Swindon v Accrington

[Nomoreheroes]

Wellens knew he got lucky last year. He couldn't believe his luck with Yates & Doyle.
His player selection this season has shown that it was luck.
He realised quite quickly that he was going to struggle this season and despite all of the initial talk he bottled it and ran!

I thought Sheridan was trying to say that we were making the same mistakes this year that we made last year. The trouble is, last year we had Yates and Doyle scoring goals for fun. This year we don't and we are playing in a much harder league against better players who punish you for mistakes and don't give you as much opportunity to get back into the game. We therefore need to cut out the mistakes, concentrate on keeping our shape and watching for danger. If we can become more solid at the back, we may have chances to stay in and win games. But, at the moment, everyone fancies their chances of scoring against us.

[donkey]

Well, I hope Sheridan can sort this out, because that is a relegation performance.  Tbh, Saturday was too.

[JBZ]

Well, I hope Sheridan can sort this out, because that is a relegation performance.  Tbh, Saturday was too.

I believe he can

[Costanza]

I don't fully subscribe to the notion that Wellens 'got lucky with Doyle and Yates'. They brought them in to do a job and it worked. Yeah, possibly beyond their expectations but it still worked.

The loss of their personalities behind-the-scenes cannot be underestimated though. Club evolved around them plus a couple of others for a little while.

Danny Wilson's tenure was ruined by a change of culture within the dressing room. A few players in or out is all it takes to disrupt the balance.

[BambooToTheFuture]

I've refrained from saying it but I've now listened to and watched all of Sheridan's pre-match, post-match and appointment pressers several times but...

....I don't think Sheridan is going to command the respect of many of the squad here. I think it may be a case that the players have already decided not to play for this manager...

...I really don't want to say it but there are issues with him that lay much deeper than football. I would rather he sort his own off field issues out first. Why do you think I have been hinting at him not being here long? It's a jobs for the boys appointment.

The sooner the court case is resolved and a new regime comes in, the better.

[Jimmy HaveHave]

I've refrained from saying it but I've now listened to and watched all of Sheridan's pre-match, post-match and appointment pressers several times but...

....I don't think Sheridan is going to command the respect of many of the squad here. I think it may be a case that the players have already decided not to play for this manager...

...I really don't want to say it but there are issues with him that lay much deeper than football. I would rather he sort his own off field issues out first. Why do you think I have been hinting at him not being here long? It's a jobs for the boys appointment.

The sooner the court case is resolved and a new regime comes in, the better.

Are we talking liquid off field issues

[Red Frog]

Are we talking liquid off field issues

He doesn't have any insights. Sheridan's been here for two games, in charge for one. Ignore him.

[pauld]

I don't fully subscribe to the notion that Wellens 'got lucky with Doyle and Yates'. They brought them in to do a job and it worked. Yeah, possibly beyond their expectations but it still worked.

Absolutely. By the same token, he must take the blame for what we are now seeing from the squad he assembled over the summer.

The loss of their personalities behind-the-scenes cannot be underestimated though. Club evolved around them plus a couple of others for a little while.

Danny Wilson's tenure was ruined by a change of culture within the dressing room. A few players in or out is all it takes to disrupt the balance.

It does seem to be a very delicate balance indeed. I keep coming back to the fact that we have a good few decent players out at the moment to come back in. But then I'm not convinced that will solve it. We have some good talented players in this squad. What we don't seem to have is team spirit. We can show flashes of it, we came back from a goal down to beat then 3rd placed Hull, and obviously showed some mettle with the comeback on Saturday. But we look brittle this season. Rationally, I think far too early to panic, plenty of time to turn it round, but in the dark recesses of my mind I worry that perhaps we don't have that much time after all, that if we continue to let this slide for very much longer, the rot will have set in. Big few games coming up for Sheridan and any of the players that want to show some leadership.

[BambooToTheFuture]

He doesn't have any insights. Sheridan's been here for two games, in charge for one. Ignore him.

What's your name?! Ygritte?

[Wobbly Bob]

The change in formation of the thread title, it was never going to work. 
Audrey. Dropped to the bench on Saturday.

[The Artist Formerly Known as Audrey]

I think I’ve done a couple or so of these - lost every one, so you’re probably right!

How about dropping Grant M to CB and switching Odimayo to CM?

Every time I watch us play, whether home or away, nearly every time we go forward there seems to be a full complement of opposition players between us and their goal. Yet when the opposition come forward we always look short of numbers and likely to get sliced open - which we do, of course.

Sheridan is right - we have too many players of a similar ilk who have no, or very little, desire to track back, tackle or do the dirty stuff. The players brought in are, to a man, of an offensive variety. Slight, skilful players with little physicality about them - we constantly make half tackles but ultimately lose the ball (when we aren’t giving it back to the opposition directly).

We passed teams off the pitch last season who, in the main, were too shit scared to push forward with the threat of Doyle and Yates up top. This season we have zero threat up front and a bucketful of cock-ups at the back that probably means everyone we play is on the front foot from the start. I imagine opposition team talks consist of ‘chuck enough balls at the defence from any old angle and just wait for the mistakes’.

The simple truth is, we don’t have enough L1 standard players and yet, as amazing as it is, there are still 4 teams below us.

Can’t see us shaking last night’s performance off too quickly so we’ll probably be easy(ier) meat for the next few games.

Never, ever thought things would turn to shit so quickly.

[Batch]

The players brought in are, to a man, of an offensive variety. Slight, skilful players with little physicality about them - we constantly make half tackles but ultimately lose the

I guess you meant the new players dor this season. Grant and Lyden should be fulfilling the tackling roll. One is out of form. One is made of bulsa wood.

I do think the 'spine' is weak regardless. Keeper, CBs, mid, up top...

[TheDukeOfBanbury]

In simple terms we are all over the place.
You cannot keep gifting goals every game like we are currently doing. I am struggling to recall another season where I have seen so many defensive errors leading to simple goals against.
Unfortunately both keepers are not up to it. Both cannot command  their area and just leads to a lack of confidence at the back. Constant changes at the back equally are not helping. Central defenders lack mobility and positioning awareness and as a result we are getting picked off by teams pressing, as we did last night.
Matt Smith is running the midfield on his own, Grant would be better off sitting deeper just to support the weak central pairing.
Drop Pitman, offers fuck all and is a waste of a shirt. Sadly this may not go down well but Hope is at best a decent league two player. Tyler Smith needs a run out, even at the expense of Pitman.
Desperate to get DJ back, A fit Lyden if that actually exists and Conroy and Fryers to give that stability and some much needed pace.
However maybe a tad thought of desperation as we look a shambles in shape.

Another concern is the muscle injuries we are getting. Surely just can’t be down to coincidence.

All is not well and we were simply outclassed for 90 minutes against the team with the smallest budget in league one. Credit where it is due, they did their homework on us last night and exposed every frailty we know we have.

Not throwing the towel in just yet but some of those senior professionals need to take some leadership responsibility. Wellens didn’t get lucky last season he simply assembled a decent side. Another complete rebuild has caught us out, it happens and will likely happen again until we get different direction (if ever in my lifetime) at the very top.
We have definitely not replaced players that have left with better players, a shadow of the team from last season. Sheridan has a mountain to climb but has to be given some time.

Right now I want to believe there are 4 teams worse than us that’s all I want for Christmas.

[swindonmaniac]

After thinking back on last night's performance the result flattered us a bit.  Accrington seemed to back off a fair bit in the second half, could probably have scored a few more if the need had risen but seemed content with what they had. It was pretty clear were never going to match them after the first half.
Yet only in the last couple of weeks we've come back from two down to take a point away from home and beaten a team second in the table after going a goal behind proving we do have the capability to compete.  Goalkeeper problems are there for all to see, defence is probably the weakest we've seen in a long time and we're playing in a higher division but I believe confidence is one of the major factors,  Wellens  seemed to install that in the team but since the start of the season this seems to have drained away, a couple of home games coming up, a couple of good performances a couple of wins, and all will be ticket-boo again. Let's hope Sheridan has it in him to lift this team or we're in for a long season.

[Oaksey Moonraker]

Sheridan is going to need time on the training ground to work on defensive shape. He has probably only had a couple of training sessions since coming in on Friday.

That's how the relegation firefighters like Hodgson or Allardyce do it. Work on shape and positioning and keep repeating until it sticks and becomes habit. I suspect we will have to go ugly for a bit if we have the players to do that.

I don't think all is lost but if does feel like one of those low points such as Cheltenham away in 2002. It's recoverable but the team need to realise they are in the shit and not sleep walk to another relegation.