Sussex Shrimper
Manager
I'll start by saying that I knew when we were promoted that there would be days like yesterday, and anyone who didn't realise that was naive to say the least in my opinion. Cardiff looked a class outfit who soundly outplayed us, just as they have most sides that they've met this season, and fully deserved the three points. If McPhail isn't good enough for the Micks then as much as I idolise Captain Kev he's got no chance. All of that said, it's days like yesterday that show you where you need to improve, and there's no questionning that there are lessons we can learn.
On the keeper:
Flavs has been superb, bar maybe a couple of missed crosses. No criticism from me.
On the defence:
I know that I'll get flamed for this (assuming that anyone's actually reading it) but I think that Barrett's really struggling at the moment. The dynamics of our defence have changed drastically over the summer, as you might expect with three new faces out of four in the starting line up, and it hasn't worked to AB's advantage. It's one thing to be able to plug a gap between the pace and class of Sodje on one side of you and the defensively minded Cheese on the other, but the new combination of Hammell and Gower on the left, coupled with the presence of Clarke who is also coming to terms with a pronounced step up in the standard of play, seems to be posing him different challenges. He's getting isolated far more easily, particularly in wider areas, and he doesn't have the quickest of feet or greatest of positional senses to cope. I also can't help but feel that we need a more dominant defensive header of the ball on that side of the pitch. The best solution to all of these problems available to us, IMO, is Efe Sodje. AB is still fairly young for a defender and certrainly deserves further opportunities to prove himself given what he has shown that he can bring to us, but for me he is better suited to challenging Clarke for the position between Sodje and Francis. One of the things that I have learnt from being kept abreast (often against my will) of Brighton's laughable efforts to establish themselves in the Championship is that you just can't afford to show blind loyalty, based on sentiment, to players like Oatway, Mayo and Butters who are clearly not playing well enough for that division and are costing you points. From what I know about Barrett I don't doubt for a moment that he'd be the first to acknowledge that the team is more important than he is.
On the midfield:
I don't have a great deal to say here as I feel that we've played some good, enterprising passing football and that our main problems lie elsewhere. I don't really understand the criticism of JCR as I think he's been superb for us so far. Some people seem to think that he should be taking teams apart every time he goes forwards, but I look at his contribution a different way - how many right sided midfielders give you a higher workrate, and more energy and pace on the counter-attack than JCR does? If we played with a Gower on each wing we'd get murdered defensively - JCR's attacking threat is a huge bonus on top of a defensive commitment and all round work ethic to rival that which Petts used to give us. Some people feel that he should cross the ball more, but the simple fact is that when he has there has rarely been anybody attacking the ball. On other occasions he has had opponents doubling up against him and has sensibly decided to lay the ball back to Francis, who has declined to cross for whatever reason. If I had to make a slight criticism it's that I'd like to see JCR tuck infield a little more when we're defending. At times he looks as though he's playing as a wing back and it can distort our shape a little, especially when Gutts has pushed forward from midfield. Speaking of Gutts, yesterday I thought that he gave us a reminder of the threat he can pose when he's given the attacking license that he needs. Hopefully he has found his magic tighty whiteys, the source of all of his powers. Hunt is a tidy player in midfield but just doesn't offer us the same dynamism as an on-form Luke Guttridge in my view.
On the forwards:
Freddy has underlined what we all already knew - that he's plenty good enough to score at this level. Paynter, on the other hand, continues to struggle. I don't think that it's entirely his fault, and I'm certainly not going to write off a young player who Tilly sees promise in, but with seven strikers on the books I don't personally see the logic by which he continues to justify selection at this point in time. Harrold, Hooper, Bradbury and even Ricketts in the space of 20 minutes have all shown more threat IMO. What I do believe is that whoever plays up front, one of our central midfielders has to make more of an effort to get closer to them. At the moment we're playing aimless balls into the channels when we shoud be looking to play the ball into feet with people breaking from midfield to collect lay-offs.
On the whole I can't honestly say that I'm surprised with our start to the season. I'd hoped that we might have collected more than one point on our travels, but then we've done better than I expected at home. If we finish the season in 21st place I for one will be delighted.
As far as our support is concerned, I think that our players need our backing more than ever and that anyone screaming abuse should be aware that they are not helping. You might have paid your money and feel entitled to express your opinions, but that doesn't mean that your opinions or your colourful ways of expressing them are working to our advantage. If you are doing nothing but getting on our own players' backs and making them feel uncomfortable then you are essentially serving the purpose of an away fan. That's just my opinion and I can't tell you what to do, but please at least think about it first if you genuinely want to see us play as well as possible. I can't deny that I found myself involuntariily laughing a few times yesterday or making quiet observations about things that were going wrong but I have NEVER heckled one of our players, not even Gordon Connolly.
Sorry for this post turning into an essay but there's my tuppence worth which I needed to vent - I don't doubt for a moment that TIlly knoiws better.
On the keeper:
Flavs has been superb, bar maybe a couple of missed crosses. No criticism from me.
On the defence:
I know that I'll get flamed for this (assuming that anyone's actually reading it) but I think that Barrett's really struggling at the moment. The dynamics of our defence have changed drastically over the summer, as you might expect with three new faces out of four in the starting line up, and it hasn't worked to AB's advantage. It's one thing to be able to plug a gap between the pace and class of Sodje on one side of you and the defensively minded Cheese on the other, but the new combination of Hammell and Gower on the left, coupled with the presence of Clarke who is also coming to terms with a pronounced step up in the standard of play, seems to be posing him different challenges. He's getting isolated far more easily, particularly in wider areas, and he doesn't have the quickest of feet or greatest of positional senses to cope. I also can't help but feel that we need a more dominant defensive header of the ball on that side of the pitch. The best solution to all of these problems available to us, IMO, is Efe Sodje. AB is still fairly young for a defender and certrainly deserves further opportunities to prove himself given what he has shown that he can bring to us, but for me he is better suited to challenging Clarke for the position between Sodje and Francis. One of the things that I have learnt from being kept abreast (often against my will) of Brighton's laughable efforts to establish themselves in the Championship is that you just can't afford to show blind loyalty, based on sentiment, to players like Oatway, Mayo and Butters who are clearly not playing well enough for that division and are costing you points. From what I know about Barrett I don't doubt for a moment that he'd be the first to acknowledge that the team is more important than he is.
On the midfield:
I don't have a great deal to say here as I feel that we've played some good, enterprising passing football and that our main problems lie elsewhere. I don't really understand the criticism of JCR as I think he's been superb for us so far. Some people seem to think that he should be taking teams apart every time he goes forwards, but I look at his contribution a different way - how many right sided midfielders give you a higher workrate, and more energy and pace on the counter-attack than JCR does? If we played with a Gower on each wing we'd get murdered defensively - JCR's attacking threat is a huge bonus on top of a defensive commitment and all round work ethic to rival that which Petts used to give us. Some people feel that he should cross the ball more, but the simple fact is that when he has there has rarely been anybody attacking the ball. On other occasions he has had opponents doubling up against him and has sensibly decided to lay the ball back to Francis, who has declined to cross for whatever reason. If I had to make a slight criticism it's that I'd like to see JCR tuck infield a little more when we're defending. At times he looks as though he's playing as a wing back and it can distort our shape a little, especially when Gutts has pushed forward from midfield. Speaking of Gutts, yesterday I thought that he gave us a reminder of the threat he can pose when he's given the attacking license that he needs. Hopefully he has found his magic tighty whiteys, the source of all of his powers. Hunt is a tidy player in midfield but just doesn't offer us the same dynamism as an on-form Luke Guttridge in my view.
On the forwards:
Freddy has underlined what we all already knew - that he's plenty good enough to score at this level. Paynter, on the other hand, continues to struggle. I don't think that it's entirely his fault, and I'm certainly not going to write off a young player who Tilly sees promise in, but with seven strikers on the books I don't personally see the logic by which he continues to justify selection at this point in time. Harrold, Hooper, Bradbury and even Ricketts in the space of 20 minutes have all shown more threat IMO. What I do believe is that whoever plays up front, one of our central midfielders has to make more of an effort to get closer to them. At the moment we're playing aimless balls into the channels when we shoud be looking to play the ball into feet with people breaking from midfield to collect lay-offs.
On the whole I can't honestly say that I'm surprised with our start to the season. I'd hoped that we might have collected more than one point on our travels, but then we've done better than I expected at home. If we finish the season in 21st place I for one will be delighted.
As far as our support is concerned, I think that our players need our backing more than ever and that anyone screaming abuse should be aware that they are not helping. You might have paid your money and feel entitled to express your opinions, but that doesn't mean that your opinions or your colourful ways of expressing them are working to our advantage. If you are doing nothing but getting on our own players' backs and making them feel uncomfortable then you are essentially serving the purpose of an away fan. That's just my opinion and I can't tell you what to do, but please at least think about it first if you genuinely want to see us play as well as possible. I can't deny that I found myself involuntariily laughing a few times yesterday or making quiet observations about things that were going wrong but I have NEVER heckled one of our players, not even Gordon Connolly.
Sorry for this post turning into an essay but there's my tuppence worth which I needed to vent - I don't doubt for a moment that TIlly knoiws better.
