Where are we going wrong.

[Holysmit]

It's not nice but it has to be said that since the Oldham away game, our results and performances in the league have been in my eyes unacceptable.

However, what is the problem to me there are a few things we need to improve on and I will list them here

1) Squad size- The truth is we have a small squad and with 2 members of it out for the season and the team playing a high intenstiy style of play this means we are always going to struggle when we have a run of fixture. To improve this we need to bolster the playing squad and prehaps give more game time to the likes of Hodson, Dallas, Saunders, Reeves and German, who have all seemed capable of performing when given the opportunity.

2) Soft Goals- I've said it before and been hammered for it but we let in far too many soft goals. The main reason for this seems to be we sit back far too much and allow players to get shots in on goals. A case in point would be Upson goal yesterday, but we did it against Orient for Cook's goal and numerous others.

The defence needs to make more tackles and I really don't think Craig and Dean work as a pair. Particuarly as Dean often gets caught out of position and is prone to making mistakes.

3) We are too naive- We don't waste time when we are winning like other teams do, we allow players like Rowlands to get in the ref's ear and escape bookings (e.g. the Forshaw tackle).

We are a very young side and sometimes we need that more experienced head to take control, it's a controversial and (even I think it's harsh) call but for me I think it might be time to recall Lee for Moore. As whilst I don't think there is much in it in terms of shot stopping, I think Lee would communicate with his defence better and be a more settling impact on the back four.

Whilst Moore has done nothing wrong Football is a results buisness and at the moment I think we need Lee's experience in the side.

Cue abuse.

 

[bees66]

we have young players, FA Cup games, postponed matches.. it all adds up... we've only lost 6 games so far this season.. 2 of those are to Yeovil..

keep the faith..

 

[GP200]

.............blah blah blah...........more bellyaching..............

 

[UBee5]

I don't think we have a weak squad at all, the fact Saunders is considered a squad player says a lot about the quality of our midfield for example.

I like Dean and Craig, Dean is a battler and will look to win the ball back first, Craig is able to read the game better and cover for Dean. I think it works out for us. It was a lot like the Legge-Eger partnership for me.

 

[wanderer paul]

.............blah blah blah...........more bellyaching..............

There will be another, "Is Uwe the right man for Brentford?" thread next, Very tedious.

Yes we've not been firing on all cylinders, but we're still in top 6, it's a tight division, probably the tightest for a few seasons, every club wants to go up who are in the top 10, it'll go to the last game as to who is getting out of this league.

 

[Brentford 4 Life]

We were always going to have a blip, it started at Col U and since then we have only lost 2 out of the 6 league games, as being out of form goes that aint to shabby at all. Having said that it cant go on for much longer if we want automatic promotion.

 

[Holysmit]

I don't think we have a weak squad at all, the fact Saunders is considered a squad player says a lot about the quality of our midfield for example.

I like Dean and Craig, Dean is a battler and will look to win the ball back first, Craig is able to read the game better and cover for Dean. I think it works out for us. It was a lot like the Legge-Eger partnership for me.

I said small not weak.

 

[Holysmit]

So you all think we are doing nothing wrong and there is no room for improvement then?

 

[TuckerBee]

So you all think we are doing nothing wrong and there is no room for improvement then?

I'm not sure yet I think I will reserve judgment until after the next run of home games.

 

[Mr Tree]

So you all think we are doing nothing wrong and there is no room for improvement then?

yeah, that's clearly exactly what they said

you win some, you lose some. until we get 138pts in a season, there will be room for improvement. I DEMAND WE WIN EVERY GAME!!!

 

[SH]

Yes, it's a blip, over the past 8 games our form is 10th, whereas we were chugging along at the top of the form table, but which is the form team? Yes, Yeovil - and to repeat, we could have been 3-0 up after 25 minutes. Then what?

As numerous other posters have said... Give it a week off, then see what 3pm brings, Corporal Jones.

 

[kempy]

At the moment I feel we have 9 players who are automatic choices. Maybe we need a bit more competition in the shape of a couple of new faces?

 

[Holysmit]

yeah, that's clearly exactly what they said

you win some, you lose some. until we get 138pts in a season, there will be room for improvement. I DEMAND WE WIN EVERY GAME!!!

Yes because that's precisely what I am saying.

I am pointing out issues that I think we need to address, and am providing this as constructive criticism. I'm not concerned too much about the result yesterday, as Yeovil are on a great run. What I am concerned about is the performance we put in yesterday and in our previous 2 league games before that.

As i've said on another thread I think letting 3 in yesterday was a good thing as it means we will have to look to address the issues (3 of which I am trying to highlight here) and hopefuly this will be a catalyst to regroup and hopefully pick up 9 points in the next 3 home games.

That said if we fail to address that their are issues at present we are in danager of throwing away our hard work from before Christmas. Which was helped by a spate of loan signings which addressed issues we had prior to that. To get promotion you have to keep moving forward and if we don't look at resolving the problems we've had from the last 3 games we won't do that.

I apologise for wanting to address issues with the team or look at ways of getting over our slump in form in a constructive manner.

 

[maddogging]

yeah, that's clearly exactly what they said

you win some, you lose some. until we get 138pts in a season, there will be room for improvement. I DEMAND WE WIN EVERY GAME!!!

Absolutely. Anyone that ends their posting with 'cue abuse' in my eyes doesn't really believe what they are saying themselves.

We just hit a form team, sh*t happens, next

 

[Holysmit]

Absolutely. Anyone that ends their posting with 'cue abuse' in my eyes doesn't really believe what they are saying themselves.

We just hit a form team, sh*t happens, next

Not really, I do think that we need to rotate the squad more, I do think that we let in too many soft goals and I do think we have been naive at times.

It's just when I've stated things like this in the past I get told that it's bullshit etc and I find it disconcerting, that because I try to raise a point or opinion that I get belittled for it.

As I said earlier this is an attempt at trying to correct problems we are currently experiencing, as my gut feeling is if we don't address them we won't achieve anything in the league this season IMO. It's not nice to point things like this out but if you don't address matters which are an issue then how can you solve them?

 

[Holysmit]

Absolutely. Anyone that ends their posting with 'cue abuse' in my eyes doesn't really believe what they are saying themselves.

We just hit a form team, sh*t happens, next

Also did you go yesterday, because as I said, I have no qualms with the result, what worries me is the performance!

I've said this before and I think part of it is down to fatigue, due to the way we play hence my belief that we need to utalise the squad.

The second bit is I think we make the same mistakes, hence my belief that we need to bring in more experience/ stop backing off players.

Sorry for having an opinion.

 

[The Pipe]

Young team, reached some heights but now suffering from lack of form, confidence and luck. All teams will probably go through same highs and lows although in some cases loads of cash will be spent to cover these dips

Never in the promotion guaranteed camp as seen it all before many many times. I do however beleive we have a decent squad of players and an enthusiastic manager that wants us to play the right way. The Chelsea game has taken players minds off the bread and butter but would guess that is understandable, hopefully a few days away will focus the mind

See no reason why we should be hitting the panic button at this stage, our players are good enough to go on another good run although it may only result in the play offs. Should that be the case just hope Yeovil are not in the mix as well. !!!

 

[BURFORD BEE]

Yes because that's precisely what I am saying.

I am pointing out issues that I think we need to address, and am providing this as constructive criticism. I'm not concerned too much about the result yesterday, as Yeovil are on a great run. What I am concerned about is the performance we put in yesterday and in our previous 2 league games before that.

As i've said on another thread I think letting 3 in yesterday was a good thing as it means we will have to look to address the issues (3 of which I am trying to highlight here) and hopefuly this will be a catalyst to regroup and hopefully pick up 9 points in the next 3 home games.

That said if we fail to address that their are issues at present we are in danager of throwing away our hard work from before Christmas. Which was helped by a spate of loan signings which addressed issues we had prior to that. To get promotion you have to keep moving forward and if we don't look at resolving the problems we've had from the last 3 games we won't do that.

I apologise for wanting to address issues with the team or look at ways of getting over our slump in form in a constructive manner.

You are wasting your time mate. What you say makes a lot of sense especially because if we dont go up this season quite a few of the players that we rate so highly wont be here next season and it will be back to square one. Unfortunately anyone making the sort of case that you are gets shot down by ex pats and people a good deal older than me ( which is bloody old by the way)who have got so use to watching a team in the 3rd and 4th tier that they have lost all ambition to see us go any higher. Oooh if we go up we might come down again, best stay where we are sort of attitude.
I most certainly do not advocate throwing money away but the Chelsea dosh ( higher ticket prices!), Leons fee? and wage are extra revenue that we didn't expect. Surely its worth using some of it to add to the squad by loans or otherwise.
Also as you say we have Dallas, Reeves, German etc so why not give them a chance.
We were great against Chelsea. We obviously have a lot of ability but there are times when something extra or different is needed and we dont have it. We should be grateful we have a team and that MB is putting in the money that he has and I think most of us are. We have a decent manager and most of us acknowledge that. He knows a great deal more about football and where he is trying to go than we do. We DO need to be patient. There WILL be bad days at the office. But that doesn't mean that we have to accept that everything that is being done is right or that we should be afraid to question the wisdom of a trip to Dubai this week.

 

[R141]

We are doing nothing wrong. I think we are building very nicely for a successful future but promotion may not be this season.
I believe the cup run may hinder us in the league but if the money is used wisely ......

 

[Voice from the Braemar]

Absolutely. Anyone that ends their posting with 'cue abuse' in my eyes doesn't really believe what they are saying themselves.

We just hit a form team, sh*t happens, next

i think the problem is that since the mk game we havent played well in ANY league games and its worrying....our blip seems to hanging for too bleedin long unfortunately

 

[hanworthbee]

We lack pace throughout the whole side..too many shoe ins each week no matter how they play

 

[Mr Tree]

Holysmit, if you think you're repeatedly getting shot down or belittled for having an opinion.... maybe you should think about how you express your opinions?

this thread is just extra unnecessary noise... unless you think Uwe was in his office, "la-di-da, life is great, just have a browse of the net - what the hell?! they think it's going wrong. mind you he raises some good points. maybe i'll do some of that"

the management will have noticed we're not winning recently and will be trying to work out ways to get better. they're not trying to lose.

Unfortunately anyone making the sort of case that you are gets shot down by ex pats and people a good deal older than me ( which is bloody old by the way)who have got so use to watching a team in the 3rd and 4th tier that they have lost all ambition to see us go any higher. Oooh if we go up we might come down again, best stay where we are sort of attitude.

cheap dig. the man's got a point, fine, and of course i wanna be in the championship (more live games on telly innit ) - but do we have to sprawl all over this website having endless whiny debates every time we lose?

 

[Holysmit]

Holysmit, if you think you're repeatedly getting shot down or belittled for having an opinion.... maybe you should think about how you express your opinions?

this thread is just extra unnecessary noise... unless you think Uwe was in his office, "la-di-da, life is great, just have a browse of the net - what the hell?! they think it's going wrong. mind you he raises some good points. maybe i'll do some of that"


?

I have tried to do that, hence why I'm making it clear that this is constructive criticism, but when I see a reply such as your stating "I demand we win every game" I just think what is the point. As this is a point that you have made numerous times before (not to me I might add) and is the kind of thing I want to avoid as I don't see what it adds to the conversation as all you are doing is dismissing my point without coming up with a reason for it.

If you had for example said I don't think it's a problem because ...... etc then even if I didn't agree with your opinion, I would respect it. It has also been pointed out on this thread that the points I have made are tedious or just belly aching, yet these posters have not provided an answer on why they think this is the case or given an explanation on why they feel that my point is unecessary. In my eyes that is not addressing the problem and just trying to dismiss the issue and hope it goes away.

Secondly your right Uwe won't be reading this and I hope he isn't because he should be concentrating on more important issues. However, one thing that was clear at Yeovil yesterday and from leaving the game against Orient is that there are a number of people who are expressing their concerns vocally at the ground and I'm concerned if we ignore that and start poorly against Bury, it's going to create a negative attidue on Saturday. Personally I feel if we talk through the issues and look at ways we can address that, it should restore some confidence in the side and what we are trying to achieve. Hence why I have tried to single out that the players play at a high intesentity and our squad is small.

Utimatley whilst I think we are still well posistioned if we don't adapt our game to correct the errors we are making or at least recognise that some changes need to be made how can we move forward?

 

[Mr Tree]

i say it in literally every post, actually. similarly you say "as i have said before..." in every post
if i'd have started getting specific i'd have been decried as a know-nothing expat - oops, too late!

i'm just trying to be a bit bigger-picture, and appreciate you are too, but downturns happen and won't get solved on here. i don't understand if you think you're trying to rally the fans, or if you're saying the team should talk things through. sounds to me like the latter will happen (perfect opportunity in fact) on this Dubai trip.

of course discuss things, that's what the website is for, but don't get OTT defensive if others say "give it a week, these things happen, do we need another thread on this" etc

 

[fencer/bee]

With a third of the season left im happy with our position , with a run of three home games coming up things may look even better in a week or two.

 

[Holysmit]

i say it in literally every post, actually. similarly you say "as i have said before..." in every post
if i'd have started getting specific i'd have been decried as a know-nothing expat - oops, too late!

i'm just trying to be a bit bigger-picture, and appreciate you are too, but downturns happen and won't get solved on here. i don't understand if you think you're trying to rally the fans, or if you're saying the team should talk things through. sounds to me like the latter will happen (perfect opportunity in fact) on this Dubai trip.

of course discuss things, that's what the website is for, but don't get OTT defensive if others say "give it a week, these things happen, do we need another thread on this" etc

I was saying if i'm honest all the time yesterday, don't know why, I even said it when I said I think we should get the 6:30 train home !

I'm trying to weed out the problems, for the later part of the season as its a massive run in, as my personal viewpoint is if we don't address it now, tension will just build up within the fanbase which is not a good thing as it can spread to the terraces and in this day and age personal digs on twitter are not out of the question.

Agree with Dubai as the break should relax them and build team spirit. Bit concerned about the timelines as don't want them to be tired from all the travel, as what concerns me is if we don't start well on Saturday the fans are going to get on the players back and the Dubai trip and the Chelsea game will be thrown at the players as the reason for why we are not winning.

 

[PJ]

Haven't we only got space for 1 more loan?
Hodson, Tom, Jake, Rodney and the Wigan guy all here for the rest of the season.
Thought 6 was the max and only 5 in any matchday squad, so it will be one loan max (presumably a striker) Or have I missed something?

 

[sonofabee]

Young team, reached some heights but now suffering from lack of form, confidence and luck. All teams will probably go through same highs and lows although in some cases loads of cash will be spent to cover these dips

Never in the promotion guaranteed camp as seen it all before many many times. I do however beleive we have a decent squad of players and an enthusiastic manager that wants us to play the right way. The Chelsea game has taken players minds off the bread and butter but would guess that is understandable, hopefully a few days away will focus the mind

See no reason why we should be hitting the panic button at this stage, our players are good enough to go on another good run although it may only result in the play offs. Should that be the case just hope Yeovil are not in the mix as well. !!!

Agree, I'd rather not consider it but if we don't get up it will be made more frustrating as know we will have missed a fantastic opportunity. This young and talented squad while at times naive and inconsistent is in my opinion still good enough to get up with the current players and I can see us putting another run together. However a fresh face face up front would strengthen our chances.

Wish we could all reflect how far we've come as before the start of 2012-2013 very few would have forecast automatic promotion and after 3-4 games I doubt many would have forecast play offs, there's still a lot more to enjoy than moan about for me.

 

[BURFORD BEE]

i say it in literally every post, actually. similarly you say "as i have said before..." in every post
if i'd have started getting specific i'd have been decried as a know-nothing expat - oops, too late!

i'm just trying to be a bit bigger-picture, and appreciate you are too, but downturns happen and won't get solved on here. i don't understand if you think you're trying to rally the fans, or if you're saying the team should talk things through. sounds to me like the latter will happen (perfect opportunity in fact) on this Dubai trip.

of course discuss things, that's what the website is for, but don't get OTT defensive if others say "give it a week, these things happen, do we need another thread on this" etc :)

The problem is because its usually the same people saying it and often they are people who rarely get to the games although I appreciate that its not possible for them to. Its easy to look through rose tinted specs when you are not sitting there watching it.
Its a fans forum yet when someone voices legitimate concerns over the way things are going the usual suspects come on here accusing them of negativity or worse. I dont believe that any of our opinions matter a jot regarding what happens at the club but there's no point in having a GPG if we cant put our points of view.

 

[RodBee]

I think Uwe has a 'Premier Manager' mentality to keep what he has at the start and then rely on Scoring later in the game.

I find it puzzling that we have the division's top scorer playing either right of midfield or then switched to play up front on his own.

To play one up front in away games is not good and to do the same in home matches is giving out the wrong message.

Sadly, we seemed to be so intent on signing Hayes that we omitted to look elsewhere and he has turned out to be so slow that he would make Bob Booker look like a greyhound! Yes! he has a good football brain but speed frightens defenders whilst a lack of pace allows defenders to jockey forwards away from the danger area.

Hopefully one of the rumoured forwards will arrive on loan later this week and help Clayton to attack the opponents with his and their pace.

 

[Headbee]

It's not nice but it has to be said that since the Oldham away game, our results and performances in the league have been in my eyes unacceptable.

However, what is the problem to me there are a few things we need to improve on and I will list them here

1) Squad size- The truth is we have a small squad and with 2 members of it out for the season and the team playing a high intenstiy style of play this means we are always going to struggle when we have a run of fixture. To improve this we need to bolster the playing squad and prehaps give more game time to the likes of Hodson, Dallas, Saunders, Reeves and German, who have all seemed capable of performing when given the opportunity.

2) Soft Goals- I've said it before and been hammered for it but we let in far too many soft goals. The main reason for this seems to be we sit back far too much and allow players to get shots in on goals. A case in point would be Upson goal yesterday, but we did it against Orient for Cook's goal and numerous others.

The defence needs to make more tackles and I really don't think Craig and Dean work as a pair. Particuarly as Dean often gets caught out of position and is prone to making mistakes.

3) We are too naive- We don't waste time when we are winning like other teams do, we allow players like Rowlands to get in the ref's ear and escape bookings (e.g. the Forshaw tackle).

We are a very young side and sometimes we need that more experienced head to take control, it's a controversial and (even I think it's harsh) call but for me I think it might be time to recall Lee for Moore. As whilst I don't think there is much in it in terms of shot stopping, I think Lee would communicate with his defence better and be a more settling impact on the back four.

Whilst Moore has done nothing wrong Football is a results buisness and at the moment I think we need Lee's experience in the side.

Cue abuse.

Agree about bringing forward Dallas, Reeves & German. They must have a proper chance to show what they can do. Hodson had a good game v Chelsea and Logan wasn't great yesterday so put him back in. Saunders has not shown enough in his appearances this season to merit inclusion in a developing team and is one to move on. Barron was bought in as a full back but doesn't seem good enough in that role, and is only used as a wide midfielder now - a long contract I know but seems like a mistaken buy and one to move on also. With non essential players moving on, that would create space for better, perhaps more experienced recruits to add weight to the cause. There have been too many long distance shots go in recently and I agree it's more about non marking and deep defending than goal keeping errors, but maybe Lee could help the defense work better. If we are to persist with Trotta, one who could develop well, then we have to consider cutting our losses with Hayes, another long contract holder, who does not look right in the team we are developing. We do need more pace alongside Donaldson and someone who is a natural finisher - gold dust I know, but a player like this is the current missing link - we don't take our chances at the moment and it's killing us. If we have to spend, make it count.

Cue more abuse

 

[SH]

We do need more pace alongside Donaldson and someone who is a natural finisher - gold dust I know, but a player like this is the current missing link we don't take our chances at the moment and it's killing us. If we have to spend, make it count.

Cue more abuse

Doubt if anyone will give you abuse for sensible questions, Headbee. The interesting point you make is that we need a "natural finisher". I was thinking as I drove home from the West Country who/what would I add to the squad and the two players I kept thinking of (showing age) were Andy McCulloch and Steve Phillips for very different reasons, one to "put himself about" when things weren't working on plan A and the other the proverbial fox in the box. As you say though, rarer than gold dust.

 

[super J]

I have wondered how big a moment in our season it was when the Stevenage game being called off was. We were in great form and the chance if going top at Christmas in front of a sell out crowd would have been such a wonderful occasion. Instead it was off, we slipped down the table because of other teams playing and ended up having a long gap in between the Notts County and Colchester games.

I know we won at Colchester but I've felt that for over a month our performance levels have dipped by 15-20 %. We sounded below par at Shrewsbury, lucky to get a point against Bournemouth and in recent weeks we don't seem to be getting that bit of luck, that bounce of the ball that we were getting in November and December. Bidwell missing the bouncing ball against Tranmere for their first goal, the penalty decisions going against us versus Orient, Yeovil's keeper having a blinder yesterday. All little things that seem to be going against us.

Can we turn it round? Of course we can. But it will be tough, teams are taking points off each other as showed by this weekend's results with ourselves, tranmere and Doncaster all losing. The chasing pack are closing in with the likes of Coventry and Yeovil displacing early season pace setters the likes of MK dons, notts county and Crawley slowly slipping away.

We were always going to have a blip but the timing of ours is somewhat peculiar given it has come against supposed lesser sides having been so spectacular in November against the likes of Swindon and Sheffield United. Are now marked men? Are teams more aware of our threat ad set up to stop us? Full backs seem more confident against Harry ad that has nullified our threat somewhat. Hopefully the trip to Dubai will freshen us up with a big month coming up. Next three league games are all at home to Bury, Stevenage and Walsall and we need to refocus and start picking up points. The Chelsea game will be a great day for the club and I'm sure will live long in the memory of the 6,000 fans lucky enough to be there. But a part of me does think that it may be best if we come out of it with our heads held high, a good performance but maybe with a narrow defeat and a lot of pride and we bow out with the league now set firmly in our sights.

17 games to go and lots of points to play for. Onwards and upwards.

 

[beebopalula]

I think part of the problem is that having nudged the top two places, the team are too conscious about the league table and we have lost, to an extent, our footballing creativity as the team is too worried about losing. I would suggest they need to relax and revert to playing the way they can which is creative football without fear. That's what got us where we are. Bugger the table-it will look after itself if we get the football right.

 

[jlove]

Or have I missed something?

We can have as many loans as we like, just that only 5 can be in a match-day squad at any one time.

 

[Brentford_till_die]

Haven't we only got space for 1 more loan?
Hodson, Tom, Jake, Rodney and the Wigan guy all here for the rest of the season.
Thought 6 was the max and only 5 in any matchday squad, so it will be one loan max (presumably a striker) Or have I missed something?

I thought Bidwell loan was a youth loan which means we can still have 5 other loans ?

 

[Whitton Borders Bee]

Not a moan, and as a number of people have said, I would have been more than happy to be have been in this position at the start of the season. Even yesterday in the first 25 minutes or so, we played some better football than we have done for years. Tight little triangles, players beating several opposition players, and some nicely weighted channel balls. We didn't take our chances, and some sloppy defending cost us. Our one issue is flair players in reserve. Sam Saunders is no Harry Forrester,Hayes doesn't have enoigh pace, and we simply don't have a second Adam Forshaw. Whilst we will never have clones, someone similar in flair or pace would help, as all we seem to do after making subs is huff and puff with little end product.

 

[Markybee]

It's not nice but it has to be said that since the Oldham away game, our results and performances in the league have been in my eyes unacceptable.

However, what is the problem to me there are a few things we need to improve on and I will list them here

1) Squad size- The truth is we have a small squad and with 2 members of it out for the season and the team playing a high intenstiy style of play this means we are always going to struggle when we have a run of fixture. To improve this we need to bolster the playing squad and prehaps give more game time to the likes of Hodson, Dallas, Saunders, Reeves and German, who have all seemed capable of performing when given the opportunity.

2) Soft Goals- I've said it before and been hammered for it but we let in far too many soft goals. The main reason for this seems to be we sit back far too much and allow players to get shots in on goals. A case in point would be Upson goal yesterday, but we did it against Orient for Cook's goal and numerous others.

The defence needs to make more tackles and I really don't think Craig and Dean work as a pair. Particuarly as Dean often gets caught out of position and is prone to making mistakes.

3) We are too naive- We don't waste time when we are winning like other teams do, we allow players like Rowlands to get in the ref's ear and escape bookings (e.g. the Forshaw tackle).

We are a very young side and sometimes we need that more experienced head to take control, it's a controversial and (even I think it's harsh) call but for me I think it might be time to recall Lee for Moore. As whilst I don't think there is much in it in terms of shot stopping, I think Lee would communicate with his defence better and be a more settling impact on the back four.

Whilst Moore has done nothing wrong Football is a results buisness and at the moment I think we need Lee's experience in the side.

Cue abuse.

Analysis Paralysis.

 

[marvelous007]

On reflection i still think we are doing very well. Most bees fans would have taken our postion at the start of the season, only six points off top two place. Whilst i think we will finish in the top six/playoffs, i think we are two or three quality players away from having a top two squad. Personally, i would have liked to see either saunders and/hayes go out on loan and bring in one or two more decent player for a REAL push in March.

 

[To Bee Someone]

Where are we going wrong? Perhaps having the misfortune of playing Yeovil in the midst of their purple patch.. TWICE!

 

[Mr Tree]

The problem is because its usually the same people saying it and often they are people who rarely get to the games although I appreciate that its not possible for them to. Its easy to look through rose tinted specs when you are not sitting there watching it.
Its a fans forum yet when someone voices legitimate concerns over the way things are going the usual suspects come on here accusing them of negativity or worse. I dont believe that any of our opinions matter a jot regarding what happens at the club but there's no point in having a GPG if we cant put our points of view.

yep, fair enough :beer:

i think this thread was doomed to be an eye-roller as the entire topic is being discussed in numerous other places on here. and sometimes (not being specific about here at all) the conversation goes "i think something's wrong" "relax, it'll be ok" "don't tell me to relax!!!!"

 

[Deanb]

Haven't we only got space for 1 more loan?
Hodson, Tom, Jake, Rodney and the Wigan guy all here for the rest of the season.
Thought 6 was the max and only 5 in any matchday squad, so it will be one loan max (presumably a striker) Or have I missed something?

brighton loan possible

 

[scruff puppy pup]

We were always going to have a blip, it started at Col U and since then we have only lost 2 out of the 6 league games, as being out of form goes that aint to shabby at all. Having said that it cant go on for much longer if we want automatic promotion.

I agree. Bournemouth's blip lasted all of three games when they drew two and lost one. Then they got back to winning. Our current blip is two defeats and a draw. I honestly think we're after the second promotion spot now. I can't see anyone matching 'Muff over the full season. If we don't make the play-offs, there should be an inquest, but I am losing faith that we have enough to make automatic promotion.

 

[Wouldbee]

Where are we going wrong?

Er

Don't think we are. Onto the next game. Keep calm and carry on.

 

[longdistancebee]

I always thought we would finsh somewhere between 3rd and 10th - maybe that can now be revised to 3rd and 8th. With a young squad that is not overly physical, we will always struggle against the sort of teams that Gary Johnson puts out. But if we finish in the top 6, not only will that be job done, but i think we will have a good chance of success because the teams up there with us will also be footballing teams (as opposed to hairy-arsed cloggers) and with the way Uwe has them playing, i would definitely fancy us. We were never going to be shoe-ins for automatic promotion, but with a bit of luck we might finally hit play-off glory.

 

[Balders Bee]

We've conceded nine goals in the last four matches (ok we've played the league leaders and the European champions and an in form Yeovil but the fact remains it's over two goals a game). A fair percentage have been spectacular strikes but the simple truth is we should be defending better and closing down the space for denying the oppo the room to take these opportunities- that is the whole teams job not just the back four. We are still creating chances aplenty but the burden on CD's shoulders remains heavy as his strike partners only fire intermittently.

We've few options with giving either Craig or Dean a rest and perhaps their is some mileage in giving the excellent Moore a brief rest and Lee some game time- it worked away vs Portsmouth earlier in the season.

No need to panic just get back to basics, if we keep clean sheets we have the attacking players to hurt teams.

Hopefully Uwe can work on this and the break away will restore tired minds and bodies for a vital three points at home to Bury.

 

[mhead bee]

We have had a blip. Everybody else has had, or will have one. The teams that have flown up the table like Muff, yeovil and coventry still have theirs to come. If we can pull out of ours when theirs hit then we will storm ahead of them.

We do need one or two more faces to freshen it up as we are a bit jaded, but I wouldn't say "where has it all gone wrong" just yet.

 

[absenteebee]

I might send Jeff @ Sky and other Hartlepool fans a link to this thread to see if they get where we are 'going wrong'.

 

[The Pipe]

Well it's bloody obvious to me where we are going wrong cos I have just read about the reasons on other threads

Firstly we are not playing either Dallas or Reeves when it is clear to everyone they should be playing regularly

Secondly we are building a new ground with insufficient capacity or sides and if we don't do a proper job with at least 20lk capacity them heads will roll

Thirdly we are spunking money on a pointless trip to Dubai when in fact the players should probably be undertaking some SAS training

Fourthly we have wasted the opportunity of the transfer window and not got hold of the required strikers

Fifthly our defence is crap as evidenced by the number of goals recently conceded ( including 2 from current European Champions)

Finally our forwards are not up to scratch, Claytom can't do one on ones, Hayes is to slow and overweight and Trotta is lazy Oh yes and Rosler has lost the ability motivate by conceding defeat against Yeovil at half time

Think that more or less covers where we are going wrong, perhaps if we hadn't made all these mistakes we wouldn't be 5th in the table and still in the FA Cup !!!

 

[Wise old Bee]

I don't think anything is going wrong, maybe we are not firing on all cylinders and a few things need adjusting. I think Hayes has been unlucky in that he hasn't had a run of games to get match fitness but he provides a different option which is required at times - last saturday for example. Losing Farid was also a blow. Last season we weren't that far away from the playoffs with an inferior side to this. This is a young side and this recent run of form coupled with the distraction of the Chelsea games has had an obvious effect. This division is nothing special and we are a top four side for sure.