Rotherham 4-2 Bolton

Massive overreaction from wanderlust, we've lost 2 in 13 or whatever it is.. Calm down

Natasha Whittam wrote:He stopped off at Breadman's Travelodge room for a bit of stress relief.

He didn't go and isn't in a Travelodge.

wanderlust wrote:
Stop blaming the ref/liverpool/injuries and man up Neil - we were shit so tell it like it is and then put it right.

When I used to say this about Freedman you'd always disagree.

The fact is you had a hard-on for Freedman and can't get it up for his replacement.

Natasha Whittam wrote:

wanderlust wrote:
Stop blaming the ref/liverpool/injuries and man up Neil - we were shit so tell it like it is and then put it right.

When I used to say this about Freedman you'd always disagree.

The fact is you had a hard-on for Freedman and can't get it up for his replacement.

He doesn't like gingers. Expect him to get very hostile now you've changed you're avatar.

wanderlust wrote:

Hipster_Nebula wrote:

wanderlust wrote:Sounds like the ref didn't help but that can't disguise the fact that we were simply not good enough. We haven't given some other teams enough respect this season but have generally got away with it until last night.
That match showed how weak the team is and how overhyped Lennon's abilities are.

The media totally overhype Lennon usually whilst speculating which "big club" (not Bolton) will offer him a job.
They may love him but his slick PR skills aren't enough IMO. For a start he needs to learn how to motivate the team to play at Rotherham on a Tuesday night.

Needs to focus on the job in hand and forget all the media attention that he so clearly loves.

I might be wrong but I haven't seen any media linking Lennon with a "big club" since he's joined us and having a moan at the referee is par for the course for managers, we know that. So long as he hasn't blamed the poor performance on it (which he hasn't) then I've no major issue with it.

Overall he's done well so far, play offs is obviously beyond this squad it just won't happen, but he's managed to motivate a squad who looked dead in the water prior to his arrival. 

Dougie was derided for his rotation policy, but it often led to a good surge at the end of the season. Lennon's definitely put more faith in the squad and stuck with the same players when he could, apparently they looked tired last night and couldn't match Rotherham's tempo, it will be interesting to see how he reacts to this, coupled with the impossible recruitment job he needs to do this is a real test for him, he needs to do more than motivate.

Lennon is doing a fine job left with the rubbish he has to work with.  Last night was painful because we now expect to draw or win games. Under Doogie every man jack of us would have picked that game as an away loss.  The squad is paper thin and Neil is getting performances out of players that most wanted to get rid of 3 months ago. However, nobody can do that forever. Sooner or later you have to have some quality to work with, effort and a good old shift is not enough. We are 16th now and midtable is the goal in my mind for this season.

terenceanne wrote:Lennon is doing a fine job left with the rubbish he has to work with.  Last night was painful because we now expect to draw or win games. Under Doogie every man jack of us would have picked that game as an away loss.

This is pretty much the same squad you said would be challenging for the play offs if Freedman played a more attacking style, what's changed?

Under Dougie everyone would have demanded at least a point, you know that full well and he'd have been hammered for a performance like last night.

For me it was a blip, we've had a lot of fixtures and they caught up with us. Lennon's done great so far, but the lack of consistency with some fans does rile me.

Boggersbelief wrote:Massive overreaction from wanderlust, we've lost 2 in 13 or whatever it is.. Calm down

When Freedman was around and we were losing every week I repeatedly said that the squad lacks quality - despite the media saying "we should be doing better with these players".
The point is/was that the squad are/were overrated - probably because we payed too much money for them in the first place which artificially raised their standing when in fact they are a mid-table side with mid-table players for the most part.
Other teams in the Championship bought players who were less in the public eye but have proved to be far more effective than our lot.

So when Lennon came in and got the "bounce" (which IMO would have happened eventually under Freedman anyway because they are mid-table quality) I was delighted, however...

The fact that the squad hasn't changed that much and that Lennon is hampered by the same budget constraints as Freedman means that Lennon needs to do an outstanding job for us to finish in the top half this season (we are still close) and an even more spectacular job in the summer if we're going to have a go next year.

For me he should have his nose to the grindstone and be relentless in pushing this squad to perform to the best of their (limited) ability. He didn't do that last night and it p****s me off that Neil is playing media darling instead of ripping into these players and busting a gut to get rid of the remaining deadwood and find replacements now.

The media have always enjoyed setting us up for a fall and Lennon is sleepwalking into it unless he gets a grip and drags this club kicking and screaming up the table.

Seems to me he came in to the club to whup ass and change things around, but recently it feels he's taken his foot off the throttle. He needs to focus on the job in hand.

Just saw the goals, absolutely embarrassing defending. I don't know if it's the formation but nobody's taking responsibility when we're defending. None of the center backs came out and pressured the ball and the marking for their 3rd especially was beyond bad. If we're going to persist with 3 CBs they need to be drilled properly.

bwfc1874 wrote:Just saw the goals, absolutely embarrassing defending. I don't know if it's the formation but nobody's taking responsibility when we're defending. None of the center backs came out and pressured the ball and the marking for their 3rd especially was beyond bad. If we're going to persist with 3 CBs they need to be drilled properly.

 But the 3 CBs were outstanding against Liverpool- who had a better attack force than Rotherham.
The defence have been doing well recently, and even the midfield have been showing signs of life.
I think its when you know you have no strike force worth talking about that is the bigger issue. What's the point of keeping clean sheets if you know that at the other end you have a strike force that can't strike.
 Thats where the malaise now lies- not further back in the formation

bwfc1874 wrote:Just saw the goals, absolutely embarrassing defending. I don't know if it's the formation but nobody's taking responsibility when we're defending. None of the center backs came out and pressured the ball and the marking for their 3rd especially was beyond bad. If we're going to persist with 3 CBs they need to be drilled properly.

 But the 3 CBs were outstanding against Liverpool- who had a better attack force than Rotherham.
The defence have been doing well recently, and even the midfield have been showing signs of life.
I think its when you know you have no strike force worth talking about that is the bigger issue. What's the point of keeping clean sheets if you know that at the other end you have a strike force that can't strike.
 Thats where the malaise now lies- not further back in the formation

Ye they've done well recently, but you can't excuse defending like that for their goals absolutely abysmal. You're right about the strikers but I the defending last night was appalling, as I said hopefully a blip.

bwfc1874 wrote:

terenceanne wrote:Lennon is doing a fine job left with the rubbish he has to work with.  Last night was painful because we now expect to draw or win games. Under Doogie every man jack of us would have picked that game as an away loss.

This is pretty much the same squad you said would be challenging for the play offs if Freedman played a more attacking style, what's changed?

Under Dougie everyone would have demanded at least a point, you know that full well and he'd have been hammered for a performance like last night.

For me it was a blip, we've had a lot of fixtures and they caught up with us. Lennon's done great so far, but the lack of consistency with some fans does rile me.

 
  play-offs ?  I had us for certain relegation under Doogie....then I said bottom half under Lennon.  He has done much better than I thought so I am now talking Midtable.  Which would be a job well done IMO.

I think 1874 is spot on. This was a blip caused by a lot of games close together. It wasn't a portent of anything other than we had a bad night at the office. I'm sure Neil and the lads are working hard right now to put that behind them and get ready for the weekend. Overall we've had 2 defeats in our last 14 matches, a record none of us would have considered possible in Dougie's day. 

Look at Chelsea; they got battered by Bradford. Man City got crushed by Middlesborough. No one says they're rubbish teams because of that do they? Neither are we. We just wound up having an off night.

bwfc1874 wrote:Just saw the goals, absolutely embarrassing defending. I don't know if it's the formation but nobody's taking responsibility when we're defending. None of the center backs came out and pressured the ball and the marking for their 3rd especially was beyond bad. If we're going to persist with 3 CBs they need to be drilled properly.

I believe you used the word "defending."  Having seen the highlights I can assure you there was none for the first three goals.