| Mick had a tactical car crash last night 13:44 - Feb 1 with 991 views | Luk38644 |
It was the worst I've seen us under Mick without a shadow of doubt.
From what I heard and read about Preston, we reverted to a 442 system and played well, so when the teams were read out last night, Chambers presence wasn't the only surprise. Why did Mick make three changes and a change of system from a side that played well and was one minute from winning away from home? Mick says it was to counter Derby's three in midfield and have two strikers but the main glaring and costly mistake was at the back.
Derby are well known as a fast-countering side with pace on the wings in a 433, so why did Mick play with wing-backs? They were clearly going to get caught out. Our wing-backs pushed further forward, Derby stole the ball, played it wide and it left us with three CB's vs the likes of Darren Bent, Tom Ince and Abdoul Camara. Why the hell would Mick think that Berra vs Tom Ince was a good idea? I said a few weeks ago that, in the 532 system, Berra and Knudsen on that left-hand-side are our liability, they really look lost in this system. Knudsen isn't a wing-back, he's a bog standard full-back, and Berra is NOT a CB in who can play in a three, I think that's been well established.
Derby clearly knew this and every time they came forward, they got it out to Tom Ince and constantly overlapped. Knudsen and Berra looked petrified. The first goal, look how far inside Berra and Knudsen are, Knudsen is basically playing as a CB, so Skuse goes out wide to cover yet nobody gets close to a Derby player, they all just stand off and Derby score a pathetically easy goal. Derby's second really showed up Berra and Knudsen. Ince loses Knudsen after some terrible positioning, a simple through ball is threaded to Ince who is now behind both Berra and Knudsen, Berra does not get close to Ince who cuts in and finishes it brilliantly. At that point, we go 442, haul Digby off (very harsh, I would have had Berra, Knudsen or Spence off ahead of Digby), and it's too little too late. Their third goal is the most pathetic goal I've seen us concede for a long time. We stand off Derby, Pitman is defending in our box, his marker loses him as you would expect, he then has a good three seconds of no pressure to put a ball in the box and it falls to an UNMARKED Darren Bent. Who the hell is organising that backline? Who leaves Darren Bent unmarked in the six-yard-box whether he's offside or not? The bloke has made a living from poaching and we didn't bother to mark him. Utterly pathetic, and to make it worse, all our players go chasing the ref to appeal for offside - Lads, your p*ss poor attempt at defending is the reason we conceded, nothing to do with Bent being offside.
It was surreal hearing us boo our own team and then cheer the opposition goalscorer, although I can understand why we did because Benty was a terrific player for us and he had the class to not celebrate. I wonder what he thinks of ITFC these days? Brought through the academy, played in a team pushing for promotion playing good football in front of 25k+ a week. Now, we play sh*t football in front of 14k fans under Mick who doesn't value the youth.
The rest of the game was a slog. Why the hell did we end the half with 56% possession yet barely any shots? We just seemed content to pass it around in our own half and not play through midfield, it was sh*t. We improved ever so slightly in the second half but I would suspect Derby just sat off, controlled the game and were happy to just counter-attack when they fancied. They nearly had a fourth.
On one hand, I blame Mick for setting us up how he did last night, on the other hand, I blame the players for not taking control of situations they should know better.
I feel sorry for Bart, he's playing behind a rudderless defence this season and we could be in alot worse shape if Bart hadn't made some cracking saves through the last few months. Berra and Knudsen were dreadful, I'd consider dropping them both if I was Mick, either that or don't play them in that system. Spence looked out of his depth, he looked really poor and not an improvement on Emmanuel in the slightest. His positioning in the wing-back role was as embarrassing as Knudsen's. The only defensive player to come out of last night with a shred of decency was Chambo who had clearly had a hectic day yet still have 100% and a decent performance for the club. For me, losing him yesterday would have been a huge loss, probably one of the biggest we could incur behind Bart. To see him walk off at the end with his hands over his face was saddening really, he clearly cares about this club, he clearly wants to stay yet the club has treated his poorly in the contract situation and some of the fans have been d*ckheads to him down the past few months. This is the kind of man who we need to keep around regardless of who is manager.
Skuse was the biggest disappointment for me last night. Normally, he sits in front of the back four, protects from counter-attacks, moves from left-to-right and harries the opposition. He did none of that last night, him and Bru looked completely lost at times. How many times did Derby have the ball in central midfield on the edge of our box and had time to pick a pass or take a shot? It was far too many times and that's Skuse's job to stop it. Bru was awful, the game bypassed him and he offered nothing. I dread to think how we get on without Tom Lawrence for a few weeks. Sears and Pitman were absent practically all game but I don't blame them, I blame their poor service because, like I said earlier, it seemed none of the midfielders wanted to pick the ball up and get us playing, the defence just knocked it around between themselves at 2-0 down. McG was ineffective and looked rusty but was playing out of position and Keiffar Moore put himself about, won a few headers, kept defenders occupied but it's too early to judge him, but he did more in about five minutes than Sears/Pitman had done all game. He reminded me of Alan Lee but taller.
The whole day yesterday was pathetic and showed how poorly the club is being run. Not only do we not sign a much needed striker after 156 days of having the Murphy money, but we nearly lose our club captain over an extended contract and we end up signing seven players in January, three of which are loans?! Emyr Huws... why? Dominic Samuel... why? Are these players really going to improve us? Of course they're not, and I f*cking hate the phrase 'We need more bodies'... No, we need more quality, I'd much rather have a smaller squad with more quality than a bloated squad filled with loanees and freebies. I can't see these players staying past May, especially if Mick if off, so why bother wasting wages on them? Why not blood some youngsters instead of blooding Reading's? So much for that five-point-plan Marcus you con artist.
The other thing I couldn't work out is, are we backing Mick or is he going in the summer? Did we bid for players we knew we wouldn't get to appease the masses and give us an excuse? ME either had to back Mick with good money or he had to retract all money to save for a new manager and tell Mick to maybe get one or two players to bolster the squad, but not go out and sign loanees but playing the youngsters instead. This club just seems such a mess. The top have no idea where we're going, Mick is going through the motions, the players are out of confidence and out of steam and the fans are depressed, frustrated, angry and I dread to think what ST renewals are going to look like.
TL;DR - We were sh*t, Knudsen and Berra are hopeless in that system, we have to keep Chambers and Evans needs to get this mess sorted out. |  | | |  |
| Mick had a tactical car crash last night on 14:11 - Feb 1 with 915 views | DoobDude |
The unmarked Darren Bent was because he fouled Knudsen, that's what the players were moaning about. But the apathy levels are so high that nobody really cares.
Regarding the loans. We are preparing for life in League 1, that is why we are running down the experienced players contracts and not spending any money.
And you can see the deficiencies with the current squad, so why can't a manager with 20 years experience not see this? There is something going on behind the scenes at our club and it is not pleasant. |  |
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| Mick had a tactical car crash last night on 14:16 - Feb 1 with 875 views | KieranMcKenna1 |
Didn't Evans back Jewell with all those loans then sack him 1 month later? Mick will be gone by mutual consent when we are mathematically safe. [Post edited 1 Feb 2017 14:20]
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| Mick had a tactical car crash last night on 14:16 - Feb 1 with 874 views | Luk38644 |
| Mick had a tactical car crash last night on 14:11 - Feb 1 by DoobDude |
The unmarked Darren Bent was because he fouled Knudsen, that's what the players were moaning about. But the apathy levels are so high that nobody really cares.
Regarding the loans. We are preparing for life in League 1, that is why we are running down the experienced players contracts and not spending any money.
And you can see the deficiencies with the current squad, so why can't a manager with 20 years experience not see this? There is something going on behind the scenes at our club and it is not pleasant. |
I did not see the Bent incident but regardless of whether he fouled Knudsen or not, that ball should not have been in a crossing position and it shouldn't have got into the six-yard box in the first place.
I did question why Mick isn't banging on Evans door more often, or maybe he is and he's told to keep it under wraps? Garry Monk asked for more funds from their owner last month and was outright about needing improvements, so why isn't Mick? | | | |
| Mick had a tactical car crash last night on 14:18 - Feb 1 with 862 views | Luk38644 |
| Mick had a tactical car crash last night on 14:16 - Feb 1 by KieranMcKenna1 |
Didn't Evans back Jewell with all those loans then sack him 1 month later? Mick will be gone by mutual consent when we are mathematically safe. [Post edited 1 Feb 2017 14:20]
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Evans did, yes, and I would imagine Mick will go in the summer and these players are to keep us afloat until then, but if that's the plan, why don't we blood the youngsters rather than loan in players and why were we bidding £2mil for players?
Very bizarre, either save the money for a new manager or back Mick. | | | |
| Mick had a tactical car crash last night on 14:23 - Feb 1 with 810 views | No9 |
Questions surrounding MM's tactics, team selection & substitutions have been numerous since he arrived.
Nothings changed except the results.
Town can no longer turn sows ear into a silk purse with luck & a hind wind. |  | | |
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