Improving

[Dick Knights Mumm]

It does seem to be coming together now and Garcia shows signs of preferring to try for 2-0 than gambling on holding out for 1-0.

When Oscar arrived the story of Maccabi Haifa's season was thought to be the template for our season. It takes time for the players to get used to his style of play - but when they did it was going to be attacking football all way to the play-offs (or better). I am not sure that Oscar's style of play can be defined (offensive possession ?) but perhaps after all the injuries a more attacking formation is what we can look forward to. Maybe it is simple as Ince and March providing the forward impetus that we need.

 

[glasfryn]

The continual 1-0 victories are simply papering over the cracks. When we win the playoff final 1-0 at Wembley we'll be kidding ourselves that we're good enough to go up.

short memory
I remember Leeds in the 70's winning game after game 1-0 and more recently Arsenal doing the same
people forget that winning the game of football is getting more goals than the opposition ..................1-0 ..........is one goal more than the opposition game won job done
lets get there and worry about finding lots more goals then eh!

 

[Arkwright]

Positives are that as a team they are working bloody hard and have become a side difficult to break down in defence. The only negative is that Ulloa is still isolated upfront. I suppose you can't have everything a tight defence and free flowing attacking football.

 

[Buzzer]

short memory
I remember Leeds in the 70's winning game after game 1-0 and more recently Arsenal doing the same
people forget that winning the game of football is getting more goals than the opposition ..................1-0 ..........is one goal more than the opposition game won job done
lets get there and worry about finding lots more goals then eh!

He was being sarcastic.....

 

[northernseagull]

There were some incredible moments of Barcelona style rapid, close passing last night. One instance in the 2nd half, in the north east corner that resulted in a shot just wide of the post was sublime and had the Leeds defence chasing shadows. Crossing the ball and shooting, in general, was well below par though (with the exception of KLL when he came on)

That bit of interplay was a class above - absolute tekkers when on the ball played through into the box. If that had gone in I would still be celebrating

 

[glasfryn]

He was being sarcastic.....

really ......was he

 

[Buzzer]

really ......was he

Yes, yes he was. We were joking about this last night at the match - and he has already added in this thread that he should have stuck a sarcasm smiley at the end of the post.

 

[glasfryn]

Yes, yes he was. We were joking about this last night at the match - and he has already added in this thread that he should have stuck a sarcasm smiley at the end of the post.

unfortunately I was not there
it was a good win at the right time, springboard and all that

 

[del strangefish]

We are well overdue giving some unlucky team an absolute tonking with the number of chances we are creating. One of those matches where everything clicks can't be far away.

Hopefully on Monday against the Kingston upon Hull Tigers!

 

[Seasidesage]

Yes, the two wins are good. Yes, being 1 point outside the play-offs is good.

The best thing though, surely, is how we do seem to be coming into form at just the right time. We were considerably better than Leeds last night to the point I think 1-0 flattered them. Our defence is, by and large, rock solid and the attacking side of our game is now beginning to show what we know we are capable of. Kaz is probably the only one of our established offensive players who is really firing still, but Ulloa seems to be moving in the right direction at last, Buckley is back, March is like having a decent new signing and it can only be a game or two until CMS is on the bench. Finally Spanish Rodney doesn't look out of place and must only improve with some match sharpness and we might even see Hoskins again this season.

Yes, things are looking good for us right now.

Totally agree, we need to try and win away if we are going to make the play off's but we have added some pace and that will make us a bigger threat on the road too.

 

[LamieRobertson]

I don't think we are though, at least not intentionally. We haven't had a settled attacking unit all season - KLL in and out, Buckley largely out and not any good when in, Ulloa being out and then off-form, Barnes filling in and then sold, Lita briefly appearing, CMS not here at all and Crofts getting injured at a key time - it's no great surprise that we've been perpetually misfiring coming forward.

It does seem to be coming together now and Garcia shows signs of preferring to try for 2-0 than gambling on holding out for 1-0.

Add to that a midfield that has only played together for the last 2 games.... In the last 2 home games we have definitely played with more attacking intent....it remains to be seen whether we can convert that into goals.. Other players need to start scoring

 

[Machiavelli]

When Oscar arrived the story of Maccabi Haifa's season was thought to be the template for our season. It takes time for the players to get used to his style of play - but when they did it was going to be attacking football all way to the play-offs (or better). I am not sure that Oscar's style of play can be defined (offensive possession ?) but perhaps after all the injuries a more attacking formation is what we can look forward to. Maybe it is simple as Ince and March providing the forward impetus that we need.

I watched the highlights package of Maccabi last summer. Two things stood out:
1. it took Oscar a while to imprint his ideas, but it came through, and their results improved as the season progressed, and finished with a great run of wins.
2. they scored a lot of early goals, very early goals. We did do this at the beginning of the season, but haven't done so since.

It would be good that these transpire to be the template of our season.

 

[darters74]

Agree with all this, but the thing that you haven't highlighted that I'd like to is Rohan Ince. And what a highlight he is.

He doesn't do bad games, my favourite player!

 

[HastingsSeagull]

So glad March and Ince are looking good. Now for Dunk at a position we lack depth and JFC (bit harder to break in granted) to step up in the few games they're needed.

If we can make the play-offs again (but not go up) we will surely be quite an attractive team to players. Best stadium in the league, new training set-up, and consistant results with our style of football that seems to appeal to most of them

 

[Papa Lazarou]

short memory
I remember Leeds in the 70's winning game after game 1-0 and more recently Arsenal doing the same
people forget that winning the game of football is getting more goals than the opposition ..................1-0 ..........is one goal more than the opposition game won job done
lets get there and worry about finding lots more goals then eh!

Strewth - I was mocking this thread...

https://nortr3nixy.nimpr.uk/showt...p-papering-over-the-cracks&highlight=papering

Sorry, I forgot to put the correct

 

[marshy68]

Totally agree. I hope that at some point we're going to click offensively, and all of the half chances and sometimes full chances we fail to put away will start to fly in.

If we do get into the playoffs we're potentially going to have everyone available, match fit and sharp

Agreed it won't be long before we give someone an absolute gubbing at home!

 

[Greg Bobkin]

Ah the good old missing comma after the introductory clause completely changing the meaning of the sentence.

You might wanna look at adding the odd comma to your own post, CM…

Back to the OP, it's as if Oscar and co knew what they were doing during the transfer window, and trusted the personnel they had at their disposal.

This place certainly seems a lot calmer and content than it was a couple of weeks ago when the season was "over", OG and his team weren't up to it, and fans were demanding more money be spent on more players.

However, even since last night people were suggesting that 6th place is the best we can hope for. If I remember rightly we were seven points off 6th place a couple of weeks ago, now we are just one. Given we're playing the teams above and around us, there is no reason we can't aim for higher than that. The integration of youth (March, Ince, JFC) and new players (Spanish Rod and Stephens) with the established team members was always going to take time, and that situation will hopefully improve, as will performances.

I'm not saying that play-offs are guaranteed, but in hindsight, was there any justification of the level of doom and gloom after a couple of below-par performances?

 

[JOLovegrove]

I think we just need a game where we don't necessarily smash them, but win comfortably with an early goal and then build on it, aka Blackpool last season/Blackburn last year.

 

[Lady Whistledown]

After the complete cluster**** that was summer 2013 at the Albion, I had very little expectation coming into this season. I think I had half a mind that merely finishing tenth wouldn't be a bad outcome, what with losing the manager, having a complete unknown come in to look after a group of players who'd largely excelled under the previous incumbent, and with a play off hangover still lingering.

It certainly took me a while to get my mojo back to be honest, but I thought even after losing at Watford or Derby that the threads on here dismissing our play off hopes were way over the top. As Bozza says, we are improving still, I think the players are increasingly on-message (except perhaps Kemy, who obviously isn't happy, but then he hasn't done anything to justify his inclusion in the matchday XI). There are signs of progress, and that's cheering me immensely (what more can you ask for, after all?).

Not sure if it's just me, but there's something else this season that's heartening, and that's the performances of the younger or fringe players. I don't know why, but when you see younger players progressing into the team, it seems like you root for them just that little bit more, there's a sense of real pride when they do well, much more so than in the case of an experienced and expensive imported player. Watching Ince and March at the moment is just great. Chicksen's done well too when he's played, and he was never a headline buy, more a young prospect that the Albion evidently felt they could bring on. Hopefully Monakana will be the same. I like this onus on bringing in young lads with potential, and if they all come good, then the future is bright. The imminent upgrading of the training and academy facilities can only enhance that, albeit some way down the line. You might not get the consistency with young players that you do with experienced ones, but when they do well, it's so much more satisfying. I'm genuinely hopeful that, for the first time ever as an Albion fan, we might be on the verge of something really good on that side of things. I'd love it if we ended up like Southampton, with a load of home grown stars in the side (yes, I appreciate that will be a few years yet). Fingers crossed- we appear to be going about things the right way now in that respect.

 

[Machiavelli]

You might wanna look at adding the odd comma to your own post, CM…

Back to the OP, it's as if Oscar and co knew what they were doing during the transfer window, and trusted the personnel they had at their disposal.

This place certainly seems a lot calmer and content than it was a couple of weeks ago when the season was "over", OG and his team weren't up to it, and fans were demanding more money be spent on more players.

However, even since last night people were suggesting that 6th place is the best we can hope for. If I remember rightly we were seven points off 6th place a couple of weeks ago, now we are just one. Given we're playing the teams above and around us, there is no reason we can't aim for higher than that. The integration of youth (March, Ince, JFC) and new players (Spanish Rod and Stephens) with the established team members was always going to take time, and that situation will hopefully improve, as will performances.

I'm not saying that play-offs are guaranteed, but in hindsight, was there any justification of the level of doom and gloom after a couple of below-par performances?

The answer to this question is no, but we didn't even need hindsight.