Wotfud afterthoughts ............ and Father Chien Christmas

Barnsley worked their socks off ...... and they had a couple of strokes of luck - and they got another win.
But we suffered a battering - even tho Walton didn’t have anything to do - Wotfud could have easily have had a couple of goals.

And the reason we got battered - is that we didn’t offer anything in attack.
The ball when played forward just kept coming back at us - and Wotfud came to realise this during the game.
We are nearly as bad in attack as we were in the Tom Bradshaw days - when he was the only credible striker at the club.
We have tried ....... Miller, Victor and Schmidt ...... they clearly aren’t good enough.
And if Chaplin doesn’t lift his game he can be added to the list.
So ..... we need not just one striker - we need more than that.

A word about Mowatt - well well well - I was one of his strongest critics - but recently he just goes from strength to strength.
Him and James looking the part in midfield.
And again Mowatt showing what he is capable of with another stunning goal.

As for the defence - we have a solid goalkeeper and 3 solid centre backs.
But it became obvious that Wotfud targeted our left side and Styles.
I think Styles is a great player - but he sometimes struggles as a fullback and can forget the space at the back of him.
Time and again, especially in the 1st half, that space was exploited by Wotfud - which on occasions Mads found difficult to cover.

Which brings me onto the absence of cover within the squad.
When we play such a high energetic game - we are going to get strains and injuries.
Currently we have Woodrow, Williams and Brittain out with strains I.e. injuries that were not sustained from contact with an opposing player.
And although Styles is doing his level best - he isn’t a natural wing back - and neither is Odour - no matter how brilliant they are.
But they are playing in those positions because the squad is threadbare.

So we aren’t only short of strikers ...... we are short in other positions.
The conclusion after watching the Wotfud game was this - a great win - but how hard can we expect this threadbare squad to work before we get more players out injured with strains?
Our only hope is this ...... that FATHER CHIEN CHRISTMAS has a few things waiting for us under the Christmas tree with a note attached to them ....... not to be opened until January 1st.

Thaz got to be able to cater for different styles against certain teams. Every team presents a different challenge and if that means changing our approach slightly then that is what we do in order to try and win the game.


As for Chien, tha'll be lucky if he leaves players an apple in their stocking ni mind spending owt.

I think Chien will be the one receiving the present. £3 from the sale of Mowatt

To be honest Nudge when Miller came on the ball started sticking a bit more and he caused Watford more problems than Schmidt did .

The club ain't going on a spending spree in January tha can be certain of that , for one its not run like that and secondly the turnover is down drastically because of the pandemic .

Time to get creative on the training ground in my opinions , could Luke Thomas do us a job at right wing back covering Brittain for example ? .

Give Miller a go from the start against Cardiff and see if he can cause Cardiff problems , nearly all of us were sceptical about Brittain when he arrived but he's turning out to be a smart acquisition .

Just got to get on with it , I'm expecting Mowatt to be sold in January and another bid going in for Whiteman but I'd be amazed if we see any more arrivals without one of the big hitters departing to fund it .

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Originally Posted by animallittle3

To be honest Nudge when Miller came on the ball started sticking a bit more and he caused Watford more problems than Schmidt did .

The club ain't going on a spending spree in January tha can be certain of that , for one its not run like that and secondly the turnover is down drastically because of the pandemic .

Time to get creative on the training ground in my opinions , could Luke Thomas do us a job at right wing back covering Brittain for example ? .

Give Miller a go from the start against Cardiff and see if he can cause Cardiff problems , nearly all of us were sceptical about Brittain when he arrived but he's turning out to be a smart acquisition .

Just got to get on with it , I'm expecting Mowatt to be sold in January and another bid going in for Whiteman but I'd be amazed if we see any more arrivals without one of the big hitters departing to fund it .

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Agree about Miller - the ball did stick more when he came on - it’s just a pity he holds little threat of scoring.
Another positive about Miller is that he pressed and closed down defenders much quicker than what Schmidt did.
Schmidt just seems a slow runner - maybe quick in the box - but who knows.

I would have liked to have seen Thomas on in a forward wide role with Chaplin in the middle.

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Originally Posted by Young_Nudger

Agree about Miller - the ball did stick more when he came on - it’s just a pity he holds little threat of scoring.
Another positive about Miller is that he pressed and closed down defenders much quicker than what Schmidt did.
Schmidt just seems a slow runner - maybe quick in the box - but who knows.

I would have liked to have seen Thomas on in a forward wide role with Chaplin in the middle.

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Nobody missed more chances than Kieffer Moore , some of them were harder to miss but he managed it .

I'd have the big bugga back here in a flash .

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Originally Posted by animallittle3

Nobody missed more chances than Kieffer Moore , some of them were harder to miss but he managed it .

I'd have the big bugga back here in a flash .

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Playing relationship between Woodrow and Moore ......... is sort of reminiscent of Mowatt and James.
During the transfer window I said we needed a replacement for Mowatt.
That replacement should either be a young player costing a couple of million - or an older player from a Premier club.
I went on to say that the replacement for Mowatt would bring out the best of the young players around him.
What actually happened is that the club did actually bring in an older player from a Premier club - who has made the younger players better - but it has also made Mowatt much better.
Woodrow hasn’t been the same player since Moore left.
It makes you wonder what impact another striker, possibly a tall striker, would have on Woodrow and importantly the other strikers at the club.

I think Woodrow ed fallen art wi Struber Nudge abart his deeper role on the pitch.

Body language totally different since Struber left.

Same with Mowatt now he's playing attacking rather than defensive midfield, that role being performed these coming few weeks by James.

With Mowatt not signing a new contract I expect his present form will attract a buyer this January, and maybe Woodrow as well if the offer is big enough (anything above £1.5 million or whatever the release clause is in his new contract)