Quote Originally Posted by Lawnmower View Post
We aren't the worst passers though.
You could have 40 passes go to feet under no challenge and keep the ball and create nothing.

Or 9 passed, create 2 chances and lose the ball once.

The stat is, as the op says, meaningless unless it's contextualised, which it mostly isn't.

We create loads of chances, score goals and get shots in. You don't do that if you don't pass the ball EFFECTIVELY
There are times when our passing is absolutely shocking - these periods usually last for fifteen to twenty minutes or so and it's a great tribute to our defensive organisation and resilience that we haven't conceded too many goals during these horror spells when the ball just keeps coming back at us.

We also need better passing when we're defending a narrow lead in the closing stages of games - we do use the ball effectively when we are attacking, but there are times when you want to take the heat out of the game and we're poor at doing that when it comes to retaining possession.

I think Neil Warnock would gladly settle for 40 per cent possession in every game, but I've noticed that he has been critical of our passing in games we have lost or played poorly in (he mentioned it about the Birmingham match when he was interviewed on Sky before Monday's game) and I believe that he would get concerned if our possession figure consistently was at something like 30% - I'm sure he sends his team out with the intention of having more of the ball than that.