Was the referee allergic to giving yellow cards? Two or three of the Preston defenders should’ve been booked earlier on for fouls on our players on the break. Didn’t book one of their defenders until Cunningham late on.
0-0 at the spiritual home of 0-0 in the Championship. We'll sign new players before the end of the window.
Should've won that, Manaj clean through. Transfer window not closed yet so hopefully one or two fixes. Sitting 2nd in the league. Unbeaten. I'm pleased with how it's going so far. On to the next one.
0-0 was the best we could have hoped for today. Shocking recruitment with Bayo and Manaj. We can’t have them as starters if we’re serious about promotion. Incredibly we are now 2nd in the table. Asprilla played very well. Some great saves from Bachmann again ensuring a clean sheet.
Just got in from the beach. Looks like I didn't miss much. Except Pedro not in the squad? Not good news. Current team line up is not looking strong.
Painful to watch. No finishing ability up top. No creativity other than an 18 year old who looks 12. Still yet to see a true style under RE, at the moment it just appears to be hit and hope. If Sarr and JP are both off and we don't invest wisely in replacements, this will be a boring, dull season finishing mid table.
The only thing separating us from where we want to be, in the Premier League, is the quality of our players on the pitch. The squad has been gutted, transfer window after transfer window we have downgraded the team. Average skill level has dropped at an astonishing rate. Without a seeming concern from the people in charge. Rob Edwards is setting the team up for success. The system is working. You can see the spaces, the lines, the opportunities. It’s the players that can’t execute on them. And even if we get the opportunities - they can’t finish from 8 yards, 1v1! All fingers pointed to the board and the sporting directors. It’s a joke now. Rob Edwards needs to stick around. And we need to back him with quality.
Asprilla was great, as were Hamza and Bachmann. The rest were pretty crap. Desperately need new signings, and some strikers who can actually shoot.
Incredible how predictable that was, with ours and Preston's defensive record. We created enough clear cut chances to score, but Manaj/Bayo look rusty/not clinical. Considering this is the WORST XI WE'VE PUT OUT IN 15 YEARS, definitely take a solid point away against a decent side where we probably deserved 3 points. Great start the season overall considering the fixtures, time to back Rob Edwards with some decent signings.
An away point with possibly the weakest team we have fielded in years , suggests either RE is one hell of a coach or championship is the weakest it has been in years or both! No fwds of any note I'll gladly accept a point and somehow we are still joint second . Need to get very active in transfer market in last 10 days or so. Need creativity in midfield and a striker that can score .
Unbeaten and ominously sliding into the auto promotion spots without having any proper forwards. This pathetically weak league can’t stop us no matter how much we mess up our squad.
I'm trying to remember what SEJ said at the concert and keep positive and supportive of RE. The Asp sounds terrific. Talented and tenacious. We all hope both of Freddie and JP don't leave. New players take time to adjust to a league and country,on and off the pitch. I remember most people thought Ross Jenkins was a dud so I'll give these new fellas a chance. COYH!
Least we didn’t lose .. But felt like an Ivic game tbh where no one would score if they played till tomorrow
Fell asleep a couple of times during the second half, painfully dull stuff. We got some points early on when we had players who were never going to be staying, now we’ve played two ordinary teams and scored one goal. We’re average at best and will do well to get in and around the bottom of the play offs.
Well. That was bloody dull. Good fight shown again which couldn't be said last season, but our first glimpse of a post Sarr / Dennis / Pedro doesn't look great, does it? Bayo I thought had a decent showing, growing into it and acting as a respectable target man and although didn't take his chances, hit the target most of the time and at least forced the keeper to work. Manaj though regressed and lost his head throwing away some of our best chances without even hitting the target. That was unacceptable. Kayembe when he moves into space actually does OK but he lacks the ability to work in tight spaces. Choudhury put in some very important tackles as usual. Our defence cannot carry the ball out and it will be our downfall longer term when trying to control and make chances during a game. Bachmann's old issues came to haunt us (Corners under pressure) but ultimately didn't cost us and made some stellar point blank saves.
Pretty unsurprising scoreline considering Preston haven't conceded all season and the players we had out. Not the worst point though either really considering. Despite much of the over-reactions when the lineup was announced, even with all the quality missing we're still a solid team at this level. Obviously the key thing missing is those in the final third who can turn such tight games in to wins, and in line with my pre-season prediction make the difference in us being a side who can get to the playoffs but lose, and one who'll actually win us promotion. Manaj and Bayo both got in to decent positions again but obviously missed that extra bit composure. It's why Sarr is the player I'm most concerned about us potentially selling, though hopefully we do still have him to come back given he did at least travel with the squad. Davis should also help when he's up to speed. Kayembe and Choudhury were both very good today. Shame Kayembe also didn't quite have his shooting boots on either. Asprilla showed some flashes of real class again, but I'm still not convinced he should be starting games, as when things are tight early on he still gets crowded out too easily and struggles to get involved. He'll be more suited to coming on when the game is a bit more stretched and he can find a bit more time on the ball to pick a pass. Sema not very involved today, I wonder if the knock he got early on affected him. Again, that's still an alright point away given the start Preston have made. I'm not going to get overly concerned until the window shuts and we know what our squad is actually going to be. I'm sure we'll still make some more signings, regardless of whether JP is our only remaining sale or not.
Id say if we lose Pedro and Sarr we are 2 goalscorers and a flying RWB away from a promotion challenge.
We've won two games. One of them we had Dennis, Sarr and Pedro. The other we had Sarr and Pedro. For those screeching about how we're 2nd, considering that is looks like all three of those are about to be gone. We've scored four goals.
Not going to lie, I genuinely fell asleep second half watching the steam. My sister had to come and wake me up at FT. My god, I have watched some stinkers in my years as a fan but that has to be one of the most tepid, cautious and downright boring games I have ever seen. Our new "Strike Force" has about as much "Force" as a broken Plunger. Still early days I know, but it doesn't exactly bowed well when your clean through and 'do a Gray', We should of won, we could of lose. Another sterling performance from Bachmann who again earns his wages and praise. Really cannot see us doing anything spectacular this season if that is our best squad now. Manaj and Bayo really, really need to get on the training field and practice shooting. Asprilla was very good again though - a rare bright spark and 'the hair' was lively. Even when they went down to ten. I knew it was going to be nil nil. So are there any positives at all? Well, we're second, still unbeaten and only conceded two goals in five games - but we seem to find it very hard to score them. Edwards probably needs to re-think the size of this task now - if JP and Sarr (who. apart from Bachmann and 'that guy from Chilie' are our only real gems most of the time) are actually gone - he will have to work with what is left. On a slightly more positive note, our midfield is looking a lot better now, but that means nothing when you have to strikers who cannot hit a barn door. Onto the Cup (team will look more or less the same) then we're at home to an hard to read QPR (who beat us last time out at the Vic). Take the point and move on - but a much better plan and performance going forward is needed.
