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I interviewd myself after the Ipswich game. Here is what I said.
How was the Bolton match?
Ok. I think. Ipswich didn't pose a huge threat to us in my opinion and we looked good in parts, well, above average. We were in control in the main.
What about the defence?
There were some basic errors in positioning or decision making. For example diving into a tackle or getting wrong side of a man at the wrong moment. Seemingly innocuous moments but could lead to goals on other days. Baptiste and Mills were guilty in the main. Having said that, overall the defence looked organised and the team defended well enough to win the game.
Freedman bemoans us not defending a lead properly but I never believe 1-0 is enough to be sure. The problem, in my opinion is in not getting more goals, if your defence let in one goal in a game I see that as pretty much a successful day.
How good were Ipswich?
They offered nothing at all. They were poor. And this is what bothers me. Ipswich were awful yesterday, and even their manager said as much. Yet we still could not beat them. I don't know why we don't seem to be able to put in a sustained period of pressure to really make a team crumble. I think, if we had made positive changes after we went 1-0 we could have gone on to score a few. Ipswich were there for the taking and looked beaten.
Who was our stand out player?
Nobody. We don't have one. Lonergan made a very good save and it was nice to see him roll the ball out sometimes. Lee looked ok in parts, better than he has recently. Medo did ok. Spearing was poor. Ream did well. Mcnoughton, I'm not sure off - he frustrated me with some of his passing.
If I had to pick a stand out player it would be Danns. I thought he was very good. Good feet, good determination, got tired at points but seemed to get a second wind. In fact yes, Danns did stand out. Well done.
Freedman's subs, what's your take?
Eagles was stripped and ready to come on seconds before we scored. It seemed Freedman thought we needed to ramp up the pressure on them at the time especially since Ipswich didn't look at all threatening. But when the Medo free kick went in, Eagles had to sit back down. I felt Dougie should have stuck to his original game plan and moved on from there by heaping more pressure on them.
What was going through Freedmans mind on the 94th/95th minute when he tried to bring on Pratley - nobody will ever know. It's simply madness.
Biggie, we know you have a wild imagination, what would you have done differently.
I have no complaints over the starting eleven even if it's not the team I would have chosen.
During the game I noticed time and again that Spearing was overhitting, underhitting and mishitting passes. It wasn't his day. Even passes that will go down as completed passes were potentially dangerous. Danns, on the other hand was showing very good things. He was composed and intelligent and I think he could have even played a Holden/Mavies role in the centre to give us more spark and unlock them.
I would have brought on a winger (Hall/Eagles) for Spearing and moved Danns from the wing to the centre. I would have done this on about 50 or 60 mins.
Later in the game, maybe 70 mins I would have been looking to bring Moritz on. There are any number of combinations I might have fancied. Danns could have come off when he got tired. Or Ngog, and played 451 with a fresh Eagles on. Who knows - but the main thinking for me is that we lacked a cutting edge to create a real opportunity for Beckford.
What would you change for next week?
The wingers. And by this I mean I would change them every few minutes from side to side. I would probably start with:
Hall - Medo - Danns - Lee
Because the opposition don't have great a great full back. Find out who is their most unfit, slow full back and hammer him. For example, their left back.
Every time we get the ball aim for that wing. Totally forget the other side. As soon as we get the ball move it quickly to Hall on the right wing. Let him run at that full back EVERY TIME. Tire him out. Let Hall use all his energy for 5 mins. Then swap Hall and Lee and let Lee have a go at him for 5 mins non stop. Then swap again. Let Hall, now refreshed have another go and so on. Do it early. Imagine how knackered the full back will be by the end of the first half. Then exploit the gap.
I would also drop Ngog for CDavies. If CDavies has a stinker he can always come off for Ngog. And the bonus to that is that Ngog always plays better coming off the bench.
Would you sack Dougie?
I'm not sure. Maybe.
How was the Bolton match?
Ok. I think. Ipswich didn't pose a huge threat to us in my opinion and we looked good in parts, well, above average. We were in control in the main.
What about the defence?
There were some basic errors in positioning or decision making. For example diving into a tackle or getting wrong side of a man at the wrong moment. Seemingly innocuous moments but could lead to goals on other days. Baptiste and Mills were guilty in the main. Having said that, overall the defence looked organised and the team defended well enough to win the game.
Freedman bemoans us not defending a lead properly but I never believe 1-0 is enough to be sure. The problem, in my opinion is in not getting more goals, if your defence let in one goal in a game I see that as pretty much a successful day.
How good were Ipswich?
They offered nothing at all. They were poor. And this is what bothers me. Ipswich were awful yesterday, and even their manager said as much. Yet we still could not beat them. I don't know why we don't seem to be able to put in a sustained period of pressure to really make a team crumble. I think, if we had made positive changes after we went 1-0 we could have gone on to score a few. Ipswich were there for the taking and looked beaten.
Who was our stand out player?
Nobody. We don't have one. Lonergan made a very good save and it was nice to see him roll the ball out sometimes. Lee looked ok in parts, better than he has recently. Medo did ok. Spearing was poor. Ream did well. Mcnoughton, I'm not sure off - he frustrated me with some of his passing.
If I had to pick a stand out player it would be Danns. I thought he was very good. Good feet, good determination, got tired at points but seemed to get a second wind. In fact yes, Danns did stand out. Well done.
Freedman's subs, what's your take?
Eagles was stripped and ready to come on seconds before we scored. It seemed Freedman thought we needed to ramp up the pressure on them at the time especially since Ipswich didn't look at all threatening. But when the Medo free kick went in, Eagles had to sit back down. I felt Dougie should have stuck to his original game plan and moved on from there by heaping more pressure on them.
What was going through Freedmans mind on the 94th/95th minute when he tried to bring on Pratley - nobody will ever know. It's simply madness.
Biggie, we know you have a wild imagination, what would you have done differently.
I have no complaints over the starting eleven even if it's not the team I would have chosen.
During the game I noticed time and again that Spearing was overhitting, underhitting and mishitting passes. It wasn't his day. Even passes that will go down as completed passes were potentially dangerous. Danns, on the other hand was showing very good things. He was composed and intelligent and I think he could have even played a Holden/Mavies role in the centre to give us more spark and unlock them.
I would have brought on a winger (Hall/Eagles) for Spearing and moved Danns from the wing to the centre. I would have done this on about 50 or 60 mins.
Later in the game, maybe 70 mins I would have been looking to bring Moritz on. There are any number of combinations I might have fancied. Danns could have come off when he got tired. Or Ngog, and played 451 with a fresh Eagles on. Who knows - but the main thinking for me is that we lacked a cutting edge to create a real opportunity for Beckford.
What would you change for next week?
The wingers. And by this I mean I would change them every few minutes from side to side. I would probably start with:
Hall - Medo - Danns - Lee
Because the opposition don't have great a great full back. Find out who is their most unfit, slow full back and hammer him. For example, their left back.
Every time we get the ball aim for that wing. Totally forget the other side. As soon as we get the ball move it quickly to Hall on the right wing. Let him run at that full back EVERY TIME. Tire him out. Let Hall use all his energy for 5 mins. Then swap Hall and Lee and let Lee have a go at him for 5 mins non stop. Then swap again. Let Hall, now refreshed have another go and so on. Do it early. Imagine how knackered the full back will be by the end of the first half. Then exploit the gap.
I would also drop Ngog for CDavies. If CDavies has a stinker he can always come off for Ngog. And the bonus to that is that Ngog always plays better coming off the bench.
Would you sack Dougie?
I'm not sure. Maybe.
