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fbm

Blue tinted optimist⭐
Joined
Oct 28, 2003
Messages
10,024
Location
Cloud cuckoo land
Todays defeat hurt. Not because it was against Col U, although there are no doubt some on here that think that if we only won 2 games all season as long as they were against Col U then that would be ok.

It hurt because of the stage of the season we are at and the importance of those three points. It hurt more than the defeat against, say, Derby because we didn't really make a proper game of it and gave the impression of laying down and dying.

Now, anyone who has read my review will know what I thought of the performance. But I have read some amazing stuff on here today, most of which to be honest I can't agree with.

Playing "Devils Advocate" for a minute - Tilson has been slated for his team selection in playing Foran wide and dropping JCR - also for playing Hammell. Well, if he had played an unchanged team, then people would no doubt be on his case for not being bold enough. Similarly, he has been criticised this season for late substitutions, yet apparently replacing a very, VERY poor Foran at half time is also a crime. The bloke can't win. He hasn't done a lot wrong over the last few years. Can someone please tell me why he should be a victim of his own success? He has provided us with what we all wanted - the League One title and Championship football. Is it right that we should use that as a stick to beat him with?

Next - the players. Yes, today they were poor. But I am convinced they did not give up. They played with too much fear and as soon as the second goal went in, that was that. When confidence is low, the hardest thing in the world is to play free flowing football. Some of our passing was delightful today - but it took place in our own half where it didn't hurt the opposition. Mike Marsh used to flatter to deceive like this as well. He'd play a delightful pin point pass 40 yards across the pitch in our own half which would have the crowd purring - but would never play a short 5 yard pass into the opposition box that hurt the opposition (as Barker did today for Cureton's third). The players today were nervy, which is why they had trouble in controlling the ball on occasion. Too many basic errors made, too much fear. This can be mistaken for inability, indifference or even a lack of spirit. None of these I believe are in evidence. It is fear and pressure - today was a big, big game and sadly we lacked the bottle for it. On Monday, as Tilly said in his post match interview, the pressure is off because everyone thinks we are down so we just have to go and play.

By the way, if we had won today and lost at Preston, would anyone feel any different to losing today and winning at Preston? If we win 3 and draw 1 of our last 6 games, does it matter if we win 1 of those away from home? Come on, it ain't over 'til it's over. When we can't get out of it, then we're down but until then, lets keep the faith.
 
so true... so what we're outsiders to stay up, were we outsiders against manure... yup were we outsiders at St. Andrews after losing 4-0... yup were we outsiders for the league 1 title... yup IF YOU HAVE A TICKET FOR THE PRESTON GAME PLEASE GO THE TEAM NEEDS YOU, yes they have had two bad games no support is never going to help this though
 
Couldn't agree more fbm. There has been a lot of talk on here about the players not trying and not caring - utter piffle. Hopefully by Monday morning people will be feeling more up for it and ready to travel.
 
Sorry fbm, playing devils advocate or not, I cannot agree with a lot of what you have just said there.

In relation to Tilly, yes, playing an unchanged side from last week's horror show would have drawn criticism, very true. However, he cannot be praised for dropping HCR, who has done absolutely nothing wrong, and playing a left sided midfielder/striker on the right side if midfield. That is beyong comprehension I'm afraid. I havent seen anyone criticising him for bringing back Hammell, and if they have, then they are equally stupid, that was the only thing that he got right about today - But perhaps if he had done it last week at Hull, we wouldnt have capitulated so easily, although after witnessing it, i doubt it!

He did need to change things at half time, I agree, and it is about time he did something like that, a pity then it has taken him until the 41st game of the season to try and do something dynamic. But again, Foran is played out of position, and when he doesnt play well, gets punished by being subbed. Bradders for all his hard work and commitment was getting nowhere, as usual, and forgive me if I am wrong, but was Foran not brought in to play up front??? He hasnt started there yet, so why on earth not?

You could argue that it is a matter of opinion, and you would be right, but those are just some of the reasons why Tilson is receiving, and in my mind justified, criticism.

As for the players, you can be convinced as much as you like that they didnt give up, but I'm sorry, actions speak louder than words. Last Saturday I witnessed something so bad I felt compelled to write to the club about it, and yet today, they were almost as bad. I dont know about giving up, I dont think they ever started!!!!!! They rolled over and died, simple as that, they had no fight, no passion, no guts, nothing - That is why they are recieiving, again, justified criticism. They looked like they couldnt give a monkeys, whether or not that is true I dont know, but that is what they looked like.

You are correct in saying that no one would care if we lost today and own at Preston, 3 points is 3 points and it doesnt matter where they come from, but blind optimism just doesnt come close to describing what you must be thinking if you can honestly see us getting 3 points at Deepdale on Monday - Barring a miracle akin to the feeding of the 5,000, it isnt going to happen! (Topical analogy I guess as its Easter Weekend!)

What I have seen in the last two ninety minutes is just nowhere near good enough and a long way from being close to accepable, and that is why fans are being critical - In fact the treatment the team got today when the final whistle went was extremely generous considering - Possibly due to the majority either already on there way home or just stunned into silence!
 
Sorry fbm, playing devils advocate or not, I cannot agree with a lot of what you have just said there.

In relation to Tilly, yes, playing an unchanged side from last week's horror show would have drawn criticism, very true. However, he cannot be praised for dropping HCR, who has done absolutely nothing wrong, and playing a left sided midfielder/striker on the right side if midfield. That is beyong comprehension I'm afraid. I havent seen anyone criticising him for bringing back Hammell, and if they have, then they are equally stupid, that was the only thing that he got right about today - But perhaps if he had done it last week at Hull, we wouldnt have capitulated so easily, although after witnessing it, i doubt it!

He did need to change things at half time, I agree, and it is about time he did something like that, a pity then it has taken him until the 41st game of the season to try and do something dynamic. But again, Foran is played out of position, and when he doesnt play well, gets punished by being subbed.

There is some talk that Foran was injured which may account for the substitution. Having said that, if we had played well and won then this would not be an issue. We did not lose because Foran was wide on the left.

Bradders for all his hard work and commitment was getting nowhere, as usual, and forgive me if I am wrong, but was Foran not brought in to play up front??? He hasnt started there yet, so why on earth not?

You could argue that it is a matter of opinion, and you would be right, but those are just some of the reasons why Tilson is receiving, and in my mind justified, criticism.

As for the players, you can be convinced as much as you like that they didnt give up, but I'm sorry, actions speak louder than words. Last Saturday I witnessed something so bad I felt compelled to write to the club about it, and yet today, they were almost as bad. I dont know about giving up, I dont think they ever started!!!!!! They rolled over and died, simple as that, they had no fight, no passion, no guts, nothing - That is why they are recieiving, again, justified criticism. They looked like they couldnt give a monkeys, whether or not that is true I dont know, but that is what they looked like.

My point exactly. That's what it looked like but I can assure you that wasn't the case. Anyone who has played football at any decent level will tell you that when you are under severe pressure and low on confidence the hardest thing to do is get involved. That is because it is easier to not do anything so that you can't do it wrong. I didn't see the Hull match but yesterday smacked of that all over the pitch. We didn't capitulate - we just didn't compete. Contrast this with a team that DID give up in my opinion - QPR when they were down here - when if the game had been 5 minutes longer we'd have scored another couple.

You are correct in saying that no one would care if we lost today and own at Preston, 3 points is 3 points and it doesnt matter where they come from, but blind optimism just doesnt come close to describing what you must be thinking if you can honestly see us getting 3 points at Deepdale on Monday - Barring a miracle akin to the feeding of the 5,000, it isnt going to happen! (Topical analogy I guess as its Easter Weekend!)

What I have seen in the last two ninety minutes is just nowhere near good enough and a long way from being close to accepable, and that is why fans are being critical - In fact the treatment the team got today when the final whistle went was extremely generous considering - Possibly due to the majority either already on there way home or just stunned into silence!

So now who's giving up? No, I can't see us winning at Preston but I couldn't see us winning at Birmingham either. As Tilly says - now there is no fear we just have to play. Preston will be nervous as well as they are faltering so it's not just about us as there are 2 teams in every match. Football is so predictably unpredictable - especially at holiday periods - and that is what makes it so exciting.

Keep believing until it's over.
 
Completely agree with fbm. Last week was disgraceful, but this week i do not think that they gave up and did not care. I think that they were fearful, and knew how high the stakes were and could not handle the pressure. I have seen many better players than what we had on the pitch yesterday do the same.
 
If we get a point at Preston we'll still be on course for the 47 points that I thought we'd get about a month ago. I certainly never thought that we were going to get three points yesterday. Technically we're still in there with a shout of staying up but I just wonder whether there is another belief in the squad, or in the stands, now to rally around for one last push. At 2-0 the players gave up yesterday and that is the first time I've seen that happen since the 17-match winless-run. Hopefully the last time too.
 
At the moment we are totally out of confidence. When goals are going in the net and games are being won football is an easy game that can be played almost without thought. When things are tough then even the simple things can seem impossibly difficult. In each of the last two seasons we have always believed we would win so that if we conceded a goal we have sensed that it was only a matter of time before we would score. Now, however, if a goal goes against us we are gripped by the certainty that 'that is it'! It is not really about not trying, that is just the way it seems to those watching. We must stay behind the team.
 
It is not really about not trying, that is just the way it seems to those watching. We must stay behind the team.

Course it doesn't help though when you see players out in bars constantly getting P***ed and behaving in a manner which is disrespectful to the club and it's supporters - this doesn't exactly help in terms of what we are thinking about their commitment right now......
 
Not to solely pick on Foran, but am I the only one who thinks that McCormack has gone considerably downhill since his drinking buddy Richie arrived?

Could just be a coincidence admittedly.
 
Macca was pants yesterday. I thought that that would have been the sort of game that he'd have thrived on.
 
Macca was pants yesterday. I thought that that would have been the sort of game that he'd have thrived on.

Was he not more concerned with not picking up another red so he wouldn't miss out on Preston where presumably he will have something of a point to prove?
 
Well that's a worrying stat: Can't give 100% without worrying about being carded. Jeez, no wonder Preston were quick to offload him.
 
Well that's a worrying stat: Can't give 100% without worrying about being carded. Jeez, no wonder Preston were quick to offload him.

Blimey MK, I know you are feeling down but do you have to try so hard to make us all feel suicidal as well? Cheer up a bit, there's a good chap. We've made a better fist of staying up than seemed likely at Christmas (who was asking what the record low points total was?) and we always knew life up here would be hard. Now dip your hand in your pocket and head up to Preston to get behind the team!

:thump:
 
Lol, my personal life is fcuked, my football team is fcuked....it's a hard job to cheer up :)
 
Lol, three points tomorrow and I'll be a ray of sunshine again regardless of the impending financial ruin I'm facing :)
 
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