Barnsley Post Match

[ozleicester]

The penalty is a side issue and has nothing to do with the shape/balance of our team, the number of shots we had and the countless inadequacies that were apparent in our side. There is much you cannot tell from not being there but you can hear what happens to our free-kicks, you can hear how many shots we have, you can hear who is getting on the ball a lot or giving away possession. There was so much wrong even from that little lot without adding whatever else might have been missing which was apparent to those who went.

You are right, I mentioned the penalty purely because it is an example of what we know from listening, we didnt see the lead up, from the commentary we dont know if Beckford dummied left or right... quite simply we know NOTHING about how the game was played. (if you want to know how the weather was, or what the crowd was wearing, then Stringer and co have all the details).

what we have done in previous games is irrelevant to what we have done in this one, if not..We played superbly for 80 mins at Florist...therefore we played superbly today?

I welcome, accept and appreciate reading comments as to how we played...from people who saw it. But...if you didnt see it.. how can you really know??

[Parafox]

Last season QPR Drew 16 Lost 7

Norwich Drew 15 Lost 8

Let's start worrying too much when we get nearer to these stats.

Until then criticism is expected, but not the over-reactions from some of the more 'stimulated' City supporters.

Good point well made. I think fans of any team tend to overeact when they have expectations that are not immediately being met,

[easilee]

IMO, people such as I who have to listen to most games as apposed to watching should temper their opinions just a little from commentary alone.

Case in point. Konchesky was hardly mentioned today on the radio save the comment 'Konchesky has had a really good game'.

If that comment had not been aired, I would thought that he wasn't even playing. Barring the team news beforehand that is.

Supporters really need to stop over-reacting at the 'drop of a not witnessed hat'.

[orangecity23]

Wellens seems to make a habit of disappearing second half. But is it all his fault? Seemed to me we were missing out midfield a lot of the time and pumping balls up to Beckford. On other occasions he was getting "hospital" balls from Konchesky and Bamba. And where was the support from Gallagher before he went off or from Danns and Fernandes none of whose names were mentioned much in commentary?

How many shots did those three have all game or Wellens himself for that matter? You just won't win things without the ability to get people forward quickly and to get shots on goal.

Every team gets a certain number of chances to do that from dead ball situations but we make so little of them and I've said so for weeks. We've really got to look at our coaching set up and the principles of what we are trying to do.

However you look at it, the team's not good enough and neither is the approach.

Stringers commentry isn't a particularly good barometer of how involved midfielders are on the ball - how many times have we heard Stringer not mention Andy King during an entire game until he scores? You would be the first to leap up and praise the unheralded one touch passes he is making to keep possesion ticking over etc etc.

Whenever the ball is not directly being involved in a shot/cross at either end there is an 80% chance Ian Stringer will be talking about one of the following:

1) People's hair

2) People's clothing

3) Someone's shoes

4) You are listening to Radio Leicester, 104.9FM every minute of every match, you are not missing a single kick

5) Lets go over to the Hinckley game, there has been another goal, lets hear from Andy Gibb

6) Goals from every other game in the Premiership, Championship, League 1 or 2.

7) A packet of crisps is blowing onto the pitch

8) It wasn't like that in your day, was it Alanyoung?

9) Should Waghorn have gone on loan? Could he be our 20 goal striker? Call the phone in on 0116 ....

[dreamboy3000]

I am absolutely gutted we didn't beat you after dominating all but the first minute of the second half. We never looked in any real danger and I wasn't impressed with any of your lads. Vassell for example has been stealing a living for years with different teams. In the first half alone.......

1) We scored.

2) Andy Gray put a free header for like four yards out wide.

3) Matty Done lobbed the keeper and it hit top of the netting.

4) Danny Drinkwater smacked a free kick just wide that had ya keeper beaten all ends up if slightly more on target.

5) Jim O Brien smacked a daisycutter that went inches wide and had Kasper scrambling for it once more.

In the second half you got away with a challenge from behind that got YOU a free kick. Later on your guy punched ours in the face and both got a yellow. Kasper pulled off a fantastic double save near the end. One of them was a streched out hand as the ball was going the opposite way to he was diving. Without ya keeper you'd have lost convincingly and thankfully the ref failed in his job of helping you. There was also the moment when the gangly waste of space Beckford dived in the box but didn't get booked for it. If the Football League show tonight showed every incident it would take a few minutes and neutrals who know nothing about footie will wonder which team cost over ten million pounds and which cost about ten pence to put together. Sven has to be feeling the pressure already of the possibility of him flopping in yet another managerial role to go along with England, Manchester City, Mexico ect.

[Guest Col city fan]

The worrying thing for me is this:

Matt Mills - possibly Reading's best player and captain

Neil Danns - possibly Palace's best player

Pantsil - international player who has played for a number of years at a higher level.

What is the common denominator regarding why such players, who excelled at their previous clubs, have suddenly become devoid of all confidence and/or don't know what their role is?

Matt Mills, despite many posts on here, who suggest otherwise, IS NOT a bad defender - how many people on here thought that or claimed that when he signed for us?

Same with Danns, same with Pantsil, same (to a lesser extent) with Konchesky....

I would suggest the answer to their sudden 'demise' is a complex one. Certainly the formation doesn't help but can't be the whole picture.

It would appear there MAY be something fundamentally wrong going on at City and this 'time to gel' thing can only go on for so long.

Its not about points amassed, because, truth be told, we're not in a bad position in the league. Its more about our performances and seemingly frightened way of playing football.

Today, Sven had the ideal opportunity to go to a Barnsley team, devoid of points and confidence and to 'present our credentials' in terms of imposing our will and skill on the game. Rather than this, we seemed to play like frightened rabbits, and were lucky to come out with a draw.

This can't be right and throws out a message to the rest of the league that, actually, we can be got at, physically outmuscled, kicked about and thwarted.

I expected more than this at the start of the season and hope that we can begin to dominate games sooner rather than later.

For me, the jury is still out

[ozleicester]

Stringers commentry isn't a particularly good barometer of how involved midfielders are on the ball - how many times have we heard Stringer not mention Andy King during an entire game until he scores? You would be the first to leap up and praise the unheralded one touch passes he is making to keep possesion ticking over etc etc.

Whenever the ball is not directly being involved in a shot/cross at either end there is an 80% chance Ian Stringer will be talking about one of the following:

1) People's hair

2) People's clothing

3) Someone's shoes

4) You are listening to Radio Leicester, 104.9FM every minute of every match, you are not missing a single kick

5) Lets go over to the Hinckley game, there has been another goal, lets hear from Andy Gibb

6) Goals from every other game in the Premiership, Championship, League 1 or 2.

7) A packet of crisps is blowing onto the pitch

8) It wasn't like that in your day, was it Alanyoung?

9) Should Waghorn have gone on loan? Could he be our 20 goal striker? Call the phone in on 0116 ....

Perfectly correct....and yet... people decide that our manager has no idea and every player is cr*p

[southdevonfox]

A shit side that clearly raised their game

what a load of rubbish , they looked good because we were so bad ,

[Heart-Shaped Fox]

Perfectly correct....and yet... people decide that our manager has no idea and every player is cr*p

I personally know that from watching the previous 5 league games. And when you hear from the radio and people who went that the performance, selection, formation, etc, was shite, you just think 'same old'.

[ozleicester]

I personally know that from watching the previous 5 league games. And when you hear from the radio and people who went that the performance, selection, formation, etc, was shite, you just think 'same old'.

Forest?

[Thracian]

We are now effectively nine points (counting goal difference) off third place in just over one month and after only six games. That is a long way considering the calibre of some of the teams above us. I don't give a toss what happens to Sven as such. But we need to start addressing our problems and our philosophies.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/football/eng_div_1/table/default.stm

[Guest Col city fan]

Perfectly correct....and yet... people decide that our manager has no idea and every player is cr*p

why do you keep going on about judging City's performances only from the commentary of Stringer. Even if we arent at every game we often know people who were there... you can look at stats, possession, shots on target etc etc etc....

Your argument is invalid?

[ozleicester]

We are now effectively nine points (counting goal difference) off third place in just over one month and after only six games. That is a long way considering the calibre of some of the teams above us. I don't give a toss what happens to Sven as such. But we need to start addressing our problems and our philosophies.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/football/eng_div_1/table/default.stm

Agreed

[Guest Col city fan]

We are now effectively nine points (counting goal difference) off third place in just over one month and after only six games. That is a long way considering the calibre of some of the teams above us. I don't give a toss what happens to Sven as such. But we need to start addressing our problems and our philosophies.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/football/eng_div_1/table/default.stm

Its a long old season Thrac..... if there were signs, (like Sven said) of improvement I'd be happier... but they are difficult to see at present.

We'll know by Christmas

[Heart-Shaped Fox]

Forest?

You mean the Forest game against a very poor team which we should have killed off? Then we witnessed the same old poor substituions from Sven, bringing on Gallagher in a game which needed seeing out! Today he brings on Dyer 20 mins to late, once again getting subs wrong.

Also in Forest they score from a high ball, mainly because our defence is shocking in the air. How did Barnsley score? From a cross in the box before it was followed up from the rebound. Similar story really.

[Happy Fox]

Its a long old season Thrac..... if there were signs, (like Sven said) of improvement I'd be happier... but they are difficult to see at present.

We'll know by Christmas

Christmas will be to late imo

[Heart-Shaped Fox]

Christmas will be to late imo

Agreed, unless a unbeaten/winnuing run is soon started.

[easilee]

If problems clearly exist what's the point in correcting them later rather than sooner? The problems haven't been apparent just for today's game. They've been apparent from day one at Coventry. By now we should all be seeing some improvement and I thought there had been some in the previous two games and that we would just have tweaked the engine today so to speak. But no. We changed the engine, messed with the bodywork, used too many worn parts and left ourselves without any umphhhh.

You've answered your own question Thrac.

I think we did see some improvement if only a little, but then again it is very early in the season and then we added another player to the squad who has to gel and get to know his new team-mates.

I think there are a lot of factors that we as fans don't take into account, both tactical and Human and it's not our fault as we are not privvy to them.

Maybe Sven's tactics are not what we think they should be, but what if his tactics start paying off after 2 months and we start destroying teams ?

It could happen.

[orangecity23]

Agreed, unless a unbeaten/winnuing run is soon started.

In case you haven't noticed, we didn't actually lose today, and we are actually unbeaten in 3 games. 4 if you count the League Cup.

[dave the caveman]

Neither went nor listened to the game, so maybe my suprise at all this negativity is misplaced. An away draw? Hardly the end of the world. And only one goal conceded suggests our defence can't have been that bad.

[Cropwellfox]

We are now effectively nine points (counting goal difference) off third place in just over one month and after only six games. That is a long way considering the calibre of some of the teams above us. I don't give a toss what happens to Sven as such. But we need to start addressing our problems and our philosophies.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/football/eng_div_1/table/default.stm

I will wager with whoever wants to take it that we're not going to finish in the top 2. I'd also take a bet that 5 out of the end of season top 6 are already in those places.

I'd rather we sorted out our evident problems without having to pay a manager off and probably pay to get another one in, but with that said, anything other than promotion and Sven won't be here next season anyway.

[Langston]

Got to be about time he went. Six games is enough to judge a manager in my book, he just isn't up to the job.

I think Sven in a Director of Football role with a young coach like MK Dons' Carl Robinson would be a fantastic move and definitely deliver top flight football.

[Karljohn]

Matt Mills v Craig Mackail Smith next week, should be interesting.

Keep digging Sven

[Ricey]

I don't get Sven, no striker on the bench and am I right in hearing we chucked Bamba up front yet again?

I'm starting to get quite worried, not by our points tally so far, but by Sven. I don't see any proof that he's learnt from his mistakes last year and I'm increasingly starting to think he isn't the right man, especially not the right man to go to somewhere like Oakwell and get 3 points.

Knowing us we'll destroy Brighton though.

[ozleicester]

You mean the Forest game against a very poor team which we should have killed off? Then we witnessed the same old poor substituions from Sven, bringing on Gallagher in a game which needed seeing out! Today he brings on Dyer 20 mins to late, once again getting subs wrong.

Also in Forest they score from a high ball, mainly because our defence is shocking in the air. How did Barnsley score? From a cross in the box before it was followed up from the rebound. Similar story really.

I mean a game in which we played quality football and dominated a good opponent at their ground and, if not for a few crazy moments and some poor referreeing we would have been clear winners.

Were you at Forest at all?

Gally came on early, with an intent to continue playing attacking football, you dont need to see a game out 30 mins before the end. The forest goal was a foul and poor reffing and cant be used to judge this one.. not to mention that weale was at fault before the foul.