Guess which team are the worst passers of the ball in the Championship?

[the other bob wilson]

http://www.walesonline.co.uk/sport/f...ising-13646576

Having watched the first quarter of our last but home match and the first half of our last one, I'm not at all surprised at this. Yes, I accept possession stats are not the be all and end all, but even our manager was moaning about our the way we were continuously giving the ball back to our opponents in the first half on Saturday - we don't need to be top half of the possession stats, but we've got no chance of maintaining our position if we keep on passing the ball like we have done for long stretches of our last two home games.

[Eric the Half a Bee]

http://www.walesonline.co.uk/sport/f...ising-13646576

Having watched the first quarter of our last but home match and the first half of our last one, I'm not at all surprised at this. Yes, I accept possession stats are not the be all and end all, but even our manager was moaning about our the way we were continuously giving the ball back to our opponents in the first half on Saturday - we don't need to be top half of the possession stats, but we've got no chance of maintaining our position if we keep on passing the ball like we have done for long stretches of our last two home games.

I think it ties in with our overall possession stats, which are hardly great. We're not particularly a long ball side, but we like to get the thing forward as quickly as possible to try and catch teams out defensively, using the pace of Zohore, Mendez-Laing and Hoilett.

We're not a team that slows the pace of the game down a great deal, neither are we happy passing it about in midfield, or possession football as it's called. Breaking down teams playing a passing game hasn't been our strength since I can remember. Trollope tried it and failed.

Our game is not too dissimilar to how Leicester played when they won the Premier League, albeit with a different formation. That season only one team had a worse pass success percentage than Leicester and only two other teams had less possession overall. If you're trying ambitious through balls or going long from time to time you'll make a hash of more passes than if you keep the ball on the half way line.

Having said that, agreed about some of our passing lately. It's been atrocious.

[Jursset_BrisCity]

I'm stunned at this news.
Who on earth would have thought?

[Eric the Half a Bee]

I'm stunned at this news.
Who on earth would have thought?

http://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/football/championship/table

[Jursset_BrisCity]

Last time that was posted up the gap was 10 points.
2 points from 9 eh?

Seriously a Warnock side poor at passing?
Who'd have thunk?
Next you'll tell me they towel up long throws, lead with their elbow, time waste and hoof it long..... 👍

[Clinton Baptiste]

I'm stunned at this news.
Who on earth would have thought?

Stats aren't everything as we all know, but we have had the third most shots in the championship so far, also the third fewest shots against.

A stat that does matter though is that we are also THIRD in the table

[Jursset_BrisCity]

http://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/football/championship/table

http://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/football/...ip/top-scorers

[Pedro de la Rosa]

http://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/football/...ip/top-scorers

What does that prove?

I asked you last week but you must have missed it. Please can you remind me the last time you beat us, the last time you finished above us, and if you are above or below us currently?

Thanks in advance.

PS killed any kids today?

[Eric the Half a Bee]

Last time that was posted up the gap was 10 points.
2 points from 9 eh?

Seriously a Warnock side poor at passing?
Who'd have thunk?
Next you'll tell me they towel up long throws, lead with their elbow, time waste and hoof it long..... ��

Let's examine your football knowledge.

Various quotes before last season's derby in Cardiff:

"Actually under Johnson we do play football the right way. As you will hopefully bear witness tmrw."

"I believe we will win. I think we have the better players and momentum with us."

"Cup final? It's us 5th and you 23rd you know?"

"Sheep interfering bastards 0 Bristol City 2"

"We will be too good second half. You do look an awful side"

Here are some others:

"That Kenneth Zohore is an awful awful football player"

To the question of where would Cardiff finish by the end of the season: "Relegated." The answer? 5 places and 8 points above the Wurzels.

Let's be honest, he can moan about Cardiff's playing style all he likes. He knows we'll still finish above the Wurzels again.

Since our memorable playoff success in 2003, Bristol City have finished above Cardiff only once and managed only 3 top half finishes in the Championship. During the same time, we've managed 10 top half finishes, 3 playoff campaigns, a season in the top flight and two cup finals (as a 2nd tier side).

[Llanedeyrnblue]

I'm stunned at this news.
Who on earth would have thought?

This from a man who’s team scored two goals the other night both made by long balls from near their own pelanty area

[Glos Blue]

http://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/football/championship/table

The only stat that is important!

[JumpersforGoalposts]

Football is a simple game.
Ball - Onion Bag
Onion Bag - Ball
Passing - Pfffttt!

[BlueArmy 86]

I'm stunned at this news.
Who on earth would have thought?

Have a day off. Well, soon it'll be months off when you go hiding once we smash you again!

[Rjk]

Passing % complete is a very basic measure that doesn't tell you much at all.
If you're trying to keep possession then you are likely to have a high pass completion.
We are clearly not trying that, we want to get the ball forward quickly to get our attackers facing an unorganized defence so the kinds of passes we are playing are much more difficult and will have a much lower success rate, that doesn't mean we are worse at passing.

I've seen a measure of passing competence that looked at the %likelihood of a pass from an area to another area being completed Vs whether it was completed to give a score of passing skill.
Two centre backs knocking I back and forth between them would have a very high pass completion rate, but probably wouldn't be the best passers on the pitch. Someone who tried very difficult through balls and gets 1 in 2 to stick would have a terrible pass completion% but be an excellent passer of the ball.

[Pedro de la Rosa]

Have a day off. Well, soon it'll be months off when you go hiding once we smash you again!

jurrsey.JPG

Gets me every time

[Rjk]

http://statsbomb.com/2017/06/passing...ssing-ability/

Thats the article I was referring to

[Eric the Half a Bee]

http://statsbomb.com/2017/06/passing...ssing-ability/

Thats the article I was referring to

Be honest, you're only trying to confuse Jursset, aren't you (not that it's difficult or anything)?

[Rjk]

Just read the original wales online article. What a load of simplistic nonsense. Can't believe they actually try to draw conclusions from pass completiin

[Rjk]

Just read the original wales online article. What a load of simplistic nonsense. Can't believe they actually try to draw conclusions from pass completiin

I guess the problem is to do a meaningful article on this subject would take longer and you'd have to pay an analyst to use their work whereas pass completion is freely available and you can shit out the article in 5 minutes.
As 99% of people are just going to glance at it for a minute and carry on to the next story it's probably not worth the additional effort.

[Pedro de la Rosa]

Just read the original wales online article. What a load of simplistic nonsense. Can't believe they actually try to draw conclusions from pass completiin

It's partly their fault, and partly not. They're told to churn out crap to get hits every day, and without transfers or games, it's been a bit of a dull week.

[the other bob wilson]

I know possession of the football is not considered to be as trendy and sexy as it once was, but, as far as I'm aware, we're still not at the stage yet where teams go out with the idea of intentionally passing the ball to their opponents. Having the worst passing stats in the Championship is bound to cost us in the end if it continues and, I repeat, our manager was critical of our ball retention in the first half on Saturday - there are other teams in the league who play in a similar manner to us and yet, apparently, they are better at keeping the ball than we are.

[Baloo]

Last time that was posted up the gap was 10 points.

Exciting times for you Jursset, actually in sight of The Bluebirds. Amazing to think some prize idiots wanted to get your manager the sack last season.

I take it your boycott is over.

[Rjk]

I know possession of the football is not considered to be as trendy and sexy as it once was, but, as far as I'm aware, we're still not at the stage yet where teams go out with the idea of intentionally passing the ball to their opponents. Having the worst passing stats in the Championship is bound to cost us in the end if it continues and, I repeat, our manager was critical of our ball retention in the first half on Saturday - there are other teams in the league who play in a similar manner to us and yet, apparently, they are better at keeping the ball than we are.

That's a fair point, but having the worst pass completion in the division does not make us the worst passers in the division. It could mean that we play the most direct football

[Loramski]

I know possession of the football is not considered to be as trendy and sexy as it once was, but, as far as I'm aware, we're still not at the stage yet where teams go out with the idea of intentionally passing the ball to their opponents. Having the worst passing stats in the Championship is bound to cost us in the end if it continues and, I repeat, our manager was critical of our ball retention in the first half on Saturday - there are other teams in the league who play in a similar manner to us and yet, apparently, they are better at keeping the ball than we are.

I'm a bit out of my depth in this thread but I'd have thought Warnock himself was partly to blame for Saturday. If you set up at home with three central midfielders and without full backs willing to push on then it's not leaving a lot of passing options for whoever is on the ball. I've no idea how other counter-attacking teams set up to win their home games but it seems a bit naive to start as though you're the away side and hope the other team will pile forward so you can catch them on the break. Fulham probably will but apart from them most teams, even those as good as Wednesday, will concentrate on stopping the ball getting to our front three first and foremost (they're not exactly secret weapons any more) so are unlikely to commit too many men forward.

I'm not expecting us to play like Man City and I know it's largely about grinding out results in the Championship but I still reckon there are enough decent players in the squad to be able to open up teams at home and enough decent defensive players to mind the shop if it means us committing a few more men forward at times to give better passing options. Hopefully Saturday was just a one-off blip, it would be a shame to see us go back to relying on set-pieces as our main source of chances.

[Eric the Half a Bee]

That's a fair point, but having the worst pass completion in the division does not make us the worst passers in the division. It could mean that we play the most direct football

I agree. If we play a lot of higher risk passes, then we'll have a lower pass completion rate.