This Task Is Starting To Look Monumental — Notes for Rotherham Friday, 28th Oct 2016 11:00 by HarryFromBath HarryfromBath assesses the mood in the opposition camp ahead of Saturday’s game at Portman Road by delving into their forums. “We are what we are at the moment in time, a third-tier football club way out of our depth in the Championship”, “Christmas has come early for all our opponents since August”, “Viewed objectively, we are no loss to the Championship”, “We are this season’s Blackpool, albeit with a better pitch.” “The whole thing is a mess.” Saturday’s 1-0 home loss to Reading was the Millers’ seventh straight league defeat and left them eight points from safety at the bottom of the table. The club appointed Kenny Jackett as manager 24 hours before the Royals’ defeat, replacing the dismissed Alan Stubbs. “I have a nasty feeling that we aren’t going to shift from bottom place all season”, “Six points from the first seven games seemed a poor return but they were a rich harvest compared with the next seven games”, “For comparison, nailed-on relegation certainties Burton are 11 points ahead of us.” “It’s important to begin to turn a corner and we may just be doing that now”, “We have got a few weeks to be optimistic”, “Let’s not forget that the Reading defeat was Jackett’s first game. He will have got a good impression of what he has and what needs to be done. It’s very encouraging.” “There is hope.” Millers were at least encouraged by their side’s performance against Reading. “The end of a hectic week and the team showed some fight today, but the result was the same to another promotion contender”, “Is there hope of another miracle with Kenny Jackett at the helm?” Kenny Jackett“A good appointment, I’m much more confident about the future now. I’m not saying we will survive but our chances have improved significantly. If we go down, I can see Jackett putting structures in place for a renewed challenge next year. The odds were on a double relegation with Stubbs here.”  “Good luck Kenny, now we have a chance at least.” Millers have widely welcomed the arrival of the 54-year-old former Wolves and Millwall boss. “The more I think about this appointment, the more I think it’s a cracking move”, “The club needs stability. It needs Jackett’s knowledge and experience.” “Jackett will work quietly behind the scenes but he will sort the squad out”, “He will get the team working hard. He’s very structured and very organized. He will work on the attacking side but, first and foremost he will make sure they know how to defend properly”, “He is just what we need.” “I’m sure Kenny will be able to do a lot more work with the lads in his first full week ahead of the tie at Ipswich. Don’t forget he was only appointed a day before the Reading game”, “It might take a few games to get his plans working but the signs were there on Saturday. A big ask but it can be done.” Formation“Nice to see some organization, and after only one day of Jackett’s arrival too”, “We looked much harder to beat and everyone worked their backsides off. We would have won that with a bit of luck or a worse Reading keeper”, “Reading had a lot of the ball but it was mainly side-to-side stuff.” “We shielded the goal a lot better than we have been. We didn’t make any tackles as such but didn’t let Reading into dangerous areas without pressuring them but didn’t look as good going forward”, “A better, more balanced performance”, “The foundations for a better team which could now emerge.” CampFisherFryWoodMattockTaylorHalfordFrecklingtonNewellWardBlackstock
“It’s nice to see 4-4-2 again”, “That looks like a proper football team.” Last Saturday’s starting XI (above) gave many Millers great heart. Jackett’s team to face the Royals was built around a solid 4-4-2 shape with everybody playing in their strongest positions. “We had round pegs in round holes.” “We looked a lot better organized”, “Real full-backs, real centre-halves, two central midfielders, two wide men and two proven forwards”, “We’re certainly more organized but we’re so short of quality that I wonder whether Jackett will be able to do any more than keep us to respectable defeats.” While the team’s defending has been most criticised, Millers have regularly criticised an overall lack of quality in their squad. Many believe this summer’s poor signings have left the incoming manager short of viable alternatives throughout the squad to deal effectively with losses in form or injuries. “The main problem we have is in midfield”, “You can’t play with a soft-centred midfield but we do”, “Standing off players in this division will lead to losing by every week”, “We conceded midfield and that’s what cost us on Saturday”, “We gave up in midfield, giving the Royals room to run the game.” While fans want to see more midfield tenacity, there is also agreement among Millers that they have been too reliant on the good form of six-goal top-scorer Danny Ward in attack. The arrival of free agent and veteran striker Peter Odemwingie this week has given supporters’ morale a boost. A Chaotic Defensive Legacy“How can a former defender not get his defenders to defend?” “There are just no words to describe some of our defending at all”, “Seven away games, all lost, 23 goals conceded”, “Defensively we are shambolic. We don’t close down, get tight, win or even make challenges on the ground or in the air.” “We need to get in the oppositions’ faces more.” Fans have regularly criticised their milky defending. “I can just about remember when we tackled the opposition. Now we just back off and allow them clear runs on goal”, “Our defenders play like individuals, lacking confidence or not good enough.” CampHalfordKellyBallFisherVaulksFrecklingtonForster-CaskeyTaylorBrownWard
Millers knew the game was up for Alan Stubbs when centre-half Kelvin Wilson was withdrawn with a calf injury after 14 minutes of their 4-2 defeat at Birmingham. The alterations he made (above) left none of the back four playing in their natural positions. “All four goals could have been avoided.” “Darnell Fisher the right-back is playing at left-back. Stephen Kelly the right-back is playing at centre-half. Dominic Ball the sitting midfielder is at centre-half while Greg Halford the central midfielder is playing at right-back. I have no idea why we concede”, “Was Stubbs a defender or did I imagine it?” Rotherham 0 — 1 Reading“That’s it. We were definitely worth a point but it was not meant to be”, “We had more commitment and fire, and our goals against column hasn’t had its ritual hammering”, “We did enough for a draw”, “Al Habsi was the difference in Reading’s goal. He made three very good saves to keep it at nil-all.” Paul McShane struck home on 86 minutes to win the points for Reading after Camp had stopped a Roy Beerens’s shot. The Millers’ keeper had saved an earlier Garath McCleary’s penalty. The visitors finished strongly but their earlier near-monopoly of first-half possession yielded no shots on goal. “We looked exhausted in the last 20 minutes.” Fans felt that tiredness may have taken a toll, and this may have allowed the Royals to control the games’ later stages. “We’re looking tired but still we keep going”, “We are sitting deeper and deeper”, “Losing is never fun, but at least we gave it a go.” Birmingham 4 — 2 Rotherham“Nowt ever changes”, “I can see the sword of Damacles getting ready to swing”, “If you gift-wrap three to four goals on a regular basis you will, in all likelihood, be relegated”, “They looked beaten one the first goal went in”, “Time for a walk around the garden. I may be gone for some time.” City took the lead with a header from Michael Morrison on 15 minutes with Ward equalising for the visitors with a low strike just after the half-hour mark. A Lukas Jutkiewicz header on 35 and Jacques Maghoma's run and finish on 43 minutes gave the hosts a two-goal interval cushion. The half-time inquests were sombre. “That’s three free headers in the first 15 minutes”, “It’s like we’re playing the German national side every week”, “We fold easier than an old tenner”, “Our defending is appalling. No organization at all, shambolic. What do they do on the training ground?” Jon Taylor pulled a goal back on 56 minutes to give the Blues some anxious moments, but a penalty by David Cotterill on 84 minutes confirmed a seventh straight away defeat for Rotherham, breaking a club record which had stretched back 95 years. It was to be Alan Stubbs’s last game in charge. “The largest crime of all is the total lack of work-rate. Players are not closing down all over the pitch. We don’t harass the man in possession. We back off and give him time to pick his runners”, “The one ray of hope from this diabolical mess is that our manager will hopefully be gone by the weekend.” Norwich 3 — 1 Rotherham“The light at the end of the tunnel has just gone out”, “Good luck to those who see this as a decent result”, “Despite brief moments of decent play we were very poor”, “When Norwich lost possession, we played it sideways and backwards instead of counter-attacking”, “Oh, well. We gave it a go.” Wes Hoolahan opened the scoring for the hosts after 17 minutes, rolling the ball home after making space for himself in the Millers’ penalty area. Although dominating the first half, the Canaries had to wait until 65 minutes to double their lead when Cameron Jerome finished off Hoolahan’s cross. Rotherham substitute Dexter Blackstock pulled a goal back on 74 minutes before Stephen Naismith’s tap-in a minute from time secured a comfortable home victory. “Expected nowt, got nowt, c’est la vie”, “Norwich had many chances to put this to bed but luck and bad shooting helped keep us in it.” Goalkeepers and Defenders“Normally a goalie is the last line of defence, not the first. Thank you, Lee Camp.” The 32-year-old former Norwich and Bournemouth man “needs a medal. How would any keeper feel when faced with tissue paper as a form of defence?”, “He must be thinking ‘how the hell do I escape this?’.”  “Lee Camp is the best keeper we have had for years”, “There’s a statement nobody will disagree with”, “The lad is probably shell-shocked with little confidence in his defenders”, “Campy must have caught more crosses and saved more long shots than any keeper in this league”, “He stays for me.” “Joe Mattock was getting pulled in towards the penalty area all the time, giving Reading a lot of room on their right side.” The 26-year-old former Owl “looked off the pace in that game and was easily turned”, “He’s a steady performer most of the time but he plainly isn’t an attacking left-back.” “Working up and down the line is a requirement for the modern full-back and Mattock simply does not do enough”, “He plays well is patches but then makes some really odd choices with his passing and positioning”, “He misplaces passes and runs into trouble instead of laying the ball off simply.” “A decent signing.” Millers have far more confidence in right-back Darnell Fisher. The 22-year-old summer addition from Celtic “is the only defensive beacon of hope”, “He could turn out to be this season’s star player. He started steadily but has been getting better with every game”, “ “We look dangerous when the ball goes wide to Fisher”, “Darnell can do a job at left-back but he desperately needs to be on his more natural right side”, “He challenges both in the air and on the ground and closes down well, but he cannot continue to cover for his defensive colleagues.” “Stephen Kelly is just poor, past it, gone. He offers less than nothing and he requires a defender to cover for him.” The 33-year-old former Reading right-back “was easily beaten in the air at the back post for Birmingham’s first goal”, “Solid and dependable on his day but he lacks an attacking threat.” “Let’s just say that Kelvin Wilson’s injury at Birmingham was a blessing.” The 31-year-old August arrival from Forest “is well past his prime at this level. He doesn’t seem to remember how to kick a ball”, “I’m sick of the mistakes he makes. He has become quite leaky, costing us time and again.”  “Wilson is a decent player. He is technically good and positionally sound but has played just over 90 games in the past five seasons due to injury.” Many weren’t surprised at news of his latest knock. “At least he had the decency to get injured at Birmingham”, “He was poor for the time he was on.” “Dael Fry is a steady enough player. He looks like he can play the ball out of defence and spot a pass. Middlesbrough think highly of the lad, he’s one for the future.” The 19-year-old centre-half is on a season-long loan the Teessiders. “He has done well and look quite comfortable when on the ball.” “Fry is good on the ball and had a couple of excellent performances for us last season.” The England U20 international is rated by fans at the Riverside Stadium. “He needs a full season on loan playing ‘proper’ football. It will be the making of him, but he must go to a club where he will get game time.” Richard Wood“We need 11 Richard Woods”, “We looked a lot stronger in defence with him back in there”, “It was a welcome return for Wood against Reading. Why Stubbs could not see that this player needed to be in the back line is beyond me”, “Wood wins a lot in the air, stays calm and appears to be a leader.” “If we get out of this mess, it will be because of the Richard Woods of this world.” The 31-year-old ex-Charlton man “was outstanding against Reading”, “He was out of the picture for two months and came back as fit as anyone. He is a hardened professional”, “An old school English centre-half.” Central Midfielders“Jake Forster-Caskey invariably retains possession, but he needs a bit more end-product and needs to pick up the tempo.” The 22-year-old Brighton loanee is a fringe player. “The phrase ‘busy going nowhere’ springs to mind. He is not a combative ball-winner and he lacks conviction in his passing.” “Scott Allan has good vision and control in midfield and an eye for a pass.” The 24-year-old Celtic loanee “is one of our most immobile players and hasn’t got the engine to work on and off the ball”, “He’s technically good, but part of the problem with his movement is that he’s unsure where to be.” “We get outplayed when Tom Adeyemi is on the pitch.” The 24-year-old Cardiff loanee “can shore it up if we need to bring someone on to help see out a game”, “His game lacks aggression and desire, and I’m not sure these things can be coached”, “We have better players than him in our U21 squad.” “Dominic Ball is totally shell-shocked. The youngster is being totally dominated by Birmingham’s big forwards.” The 21-year-old arrival from Spurs spent last season on loan at Glasgow Rangers. “He’s comfortable on the ball and is mobile. He has a mistake or two in him but is young and will learn.” The is one area where Rangers and Millers are in agreement. “No way is Ball the answer at centre-half”, “He’s a defensive midfielder. He’s versatile in the role, freeing up midfielders to move forward better while covering the defence”, “A mixture of being invaluable and making schoolboy errors.” “I have yet to see Will Vaulks impose himself on anyone yet this season. He wants to be a star player who runs midfield and springs passes. The sooner he realises he is not that player, the better.” The 23-year-old summer signing from Falkirk “is a box-to-box player who is at his best breaking up play.” “Birmingham took a forward off and put in a midfielder to sit on Vaulks as he keeps play moving”, “It’s just some of his decision-making that blots his copybook”, “He can make rash decisions and get caught out of position”, “He can pick a pass and is cool in possession but prone to the odd mistake.” “Neil Warnock said last season that Greg Halford responds best to an arm around the shoulder and encouraging him to believe in himself. Hauling him into the office will not help his case.” The 31-year-old former Forest man “is streets ahead of so many of our other players with his ability.” Millers agree that Halford’s confidence suffered under Stubbs. “He was unreliable used as a right-back. He does not get tight enough or fight back against his man”, “He is much better playing in front of the defence but physically weaker and inferior players have been selected ahead of him there.” Lee Frecklington“Frecks was at the heart of everything we did at Birmingham and showed early on the benefits of closing down when he nicked one ball high up the pitch”, “The team have looked up for it, helped by his continuous encouragement”, “I feel so much better about our prospects when he’s fit and firing.”  “Our talisman without a doubt.” The 31-year-old ex-Peterborough man “epitomises everything good at the New York Stadium. The pulse of the club is inside him”, “He gives us that determination and drive that we have found hard to replace”, “He has stood the test of time and has been awesome.” Wide Midfielders“Isaiah Brown was a liability when he came on against Reading.” The 19-year-old Chelsea loanee “was a disgrace, playing the petulant teenager with the bottom lip stuck out”, “He’s a young man with oodles of talent but a poor attitude. It appears that hard work and application are not for him.” “Brown is a luxury player. On his day, he will get you on the edge of your seat. He terrifies defenders when on his game”, “He’s not for a struggling side. If he ever tracks back it is a token effort without putting in a challenge”, “We need players who will commit to a relegation battle. Izzy is not for us.” Millers have had little to say about Anthony Forde. The 22-year-old summer addition from Walsall “came on against Reading and had a good game”, “We might have to be patient with this signing. He can play on both flanks or behind the striker so he will become a useful squad player to have.” “Joe Newell hasn’t been the same since coming back from his niggling injuries. Let’s just hope that’s down to fitness levels.” The 23-year-old ex-Peterborough man “is lacking form and can’t play for more than an hour. He’s plainly not fully fit”, “He shows more timidity in his play than previously.” “Just because Newell has a left foot doesn’t mean we have to play him on the wing and definitely not at left-back. He is not a defensive player”, “He could show more desire to defend”, “He have had him playing on the left wing because we had nobody better”, “He looks tired and below form.” Jon Taylor“Taylor is starting to show a real directness and threat in his game.” The 24-year-old former Posh man “is a determined player who knows when to get on with it”, “He provides trickery on the wings and gives us an extra dimension”, “He is certainly all-action and he knows where the onion-bag is.” “I like Taylor’s effort but he’s too small and gets shoves off the ball”, “For all his effort he doesn’t always beat his man”, “He’s like a bottle of pop, he fizzes sometimes”, “He runs at defenders which is a positive”, “He has good feet, a good work rate and he has been a lot more direct lately.” Strikers“Is if me or does Dexter Blackstock seem to run in slow motion? He definitely needs an extra yard of pace for Christmas this year”, “I am impressed by his heading. Maybe some of the surging runs are beyond him now but he might get a few goals with quality deliveries if he can find good positions.” The 30-year-old former Forest man was used by Stubbs as a bench option but started against the Royals. “He’s certainly off the pace now”, “Dexter used to be a player who could hold the ball up and distribute it, something we have missed”, “I hope he’s getting fit and that’s not all he has to offer.” Danny Ward“There were times when Danny Ward didn’t have many friends, but he’s now our major asset.” The 25-year-old ex-Terrier “is not a fox-in-the-box or a poacher. His technical ability is not outstanding but one thing you cannot question is his effort”, “Apart from Ward we have nothing up front."  “I hope Ward keeps fit until January otherwise we are screwed”, “When he has a bad game, at least he puts the effort in”, “His lack of ability with his right foot has been a problem in the past, catching him waiting to manoeuvre the ball”, “He’s a useful and such a dangerous option on the left-wing.” “Ward must be thoroughly fed up. How many goals is he going to have so score this year?”, “He cannot ever have had a better run than the one he’s on right now”, “He cannot be faulted and he can operate on the left-flank as well as up front”, “Our top scorer will always get a chance or two.” Peter Odemwingie“We need a striker in yesterday.” The arrival of 35-year-old former Stoke striker and free agent on a short-term deal has been warmly welcomed. “He looks a lean striking machine”, “He could be the foil for a good partnership with Ward”, “He will hopefully scare and definitely worry defenders.”  The one-time Nigeria international is well-regarded by Stoke supporters: “He was sensational at first but didn’t look the same after his knee injury against Manchester City [in 2004]”, “He seemed to lose a yard of pace and never got his fitness back all season”, “We looked short on ideas after his injury.” “Without Odemwingie’s goals when he first arrived here [at Stoke] we would have been in a right fix”, “I love the guy. I still think he would have been the answer to our recent goal drought”, “He’s not the player he one was, but he was clinical around the box and a great ambassador for the club.” Millers’ Views on ITFC and the Game“I'm going but not expecting to get anything but defeat”, “We are going, more in hope of a point although we did win at Portman Road last season.” Millers forums have been very quiet and there has been virtually nothing said about Saturday’s game apart from the two comments above. If there is sufficient additional discussion worth forwarding, I will sum this up and add it to our forum on Saturday morning and also link this on my Twitter feed. WebsitesThe busiest Millers’ forum is http://boards.footymad.net/forumdisplay.php?f=2602. Additional comment can be found at http://www.millersbanter.co.uk/f615084/football-sport-rufc-related/.
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