Match Day - PNE v Sheffield Wednesday - 21/11/20 - KO:15:00 - Championship

[Simply Sage]

It's because we're miles better, as a team, when Fisher plays. He's not the perfect footballer or anything, but he's good defensively and he contributes going forwards. Underlaps, overlaps, little give and go passes. He is the only full back in our squad that a promotion chasing team would comfortably start and not consider a weakness.

Agree we are better with Fisher when he’s plays well. But I do think his great performances are not as frequent as some would believe.

I think there is a ‘legend’ around him created on here that belies the true value of his overall contribution.

There are other things that come with Fisher that detract from his occasional great performances. Namely poor discipline, as many defensive mistakes as anyone else and unreliable fitness.

His stupidity today for example may result in a ban that would be a further disruption to the team and system.

 

[Simply Sage]

It's because we're miles better, as a team, when Fisher plays. He's not the perfect footballer or anything, but he's good defensively and he contributes going forwards. Underlaps, overlaps, little give and go passes. He is the only full back in our squad that a promotion chasing team would comfortably start and not consider a weakness.

His contract ends in June - let's see if we all get knocked over in the rush to sigh him.

 

[jcfartpants]

It's because we're miles better, as a team, when Fisher plays. He's not the perfect footballer or anything, but he's good defensively and he contributes going forwards. Underlaps, overlaps, little give and go passes. He is the only full back in our squad that a promotion chasing team would comfortably start and not consider a weakness.

Be that as it may, his crossing is woeful. Yes, he gets into great positions attacking, but Jesus Christ what's the point in that if he can't even get the ball beyond the first defender?

Similarly with Sinclair. In the first half especially he had the opportunity to put loads of ball into the box, but I can't remember him putting one cross in. Even if he hasn't got the confidence to take on his man, why can't he just cut back onto his right foot and curl one in?

We were better than usual at home, but our lack of willing to press forward is going to be the undoing of our season at this rate. Most of the time, once we'd broken through the first layer of defence, which we did a lot more than previously so that is encouraging, we wasted that opportunity and turned it back out again.

 

[Farmboy]

Re the red card, correct decision, even Sheffield Wednesday fans 99% agree with it on their forum, the screen shot images show the boot going into Rafferty’s chest......... my point is, why, as he’s falling to the floor does he grab his head ? Professional footballers really piss me off when they do that.... tosser !

 

[wld]

Must have watched a different second half. Gally got us playing, upped the tempo for a spell, switched play well, and kept it simple when needed. Just the usual north end fans struggling to accept someone in their 30s can be any good. Some on here would kick up a fuss if we signed Zlatan because he's "too old".
As a team performance it was utterly uninspiring and hard to watch, but Gally was not a major culprit at all.

My criticism of Gallagher is absolutely nothing to do with his age, it’s to do with his performances which have been consistently poor for some time. That detracts in no way from his contribution over a number of years.

I’m not sure why you would take the opportunity to have a swipe at ‘the usual North End fans’ because they don’t agree with your point.

 

[Regardless]

Re the red card, correct decision, even Sheffield Wednesday fans 99% agree with it on their forum, the screen shot images show the boot going into Rafferty’s chest......... my point is, why, as he’s falling to the floor does he grab his head ? Professional footballers really piss me off when they do that.... tosser !

Tosser? Are you sure? Have you ever been kicked full in the chest like that?

You maybe saw a different angle to me. I've seen it from 3 angles on Sky Sports highlights - and they all show no play-acting whatsoever in my opinion. When you suffer a thud to the chest like that, you don't calmly say ouch and rub your the area where contact was made. Your natural reflex is to go into a protective position - and yes, I think most people would curl up and their arms would come forward and up covering his head.

 

[California_PNE]

My criticism of Gallagher is absolutely nothing to do with his age, it’s to do with his performances which have been consistently poor for some time. That detracts in no way from his contribution over a number of years.

I’m not sure why you would take the opportunity to have a swipe at ‘the usual North End fans’ because they don’t agree with your point.

Gally shifted the whole game yesterday, not single handed but he added a massive amount of domination and at control to our entire performance, saying that it wasn't difficult as he had yards of space and was never under pressure, few wayward passes but in general his contribution was critical and we came through with all 3.
Fully backed the half time changes and thankfully Alex made them, maybe because of the 5 subs, I don't know, but it was essential.

 

[Regardless]

This might have been said - I only just saw the goal - but if I was a Wednesday fan, I'd have been screaming for offside for our goal.

IMO, Stockley is clearly offside. You could get a ruler and draw a straight line between Barky's foot and the goalkeeper's eyes.... and that line would pass straight through our big centre-forward. There's some argument that there was also a defender in that general eye-line too but IMO, that's off to one side.

I reckon it was offside... even though none of their players claimed it. Anyway... three points!

 

[Naughton's moustache]

I get that, really. But with 75% possession over 10 men for 77 minutes, Rafferty’s less advanced positioning on the left - alone - cannot explain our inability to put games like that to bed.

Our midfield must have had tons of the ball and
made little of that advantage for what was 82% of the 94 minutes. Wednesday only had a bit of a go in the last five mins.

My overall point here is that some people put the cross hairs on Raff at the exclusion of more compelling evidence of either a failing system or a number key players not producing.

Been reading your last few posts with all your percentage stuff thrown in. I myself have always liked Raff as a defender, on that side of his game, he will rarely be found wanting. However, it was all put into a nutshell for me yesterday in the first half when he's tried crossing on the run with his left foot an the ball has harmlessly floated over the bar for a goal kick. Having said that, Fisher's crossing was appalling too yesterday. I'm just saying we need that balance, an if Hughes isn't the answer, then isn't it time for a return for Earl?

 

[miff]

Have you got rid of Huntington to a L1 club yet?

You've been trying since 2015.

No he's too busy trying to get rid of Gally

 

[llanroc]

Someone mentioned that we only had 1 shot on target against 10 men being ‘piss poor’ and that sounds like a reasonable comment to be made especially as we were playing at home. That prompted me to check how many shots we’ve had on target at home this season.

Swansea 4-1
Stoke 4-4
Cardiff 4-3
Millwall 1-4
Birmingham 6-6
Sheffield Wednesday 1-0

That‘s 20 shots on target at home this season which again looks a poor return, but when you see that the opposition have only had 18 shots on target, it suggests to me that we should have collected more than 3 points from our home games. Again, I’ve checked the shots on target in our away games.

We‘ve had 31 shots on target away from home and have had 22 shots on target against us on our travels which is only 2 more than we’ve had on target at home.
in conclusion, although we look to have a very low rate of shots on target at home, it probably works out to be an average amount when compared to the other teams. Obviously, we just need to be a bit more clinical in front of goal.

The stats for away games are:

Norwich 5-6
Brentford 4-7
QPR 0-3
Huddersfield 4-7
Reading 5-5
Rotherham 4-3

 

[Sid Snot]

Been reading your last few posts with all your percentage stuff thrown in. I myself have always liked Raff as a defender, on that side of his game, he will rarely be found wanting. However, it was all put into a nutshell for me yesterday in the first half when he's tried crossing on the run with his left foot an the ball has harmlessly floated over the bar for a goal kick. Having said that, Fisher's crossing was appalling too yesterday. I'm just saying we need that balance, an if Hughes isn't the answer, then isn't it time for a return for Earl?

I don't get it (not that I have a divine right to get it) but Rafu's strong point is the ability to put in decent right footed crosses from left back. It turns defenders and a good cross will have them facing their own goal. Not only was it not happening yesterday but he's also over on the right taking right footed corners to no effect. Frustrating as hell!!

 

[Naughton's moustache]

I don't get it (not that I have a divine right to get it) but Rafu's strong point is the ability to put in decent right footed crosses from left back. It turns defenders and a good cross will have them facing their own goal. Not only was it not happening yesterday but he's also over on the right taking right footed corners to no effect. Frustrating as hell!!

Yeah Sid I noticed that too an very frustrating as you rightly pointed out.
There's no doubt, he can produce good delivery with his right foot though, only thing is, he has to stop an check if playin on the left. I wouldn't mind seeing what Earl can offer. He set the world alight when first bursting onto the scene but by the time he was about to be shipped out on loan, he looked a complete liability

 

[LancasterRed]

I don't get it (not that I have a divine right to get it) but Rafu's strong point is the ability to put in decent right footed crosses from left back. It turns defenders and a good cross will have them facing their own goal. Not only was it not happening yesterday but he's also over on the right taking right footed corners to no effect. Frustrating as hell!!

Rafferty's crosses cause panic, leading to the keeper trying to scramble it away or win the flick on which has led to goals this season. While his % could be higher, the actual effectiveness of his crosses is understated. Not to say he can't improve, but crossing is not his weakness.

However, his link up play with Sinclair isn't good. The two need to be on opposite sides really. If Fisher is out for Blackburn, I'd like to see Rafferty overlapping with Barkhuizen to see how the two do together.

WRT my first point it explains his corners yesterday, falling to the likes of Ledson who couldn't stick them away, and one instance where Bauer should have scored. He might have his limitations, but he'll never let you down.

FWIW, it was the right decision to bring him off yesterday.

 

[wld]

Rafferty's crosses cause panic, leading to the keeper trying to scramble it away or win the flick on which has led to goals this season. While his % could be higher, the actual effectiveness of his crosses is understated. Not to say he can't improve, but crossing is not his weakness.

However, his link up play with Sinclair isn't good. The two need to be on opposite sides really. If Fisher is out for Blackburn, I'd like to see Rafferty overlapping with Barkhuizen to see how the two do together.

WRT my first point it explains his corners yesterday, falling to the likes of Ledson who couldn't stick them away, and one instance where Bauer should have scored. He might have his limitations, but he'll never let you down.

FWIW, it was the right decision to bring him off yesterday.

I agree but one thing that surprised me was how far infield he tended to be yesterday. I thought I might have been imagining it but whoscored‘s analysis confirmed it, his a average position was inside the centre circle beyond halfway. I don’t know if that’s by design but it does explain why he doesn’t interact with Sinclair too much.

https://www.whoscored.com/Matches/1487378/MatchReport/England-Championship-2020-2021-Preston-Sheffield-Wednesday

 

[Ando60]

Take the 3 points after a really scrappy performance, both teams contributed to that. Glad to get the win. Highlight of the match apart from the goal has to be Fisher grabbing Paterson's cock and balls. Unbelievable. Derby day on Tuesday!

Is there any suggestion that Fisher will face retrospective action ??

 

[Sid Snot]

FWIW, it was the right decision to bring him off yesterday.

I totally agree .

 

[California_PNE]

I don't get it (not that I have a divine right to get it) but Rafu's strong point is the ability to put in decent right footed crosses from left back. It turns defenders and a good cross will have them facing their own goal. Not only was it not happening yesterday but he's also over on the right taking right footed corners to no effect. Frustrating as hell!!

I also dont get sending your left back to take right sided corners which damages our shape if there's a counter, Alex sorted it all out at half time but there were some disappointing aspects yesterday, but at last a win

 

[Former Member]

Rafferty's crosses cause panic, leading to the keeper trying to scramble it away or win the flick on which has led to goals this season. While his % could be higher, the actual effectiveness of his crosses is understated. Not to say he can't improve, but crossing is not his weakness.

However, his link up play with Sinclair isn't good. The two need to be on opposite sides really. If Fisher is out for Blackburn, I'd like to see Rafferty overlapping with Barkhuizen to see how the two do together.

WRT my first point it explains his corners yesterday, falling to the likes of Ledson who couldn't stick them away, and one instance where Bauer should have scored. He might have his limitations, but he'll never let you down.

FWIW, it was the right decision to bring him off yesterday.

How can you use such a blanket term like ‘Rafferty’s crosses cause panic’ when most of them yesterday either didn’t make it off the ground or sailed over the bar?

Rafferty playing so narrow yesterday was a big problem as when he received the ball, the passing lane to Sinclair, our most dangerous player, was cut off by their right midfielder.

Rafferty does receive some unwarranted stick - it’s not his fault he can’t do certain things - but for me he just should not be anywhere near our team.

 

[California_PNE]

Be that as it may, his crossing is woeful. Yes, he gets into great positions attacking, but Jesus Christ what's the point in that if he can't even get the ball beyond the first defender?

Similarly with Sinclair. In the first half especially he had the opportunity to put loads of ball into the box, but I can't remember him putting one cross in. Even if he hasn't got the confidence to take on his man, why can't he just cut back onto his right foot and curl one in?

We were better than usual at home, but our lack of willing to press forward is going to be the undoing of our season at this rate. Most of the time, once we'd broken through the first layer of defence, which we did a lot more than previously so that is encouraging, we wasted that opportunity and turned it back out again.

Sinclair scared them shitless all game with his drives into the box, I don't care if he's not crossing in a traditional method if he's carrying the ball into dangerous areas and enticing shite defenders to into making rash tackles. 2 nailed on corners and a pen yesterday which he didn't get, he was fucking good yesterday.