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Author Topic: Blackpool v Swindon pre match chat and matchday thread  (Read 31693 times)
Bob's Orange
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« Reply #330 on: Monday, September 21, 2020, 08:39:43 »

My thoughts from Saturday;

I thought for 35 minutes it was a very even game and we looked the better side. I don't think it was any coincidence that once J.Smith went off, replaced by a lost looking J.Grant that Blackpool started to take the upper hand and the dangerous CJ Hamilton scored. The second half started disastrously and Hamilton's pace was too much for Hunt and another powerful finish past Kovar. I thought then Kovar was quite nervous, a pretty feeble punch making me feel very uncomfortable with him in between the sticks, a shame as he was faultless with the ball at his feet.

The rest of the second half we were a bit of a mess to be honest, despite Hallam Hope hitting the inside of the post, Blackpool should have been 3 or 4 up making a total hash of Swindon gifts at the back.

At times we played some excellent football from the back, although I think we were guilty of overplaying at times which we should have been punished for more than we were. I thought Matt Smith was our best player, always trying to make us tick, Fryers also had a good game bringing the ball out and using it well. Apart from that it was quite average really. That said, Had T.Smith scored his header after excellent work from DJ it could have been very different.

Burton at home on Saturday is an excellent chance to get back on track.
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« Reply #331 on: Monday, September 21, 2020, 08:40:39 »

When attempting to assess our relative strength, early season, it is easy to comment on an uncompleted squad and the need for more time to gel or for certain individuals to build up fitness.  However, in fairness, that does also apply to most other clubs, so I don't believe those particular reasons are any particular cause for relative optimism.  Or pessimism.

Rochdale were very poor last week (and are expected to remain poor) but Stephen Humphries had yet to join them leaving them with no target man and Jimmy Ryan, their midfield destroyer, was also missing.  I believe they also lacked a recognised wing back but still opted for a back 4.  They will improve and obviously did, to a degree, yesterday against Pompey.

The way I read it was that after a very decent opening 30, Pool started getting into better positions in the vicinity of our box and were ramping up the pressure.  We (Wellens) didn't really find an answer to counter this, save for a brief period after their second goal.  Even then, Pool were very quick to counter, and gradually re-asserted control as we began to look ragged.  Quite a poor performance with Pool taking creditable advantage on the counter from misjudgements from Grant (untypical) and Smith (amidst some very astute passing).  Could have been 4 or 5 regardless of our own what ifs.  

Although I'd join the popular "mid table" consensus as a bet-guess, I think it's way too early to assess.  At this stage, completing the signing of your targets and getting the squad working on the training field is still vital.  Meanwhile striving very hard nonetheless to get whatever points are on offer.  Early points can be a most unreliable predictor of the season's outcome but simple maths says  a few points more now can be pretty handy come season's end.
« Last Edit: Monday, September 21, 2020, 08:43:34 by RedRag » Logged
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« Reply #332 on: Monday, September 21, 2020, 10:15:53 »

Good summary Mr Orange.

I know Wellens mentioned it, but we weren't on fire up front even though we did create some good chances. I'm not sure if that's worrying or encouraging that at least we still created despite being below par?!

Should also say in the first half particularly DJ looked a bit more like we know he can, so that's a plus. As is JS "only" going off with Asthma, so no injury.

I've said my bit on Kovar, but with injuries (and pies) disrupting the back 4 in pre-season they'll surely improve as a unit with a bit of playing time (+ Donohue). That'll help protect him. And besides, you don't get to where he's got by not knowing your angles.

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jayohaitchenn
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« Reply #333 on: Monday, September 21, 2020, 10:21:21 »

One thing Rob Hartley said on saturday that I agreed with; It's been a while since we were outplayed and beaten. We've been duffed up by bruisers and been done with balls over the top but we haven't been out footballed for ages.
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Peter Venkman
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« Reply #334 on: Monday, September 21, 2020, 10:29:34 »

One thing Rob Hartley said on saturday that I agreed with; It's been a while since we were outplayed and beaten. We've been duffed up by bruisers and been done with balls over the top but we haven't been out footballed for ages.
Yeah, probably the last time anyone actually outplayed us was probably Crewe away last season, when again we started really well and then fell to peices when we conceded our first goal against them too.

Days like these will happen, you cant go out and dominate and win every game and we are still not the finished article when it comes to squad too as Batch says.
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« Reply #335 on: Monday, September 21, 2020, 10:39:32 »

Very true both. Just got to hold your hands up and move on
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Reg Smeeton
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« Reply #336 on: Monday, September 21, 2020, 11:16:43 »

Burton at home on Saturday is an excellent chance to get back on track.

I watched Burton v Villa in the LC in the week, specifically to get a handle on a Div 3 opponent.  I would regard Burton as being a fairly typical Div 3 type atm.  Big, strong and quite direct, it was only in the last few minutes that a bit of Grealish got Villa ahead.

The worry was the presence of Michael Bostwick, the sort who has bullied us often in recent years... we've come across him 7 times in the last 5 years.... no wins.  Although he seemingly missed Sat's game so could be injured, he shows how Burton go about it.

Therefore although a chance... more importantly perhaps a good early indicator of where we're at this season
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Peter Venkman
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« Reply #337 on: Monday, September 21, 2020, 11:23:14 »

The worry was the presence of Michael Bostwick, the sort who has bullied us often in recent years... we've come across him 7 times in the last 5 years.... no wins.  Although he seemingly missed Sat's game so could be injured, he shows how Burton go about it.
We haven't played against Bostwick while Grant has been playing for us, I have no doubt that Grant will not allow himself to be bullied by the thug Bostwick, which is as you say something he has done to us regularly in the past, especially for Peterborough and Lincoln.

If Grant was not playing then yes he will bully us as is his only style of play.
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« Reply #338 on: Monday, September 21, 2020, 11:51:06 »

We haven't played against Bostwick while Grant has been playing for us, I have no doubt that Grant will not allow himself to be bullied by the thug Bostwick, which is as you say something he has done to us regularly in the past, especially for Peterborough and Lincoln.

If Grant was not playing then yes he will bully us as is his only style of play.

It always seems to be tight when those 2 go head to head results wise, quite a few draws and yellow cards.... a noted success for Grant may have been when Crewe managed to edge 9 men Posh 1-0 when Bostwick, got the red on half an hour.

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Peter Venkman
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« Reply #339 on: Monday, September 21, 2020, 12:32:28 »

I watched Burton v Villa in the LC in the week, specifically to get a handle on a Div 3 opponent.  I would regard Burton as being a fairly typical Div 3 type atm.  Big, strong and quite direct, it was only in the last few minutes that a bit of Grealish got Villa ahead.

I just sat through extended highlights of Burton v Accrington.

Burton play a typical lower league style, long balls down the wings and get the ball into the box as early as possible and attack the near post.

They have very little genuine pace in the team, Bostwick sits almost as a sweeper in the middle of the back 4 to deal with any loose balls in the box. Their centre backs look ponderous and a pair of lower league cloggers going by what I have seen so far. Accrington exposed them a few times but didn't have the quality in the box to put the ball away.

They defend in numbers and their first thought is get the ball forward to the big front pair of Akins and Hemmings to win the ball at every opportunity. They had a lot of the ball against a very poor Accrington team but not in dangerous areas and rarely looked like scoring despite them having 13 shots and 68% possession.

I also watched the Posh v Burton highlights and again the defence looks pretty awful when balls are put into the box and their keeper looks very suspect too.

In the game against Villa they only had 30% of the ball and allowed Villa 17 shots (2 of which went in) Villas reserves should have scored 6 or 7 with better finishing and Burton look exposed when up against players with pace.

Burton appear to be a typical L1 team, big players, mostly long ball side with a fair bit of experience in it. Nothing fancy but they know what to do, similar in style to Northampton last season.
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« Reply #340 on: Monday, September 21, 2020, 12:48:04 »

In the game against Villa they only had 30% of the ball and allowed Villa 17 shots (2 of which went in) Villas reserves should have scored 6 or 7 with better finishing and Burton look exposed when up against players with pace.

Villa played mostly regulars, due to not having a game until tonight, just one kid on debut.  Until a few mins left it looked as if Burton would get the pens they set out for..... don't suppose they'll set up too different on Sat.  Therefore a difficult game, how we cope a good little indicator....
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Peter Venkman
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« Reply #341 on: Monday, September 21, 2020, 12:52:37 »

Villa played mostly regulars, due to not having a game until tonight, just one kid on debut.  Until a few mins left it looked as if Burton would get the pens they set out for..... don't suppose they'll set up too different on Sat.  Therefore a difficult game, how we cope a good little indicator....
The Villa side that played vs Burton only had 2 players in it that played the previous game vs Man Utd, Grealish and Mings.

We have played the poor in the division v Rochdale and won, we have played the decent in the division v Blackpool and lost now we play the average in the division so a draw would seem to be on the cards!
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« Reply #342 on: Monday, September 21, 2020, 13:11:34 »

Villa played mostly regulars, due to not having a game until tonight, just one kid on debut.  Until a few mins left it looked as if Burton would get the pens they set out for..... don't suppose they'll set up too different on Sat.  Therefore a difficult game, how we cope a good little indicator....

I think we'll see a lot of difficult games this season - that's the joy of being a division higher.  I'm pretty certain we will see some of our players improve - Baudry looked rusty and lost his legs in the last 30 mins (as you'd expect), J Grant looked utterly lost and off the pace (as you'd expect from someone who has essentially not had pre-season with us, or anyone I guess), Caddis still looks a yard short and even A Grant looks a little short in match fitness terms.  Those players will all get better.  The question we don't know the answer to, and it's even more erratic than normal, is how we compare in those stakes against the other teams?  There are likely two aims for this oddity of a season - 1) survive financially, 2) survive in the division - if we can do the first, I think we'll plod in mid table based on what I have seen and the hope of improvement.  My comparison is not the other teams we have played, but my memory of this Division and our previous teams.  Could be very wrong!
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« Reply #343 on: Monday, September 21, 2020, 13:15:53 »

It's still far too early to tell. The table doesn't start taking shape until after around 10 games or so.
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« Reply #344 on: Monday, September 21, 2020, 13:16:30 »

agreed there flash
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