Malcolm Dawson writes….with Pete otherwise engaged today Bob Chapman was our man at Portman Road. Do people still do the pools? If they do then no guessing which team’s fixture should be marked with an X on Littlewoods or Vernons.
We went behind. No surprise there then. We equalised. Not unusual either. I don’t suppose Paddy Power or BetDaq offer very long odds on any game involving Sunderland finishing 1-1. Our forwards have been getting stick for not scoring enough but the BBC stats show only 3 shots on target to the Tractor Boys’ 16, with the Suffolk side managing 6 on target to Gooch’s solitary effort for us so it would seem that maybe the problems lie further back.
A point gained or two dropped? A more detailed appraisal will follow and while we wait here’s Bob’s seven word summary.
10 August Ipswich Town 1 (1) Sunderland 0 (1) *Decent recovery from absolutely shocking first half
3 August Sunderland 1 (0) Oxford United 1 (1) Looks like a repeat of last season
I feel we are in much the same position as last season. Our defence is playing to the best of its ability in keeping the opposition down to a single goal and our attack capable of mustering a solitary goal per game. This procession of 1-1 draws is pretty soul destroying and predictable both for the team and supporters alike. A small improvement in either department’s output (preferably that of attack) would be nice. Much like Jack Ross I suppose, I haven’t a clue how we’ll achieve it with our current squad but as we settle down to an extended run in the third division it seems that we’re no longer the team “that shouldn’t be in this division’ to being a team that is playing where it deserves to be. Depressing thought but even the Championship is a mile away from our squad.
Sacking Ross isn’t an option as instant improvements like those witnessed under Keane or Big Sam are fairy tale stuff and don’t happen in Division 3. No bouncing back but just a slow grind to improvement. I think we’re here for the long haul but, like always, we’ll keep the faith.
We seemed to play our best football last season early on when Jack Ross was limited in who he could pick through injury and loss of form. This was at a time when fans’ favourites O’Nien and McGeady were not playing.
Gooch, Maguire and Honeyman were running opposition defenders out of position and getting behind the defence on numerous occasions. We also seemed to be getting plenty of bodies in the box and Maja was scoring for fun.
Then Maguire and Gooch lost form, Maja left and our play became more conservative. I’m not suggesting O’Nien and McGeady shouldn’t play but I do think we need to be more adventurous and allow them the opportunity to get forward more often.
Incidentally, we still seem to pass the ball into touch too frequently when under no pressure. The Ipswich goal came from a throw needlessly conceded by McGeouch on halfway.
At the end of the Oxford game it was the worst I’d felt. I thought we’d strengthened the squad, yet the defence was as nervous as ever and poor Denver Hume was hung out to dry. I’ve had to suppress thoughts similar to Brian’s.
Yet stats don’t support this negativity as William C quotes. This time last year we expected to be playing derby matches against the Mariners shortly. If I’d said we’d go to Wembley twice, fail to score once and have the 4th best defence in the English leagues, men in white coats would have turned up.
For that reason and as much as I understand Brian’s frustration, Ross must be given time.
It would be a decent away point in isolation but this has become a trend both home and away . Go behind and scramble a draw , simply not good enough.
Ross is a manager slowly submerging into a football quicksand.
He keeps doing the same things to try and extricate himself from the mire but nothing is going to avert his deserved fate.
He is unable to hide behind the look where we were a year ago veil and other pathetic platitudes.
It was clear after xmas he didnt have a clue. If it is possible he has less of a clue now then this is the case .
The defence is even more of a shambles..quite some feat.
After demoralising gooch and honeyman he now appears to have done the same to hume and maybe embleton..
Grigg dropped. Our loan striker unable to score.
Creatively he appears to have all the attributes that a chimp would have on masterchef.
He has no excuses. We are going backwards and something needs doing. His formations, new personnel and philosophy are failing. The sycophantistas will see he needs more time, its only 2 games etc etc.
But he has had a full season and almost 2 close seasons and 3 transfer windows. We are in reverse gear and have been since at least march..He clearly has run out of ideas and steam.
Managers all around him are and have been making a lot more out of less. He and others will dispute that he has or had the resources to make a decent fist of the job. The facts clearly suggest the opposite
Donald needs to show some spine and bin ross..now
With half a dozen games to play last season we were in line for automatic promotion, and were in the final of the Checkatrade Cup. We lost less games than any side in the division.
In the event, we lost the cup in a penalty shootout, and the play off final, against the best team in the league [ IMO ] by a last kick goal.
By your reasoning, every manager in the league, other than Luton, Barnsley and Portsmouth should be sacked.
We haven’t started brilliantly this season, but we are, to date, unbeaten.
We have seen, all too often, the stupidity of constantly sacking managers. Ross deserves at least one more season.
At least in this comment, he who calls himself Brian has made his points in a reasonable and justified manner. What he never does is suggest ways in which things might improve or who he thinks might do the job better.
In a recent interview Jon McLaughlin made the point that our squad now consists of League 1 players – a necessity with FFP and the need to keep our wage bill under control.
My main concern at the moment is the lack of clear cut goalscoring opportunities we are creating. What Ross’s priority must be is to find the right blend of players to address that issue. Embleton did nothing wrong last week but for me wasn’t incisive enough. Gooch spent a lot of time isolated on the wing in that game and rarely received the ball.
Maguire gives us more energy in the number 10 role and can pull defenders out of position. McGeady seems to be taking too much on himself when he starts in my view and needs someone near him which will allow him to get into those danger areas where he can do some damage.
The club has identified the need for more cover in the left back position. Other than that I think we have the players, but Ross needs to find the right combinations. Simply changing the manager is not a recipe for success and there is no guarantee that the names fans suggest will do the business. O’Neil and Moyes are prime examples. Meanwhile Simon Grayson, who couldn’t get a winning formula with us has started at Blackpool with two wins.