So good they want to play us twice...Home to Portsmouth, Football League Cup Tues 10th Jan 7-45.

[The_Gun]

Fairly awful performance from us, but pleased to be through to the semi finals, with a Wembley trip now a very realistic proposition. I think the changes Evatt made were always likely to have a negative impact, but some of the incoming players were disappointing.

I'm generally a Santos fan, but tonight certainly wasn't a vintage performance from him. It sounds as though he was pretty sick, so understandable if he's not immediately back to his best.

Sheehan I think did himself no favours and will probably struggle to get many starts from here on in. Hard to say how much the injury has impacted him, because we didn't have much evidence to go off beforehand. My suspicion is that he's not up to playing as a number 8 in League One, though.

MJ's endeavour is admirable, but I'm beginning to think that his level is more lower table League One/League Two. I'd be fairly confident in saying that he's not good enough to play in the Championship.

Accy at home in the next round would be ideal, but fully expecting Plymouth away.

[brommers95]

I’m sure the groundsmen are hoping for an away draw. Pitch is looking ropey to say the least

[Harry Genshaw]

Well that were shite. No Bovril this evening either. Definitely one to forget.

[Mar]

Fairly awful performance from us, but pleased to be through to the semi finals, with a Wembley trip now a very realistic proposition. I think the changes Evatt made were always likely to have a negative impact, but some of the incoming players were disappointing.

I'm generally a Santos fan, but tonight certainly wasn't a vintage performance from him. It sounds as though he was pretty sick, so understandable if he's not immediately back to his best.

Sheehan I think did himself no favours and will probably struggle to get many starts from here on in. Hard to say how much the injury has impacted him, because we didn't have much evidence to go off beforehand. My suspicion is that he's not up to playing as a number 8 in League One, though.

MJ's endeavour is admirable, but I'm beginning to think that his level is more lower table League One/League Two. I'd be fairly confident in saying that he's not good enough to play in the Championship.

Accy at home in the next round would be ideal, but fully expecting Plymouth away.

I agree with the majority of that.

I do think that the nerves were likely to impact a few of the players today, cup tie and all, but I don't think any of those that came in covered themselves in much glory tonight. Beck potentially being the exception, but even that is conflicted with the issue he had competing aerially.

On a more positive note, it was nice to see Santos back. On a different day he may have cost us, but he didn't, so its another step to getting him back to his best.

Hard to pick a MOTM. Probably put that one down today as a professional performance.

[truewhite15]

Kachunga, at least, pressed for the ball. Sadlier was woeful on the ball, off the ball, going forwards and in defence.

Just my two penneth.

[Prufrock]

Sheehan not the worst in that midfield 3 tonight..

Kachunga not a 10 (or particularly good) but MJ was miles off it. Looked like he was psyched up to go and "put himself about" but was just miles off the pace and flying into where the ball had just been (leaving a massive gap).

I'm not convinced Sheehan has the physicality to play in this 3 (withour wingers) but he certainly can't cover got two people.

He was great in League 2 (and I think is a mid-lower L1 player) but I wouldn't be sad to see MJ go.

[irie Cee Bee]

Genuinely surprised at the team selection at the start as I thought Evatt would have picked the strongest side available. I thought we would struggle with the midfield and wing-backs picked, and we did, but thankfully we won, and with a clean sheet. Charles play was brilliant for the goal and he deserves a lot of credit for it. He has looked a lot sharper in the last few games he has played. Johnston was again excellent and my MotM, and we looked a much better team when our better players came on.

Impressed also with Randy but worried during the game about Santos making his usual one mistake that cost us a goal. He did make a couple but thankfully it didn't cost us this time. He will need time to get back up to speed, but at the moment, Aimson is a lot safer with his old fashioned, no nonsense defending. Some disappointing performances from Sheehan, Sadlier and I thought Dad Bod who scored, lost the ball too many times. Looking forward to what our new forward will give us in ball retention in the final 3rd. One more game to Wembley.

[Prufrock]

Accy are through, 3-1 on pens. 3 misses from Lincoln.. whoops.

TBF two misses and a save. I’m more pedantic about that than most.

But yeah they ballsed that right up

Saved by...?

[GhostoftheBok]

I came to read the thread mostly to see Insane beat on his usual targets whilst completely ignoring/excusing that Sadlier was the worst player on the pitch and I wasn't disappointed.

Sads has been with us a year now and he has absolutely no awareness of the pressing triggers. You can have a bad game (Santos definitely did), but there's no excuse for being unable to execute basic aspects of play in a team you've been with a year. "He's not had a run", "He's out of position"...none of that matters in terms of having bothered to learn your sheets. He has never once played that aspect properly in his time here. His old boss at Rotherham basically said he couldn't be bothered to do that side of the game and we're seeing it.

On that basis you can completely understand why Evatt won't play him at '10' and yet will play Kachunga, because that role is the most important part of the pressing system and Kacha actually does the job. For all the talk of wanting to rip your eyes out watching him, he is where he needs to be when he needs to be there. Sadlier is proving to be a liability tactically and as much as I like the guy he's got nowhere near the quality to make up for it. If he would bother with that aspect he'd be great to have, but I'm at the point now where he can move on if that side doesn't improve sharpish.

Santos made more mistakes in that game than he has for a long time, but that's completely understandable. Sheehan looks like a guy who was out forever and hasn't had a regular run since. Rico will, you'd suspect, recover. Sheehan I don't think will. What we want from a midfielder has moved on now and Sheehan isn't it.

In a real physical battle Beck decided that the way to cope with being outmuscled was the rip people's shirts off. He needs to cut that out or he'll give away penalties.

Both Williamseseses deserve praise. MJ added much-needed bite in a proper midfield battle and Randy did really well off the bench.

Generally pleased, despite all the issues. We got a win after ringing the changes and key men will be fresh for the weekend.

[Harry Genshaw]

Kachunga does work hard and presses well but has the heart of a pea, constantly going to ground, easily outmuscled and either an unwillingness or inability to get a shot off when in great positions.

I think I'm largely in agreement with GotB about Sadlier. As often as he may have been played out of position, he's not doing enough of the basics to deserve more game time. I'd have been tempted to throw him up top, instead of Kacha, towards the end last night but I reckon a move away is probably in everyone's best interests.

[GhostoftheBok]

Kachunga does work hard and presses well but has the heart of a pea, constantly going to ground, easily outmuscled and either an unwillingness or inability to get a shot off when in great positions.

If Dapo leaves then there's no doubt that a 10 with more quality, but who can still do what Evatt demands in the role, is the single most important signing we can make.

I'd love Sadlier to suddenly give a damn about our tactical system, but even then I'd say he's a squad player at the level we want to be at. As things stand, he worries me

[BWFC_Insane]

I came to read the thread mostly to see Insane beat on his usual targets whilst completely ignoring/excusing that Sadlier was the worst player on the pitch and I wasn't disappointed.

Sads has been with us a year now and he has absolutely no awareness of the pressing triggers. You can have a bad game (Santos definitely did), but there's no excuse for being unable to execute basic aspects of play in a team you've been with a year. "He's not had a run", "He's out of position"...none of that matters in terms of having bothered to learn your sheets. He has never once played that aspect properly in his time here. His old boss at Rotherham basically said he couldn't be bothered to do that side of the game and we're seeing it.

On that basis you can completely understand why Evatt won't play him at '10' and yet will play Kachunga, because that role is the most important part of the pressing system and Kacha actually does the job. For all the talk of wanting to rip your eyes out watching him, he is where he needs to be when he needs to be there. Sadlier is proving to be a liability tactically and as much as I like the guy he's got nowhere near the quality to make up for it. If he would bother with that aspect he'd be great to have, but I'm at the point now where he can move on if that side doesn't improve sharpish.

Santos made more mistakes in that game than he has for a long time, but that's completely understandable. Sheehan looks like a guy who was out forever and hasn't had a regular run since. Rico will, you'd suspect, recover. Sheehan I don't think will. What we want from a midfielder has moved on now and Sheehan isn't it.

In a real physical battle Beck decided that the way to cope with being outmuscled was the rip people's shirts off. He needs to cut that out or he'll give away penalties.

Both Williamseseses deserve praise. MJ added much-needed bite in a proper midfield battle and Randy did really well off the bench.

Generally pleased, despite all the issues. We got a win after ringing the changes and key men will be fresh for the weekend.

Look I didn't sign either of them. Kachunga was 'Evatt's top target' so he claimed.

Lets stop with the 'pressing' nonsense. We sacrifice a bit in attacking quality to play Lee in the role because he's exceptional at triggering the press and exceptional at finding space. Kachunga is not exceptional at either. Nor is he good at either. Nor is he even average at either. If your yardstick is Sadlier who has played in that role for all of about 10 minutes then he might press better. I really don't think that matters when you look at what he is as a footballer. Which is, lets be honest and fair, utterly embarrassing. He offers nowt. Is a waste of a space. He's not a useful worker bee who impacts the game off the ball in a significant way even if he is a bit lacklustre on it. He's just there. Not usefully. Not helpfully. And on the ball it is as good as giving the other team an extra man. I don't know if its confidence or just age. But he was previously far better than this at least for a couple of seasons. But what I've seen of him at Bolton I'm struggling to think of a worse player given this much game time.

Sadlier doesn't fit in the system. I don't think he's a number 10 or whatever in how we play. I think potentially he was worth a go up front but that window has passed now. He's going to go elsewhere - and as I said I think that is for the best all round.

We will need a proper cover for RWB though in January without doubt as assuming Jones is fit (mysteriously absent last night) he covers the centre back flank roles and at a push can play RWB but that would leave us too stretched without Sadlier. And with Dapo also presumably off this leaves another hole if not another two holes to fill.

So January looks like potentially needing another 3 minimum if we are to remain competitive.

[Worthy4England]

Just because.... Press key stats with Bolton top of the press...

Press.jpg (100.01 KiB) Viewed 547 times

[TANGODANCER]

Generally pleased, despite all the issues. We got a win after ringing the changes and key men will be fresh for the weekend.

This ^^ You're leading 1-0 in a cup game, the opposition will have to score twice to beat you, in four days time you have to play the same lot in the League, the pitch is waterlogged and it's raining up a Noah's Ark. What's the priority? Common sense matters at any level. 19 passes and a wonder goal doesn't happen every game.

[GhostoftheBok]

Lets stop with the 'pressing' nonsense. We sacrifice a bit in attacking quality to play Lee in the role because he's exceptional at triggering the press and exceptional at finding space. Kachunga is not exceptional at either.

Kachunga is the best presser in the squad. Lee is second. Of the two, you'd always pick Lee because he's better at the other side of the game; but when Lee isn't in Evatt likes Kachunga for that reason.

Evatt is a system manager and that's the system. We press hard when we don't have it and then we play football to try and keep it. We hurt the opposition when possible.

Kachunga's pressing game is so good that he has somewhere close to 100 top flight appearances here and in Germany. Over 150 at second tier level. That's despite you basically claiming he's non-league in terms of general ability.

We can have a pointless discussion about his "quality" all day if you like, but his tactical ability on the pitch isn't up for debate.

You don't understand what he does well. I get that. Football coaches do.

[GhostoftheBok]

On the "we need three more"...that might happen if Dapo goes. Evatt states we currently want two. Dunno if that means "plus others in if some leave" or if he just wants 2 regardless.

[boltonboris]

A poor performance and we were comfortably second best for most of it, despite Trafford not having a great deal to do.

- Sadlier was poor, but played out of position. His crossing is really woeful and he looks like he's given up
- MJ Williams. Jesus wept. Only sprints when he thinks he can smash someone, then misses and gets megged. Foul after foul and poor in possession. He can go. We're way past the level he's able to play at.
- Sheehan. Kept the ball well, but that's easy to do when you only pass to Santos. Always looks rushed in possession and whilst he's got a neat little Scotty Parker pivot, he doesn't spot forward runs and isn't progressive enough

- Kachunga worked his socks off, but it just never really happens for him. Probably one of the better players
- Dempsey I thought looked good when he came on. Carried the ball, found forward passes and we improved with his introduction
- Toal and Johnston did well again, but got involved in a bit too much of the jousting
- Santos. Nothing's changed. Looks mustard, then gets caught in possession. Looks mustard again then lets a striker get goal side of him for no reason

All in all. Pleased to be through, but a game to forget. Plenty of changes and a much better performance needed for Saturday

[BWFC_Insane]

Lets stop with the 'pressing' nonsense. We sacrifice a bit in attacking quality to play Lee in the role because he's exceptional at triggering the press and exceptional at finding space. Kachunga is not exceptional at either.

Kachunga is the best presser in the squad. Lee is second. Of the two, you'd always pick Lee because he's better at the other side of the game; but when Lee isn't in Evatt likes Kachunga for that reason.

Evatt is a system manager and that's the system. We press hard when we don't have it and then we play football to try and keep it. We hurt the opposition when possible.

Kachunga's pressing game is so good that he has somewhere close to 100 top flight appearances here and in Germany. Over 150 at second tier level. That's despite you basically claiming he's non-league in terms of general ability.

We can have a pointless discussion about his "quality" all day if you like, but his tactical ability on the pitch isn't up for debate.

You don't understand what he does well. I get that. Football coaches do.

SKD wasn't the 'best striker' or finisher, at times even in the squad. But he was the best at what he did which was integral to the team shape and results and performances and everything else reflected that. I can cite countless players who weren't 'the best' but their contribution was stellar and obvious and we looked a far worse team without them. Kachunga is not one of them and no matter how many times you try and cover up for what was clearly a poor decision by Evatt (and he signed Sadlier too) it won't change that.

Kachunga runs about. Not particularly quickly or to any great effect. I didn't see him effect possession. Indeed it will be one of our lower home possession stats. We didn't create turnovers like we might expect with 'the best presser' apparently. We didn't see them unsettled in their attempts to move the ball. Indeed Portsmouth were arguably the better side were it not for their inability to do something in the final third. And that didn't change either when we changed the wingbacks. I didn't see us suddenly go up a gear with two better wing backs on. So the problems we had last night were in midfield for me. And an inability to get on top of Portsmouth and when we had the ball an inability to keep it.

Football ability isn't all that matters. But tactical ability, a very intangible thing to define, is a bit meaningless unless you can demonstrate the outcome of it. Lee might not be the best in and around the final third (he's played as a number 6 and a right back for most of his life) but you and I can clearly point to the situations where he's controlled a game and impacted what the other team are doing to the effect we have turnovers we score from, or dominate the possession and territory. I cannot think of a similar situation with Kachunga where I've watched him and thought 'well he lacks quality in the box but by god is he making a difference'. And last night - we matched Pompey for possession and struggled to keep it and matched them on pass completion. It was a case of Sheehan and Kachunga specifically being problematic IMHO. Problematic in their work on the ball and off it.

[GhostoftheBok]

I didn't see him effect possession.

I know you didn't.

[BWFC_Insane]

I didn't see him effect possession.

I know you didn't.

Show me the data to show that then. Did we (as we did against Plymouth) dominate passes, territory and possession? I need outcomes. Show me the outcomes. The turnovers he effected. The greater share of possession we had compared to when he didn't play (because he's our best presser). Show me tangible outcomes from last night compared to the game Saturday. He's our best presser so did that result in more possession? More passes? Winning the ball higher up the pitch. Outcomes. There must be some.