20 Shots & Two On Target

Fair to say that today we just needed something to raise the spirits. Could be a thumping win, or a win of any kind, decent performance, encouraging performances from individual players, perhaps even just an enjoyable game of football. A reason to believe. Given that both teams were going into the game on the back of pretty awful recent form, and had managed to score 40 goals in 35 games between them (while conceding 41), hopes weren’t especially high.

Just as well they weren’t as both sides conspired to show why they have scored so few. The chances were balanced in that in the first half Mansfield, who were much the better side in that period, missed a sitter and at least two other decent chances, while we failed to convert an early one-on-one and produced nothing after that, but in the second we improved and had the gilt-edged one, along with other moments – including a good shout for a penalty, an unusual one but so what? They did still manage to sky a shot or two from good positions. The stats showed there were 20 shots in the game, just two on target. A point apiece was a fair result as neither side deserved to win.

The team showed three changes from the Lincoln game and pointed to a 3-5-2. The central defensive three in front of Maynard-Brewer were unchanged (Jones, Mitchell and Gillesphey) but while Campbell(T) was asked again to play wing-back, on the other flank Edwards was given a rest and Small started, presumably to provide a greater attacking threat. In central midfield Docherty dropped to the bench as Coventry returned from a knock, while up front Jones opted to start with Godden and Kanu, with both Leaburn and Ahadme among the subs. Jones also decided to revert to having a back-up goalkeeper available, with Mannion seemingly available again after injury.

For us the game started brightly as Campbell cut inside from a throw and played an excellent ball for Anderson, who made a very good run from deep, to be effectively through on goal. But his second touch was heavy, sent him a bit wide, and gave their keeper the chance to advance and save the effort. That was as good as it got in the first half as Godden and Kanu were marked out of the game, Campbell after his early involvement was unable to create anything down the right, while Small seemed to have the beating of his guy on the other flank but didn’t see enough of the ball.

By contrast Mansfield had a centre-forward capable of matching our back line for strength. He gave a master class in holding and laying off the ball, also providing a reminder to all that a big, strong guy up front doesn’t mean you have to hit everything in the air. He was instrumental in allowing their midfield to get up in support and stretch is. He was also responsible for blowing their best chance. We were opened up on their left and the ball was played in low. The forward was in space but sent his shot on the turn high and wide. That was followed by a two-against-two around the edge of our box which we just about got away with, then from a set piece a ball was played back on their right and was met by a guy around the penalty spot. He didn’t know much about it and the contact sent the ball wide, but if it had been on target would surely have been a goal.

Not surprisingly Jones made a change at the break, with Leaburn replacing Godden. And that did change the balance of the game. Our penalty shout came early on. The ball seemed to be running behind for a goal kick, Oshilaja thought so. But Leaburn managed to get to it and knock it back into play. Both were on the ground but Leaburn was getting up first to the loose ball, only to be clearly held back/dragged down. It was a curious one, but no question VAR would have resulted in a penalty.

The bulk of the chances after that were for us. The main one was just before the hour as Campbell flicked on a throw and Leaburn was, like Anderson before him, effectively through on goal. But his right-foot effort went wide of the advancing keeper. A ball into the box later found Leaburn’s head, but he couldn’t divert it on target. Mansfield did seem to wilt through the second half, and by the end were probably the more content with a stalemate, but still managed to send a couple of shots well wide from good positions.

We made more changes, with Berry replacing Taylor and then Ahadme for Anderson, with by then Leaburn and Ahadme the front two, Campbell and Kanu on the flanks as we tried in vain for a winner. It wasn’t through lack of effort we didn’t get one, but in addition to profligate finishing far too often the ball forward was poorly placed or under/overhit. Lack of quality, lack of confidence. And while we might praise a clean sheet that too was the result of poor finishing.

So we ended up with a game which would have disappointed the purist and gave no reason to believe that we are about to hit the gas with players back. Jones must have had a plan in mind for the first half to go with the two smaller strikers, but whatever it was didn’t work. And it was noticeable that the bench contained Docherty, Berry and Campbell(A), the three Jones midfield stalwarts brought in during the summer. There are three more league games before the end of December. We have to hope they will show the improvement we are hoping for, but for that to happen somebody has to start scoring some goals.

Time For Evidence That Lessons Are Being Learnt

Jones the Boss said after the game “I have learned a lot tonight”. I don’t think the rest of us did. Rather the match reinforced what most of us already knew: first, that the notion of us having good cup form but not being able to reproduce that in the league was always an illusion; second, that to date Jones has not been able to fashion a formation and team/squad (including partnerships in key areas) from the available resources capable of getting us into the promotion mix.

I’d suggest on the cup form/league form point last night did provide further evidence of what we currently can and can’t do. Against the weaker teams (including those from divisions below us) we have enough power and strength to overcome them, as our record shows (you might say what about Crawley but against us they didn’t look weak). Our record also shows that against the top teams in League One we can put in a determined shift to get good results. But against teams broadly on a par with us at present, in terms of league position, we are generally poor, tending to concede goals and simply not scoring enough.

We thought after the first three games of the season that Jones had the Midas touch, but that all seems a long time ago. Injuries have for sure taken a heavy, disruptive toll. Some are still short of match fitness, but aside from Ramsay (plus Watson) and Aneke (who we are unfortunately used to living without), perhaps Mitchell(Z) too, all are now back available. I don’t want to hear anymore after a game that “we weren’t good enough”, I do want to see evidence that the causes of poor team performances are being identified and corrected.

It is far too soon to write the season off, this league just doesn’t work that way. If we don’t improve performances we are going nowhere, that’s for sure, and it’s fair to say, given the playing resources available, we are underperforming. The upside of that is potential to improve – but of course if potential remains unrealised it never existed.

It is indicative I think that if you sit down to put the shoo-in names on the teamsheet it’s a struggle: after Maynard-Brewer (I’ve no idea when Mannion may be back available) you’d say Mitchell(A), now Jones, Edwards, and Coventry. I’d add Godden to that (Ramsay too if he were fit). By this stage of a season to be succeeding there surely should be more, plus a Plan A in terms of formation.

It reflects poorly (so far) on Jones the Boss that the midfield stalwarts he identified and brought in - Docherty, Berry, Campbell(A) – are not on that list. But they are not the only underperformers (for whatever reason). We rightly take pride in our club’s development of young players, but so far this season they have been peripheral. Leaburn of course is still feeling his way back after a long injury, Mitchell(Z) is injured, Anderson has played quite a bit but really hasn’t shone, Asiimwe was called back from loan and since then overlooked, Campbell(T) we were told was now a central forward but is now being asked to play wing-back or outright winger, Kanu has been out injured, and Dixon had a tough initiation last night. Laqeretabua has been introduced and for sure looks a prospect, as does Enslin from the little we have seen, but Rylah, Casey and Mbick have not featured (are they injured?).

With the players returning from injury there is plenty of sorting out to be done ahead of the January window. Nobody expects transformation in the window, but let’s get at least some of the young players out on loan and have Jones identify one or two areas where he wants more quality and get the business done, even if it means some moving out.

As for the game last night, it was clear that if Orient had brought their shooting boots we would have been humiliated. They rained in shots of poor quality, hit the bar, and fluffed sitters – set again which were really Godden’s first-half excellent hit on the turn which came back off the post and Leaburn’s run through on goal early in the second - and it took two horrible goals (from our perspective) at the death for them to avoid penalties (my note before them was that from what we’d seen so far we could end penalties at 0-0). Both came from our set pieces in their half – the first we lost possession from a throw and were overwhelmed on the counter, although it took Small’s failed interception to actually put the ball in the net, and the second following an awful free-kick from Taylor when we were loading the box for an equaliser, with their forward doing it all himself from inside his own half.

The match was an experiment for us in some respects, a chance to suss out some alternatives as well as provide match time for some who need it. The positives? Laqeretabua was excellent in the first half (before tiring in the second), Edun provided a reminder that we do have some footballers, interested in passing the ball and retaining possession, and the combination of him and Small on the left side was genuinely exciting – but that is the area where Edwards has established himself. The negatives? Orient cut through our defence sometimes at will, the reasons for that are for Jones and his team to examine. Our midfield as usual struggled to maintain possession and provide good service to the front two. And Leaburn continued to struggle. Oh, and can someone please tell Jones that not having a reserve goalkeeper isn’t ‘being bold’, it’s plain silly.  

Not All About The Conditions

The conditions enable us to draw a veil over this one. Take the point and move on, focus on the clean sheet (in truth both defences were on top through the game), appreciate that a battling goalless draw at Lincoln compares favourably with being given a footballing lesson in a home defeat to Crawley Town (no disrespect intended). That said, both teams managed to serve up a display so full of errors on the ball that not all of it could be dismissed as a result of the severe – and apparently unpredictable – wind. This was a contest between two teams currently going nowhere. It would have been a mercy if after say an hour the ref had called together the two captains and said “good effort lads, well done, now let’s call it a day at 0-0”.

Over the game there were apparently two goalkeeper saves, one for either side, and neither were real chances or involved the keeper breaking sweat. The moments which almost broke the deadlock were really occasional quality crosses whipped in and failed to find an end-product. Given the line-ups and formation there seemed the possibility that space and possible defensive frailties on our right side/their left side might produce a goal, but either the pass was defective or the space not exploited. Otherwise it was competitive, long on effort, very short on quality.

Our team produced a few surprises. Coventry apparently picked up a knock and wasn’t available, but Docherty and Berry were back from suspensions and Jones and Kanu from their injuries. In the event we switched to a 3-5-2 for the start, with Jones back in alongside Mitchell and Gillesphey, with Campbell(T) asked to play wing-back with Edwards on the other side, Edmonds-Green dropping to the bench. In midfield Docherty came in to replace Coventry and Anderson replaced Campbell(A), along with Taylor. Up front Ahadme was paired with Kanu, reward for their midweek combination for our equaliser, with Leaburn and Godden both moving to the bench. The subs line-up for once appeared balanced, with Edmonds-Green, Laqeretabua and Small options for defence, Campbell(A) and Berry for midfield, and Leaburn and Godden up front – until you realised there was no back-up goalkeeper. Why on earth take that risk?

Lincoln had much the better of the opening spell, with us looking rather edgy in defence. But they failed to capitalise and as the half progressed we came much more into it, having probably our best spell of the game before the break as in contrast to recent performances we refrained from hoofing the ball forward at the first available opportunity. Campbell(T) was set up well but blazed well over from the edge of the area rather than taking on his man, then a Docherty cross was the first to go across the face of the goal without being touched home, and shorts from Anderson and Docherty went wide.

That was probably as good as it got in terms of football as the second half morphed into a extended period of both sides giving the ball away tamely then fighting like terriers to win it back. After the hour we swapped our front two, with Leaburn and Godden coming on, and later Small and Campbell(A) were introduced for Edwards and Anderson, with no change to formation. Leaburn did find Campbell(T) well on the right and his decent ball in was met first by Campbell(A) but he steered it wide. Lincoln had their occasional moments too, but snatched at anything inside the box or, like us, failed to get on the end of decent crosses. Right at the end we had a possible opening as Leaburn laid it off to Godden who took one touch and instead of pulling the trigger took another and then ran into a defender. The penalty appeals were suitably muted.

After just three minutes of stoppage time it was thankfully all over. As the clock ticked down it had become one of those games where you hope to nick something but desperately don’t want to lose the game. With hindsight the danger for either side was slight.

In terms of league position, hopes, expectations, the game changed nothing for either side. For us two home games beckon, against Orient on Tuesday night and Mansfield on Saturday. Every reason to expect both to be close games, we simply don’t score enough to point in another direction. But these games, together with the three which follow before new year, are of no little importance as decisions are taken ahead of the January transfer window. Do the owners think in terms of signings to try to drive a push for a top-six place, or pull in the horns and label the season as one in a rebuilding process (ie we stay out of the relegation area and that’s it). To make a good case for the former we surely need to be closer to the top six than we are at the moment (an eight-points gap as things stand).

Poor Approach And End-Result

Having scraped the win at bottom club Burton then seen off the challenge of Walsall in the FA Cup (a contest which went as well as could have been hoped: no new injuries, a morale-boosting brace for Ahadme, a first of the season for Campbell, and another for Godden), the hope/expectation for last night was that we would maintain our record of very good results against those at the lower end of the table. Win, hang in there, stay in touch, be looking upwards etc, once again no real thought about how we do it.

Well, perhaps that mentality cost us, because we played poorly and got beaten, by a team which focused, like Burton had done before their red card, on trying to play football. In our position nobody really minds winning ugly, but losing ugly is obviously a different matter. And be in no doubt, this wasn’t a case of inconsistency, after ‘good performances’. This was downright poor, consistent with recent league performances (Walsall aside). You have to go back to October before you find a game that you look back on and say we played well. Only difference was that last night we coughed up a couple of preventable goals and with one exception failed to capitalise on the few half-chances which came our way, against a side with one of the division’s worst defensive records and previously without an away win to their name all season.

The team showed a couple of changes from Walsall, both it seems enforced (Berry’s suspension, to add to that of Docherty, and Anderson not fit). It was a 4-4-2 (or a diamond if you prefer), with an unchanged back four (Edmonds-Green, Mitchell, Gillesphey and Edwards), in midfield Campbell(A) given a start alongside Coventry and Taylor, with Godden behind the front two to make up the four, while Leaburn returned to accompany Ahadme up front, reuniting the ‘big man/big man’ combination. On the bench there was the (very) welcome return of Jones, along with Laqeretabua and Small, plus Edun (presumably either as full-back or a midfield option), while Campbell(T) and Kanu provided the forward options (with Hylton missing out).

Hindsight of course, but as against Burton the set-up smacked of nothing down the flanks and no pace, with all the pace and width on the bench. Have two big guys up front, lob the ball in their general direction, have both Godden and Campbell(A) looking to feed off the scraps, despite them trying to occupy the same space and deprived of any option to spread the ball if they received it. Quite frankly, not much above ‘hit and hope’. Against Crawley Town.

The result was as comfortable an evening for Crawley’s back line as it could have hoped for. Never put under sustained pressure, never pulled out of position, always able to anticipate what was coming next. Wollacott was beaten once but otherwise didn’t have a shot to save. At the same time, Camara and others had the time on the ball to play through midfield, getting joy down both flanks. And their big guy up front gave ours an object lesson in how to hold off a defender and score.

The first half was pretty nondescript, as we are used to. But instead of keeping a clean sheet, just past the half-hour that goal came along. A throw-in on their left and the forward did what Newton and Robinson (Martin) used to do for us, quick dummy while letting the ball run across them, take it on, hold off the defender (in this case Gillesphey couldn’t get close to the ball) and the space is open for a shot if nobody cuts off the route. The guy did put in an excellent shot, but it was a set-up which afforded him some margin of error to curl it into the top corner. Super strike but also poor defending.

We did respond to some degree, with Campbell putting in a decent shot on the volley from the edge of the area which went just wide, and especially as Mitchell failed to get decent contact on a whipped cross from the left from Edwards after a throw-in. Not much of a return for 45 minutes of graft.

There was no surprise that Jones opted to change things at the break, with Leaburn – who had looked off the pace from the start – taken off and Small coming on, prompting a shift to a 3-5-2 with Godden moving back up front. But it was Crawley who next came closest to scoring as before the hour was up a simple one-two around our area enabled their guy to cut inside Small and put in a good shot well saved by Maynard-Brewer and the effort from the rebound was blocked.

On the hour, after a superb delivery by Taylor from a free-kick found nobody to get the necessary touch, further changes were made. Campbell(T) and Kanu were introduced for Edmonds-Green and Coventry. This meant now Campbell(T) and Small operating as the wing-backs, Taylor and Campbell(A) trying to hold the fort in central midfield, with Godden now moving deeper again and Kanu up front. It looked like a case of shit or bust.

Indeed, the game appeared to change within minutes as we equalised. Another high ball was met by Ahadme. He seemed to head it into a congested area, but Kanu anticipated well and got on the end of it and as Wollacott came off his line coolly chipped it over him and into the net.

Surely, we all thought, this would be the cue for us to go on and win the game. It was not to be. Instead with around 10 minutes of normal time left we let in another soft goal. What appeared a routine shot from distance was not dealt with well by Maynard-Brewer, who like Mannion earlier in the season palmed it out into a dangerous area.

In the time that remained we huffed and puffed but failed to create a meaningful opening. Laqeretabua came on for Godden, with Campbell(T) moving forward, and finally Jones replaced Gillesphey, to add more height up front. Maynard-Brewer came up for a corner in the final minute of stoppage time but to no avail.

It was a real kick in the teeth, for the manager and players as well as us. But where we might part company is this talk of inconsistency and not being able to reproduce recent ‘good performances’. There have been none. Last night was different, but only to the extent that in front of a Valley crowd there was greater pressure on the team to get a result and instead of translating into strong resolve it made us nervous, edgy, and increasingly desperate. And responsibility for that has to lie in an inappropriate approach to the game in terms of team selection and formation. What is good for a battling effort against a side around the top is not necessarily good for putting away a struggling team. And we did have alternatives, as the changes from the bench in the second half demonstrated.

OK. It is done. Surely what we have to look at now is that for a tough trip to Lincoln on Saturday we have Docherty and Berry back available, with it would appear Potts, Jones and Kanu back, presumably Anderson also available. Quite suddenly what was a lengthy injury list is much reduced, with only Ramsay and Aneke standing out, even if some returning will not be match-fit. Jones the Boss is going to have to look again at what he thinks will work in what context and decide between alternatives. It is his job after all, not ours.