preston (away)predictions

[AucklandRover]

Personal opinion this;
Robin and Gards smack on.
That for me was and should have been a 3 - 1 loss ie '2 for' flattered us embarrassingly .
Just my opinion, but we were awful for the major part of that game.
Yet again - midfield where on earth were you?
People pillory BFS .......but come on!

I don't entirely agree, Despair. We were awful until they went 2-1 in front, but we then dominated completely until we equalised. After that, poor again.
The key to the way the match went is that we relied entirely on hoofball until PNE were 2-1 up. We then played possession football and looked much the better team, only to revert after we equalised.
In other words, the same old problem: playing in snatches. Of course, each team is going to have periods of dominance, but why did we suddenly stop playing the possession-game once we had made it 2-2?
I do agree about our central midfield, though. Good at winning the ball, but awful at distribution. Several times, Lowe made telling interceptions, ran forwards... and then stopped and passed sideways or hoofed long. Evans is a bit the same. Neither can see a through-pass. Lowe did try one, early on, when Gallagher had outpaced his marker, but it was woefully under-hit.
I still think we need to use Marshall in midfield. His skill is almost wasted at full-back. Also, if we are going to use two wide players, we shouldn't be booting the ball long from central midfield.
Having said that, we lost this particular match because of two huge errors by Lenihan: the unnecessary hand-ball, and the header wide which my mum would have scored from!
The "penalty" for Evans? It probably was, but I have total sympathy for the referee in those marginal cases, and Evans did go down very easily.
If you look at our squad, we actually have a surplus of quite skilful wingers, but a total lack of foot-on-the-ball central midfielders. I would definitely like to see Mulgrew moved forward if we have no youngsters capable of stepping up in central midfield. He does, at least, look comfortable on the ball, and he can also play a through-pass accurately.
Failing that, I think we need to sacrifice one of the wingers or strikers in difficult games and concentrate on possession.
Could anyone be more different in approach from Lambert than Coyle? For the last ten minutes, we had four strikers on the pitch!
One other thing: Graham's penalty-kick has to go in most "top tens" of the worst ever seen.

[Despair]

That's fine, it's all opinions, Aucks. But I said last week that there's effort there, but it's not looking like its going to be enough.
More often than not, we will be on 'the receiving end' IMO and so today proved.
It's been said it was a rousing derby, in some ways it was and took me back three decades, and that (as Champs often says) is where we justly are.
The skill set necessary, for me at least, is way down.
Last week we grabbed a point from a good team and today we fell to a lesser one IMO.
Just the way I see it I'm afraid.

Have no real idea what OC was constantly complaining over.
Your mum may have put that header away, but she certainly wouldn't have gone down so easily as Evans. Sorry it was never a pen.

[AucklandRover]

That's fine, it's all opinions, Aucks. But I said last week that there's effort there, but it's not looking like its going to be enough.
More often than not, we will be on 'the receiving end' IMO and so today proved.
It's been said it was a rousing derby, in some ways it was and took me back three decades, and that (as Champs often says) is where we justly are.
The skill set necessary, for me at least, is way down.
Last week we grabbed a point from a good team and today we fell to a lesser one IMO.
Just the way I see it I'm afraid.

Have no real idea what OC was constantly complaining over.
Your mum may have put that header away, but she certainly wouldn't have gone down so easily as Evans. Sorry it was never a pen.

I've watched the "penalty" again. It all depends on how much interference is "too much". The trouble is, players go down so easily now, I have every sympathy with the referees. Funnily enough, I felt a bit sorry for Ben Marshall when he got booked. I don't think it was a dive because the follow-through definitely caught his foot. Not a penalty because the tackle was completed, but not a booking either. I think that's why he was grumbling so much afterwards.
As for being on the "receiving end", I think Coyle simply needs to be a bit more cautious in his approach. We're not promotion-material, obviously, but there were small margins in this game: for example, Steele not quite getting enough of a hand on their winner to deflect it wide, and Lenihan's glaring miss.
I honestly think it's quite likely the rest of our season is going to be: "Win one, lose one, draw one." We're that kind of team at the moment.

[Despair]

I've watched the "penalty" again. It all depends on how much interference is "too much". The trouble is, players go down so easily now, I have every sympathy with the referees. Funnily enough, I felt a bit sorry for Ben Marshall when he got booked. I don't think it was a dive because the follow-through definitely caught his foot. Not a penalty because the tackle was completed, but not a booking either. I think that's why he was grumbling so much afterwards.
As for being on the "receiving end", I think Coyle simply needs to be a bit more cautious in his approach. We're not promotion-material, obviously, but there were small margins in this game: for example, Steele not quite getting enough of a hand on their winner to deflect it wide, and Lenihan's glaring miss.
I honestly think it's quite likely the rest of our season is going to be: "Win one, lose one, draw one." We're that kind of team at the moment.

It's prob my age, but I'm sick to death of 'divers'. Any man worth his salt, in positions like that, would get his shot off.
Ref never paused in waving it away.
Our pen ? Terrible, and only good fortune got us the goal. You could say pressure did, but I saw it as a fortunate bounce into DG's path for a third try.
Marshall incorrectly booked as you say, but in scheme of things did it affect the game? And he for midfield? Well all signs at pres indicate he may not be a player for us for much longer.
Big, big disappointment with DL after me singing his praises last time out. What on earth was he thinking?
Nice neat strike for their winner. Absolutely no complaints over the result, overall IMO we didn't deserve any points as we didn't do enough.

Sorry, thats just how I see it.

[AucklandRover]

It's prob my age, but I'm sick to death of 'divers'. Any man worth his salt, in positions like that, would get his shot off.
Ref never paused in waving it away.
Our pen ? Terrible, and only good fortune got us the goal. You could say pressure did, but I saw it as a fortunate bounce into DG's path for a third try.
Marshall incorrectly booked as you say, but in scheme of things did it affect the game? And he for midfield? Well all signs at pres indicate he may not be a player for us for much longer.
Big, big disappointment with DL after me singing his praises last time out. What on earth was he thinking?
Nice neat strike for their winner. Absolutely no complaints over the result, overall IMO we didn't deserve any points as we didn't do enough.

Sorry, thats just how I see it.

I'm not necessarily in disagreement with your overall conclusion, Despair. It's just that, from the moment they scored their second until the moment we equalized, they looked rattled and we dominated possession. Then our midfield suddenly disappeared again and we handed the initiative back.
This is what I find frustrating.
It's also why I'd like to see Mulgrew in midfield. He seems to have time on the ball and he doesn't panic or freeze. Actually, Guthrie had grown into the central midfield role. Pity about his injury.
I just don't think Lowe and Evans provide enough vision or penetration. Also, two wingers are a luxury when you regularly leak goals.
With everybody fit, in the difficult games, I'd think about a line-up such as
Steele
Nyambe Lenihan Greer Williams
Marshall Guthrie Mulgrew Evans Conway
Graham.
That's harsh on someone like Gallagher, but it's a question of being a bit more cautious in the difficult games.

[Despair]

Quite agree with the above Aucks, re our 'spell' of being on the offensive, but we didn't do enough, long enough. As we seem to agree.
I am being far more scathing than you obviously, but these are pro's.
Wingers earning their place?
I go back to Fergie, Connoly, Waggy etc and more recently Wilcox and Rippers those were proper wingers doing what wingers do best.
Yes it's a different era now, but all the same . The young lad for Hudds last time out showed that it can still be done. He caused mayhem against us.
Just doesn't happen with ours and even so, more often than not its just hoofed from the full backs / centres, so as you say, two non contributory positions. This when our two midfield dynamos are well - spinning! Managers 'fault'?
This for me is and has been for oh so long why our defence cracks so so often.
When the chance presents itself as it did last time with Feeneys 'opportunity' you've got to take it/ make it. This time Evans in on goal and decides to 'drop'. Theres no guarantee he would have put it away (prob not given his scoring record), but it's his responsibility to give it his best.
Their winner from half a sniff, and well executed. As was, to be fair DG's second.
On this display and the 'progress' so far I cannot see us being outside the bottom 5 or 6 for the foreseeable.

[gardsPNE]

From a Nobbers point of view. Dominated the first half (well first 35 mins) and kept possession really well while Rovers players seemed to think it was some hot potato they couldnt keep hold of and gave it immediately away and to me it looked like you where more than happy letting us play. 2nd half was a different game and you played the ball around better and for some reason we decided to sit a little deeper which invited Rovers to attack and sustain pressure for longer periods. Dont get me wrong I think we still had some encouraging attacks and certainly after you made it 2-2 we decided to press again but overall i think we just about deserved our win but much better from Rovers 2nd half.

[gardsPNE]

Reverse psychology Gards my friend ..

well that worked Alfi

[AucklandRover]

From a Nobbers point of view. Dominated the first half (well first 35 mins) and kept possession really well while Rovers players seemed to think it was some hot potato they couldnt keep hold of and gave it immediately away and to me it looked like you where more than happy letting us play. 2nd half was a different game and you played the ball around better and for some reason we decided to sit a little deeper which invited Rovers to attack and sustain pressure for longer periods. Dont get me wrong I think we still had some encouraging attacks and certainly after you made it 2-2 we decided to press again but overall i think we just about deserved our win but much better from Rovers 2nd half.

A fair summary, Gards.