I'm not totally enamoured with Phils performance right now , but if you read this board last week , many comments were along the lines of :
Rookie keeper is risky , we really need Dan back !
Cassidy isn't scoring , change it.
Deegan must play !
CB's were shocking last week !
We really miss Worrall.
Now apart from the possible shock of Bolger above Thompson or Prosser , Phil basically did all those things.
Result ? , apart from getting best 4-2 !
Phil has lost the plot !
6 changes , the man is crazy !
As I say , I'm not overly pleased myself this weekend , but all a bit too much IMO.
From what I heard on the radio , at 2-1 there was only one likely winner.
They got a pen and the momentum ( as it does in most games around the world ) swung back to the team who were behind.
We still pushed for the win and got caught on the break twice.
Lets have some balance people.
Not the greatest hour in our history , but not outplayed for 90 mins and not the team a million miles away from the one we were all asking for.
agree with most of that. I was there, and at 2-1 it was one way traffic in our direction. At 2-2 it was still one way traffic. For most of the game it was in our favour, even at 1-0 down we looked like we had an answer, and should have resulted in 3 points to be honest. The last 15 minutes after the "tactical nous" displayed by PB is where it all went wrong.
What was okay:
Cassidy adds a lot to the side, and continued to do so when he came on for Corr. If he had been able to take his chance and score, the 3 points would have been ours.
Deegan was excellent, strong, solid and offered good distribution.
The two CBs did a really good job, have no reason to criticise anything either of them did. Tough on Thompson, as he has been doing well, but he is young and will get other opportunities.
Worrall adds a lot to the side and played well.
the changes weren't really the issue, we were bossing the game.
what went wrong:
Bentley should not have started. Still injured and clearly uncomfortable.
Lenny giving away the penalty. It happens though at this level, but it put us on the back foot.
taking both Timlin and Deegan off for Hurst and Shaq. Madness. Timlin and Deegan had complete control of midfield, and whilst I like Hurst, he added nothing and I think Timlin was doing too good a job to come off. And what he was thinking taking Deegan off with Timlin already off is beyond me....
lenny, I am afraid to say, was awful for most of the game, and should have made way for Hurst or Shaq.
We pushed forward to get the win, which I think was coming anyway without the tinkering. Coker was left injured on the floor a couple of times and the ref didn't notice, leaving us desperately short at the back for at least one of their goals. We also had no answer for their substitutions after we lost our midfield advantage, so we got caught on the break twice.
the officials were terrible, got almost every decision wrong.
overall, the tactical substitutions were the biggest issue. Down to the manager. Again!!!
Learning points, Deegan and Timlin together are immense and should play together. The CB pairing worked, we are in a lucky position of having options. Piggott played well with both Corr and Cassidy, which also gives us options.
OK, we have lost 2 on the spin to average opposition, so need to do better as we have the potential.
I think we can still push for the autos as long as our meddlesome manager keeps his mouth shut and his eyes open. Sadly, not sure that will happen, and that will ultimately be our downfall.
