It goes without saying that when you take on a team third in the league on their own patch, one which had conceded 12 goals in 16 games, on the back of Saturday’s humiliation, the last thing you can afford is to ship in soft early goals. The Southampton game was effectively over after 22 minutes, when they scored their fourth; last night’s was all but done and dusted after five. The difference was that unlike against Southampton we were not cut to pieces by a well-prepared and clinical opposition; we were undone by a fluke to open the scoring then a goal which clearly should have been ruled out for a deliberate, professional foul, something which Stoke proved to be adept at. On Saturday we added insult to injury by letting in a fifth before the break; last night it was on 34 minutes that Stoke were gifted their third.
Jones was right to highlight whether or not we might have done more to stop their first two. The cross was clearly mishit, but their guy had time and space to send it in and it beat Kaminski from a fair distance out. Jones the Player was fouled for the second, but many times this season we had chased back and got bodies in the way of the sort of shot which followed. That Stoke’s third was a defensive howler is beyond doubt, Ramsay’s half-jump distracting Kaminski, who then failed to get down quickly enough to keep it out. It was the sort of goal that a demoralised team losing cohesion concedes.
Like on Saturday the rest of the game was entirely academic as Stoke saw no need to exert themselves and we were focused on damage limitation. And like Saturday, while there were reasons behind the drubbing, most obviously the injuries, there were no positives to be taken away. Just the thought that sooner or later we will get players back and go again.
With Bree back available Jones the Boss was happy to stick with a back three/five, only with both Apter and Hernandez dropped (the former to the bench, the latter out of the squad) the left-side spot was still open, with Bell returning but only to be among the subs. Jones opted to play Campbell in the role, with Berry starting as well as Carey in a kind of 5-4-1.
It's impossible to say whether or not that might have worked given that we were 2-0 down before getting started. During the first half we switched to a back four, with Gillesphey shifted to left-back and Campbell forward on the right – until somebody belatedly realised – after irrefutable evidence - that Gillesphey would get skinned for pace down the flank. He was moved inside and Ramsay switched from right-side centre-back to left-back.
Just what formation(s) we were adopting in the second half - as first on the hour Knibbs, Rankin-Costello and Olaofe were introduced for Docherty, Campbell and Campbell, and then on 76 minutes Apter and Anderson replaced Leaburn and Berry – is one for the purists. On CATV Steve Brown was talking of a diamond midfield moving to a flat one when out of possession. Suffice to say that Stoke’s defenders will not have an easier game all season. We ended up having 34% possession and mustered four attempts on goal, two on target.
There is no point in dwelling on the details as unless and until Edwards, Burke, Bell, Kelman and Godden are available again there is precious little in the way of options for Jones. It is now a three-game losing streak with nine goals conceded and one scored (by a centre-back). And we know what’s coming up next. They say that in this division any team can beat any other, but I’m not sure they had in mind us in our current state going away to the side top of the league, which has scored 47 goals in 17 games (ie an average of 2.8 a game). In a two-horse race, the fact that we are 6-1 against and more to win – and Coventry around 5-2 on – is a fair reflection of the likely outcome. It might be one to watch from behind the sofa, asking if it’s OK yet to come out.
Of course this is football, we still believe. But Coventry on Saturday is looking far less important than the games coming up in December, including Portsmouth (twice), Oxford and Norwich. The fact that we are still only three points from a play-off place (and 10 above third from bottom) is pretty irrelevant right now. We need to get November out of the way and go again, recover the drive and determination we had before. Jones and the squad have not come up short on character before, no time to start now.
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