A switch of the (h) Ips and we're gone..Home V THE Tractor Boys Sat 11th Mar. 3-0'clock

[GhostoftheBok]

I'll retract everything that I've said about Evatt then, he's been given unrealistic targets with funds / resources less than the teams he's competing against - its not achievable. I actually feel sorry for IE if the players that he wants we won't seriously compete for & our rivals will.

He's managing with his hands tied behind his back & FV should be questioned in regards to ambition etc.

How can they spend money that doesn't exist?

I think Evatt's doing a good job, but equally I'd say FV are doing well considering the state in which they found us.

I think I'm right in saying we were assessed as being in the top 10 in the league for football budgets.

[brommers95]

Might be in the minority but I like Adeboyejo. Strong, holds up the ball well, decent touch and dribbling for a big guy.

I'm in the same minority. Hopefully Lineker will be along to defend us shortly before the Tories try and deport us.

Add my name to the fan club. I think he’ll come good, just needs a bit more time to bed in. We also need to get back to creating chances

[brommers95]

George Johnston shall return, as will others, tough March, April might, just might surprise us all.

If we can't take the fact we've been beaten by a better side on the day then we don't deserve to enjoy the victories.

It's the hope that is kills the fans as this builds the expectation that goes beyond the abilities of the team.

We'll win some and lose some until the end of the season.

If we go up then hurrah, if not then we are on the way there. Just needs a little more patience.

Well put lad. It’s not beyond the realms of possibility that we win our next two games and all will be sunny in BWFC land once again.

[GhostoftheBok]

Add my name to the fan club. I think he’ll come good, just needs a bit more time to bed in. We also need to get back to creating chances

We have too many who are scared to lose the ball by playing it in, so instead they lose it trying predictable "safe" passes that get picked off. As happened today with Mbete for their first and with Toal more than once.

[brommers95]

Add my name to the fan club. I think he’ll come good, just needs a bit more time to bed in. We also need to get back to creating chances

We have too many who are scared to lose the ball by playing it in, so instead they lose it trying predictable "safe" passes that get picked off. As happened today with Mbete for their first and with Toal more than once.

Yeah and I think this is where Shoretire deserves some credit - he was one of the few (if not the only one) that looked to play forward and penetratively in the final third today.

Didn’t think Ipswich were anything to write home about, they just had a bit of extra quality that comes from spending the millions that they have. We look very leggy at the moment and that combined with players having one eye on Wembley has led to an incredibly sloppy and lacklustre last few games.

The two week break after Sheffield Wednesday can’t come soon enough in my opinion.

[BWFC_Insane]

Add my name to the fan club. I think he’ll come good, just needs a bit more time to bed in. We also need to get back to creating chances

We have too many who are scared to lose the ball by playing it in, so instead they lose it trying predictable "safe" passes that get picked off. As happened today with Mbete for their first and with Toal more than once.

Our refusal to cross the ball is maddening at times. Adeboyejo clearly needs much earlier service yet we mess around outside the box continually. Our delivery isn’t great though. Bradley has none. Jones on his wrong foot and Toal and Mbete looked like they’ve never kicked a ball before. Who will supply the striker? Relies on Morley dropping into those wider areas to put something in.

[GhostoftheBok]

There's a difference between patient build-up and bottling a pass. Today we bottled the pass.

It's probably not weird that the left side of our defence looks iffy when the two players who would have started that game (Iredale and Johnston) are both out injured. I still think Evatt made a forseeable mistake on that side, though.

For me that pick indicated to the players that he was worried about Ipswich and that probably didn't help the performance. We should have set up to pin Burns back, not cover him with Jones. Evatt talked about going toe-to-toe with Ipswich, but we clearly didn't fancy that. We tried to stifle them and only ended up stifling ourselves.

That's not just the players. The manager has to take some blame for setting the tone.

Mbete's nervousness could well, in part, be down to an overemphasis on the threat Burn carried. Purely a guess, obviously.

[LeverEnd]

I work with a Huddersfield ST holder. He tells me Mbete is good in the ball but the worst defender he's seen at the club. He was a cheap panic buy. Let's hope Johnstone (who I also don't rate) is back soon and we dint see him again.
I imagine he's one of those athlete types who drags out a career from once being at man city but never actually looks like a decent player.

[BWFC_Insane]

I work with a Huddersfield ST holder. He tells me Mbete is good in the ball but the worst defender he's seen at the club. He was a cheap panic buy. Let's hope Johnstone (who I also don't rate) is back soon and we dint see him again.
I imagine he's one of those athlete types who drags out a career from once being at man city but never actually looks like a decent player.

Mbete is defensively generally ok. On the ball he’s absolutely useless though.

I don’t agree with ghost either as I thought Jones was not too bad as LWB. And I’m not convinced John changes that game and Williams has simply not convinced me he’s good enough for a game like this yet. Nor Evatt clearly.

The problem for me we have in these games is where is our midfield strength? We need a Karl Henry or similar type to really compete with these sorts of teams. Someone with experience and ability to break the opposition midfield up. Instead we let them play through us too often.

[officer_dibble]

Dec John we just dropped - he tries to shoehorn Jones into the side at any opportunity.

Upgrades on Jones, Dempsey and a better left wing back we’re needed this season to be in the mix I think.

[BWFC_Insane]

Evatt to me in recent weeks has been a bit odd. He went from talking about targets and asserting said target would get us automatic promotion to almost playing everything down and straight into excuse mode. One of my issues with him is he’s too politician like. Tries to talk things up then cover himself when it goes wrong.

Perhaps instead he should stop switching and changing stick with the target of promotion we’ve had all season and be honest when things aren’t good enough as they haven’t been the past few weeks. There is a difference between an honest appraisal and blasting players. Nobody wants the latter but I think part of the problem is Evatt is scared of pressure so the team are.

They need to toughen up a bit and embrace the pressure and use it to perform. Need to act like a professional football team. Evatt needs to find some leaders in there. People who will not accept these lowered standards and will drive others on.

[GhostoftheBok]

I don’t agree with ghost either as I thought Jones was not too bad as LWB. And I’m not convinced John changes that game and Williams has simply not convinced me he’s good enough for a game like this yet. Nor Evatt clearly.

The issue wasn't Jones, nor was it particularly Mbete, it was Jones and Mbete.

There are passing angles off the left foot that are simply not available off the right and Ipswich were able to trap us down that side knowing neither player would play off their left to get out. Mbete because he lacked the confidence and Jones for obvious reasons.

The player who started dropping in to "help" was Morley, who as we know has no left foot.

You can't play the way we do without someone on the left who is prepared to try things off his left foot. Not against a proper side.

The lack of angles on that side allowed Ipswich's entire team to contract about 10 yards, which was why we had no space in midfield when the ball came down that side. They didn't need to mark the lads offering down the right flank, because they knew nobody would find them.

That's why the couple of times Morley was able to turn quickly onto his right and ping a ball wide they struggled to get across, because they were happy pressing that hard when we went down the left.

These are the margins that add up to terrible performances against good sides. Again, I think Mbete played like he was scared of Burns, which may mean the coaches cocked up the messaging in prep.

I totally understand why he's dropped Dec. I'm now at the stage where I hate watching John. I don't have anything against him personally and he's perfectly capable at this level, I just can't stand watching a player that selfish. Should he have started John with Jones behind him? Maybe, I don't know. John would at least have played off a decent left foot; but then leaving John out entirely might say something more has gone on there. Maybe John comes back in on Friday and plays a blinder, but it'll be interesting to see how that unfolds.

Like I said, different game with Iredale and Johnston in there. Equally true if we have Thomason's left foot in midfield.

[BWFC_Insane]

Yes it hurts us for sure. But I don’t think that’s the biggest issue. The biggest problem yesterday was the midfield.

[GhostoftheBok]

Yes it hurts us for sure. But I don’t think that’s the biggest issue. The biggest problem yesterday was the midfield.

Sure, but we've seen that midfield do very well. I don't think it's personnel, I think it's in the head.

The leader in there is Dempsey and he has been doing a great job, but you have to wonder whether his off-field issues has impacted him recently. As you said the other week he put in one of the best midfield displays you've seen from a Wanderers player and that wasn't out of character at that time; but now he looks a bit lost.

That base of Morley and Dempsey has carried us through a lot of games, along with the back three. Now both are misfiring.

We had 4 players out there who were younger than Ipswich's youngest player. That's definitely an issue; but equally 3 of those 4 (Shola, Traf and Bradley) were signed by Evatt as nailed-on first teamers. So it's tricky to hear him now bleat about inexperience.

We have a bit of a dilemma. On our budgets you're struggling to sign really talented (by League One standards) players, on the way up, in their prime. Those are the high earners. So when you need ability you're usually looking at lads on either side of the 25-31 "prime" range. For the kind of technical ability we want we've had to go way sub 25 and look at loanees. Two of our big "prime" players are out for the season. We managed to get Vik, but he's new, has had injuries and is still learning the trade as a centre forward.

Of our prime players yesterday we had Jones out of position, Kyle with a possible prison sentence hanging over his head and then Rico and Dion. So two lads who are should be issue-free, in their right positions and in their primes out of 11 starters.

Now I've no issue at all with sides outside the usual "ideal" age profile. I mean zero, I've seen plenty win things people said they couldn't win. However, Evatt has brought age into the conversation and so now it needs discussing.

How do we, on our budgets, put out a side that looks like your typical "This lot will win something" team. Maybe one lad under 20 if he's special, a couple under 24 who are developing, maybe an older head or two, but then mostly lads a couple of years either side of 27 and who have played a couple of hundred first team games at a good level.

[BWFC_Insane]

The midfield is too lightweight. It’s so blindingly obvious when we come up against the better sides it’s always struggling. There isn’t enough presence in there. The decision to play the hapless Shoretire over Lee yesterday was also really odd. Shoretire is not a player we can expect to win games with if he’s starting. He’s a ten minutes off the bench little cameos sort at best.

[GhostoftheBok]

Ipswich's midfield was two lads of about 5'8" behind a guy who is 5'6".

Dempsey and Morley are not lightweight players, as they've shown this season. Both will put in the yards and make tackles. I'd like Luongo in midfield and I agree with you we need a ball winner at times, but the reason we were miles off yesterday was not because we're pansies and they're proper blokes...it was because we didn't even try to show up outside 15 minutes of the second half.

That's psychology, not type. We didn't show up before any "midfield battle" even got the chance to unfold.

It's also quality. Two lads at the base of their midfield with 50 international caps between them, each of whom has played over 150 Championship games and both of whom earn twice as much as anyone in our squad. Both in their prime years.

As I said in the above post, how do we reliably compete with that?

[LeverEnd]

When is MJ Williams back ?

[Bertie Wooster]

The midfield is too lightweight. It’s so blindingly obvious when we come up against the better sides it’s always struggling. There isn’t enough presence in there. The decision to play the hapless Shoretire over Lee yesterday was also really odd. Shoretire is not a player we can expect to win games with if he’s starting. He’s a ten minutes off the bench little cameos sort at best.

I think that the majority of supporters agree with the midfield being lightweight & that it should have been an area to strengthen. We have needed a couple of powerful midfielders since Evatt came in, however it appears that IE doesn't agree with having a more powerful, tough tackling leader type in midfield. The two Ipswich midfielders (Morsy & Luongo) were way better than our midfielders, more aggressive, more street wise, just better quality players - if this is down to money (and apparently we can't compete with any of the clubs around us) how do we address this in order to improve.

Also, it was interesting to hear Evatt having a slight dig at the supporters “Some of our playing out patterns in the first half I could sense the crowd getting nervous and it makes everyone else nervous. It hinders us". They are nervous as it doesn't work & invites the press and a lot of teams have sussed us out.

[BWFC_Insane]

Ipswich's midfield was two lads of about 5'8" behind a guy who is 5'6".

Dempsey and Morley are not lightweight players, as they've shown this season. Both will put in the yards and make tackles. I'd like Luongo in midfield and I agree with you we need a ball winner at times, but the reason we were miles off yesterday was because we're pansies and they're proper blokes...it was because we didn't even try to show up outside 15 minutes of the second half.

That's psychology, not type. We didn't show up before any "midfield battle" even go the chance to unfold.

It's also quality. Two lads at the base of their midfield with 50 international caps between them, each of whom has played over 150 Championship games and both of whom earn twice as much as anyone in our squad. Both in their prime years.

As I said in the above post, how do we reliably compete with that?

We probably can’t outplay these teams. We cannot build a team to do what Evatt wants. To best Ipswich we needed a Karl Henry like leader in midfield who was up for it with experience and who would kick the fight off and stop us wilting under their press. We needed the right attitudes.

The squad we have are shrinking violets. When pressure comes in big games against decent opponents Evatt teams have consistently struggled. It’s a pattern. Yes good teams will be tougher to get results against but the pattern is always the same. We don’t lose because the opposition are so good on the day. We beat ourselves with a lack of ability to cope with the occasion and the game.

Yesterday a classic example. Ipswich are a good side. A very good side. But for the first half we spent ages mucking around inviting their press getting it to a wide centre half or wing back before promptly launching it anywhere and losing it. Playing into their hands. Now if we aren’t good enough to play through their press - and it’s obvious we aren’t then we have to have the gumption on field to change what we are doing. We needed leaders on field to see that and start to change. There is nothing wrong with loading one side of the pitch up hitting the cross field long ball and playing from there. Instead we kept doing the same thing that failed time and time again.

Evatt isn’t dogmatic he’s been talking in recent weeks about being pragmatic. But the people on the field aren’t experienced enough or mentally strong enough to lead the team to do what’s necessary. The exact same thing happened against Wigan last season. Lack of leaders and lack of know how. You contrast us to Wycombe who have a much smaller budget and an inferior squad. But they know how to manage games like this and more often than not can squeeze out results. At least with Ainsworth there.

We are too fragile for me. Mentally, physically and psychologically.

Earlier this week Evatt talked about embracing these big games. And I think that’s what they’ve got to face up to. Another huge game Friday and there is pressure. Serious pressure. But that’s when real footballers rise to it and find a way to perform or dig out results.

[Bertie Wooster]

We are too fragile for me. Mentally, physically and psychologically.

I don't think many will disagree with this.

We don't have leaders on the pitch & we do lack a couple of 'in your face' competitors.