Relegation Form | Page 3 | Vital Football

Relegation Form

We're better as a team than last season in my opinion so I'm not overly worried, but we really do need a good return from our next 4 games.

My only real issue is that we have completely changed the way we play, which seems to be geared towards just nicking results rather than developing players. It must have dented our chances of signing top quality youth players as we don't play the way that bigger clubs do. We have become very 'little Lincoln ' in our style. Maybe that's justified given the huge differences in wages in the league, but it is a shame.

I'm not massively critical of MK because I think we'll be ok at the end of the season, but at the same time, I'm not convinced that we'll ever see the exciting football that was promised given what's happened following Bristol Rovers away.
 
We just seem to create so little going forward it always seems to be backs to the wall and try and nick a goal, we desperately need that win that will give us some breathing space from the bottom 4.

The transfer market is going to be very interesting his week can easily see 3 or 4 ins and outs.
 
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libertine said:
We're better as a team than last season in my opinion so I'm not overly worried, but we really do need a good return from our next 4 games.

My only real issue is that we have completely changed the way we play, which seems to be geared towards just nicking results rather than developing players. It must have dented our chances of signing top quality youth players as we don't play the way that bigger clubs do. We have become very 'little Lincoln ' in our style. Maybe that's justified given the huge differences in wages in the league, but it is a shame.

I'm not massively critical of MK because I think we'll be ok at the end of the season, but at the same time, I'm not convinced that we'll ever see the exciting football that was promised given what's happened following Bristol Rovers away.
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Good post - virtually the first one of the thread.

I agree I think style only matters really if it affects the ability of the players we can recruit...and ideally for that reason I imagine we would like to play more football.

The same people (with a few exceptions)moaning last year about playing it out from the back with 100 passes, will be the same people moaning about just launching it forward.

In terms of MK, he started off with a plan to play the way he advertised and soon worked out what MA had done by May last year...that with McGrandles and post Xmas form Fiorini gone, that style wasn't going to succeed with the midfield we were likely to have. So he's changed it.

...and I think the plan over a period will be to change it back (somewhat).

If you listen to him - I think he understands fully, that we need to be able to play more football than we are doing...but he also knows he can't do it AND get enough points with what we have at the moment.

I think it might take a couple of windows and a bit of luck....and even then the style will be a hybrid of the way we play at this moment and the MA style.

So I am relatively content.

Our home results are much better than last year - and we have already played 6 of the top 7 at home.

We have good defenders and take a good % of our chances...Mandroiu, House and Diamond are all good players. Ironically we would have taken 9 points from the last 3 games with clean sheets!

Midfield as everyone knows is the issue...but finding the right quality isn't easy. McGrandles is being paid far more to sit on Charlton's bench (when fit)than we can offer a certain starter.

So in just over 2 years time - I hope MK is still in charge...we have had 4 good windows...we have 2 rather than 1 academy player in the side....our style is a bit more attractive and the relegation threads ends in January rather than early March as it will do this year.

UTI
 
JT_LCFC said:
Are we that hard to beat? The last two away games have been over at half time pretty much.
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Yeah I know. We're not. Not away from home anyway.
Only at SB where we still unbeaten.

I think that was and still is MK plan though. Make us hard to beat with the players available and add to the squad over next transfer windows.
 
libertine said:
We're better as a team than last season in my opinion so I'm not overly worried, but we really do need a good return from our next 4 games.

My only real issue is that we have completely changed the way we play, which seems to be geared towards just nicking results rather than developing players. It must have dented our chances of signing top quality youth players as we don't play the way that bigger clubs do. We have become very 'little Lincoln ' in our style. Maybe that's justified given the huge differences in wages in the league, but it is a shame.

I'm not massively critical of MK because I think we'll be ok at the end of the season, but at the same time, I'm not convinced that we'll ever see the exciting football that was promised given what's happened following Bristol Rovers away.
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I agree with this analysis. I do wonder whether we should go 5-3-2 to give us more bodies in midfield. Having House and Diamond/Mandriou as the front 2 with Diamond/Mandriou given license to roam from wing to wing could work and we would (hopefully) have more possession in midfield with a view to providing more service to the font 2.
 
JT_LCFC said:
Are we that hard to beat? The last two away games have been over at half time pretty much.
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In terms of defeats, or lack of, we're a top 7 side so on that basis we are hard to beat (bottom 7 side in terms of attack).

EDIT - After the same amount of games last year, we'd lost 10.
 
mikeosullivan said:
We are OK on the Sincil carpet where the ball doesn't bobble and decent teams allow us a bit of time in midfield. We can play a bit of football, even though we lack finishers.

Put us on a poor pitch like at Burton and today where we have to compete for every ball, our appalling lack of quality shows through.

Balls bouncing away from Hopper, Diamond and Bishop. Sanders going from a creative energetic player at Southampton to just hooking the ball forward today because he didn't have the quality or time to control the ball and play a pass.

Mandroui is about the only one with a good first touch on a poor pitch. The next four games are against average teams who will not give us any room to play. A huge test!
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Yep, I fear for us over the next four games. Really do need to be balance the squad and inject some L1 quality. Or even some cloggers then can put a tackle in to disrupt the opposition. At the moment we can neither out-football any team in the division or rough up the opposition. Not sure whether we know what we want to be, playing style, tbh. Other clubs manage it, even those with little budget, so we should be able to do likewise. It’s all well and good grabbing a point here and there against teams with resilient back-to-the-wall displays - but they can only come along sporadically. Charlton hadn’t won at home since early-October, in the league, but they could drive combines through some of the gaps in midfield today. The home draws are taking their toll and our away form is suffering.
 
Luke Imp said:
In terms of defeats, or lack of, we're a top 7 side so on that basis we are hard to beat (bottom 7 side in terms of attack).

EDIT - After the same amount of games last year, we'd lost 10.
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Yes, but I would rather win one and lose one, taking a punt on three points, instead of being hard to beat and take two draws though. That said, we don’t have the experience or quality in the squad to consistently secure us the wins that we will need.
 
sheffield_imp said:
I have bit my tongue, when we signed the two lads from Bradford I said sign league 2 players and that is where you end up. Obviously there was an outcry from certain individuals loyal to the club stating I was an idiot and why did I bother commenting. The thing is I don't think things are as bad I first thought, I just believe we are not playing to our strengths. No we are not going to make the play offs but we have enough to be an attacking force and not always sit back and hit teams on the break. I understand the apprehension against the likes of Ipswich and Bolton but we are better than the league position indicates.
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Are we though? When we are on top of our game, firing on all cylinders, and have the first choice eleven on the pitch, and have poor opposition in front of us, and have been properly motivated, we look pretty good. If any one of those requisites is lacking, we look ordinary or downright poor. It’s fine to point to a technically good set of players, but if they’re not performing, not being allowed to perform, injured, or otherwise, then we struggle. Potential doesn’t win matches, application does. I don’t think we have it. A few ‘better’ players will lift everyone else in the squad, and then I think we can say that we’re better than the table suggests. At the moment I think we look like a team hovering around the relegation zone.
 
I am really struggling to nail down in my own mind, how good or poor we are and that includes Kennedy. I just can't call it at the moment. Hard to beat, well partly, but not away from home where we have now lost 6 of the last 7 including cup games. Not very competitive away from the Bank, poor performances at Vale, Shrewsbury, Burton , Chippenham and now Charlton, where it looks a bit too little too late. The outliers were, Bristol City where we were fantastic and Southampton where again it was a brave performance. A counter punching team or so we are told, with little counter punch. Very little possession in most games and feeding on scraps. Yet, we have at times shone in adversity. The spirit looks good, but we are pretty dull to watch. Most of us will accept that against the big boys, and Charlton to some extent, come into that category. However we need a win and fast. I will be surprised if it comes at MK. I am hoping for a draw, but we've only had one in the league away. Huge home games coming up against Burton, Cambridge and Bristol Rovers. They will tell us whether we really are in a relegation battle, or lower mid table security. I can't call it including the overall season, where we still might get to Wembley; the style of football, with a bit more promised getting me off my seats, and the manager himself. He is clearly pragmatic, and flexible, which I like, but is he a bit of a charlatan and an Irish charmer? Having listened to his interview from yesterday, there were a few too many outstanding and excellents for my liking. Maybe he is protecting his players, but the fans are not fools.
 
syimp said:
So when we were top 10, it must have been lying, according to your logic?
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On a tangent… I can’t understand it when managers (or anyone for that matter) say that things “will even themselves out over the course of the season” - it’s just a form of confirmation bias; suggesting that teams will gravitate toward equality in conditions which allow the ‘best’ teams to finish ahead of the ‘worst’. It’s never quite that straight forward. Some (relatively) poorer sides have been promoted at the expense of the more talented or better financed, and vice versa with relegation. The table can lie. I never hold the table as a reasonable measure of how good a team is, other than for the outliers. For us, I tend to look at our performances, consistency, trends, and how potential is being realised, as a measure of how ‘good’ we are. Yes, it’s nice to be riding high in the table to pamper the ego, but I would much rather watch us play positive football. Watching most games at the moment just seems a bit bland (if that’s the right word).
 
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I'm getting a bit tired of MK saying we had a good second half. What's the point of that when you're already 2 down?
I'm not that bothered about being unbeaten at home. It was more exciting in previous seasons when we won loads away because we had a "nothing to lose" attitude.
I don't mind the 100 passes from the back. What pisses me off more is just hoofing it upfield straight to their players.
In my opinion we need to be set up not to lose in the next 4 vital matches. Hopefully we can just scrape survival this season by one point.
 
Chimpimp said:
…Our home results are much better than last year…
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Really? Just two wins out of twelve league games - some back to the wall stuff to secure just 16 points out of the 36 available - and only 13 goals scored in those games. That’s not a good home record to my mind, but agree it’s better than the seven defeats and 10 points from the first 12 games of last season.
 
“We're better as a team than last season in my opinion so I'm not overly worried, but we really do need a good return from our next 4 games.”

Don’t agree we are better than last year. We had McGrandles( very good), Bridcutt (very occassionally but vital) and Fiorini ( improved with vital goals) in midfield. All are miles better than Sanders and Sorrenson, both of whom would struggle to get into most League 2 teams. Midfield was our weakness last year and is beyond poorer than that this season so how can we be better. The recruitment team must have known that, Mk had 3 months from taking over to the window closing to assess and view all last season games but worryingly, apart from the Virtue loan, did nothing so didn’t see the obvious problem. That in itself sends alarm bells off for me, I have no confidence in him whatsoever.
 
57harry said:
I have to say I will be relieved to hit the 50 point mark which should be safety. Any talk of the playoffs is frankly delusional.
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Has anyone actually mentioned the playoffs?
We’ll end up just below mid table which will I’ll guess is where our budget is give or take a couple of places
 
WellingtonImp said:
Really? Just two wins out of twelve league games - some back to the wall stuff to secure just 16 points out of the 36 available - and only 13 goals scored in those games. That’s not a good home record to my mind, but agree it’s better than the seven defeats and 10 points from the first 12 games of last season.
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Now you’ve confused me by challenging the statement but ending with the stats that prove it.
 
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