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It's incredible how little movement there is from our players off the ball when we have possession.
I think Steve Morison has a tough job on his hands and if he's sensible he might think it a blessing if he doesn't get appointed full time manager at the moment. As good as I believe him to be I think it would be unfair on him to be a sacrificial lamb for the failings of our squad. Anyone who takes on this lot will have an enormous challenge.
Our defence is so weak at this level and the midfield is even worse; before we can even think of creating and scoring goals we have massive problems to address at the back and in the middle of the park. With the board stating no money will be available for strengthening the squad in the foreseeable future, what chance has anyone of getting us out of this hole?
Long term Id lile to see Steve Morison take over and bring forward some great academy players but right now he'd just be fighting fires without a hose pipe.
You can see the passion in the team to play for one R Mozza however we lack a lot of basic tools such as concentration, keeping the ball simply , making dummy runs to create space , the younger lads show wonderful promise for about 45 minutes of the game , pity they didn't snatch a draw tonight felt thier effort alone deserved it .
I'd let one R Mozza manage to Xmas he's shown enough 3 games is not enough to judge him , if we don't I have a horrible feeling he will leave for another club and do well there as a number one.
First half was encouraging, definitely trying to play more football than we have for years
Evans and Colwill showed glimpses
Thought Vaulks did ok and Ralls improved us when he came
Mozza looks out of sorts
What happened to last seasons NG
A draw would’ve been a fair result
No complaints about the result - QPR could have scored a couple more. We lacked the pace and movement to get behind them and never looked like scoring. Pack too static for me- I'd go with Ralls and Bacuna in midfield. Our defence could not cope with QPRs press in the second half.
I'm hoping this isn't the case. Morison strikes me as a decent enough coach but quite standard. Granted we need someone to get the team away from the drop but next summer we'll have something of a clean slate, and it should be with the mindset of building a team for the following season's play-offs. This division looks pretty ordinary and while he still has a part to play with the education of young players I'm not sure he has the X-factor to build a new era for the club.
Obviously this assumes we're still in the division and we at least have some finances to supplement the squad. And also that we're still a club that has aspirations to be at least challenging for promotion on a consistent basis.
Agree with all this.
Pity we didn't score that chance in the first 10 minutes.
It was beautifully worked by Evans who played a beauty down the line to Giles who then played a sweet ball across, only for NG (was it?) arriving late to put his shot wide.
He really should have worked the keeper with his tame effort.
Unfortunately that miss proved costly as once they scored it was all about them killing the game and we just don't look like scoring at the moment.
I have to say though that it is good to see us trying to pass the ball rather than hoisting the ball and chasing it with players moving and wanting the ball. That said, our defence does need to put some extra work in on the training field as we really are lacking in just simple passes, let alone a killer one for the striker to run on to.
I should also mention that any momentum we had was quickly snuffed out by some poor offciating. A referee who fell for all their antics, not punishing them at all and a linesman in front of the Ninian who was equally poor if not worse.
If we continue in the same vein as tonight and get our share of the rub then I reckon we should stay up. Just!
I think we'll continue to improve as a team and I think we'll get out of trouble. Just. But then what? Who knows?
Ng and Giles at wing backs were poor
The other options we have in there are worse FFS. Both of them looked devoid of confidence and the ability to cross a ball
Pack is too bloody slow - there was a reason we always beat Bristol City - it's because Flint and Pack were liabilities - they are now even ruddy slower and are at our club
Morrison is one of my favourite City players - I don't know who is wearing his shirt out there - it appears to be a bloke more concerned with doing his hair than bloody defending. QPRs defenders were strong, quick and decisive - ours were a pale shadow of theirs.
Vaulks was ok tonight - it comes to something when somebody as limited as Will Vaulks was probably our best player
Colwill and Evans - not enough. If they are old enough to be out there they aren't exempt from criticism. The work rate from old man Adamoah put them to shame. Touches of quality yes but not enough and nowhere near good enough.
Moore - marked out of it by decent centre halves who were better players than he was tonight
This lot aren't good enough to get us out of this mess
There you have the brutal, honest truth!
You have a captain who has never been known to be particularly vociferous, but used to at least lead by example - he's no longer doing that, in fact, he's a liability.
A clutch of players who would all fail a military 'bleep test' of running between two lines at a given time, such is their sloth-like movement.
The American football team, the Dallas Cowboys, used to famously give new rookies an IQ test. They felt it necessary to attract the all around quality of player they were looking for (after all, an American football play-book looks like a telephone directory!)
Our players would mostly fail an equivalent football IQ. They show no nous, no smartness whatsoever.
They aren't. Morison is getting the best out of a very, very weak championship side, but every single game is going to be a titanic struggle - just to get a point. Without a few new players in January - plus another club having points deducted - I think we're nailed on to go down.
Pretty much, it's looking like we are out of our depth as we were in the PL. It's quite a terrible turn to take from what was usually a comfortable top half team.
Bigger clubs than us have gone down from our level and it may well be our turn, the whole club has massively taken its eye off the ball.
I'm still quite shocked at how sudden the decline has been, even at the start although not entertaining we were competitive enough.
The rot has set in and we definitely need a new manager in to give it a go. I like Morison and think he could one day do well but I can't help feeling that this probably needs someone new that doesn't know the players, someone who can come in and really get them scrapping for everything, if we can also then not hoof everything also then fantastic.
Last night was "prettier" to watch in part but there is still no fight, no closing down and weak at the back. To stay up we don't even need to be the most creative just cutting down our ridiculous goals against tally would help.
Nice to see Morison changing the way we play, but he has to realise the limitations of our defence. To play out from the back you really need a centre back who can carry the ball and neither of Morrison, Flint or Nelson appear to be capable of that. Frankly their collective distribution is appalling, if they do occasionally find one of their teammates it usually is the man in no space and immediately closed down.
Teams have done their homework and know our distribution from the back is shite so they press high which forces us to eventually go long (if we don't lose it!)
Pack is probably our best passer so could he be the one who starts the move, even though we have centre halves coming out of our ears, him at CH might be the best option.
Could he be accommodated in defence but allow us to continue our newly discovered possession based pressing game ourselves?
Although I think Ralls is quite limited, he could fill the role Pack is playing at the moment as long as he stays fit.
It has to be remembered this team just went on a historic run of losses. Professional football requires high levels of many attributes, and confidence is one of them. QPR are a fairly well-oiled machine, City are taking baby steps. Let's see where we are in a couple of months.
Summed up perfectly.
Why Flint isn’t playing I don’t know. Been our best defender this season and Morrison is clearly not fit.
Ralls needs to be back in on Saturday too.
I think I’d go 3-5-2
Smithies, Flint, Nelson, McGuinness.. Ng, Giles, Ralls, Vaulks, Colwill. Harris & Moore.
Need to get someone closer to Moore and the 3 up front aren’t really working. Colwill should be in the 10 position- wasted a bit out wide.
Need 3 in midfield to stop the opposition having so much space