From the bolded extracts. No peeping.
This is by far the hardest report to write because there is literally nothing to report (I keep a mental note and todays is utterly empty) and because I've travelled all over the country and the one time in five years since leaving Bedminster that I can walk to a game, the team produced all the same rubbish they have this past month.
The Millwall fans spent the second half singing "You're ******* s***" (quite rightly) and living locally, we had to walk through it all after the game (no train escape to London Bridge) and talking to them now it was one of the easiest games they've had in months. No bravado these were solid and honest Millwall fans and they said we are among the worst they've seen this season.
To start it off with facts. Today we were well beaten. At 2-0 it should have been 3-0 if only for an extraordinary set of blocks and Frankie saves. And then at the end when we were really pressing, again they had clear free headers from crosses - something we would never manage. This has been going on for weeks. It was the same at Barnsley.
I keep hearing the word progress because we are higher up the table and beat Man Utd. Let's get this straight once and for all. Cup results are no basis for qualifying league ability or progress and worse, our amazing finishes at Bramhall Lane and the KC stadium, which helped us up the league, now appear to be the product of sheer bloody mindedness from our players - not any long term strategy or compelling tactics from the manager.
Today, yet again after games at Burton and Barnsley, showed us up to be totally bereft of any pattern of play, no idea how to open up opponents. I can't make this any clearer but we had less idea today than we did during the worst recesses of last reason. I have literally no idea how we thought we'd compete. It was like Forest away last season - for me the pinnacle of feeble football.
It started so well. We came out passing. Bobby was dropping, O'Dowda was finding space, even Paterson, whose decline in form has been key, was getting into the game.
Then one Millwall forward ball gets mis-kicked out of play by Brownhill and from the throw in our players decide to repeat their Barnsley act, and the first threaded pass is through statues to their fella in the box and in five yards of space. It was a cracking curling finish but not once did we ever have a player in five yards of space in the box to do anything like the same.
From then on we were straight back to recent form. [b]Few passes between centre backs and then an aimless long slow ball upfield for Bobby to challenge for.[/] It should be no surprise that zero came of it, although credit to O'Dowda, as the few times a ball got spread to him, he actually fought and out-muscled an opponent to stay on the ball. Surprising for a recently injured player. The closest we got, and I shouldn't even have to waste time typing this, was Baker having a go from 40 yards and putting it 20 yards wide. We weren't ever close.
After doing nothing in the first half we came out trying to pass in the second and almost created an equaliser - a free kick earned from our first interplay, swung in from the right and ghosting over everyone with both Flint and then Pisano unable to turn it in at an empty far post. In minutes our dependence on long balls would be again humiliated. Once more Millwall broke at pace and with players running at us, something we never once managed to do, Baker went in for the challenge and got left on his arse. They squared the ball and just like the first goal, our players were hours slower than theirs to react, so they had the easy finish.
I'd like to report every kick of our attempt to comeback but there was none. Pack shot miles wide from 35 yards and Pato dragged a shot wide after good work. We weren't even getting close. We threw on both Diedhiou and Djuric for presence up front (though possibly taking off our most competitive players O'Dowda & Brownhill) and symptomatic of our current lack of tactics, we continued trying to play through the middle to both of them (via the classy Bobby Reid) when Millwall had already showed us how easy it is with crosses and passes info big men in the box.
We didn't get the memo, and horrifically, we didn't once give either of the strikers a decent ball to attack, for what felt like most of the half. I am left bemused by the sight of taking off two midfielders and putting on two strikers and then still trying to play through the middle when what was needed was crosses. Let's be clear, there are zero tactical instructions of any merit being provided to our team.
In the last five minutes the forgotten man Eliason returned and actually gave us the missing crosses - combined to with Paterson finally finding a little space to attack the full back. But we never once contrived even a basic shot on goal, much the same as the Brentford game at Ashton Gate, and although we won a succession of corners for Eliasson at the end, we were so well beaten by Millwall that I'm almost embarrassed to see them overtake us at a canter while we go in the other direction.
I've certainly enjoyed this season and have seen games that prove we have a lot of talented players, but the inescapable conclusion now (at least after the past 3 away games) is that we have a manager that has zero idea how to set a team up to compete, if you forget cup excitement and come down to earth for a moment. Recent football has been beyond scandalous - not just not competitive but no shots on goal and no quality passes into the box.
I honestly felt destroyed today, partly because it was my one long awaited local game and I have to put up with Cockneys who go to about one game a season, but mostly because we were so far off their approach play and desire, it hurts.
They created chances at will. We not only didn't create chances, we couldn't move the ball without lumping it up for 50-50s. ZERO SHOTS ON TARGET FOR A SECOND CONSECUTIVE GAMES.
It was so obvious that although they didn't keep the ball as much as us, they ran with it given any opportunity and knew how to open us up. We couldn't have opened a Christmas card today. Our players are beyond lightweight but far worse, it's now been a month of this utter tripe and our manager has no idea not only how to change it but how to even compete.
