Rowett would have a nosebleed and revert straight back to defending if our players dared to score more than 2 goals in a game
Ballard Out
- Thread starter silverlion
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We did score 4 against Barnsley a few weeks ago!
Life with the Lions
Well-known member
I would also add to that list a lack of mental toughness when it matters most, as we found out against Birmingham.
I don’t know if it’s all down to Rowett, that he wasn’t able to motivate the players enough to win that game, or whether the blame lies solely with the players for not believing in themselves to put Birmingham to the sword (which is what Blackpool did in Brum’s previous game).
We didn’t look like a team that wanted to keep the pressure on Sheffield United! The players didn’t seem interested enough to want to win for their manager, their supporters, but above all, for themselves!
Deep down, I’ve never really believed that we’d make the play offs, for all the reasons you’ve cited above, but it has been nice to cling to the slender hope that we could gatecrash the play offs by going on a 3 match winning run against Birmingham, Peterborough and Bournemouth. Unfortunately, the draw against the Blues has dented the possibility of making the play offs now, and I think we’re going to fall short yet again!
Said at the start of the season we would be lucky to make the top six because we draw too many games and that is down to Rowetts defend first mindset.
I would bet that we have been in the top two teams in the Championship table for draws every season Rowett has been here.
I would bet that we have been in the top two teams in the Championship table for draws every season Rowett has been here.
We have one of the best Keepers and back fours I have seen for some time at Wall but still Rowett insists on so many defensive players and changing winning teams and formations. I know we are high up the table but with a little more attacking ambition once we were safe we could be up with Luton.
The odds of us making it to the play offs are now slim, take the shackles off and entertain the biggest crowd of the season and who knows they may want to come again or more regularly.
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VassalsWall
Well-known member
I said in another thread that, I thought, we looked nervous on Saturday but, for me, that doesn't equate with players who "didn't seem interested". We didn't play well but after giving away an awful goal and a soft penalty we did fight back roared on by a committed away support. When their keeper started time wasting at free kicks shortly after they scored, Benick and Sav ran to retrieve the ball and place it in the 6 yard box to limit any further time wasting. That wasn't players "not interested".
With a little bit of luck - Hutch's shot in the first half cleared off the line, Tom's attempted flick over the keeper who made a good save - we could/may have won. Like you I've always thought the chances of making the play offs to be slim - relying on others isn't the best position to be in - but not making it will be down to other things and not players who "didn't seem interested enough".
VassalsWall
Well-known member
We have a a squad of players, few of whom would make the squads of most of the top 10 in the championship, let alone their match day teams. Yet we have managed to be in with a shout until the last knockings of the season so must be doing something right. Of course, I would like us to score more goals and win more games but I'd rather be in our position than the likes of West Brom and Blackburn who were both thinking about automatic promotion rather than just the play offs not that long ago. The first nowhere in sight; the second now hoping along with us for others to f**k up.
Life with the Lions
Well-known member
My only worry is that Rowett‘s defensive mind set continues next season, and he’ll only throw off the shackles once he knows we’re mathematically safe from relegation. Unfortunately, by that time, we may have drawn too many games again, potentially throwing away two points every game, which no doubt will cost us dearly at the end of the season!
Rowett’s job as manager is first and foremost to keep our club surviving in the Championship! For this season, he has succeeded in doing that, and as a supporter, whether you like his brand of football or not, he and the squad should be congratulated for that achievement!
Having said that, whichever four teams end up occupying the play off positions on the last day of the season (sadly I don’t think we will be one of them), only one of them will be promoted, yet the other three will still have played consistently good football to get themselves there, and it’s that consistency that Rowett and the squad need to work on if they want to be in the same position as those four teams, come the end of next season!
Yes, you can say we’ve suffered with bad injuries to key players at the wrong time of the season (but so have other squads), but when that happens, the nearly players that sit on the bench week in, week out, need to take that chance to step up and shine, and show Rowett what he and the supporters have been missing!
Unfortunately, when that chance has been given to them, many of these ‘nearly men‘ haven’t made that chance their own, so when injured players return, they walk straight back into the starting 11, knowing that they don’t have to worry about any competition from other players. Players like Jed, Cooper, Bart etc. can have a run of bad games, but Rowett never seems to drop them in an effort to give them a kick up the arse! This in turn can lead to complacency in some of our ‘star players’ performances, and overall its the whole team (and supporters) that suffer!
If we’re going to cement a place in the play offs next season (or do better), we need young hungry players who want to reach the promised land, and want the riches that getting there gives them: not aging journeymen who‘s career is nearing its end, and who can just about still hack it in the Championship! Without that drive, belief and consistency from the players, I fear that next season could very well end up like this season has! Whilst that isn’t a bad thing in retaining Championship status, if the club, it’s manager and players want progression for themselves (and for many supporters), there has to be a different outlook and plan moving forward in terms of how the club uses its resources, its players and it’s tactics!
Life with the Lions
Well-known member
You’re right - I phrased “not interested” wrongly. Your word “nervous” is much more apt and I should have used that! We always knew (and perhaps the players did too), that the Brum game was one that could come back and bite us on the arse, but players have to overcome their feelings of nervousness (or use it as a form of adrenaline to play well), just as they had to by beating Hull and Barnsley at home, to stay in touch with Sheffield United who were above us!
Its been our last six fixtures that have really defined our season, I think. Getting a creditable draw against play off contenders Luton was a good return after the international break, only to then lose that momentum by being played off the park at home by a well drilled Swansea side! The Lions came roaring back with a 4-1 home win against Barnsley, one of our bogey sides, only to throw it all away again, in a 1-1 draw at Preston, a side we should have beat if we wanted to keep up with the rest of the play off chasing pack! We then pull off a must win game and beat Hull 2-1 at home, only to throw away all that good work again, in a lack lustre display against Birmingham, who had previously been spanked 6 - 1 by a mid table Blackpool side!
Yes, it’s all “ifs” and “buts,” but if the manager and players had really wanted a play off spot as much as many of their supporters did, they should have turned the Preston draw into a win, and at least drawn with Swansea! That would have given us 3 more much needed points, and may very well have had a different bearing on the game away to Brum! Had we won there (and most would say we should have), we would be going into the Peterborough game in sixth place, and 1 point above Sheffield United!
Its drawn and lost games like the ones I’ve mentioned above, that have been the main reason as to why I don’t think we’ll make the play offs, and for that to change and make happen, then these type of games need to to be looked at and addressed for next season!
It looked to me like lack of creativity.
They shouldn't need motivating when they know they must win and what's at stake. They must have heard the noise from our end, surely that alone is something to feed off. Our starting line suggested we would try and keep things tight then presumably bring on some pace and attack. That wasn't the case, Burey didn't come on until the 80th minute, so yeah the manager has to have a look at himself as well.
Life with the Lions
Well-known member
There was certainly a big element of that!
I only mentioned ‘mental toughness’ because our players knew we’d have to beat bogey sides like Barnsley, and to a lesser extent, Hull, to keep in the play off mix, and that emphatic win over the Tykes made me think that the players were all saying, “we are not going to fuck this one up,” and to their credit, they didn’t!
Unfortunately, this mental toughness is inconsistent, as seen against Brum who, like Barnsley, were languishing in the lower bottom half/relegation zone, yet we can put the relegation side to the sword, but not Brum, who were on a bad run of results, which culminated in that 6-1 defeat to another mid table side, Blackpool!
It’s so fucking frustrating!
This. 100%
Had we played at home we more than likely would have beat Birmingham, we're a different beast away from the Den. On top of that, most teams that have just conceded six goals in one game will want to redeem themselves in front of there own fans, it was never going to be a walk over.
We've done very well with what you describe as aging journeymen, i disagree that they're that. Only two regular outfield players are over thirty. I think we've come up short for one reason- goals- we simply haven't scored enough. If Bradshaw and Afobe had played a whole season together who knows where that would of got us.
new cross wall
Well-known member
we all know what we are
so enjoy the rest of the season its not over yet
roll on Saturday
so enjoy the rest of the season its not over yet
roll on Saturday
