Are we happy (12 Viewers)

[Esoterica]

There’s a few twists and turns in this season yet. It’s all about January at the moment. Not just who comes in but also who goes or maybe to be more precise who goes so others can come in. I feel for MR at the moment he’s got to try and coach a promotion chasing team while ensuring he can hold onto one with the right players coming in not at the expense of the wrong players going out. In part forced by injury, in part by budget and in part by some players just not cutting it or at least not consistently enough to stop us sweating on a playoff place while allowing us to believe automatics are attainable. Difficult 4-6 weeks coming up for the manager and I suspect they’ll either make him or break him.

I've no sympathy at all for Robins. Forget about budgets - is our squad man for man worse than any of the teams above us? With the exception of Luton I'd say no. You can blame injuries too but the Andreu injury effect is a myth - he was injured on his first league start for us in the 4th game of the season. We then continued to play the same formation with 2 defensive midfielders and a massive gap where a #10 would play for a further 15 games (until Stevenage) without further serious injuries. This should have been the time we were building up contingency to deal with a difficult winter schedule and any potential injuries.
Robins has put us into this position with his consistently negative formations & team selections and a resistance to change both during games and in the longer term with the shape of the team. The fundamental flaw in his set up against defensive teams was blindingly obvious from as early as the Newport game. He has badly misread this division and hasn't shown the aptitude or adaptability to get this squad performing at full capability. I do agree that it is all about January now and with a good January we may end up securing a play off place but it's an underachievement in the context of the standard of this league and the squad we have that shouldn't be diluted by talk of injuries and budgets.

 

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[the rumpo kid]

Just a side note. How long will Kelly be out for ?

 

[Evo1883]

Robins sets us out far too negative at times he only has himself to blame for some of our defeats , if we went at teams like we did Lincoln and Luton then there isn’t much in this league that can deal with us .

Yesterday felt like we were trying to pinch a 1-0 .

Not acceptable is it really

 

[chiefdave]

We're in touch with the leaders which is where I wanted to be. Now to see what happens in the window. With Andreu and Jones out for the season and a lack of goals it would be good to get 2 or 3 players in who will be in or around the first team.

And of course keep hold of our better players.

How much transfer activity are we likely to see from other teams in the chase? Can't imagine many teams have a lot of money to splash about.

 

[Esoterica]

Robins sets us out far too negative at times he only has himself to blame for some of our defeats , if we went at teams like we did Lincoln and Luton then there isn’t much in this league that can deal with us .

Yesterday felt like we were trying to pinch a 1-0 .

Not acceptable is it really

Few people saying Nazon couldn't have started wide right yesterday in place of Grimmer because he doesn't track back but Grimmer has had Jones in front of him for most of the season and while his work rate had improved this year he was hardly running himself into the ground defensively. Against the team with the worst home record in the division we started with a central midfielder on the left wing and a right back on the right wing and a back 4 lined up almost on the edge of our own area against possibly the slowest player in the league. We deserved what we got yesterday and I am convinced we will look back on decisions and results like yesterday with much regret at the end of the season.

 

[hinckley cov]

Very true ,and I’m sure this is Robins last chance as a manager,if he fails this season no side will touch him with a barge pole.

 

[Adge]

We're in touch with the leaders which is where I wanted to be. Now to see what happens in the window. With Andreu and Jones out for the season and a lack of goals it would be good to get 2 or 3 players in who will be in or around the first team.

And of course keep hold of our better players.

How much transfer activity are we likely to see from other teams in the chase? Can't imagine many teams have a lot of money to splash about.

Our better players? McDonald and maybe McNulty? Wouldn’t really give two hoots if anyone else was to leave myself.

 

[Otis]

Kelly? Stokes? Bayliss? Jones?

Wouldn't want any of those to be gone to be honest and I quite like Shipley too.

 

[Londonccfcfan]

Massive over reaction! On here. Jeez, we just lost away to a team top 2/3 of the form table last 10 games.

In a very tight game, they just nicked it. Could have gone either way. I think a Draw would have been a fair result.

 

[Esoterica]

Massive over reaction! On here. Jeez, we just lost away to a team top 2/3 of the form table last 10 games.

In a very tight game, they just nicked it. Could have gone either way. I think a Draw would have been a fair result.

They are 6th in the last 10 game form table not top 2/3 and still had the worst home record in the division. We are now the only team in the top half of the table they haven't lost to at home.



That match could never have gone our way - we didn't create a single chance all game. That said the negativity, for me at least, isn't caused by the single one off result but by the re-emphasis it places on our repetitive failures to address our negative tactical issues against defensive, direct teams combined with the frustration at our inability to put a run of unbeaten games together which would cement an automatic promotion place instead of fighting for the lottery of a play off place with half of what is a very tight division - just 6 points between 3rd and 13th. I believe it's critical to get out of this division at the first time of asking and our tactics, particularly away from home against poor teams are making it extremely hard for ourselves.

 

[Londonccfcfan]

Ok statto, they are 6th in the form table last 10games. I just knew they were playing very well recently since their new manager came in.

Nah disagree, they created sweet fa all game too. Both their strikers Barnett and Pope never got a kick.

How you think they deserved it? Considering they were the home team.

Fact is if we had nicked it one nil, we would have raving about how well we played away from home classic away performance. Poor goal to concede, (lucky goal as he just tried to nod it on to other two strikers in the box) surprised himself that it it looked into far corner.

But agree we should be better tactically, but for that one mistake (Doyle at fault) lost his marker. that was a nailed on poor nil nil Draw.

 

[Esoterica]

Ok statto, they are 6th in the form table last 10games. I just knew they were playing very well recently since their new manager came in.

Nah disagree, they created sweet fa all game too. Both their strikers Barnett and Pope never got a kick.

How you think they deserved it? Considering they were the home team.

Fact is if we had nicked it one nil, we would have raving about how well we played away from home classic away performance. Poor goal to concede, (lucky goal as he just tried to nod it on to other two strikers in the box) surprised himself that it it looked into far corner.

But agree we should be better tactically, but for that one mistake (Doyle at fault) lost his marker. that was a nailed on poor nil nil Draw.

I don't think they deserved it at all and they'd have been happy with a point before a ball was kicked but they got exactly what they wanted which was to drag our game down to their level and then nick a goal.
It doesn't change the fact we didn't create a single chance though and so were never going to win the match either. But you're again looking at the match as a one off, not the match in the context of our season which is that we haven't a clue how to break down teams that play like that nor have we made much attempt to do anything different in those games. 3 points from 21 away from home against the bottom 10 with 2 goals scored in 7 games. If we'd managed to pick up just 10 points instead of 3 we'd be looking down 5 points clear of the play offs and hot on the heels of Luton/Notts County.

I'd also add that now really is the eye of the storm - Robins knows it, hence his initial expectation for 12 points over this period. If you look at the dates of our remaining games we essentially complete our fixtures against the current top half of the table between mid Jan and start of March.

Much rests on the January transfer window but if we don't work out how to beat the lower teams then the final quarter of the season has the potential to be very painful and we could be looking back on decisions like playing Grimmer at right midfield against the worst home team in the league with a big 'what if'. Hopefully we carry on our superb form against the top teams and don't need to be going to places like Crawley and Cheltenham, in April, needing to win to stay in touch. Not sure my nerves could handle it.

 

[Earlsdon_Skyblue1]

We're exactly where we should be, and it will be pretty much where we finish unless we add a little bit of quality in the transfer window.

Our squad is alright, but attacking wise is fairly hopeless. McNulty is coming good, but anyone in front of Doyle on the pitch has largely been below average. Robins knows this and that's why we play more defensively. It's our strength, and should be played to. Who is actually capable of scoring a goal? That's what is disappointing me.

Vincenti, Biamou, Stevenson, Beavon, Thomas, DKE have all been poor this season and I can't see any of them scoring a goal. Nazon has been fairly hot and cold, and we have lost Jones. In fact, if you think about it Jones has been our biggest goal threat. He no doubt has improved on last season, but it should still tell you something.

I want to be like Luton and smash people each week but it's not going to happen at the moment. Hopefully we can improve just enough to grab that third spot.

 

[fernandopartridge]

We're doing better than most teams relegated to this league so I'm quite pleased.

Sent from my SM-G935F using Tapatalk

 

[Moff]

To be honest I would only be really happy if we had won every game, and were almost mathematically certain of going up at this point.

Failing that I will take being in the mix, would like to see more goals, and us maintain our record against the top half teams, and really improve our record against the teams in the lower half. If that happens we will get promoted and not have to endure either the play offs or the nightmare of missing out completely.

 

[Esoterica]

We're exactly where we should be, and it will be pretty much where we finish unless we add a little bit of quality in the transfer window.

Our squad is alright, but attacking wise is fairly hopeless. McNulty is coming good, but anyone in front of Doyle on the pitch has largely been below average. Robins knows this and that's why we play more defensively. It's our strength, and should be played to. Who is actually capable of scoring a goal? That's what is disappointing me.

Vincenti, Biamou, Stevenson, Beavon, Thomas, DKE have all been poor this season and I can't see any of them scoring a goal. Nazon has been fairly hot and cold, and we have lost Jones. In fact, if you think about it Jones has been our biggest goal threat. He no doubt has improved on last season, but it should still tell you something.

I want to be like Luton and smash people each week but it's not going to happen at the moment. Hopefully we can improve just enough to grab that third spot.

So Robins knew that we were hopeless attacking wise before the season started and decided to be defensive despite him signing 9 of the 11 players that started the season? We've scored 13 goals in 6 games against the top 7, conceding 3. Luton have scored 10 in their 6 games, conceding 6. It's our tactics that make us hopeless attacking wise. Against the poor teams we don't get players in the box and we don't have runners beyond the strikers. We also don't have natural wide players or are set up to play with a genuine target man yet our tactics force the ball out wide or result in us going long.
You don't get stats like this from just being a bit hopeless in attack:

We have no idea how to win games against the teams that sit back because we haven't been able to counter attack against them. Sure some players have disappointed at times but that's natural over the course of a season - it's not individuals that are the real root cause of the issues we have.

 

[Earlsdon_Skyblue1]

So Robins knew that we were hopeless attacking wise before the season started and decided to be defensive despite him signing 9 of the 11 players that started the season? We've scored 13 goals in 6 games against the top 7, conceding 3. Luton have scored 10 in their 6 games, conceding 6. It's our tactics that make us hopeless attacking wise. Against the poor teams we don't get players in the box and we don't have runners beyond the strikers. We also don't have natural wide players or are set up to play with a genuine target man yet our tactics force the ball out wide or result in us going long.
You don't get stats like this from just being a bit hopeless in attack:
View attachment 8679
We have no idea how to win games against the teams that sit back because we haven't been able to counter attack against them. Sure some players have disappointed at times but that's natural over the course of a season - it's not individuals that are the real root cause of the issues we have.

The bits in bold are kind of my points highlighted.

Esoterica, put your spread sheet away for a minute. Do you honestly think we are good in attack?

I honestly think the individuals are holding us back as much as the tactics. How many sitters has Biamou missed for example?

 

[Esoterica]

The bits in bold are kind of my points highlighted.

Esoterica, put your spread sheet away for a minute. Do you honestly think we are good in attack?

I honestly think the individuals are holding us back as much as the tactics. How many sitters has Biamou missed for example?

Overall no I don't think we're any good in attack. We've been very good on the counter against teams trying to beat us but fucking awful against direct teams happy with a point. This is where Robins has massively underestimated this division because we're seen as a big fish in this league and almost everyone is either very direct or happy for a point off us. For most of the season we've had 7 players behind the ball - against those unambitious teams it leaves two strikers and 2 wide players to deal with 2 banks of 4. No one is going to look good in attack against those odds unless you're a Nazon or Jones who can beat a couple of men and ping one into the top corner - an absolute rarity at this level. We haven't changed our style whether it's been Forest Green or Luton. We need a plan, an attacking identity, a method coached into them for dealing with defensive teams - our back 4 need to play higher to push the whole team up the pitch and we need to move the ball around quicker as a start.

Biamou? 5 sitters I think? But he's a scapegoat - he shouldn't be in the team, he should be continuing to adapt to the FL and full time football as an occasional sub, but he is playing because our tactics result in Doyle being stood on the toes of our centre backs pinging 50 yard balls in the general direction of forwards and because of his height he can do half a job there. It's not how he was utilised at Sutton and Robins has literally thrown him under the bus that everyone is parking against us.

Now back to my spreadsheet - how do you explain 3 goals in 9 games against the bottom 8 but 13 in 7 against the top 8 as individuals holding us back?

 

[Londonccfcfan]

Overall no I don't think we're any good in attack. We've been very good on the counter against teams trying to beat us but fucking awful against direct teams happy with a point. This is where Robins has massively underestimated this division because we're seen as a big fish in this league and almost everyone is either very direct or happy for a point off us. For most of the season we've had 7 players behind the ball - against those unambitious teams it leaves two strikers and 2 wide players to deal with 2 banks of 4. No one is going to look good in attack against those odds unless you're a Nazon or Jones who can beat a couple of men and ping one into the top corner - an absolute rarity at this level. We haven't changed our style whether it's been Forest Green or Luton. We need a plan, an attacking identity, a method coached into them for dealing with defensive teams - our back 4 need to play higher to push the whole team up the pitch and we need to move the ball around quicker as a start.

Biamou? 5 sitters I think? But he's a scapegoat - he shouldn't be in the team, he should be continuing to adapt to the FL and full time football as an occasional sub, but he is playing because our tactics result in Doyle being stood on the toes of our centre backs pinging 50 yard balls in the general direction of forwards and because of his height he can do half a job there. It's not how he was utilised at Sutton and Robins has literally thrown him under the bus that everyone is parking against us.

Now back to my spreadsheet - how do you explain 3 goals in 9 games against the bottom 8 but 13 in 7 against the top 8 as individuals holding us back?

Love your stats I really do. But I think there comes a point where you over analys.

 

[Esoterica]

Love your stats I really do. But I think there comes a point where you over analys.

My spreadsheet said that there was a 83.4% chance of you reaching that conclusion.

 

[Earlsdon_Skyblue1]

Overall no I don't think we're any good in attack. We've been very good on the counter against teams trying to beat us but fucking awful against direct teams happy with a point. This is where Robins has massively underestimated this division because we're seen as a big fish in this league and almost everyone is either very direct or happy for a point off us. For most of the season we've had 7 players behind the ball - against those unambitious teams it leaves two strikers and 2 wide players to deal with 2 banks of 4. No one is going to look good in attack against those odds unless you're a Nazon or Jones who can beat a couple of men and ping one into the top corner - an absolute rarity at this level. We haven't changed our style whether it's been Forest Green or Luton. We need a plan, an attacking identity, a method coached into them for dealing with defensive teams - our back 4 need to play higher to push the whole team up the pitch and we need to move the ball around quicker as a start.

Biamou? 5 sitters I think? But he's a scapegoat - he shouldn't be in the team, he should be continuing to adapt to the FL and full time football as an occasional sub, but he is playing because our tactics result in Doyle being stood on the toes of our centre backs pinging 50 yard balls in the general direction of forwards and because of his height he can do half a job there. It's not how he was utilised at Sutton and Robins has literally thrown him under the bus that everyone is parking against us.

Now back to my spreadsheet - how do you explain 3 goals in 9 games against the bottom 8 but 13 in 7 against the top 8 as individuals holding us back?

You make some good points there certainly, and I agree with some, but not all.

As I stated previously, who is going to score our goals? Biamou isn't that much of a scapegoat, because as you say, he shouldn't be in the starting line up. The guy is no where near good enough so is getting stick accordingly, the players around him may not be as bad, but they are still pretty poor too. Honestly, who is going to score a goal other than McNulty? Some of these players could take 100 chances and still not score.

It follows suit with your other argument. We score more against better teams because with the better teams they will push many men forward. It means that gaps are left which in turn provides more space and more vulnerability at the back. I play this season and we aren't very good. However, we have actually given the better teams games. Why? The reason is that our defence gets pounded game after game and is therefore quite good, and when we play the better teams, their right back and left back (for example) will get forward. We tend to score more goals against the better teams and CCFC is the same.

I'm not saying we shouldn't try and attack more against the weaker teams, we should do that. However, the personal we have aren't so good in the attacking third and by pushing forward, we in turn can then get exploited. Robins knows this. We can change the tactics a little bit, but I think we need to start with better players before we attempt that.

To be honest at the moment I would rather put you and me on the wing. It might well be more effective...

 

[Gosford Green]

In August when everyone was shouting automatic promotion I said we would finish 5-10th so i am sort of content with where we are.

I say sort of as January - March is our nemesis, a few more points would have been better to cushion us from any loosing run.

 

[better days]

Interesting article in the Times today about the way the less wealthy teams in the Premier league play against the top six. Using Newcastle's set up against Man City the other night the hypothesis is that lower teams now set up not to get beaten against the big 6 even if they are playing at home
It reminded me of how the smaller teams have been setting up against us in L2 especially at the Ricoh

 

[The Reverend Skyblue]

Personally the worst year of my life by a country mile, and it's been compounded by my teams relegation to the bottom tier of football, though the JPT was a nice though brief joyful interlude.
As for this season I really feel we are two loans away from a decent enough team to get out of this cesspit of a league. The loans obviously have to work so it's down to Robins to get this right and the first of them the lad from Reading sounds really decent.
We all agree we need a creative attacking midfielder and if possible a wide man so if Robins can get the right people out to fund the right people in I'm fairly confident of us getting into the autos,probably in third place.
Anyway I want to wish all the posters on here, even the ones I rarely agree with, mentioning no names dongo and RFC et al, a fantastic 2018 and hopefully come May we will be celebrating a promotion.

 

[better days]

Personally the worst year of my life by a country mile, and it's been compounded by my teams relegation to the bottom tier of football, though the JPT was a nice though brief joyful interlude.
As for this season I really feel we are two loans away from a decent enough team to get out of this cesspit of a league. The loans obviously have to work so it's down to Robins to get this right and the first of them the lad from Reading sounds really decent.
We all agree we need a creative attacking midfielder and if possible a wide man so if Robins can get the right people out to fund the right people in I'm fairly confident of us getting into the autos,probably in third place.
Anyway I want to wish all the posters on here, even the ones I rarely agree with, mentioning no names dongo and RFC et al, a fantastic 2018 and hopefully come May we will be celebrating a promotion.

Pretty much snap for me Rev
Fingers crossed that 2018 brings better news for us both

 

[The Reverend Skyblue]

Pretty much snap for me Rev
Fingers crossed that 2018 brings better news for us both

That's a deal then it's going to be our year topped off nicely with a Cov promotion party in May

 

[Otis]

That's a deal then it's going to be our year topped off nicely with a Cov promotion party in May

Wouldn't that be lovely. City promoted and Cov promoted too.

Perfect!

 

[Hobo]

I've no sympathy at all for Robins. Forget about budgets - is our squad man for man worse than any of the teams above us? With the exception of Luton I'd say no. You can blame injuries too but the Andreu injury effect is a myth - he was injured on his first league start for us in the 4th game of the season. We then continued to play the same formation with 2 defensive midfielders and a massive gap where a #10 would play for a further 15 games (until Stevenage) without further serious injuries. This should have been the time we were building up contingency to deal with a difficult winter schedule and any potential injuries.
Robins has put us into this position with his consistently negative formations & team selections and a resistance to change both during games and in the longer term with the shape of the team. The fundamental flaw in his set up against defensive teams was blindingly obvious from as early as the Newport game. He has badly misread this division and hasn't shown the aptitude or adaptability to get this squad performing at full capability. I do agree that it is all about January now and with a good January we may end up securing a play off place but it's an underachievement in the context of the standard of this league and the squad we have that shouldn't be diluted by talk of injuries and budgets.

Agree with your view of Robins defensive approach. Disagree about Andreu as he was just breaking I n to team and showing his worth.

Can you post your attacking side from the current squad fit and available? Or are you just saying Robins has bought badly with the mythical super budget?

 

[Otis]

Agree with your view of Robins defensive approach. Disagree about Andreu as he was just breaking I n to team and showing his worth.

Can you post your attacking side from the current squad fit and available? Or are you just saying Robins has bought badly with the mythical super budget?

If I had a mythical super budget I would go mental with it.

 

[steve cooper]

3 wins out of the last 4 games
2 points off autos
At least 2 new players coming in next week (apparently)
Kelly back soon
Happy New Year

 

[BackRoomRummermill]

I will only be happy when we are promoted, then we can play the dizzy heights of Shrewsbury and the like

 

[Mucca Mad Boys]

I'm satisfied with where we are at. We've been unlucky with injuries and had some fantastic results against the best sides in the division. However, our record against the worst teams is incredibly frustrating and clearly needs to be addressed if we're hoping for top 3. I want us to get top 3, and think it's doable, but I would take playoffs at this point.

On a positive note, we have brought this team together over one transfer window because we quite literally needed to start over after last seasons team. Not many teams make it out of this division at the first time of asking so even if we fail to achieve promotion, a strong transfer window next summer and I'd probably have us as favourites for the league title next year, with Jones and Andreu coming back.

 

[Otis]

I'm satisfied with where we are at. We've been unlucky with injuries and had some fantastic results against the best sides in the division. However, our record against the worst teams is incredibly frustrating and clearly needs to be addressed if we're hoping for top 3. I want us to get top 3, and think it's doable, but I would take playoffs at this point.

On a positive note, we have brought this team together over one transfer window because we quite literally needed to start over after last seasons team. Not many teams make it out of this division at the first time of asking so even if we fail to achieve promotion, a strong transfer window next summer and I'd probably have us as favourites for the league title next year, with Jones and Andreu coming back.

I honestly think it needs to be this season.

Next season ST sales will be down further again, making it more difficult and of course we will have 4 teams coming down from League One and they could all be very competitive.

 

[Mucca Mad Boys]

I honestly think it needs to be this season.

Next season ST sales will be down further again, making it more difficult and of course we will have 4 teams coming down from League One and they could all be very competitive.

I did think that too, especially because I thought there'd be no chance of keeping Jones, however, his injury could potentially be a blessing in disguise as a team like Leeds isn't going to take a punt on him after coming back from a bad injury. He's the one player I think we need to keep at all costs, he's the kind of player that could probably take us from L2 and be a star in L1 too.

I still think top 3 is a realistic target, I think we've built a solid foundation for a promotion standard team which bodes well IF we fail to get promoted. But, this team really shouldn't fail to finish in the top 7, so there is the lottery of that - and our record against the top 7 is very good, so I'd fancy us there.

I'm not going to worry about the relegated teams too much, not many teams get promoted from L2 at the first time of asking (Doncaster a rare exception last season) and the teams we went down with aren't doing too well. The teams that are doing well, have built teams for seasons, Luton, Notts County, Lincoln, Exeter, Wycombe and so on have had to build for a number of seasons. Even Portsmouth and Plymouth had to too.

 

[Otis]

I did think that too, especially because I thought there'd be no chance of keeping Jones, however, his injury could potentially be a blessing in disguise as a team like Leeds isn't going to take a punt on him after coming back from a bad injury. He's the one player I think we need to keep at all costs, he's the kind of player that could probably take us from L2 and be a star in L1 too.

I still think top 3 is a realistic target, I think we've built a solid foundation for a promotion standard team which bodes well IF we fail to get promoted. But, this team really shouldn't fail to finish in the top 7, so there is the lottery of that - and our record against the top 7 is very good, so I'd fancy us there.

I'm not going to worry about the relegated teams too much, not many teams get promoted from L2 at the first time of asking (Doncaster a rare exception last season) and the teams we went down with aren't doing too well. The teams that are doing well, have built teams for seasons, Luton, Notts County, Lincoln, Exeter, Wycombe and so on have had to build for a number of seasons. Even Portsmouth and Plymouth had to too.

Yeah, but as I said on another thread a few days back, this is Coventry City. Has any other club had 20 years of perpetual decline and no playoff appearances?

I am convinced if we don't go up this season, next season's ST uptake is going to be well down. Then we just become one of the also rans.

I do think we are quite unique and it's been a downward spiral for so long now and failing to be promoted will be an elongation of that spiral.