Cant be long now surely?

[mistaram]

Sat 7th which is 5 places below where we were last year

Scored less goals

Conceded more

The football is turgid (although you wouldn't think it judging how some go off on these forums)

Easily bullied out of games

But we made a 3 yard pass forward and Waghorn pressed someone on 70 minutes so it must be "total football"

You were the one calling Rowettball last season ffs

[mistaram]

Apart from not having a 2nd minute goal to our credit, this game was almost a replay of Wednesday's little escapade at Portman Road. Off the pace, harried into errors that we also managed to make even when not harried. Little to no movement off the ball meaning the man in possession had no outlet for the ball. Passes were off target and therefore difficult to control and there numerical superiority in midfield meant that every loose ball was easy pickings. All of the little movements we do to shake off opponents when in possession were all read by BHA and we looked even slower than we were.

Playing 3 in MF against a Premier League MF 5 meant we were facing a long, uphill battle.

We were better 2nd half without looking dangerous having slightly the better of things in the opening 30 of the half. Last 15 or so we went for it and............. not quite.

Turns and flicks and dummies that work week in and week out in the SBC were gobbled up by BHA's midfield.

As Stockers reminded us of with regard to Ipswich, we failed to get into position when not in possession and that made us look poor.

Where oh where is the side that was full of movement and passion and effort earlier this season? The team that we said looked the biz? It wasn't only successful, it was also nice to watch.

Having a half full glass (actually half full bottle of Grolsch at the moment) I don't think the wheels have come off but we need to get back to basics. Moving up and down the pitch as one. Giving teammates options. Pressing the opposition. Not backing off...... and more.

Disappointed? Yes. Definitely. Donhearted? No, not by any stretch of the imagination. Lots of work to be done between now and Wenesday for the visit of Millwall. They will pack midfield and harass and harry us into trouble/mistakes and also not be afraid to leave their foot in. It's a game we can win but we neeed the right players in the right formation in the right frame of mind.

It's a game where I would pack midfield with a 1-3-5-2 formation. I would also go for a balance of skill, speed, yourh and experience. I hope we get it.

Roos - decent game, not at fault for either goal, couple of very good saves. Deserves to keep his place
Bogle - worst game this season. Poor control. Poor passing. Off the pace.
Keogh - some misplaced passes often caused by a lack of teammates to choose. Solid in all othe raspects.
Tomori - slipped for that first tackle but the yellow was correct. After that he was lucky not to get a 2nd. Like Keogh, good in defence but distribution must be better although a lot of the problems were caused by lack of movement ahead
Malone - No major errors but nothing positive either. very average.
Bryson - Put himself about, put in some very necessary challenges, poor control due to poor balls to him. Once he got control he was under pressure.......
Huddlestone - Did what he always does but this time our MF was outnmbered and his usual bag of tricks was insufficient. Caught in possession to often.
Wilson - pretty ananymous. Deserved yellow which VAR looked at to see if it should be red. Never a red. To easily knocked off the ball and is poor in the tackle.
Waghorn - No decent service leading him to poor control leading to pressure on the ball and less than accurate passes
Nugent - Read Waghorn. They both worked hard but that was not enough today.
Holmes - Huffed and puffed all to no avail. Couldn't cope with their bigger physical presence

All in all not good enough. Not a crisis though, IMO.

The ref? First half he got all the calls against us spot on from the fouls he gave to the cards he gave. 2nd half he treated us a bit better. He let BHA get away with worse than we got done for first half and was slightly harsher against them in the 2nd than he had been in the 1st.

MA think your much to kind on these players The usual three played ok Roos Keogh Tomori the rest shocking the two fullback were awful Midfield did we have one Huddleston Bryson Holmes Wilson they don't have a tackle between them no wonder we can't win the ball Wilson has just had five poor games and we are not good enough to carry him Big clear out in the summer not many from today's eleven will still be here hopefully Not looking forward to Millwall they really rough you up and really dangerous at corners that Coopers a beast Then it's on to the cowshed

[MadAmster]

1. Waghorn scores goals when played through the middle? punted back out on the wing next game

2. Marriott dropped completely for Nugent - He's not scored all season

Huddleston plays a blinder one game and then dropped entirely the next

3. Bryson continues to get in ahead of everyone
He's useless I'm sorry, this team is better than its league position and performances, Morris continues to fu** up the manager appointments

1. I agree, that change was a mistake

2. Marriott had a virus that apparently saw him lose 20lbs and then he got an injury. Not fit enough to start. BTW - Nugent HAS scored this season.

3. Bryson was not the worst today by a country mile. Not the player he was and not as good as he was early season but certainly not awful. He was the onlt one in midfield who put himself about today.

[ramAnag]

DCFCA may put his point across in a negative and repetitive way but he’s not entirely wrong is he?
I too am sick of seeing players put in a performance one week and be dropped the next, I’m fed up with the constant tinkering, the reluctance to recognise that we need more bodies in midfield and, for about the fourth manager in succession, the absence of a ‘plan B’.
Honestly can’t see us doing anything this season now. Dreading the next two matches - perhaps that’s a good sign ‘cos I thought we’d win today - but has Lampard really achieved anything much?
He’s certainly been hamstrung by the contracts handed out in previous years but none of Tomori, Wilson or Mount are likely to be with us next season so where’s the progress, where’s the foundation for improvement next season, is he really an improvement on Rowett?
Sadly I’m not sure anymore...hope he stays so at least we have some continuity from one season to the next for a change but looking ahead...I reckon he’s got a lot to prove in the last three months of this season and the first four or five of next.

[AdiSalisbury]

1. I agree, that change was a mistake

2. Marriott had a virus that apparently saw him lose 20lbs and then he got an injury. Not fit enough to start. BTW - Nugent HAS scored this season.

3. Bryson was not the worst today by a country mile. Not the player he was and not as good as he was early season but certainly not awful. He was the onlt one in midfield who put himself about today.

Sorry mate, but if Lawrence, Keogh or Bogle gave the ball away as much as Bryson did today they'd have been boo'd off the pitch. And Nugent's goal at the beginning of the century isn't anything to be proud of. Appreciate your support of the lads, but as usual its our experienced players letting us down

[MadAmster]

Sorry mate, but if Lawrence, Keogh or Bogle gave the ball away as much as Bryson did today they'd have been boo'd off the pitch. And Nugent's goal at the beginning of the century isn't anything to be proud of. Appreciate your support of the lads, but as usual its our experienced players letting us down

You're not all that wrong Adi, my reply was more aimed at the thread opener ignoring Marriott's current state of health, mistakenly saying Nuge hasn't scored and missing out the tackles and harrying Bryson (the only MF player who did) did in the game. It wasn't him who lost the ball leading to their first. Singled out, as I said, when he wasn't the biggest culprit.

The biggest problem our MF had was being outnumbered 5 to 3 which meant they had absolutely no space or time to move and that was the reason for a lot of the errors they made. We neeed plans B, C and D to utilise against teams who flood the midfield and others who are big, physical and cynical. The likes of Wilson, FloJo, Lawrence and Holmes simply can't contend with them.

In short, no suggestion from me that the players don't deserve criticism but I do like criticism to be fair and factual. His comments on Marriott and Nugent showed disdain for facts and, although he wasn't anywhere near his best, Bryson wasn't the worst.

[Andy_Faber]

That was embarrassing to watch and I feel for the faithful who actually made all that effort to see it at the AmEx rather than on telly. Only Roos, Keogh and Tomori (and jozefzoon when he came on) should get any credit, and it’s actually difficult to judge the forwards because the service was so dire. I think it’s time for FL to wake up to the fact that all this passing across the back four doesn’t bloody work. Bring back Schteeve

[Geoff Parkstone]

All the patient passing across the back works if you are a dominant team such as Barcelona or even Chelsea in Frank's day.

But we aren't good enough to make it work. We often get ourselves in a mess trying to pass to much, cave in to pressure from opposition midfield and cannot find space ourselves for an outlet forward pass. Hence it goes back to keeper.

The fundamental problem is that a decent passing back four can get pressurised and panic with a little attention from far less talented aggressive midfielders leaving us nowhere to go. See Bolton, Rotherham, Millwall, Ipswich etc etc

[AdiSalisbury]

I don't have a problem with the back 4 passing it around, what annoys me is the midfield either hiding, or collecting the ball only to pass it straight back - its all too safe / slippery shoulders. Until Flojo came on yesterday, there wasn't a single overlap out wide, meaning our wing backs had no choice but to pass it back inside, or try and beat 2/3 players. It's not good that we struggle without Mount, who no offence to the lad, is basically a kid trying to get some decent experience.

[mistaram]

DCFCA may put his point across in a negative and repetitive way but he’s not entirely wrong is he?
I too am sick of seeing players put in a performance one week and be dropped the next, I’m fed up with the constant tinkering, the reluctance to recognise that we need more bodies in midfield and, for about the fourth manager in succession, the absence of a ‘plan B’.
Honestly can’t see us doing anything this season now. Dreading the next two matches - perhaps that’s a good sign ‘cos I thought we’d win today - but has Lampard really achieved anything much?
He’s certainly been hamstrung by the contracts handed out in previous years but none of Tomori, Wilson or Mount are likely to be with us next season so where’s the progress, where’s the foundation for improvement next season, is he really an improvement on Rowett?
Sadly I’m not sure anymore...hope he stays so at least we have some continuity from one season to the next for a change but looking ahead...I reckon he’s got a lot to prove in the last three months of this season and the first four or five of next.

RA we both know the trouble lack of a midfield general and hard case All our midfielders are the same even the U 23 are all the same he brings King in exactly the same As Lampard done better than Rowett I think he has He's had to rely on three loans who lets face it have saved our season Rowett got lucky with Vydra having a great season and always had backups with Russell Weiman Lawrence Jerome etc I'm never sure FL knows the Championship as well as he thinks he does But I said in August with the financial state the club is in we would finish 12th. so he's doing better at moment than I thought Two tough matches coming up e should no more about us after that