Awroyt Moy luvveeerrrrs the official Owls v gasheads match thread

[Andyben]

It works against better opposition also but Square Pegs and Square holes. Pick a team and formation with whatever you've got available in front of you.

Keep it simple

Stockdale

Ihiekwe/Iorfa- Henegran -McGuinness/Famewo

Palmer/Hunt - Vaulks/Barkinson /Byers/ Adeniran - Brown/ Neymarv 

Windass/Bannan /FDB

Windass/Wilkes - Smith/Gregory

Edited October 27, 2022 by Andyben

[HoylandOwl]

2 hours ago, Otto_Man said:

Fuck me H not only is Brown not a centre half, I question whether or not he's actually a footballer. His double fuck up for the goal wasn't even the worst thing he did. There was a moment think it was first half where he's in the defensive third out wider and under no pressure passes the ball across into the middle to absolutely no one (well actually to them). Literally the sort of thing you coach kids not to do.

I ain’t his biggest fan mate; I didn’t rate him last year… However, when he’s in the side I’ll support him as he’s got our shirt on. 
That’s about it. 
 

The decision to pick him wasn’t his fault. And the fact we have players better than him, as we signed him when we were up shit creek transfer wise last summer, isn’t his fault. 
I’d love someone like him or anyone else out of the side to come in and put in a good performance. That’s what should happen with a big squad with them all pushing each other. 
But… as we’ve seen this season we don’t seem to have many ‘knocking at the door’. Wilks, Mighten etc. 

[Paul from Wisewood]

2 hours ago, Andyben said:

I avoided last night's match as it was always going to be a draw or loss. We're in one of our dips that will costs us automatic promotion. Well lose at the weekend, calls for DM out, then we'll have a little spurt of good  results which save him.

Brown at Centre back?

Imagine being a young centre half  at Hillsborough seeing that,  no wonder they give up and end up at Gainsborough or Frickley.

 

Moore out, the sooner the better 

Don’t think you can call 2 draws a blip , but teams going for autos get 6 points from them 2 fixtures

it’s already being to look like a play off defeat at hillsborough against the mighty Peterborough in front of the phone lights

 

[mkowlthesexynewversion]

2 hours ago, owl71 said:

That formation (3-4-1-2?) that accommodates Smith, Gregory and Windass is okay against really poor opposition.  There are a few teams in this league that fall into that category, and Burton are probably one of them, so we should be okay Saturday.  Against anyone remotely half decent though, we need a central midfield three, and Vaulks, Byers and Bannan is the obvious choice.  That midfield three has balance and it is obvious who’s likely to be performing which role.

Brown…bloody hell what an awful signing he’s turned out to be.  Wilks has been very disappointing so far, hopefully he will have a sudden and decisive purple patch some time after New Year.

See I disagree - we actually look more threatening in a 3 5 2

the wing backs can push up further, a midfielder can make advanced runs, our strikers are not making the same type of runs 

People fall into the trap of thinking playing more forwards is attacking football. Nope it starts from a solid base and controlling the midfield

 

[Otto_Man]

1 hour ago, Neville Facking Bartos said:

We were overrun in midfield all night

Piss poor from Moore 

Not sure if anyone else noticed the same, but I felt there was a lot more finger pointing at the manager both during the game and on the way out amongst the fan base last night?

[Otto_Man]

15 minutes ago, mkowlthesexynewversion said:

See I disagree - we actually look more threatening in a 3 5 2

the wing backs can push up further, a midfielder can make advanced runs, our strikers are not making the same type of runs 

People fall into the trap of thinking playing more forwards is attacking football. Nope it starts from a solid base and controlling the midfield

 

Given our two highest scoring forwards (Windass and Gregory) have only scored one more league goal each than Bannan, Byers, FDB and (bizarrely) Palmer. I'm not sure how anyone could disagree with you MK...

[Mark]

34 minutes ago, mkowlthesexynewversion said:

See I disagree - we actually look more threatening in a 3 5 2

the wing backs can push up further, a midfielder can make advanced runs, our strikers are not making the same type of runs 

People fall into the trap of thinking playing more forwards is attacking football. Nope it starts from a solid base and controlling the midfield

 

This. Marv is the best crosser of ball at club. Let him do what does best and supply Smith. Need 3 in central mid and let Windass, who has pace,play on shoulder of defence. Give him a defined role and not allow him to go wherever 

[HappyOwl]

7 hours ago, HoylandOwl said:

Oh and one other thing. The ‘light show’….

Pot. Tin. 

 

I liked it 👍

[owl4ever1867]

We looked totally disjointed from the midfield to the strikers, you simply can't fit Windass, Smith & Gregory in the same line up, as good as they are, it needs a midfield being able to link with the forwards, barring the fantastic run & delivery by Byers to Smith, I didn't see any link at all, like many have said, play the players in their rightful positions & stop trying to fit in players into a system that doesn't get the best out of the players who are at the club.

The defence last night looked shaky, Ihiekwe looked all over the place, his ball control was utterly atrocious, it could easily have led to Rovers scoring twice, thought McGuinness had a decent game tbf but Brown - o my days, he is awful, surely we would've been better playing McGuinness on the left side & playing Iorfa on the right.

Saturday will be fun, no Heneghan or Ihiekwe.

[Otto_Man]

If Iorfa and McGuiness in a centre half two isn't enough to nullify second bottom Burton Albion then we're in a lot of trouble imo

[Paul from Wisewood]

41 minutes ago, owl4ever1867 said:

We looked totally disjointed from the midfield to the strikers, you simply can't fit Windass, Smith & Gregory in the same line up, as good as they are, it needs a midfield being able to link with the forwards, barring the fantastic run & delivery by Byers to Smith, I didn't see any link at all, like many have said, play the players in their rightful positions & stop trying to fit in players into a system that doesn't get the best out of the players who are at the club.

The defence last night looked shaky, Ihiekwe looked all over the place, his ball control was utterly atrocious, it could easily have led to Rovers scoring twice, thought McGuinness had a decent game tbf but Brown - o my days, he is awful, surely we would've been better playing McGuinness on the left side & playing Iorfa on the right.

Saturday will be fun, no Heneghan or Ihiekwe.

I liked Clinton’s comment , that he should have got a red card for his touch

[owl4ever1867]

55 minutes ago, Paul from Wisewood said:

I liked Clinton’s comment , that he should have got a red card for his touch

He had 2/3 woeful touches, tbh I thought he was a very lucky boy to get away with just a yellow.

[Reesh]

10 minutes ago, owl4ever1867 said:

He had 2/3 woeful touches, tbh I thought he was a very lucky boy to get away with just a yellow.

Why, there was cover and it was on halfway.

[owl4ever1867]

2 minutes ago, Reesh said:

Why, there was cover and it was on halfway.

He would've easily outpaced our slow defenders.

[Skamp]

My 91 year old mum with her zimmerframe would get past Brown at least. 

[Reesh]

36 minutes ago, owl4ever1867 said:

He would've easily outpaced our slow defenders.

He had a free shot at goal and missed.

[Reesh]

2 minutes ago, Skamp said:

My 91 year old mum with her zimmerframe would get past Brown at least. 

Not really, he's one of the quickest at the club but is the new scapegoat.

[Skamp]

He's out of position far too often and gives the ball away too easily whereas your whipping boy is having the season of his life. 

 

Perhaps they should all do 10k a day during close season. 

[Otto_Man]

54 minutes ago, Reesh said:

Not really, he's one of the quickest at the club but is the new scapegoat.

You're an enigma to me Walks, you hate Palmer for being lazy and shit, but don't hate Brown for being lazier and shitter 😄

[Reesh]

28 minutes ago, Otto_Man said:

You're an enigma to me Walks, you hate Palmer for being lazy and shit, but don't hate Brown for being lazier and shitter 😄

Oh I don't like Brown but being shunted out of position like he was doesn't help. And both are still wank.

[Owling_Wolf]

11 hours ago, HoylandOwl said:

Oh and one other thing. The ‘light show’….

Pot. Tin. 

 

Having been impressed by Plymouth's before our game there I was interested whether ours would be as good last night. 

Absolute pants.  Do it right or don't do it at all, Wednesday!  

[Owling_Wolf]

8 hours ago, Neville Facking Bartos said:

We were overrun in midfield all night

Piss poor from Moore 

There was a moment last night when a long clearance by us - goalie? - was coming down in the area of the centre circle. I noticed the obvious, that we had no players anywhere near! I quickly counted the Rovers in that area: seven!  WTF?

I next looked for our own central midfielders. Bannan was up front, just behind the forwards. Byers was further back, just in front of the beleaguered defence.  The gap between our defence and attack couldn't have been much greater. Whilst that looked like an extreme example, lesser examples recurred all game. Rovers weren't just better organised than us, playing more as a team and not relying on top quality individuals, (several of whom had poor games), but they were also patently quicker and fitter looking. Which would explain why they came more and more into the game the longer it went on. I was hoping that our late 'kitchen sink throwing' would win the points but frankly, as we neared the end I became thankful for a point. 

[Owling_Wolf]

Btw, the excellent Byers looked completely knackered with ten minutes still to play. That's how over run he'd been in midfield. 

[Owling_Wolf]

4 hours ago, owl4ever1867 said:

We looked totally disjointed from the midfield to the strikers, you simply can't fit Windass, Smith & Gregory in the same line up, as good as they are, it needs a midfield being able to link with the forwards, barring the fantastic run & delivery by Byers to Smith, I didn't see any link at all, like many have said, play the players in their rightful positions & stop trying to fit in players into a system that doesn't get the best out of the players who are at the club.

The defence last night looked shaky, Ihiekwe looked all over the place, his ball control was utterly atrocious, it could easily have led to Rovers scoring twice, thought McGuinness had a decent game tbf but Brown - o my days, he is awful, surely we would've been better playing McGuinness on the left side & playing Iorfa on the right.

Saturday will be fun, no Heneghan or Ihiekwe.

Shaky though he may have been last night - understandably, being in an unfamiliar rôle - but IMO Brown wasn't the worst of our defenders. That was the normally excellent Ihiekwe, who had a 'mare from start to finish, though 'star defender' Palmer was also poor.  (To be fair to Ihiekwe, their big attackers looked quality and their high ball tactic seemed to target him and Brown.)  

[Tank_Owl2,0]

 I cant get past picking Brown over Iorfa, not mention switching McG from left to right even if he looked fairly comfortable.

Wilks was totally ineffectual and Fizz whilst having an impact seemed a bit headless chicken

Great to see Byers back at a standard we know he can reach

[Owling_Wolf]

12 hours ago, Reesh said:

Swap it for your pint of Bitter Doom?

I quite like the Amber version. 👍

[Owling_Wolf]

17 minutes ago, Tank_Owl2,0 said:

 I cant get past picking Brown over Iorfa, not mention switching McG from left to right even if he looked fairly comfortable.

Wilks was totally ineffectual and Fizz whilst having an impact seemed a bit headless chicken

Great to see Byers back at a standard we know he can reach

McGuiness is right footed, Tank.  He's been covering the injured Famewa for us.  

[Billysboy]

1 hour ago, Owling_Wolf said:

Having been impressed by Plymouth's before our game there I was interested whether ours would be as good last night. 

Absolute pants.  Do it right or don't do it at all, Wednesday!  

There’s never a right way to do that crack.

[Billysboy]

Just now, Billysboy said:

There’s never a right way to do that crack.

CACK.

[HarrySpeakup]

You can’t see the clock on top of the South from out seats in the North now

 

 

[Owling_Wolf]

9 hours ago, HarrySpeakup said:

You can’t see the clock on top of the South from out seats in the North now

 

 

I did wonder if the new lights were adding to the obvious woes of Ihiekwe, etc, when the ball was coming down with snow on it. I used the now  unseeable clock as an example when saying that to the mates at the time.  (Not that the players were in the North like us, though once or twice they might as well have been.)  

[Tylluan]

12 minutes ago, Owling_Wolf said:

I did wonder if the new lights were adding to the obvious woes of Ihiekwe, etc, when the ball was coming down with snow on it. I used the now  unseeable clock as an example when saying that to the mates at the time.  (Not that the players were in the North like us, though once or twice they might as well have been.)  

Good point, though I hope they would have had someone out the night before throwing high balls up to see if it got lost

[mkowlthesexynewversion]

1 hour ago, Tylluan said:

Good point, though I hope they would have had someone out the night before throwing high balls up to see if it got lost

It didn't seem to bother the Bristol Rovers players 

[KrolMong]

Just a note on Bannan, whilst he played well, it doesn’t work with him in a two. He’s the one player who you need to take the shackles off him and let him go where the ball is, it should be two of Byers/Bakinson/Vaulks/Adeniran behind him. If you are chasing you might be able to play him deeper, but I wouldn’t start that way.

[HoylandOwl]

Agreed, in recent weeks when he’s had some good games, he’s had almost reign to go wherever. Or it’s been like that.

Personally, I think if he was allowed that freedom and we went with Windass with Gregory/Smith up front, rather than all three, I think we may do a little better. While not yet on the same wavelength, for me there’s similarities in the connection on field between Bannan and Windass as there was with Bannan and Forestieri. They drove the team forward so many times, and I think those two could as well. 

[MAL]

To be fair i thought Bannan played well first half.

He was all over the pitch wanting the ball, even the commentator said just after half time when he received the ball on the right wing "Are there two Bannan's on the pitch".

 

[HoylandOwl]

13 minutes ago, MAL said:

To be fair i thought Bannan played well first half.

He was all over the pitch wanting the ball, even the commentator said just after half time when he received the ball on the right wing "Are there two Bannan's on the pitch".

 

He was very good in the first half last weekend too. But, then they put the man marking into overdrive, and it stopped him.

Then so did we. 
Age old problem, Bannan gets stopped, we largely then stop. 

[Tylluan]

If you're having Bannan free to roam do you need Windass as one of the front two? Would it mean we had a possibility of over complicating and being too cute around the final third instead of just being slightly more quicker and direct. I'm thinking of the few games Forestieri had when Bannan played central. It didn't work. 

Would it not be more effective to have Smith/Gregory alongside Wilks?

[MAL]

5 minutes ago, HoylandOwl said:

He was very good in the first half last weekend too. But, then they put the man marking into overdrive, and it stopped him.

Then so did we. 
Age old problem, Bannan gets stopped, we largely then stop. 

But that comes down to management of the rest of the team, not just the manager but the rest of the players as well.

Bannan makes it too easy for his team mates and manager most of the time, when he isn't accessible it shows up the other players faults big time because all they do is look for him.

 

[HoylandOwl]

1 minute ago, MAL said:

But that comes down to management of the rest of the team, not just the manager but the rest of the players as well.

Bannan makes it too easy for his team mates and manager most of the time, when he isn't accessible it shows up the other players faults big time because all they do is look for him.

 

I’m not blaming Bannan for it. As you say, it’s a team issue, and coaching/management issue that they have to address and adjust to. It’s no secret and it’s blindingly obvious to all we go through Bannan a hell of a lot. 
 

[MAL]

19 minutes ago, HoylandOwl said:

I’m not blaming Bannan for it. As you say, it’s a team issue, and coaching/management issue that they have to address and adjust to. It’s no secret and it’s blindingly obvious to all we go through Bannan a hell of a lot. 
 

Sorry pal, didn't mean it to come across as if you were blaming Bannan.

[Mark]

2 hours ago, Tylluan said:

If you're having Bannan free to roam do you need Windass as one of the front two? Would it mean we had a possibility of over complicating and being too cute around the final third instead of just being slightly more quicker and direct. I'm thinking of the few games Forestieri had when Bannan played central. It didn't work. 

Would it not be more effective to have Smith/Gregory alongside Wilks?

Not for me. Wilks, who frankly hasn't justified a start, looks most effective coming off wide right, and I don't see where he fits in tbh

[HoylandOwl]

2 hours ago, MAL said:

Sorry pal, didn't mean it to come across as if you were blaming Bannan.

Nothing to apologise for pal. 👍

[Tylluan]

4 hours ago, Mark said:

Not for me. Wilks, who frankly hasn't justified a start, looks most effective coming off wide right, and I don't see where he fits in tbh

Wilks needs game time. What's the point in spending weeks pursuing and then buying a forward who notched 19 goals the last season he was in league 1 (and got Hull up) and then benching him or not even putting him in the squad. 

Wilks did score the 19 playing on the right of a narrow front 3 and we can't play that with Bannan roaming but we could play it with a solid functional middle (without Bannan?) and Wilks and Windass either side of Smith/Gregory 

Look at Wigan's and Rotherham's midfields last season. Look at Ipswich and, especially, Plymouth this season. Their middles are hard working and controlling but the transition through is quick and the high press follows. Then look at us and that's why we're 3rd.

[Mark]

2 hours ago, Tylluan said:

Wilks needs game time. What's the point in spending weeks pursuing and then buying a forward who notched 19 goals the last season he was in league 1 (and got Hull up) and then benching him or not even putting him in the squad. 

Wilks did score the 19 playing on the right of a narrow front 3 and we can't play that with Bannan roaming but we could play it with a solid functional middle (without Bannan?) and Wilks and Windass either side of Smith/Gregory 

Look at Wigan's and Rotherham's midfields last season. Look at Ipswich and, especially, Plymouth this season. Their middles are hard working and controlling but the transition through is quick and the high press follows. Then look at us and that's why we're 3rd.

Well tbf were 3rd not 10th. Wilks does need game time for sure but Moore isn't going to drop Bannan, nor should he. Byers, Bannan and Vaulks in midfield for me. Smith and Windass up top, with Josh playing on last man and I'd tell him if he's facing his own goal he's in the wrong position 

[Owling_Wolf]

On 28/10/2022 at 10:22, mkowlthesexynewversion said:

It didn't seem to bother the Bristol Rovers players 

But we weren't putting the ball up high to come steeply down at times. It seemed to be targetted on the Ihiekwe / Brown area of our defence or, alternatively, where their 10 (and later their 40) were going to be. They had good games. Our pair didn't!  Good tactics: mixing it up.