Odubajo "Sheffield Wednesday players put pressure on themselves"

[Dutch McLovin]

7 hours ago, IWEDFM said:

 

Have a day off will ya

 

How can it be Monk's fault?

 

We can blame Monk for tactics, subs etc. but how can it be his fault if a player he didn't sign is mentally weak and isn't good enough for this level

Not so much blaming Monk specifically with this one as he was same under Bullen but Odubajo was very good before signing for us so maybe there is some truth in this. If Bruce was still here id put money on Odubajo being a lot better than he has been.

 

End of the day tho Monk isn't the man for us players and the team is going backwards.

[SallyCinnamon]

What did Gary Megson say all them years ago?

 

”You need players who can handle playing for Sheffield Wednesday”

 

Our current lot can’t and it’s been evident for awhile. 

[SallyCinnamon]

51 minutes ago, northeastowl said:

I really don’t get this whole pressure thing at Hillsborough. Lots of players and managers have mentioned it over the years and I can’t get my head around it. 
 

When we are doing well the atmosphere can be fantastic and that’s understandable. Unfortunately over the past 20 years it’s very rare that we have been good so understandably the atmosphere isn’t great at Hillsborough. However I believe our fans are so tame it’s quite frightening. It takes a lot of poor performances before the fans get on the players backs. 
 

For me the only time the fans really get negative is when it’s clear that the players aren’t putting a shift in, neshing out of tackles etc. 
 

At this current time we have a high percentage of players that are fannies. We’ve had a midfield for years with other than Hutchinson they’re all scared of their own shadows. What’s worse is they pretend to put effort in when they know they don’t have to put a tackle in. How many times have you seen Bannan and Reach to name two chase players round the pitch like headless chickens yet if they had the balls to make the 50/50 tackle they wouldn’t have had to go running round. 
 

With regards to Moses specifically I wouldn’t say fans have got on his back, they just don’t want him in the side because he’s been woeful since signing. 

I have to disagree I think there is a huge pressure. A big club with a big fanbase but without the squad over the years to match.

 

Think about it we aren’t the only traditional ‘big club’ who has really struggled to get back up to the top flight. Leeds, Forest, Derby all have had similar problems to us and all have a solid fanbase and good history.

 

Thats why I think Carlos deserves a lot of credit for getting us where he did. 

 

[Wor’Jackie]

Of course we can’t go back in time (and I don’t think a lot of us would want to given how everything went), but ol’ Cabbage Head Bruce would have squashed this mentality very quickly. He got our confidence up off the floor when he came in and got us playing in a way that suited our deteriorating squad, and Hillsborough became an asset to us during his time; we flipped the pressure onto the opposition, and it worked on all but two occasions. (Id argue the Villa game was successful barring the last final three minutes where we got sucker punched. The QPR game was a strong anomaly of a game)

 

The players he signed before he left may well have been utilized better, and I think the way Bruce was shaping the squad would have been a Wing Back/Winger focused system. Moses, Harris, Murphy all would have thrived, and it would have had the home support buzzing in excitement.

 

and Bruce is an old hand, he’s been there and done that. He understands pressure from working at bigger clubs and how to deal with it. Not always successfully, but I haven’t heard any players under his previous clubs talk about Ho they were scared of their own home and supporters.

 

if all of that was realized, then there wouldn’t be any of this ‘fear’. Sadly though, we’re left in a situation where the entire squad (with a few exceptions) needs to be completely torn up and started again.

[mcmigo]

Can’t believe that a free transfer from brentford isn’t world class with the mentality of Messi. 

 

 

[DJMortimer]

10 hours ago, crookesowl said:

Bad management, simple as that. 
 

A good manager would develop players to deal with the expectation and crowd. 
 

Monk is not up to it. 

 

What total and utter nonsense. This is right out of the 'manager is to blame for absolutely everything because I don't like him' handbook. 

 

One poster on this site who is in a position to know and whom I trust has indicated that one member of the current squad, and several player's before him, have had mental health issues whilst at the club. You are a hair's breadth from suggesting that is Monk's fault too. I assume you are in some branch of psychotherapy with an outstanding record of patient recovery because it is apparently easy to just coach someone into a totally different state of mind?

 

[hangonrose]

4 hours ago, vulva said:

It’s half empty half of the time and quiet as anything. 
 

It’s hardly the Maracana when Argentina turn up to play Brazil. 
 

Odabaju hasn’t been good enough. Simple as that. 

A middling player playing for a middle ofd the league club.  Perfect storm....

[Guest wilyfox]

So its the fans fault we're playing crap by turning up in numbers? Gimme a break. Moses should take ownership of his own under-performance and stop looking for excuses. When we played Charlton away earlier in the season, he was run ragged by their young left-back Doughty that hadn't even kicked a ball at this level before. That had nothing to do with crowd numbers. 

Edited April 24, 2020 by wilyfox

[Guest]

14 minutes ago, wilyfox said:

So its the fans fault we're playing crap by turning up in numbers? Gimme a break. Moses should take ownership of his own under-performance and stop looking for excuses. When we played Charlton away earlier in the season, he was run ragged by their young left-back Doughty that hadn't even kicked a ball at this level before. That had nothing to do with crowd numbers. 

 

If you read it he says he is taking time to reflect and looking at how to improve, I would say that is taking ownership of his own performances. He has admitted his form hasn't been at the level he would expect but he is far from the only one. You highlight his performance at Charlton, you could highlight the performance of any of our defenders in 90% of the games this year as being fairly abject and Moses hasn't been playing.

 

The mentally weak tag is one that is thrown at our team a lot and appears to have some justification but I don't think it is as black and white as that. We weren't classed as mentally weak for the majority of the time during 2015-17. Having a successful team and a positive outlook can do wonders for the mentality of the team and the players. Likewise, having a pessimistic approach can compound the pressure on performing and there has been a lot of negativity around the club since November.

 

Having a positive leader(s) in the dressing room can also go a long way to showing a strong will on the pitch. Jose Semedo was an essential part of our success during his time with us, even when he wasn't playing as much in the last couple of years his attitude set the tone and Loovens was also a key figure in that respect. We don't have anyone like that now and it shows. 

[brian joicey]

4 hours ago, WalthamOwl said:

We need mentally and physically strong players. Not players that crumble under pressure. 

agreed, but that isn't something that is taught (as someone is trying to say) it is already in your dna  and should be known about in advance of signing them .

[Kew Owl]

One of the problems, IMHO, is that there’s a distinct lack of leaders on the pitch whose personality would encourage and motivate players like Moses to perform to the best of their ability.

 

Yes, Moses is not a particularly good player - he’s a free transfer from Brentford, remember, but with a bit of positive encouragement and motivation from those around him, he would probably perform better than he has been.

[brian joicey]

12 minutes ago, Kew Owl said:

One of the problems, IMHO, is that there’s a distinct lack of leaders on the pitch whose personality would encourage and motivate players like Moses to perform to the best of their ability.

 

Yes, Moses is not a particularly good player - he’s a free transfer from Brentford, remember, but with a bit of positive encouragement and motivation from those around him, he would probably perform better than he has been.

i remember kadeem harris scoring a late winner at hillsborough this season (after having missed a couple of chance earlier ),in his interview after he stated that Monk had encouraged him to be confident enough to forget the misses and keep on having a go at goal rather than take the easy option and pass the responsibility to someone else. positive coaching/encouragement (resulting in a win) from the manager

[Guest LondonOwl313]

4 hours ago, @owlstalk said:

 

Next time you’re at Hillsborough and you see Nuhiu warming up to come on just have a listen to the fans around you..

He also said it takes ‘a lot of poor performances for our fans to get on players backs’. In the case of Nuhui we’ve had 7 years of poor performances by and large, so the fans reacting to him warming up is understandable 

[Guest LondonOwl313]

I can’t really see what’s special about playing here. There are at least a dozen similar sides at this level.. Leeds, WBA, Forest, Derby, Middlesbrough, Birmingham, Fulham.. all have similar expectations 

[Guest wilyfox]

1 hour ago, hirstyboywonder said:

 

If you read it he says he is taking time to reflect and looking at how to improve, I would say that is taking ownership of his own performances. He has admitted his form hasn't been at the level he would expect but he is far from the only one. You highlight his performance at Charlton, you could highlight the performance of any of our defenders in 90% of the games this year as being fairly abject and Moses hasn't been playing.

 

The mentally weak tag is one that is thrown at our team a lot and appears to have some justification but I don't think it is as black and white as that. We weren't classed as mentally weak for the majority of the time during 2015-17. Having a successful team and a positive outlook can do wonders for the mentality of the team and the players. Likewise, having a pessimistic approach can compound the pressure on performing and there has been a lot of negativity around the club since November.

 

Having a positive leader(s) in the dressing room can also go a long way to showing a strong will on the pitch. Jose Semedo was an essential part of our success during his time with us, even when he wasn't playing as much in the last couple of years his attitude set the tone and Loovens was also a key figure in that respect. We don't have anyone like that now and it shows. 

 

Did they hide or recover from their mental weakness first half of the season when we sat 3rd at Christmas? I agree with the Loovens/Semedo theory, though not for reasons implied. This group switch off whenever they feel like it, and has some tricky characters within. The loss of our leaders means that coaches have few allies to help keep them in check. I think Monk has tried to coax more from Bannan & Fletcher vocally as senior figures, but maybe they're not natural leaders because it hasn't worked. 

[Road Runner]

4 hours ago, @owlstalk said:

 

Next time you’re at Hillsborough and you see Nuhiu warming up to come on just have a listen to the fans around you..

 

 

Sorry that was meant to be a green not laugh 

 

Totally agree. 

 

 

[Guest]

3 minutes ago, wilyfox said:

 

Did they hide or recover from their mental weakness first half of the season when we sat 3rd at Christmas? I agree with the Loovens/Semedo theory, though not for reasons implied. This group switch off whenever they feel like it, and has some tricky characters within. The loss of our leaders means that coaches have few allies to help keep them in check. I think Monk has tried to coax more from Bannan & Fletcher vocally as senior figures, but maybe they're not natural leaders because it hasn't worked. 

 

As poorly as Moses has played for us, results are far better with him in the side. He has played 15 times in the league, winning 8, losing 3 and drawing 4 so hard to see how he can be singled out for any mental weakness. 

It is far easier to be positive when results are going well but we don't have any motivational leaders to turn to when results go south or when others aspects have a negative impact. When the news about the EFL charges broke with the financial implications and potential points deductions I have little doubt Semedo would have been constantly sending out a positive message about focusing on the football and the qualities we have. Without that sort of player I can see it becoming unsettling when any significant injuries or poor results compound it. 

 

Completely agree that Semedo and Loovens would have been allies of the manager to keep the squad on track, don't know how that is different to what I implied. 

Maybe Monk has tried to get more from senior players in that respect but as you say, none of them strike me as being as influential as Semedo or Loovens could be in that respect. I am also not sure Bannan has complete faith in Monk's approach which wont help in this respect. 

[mcmigo]

I suspect he gets a bit intimidated playing for us as half of our fans are fat old scrotes who will be hammering him every touch for not being Phil King (he of the glorious period where we won one league cup and our total european conquests can be listed as follows:

 

1.  Spora Luxembourg

 

)

 

 

 

[Bluesteel]

15 hours ago, IWEDFM said:

Clealy lacks what is required to play for us. Complaining because we are a big club with a big fanbase and it's too much pressure for him

 

This is why we are struggling. Too many players like him on our books that are simply not good enough and can't handle the pressure of playing for a big club

not sure he’s complaining. It’s just a fact of being here and he’s not had to deal with it before. You only need to look at Morgan Fox who was nervous when he first arrived here and got a bad rep but there is a player there as shown recently 

[@owlstalk]

6 hours ago, SallyCinnamon said:

What did Gary Megson say all them years ago?

 

”You need players who can handle playing for Sheffield Wednesday”

 

Our current lot can’t and it’s been evident for awhile. 

 

Bannan can

Nuhiu can

Palmer can now

Fox can now

Any others?