⚽ Match Thread vs. Lincoln City 08.08.23 [EFLC R1]

[ivansneck]

When I saw the team it was obvious we were treating this competition the same as we treated the cup competitions last season - as low priority. It showed, we were very poor again, only Slocombe, JOB and Bostock of the starters emerged with credit. None of the fringe players did anything to push their case. We were slow and ponderous going forward, and always looked likely to gift a goal at the back. We actually caused them more problems in the last 5 minutes playing with ten men than we did with eleven! It was a weakened team so I won't read too much into it, but we need a big improvement for Saturday.

I thought Crowley looked OK.

[Proactive not Reactive]

We changed the team with 8 different players tonight from Saturday, last season when we played weakened sides in the cup we lost to Coalville and Maidstone so certainly don’t think there is anything to panic about.
Thought Brindley had a decent first half as a right back in a 4 and I would be tempted to play Tipton Saturday in a 3 or 4 rather than Rawlinson because of his pace and passing ability.

[freemuzzy]

In one of his interviews he did mention that he has no control over recruitment and I'd never heard him say it that bluntly before.

I noticed that too and it is concerning, because under both Burchnall and (before this summer) Williams, the club did a lot of PR and went to great pains to state that recruitment was a collective. Now Williams is repeatedly saying it’s nothing to do with him; that’s either a shift in approach (which would be strange after such a successful season), or it’s always been the case and he’s not playing the game anymore.

It is a guess but my feeling is Williams would be bringing in at least one defender if he could and is probably frustrated at not getting his way on that front. Hopefully Baldwin’s red today may force the issue.

[countygump]

What's the point of having overwhelming possession and causing no threat? Always playing safe? Never mixing it with long ball? Predictable, slow build up? One up top with no supply and no support? Embarrassing capitulation.

There weren't many times we actually broke their press. We mostly launched a long ball that came straight back. We just don't have the players to play long ball and didn't seem as though we were confident enough to press them at all.

[freemuzzy]

Nobody is saying they have thrown in the towel. What most people are saying is that some members of the same squad as last season aren't capable of stepping up to a higher division. And this constant "107 pts last season" isn't a benchmark for this season when taking the relevant opposition ability into account.

Which ones? I personally thought JOB and Slocombe were two of our top performers tonight. It’s crazy how quickly so many fans have already turned on a squad who did so much last season on the back of two defeats, one of which was against a strong side in the league above.

[Proactive not Reactive]

I thought Crowley looked OK.

He showed some good points especially his change of direction and also bad points giving the ball away cheaply
Unfortunately he’s not a physical guy like Ruben was and reminded me a little bit of Sean Shields hopefully he will get better as he gets to know the players better on the pitch

[nw6pie]

While tonight was a free hit, the big concern is quite how little we created. TAR got behind them a few times - put some decent crosses and some not-so-decent crosses in - but the problem was how few players we had in the Lincoln box. Scott didn’t get a look-in, Austin was wasted on the left for most of the game and we were worryingly static throughout. Crowley had one good turn but otherwise looked lightweight and too negative, and we never got to grips with Lincoln’s press, which saw us cough the ball up in dangerous areas on numerous occasions.

The only consolation I can take from the game is that it only ended 2-0, because there was a spell where it looked being another drubbing.

Saturday will tell us a lot more about how the season will progress. It’s also worth repeating that a lot of people on here thought we might start slowly, and that’s proving to be the case.

[jackal2]

Wonder if there is a conflict brewing between managerial requirements and the accepted recruiting policy?

To answer that question bluntly, no.

Luke Williams has never previously suggested there's a problem, and he's not the sort of knee-jerk hot head coach who would suddenly lose all faith in the club's hitherto successful system just because of two disappointing results, especially when the club has just extended Macauley Langstaff's contract in the face of all the interest from elsewhere.

What we saw in tonight's interview was simply what it was: a manager 'uncomfortable' and disappointed with his team's performance because he knows (and indeed said) they can do a lot better. He was asked if there would be reinforcements coming in and gave a typically straight answer: "I don't know", which is no doubt a very precise statement of fact five minutes after a game before he's even had chance to contemplate such matters.

What was clear tonight is that, confronted by teams who press better and quicker than National League teams did, we can't afford to "freeze" and play walking football at the back, bringing immense pressure upon ourselves. If we want to keep playing out from the back we'll need to do it quicker and more crisply than last season, and we'll need every player in the team to keep making runs off the ball like they did last year. Tonight, time and time again, we had a defender stood on the ball and virtually nobody (except the ever-courageous Jim O'Brien) showing for the ball and making runs. We were horribly static. Consequently, as a team, we've dropped down a couple of gears rather than going up a couple of gears like we'll need to do to compete against League two teams, let alone League One.

I agree with anticlough, there's no reason to throw the baby out with the bathwater for a while yet. I think the team had gone a bit out of sync at the end of last season despite scraping through the play-offs, and that's accentuated against now stronger opposition, but these are the same players who played magnificent football for much of last year and they can do so again. One of the risks with the way we play is that it doesn't take too many players to lose confidence and go a bit out of form to severely disrupt our performance, but by the same token, if we can start a game well and get an early goal then that confidence can come flooding back just as quickly. We haven't turned into a bad team overnight, it's a sticky spell we've got to battle through, and if we need to recruit a couple more players to strengthen certain positions I'm sure the owners will do that.

The caveat to what I've said above is that if we continue to struggle with our normal approach of playing out from the back, we might need to adopt a more pragmatic tactic, if only temporarily while we find our feet and gain some confidence. Some of our most effective play tonight came on the occasions Slocombe played it longer and we picked up knockdowns in Lincoln's half and began passing it from there rather than standing motionless with the ball in front of our own 18 yard box. The old Neil Warnock adage of "play your football in their half not ours" is still as wise as ever if Plan A isn't quite working and you're losing the ball in dangerous areas.

The one thing I genuinely didn't understand tonight, and in his one substitute appearance of note last season, is why the hell are we playing Junior Morias through the middle?? Even if we put in the best crosses in the world (which we weren't) there's virtually no chance of a player as small as he is winning headers. Surely if Junior has a role to play it's as a wider forward attacking defenders at pace, or as a second striker playing off a bigger target man? If we keep playing Junior through the middle on his own it will get incredibly frustrating very quickly, and it certainly won't do him any good. Luke Williams is normally tactically spot on, so hopefully that's a brief and rather bizarre miscalculation that will be quickly corrected in future games!

There's still time...

[Magpies1959]

I don't think LW was down in his post match interview, just very disappointed, at a lack of creativity up front and annoyed at AB, in particular. I think LW patience must be wearing very thin with him.
Some of the passing was naive at times, probably down to the level of opposition we were playing in the main.
Disappointing to concede from another corner, and from giving the ball away needlessly so soon after half time for ygeir second.
Saturday will give more of a true reflection where we are, but we cannot afford to be intimidated by a large vocal away following, and we as fans need to be as vocal and supportive as possible.
Positives from tonight, JOB, JB, TAR, Sam Austin and Junior Morias making an appearance. It was also good to not have to give any game time to Macca, Matty and Didzy. Shame about Bajrami, who was looking quite assured in midfield.

[TheBlackHorse]

... well the LW bubble is confirmed as bust. His possession strategy was found out by better teams last season but we got away with it. Certain players, notably Brindly and Chickson, now appear incapable of doing anything creative, choosing to play the easy game of pass back. Both Cameron and Baldwin are not as good as they think they are. In other words, we need a whole new defence. Only the ageing Jimbo sets any sort of standard for drive and energy. Has LW got the balls to make the required changes ... I'm not convinced. As others have said, it will be interesting at the 10 game point. COYtiredPies!