Its needs must at the moment so I dont care about style or if its negative
Playing with one striker who isnt a centre forward isnt great (1 up front doesnt mean negative its just JS isnt best suited to holding up or winning flicks to bring others in)
We play some decent football but didnt create many clear cut chances, few shots from outside the box
Defensively looked more resolute but individual errors are always there lurking
No threat from set pieces and not winning a corner all game tells a bit of a story also
It is what it is at the moment, Im not interested in style points with 6 games to go
TarquinLazy pigeon holing. Rowett is a pragmatist but people forget the team he inherited at Blues first time round. They were a mess and amongst the lowest wage bill in the division. He maximised what he could.
At Derby they played good football and scored over 70 goals in one season.
He shat the bed at Stoke, as did loads of managers there in that era.
Pragmatic at Millwall but again limited resources. Did well but just like at Blues fans wanted more football wise.
He's a pragmatist for sure and sets up teams to be solid first and foremost. The stardust comes once you have the solidity and the personnel.
He's very competent. Jury out on whether he can take teams to the next level but knows what he's doing.
All of that said, Mowbray next season please
This is one the most balanced threads on here in a long time.
I agree with the above.
Thought we were more solid. Play when we can, but don't overdo it in the wrong areas.
The midfield really do look good. Bielik providing a great base to build from. A bit more composure in the final third please, and more players committed into the box but that has been an issue since Rooney came in.
It was pretty similar to what we did under Eustace at the start of the season really
4231
Mostly short passes but went long when there was nothing on, played some tidy stuff but had a decent balance between risk and reward.
Didn't commit loads of men forward but had a nice enough balance with a strong midfield anchor in Bielik
The difference being we had a significant upgrade on Sunjic in the form of Paik, and Laird probably didn't get forward quite as often.
This squad is perfectly capable when set up in the correct way, it was absolutely fine for the most part under the two competent managers we've had this season, it's only the spells under he who cannot be named, and a poor bloke who didn't want the job or the pressure, that have landed us in this situation.
Le ModIt was pretty similar to what we did under Eustace at the start of the season really
4231
Mostly short passes but went long when there was nothing on, played some tidy stuff but had a decent balance between risk and reward.
Didn't commit loads of men forward but had a nice enough balance with a strong midfield anchor in Bielik
The difference being we had a significant upgrade on Sunjic in the form of Paik, and Laird probably didn't get forward quite as often.
This squad is perfectly capable when set up in the correct way, it was absolutely fine for the most part under the two competent managers we've had this season, it's only the spells under he who cannot be named, and a poor bloke who didn't want the job or the pressure, that have landed us in this situation.
Good post - exactly. I did comment during the game yesterday that it wasn't dissimilar to our approach early on in the season. I could never have it that the players aren't good enough, or bothered enough, to be OK in this division. Competent managers will nurture that. Incompetent ones won't.
Nikola ZigicDoes this mean there are signs he's learned and will become more adventurous with better players, do you think?
Honestly, I don't know without seeing training or hearing any insight from him about how he's approaching things. He could just as easily be benefitting from the foundations laid by others in terms of implementing attacking phases of play.
Let me know what he says when he next speaks, I still can't quite bring myself to listen to what he finks yet.
Yes - we’ve seen time after time these last 10 years+ the difference made ( to the same set of players) by a manager that knows how to set up a team as opposed to one that doesn’t.
The same players look like completely different ones.
The biggest difference I noticed yesterday was the intensity. Right from the off we looked like we meant business.
That (change in) mindset is massive (in any sport)
Nikola ZigicSuper HansTruth is somewhere in the middle of that.
We played some nice stuff while looking fairly toothless for most of the first half. Most importantly we looked a lot more solid than under Venus.
We did look toothless, but I don't think that had anything to do with the setup.
We look toothless because we've got a young lad with limited physicality in between two lump centre halves every week.
Stansfield is great, mind. Love the bugger.
I don't think us being toothless was due to intent.
It was a winning performance. We were far more solid. Those are the two key things that matter.
I agree with the point about Stansfield, or whoever, up top. Every team we have played recently (probably, in fact, most of the Championship) have had hulking, lump-type centre-halves.
With no Jukey we have a physical mis-match in the final third of the field. That's why, with the players we have, we are trying to pick our way through, with intricate passes. Aside from Dembele, we don't have that ball carrier or dribbler who goes past opponents in a direct manner and can stretch a game, like a Redmond or a Gray.
So we are having to adjust the way we play to the personnel, who are also having to listen to yet another coach/manager and take on board his ideas. You can be forgiven for thinking they might have been a bit frazzled and confused of late.
Bielik in front of the back four, returning to what was effective early on this season, makes sense.
For me it is about being tougher to beat than we were in the previous games. As Rowett said, doing the basics and doing them well. Then that's your platform and hopefully we can build confidence and get enough points from playing in a way that works and gets results.
The be all and end all is staying in this league come May. However it has been acheived.
Bielik was fantastic, clearing up and making simple passes. Also if a defender followed a forward who dropped off, Bielik would automatically drop back and fill the gap
Did Bielik play for Rowett last time? Or just Zola?
TallBielik was fantastic, clearing up and making simple passes. Also if a defender followed a forward who dropped off, Bielik would automatically drop back and fill the gap
Bielik under Rooney looked like one of our worst ever players, running through treacle. Now he looks like a proper Polish international midfielder. I've watched football for decades but it frustrates me that I can't put my finger on what the difference is. He's still playing central midfield. I'm guessing that he is not being exposed in the way that he was under Rooney, but I don't really know why.
Paik. Someone who competent basically.
When he’s in the middle with Sunjic he’s constantly chasing the ball. When we play with Paik we have someone who uses the ball
I think Paik is great but Beilik was fine with Sunjic under Eustace. It's under Rooney that he looked awful, and Sunjic didn't play much for Rooney. I suppose we were such a mess that Beilik's lack of pace became exposed in a way that wasn't noticeable before.
Think it was cause he was having to play box to box under Rooney. He played more of the anchor role under Eustace, and again on Monday with rowett. Probably helped having Paik as well next to him who can receive and pass the ball well.
PNE made us look very good.
We made PNE look shit.