Match Day - PNE v Derby - 5000th League Game - 1/7/20 KO:17:00 - Championship

[B(rad)P(otts)IG]

just to be clear there are two issues: 1 is the transfer strategy of the club; thats an issue in its own right

second is the one i have a issue with, why has alex neil changed the way we play?

I don’t know if he has changed the way we play. It’s been like this all season. The only thing that’s changed is our conversion rate.

When we went top of the league in November, we were 23rd for chances created and 24th for shots taken. The problems were there, we were just masking them by being extremely clinical.

We are still “trying” to press high, we just don’t seem to have the belief or the energy to do this as well as we did previously or teams have worked out how easy it is when we leave massive gaps to play through.

 

[B(rad)P(otts)IG]

A lot is made of our strikers and how shit they are which I agree is true, but I think the problem is more with the complete lack of creativity in our midfield.

 

[ernest]

A lot is made of our strikers and how shit they are which I agree is true, but I think the problem is more with the complete lack of creativity in our midfield.

We have got creativity in the form of Johnson and Harrop. The real problem is lack of drive and forcefulness in that department.

 

[B(rad)P(otts)IG]

We have got creativity in the form of Johnson and Harrop. The real problem is lack of drive and forcefulness in that department.

Yeah but Harrop barely plays. Johnson is one of my favourite players but he’s been distinctly average in the 2nd half of the season.

 

[ernest]

Yeah but Harrop barely plays. Johnson is one of my favourite players but he’s been distinctly average in the 2nd half of the season.

They are the best we have got. If Johnson was injured yesterday then fair enough but it was screamingly obvious we needed some creativity right from the kick-off and for AN to leave Harrop on the bench for 70 minutes was rank, obstinate bad management.

 

[B(rad)P(otts)IG]

They are the best we have got. If Johnson was injured yesterday then fair enough but it was screamingly obvious we needed some creativity right from the kick-off and for AN to leave Harrop on the bench for 70 minutes was rank, obstinate bad management.

I completely agree and I’m not a huge fan of Harrop but at the moment, he and Maguire are the only players who look like making something happen.

 

[Tino]

Yeah but Harrop barely plays. Johnson is one of my favourite players but he’s been distinctly average in the 2nd half of the season.

DJ still has 4 goals and an assist since January. And he's missed 3 games injured so he's done that in 11 games.

So direct involvement in 5 of our 16 goals this year...

 

[Spav]

I understand the Hemmings bashing but I suspect he has little interference who signs for the club. Whatever money he makes available will be spent by AN. For those who like to beat up Hemmings because of poor on field performances should perhaps look down the M6 a few miles.

 

[FredElseFlyer]

I understand the Hemmings bashing but I suspect he has little interference who signs for the club. Whatever money he makes available will be spent by AN. For those who like to beat up Hemmings because of poor on field performances should perhaps look down the M6 a few miles.

Ah yes, Wigan. Played in the Premier league recently and won THE FA Cup in 2013 wasn't it. I'd have settled for that.

 

[pne1881]

We have got creativity in the form of Johnson and Harrop. The real problem is lack of drive and forcefulness in that department.

Neither of whom played yesterday (apart from a bit part sub appearance) & 1 of which hardly plays at all.

 

[Spav]

Ah yes, Wigan. Played in the Premier league recently and won THE FA Cup in 2013 wasn't it. I'd have settled for that.

And you're happy to settle for administration as well, I assume!

 

[pne1881]

I understand the Hemmings bashing but I suspect he has little interference who signs for the club. Whatever money he makes available will be spent by AN. For those who like to beat up Hemmings because of poor on field performances should perhaps look down the M6 a few miles.

You must be new here.

Pull up a chair & I'm sure someone will along in a minute to educate you.

 

[B(rad)P(otts)IG]

DJ still has 4 goals and an assist since January. And he's missed 3 games injured so he's done that in 11 games.

So direct involvement in 5 of our 16 goals this year...

If it was up to me I’d play the same system as last night (4141) with Johnson and Harrop next to each other, with Barkhuizen and Maguire wide and Sinclair up top.

 

[FredElseFlyer]

And you're happy to settle for administration as well, I assume!

They didn't have to mismanage their finances when they came down

 

[Spav]

They didn't have to mismanage their finances when they came down

The chances are that they didn't. They probably handled their finances the same way many clubs have and the way that football generally finds acceptable, but other businesses wouldn't.
Some years ago Portsmouth went bust and had to sack employees, but they didnt sack any footballers who were on tens of thousands of pounds a week, and whose piss poor football had got them in the shit in the first place, but they got rid of people who were on £24000 a YEAR like admin staff and warehousemen. They were unable to get rid of the footballers because of the contracts they were tied into and they couldnt make them redundant because they couldn't show that their specific roles were redundant.
Football is its own worst enemy when it comes to finance so to have a club with the gates we get in the Championship is something of a triumph and only possible because we are kept afloat by the owner, otherwise we would have gone down the pan years ago.

 

[FredElseFlyer]

The chances are that they didn't. They probably handled their finances the same way many clubs have and the way that football generally finds acceptable, but other businesses wouldn't.
Some years ago Portsmouth went bust and had to sack employees, but they didnt sack any footballers who were on tens of thousands of pounds a week, and whose piss poor football had got them in the shit in the first place, but they got rid of people who were on £24000 a YEAR like admin staff and warehousemen. They were unable to get rid of the footballers because of the contracts they were tied into and they couldnt make them redundant because they couldn't show that their specific roles were redundant.
Football is its own worst enemy when it comes to finance so to have a club with the gates we get in the Championship is something of a triumph and only possible because we are kept afloat by the owner, otherwise we would have gone down the pan years ago.

That whole post was based on:- the chances are. Equally the chances are nothing like that at all. They had parachute payments and could have managed the situation. If it had been us we could have done the same with TH's wealth behind us as it is now. That is after the gains he'd have made from time in the Premier league and a Cup win.

 

[Double J]

Just watched the 'highlights' on the YouTubez (courtesy of Rams TV). That was never a free kick against Hunts.

One thing I wondered, when Rudd came flying out for that tackle and left the goal exposed, he starts running back as they get possession, but Davies is just stood around in his position. Why isn't he pegging it back to cover the goal for when they inevitably took a long range shot? He was much closer and would have got there a lot quicker than Rudd was going to. I know it didn't come to anything in the end, but if their shot had been on target that would have been in 100%.

Cause a full sprint in the 90th minute could mean a muscle injury and there goes your live away from the club doubling your wages.

Just look at the performance of Alan Browne. Clear as day some of these shirking bastards have moves away lined up.

 

[Lord Edgington]

I completely agree and I’m not a huge fan of Harrop but at the moment, he and Maguire are the only players who look like making something happen.

Then there’s no hope
Maguire has 19 games without a goal
That is quite frankly embarrassing for us, the club and him
This he tries hard is all very nice but doesn’t wash any longer He is paid to do a job. And doesn’t He is not on his own though which is even more worrying
As for what’s changed
That’s the easiest question to answer
We’ve been found out

 

[Meldrew's Ghost]

Leeds away season, only decent performer today, played very well in the unbeaten run when he first arrived, 2 more goals than the rest of them you mentioned.

That's off the top of my head, as I say, contributed more than all the players in your list.



Looked ok when he first arrived, dogshit when given a chance this season though.

I think that's harsh on a young lad who, like others at the club, is lacking game time to bring them on. He's made only 5 league appearances this season, and 4 of those was in a losing run in November when pretty much the whole side were poor. I don't see the point in signing promising young players from lower league sides in the hope that the odd bounce game, and even rarer first team appearance will get them to a consistent Championship level.

 

[Lord Edgington]

I think that's harsh on a young lad who, like others at the club, is lacking game time to bring them on. He's made only 5 league appearances this season, and 4 of those was in a losing run in November when pretty much the whole side were poor. I don't see the point in signing promising young players from lower league sides in the hope that the odd bounce game, and even rarer first team appearance will get them to a consistent Championship level.

You do start to think that there is a dose of favouritism in the dressing room