Although a very very poor team performance I do not blame the players. They tried but were out fought and out witted by a tough, resiliant and often professional sheffield side ( they did to us what we did at Portsmouh - ie laying on the ground after tackles) Aidy IMO got is wrong last night. 1) - Macca should not have started in this game ( sub yes) 2) - Chris Powell should have had Jordan Stewart in front of him - stronger and has more actual minutes than Macca and Jordan is part of the balance of the side on the left on a continuity level. 3) - Shouldn't have put James C at right back - either jay at right back and bring In Dan alongside Malky or leave Loyd at right back. 4) - If he wanted to bring on Dan as sub for height etc, he should also have brought on Tamas at the same time and take of Hendo - just to cahnge things around. Sheff uTd coped to easily with our forward play so try something different - Hendo as always ran his socks off so must have been tiring -Tamas would have been possibly more support to Dan Shittu by that stage of the game. 5) - Considerning it appears that Aidy likes continuity through out a game as reflected by his insistence not to use too many subs why did we start a game with this back line: Lee - (had to play) J chambers ( RB) - how many starts for us this season? Malky CB - no problem with Malky but a lot less premiership minutes than Danny Shittu who was forming a good partnership with Jay Jay - no problem, certain starter. Powelly - no problem, but should have had JS in front of him. Has that group of players played together in a match this season? I like continuity, so when it wasn't working at half time - it should have been changed around then. Constructive analysys, not criticism Aidy. You are learning to be a premiership manager, I am re learning the lessons of being a premiership teams supporter on a low budget and small squad. It is bloody hard work for both of us. U ORNSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSS I wash my WFC shirt with Persil and Bounce - I put exta bounce in because we need BOUNCEABILTY - so i put even more in this season. Off to the shops to buy some more. When I heard the line up from the birdydoug on the way down to the ground i thought from the team announced that we wouldn't get more than a draw from the game.
Fair, I similarly worry about the lack of flexibility and the rigidity of sticking to the same plan..
Agree on the majority of points on that. I think that there has to be some flexibility.. they say if its not broke dont fix it.. last night it was broke and needed fixing.
I salute your methods PYA, but it would seem that the success of this has been limited so far, is there anything else you could attempt?
"I agree with everything Perry says, apart from perhaps James Chambers, who i felt battled away". I like James C and not questioning any of the players performances or effort- The point is Aidy says he leaves no view unlooked at - But does he view a six pointer game as just another game or am I wrong in thinnking WFC v Sheff Utd is a one of game - at home 6 pointer ( I see chelse, Arsenal, Man utd away as just another game, a day out for the fans, with no expectations or high hopes that fans carry with them to that type of game - just sheer hpe of that one great result) - making changes whether forced to or not, one must consider continuity of play - so Lloyd at right back and maybe James right midfield ( springy on bench) IMO would have kept the continuity going.
Great post Paddy! I just logged on to pretty much say the same thing as you did! I love Aidy to bits, he's a legend for what he's done within 20 months BUT that game was the BIGGEST since Cardiff in May and he picked at least 4players that shouldn't have been in the side! Namely: Chambers, Mackay, Mcnamee and Francis! Last night was a game for someone like Bangura to get stuck in! Aidy got it horribly wrong last night! I'm one of his biggest fans BUT he's not beyond criticism! Gavin Mahon has been our best player this season but last night along with Francis and Spring in midfield they were out battled and out fought, second best to everything and that's not good enough at this level! Was a shocking performance and I have to rate it as the worst performance i've ever seen at Vic Road! Boothroyd had the cheek to ask the fans to get the atmosphere going but yet he couldn't get his players motivated for our biggest game of the season! Make no mistake about it, we're down!
good points paddy - some thoughts of mine jordan stewarts strengths have always been going forward so playing him as a defensive midfielder makes sense i thought malky showed his lack of pace and surprisingly a lot of lack of judgement that i've not seen from danny this season. he has to go back to the bench. playing jay at rb doesnt work for me, he's not a natural wide player and tended to drift inside when he did play there i like springy but it was distressing to see him in the side watching high balls go over his head time and time again, he was only in the game when their midfield got the ball down and he was trying to win it back but more than anything was lack of an obvious plan last night other than "our quality players are out so we have to hoof it up and hope they make a mistake" one of the worst nights i can remember at the vic going all the way back to division 4. We we lucky to get nil.
No he misses the Reading game. I agree with your 1st two points Paddy but nothing else. Chambers had a very good game, just because it's a 6 pointer doesn't mean we should stick with players who aren't on their top form such as Doyley who has been poor of late. Malky had a shakey game and i still don't know why Shittu and Jay were broken up as i thought they were forming a very solid partnership. I'd like somebody to tell what the point in bringing Priskin on would have been. What have you seen of him to suggest he'll make a difference ? He'd get bullied out of it by their 2 CB and definately wouldn't unsettle them like Shittu did. He doesn't anticipate the flick ons so anything Shittu did win would go to waste. Priskin simply isn't ready yet.
Chewy - we lost -we played the worst game of footie for many a year - the post is NOT about any individual - it is about continuity. The more players play togetehr the better they whole team performance should become as they gain the understanding of each others play. Practice makes perfect. However on the point of Tamas - you din't see his headed goal in Denmark - when he ws served quality he produced quality. Both DH and TP ( when playing) are not getting any quality and it is making them look poor and open to criticism. Yu cannot say that Tamas would not have given anything to the game along side Danny - it hasn't been sen - Hendo was tiring after working his socks of. How many International goals at any level has Tamas scored compared to DH??? He could have made a difference, that is a point of fact but we wil never know. That why the post is about Aidy getting it wrong and no criticism attached to any player what so ever.
Mate, I'd love to think you're right, but I can't see any wins coming up in next 5 games! The best we can hope for is others in and around us to lose aswell until we get to the Jan transfer window! We urgently need TWO strikers and a creative midfield player! Just can't see our fortunes changing!
Last night was poor. I want to know why Shittu has been dropped, unless it is purely because Aidy feels Malky deserves his chance. Aidy should have brought Priskin on instead of Shittu. It wont do a lot for Priskin’s confidence if a defender goes up front instead! However from what I’ve heard and seen Priskin does seem to struggle during games which are more competitive, so maybe Aidy thought it was too much for him last night, but then maybe we should just have kept it 4-5-1? I think injuries are beginning to force Aidy’s hand at the moment, particularly last night, there was no one on the bench that I felt could turn the game for us. Our 3 best players were out, 1 short term (Ashley), 1 medium term (Ben) and 1 out for the season (Marlon). Also add Bouazza to that list, one of our most ctreative and attacking players. I’m not blaming the injuries for our loss but I think they were a massive contribution to the events last night.
I think I read a little while ago that Aidy likes to keep players on their toes, so he drops them to encourage them to step up another level.
alright, fair enough if we were winning and you could afford to take a gamble like that. Last night was not that time
I agree with Paddy Aidy got it wrong, he's young and new to the premiership. I think he'll learn from this and I'm sure he'll accept he got it wrong. What it clearly showed last night was how thin our squad is. We've two long term injuries (mk and cc) their positions need to be filled ASAP as the transfer window opens we need to be signing two new players. It shouldn't stop there. Last night showed Aidy has no faith in Priskin (IMO) why else leave a striker on the bench and bring on a defender to do his job. Ash out and Hammer shows we've no replacements for injuries so at least we need 2 more to cover them. IMO we need 4-6 more players 4 explained already the other two should be an experienced midfielder and another defender. But will players want to come to a team at the bottom of the league? One last question........where was "bang bang" last night
why does everyone think chambers played bad? he tackled and competed well and got forward when he could. when doyley came on all he contributed was 2 long throws. we wud have caused more of a threat with hammeur and ashley but they will be back for man city. malky and powell must go FULL STOP. don't know why people say francis shouldn't of played. if you'd of asked everone b4 the match, everyone would have picked him so it's stupid saying he shouldn't have after the game. overall we played crap. if we keep playing like this we will be relegated. we need 1 defender, 2 strikers and 2 midfielders. don't know who would want to come us other than championship players which is not good enough as is clearly visible throughout our team. we need prem players. we also must remember we will probably lose ashley mabey marlon and ben foster if we get relegated aswell as a few others than have impressed like jay and bouazza. this will severly diminish our chances of getting promoted if we get relegated. might have to change my sig as i think aidy would take 17th now. i know i would
