Preston North End (H) League One Sat 31st Aug 3pm

[sallian]

Someone look for a striker...that means an actual striker (someone who can score goals, by shooting on target regularly and at the right time and get in sensible positions) not a wannabe striker. Look in schools (some 16yr olds are more capable than the current crop), lower divisions, lower leagues. Or get the so called strikers to understand, you need to:-

1) make runs into space
2) take many shots (with the expectation some will go in, or some will rebound and be scored by someone else etc)
3) make them understand, most teams will not allow you to walk the ball in
4) make them understand that if you don't shoot, you are unlikely to score.
5) make them practise strength and accuracy of shooting...in their spare time and training....taking hundreds of shots from different positions....(they might have to spend some of the transfer money on extra balls).
6) Shooting early rather than waiting for the whole opposition to get between the ball and the the goal mouth.

Someone have a word with the wingers and midfielders....and tell them:-

1) The aim is not to pass for the sake of it but rather to regulary and immediately create goalscoring opportunities
2) This usually means quick release of ball into DANGEROUS SPACE or to UNMARKED PLAYER or GOAL SIDE of FAST Player, even if marked.
3) Make them understand 90 minutes is enough time to create MANY CHANCES
4) Four men on the wing are not needed to deliver the ball
5) If 6 players are trying to engineer one pass into the box.....very likely there will only be one man to receive it, and the odds are against him.
6) Players need to run into the box to support strikers and pick up deflections
7) Goalscoring opportunities are NOT ONLY created through the wings.....
8...) A winger doesn't have to beat the full back to cross the ball...he can just simply cross it.
9) A winger doesn't have to cbeat a man, and then wait for him to catch up again and then try and beat him again....this is generally a wste of time, allows the defence to settle and also...the defender might tackle you successfully the second time.

And tell Dean
1)....If a full back (such as Benning) does not have the confidence to deliver the ball into the box when the need arises, then perhaps he needs more practice or should forget about professional football.
2) The sooner you fix the situation, the more likely we wont have to play catch up or hope for others failing, to survive
3) Get your scouts looking for someone who likes to take many accurate shots quickly
4) Formations and strategy can be changed when things are going wrong
5) Players can be replaced when they can't do their job properly
6) Just like player are not loyal to the club ....neither the club needs to keep them on the pitch to be nice to them
7) If our whole ambition in a game is to score ONE GOAL in a match of 90minutes...then likely we will score one or NONE. But if we attempt to score 20 in a match....we might actually end up scoring 3, 4, 5.
8...) One chance created every ten minutes or more in a match.....is nowhere near good enough.
9) Perhaps try more creative ideas from freekicks, throw ins and corners. Don't just try and get it on the pitch or into the box...but try and cause some confusion among the opposition etc...bunching, split runs, group cross runs, dummy runs etc etc)....lack of creativity on set pieces is actually one of the most baffling features of professional football....you would think someone had made a rule against it or something!

Also:-
Tell the goal keeper to practice catching crosses into the box, running off his line...with confidence.

I don't mean any of this to be sarcastic or mocking...but there are so many simple things that could greatly improve the success rate in my view.

ALSO please stop players making these pre-season statements like 'we are better than last season' 'we are a stronger strike force than last season' 'all the top teams need to watch out for us this year...blah blah blah' etc....confidence and positive thinking is good, but false hope not supported by quality and equal effort and thought tends to slap your predictions in the face.

[IHTC.]

What a way to introduce yourself, welcome abd enjoy the abuse you receive :D

[DonningtonSaddler]

Well, it certainly was a case of 'after the Lord Mayor's show' today wasn't it?

I think it is obvious that Sawyer needs to start and that we need an out and out striker.

Baxendale worries me. From his body language today he clearly out of sorts. He usually plays with a smile on his face but today he was misery personified. Deano needs to put him in his favoured position or leave him in the bench. Too many days like today and he will be a ruined.

Butler needs to show a bit more support to the younger players on the pitch. Benning was distraught when he gave away the goal. This is where Butler should have done the 'arm round the shoulder' bit as good captains do. Instead, Benning was left alone with his head in his hands. (Holden would have done something).

Taylor was my man of the match. In his short cameo he was the only player who actually had a shot on goal! It is clear that he is not 100% percent fit though.

Lalkovic flatters to decieve. All pace and falling over. Westcarr gets the boo's but Lalkovic performed no better. Westcarr doesn't take his frustrations out on the ball girls either.

[mel58]

Awful today - we would not have beaten another tippy - tappy side similar to ourselves given our performance and there was no way we could compete with a typical Grayson, in your face team.

I was dismayed that the only way some people could express their disgust was the ironic cheering of Westcarr and Benning as they were substituted, I hope this was to emphasize Deano's failure to sort things out earlier in the game but,unfortunately, I feel that some people think it was a positive thing for them to do.

As has been mentioned already, we have no 'Plan B'. How we play is well-known and we need to be able to vary things. We have no presence up front following Grigg's departure and remedying that needs to be our priority - rather than getting rid of Westcarr, who never has been and never will be, a target man.

I know that we 'Cost very little and have been taking the mickey' but I'm not quite sure, especially after today, who exactly it is who is having the 'Mickey' taken out of them.

[Ancient Moaner]

Deeply humiliating....I thought we had the makings of a decent squad......obviously not, back to normal?

That nauseous git PNender or whatever the carers allow him to call himself, will be having an enormous 'stage fright' in his pants on our site at our expense!

Good job I 'covered' my wasted bet on a top six finish, with a heavily loaded relegation punt........

a really sad day for us all I think.

:lol:

Talk about sensationalist rubbish

I think you better read this thread mate, cus it dow look like the majority of us are 'overjoyed' by todays performance, does it? You happy at losing 3-0 at home? You need a reality check, sensationalist?....... realism, that's all. I ask you once again to read the threads....

[Pedagogue]

What do our strikers do in training?????

What strikers?

[King Crimson]

My full, unedited match report:


Lightweights.

[kshammer]

Today the team were terrible and if anything looked tired accross the whole pitch - PNE, credit to Grayson, had our measure and more than deserved to win the game comfortably. It would be easy to blame our midweek match but as they played too i'm not sure it was that. Any 'blame' I have today must go with Smith who I personally felt made too many bad calls such as -

1. Didn't start his form attacker in Sawyers.
2. Didn't sub Benning earlier after he'd had a mare.
3. Linked to the Sawyers point, went with 3 little attackers when a bit of bulk was always going to be needed in this game.
4. Seems to pick Westcarr regardless of form.
5. Signed Hewitt but doesn't rate him enough to bring him on when we need a goal (linked to not signing a proper striker).

As others have said, a striker is badly needed, and Smith must drop players fairly and based on form. Westcarr is marmite for our fans but personally I think he does have a place and a role for us this season but at present doesn't deserve a start. Benning had a couple of decent games but was torn apart from the start and Taylor clearly needed to be on at half time at the earliest but no - Deano waited and we conceded. Deano is doing a cracking job but he just seems to have the odd mare game where he gets everything wrong and today was one of them.

I also think the goalkeeping department is far from solved. O'Donnell is a decent enough shot stopper but then so is every goalkeeper in league football but his decision making at times is suspect. The first goal was terrible and his command of the area and understanding of the game is far from good enough. I thought this after the first game and hoped (and still hope) I was wrong but he does nothing to convince me otherwise. Make no mistakes though it was not this that cost us the game today.

Another point was a section of jeering 'fans' today. I'd like to think the jeering was directed at the fact Smith had at last made the changes but as my mate told me today, I was probably being optimistic in that. If Benning and Westcarr were booed then I depair at how fudge stupid these fans are. Both players were terrible today - Benning to be fair to him actually put his hand up in the dugout to ackowledge as such - but didn't deserve booing.

As an aside I thought Preston looked an efficient, well drilled team who have a real chance of going up, but actually think they'd be even better without Davies up front for them. Saying that he'd do a job for us.

[We-ARE-Walsall]

My full, unedited match report:


Lightweights.

Just send me the edited version, can't be arsed to read all that. :lol:

[Leatherman]

What do our strikers do in training?????

What strikers?

I think they're on strike

[King Crimson]

What do our strikers do in training?????

What strikers?

I think they're on strike

Like Carlos Tevez or Pierre Van Hooijdonk?

Wow! Classy!

[mossa]

Preston beat us in every area today and deserved the three points. I don't really think any of our players did themselves justice today. Obviously Smith is a good manager who has worked wonders for us but he does have some annoying habits. Last season he never signed a striker and luckily Grigg came to form. This season I can't see that anyone is going to step upto the plate like Grigg did, Surely the lad Hewitt is worth a game or two or a new striker is urgent. I also don't understand how Westcarr has suddenly become undropable, I generally like Westcarr but his last few games have been ordinary to say the least. Drop/rest him for a few games and let Sawyers play as he clearly deserves to start a few games.
Benning will probably never play that bad again but quite why some idiots cheer sarcastically when his subbed is beyond me. How is this supposed to help him or the team? Luckily Taylor is a class act and hopefully his ready to play regularly again.
Overall it's been a fairly good start to the season but today was terrible. However it is only one game and lets hope it was a one off.

[Walsall_Casual]

Westcarr is a good player but is clearly off his game and needs benching. To be fair to Smith he was on at him throughout about his game/ positioning and Westcarr chose to ignore him.

[funk_hits_the_fan]

Deeply humiliating....I thought we had the makings of a decent squad......obviously not, back to normal?

That nauseous git PNender or whatever the carers allow him to call himself, will be having an enormous 'stage fright' in his pants on our site at our expense!

Good job I 'covered' my wasted bet on a top six finish, with a heavily loaded relegation punt........

a really sad day for us all I think.

:lol:

Talk about sensationalist rubbish

I think you better read this thread mate, cus it dow look like the majority of us are 'overjoyed' by todays performance, does it? You happy at losing 3-0 at home? You need a reality check, sensationalist?....... realism, that's all. I ask you once again to read the threads....

:lol: the only embarrassment today is the OTT posts on here

YAWN

Go 'support' Real Madrid

[kshammer]

Deeply humiliating....I thought we had the makings of a decent squad......obviously not, back to normal?

That nauseous git PNender or whatever the carers allow him to call himself, will be having an enormous 'stage fright' in his pants on our site at our expense!

Good job I 'covered' my wasted bet on a top six finish, with a heavily loaded relegation punt........

a really sad day for us all I think.

:lol:

Talk about sensationalist rubbish

I think you better read this thread mate, cus it dow look like the majority of us are 'overjoyed' by todays performance, does it? You happy at losing 3-0 at home? You need a reality check, sensationalist?....... realism, that's all. I ask you once again to read the threads....

:lol: the only embarrassment today is the OTT posts on here

YAWN

Go 'support' Real Madrid

Spot on.

[saddlertd]

Deeply humiliating....I thought we had the makings of a decent squad......obviously not, back to normal?

That nauseous git PNender or whatever the carers allow him to call himself, will be having an enormous 'stage fright' in his pants on our site at our expense!

Good job I 'covered' my wasted bet on a top six finish, with a heavily loaded relegation punt........

a really sad day for us all I think.

:lol:

Talk about sensationalist rubbish

I think you better read this thread mate, cus it dow look like the majority of us are 'overjoyed' by todays performance, does it? You happy at losing 3-0 at home? You need a reality check, sensationalist?....... realism, that's all. I ask you once again to read the threads....

:lol: the only embarrassment today is the OTT posts on here

YAWN

Go 'support' Real Madrid

Funk - I think most of the posts on here are pretty balanced: we played badly today as a team and there were also some very poor individual performances, including that of the manager - why isn't he playing Sawyers from the start? Today's result has been coming: Notts County deserved to beat us - they outplayed us. Teams have worked us out and we don't seem to be able to change our game like other teams can, mainly due to us having very few options off the bench. We definitely need a centre-forward and a right-winger and it would be good to see Flo back. There's no hiding things: we are not playing well in the league and a decent performance vs Stoke means Donald all if we end up struggling again in the league.

[latviancheese]

Tearing up Westcarrs contract, and sending Lalkovic back to Chelsea.

Balanced :lol: :mrgreen:

[Whitters]

These things happen after a big midweek game.
I see it all the time.
Relax.

[wfc & chips]

sometimes things don't work out. we didn't play well today, but we've all seen much worse.

benning is young, he needs the chance to learn some consistency. the goalkeeping was shameful for the 1st. we looked quite good with sawyers in the hole instead of westcarr.

[SaigonSaddler]

Flump! It sounds gash!

Massive wake-up call from which we shall emerge stronger.

OR

Ominous vision of a series of agonising unpleasantries that lie ahead.

[portlandbill]

Knackered from Wednesday. Why did we allow that, we should have insisted on a Tuesday kick off. However we need a win at Crewe to halt the slide as there is a bit of deja vu about it all.

[IHTC.]

Tearing up Westcarrs contract, and sending Lalkovic back to Chelsea.

Balanced :lol: :mrgreen:

Born out of frustration, anger, shock, disappointment etc

Revised

1. Westcarr, should be dropped and give Hewitt achance otherwise what was the point in signing him?

2. Lalkovic, still don't know what he offers us that Sawyers cannot give us plus more, 'wannabe' premiershite fancy Dan, more hype than substance

[PT]

Wasn't there yesterday - was watching Madness with a load of fat middle aged skinheads on Blackpool prom (I didn't fit in at all :wink: ).

Anyway, having spoke to my dad and read the posts on here, the positive thing is that we have had a "Coventry" early on. I'm referring to the 5-1 at their place last season. Up to that point we were losing games by the odd goal, you could look at a decision or a single incident and kid yourself that we could have played exactly the same and won - that we were being unlucky. Smith kidded himself right up until that Coventry game. It sounds like yesterday was as bad and the need for change is as obvious. It is a moment of clarity that could end up benefitting our season, much like the Coventry watershed did last year, only this year it has come before we've had a 16 game winless run.

[King Crimson]

My full, unedited match report:


Lightweights.

Just send me the edited version, can't be Arsenal to read all that. :lol:

Here's the abridged version:

****

[saddlersjse]

Awful performance which I can only hope is a hangover from the midweek game. Credit to Preston, they were all over us like a rash and didn't give us a second to move.
Looked very weak going forwards.

I love Smith and I think he's worked wonders at the club, but one thing that's always annoyed me about him is his stubbornness. He stubbornly plays people like Westcarr week in week out who consistently disappoints, yet drops Sawyers and Taylor after a great midweek game? His subs yesterday, and their timing, pretty much admitted that he'd got it wrong.

Also, all this talk Smith comes out with in the press about being "happy with the squad I have" and that we've "replaced the losses from last season." In my opinion you should never be happy with what you have and always looking to improve. I worry if Smith is happy with the attacking line we have, I really do. And the lack of options on the bench is also a worry.

Still, hopefully just a blip. But we do need a striker and a Plan B

[IHTC.]

Any decent manager would have rested Taylor yesterday, he was in his knees at the end of the Stoke game and Benning had done enough in previous games to suggest it was worth resting Taylor rather than risk another injury.

[WFC_Rob]

The majority of our problems yesterday stemmed from us having no focal point up front. Somehow, the 'false 9' system worked against Tranmere, but evidence suggests it might not be so effective against anyone who's taken the time to send a scout to watch us play. We've got about 4 players who prefer to play just behind the striker, but until we find said striker, we won't trouble too many defences. Sawyers should have started, but would he have made that much of a difference in terms of our goal threat? I'm not sure.

On the subject of strikers, we were 3 down at home, barely carved out a shot on goal, and Smith still saw no need to give Hewitt a game. If he's that bad, ship him out and try something else because he's a waste of a salary at the moment.

I find it desperately frustrating reading all this Westcarr-bashing. He was no worse than Lalkovic, Baxendale or Hemmings yesterday, and he certainly wasn't playing in the position he was so effective in last season. Mind you, if the moronic abuse aimed at Westcarr means someone else in the squad avoids being made a scapegoat, maybe that's a good thing.

Had it not been for Benning and O'Donnell's howlers yesterday, the scoreline probably wouldn't have been so emphatic and there probably wouldn't be so much doom-mongering doing the rounds today. That said, we did look like boys playing against men and once again played our best football in our own half.

Yesterday was far from the end of the world, but Smith does need to realise he can solve so many of our problems by bringing in a striker who's actually half-capable. He probably knows that's the case, but has his hands tied thanks to the FA's ridiculous tribunal system.

[King Crimson]

The majority of our problems yesterday stemmed from us having no focal point up front. Somehow, the 'false 9' system worked against Tranmere, but evidence suggests it might not be so effective against anyone who's taken the time to send a scout to watch us play. We've got about 4 players who prefer to play just behind the striker, but until we find said striker, we won't trouble too many defences. Sawyers should have started, but would he have made that much of a difference in terms of our goal threat? I'm not sure.

On the subject of strikers, we were 3 down at home, barely carved out a shot on goal, and Smith still saw no need to give Hewitt a game. If he's that bad, ship him out and try something else because he's a waste of a salary at the moment.

I find it desperately frustrating reading all this Westcarr-bashing. He was no worse than Lalkovic, Baxendale or Hemmings yesterday, and he certainly wasn't playing in the position he was so effective in last season. Mind you, if the moronic abuse aimed at Westcarr means someone else in the squad avoids being made a scapegoat, maybe that's a good thing.

Had it not been for Benning and O'Donnell's howlers yesterday, the scoreline probably wouldn't have been so emphatic and there probably wouldn't be so much doom-mongering doing the rounds today. That said, we did look like boys playing against men and once again played our best football in our own half.

Yesterday was far from the end of the world, but Smith does need to realise he can solve so many of our problems by bringing in a striker who's actually half-capable. He probably knows that's the case, but has his hands tied thanks to the FA's ridiculous tribunal system.

Great post.

This, plus Welsh's observation that we had two shots on goal, both from a second half sub left back, tells the story of yesterday.

I hesitate to use the term "target man" because of some of the stereotypes that go with it, but it would be good to have a player up front to aim for.

[IHTC.]

The majority of our problems yesterday stemmed from us having no focal point up front. Somehow, the 'false 9' system worked against Tranmere, but evidence suggests it might not be so effective against anyone who's taken the time to send a scout to watch us play. We've got about 4 players who prefer to play just behind the striker, but until we find said striker, we won't trouble too many defences. Sawyers should have started, but would he have made that much of a difference in terms of our goal threat? I'm not sure.

On the subject of strikers, we were 3 down at home, barely carved out a shot on goal, and Smith still saw no need to give Hewitt a game. If he's that bad, ship him out and try something else because he's a waste of a salary at the moment.

I find it desperately frustrating reading all this Westcarr-bashing. He was no worse than Lalkovic, Baxendale or Hemmings yesterday, and he certainly wasn't playing in the position he was so effective in last season. Mind you, if the moronic abuse aimed at Westcarr means someone else in the squad avoids being made a scapegoat, maybe that's a good thing.

Had it not been for Benning and O'Donnell's howlers yesterday, the scoreline probably wouldn't have been so emphatic and there probably wouldn't be so much doom-mongering doing the rounds today. That said, we did look like boys playing against men and once again played our best football in our own half.

Yesterday was far from the end of the world, but Smith does need to realise he can solve so many of our problems by bringing in a striker who's actually half-capable. He probably knows that's the case, but has his hands tied thanks to the FA's ridiculous tribunal system.

We might already have him we dont' know do we? One thing in Hewitt's favour is that he has speed and movement , two qualities Westcarr certainly does not have.

[We-ARE-Walsall]

The majority of our problems yesterday stemmed from us having no focal point up front. Somehow, the 'false 9' system worked against Tranmere, but evidence suggests it might not be so effective against anyone who's taken the time to send a scout to watch us play. We've got about 4 players who prefer to play just behind the striker, but until we find said striker, we won't trouble too many defences. Sawyers should have started, but would he have made that much of a difference in terms of our goal threat? I'm not sure.

On the subject of strikers, we were 3 down at home, barely carved out a shot on goal, and Smith still saw no need to give Hewitt a game. If he's that bad, ship him out and try something else because he's a waste of a salary at the moment.

I find it desperately frustrating reading all this Westcarr-bashing. He was no worse than Lalkovic, Baxendale or Hemmings yesterday, and he certainly wasn't playing in the position he was so effective in last season. Mind you, if the moronic abuse aimed at Westcarr means someone else in the squad avoids being made a scapegoat, maybe that's a good thing.

Had it not been for Benning and O'Donnell's howlers yesterday, the scoreline probably wouldn't have been so emphatic and there probably wouldn't be so much doom-mongering doing the rounds today. That said, we did look like boys playing against men and once again played our best football in our own half.

Yesterday was far from the end of the world, but Smith does need to realise he can solve so many of our problems by bringing in a striker who's actually half-capable. He probably knows that's the case, but has his hands tied thanks to the FA's ridiculous tribunal system.

Agree with most of that. Especially the bit about Hewitt, I have no idea how good or bad he is, but for christ sake why waste money on him if he isn't worthy of getting on the pitch when you are 3-0 down.

Even though Sawyers best position isn't striker, at the moment he would be a better bet than Lalkovic, at least the ball would stick long enough to build an attack. He is pretty useful with his back to goal. It may take away from some of his strengths, but it's a better solution than what we went with yesterday. Baxendale needs playing in the number 10 position too, we are going to ruin a good player if he is stuck out on the wing all season.