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Is Lowe evolving?

Is Lowe evolving?

Lowe is improving but lacks the killer instinct imo. The big game for us was the West Brom game where we didn’t turn up and consequently shit all over the pitch. I honestly don’t believe he realised the importance of that game. If we had won that game , it would have given us an 8 point cushion going into the 2 difficult away games. That gap would’ve been huge. In contrast, Ipswich needed to beat us to put an 8 point gap between them and third. They didn’t go out there and make a pigs ear of it, they got the job done, and that’s the difference in mentality. How great it must feel to be an Ipswich fan with their team 8 points clear of third and knowing that club is us!
 
We are third in the league yes but based on performances we probably don’t deserve to be most of our wins have been lucky to say the least .. The results against the top teams last season were dire and we look like continuing that trend ..
We have played some good football at times but those times have been few and far between. We allow other teams time and space on the ball far too often with very little pressing and always seem to start on the back foot .
We have gone back to last season passing slow and sideways with little penetration and few shots at goal . Since Lowe came how many times have we been beat by three or four goals compared to winning by three or four . He still plays players out of position ( i admit some he has no other option) but his choice of lineups and substitutions at times are baffling.
Lowe should know what his best team is and what formation suits them but I feel he still hasn’t a clue that teams have sussed out the way we play and once plan A is not working he’s far to slow to react before the game is lost WBA is a prime example.
 
lenny said:
We are third in the league yes but based on performances we probably don’t deserve to be most of our wins have been lucky to say the least .. The results against the top teams last season were dire and we look like continuing that trend ..
We have played some good football at times but those times have been few and far between. We allow other teams time and space on the ball far too often with very little pressing and always seem to start on the back foot .
We have gone back to last season passing slow and sideways with little penetration and few shots at goal . Since Lowe came how many times have we been beat by three or four goals compared to winning by three or four . He still plays players out of position ( i admit some he has no other option) but his choice of lineups and substitutions at times are baffling.
Lowe should know what his best team is and what formation suits them but I feel he still hasn’t a clue that teams have sussed out the way we play and once plan A is not working he’s far to slow to react before the game is lost WBA is a prime example.
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llanroc said:
Lowe is improving but lacks the killer instinct imo. The big game for us was the West Brom game where we didn’t turn up and consequently shit all over the pitch. I honestly don’t believe he realised the importance of that game. If we had won that game , it would have given us an 8 point cushion going into the 2 difficult away games. That gap would’ve been huge. In contrast, Ipswich needed to beat us to put an 8 point gap between them and third. They didn’t go out there and make a pigs ear of it, they got the job done, and that’s the difference in mentality. How great it must feel to be an Ipswich fan with their team 8 points clear of third and knowing that club is us!
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@llanroc Never mind Ipswich, it feels great to be a Preston fan right now, sitting 3rd in the league and having been top of the league for a few weeks!! But incredulously and in true 'Prestonian' style some fans turn it into a downer!! Would say it's unbelievable, but sadly it isn't.

@lenny Not bad to be 3rd in the league when we don't even deserve to be there (in your opinion). Or would you rather be deservedly mid-table?
 
Tugg Speedman said:

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@llanroc Never mind Ipswich, it feels great to be a Preston fan right now, sitting 3rd in the league and having been top of the league for a few weeks!! But incredulously and in true 'Prestonian' style some fans turn it into a downer!! Would say it's unbelievable, but sadly it isn't.

@lenny Not bad to be 3rd in the league when we don't even deserve to be there (in your opinion). Or would you rather be deservedly mid-table?
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Of course I would rather be third in the league, but honestly think we won’t finish there or thereabouts. Mid table once again beckons yes my opinion but I’m pretty sure it’s probably about where the majority think we will probably finish .
 
Tugg Speedman said:
Good post. Agree with a lot of what you say. It's not been great to watch in general, but we've played some good football at times in the final 3rd. Confidence has taken a hit though with the recent run.

IMO we're limited in what we can do (tactically) at the back because our defence is so slow. This would be helped if Ramsay hadn't been injured, so he could play instead of Potts (who isn't a RWB) and if Lowe used Best more often rather than the hapless Brady. The injury to Hughes hasn't helped either. But this doesn't hide the lack of pace in Storey, Lyndsay & Whatmough (and Bauer).

Further forward, McCann and Ledson have clearly been used to break things up, tackle, block, do whatever they have to do to stop the opposition getting close to our box and take pressure off our slow, ponderous defence. This is to the detriment of creativity from MFJ or Whiteman (who has been out injured anyway). But it had worked until we played West Brom.

So if we want/need more creativity, what do we do without it resulting in us shipping even more goals than we have done in the last 3 games? If we had some pacey, mobile centre-backs it wouldn't be such an issue, but... ?? Bit of a conundrum for Lowe and the coaching staff.
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Yeah, a lot of good points here. The defensive issues naturally restrict what we can do, and having to deploy Ledson and McCann in little more than a disruptive role stifles the sort of free flowing stuff that Lowe says he wishes to create.
The injury to Hughes has been particularly galling, and it is clear that Browne has been under par as well for three games. I think Best has a great future, but I'm not convinced that he is much of an improvement on Brady at the moment, it pains me to say.
We struggle to get MFJ into the game at all, and I'm worried that Osmajic is also going to be wasted. In his first couple of games he looked the part, but as he has been increasingly starved of the ball the frustration is obvious, and this has impacted his control and decision making. He didn't really know much about the "assist" for MFJ on Saturday.
The biggest problem is how to get the best out of Millar. After the promising debut, just about the only place he hasn't played is in goal! This does not seem to be a sensible use of resources. There is an opportunity to get players back to full fitness and take stock before Millwall, a game I always dread.
 
SwissToni said:
Yeah, a lot of good points here. The defensive issues naturally restrict what we can do, and having to deploy Ledson and McCann in little more than a disruptive role stifles the sort of free flowing stuff that Lowe says he wishes to create.
The injury to Hughes has been particularly galling, and it is clear that Browne has been under par as well for three games. I think Best has a great future, but I'm not convinced that he is much of an improvement on Brady at the moment, it pains me to say.
We struggle to get MFJ into the game at all, and I'm worried that Osmajic is also going to be wasted. In his first couple of games he looked the part, but as he has been increasingly starved of the ball the frustration is obvious, and this has impacted his control and decision making. He didn't really know much about the "assist" for MFJ on Saturday.
The biggest problem is how to get the best out of Millar. After the promising debut, just about the only place he hasn't played is in goal! This does not seem to be a sensible use of resources. There is an opportunity to get players back to full fitness and take stock before Millwall, a game I always dread.
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Yeah we know what to expect against the bruisers Millwall. Horrible team.

Agree Osmajic has looked frustrated (and/or bemused) in his last 2 games.
Miller again could be used better, agreed.
MFJ still don't think he's properly fit (or not as fit as he needs to be/as fit as our other players).
Best needs to be nurtured carefully, but definitely could handle playing more often than he is right now, if not as a starter then given 15-20mins as a sub.
Personally been disappointed with Brady and think he's been inconsistent and generally a let down, especially for such an experienced professional. He's also not a LWB, but that's down to the manager and presumably so was the decision to extend his contract (you see, I'm not saying Lowe is beyond reproach, not at all).
 
llanroc said:
Lowe is improving but lacks the killer instinct imo. The big game for us was the West Brom game where we didn’t turn up and consequently shit all over the pitch. I honestly don’t believe he realised the importance of that game. If we had won that game , it would have given us an 8 point cushion going into the 2 difficult away games. That gap would’ve been huge. In contrast, Ipswich needed to beat us to put an 8 point gap between them and third. They didn’t go out there and make a pigs ear of it, they got the job done, and that’s the difference in mentality. How great it must feel to be an Ipswich fan with their team 8 points clear of third and knowing that club is us!
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Agreed. The West Brom game was the one that really hurt. I felt really sick for a couple of days after that performance. I was fairly chipper at half time in the Leicester game, and the final score was misleading there. Ipswich was a bit of a dog's dinner, but what the hell, away at their place with them on a high....it could have been a lot worse.
 
Tugg Speedman said:
Yeah we know what to expect against the bruisers Millwall. Horrible team.

Agree Osmajic has looked frustrated (and/or bemused) in his last 2 games.
Miller again could be used better, agreed.
MFJ still don't think he's properly fit (or not as fit as he needs to be/as fit as our other players).
Best needs to be nurtured carefully, but definitely could handle playing more often than he is right now, if not as a starter then given 15-20mins as a sub.
Personally been disappointed with Brady and think he's been inconsistent and generally a let down, especially for such an experienced professional. He's also not a LWB, but that's down to the manager and presumably so was the decision to extend his contract (you see, I'm not saying Lowe is beyond reproach, not at all).
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Certainly agree about Best, he could get more game time, but probably not as a starter. I think it would have been counter productive to have introduced him at any stage in the last couple of games. He'd have been on a hiding to nothing.
Millar needs to be wide left. It was his preferred position at Basel and this is where he has impressed most. Although, wide on the right on Saturday, he did have the effect of pushing Davis back, giving us some respite. Up top with either Osmajic or Keane is a non starter for me.
You have commented before on MFJ's fitness, and I'm inclined to agree. Is it this, or is it frustration at being shoe horned into a position he's not comfortable with? Could be both of course.
 
California_PNE said:
I remember Fleming doing alright last season at Deepdale, I don't remember them being bruisers.
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They were alright, we should have beaten them. At least 3 of their 4 goals were self inflicted.

Fundamentally we still have the problem of balancing defence and attack. That’s because almost nothing has been done to improve the defence. It is massively vulnerable to fast runners. And we even lack the flexibility to go to a 4 if we want because we still have no fucking right back.

Until that issue is addressed, (oh, for a Ben Davies or Mawene now) then I’m struggling to see what the alternative move is to be honest.

It’s tempting to just say fuck it and throw the kitchen sink at it up front.
 
Tugg Speedman said:

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@llanroc Never mind Ipswich, it feels great to be a Preston fan right now, sitting 3rd in the league and having been top of the league for a few weeks!! But incredulously and in true 'Prestonian' style some fans turn it into a downer!! Would say it's unbelievable, but sadly it isn't.

@lenny Not bad to be 3rd in the league when we don't even deserve to be there (in your opinion). Or would you rather be deservedly mid-table?
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Hardly anyone has done that and every one of us is chuffed at the position we are in, even though most would admit that we've ridden our luck a bit....But we must also accept the inescapable fact that once we come up against decent sides we tend to have our pants pulled down.

This is not a " downer " at all , just a reasonable observation. As things stand " automatic " is a ridiculous notion and unless there is a massive upturn in performances then top 6 is pretty wide of the mark as well.

Genuinely don't understand why being honest is against the rules and classed as anti PNE , I really don't. I'm over the moon about our points tally so far but lets not be kidding ourselves eh?.... I do believe ( if played correctly ) we have enough to finish top half but I've seen nothing whatsoever to convince me we can do anything else.

Not criticism, not having a pop, no agenda.......... Just a bit of honesty and if hand on heart you disagree then fine.... We're all on the same side.
 
More like reverting to type than evolving. Now our form and performances have returned to their normal levels, it's looking like not much has really changed with RL. Still insisting on starting with one striker, still insisting on starting with his uninspiring formation/system/style of play and still insisting on boring us all stupid whilst we grind out enough points for yet another mid table finish.
 
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