A Benchmark Performance

One team with one win in six and three straight defeats, the other flying high having taken 22 points out of 24, and bringing with them Alfie May. Sure, we wanted a result, a draw being acceptable, even if we were to bore the pants off them (and us watching). But this is football, this is The Valley. And the challenge brought out the best in us on the pitch, the return to the resolution and focus of the first three games, to the extent that Mannion didn’t have anything to save all game (he did deal well with balls in the air), all player ratings would be very high, Jones rightly gets the plaudits for selecting a formation fit for the task in hand, and even to the point of the display causing annoyance that we had slipped from this standard in recent games. The match served as a reminder of the effort required to win any game in this league, not just to be reserved for the league leaders.

The team was bound to be changed from Tuesday night. Jones opted for five actual changes and what looked like a change in formation, to a 4-4-2. Ramsay came back in for Watson and only two centre-backs (Mitchell and Jones) pointed to a back four with Edwards on the right side, with Edmonds-Green and Small on the bench and Gillesphie and Potts not making the squad. Coventry and Anderson were retained in midfield and added to with Docherty and Campbell(A), with Berry dropping out of the starting X1. Up front Kanu and Godden were selected to start, with Ahadme not in the squad and Campbell(T) on the bench, along with Aneke and Leaburn.

We didn’t score in the first half. That we no surprise, we have failed to do so now in nine of 10 starts. What was surprising is that we should have done and that we so limited Birmingham’s threat that their manager made three changes at the break, including replacing both May and Bielik (albeit him through injury). The midfield four did their jobs in strangling Birmingham, who enjoyed plenty of possession but were able to do nothing with it, while the back four snuffed out anything that got through.

For us, Godden had an early shot on the turn over the bar but really everything happened late on and involved Kanu. First, a good ball in from Coventry found him in space in the box. He was offside but put his effort wide in any event. Second, Kanu anticipated well and intercepted a back pass, took it around their keeper, but from a very tight angle hit a straight ball which went wide of the far post when it required either better precision, some curl to send it into the empty net, or a ball played square for Anderson to tap in. Third, in stoppage time Birmingham’s keeper tried another risky pass out only to find Kanu inside the box; but he was understandably taken by surprise and took a heavy first touch, allowing the keeper to make amends by smothering the ball.

At the break you felt (at least I did) that we’d done all that could be asked, had knocked Birmingham out of their stride, but had failed to take one of the late chances to take a deserved lead. The fear was that Birmingham would get a half-time rollocking and come out with a stronger intent in the second half and make us pay for that.

That just didn’t happen – or rather we didn’t let it happen. Instead, on 53 minutes we took the lead, with a goal that we would hail as excellent forward play and they would lament as criminal defending. It was poor from them in that they allowed a long throw to bounce in their box with nobody getting on the end of it. It went through to Godden, back to goal but having steered his marker goalward with enough space to turn and pass the ball low into the corner of the net. Really his third expertly taken goal of the campaign. The League One stats show him having scored three in nine appearances but in terms of goals per minute on the pitch, at 105 he is right up there, basically a goal every full game played.

Not long after Kanu once again caused them problems and won a corner but was clipped and hobbled off, to much deserved applause. He didn’t take the chances and get the goal his play deserved, but he helped to keep Birmingham on edge with his pace. The fact that he was replaced by Campbell(T) rather than Aneke or Leaburn could be seen as a reflection of Jones’ desire to keep stretching them with pace rather.

Increasingly the game came down to whether or not we could keep it up as legs tired and more replacements would be needed. We could. To the point that Birmingham’s frustration rose, reflected in the petulance of their expensive forward, and we actually saw out the game with Birmingham still unable to have an effort on target. Aneke did come on for a tiring Godden, playing an instrumental role in running down the clock, later Small and Berry for Edwards and Campbell(A). All contributed in keeping the lid shut tight.

Birmingham’s manager described it as their “worst performance of the season”. He should really have said that we so smothered his team that it became that, it was to our credit, that we deserved the points. Jones quite rightly focused on the success of the tactical plan and didn’t single out any individuals as the team was immense – although I’d go along with others and make Ramsay man of the match, he was immaculate and on a number of occasions brought the ball out of dangerous situations with aplomb.

I hope all the squad bottle how they felt at the final whistle and that the link between that feeling and just how hard they had to work to fashion the victory is driven home. That, like the Bolton game, is the benchmark. Sure, there will be games when the breaks go against us, when the opposition produces something exceptional or unexpected. But if every time they come off the pitch knowing they couldn’t have done more and that the attitude was spot-on from the start of the game the results will look after themselves. Since the Bolton game we have too often seen standards fall, often against opposition which perhaps some felt we could beat without going all the way. No more, we hope. But for the good feeling they gave us all during and after the game I hope Jones and all the players enjoy the break ahead (while working their tails off in training).

Stop The Rot

Wow! It didn’t take long to rattle his cage. After the Blackpool game – for which he made three changes to the starting line-up but crucially one in each area on the pitch - Jones acknowledged he may have got things wrong with team selection. For the Stevenage game there were six changes – needless to say in each area again – and a change in formation. For the Bristol Rovers game, our third successive defeat, there were four changes, once again to the defence, midfield and attack. Jones said after the game “I’ll take full responsibility for this result. I got the team wrong, tactically I didn’t get it right today. I picked a team that didn’t perform but I picked that team, so I’ll take full responsibility for that today.” And now he’s commented in an interview with the South London Press that “a week ago, I was being questioned if I was going to a Championship football club and now every single decision I make is being scrutinised”.

Not exactly surprising that decisions are being scrutinised, is it? Losing three in a row and taking four points out of 18 is bound to get a reaction. Of course there’s an element of ‘damned if you do and damned if you don’t’. If we sent out the same team and lost three in a row Jones would be criticised for not ‘freshening things up’. And if Jones is to take some flak for too many changes and recent results he also deserves to take the credit for our very positive start to the campaign.

Just that the over-reaction doesn’t sit well. Neither do some of the comments. Jones might have said “I take full responsibility for the result” but on the basis that he picked the team believing it would perform but was proven wrong – ie the thinly veiled message was that it was the players who let him down, not him making the wrong decisions or just too many changes. He might have added he was responsible for a number of them coming to the club.

No reason for us to over-react. We’re a long way from thinking in terms of the club being forced into yet another managerial change or anything other than discussing what makes sense to us, accepting that we are not privy to what happens on the training ground and in private, and stating some obvious truths – including you can’t make so many changes to the team, even in this age of squad games, and expect cohesion, especially in the early stages of a season and with players still new to each other.

In the first three games it looked as though Jones had forged a powerful defence, including the players in front of it. Of the changes made, the first was forced by Edwards’ injury. Small didn’t really grab his opportunity, which was disappointing, and Edwards hasn’t yet reached the level he was at before his injury. Leaving Mitchell out for the Blackpool game was curious at the time and with hindsight an error, bringing Potts in for one game and then dropping him smacks of tinkering, as did leaving out Ramsay for the Bristol Rovers game. Against Blackpool at the back we looked confused and leaderless; I didn’t see the Stevenage game but the three we conceded on Tuesday night were all poor in their own way from our perspective.

We’ve now conceded nine goals in nine games – or nine in six, six in the last three. Four of these have been shots from outside or the edge of the box, a couple of screamers (Reading, Rotherham) and two (Bristol Rovers) when the player has been allowed time to pick his spot from closer in. Two (Reading’s second and Stevenage) have resulted from quick turnarounds, us having piled forward for a set piece and being caught out. One (Blackpool’s first) was an unfortunate own goal, one (Blackpool’s second) the result of defensive confusion, and one (Bristol Rovers’ third) static defending from a ball into the box.

So there are couple of lessons. First, be tougher and stronger in getting bodies in the way of shots from outside the box, in closing people down. We did that very well in the first three games but seem to have lost the knack. Second, if we’re sending defenders forward for set pieces just be more aware of the breakaway risk, whether that means making sure the opposition can’t get forward quickly, perhaps taking one for the team. If we concede more such goals there’s no excuse – and if we cut out these goals the defence grows again in confidence and cohesion, which would probably reduce the errors resulting in other types of goals conceded.

All of this does not obscure problems in finding the right mix in midfield and up front. Our style of play, with extensive use of the long ball and no risks taken, doesn’t lend itself to beautiful football and tends to leave the front two starved of good possession, fighting a losing battle with their backs to goal. Ahadme has had a tough time, the conversion of Campbell(T) to central forward has not yet produced actual goals, Kanu hasn’t taken his opportunities yet, while Aneke we know can’t play a full game and neither yet can the returning Leaburn. All of which makes the fact that Godden has started so few games, none alongside Ahadme, all the more hard to understand.

At the start of the season the midfield trio seemed to select itself, with Coventry playing well, Docherty given the captain’s armband, and Berry, with Anderson then missing out. Since then Campbell(A) has been added to the mix, Anderson has had some game-time, and Taylor’s absence has been more keenly noticed (in truth none of us know what he might be capable of). It means perming three from seven to start with at most two on the bench and two missing out – if we stick with the current formation.

We do have a strange immediate situation in that we’re up against a flying Birmingham side then have a couple of weeks off (due to the postponement of the Burton game). So there’s an immediate need to stop the rot and then the time to work on things at the training ground.

With that in mind I’d change the formation, from 5-3-2 (or 3-5-2 if you prefer) to a 5-4-1, not a 4-3-3. Our priority is keeping a clean sheet and 5-4-1 doesn’t have to be ultra-defensive, if the wing-backs are encouraged to get forward and one or two of the midfielders have licence to get up quickly in support. What it would require is a move away from long balls out of our half, which would be pointless. Instead use the flanks and midfield to get forward with the ball. And for the lone forward I’d be tempted to opt for Godden, on the understanding that his job is to get on the end of things in the box, not to play outside the box trying to hold things up.

Sure this might not work, but so far this season playing two up top hasn’t worked either; we have one goal to show for 405 minutes plus stoppage time of nine first halves. And this approach could be easily switched to a front two when the changes come, even a front three. It could work, if there has been the time to work in training on who would do what.

Whatever team takes the pitch tomorrow, the minimum requirement is a return to the determination and character shown in our own half in the first three games. Birmingham might be flying high and full of confidence, and have a certain forward, but for crying out loud it’s only Birmingham. Win the individual battles, don’t concede in ways we have been doing of late, and see what football throws up.

COYA.

More Like Back To Last Season

Jones’ call before this one had been for ‘back to basics’, which rather begged the question just how basic our style of play could get. But presumably he meant just keep a clean sheet and try to score. Perhaps by it he meant a return to the grit and determination of the first three games, the puffing out of chests and obvious pride in good, disciplined defending. We came up short, with a tentative and lacklustre display with and without the ball, conceded three (including another two from outside the box), were outbattled in key areas, and aside from one header late in the first half only threatened against a limited team when all caution was having to be thrown to the wind. All very dispiriting and no complaints, just a pat on the back and best wishes to Matt Taylor.

The starting X1 – which had been changed in each department for both the Blackpool and Stevenage defeats – had to be adjusted again. Ramsay and Potts dropped out, the former to the bench the latter out of the squad, replaced by Watson and Gillesphey respectively. Presumably Jones just felt Ramsay could use a rest and that a return to the Jones-Mitchell-Gillesphey combination might shore things up. Coventry remained the unchanged one in central midfield and would be joined by Anderson and Berry, with available again Ahadme recalled and partnered up front by Campbell(T), who moved back forward with Godden returning to the bench. And the big news was that back in the squad, for the first time since last November, was Leaburn. That overshadowed the fact that we would be starting another game with just one defender in reserve, he a wing-back (Ramsay). Just what would happen if a central defender got crocked or dismissed?

The first half was just more of what we have become accustomed to. Plenty of graft, total absence of guile. It was topped and tailed by a decent chance each, with a first-minute goalmouth scramble ending with their guy shooting over the bar from close range while at the death we finally mustered a threat as Jones failed to get above the ball at the far post and headed over the bar, perhaps distracted by Ahadme converting on it.

In between we were second-best and struggled to contain them, going behind on the half hour to another quality strike. Sinclair received the ball with his back to goal but was able to take a touch, turn, and curl one into the top corner. Excellent technique and strike. We might feel hard done by, conceding another of these, but he knew what he wanted to do and we did nothing to stop him.

At the break stats showing that Rovers had five shots, three on target, against our one (and none on target), more or less summed things up. Jones might have made changes but decided against. In the end the increasingly forlorn Ahadme forced him into an earlier than usual introduction of Aneke, going off clutching his chest. Coventry did have a decent effort turned over the bar, but before the hour we were two down. This one was poor from our perspective. Ball played down their left and their guy able to collect and turn. He played it square to another on the edge of the box in space, who had all the time he needed to shape up and pick his spot. It was another well directed effort but reflected the absence of aggression in defence which marked our display.

That was the cue for Leaburn and Godden to be introduced, with Watson and Berry taken off and the formation changed to something or other. And through weight of numbers we did have a couple of chances to get back into it, with a Jones header from a corner hitting a defender on the line then the same player heading over the bar. Edwards was sending in good deliveries from the corners. Instead we went 3-0 down as a ball chipped in was headed on and their guy attacked it to head home from close range. The aggression and intent was all from them.

At that point we looked bedraggled and forlorn, as well as disjointed. But if there is any credit to be taken from the night it was that we didn’t entirely fall apart, although that may have been down to them taking their foot off the pedal, making substitutions of their own. And with around 12 minutes left of normal time we pulled one back. They failed to clear a ball into the box and Godden at the back stick was able to head it back goalwards past their keeper. It may have been already going in but Mitchell sensibly made sure.

There was still time and we did have enough forwards on the pitch, while Rovers’ nerves – after consecutive defeats of their own – started to jangle. Edwards and Coventry were replaced by Ramsay and Docherty. But it was only three minutes into the six added that we scored again. Aneke, as he did against Bolton, supplied the ball for Godden to convert. But it was all to be in vain as time ran out.

Just what does Jones do now, on the back of three consecutive defeats in which six goals have been conceded? The many changes made to the line-up of late have not worked and seem to have disorientated us. Ahadme up front is cutting a sad figure, Campbell(T) is working hard but to little effect, Aneke and Leaburn aren’t really able to start for different reasons, while Kanu didn’t impress when he started. In midfield Docherty, Berry and Campbell(A), three players targeted by Jones, have yet to really make their mark (to be fair Berry has scored a couple), while Mitchell seems more hesitant after being left out against Blackpool and those around him suddenly looking vulnerable, while Edwards is getting back up to speed after his spell out. Confidence has drained out of us it appears.

Fact is we have Birmingham coming to The Valley next and after that a two-week break. So you’d imagine we look to produce a committed and resolute performance next time out and then take the time to refresh and regroup. The early season promise has gone, we now need to draw a line under the past six games, which have delivered just four points. Exactly how that’s done and who gets selected is what Jones gets paid for.