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Sympathy for the players


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This summer we have bought in quantity over quality imo. Our midfield is so weak still, our forward line don’t look like scoring and our defence was a shambles today. Players like Moses, Harris, Pelupessy should be nowhere near our starting 11. What the hell was going on with Reach playing on the right!?!

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Good post.

Our players aren't world beaters and I don't think anyone expects us to be playing free-flowing football for 90 minutes and blowing teams away.

 

However, as the OP points out, many of them are not being used to their strengths, played out of position in a formation and approach that does not suit many of them. 

 

We continue to play the long ball football that we played when we had the likes of Fletcher, Nuhiu and Wickham to aim at despite not having anyone of that physique to aim at. More long balls than the vast majority in this division has resulted in less shots on target than the vast majority of teams this season. 

 

You never know, it might be more productive to play in a way that suits the players we pick, they might actually enjoy it more too.

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The tactics don’t suit the players, Monk is trying to shoehorn players into a system that will not work especially at home where teams will just pick us off. The main injuries we have are defensive but our main problem is attacking creativity, we create absolutely zero unless it’s a cross slung into the box and we somehow manage to get on the end of it first. We look incapable of playing round or through a team with passing and off ball movement. 
We will see how stubborn Monk is now, if he sticks to this system which may suit occasionally away from home when our luck holds and we can nick something on a counter but at home he needs to revert to 442 and keep things as simple as possible. 

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7 minutes ago, Lawrie’s Left Peg said:

Starting to feel for some of our players. I don’t personally see a lack of effort or commitment. Overall we have average Championship players giving their best. I don’t believe they are being given the opportunity to perform to their personal levels. As a result they are receiving unfair stick. Examples would be:

Dawson. Should never have been exposed as a “work in progress” thrown into a struggling team. Not ready for this level (may never be) but that’s not his fault. 
Moses. Signed as one of the divisions brightest wing-backs by a manager who promptly quit to pursue his dream job. Publicly written off by Monk. Repeatedly picked, dropped & picked again. Finally picked in a position that clearly doesn’t suit him and again exposed. 
Harris. Signed as a right midfielder, occasional inside forward. Started brightly in his first dozen games albeit on the flank where he is less comfortable. Promptly converted to a wing-back which exposes his weaknesses ( tackling & positional sense ) and again on the wrong flank which compounds the problems of his weaker foot (attacking and defending)

Joey. Apparently out of his depth but never given a consistent run of games to find his feet. Only really given his opportunity as a last resort whereby the shape and structure of the team is already weakened. 
Fizzy. Given his debut as soon as he arrived having never played a meaningful first team game. Struggled a little and was was instantly dropped, no doubt denting his confidence. Subsequent opportunities have been cameos in a team playing hoof ball, by-passing our own midfield giving him little chance to get on the ball and play. Imagine the culture shock from the City academy!!! 
Bannan. Too often finding himself in positions like Wednesday night and again today where he is culpable for goals conceded due to his lack of physical presence. Again playing in a hoof ball team and permitted by his manager to drop deeper and deeper where he is less and less effective. I don’t fully absolve Bannan from blame but he could be utilised and managed so much better.  
Marriott. Signed as a “fox in the box”. Returned a decent goal tally at Peterborough and Derby playing off a target man. Here he is used as an inside forward in a front 3 (or 2-1/2, who knows ? ? ?) Possibly not received a pass to feet since he arrived, certainly not received a pass into space which could lead to a shot on goal. Left chasing lost causes. I’m sure he was determined to get back on track when he came here but already being written off by some. 
Reach. Don’t get me started

There are others ! ! ! 

To conclude. We have square pegs in round holes, no consistency in selection, poor man management, lack of “football logic” from the coaching team and I feel for the players. 

Sorry for rambling but I saw my first Owls game in 1979 and despite all the ups and downs I’ve never felt so disenfranchised or bereft of hope as I do now. 

 

Sums up everything that is wrong with us at the moment perfectly. Monk’s another chuck enough sh!t at the wall and see what sticks type of manager. No thought process, no focus, no plan, no nowt.

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You can tell the players are frustrated in what they are doing. 
 

I don’t care if they post a few nice things on Instagram. Do a nice huddle before games. 
 

You could see today, when our backs were against the wall there was frustration from the players in what they are doing.
 

Bannan was losing his head and when at 1-0 down we are camped in our own half while Luton play with the ball along their back line. 

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2 minutes ago, WalthamOwl said:

This summer we have bought in quantity over quality imo. Our midfield is so weak still, our forward line don’t look like scoring and our defence was a shambles today. Players like Moses, Harris, Pelupessy should be nowhere near our starting 11. What the hell was going on with Reach playing on the right!?!

 

We had to recruit quantity due to the numbers who left.

 

Our lack of spending power, coupled with our points deduction, meant that quality was always going to be hard to come by, I'm afraid.

 

Odubajo and Pelupessy are squad players, but due to our lack of squad depth they end up playing due to injuries to others. Harris is about par for the course when you consider what we are: as the OP says, an average Championship side.

 

Unfortunately, we're an average Championship side trying to overcome a 12 point deduction, which is going to be a tall order.

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I don’t feel for them at all.

 

It’s not like they’re playing in front of a baying mob who are desperate to jump on their backs at the first possible opportunity.

 

They are well paid young men, the majority of which aren’t performing to an acceptable standard.

 

As others have said, it’s the fans I feel more sorry for.

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Agree fully. Tactics and formation are totally odd and don't match the players at all. We have conformed to 343 because most of the league now play it. I think we've done this to match teams and therefore keep scorelines tighter. However, it is ignorant to the attributes of the players. It might keep costing us points. 

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Guest OrlandoUnTrustful

Our players are garbage and offer little in effort. They earn considerably more than me and I have no sympathy for anyone that earns a hell of a lot of money and turns out tripe like that.

 

There’s no excuse for today’s ineptitude. The manager, coaches and players deserve hell for what I witnessed. 

 

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5 minutes ago, Lawrie’s Left Peg said:

Starting to feel for some of our players. I don’t personally see a lack of effort or commitment. Overall we have average Championship players giving their best. I don’t believe they are being given the opportunity to perform to their personal levels. As a result they are receiving unfair stick. Examples would be:

Dawson. Should never have been exposed as a “work in progress” thrown into a struggling team. Not ready for this level (may never be) but that’s not his fault. 
Moses. Signed as one of the divisions brightest wing-backs by a manager who promptly quit to pursue his dream job. Publicly written off by Monk. Repeatedly picked, dropped & picked again. Finally picked in a position that clearly doesn’t suit him and again exposed. 
Harris. Signed as a right midfielder, occasional inside forward. Started brightly in his first dozen games albeit on the flank where he is less comfortable. Promptly converted to a wing-back which exposes his weaknesses ( tackling & positional sense ) and again on the wrong flank which compounds the problems of his weaker foot (attacking and defending)

Joey. Apparently out of his depth but never given a consistent run of games to find his feet. Only really given his opportunity as a last resort whereby the shape and structure of the team is already weakened. 
Fizzy. Given his debut as soon as he arrived having never played a meaningful first team game. Struggled a little and was was instantly dropped, no doubt denting his confidence. Subsequent opportunities have been cameos in a team playing hoof ball, by-passing our own midfield giving him little chance to get on the ball and play. Imagine the culture shock from the City academy!!! 
Bannan. Too often finding himself in positions like Wednesday night and again today where he is culpable for goals conceded due to his lack of physical presence. Again playing in a hoof ball team and permitted by his manager to drop deeper and deeper where he is less and less effective. I don’t fully absolve Bannan from blame but he could be utilised and managed so much better.  
Marriott. Signed as a “fox in the box”. Returned a decent goal tally at Peterborough and Derby playing off a target man. Here he is used as an inside forward in a front 3 (or 2-1/2, who knows ? ? ?) Possibly not received a pass to feet since he arrived, certainly not received a pass into space which could lead to a shot on goal. Left chasing lost causes. I’m sure he was determined to get back on track when he came here but already being written off by some. 
Reach. Don’t get me started

There are others ! ! ! 

To conclude. We have square pegs in round holes, no consistency in selection, poor man management, lack of “football logic” from the coaching team and I feel for the players. 

Sorry for rambling but I saw my first Owls game in 1979 and despite all the ups and downs I’ve never felt so disenfranchised or bereft of hope as I do now. 

It's clearly not the players for me today, it's the tactics. It was clear getting crosses into their box today was the objective, and our success at that was poor.

 

I don't even know what formation we played today and I watched all of it it on iFollow.

 

I could see the plan may have worked, but our midfield can't even work the ball into a position to cross, and when they do cross, the delivery is always into the wrong area. No consistency of crossing our attacking movement.

 

The most worrying thing about Monks current strategy is he's not bought a target man, and he let Nuhiu go. The mind boggles.

 

This has been going on far too long. There have been a number of questionable decisions which have been made since last Christmas by Monk. I can only conclude Monk isn't that bright. It can't always be the players fault.

 

I thought Monk had run out of luck at the end of last season. The problem is Monk had clearly been involved in the recruitment of these players. 

 

I'm still of the opinion I would like to see Monk given the chance to craft something out of this squad of players, but time is running out. He's got to fix the problem with invention in our midfield, and fast.

 

Defeat to Rotherham could be the final straw for Monk.

 

How many games did Bullen get at the start of last season?

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8 minutes ago, owlmark said:

I don't disagree with what you are saying but I can't let the players off so lightly. They are professional footballers and should be able to put on a better display than that. 


I don’t disagree with you either Owlmark but anyone who has played the game at any level will know how hard, frustrating, demoralising being played out of position is. Add to that the fact that we’re are playing a style of football whereby if you get to touch the ball, it’s more by accident than design, I still have some sympathy for the players. I do concede your point that they could and maybe should do a little better. 

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