Yeah, to be fair to Devlin the bloke clearly tries his best. However, the amount of capitulations, collapses what ever you want to call them, that this group have been involved in over a sustained period is just not acceptable. Bad management is obviously a factor, but at some point we have to start expecting more from these professionals.
On that point, I have absolutely no idea why Keates left out Kinsella, one of the few players who combines maximum effort with actual quality. Keates or Whitney didn’t help themselves, but very rarely have these players stood up and been counted, either.
I’d pretty much agree with you on those points just, in the end, disagree on the focus. The capitulations demonstrate a clear lack of mental ability or mental focus. Now, yes, of course that’s ultimately the responsibility of each individual player, but pretty much every football team these days employs coaching staff whose responsibility it is to work with the players on their mental focus and good managers also work with each individual in that way, as I mentioned elsewhere Smith did with Sawyers and understood exactly how to motivate him and get him 100% on his game.
So when we see players capitulating and giving up like some clearly had yesterday, there’s a huge failure on the part of management and coaching.
The differences are marginal, maybe only a fraction of a per cent, but it’s the difference between winning and losing.
Edit: it’s the reason pogba has gone from “complete flop” to “superb player”. Mourinho handled him completely wrong whereas a new manager has come in and understood what he needs to be able to perform.
I defended him a lot last week but think yesterday was the game that broke Liam Roberts for the season.
He was a real nervous wreck so much I’m not sure if you can play him for the last 5 or at least the final two home games.
All started when early on he parried a long range shot which got people in the lower nervous. Then we had two long balls that you thought Scarr/Guthrie would clear and he came out of his box anyway and clashed with the defender and Mackie.
Culmination was a free kick outside the box. Was 30 seconds of him standing there waiting for ref to blow and in that time 5-10 in the lower were loudly calling him a “c*** t***” and other names. I imagine he heard it all as he sent that kick straight out of play.
He played like a broken man so I’d give Dunn the last five games and see if he can inspire a bit more confidence.
Well if our fans are going to call our players that then they don’t deserve a team. Idiots the lot of them. Support the team during games is my way…by all means boo them off if you must but personal abuse during games in not very helpful .
The thing that amazes me about the defence, is that it was patently obvious at the end of last season that IT was the number one priority that needed sorting. We’ve signed loads of defenders, hardly any of whom have been picked, and were offered the likes of Harry Souttar (who has had an excellent season at Fleetwood by all accounts) by Stoke after Kory’s leg-break. Sorting the defence was surely the easy bit?? signing goalscorers is the hard part, and yet we’ve managed that! Whoever comes in has got to have a look at the defenders that arn’t getting a game. Yes they might not be any better, but we’ve got to do something other than need to score 3 and 4 goals per game to get a result as we do now.
It’s just so muddled. Most of our players lack the technical ability to be third tier professional footballers. And on our budget that will often be the case. So this requires an absolute simplification of what their jobs are.
The basics of shape both when and without the ball. Who will be where and when. A way of playing that is drilled and drilled and drilled until the basics become a given.
And it looked like we had a bit of that at the start of the season but we lost it and once it was gone it was gone forever. To the point where everything seems to be on the hoof. When will Roberts come or stay on his line? Do we attack the near post or far post? Do the full backs overlap or stay back? Do our central midfielders sit or maraud? If one marauds does the other one stay? When play is down one side does the other winger attack the far post in a Wrack- esque style or check their run for a cut back? Then when something happens (a goal, a sending off) how do all of these things recalibrate?
If you nail these things with everybody in the squad practicing these things to destruction you’ve got a decent base from which you can start working on the finer points. Everyone knowing what to do and when earns you the right to begin working on technique but that base means that against teams with more technically gifted players you’ve got a fighting chance.
You can see our players arguing with each other. “Why aren’t you here?” Or “you should be there”. Mid game shouldn’t be where players are working out their collective shape. This should be a nailed given. It is their jobs. And if they are serious about getting better at their jobs they should use their own time to get better at things like controlling the football or passing the football.
Our capitulation is an outcome of players who aren’t good enough not really knowing what they should be doing. They genuinely look bewildered at times. That Keates would bemoan their naivety completely missed his own part in the catastrophe.
So players to blame? Only in so far as on the whole the weaknesses they arrived with are still the weaknesses they have. But on balance Keates was the author of his own downfall because he couldn’t organise them or drill them in a way that made the team a better sum than the individual parts. And if you can’t do that at Walsall, with all of the limitations that come with that, then you just won’t cut it.
But, as you’ve alluded to many times, it’s not just about the defence, it’s also about the 4 or 5 in front of them who have been just as culpable. I believe this defence would be fine with the addition of an experienced keeper, an experienced centre half and if we’d had chambers in centre midfield. Assuming we go down, and if chambers can get fit, I’d be more than happy for him to have another season.
Edit: when I say “fine” , I mean good enough to keep us up, good enough to be top half next season in the fourth division
I agree, but to me once you have to start changing formations and personnel in order to shore up weaknesses elsewhere you end up caught between a rock and a hard place, it never works in the end. As PT says in his excellent summary its about square pegs in square holes and getting them drilled to achieve a level of competence. But its also about having players that bring the best out of each other. I don’t see any of that anywhere on the pitch with our lot. the full-backs and the wingers don’t compliment each other. In Guthrie and Scarr you have two very limited “head the ball away” merchants, neither of whom is comfortable with the ball on the floor. Pick one alongside a Fitzwater or a Conor Johnson all day long for me. The only way the midfield seems remotely competitive is by having an extra man in there, which ultimately means one up front. Make the one Cook and its hoof-ball, make it not Cook and you’re dropping a bloke that’s scored 17 goals in a very poor team. The starting point should have been recruiting and organising the defensive shape of the team (throughout, not just the back 4), but Keates just never got to grips with that most basic of tasks.
Where do we go from here? Blimey its mind-boggling! I would bring in one of the centre-halves I mentioned for sure. Edwards if he’s fit has to play, as does Cook. I’d drop one of the wingers and have a midfield three of Kinsella, Dobson and Edwards. Gordon supporting Cook.
Fair post. I essentially agree with you whilst differing in minor areas. As for the last 5 games, I can see your logic for cook and Gordon but I’m not sure it works. I was thinking back to Merson and those last 5 games and wondering whether we haven’t got a free shot at it this time. Our goal difference is so poor that it almost feels worth attacking with gay abandon, playing the two strikers, telling Devlin and leahy to get forward like they used to and see what happens. Certainly no point going in with a defensive mindset because we let goals in anyway
Could we play 3 centre halves, play 3 in midfield and let Leahy and Devlin bomb on? That would still leave room for a 1 1 with Gordon behind Cook. I think Guthrie and Osbourne could come out for Fitzwater and Kinsella. Take out Ishmel for Edwards and give the Villa loanee a bench with an extra centre half coming in. There is plenty to choose from with Norman, Laird and the on loan Wolves centre half (or even Guthrie) as half decent options.
As a wise man once said, nothing will change unless you are prepared to change…
Fair idea, apart from laird…not fit, off the pace, not up to it. But I do think giving freedom to Devlin and leahy to attack would make a huge difference. Ismail…on his day is superb, it’s just not often enough. I don’t like the idea of Gordon sitting behind cook because it’s Gordon who has been making the intelligent runs and working the defenders but it is probably the only way to get cook in the team.
You know on football manager and your losing, and you click “Pump ball into box”. That’s what happened.
Except our players aren’t good enough to even hit the box.
Im not being funny either, it doesn’t matter what the manger does, you cant predict goals like their second goal. Devlin missing his kick, idiotic. He was absolute guff all game, one of the worst performances ive seen in years.
I cant wait for them all to be binned of in the summer.
It is funny how different fans see players differently.
For me, our biggest problem is that we don’t have a vocal captain. We need a M O’C type skipper.
Devlin would be the man.
Leahy has dropped off following Ginelly leaving. When he looked for a pass on Saturday CBT was anywhere but on the left wing.
Cook was brought in to play with 2 wingers to get on the end of crosses, this does not happen and all we do is long ball.
good luck Martin, we’re all behind you
