 2021 11:41]
|  | | |
| A few thoughts on this season on 10:55 - Mar 8 with 2487 views | Beckets |
| A few thoughts on this season on 10:49 - Mar 8 by Steve_M |
That implies a lack of effort though, not sure that was really the case on Saturday. It didn't help we threw the game away so soon after getting back into it.
Certainly the way heads went down after that was disappointing. |
I think he got early sight of how mentally fragile the team is and how they can be outmuscled particularly in midfield. He’ll know that there is talent in the squad but equally a lot of deadwood which he can dispose of in the summer. I expect him to ease the loanees out of the side as the weeks progress and perhaps put more reliance on experience in the short term than we might of expected. For instance once fit I expect Skuse to come into the team. |  | | |
| A few thoughts on this season on 11:07 - Mar 8 with 2449 views | Radlett_blue |
| A few thoughts on this season on 10:53 - Mar 8 by RegencyBlue |
I agree with a lot of that but I just do not get why so many people think this squad is so much better than it really is.
Primarily it’s still mainly the remnants of MM’s final season, when the cracks were already beginning to show, Hursts suicidal dismantling and rebuilding and then relegation under Lambert. It really isn’t all that!
As I said on a thread yesterday we have a huge squad of players that nobody else wants, sick notes, players coasting to the end of their careers and, frankly, dross. Lambert didn’t cover himself in glory here, and needed to go, but Gillingham showed there are many other failings on the playing side. [Post edited 8 Mar 2021 11:41]
|
While Town's huge squad is still unbalanced, the team has been underperforming for nearly 2 seasons in this league. I think any decent manager would get more out of this squad - most of them are at least above average 3rd tier players. Given time, I would expect Cook to do so. | |
| |
| A few thoughts on this season on 11:08 - Mar 8 with 2442 views | LankHenners |
Your last para is it really - Saturday was strong evidence that Lambert should’ve gone a long time ago so Cook (or indeed anyone else) could have had a proper run up with this team rather than having to try and turn it around when it’s out of the habit of winning and playing well with any consistency.
That so many players were under par (including some of the ones brought on for other poor performers) gives Cook a bit of a problem but everything about his career to date suggests he’s wise enough to sort it out.
The other thing about the game was that you could see there were occasional signs of trying to play Cook’s preferred way but it was a bit of a muddled team to do it well. Wilson and Nsiala’s distribution is woeful on the whole which will be a problem going forward yet they’ve proved to be the most solid pairing, whilst Bennetts and Harrop largely failed to contribute meaningfully, as did Edwards and Sears (can’t remember there being such a wretched sub performance as that for a long while) similarly didn’t have a positive impact when they came on.
Will be interesting to see how he manages it - clearly the team needs some rotation, but like McCarthy I can’t see him wanting to stray too far away from fielding as many experienced senior pros as possible given the increasingly urgent need to get wins on the board. |  |
| |
| A few thoughts on this season on 11:21 - Mar 8 with 2369 views | Swansea_Blue |
| A few thoughts on this season on 10:49 - Mar 8 by Steve_M |
That implies a lack of effort though, not sure that was really the case on Saturday. It didn't help we threw the game away so soon after getting back into it.
Certainly the way heads went down after that was disappointing. |
Sharpness just wasn't there imo. They weren't switched on and the body language looked pretty off a lot of the time.
I find it difficult to evaluate how off the field issues affect them though, as we've seen the worst of us and some nice stuff too in consecutive games. It's been a very odd season performance-wise. A real Jekyll and Hyde team this year. | |
| |
| A few thoughts on this season on 12:00 - Mar 8 with 2246 views | Steve_M |
| A few thoughts on this season on 11:08 - Mar 8 by LankHenners |
Your last para is it really - Saturday was strong evidence that Lambert should’ve gone a long time ago so Cook (or indeed anyone else) could have had a proper run up with this team rather than having to try and turn it around when it’s out of the habit of winning and playing well with any consistency.
That so many players were under par (including some of the ones brought on for other poor performers) gives Cook a bit of a problem but everything about his career to date suggests he’s wise enough to sort it out.
The other thing about the game was that you could see there were occasional signs of trying to play Cook’s preferred way but it was a bit of a muddled team to do it well. Wilson and Nsiala’s distribution is woeful on the whole which will be a problem going forward yet they’ve proved to be the most solid pairing, whilst Bennetts and Harrop largely failed to contribute meaningfully, as did Edwards and Sears (can’t remember there being such a wretched sub performance as that for a long while) similarly didn’t have a positive impact when they came on.
Will be interesting to see how he manages it - clearly the team needs some rotation, but like McCarthy I can’t see him wanting to stray too far away from fielding as many experienced senior pros as possible given the increasingly urgent need to get wins on the board. |
Indeed, that's why I wrote a whole blog at the time. It wouldn't have taken much to have another 5 or 6 points from the matches in 2021 alone. That changes the dynamic of the run in even before accounting for the better organisation and higher level of confidence.
i suppose the ideal for rotation is something like McCarty achieved in Autumn 2014: two of Hyam/Tabb/Skuse deep plus Williams/Bru/Bishop and then one of Hunt or Anderson pushed up alongside McGoldrick and Murphy. The structure didn't change but a few players did and then not always for every match.
It puts a little bit more pressure back on us for Tuesday night, and it's a real pity not to have fans in the ground for that, but I suspect we can play a lot better without too many changes. | |
| |
| A few thoughts on this season on 12:36 - Mar 8 with 2173 views | LankHenners |
| A few thoughts on this season on 12:00 - Mar 8 by Steve_M |
Indeed, that's why I wrote a whole blog at the time. It wouldn't have taken much to have another 5 or 6 points from the matches in 2021 alone. That changes the dynamic of the run in even before accounting for the better organisation and higher level of confidence.
i suppose the ideal for rotation is something like McCarty achieved in Autumn 2014: two of Hyam/Tabb/Skuse deep plus Williams/Bru/Bishop and then one of Hunt or Anderson pushed up alongside McGoldrick and Murphy. The structure didn't change but a few players did and then not always for every match.
It puts a little bit more pressure back on us for Tuesday night, and it's a real pity not to have fans in the ground for that, but I suspect we can play a lot better without too many changes. |
You couldn't pick a better fixture and day for a manager's first home game which is a great shame but it is what it is.
Agree re: the McCarthy rotation - one of his strengths (for that season at least) was an ability to change that midfield around when necessary without affecting the overall effectiveness. That's something that comes down to good coaching and giving clear instructions, which is apparently something Cook brings to the table but time will tell if he can manage that effectively.
With the midfielders we have we should be able to field a line-up that can do the business, though we haven't had any or all of them fit enough or playing well enough to make it a proper engine room. A Skuse/Downes partnership at the weekend, had it been possible, would've made a big difference for example. As it is Downes has been letting his ill-disciplined side get the better of him, whilst Dozzell remains something of an enigma and Bishop has good spells without properly taking charge.
As you say the potential is certainly there and hopefully Cook can coach it into what we all hope it can be. | |
| |
| A few thoughts on this season on 12:52 - Mar 8 with 2124 views | IpswichKnight |
I do think we looked very leggy in that game against a well organised and physical Gillingham. I did think we would rotate a few players for that game ( Matheson in for Toto with Chambers moving to CB, Downes for Dozzell and Edwards for Bennetts) and I think we will see the rotation tomorrow night. |  | | |
| A few thoughts on this season on 13:11 - Mar 8 with 2070 views | itfcjoe |
This is a good piece, obviously PL and VAR feature but some lines really leap out:
https://theathletic.com/2426781/2021/03/07/football-on-your-own-makes-victories-
Even the title
Football on your own makes victories duller and defeats harder. I hate it
I have sat through games this season where I’ve greeted wonderful moments by silently sinking further into my sofa. Victories have become less special because no one is beside me to enjoy them with. Defeats are harder to overcome because there is nobody around to bounce your frustrations off.
I have since tried to keep in touch with my mates via what are now considered the traditional routes – text messages and WhatsApp groups. I love each one of my friends and value their opinions (even yours, Howie), but distant contact during games only serves to remind me that we are attempting to muddle through strange, unsettling times when football for everyone is watched at the same distance and this means you are also sharing your experience with the fans of clubs who are not even involved. It is increasingly difficult to ensure their views do not become a distracting feature of your match day.
It has not always been the way. For years, the reception at Anfield was terrible and this meant nobody was able to communicate with the outside world. Across 90 minutes, all that mattered was Liverpool. Even amid the collective bedlam, you could establish your own independence from everything else going on in the world, delivering a unique sense of peace. I want that back. I want posh Eddie Howe back. I want Mr Temporarily Furious back, unloading empties into the atmosphere. |  |
| |
| A few thoughts on this season on 19:39 - Mar 8 with 1869 views | Melford |
I'm giving every player a clean slate since PC has come in. They haven't been managed properly for years now.
If was asked at work to do Steak Night with a microwave instead of a grill for a couple of years everybody would think I was a sh!t chef. I'd get on with it and try to do my best but I'm also thinking "this is awful, it's never going to work, ***k knows why I'm doing it like this but that's what the boss wants me to do" and if I said anything against it I'd be stuck on washing-up and taking the bins out. |  |
| |
| A few thoughts on this season on 19:45 - Mar 8 with 1855 views | southnorfolkblue |
I think you’re wrong on one key point. Nobody is suggesting that these players aren’t good enough for this level. Indeed that’s the point, this is the correct level for too many of this squad.
The issue for most, I suspect, is that these players aren’t good enough to get us out of this level. | |
| |
| |
By continuing to use the site, you agree to our use of cookies and to abide by our Terms and Conditions.
