Matchday Thread PNE v Sheffield Wednesday - 29/12/23 - KO:7:45pm - Championship

[HunterLionheart]

4. Magic has shown a few flashes in games but has been ineffective as a lone striker at home, his reading of the game and positional play just aren’t up to it, I don’t see him as a lone striker, are we playing him because he was a big investment?

Just a quick one on this- the only other option to start there was Ched, who has been dreadful. Would absolutely have been starting Osmajic, and his pressing was at least relatively effective till they scored and shut up shop.

Going to 2 up top didn't exactly help.

 

[Schemer]

We didn't play Barnsley yesterday.

Anyone from Yorkshire qualifies as a Tyke, though Barnsley seem to have adopted it as their nickname.

 

[Schofe]

The referee and her team on the night (lino’s) were appalling all night long and were the worst team on the pitch, BUT they were not the reason we lost last night.

Lowe was right to start the same team as Boxing day and we started brightly enough with half chances opening up but players choosing the wrong option or the shots simply being pathetic attempts. Sheffield W came with a game plan of being resolute and trying to steal the 3 points, which they did, in almost a smash and grab fashion. They must have entered our half about 6 times all game long but managed to win!

Where Lowe does deserve critique though is the in game management. Moving McCann from Defensive midfield to number 8 and dropping Whiteman back didn’t work V Leeds and didn’t work again. Both players become worse for the move too. McCann is a ball winner, not someone to build attacks through whereas whiteman likes to pick a pass and is calm on the ball. With Whiteman being deeper he is forced into long balls too often as the movement in front on him is so poor.

It was also obvious to Stevie Wonder that Millar was being doubled up on so the right hand flank was often free, yet we never played a quick switch or anything. Millar also should have been told to make runs in behind rather than get it and dribble at the sheff W players, he/we needed to mix it up and didn’t.

The subs were also strange, Holmes is a pest and has good movement/energy and for me wasn’t the right call to be brought off when he was. Whiteman was below par and should have made way but our best middle on the night (McCann) was hooked? Its these issues that Lowe seems miles behind a decent championship level manager on.

Who decided Browne should be on dead all situations needs sacking too, he puts one good free kick in per 20!

Same formation again on Monday for me though as we look so much better/balanced with a back 4 and 3 central midfield players

 

[europne]

Just a quick one on this- the only other option to start there was Ched, who has been dreadful. Would absolutely have been starting Osmajic, and his pressing was at least relatively effective till they scored and shut up shop.

Going to 2 up top didn't exactly help.

I don’t agree at all, we should have had 2 forwards on from the start. One forward in a game like that simply won’t do it. We pinned them back when we went to 2 upfront, in the first half we didn’t do that which gave them far more of the ball and confidence.

 

[Muzza]

Anyone from Yorkshire is a Tyke.

Anyone from Yorkshire qualifies as a Tyke, though Barnsley seem to have adopted it as their nickname.

Everyday's a school day! My gran and her side of the family are/were all from Yarkshire, but I never knew that. Ta.

 

[65on]

Why did we punt the ball over Osmajic head all game instead of into his feet like he prefers it?

Either that is the manager’s instructions, or he doesn’t have the balls to tell the players to stop doing it after 15 minutes of constant hoofball, or they don’t respect him enough to listen?

Or perhaps the players are too thick to realise where Osmajics strengths are?

 

[65on]

Players or manager? Which is it?

Both

 

[paolo poggi]

On reflection, North End created chances against Sheffield but their finishing was as costly as it was unconvincing, and as the clock ran down, it became clear that North End would not have scored if the match had continued into the following morning, so blunt was their finishing.
Sheffield defended their flanks and six yard box with desperate determination to secure their valuable win. The contest between Millar and the Sheffield right back was an enthralling one to watch culminating in Millar almost edging the battle, but for his shot striking the crossbar.
It was a frustrating night at Deepdale for all home fans but the lads gave it a good go without that touch of finesse in front of goal.

 

[Lee Cartwright]

Midfielders cannot be blamed all the time for not ‘serving’ the strikers golden opportunities.

Archer and Cannon scored goals in this system with the same midfield players.

They scored goals because they had pace and made intelligent runs. Osmaijic and Riis both have pace but in my opinion lack the intelligence.

Archer and Cannon are a class above us obviously but there must be strikers in the lower leagues with the attributes we need. Ryan Hardie for example, although not the most technical of players, is suited to the way we set up (In addition to a striker who plays with his back to goal - e.g. Keane).

So often Potts gets the ball, looks up and gestures for movement ahead of him.

I am not saying our set up is right and our midfielders are faultless, far from it, but we desperately need better strikers at this level - Ched, Riis and Osmaijic (so far) are not good enough to start at this level.

 

[65on]

The team looks like 10 individuals, they look poorly coached and are devoid of any tactical nous. No plan B and plan A seems to be give it the winger and see what happens. There‘s only one person to blame for that.

McCann was very, very good in the first half. What does our manager do? Swap him and Whiteman around and McCann goes from being our best player to our worst. How do we end up with Storey supplying the crosses? Why does every throw in have to be ‘recycled’ through the centre halves? Why do so many players give a pass and stand still rather than helping the receiver? Why does Osmajic always have to do it on his own with nobody within yards of him? Why is every ball to him so difficult to control? I could go on, but most of them are failings of coaching and tactics.

Sometimes a lack of players skills

 

[Lee Cartwright]

Or perhaps the players are too thick to realise where Osmajics strengths are?

What are his strengths?

 

[Sid Snot]

As an aside, the reason the ref positioned centrally outside their box was because she'd cannily quickly identified it was a space we'd leave empty and completely unexploited.

Well spotted 😉

 

[Doyler]

Just a quick one on this- the only other option to start there was Ched, who has been dreadful. Would absolutely have been starting Osmajic, and his pressing was at least relatively effective till they scored and shut up shop.

Going to 2 up top didn't exactly help.

Just hasn't though, has he?

He's hardly made any starts and the ones he has started, we've been absolute shite and created no chances (Huddersfield aside).

Going two up top did help to an extent, although I know what you mean. We didn't look more likely to score. But, it did help us sustain attacks and win more first and second contacts when we went long.

 

[HunterLionheart]

Just hasn't though, has he?

He's hardly made any starts and the ones he has started, we've been absolute shite and created no chances (Huddersfield aside).

Going two up top did help to an extent, although I know what you mean. We didn't look more likely to score. But, it did help us sustain attacks and win more first and second contacts when we went long.

This season he has been absolutely dismal, I know you love the guy, but his sub appearances have been ineffective, other than one, and his starts worse.

Understand bringing him off the bench in the right circumstances, especially in the absence of Keane, but I hope Ched never starts a game for PNE again.

 

[65on]

Tactically he is fucking useless, it has nothing to do with the selection, thought it was right to go unchanged but to tell your players to spam crosses into the box until one sticks is a joke. Didn't work once, should of been playing through the middle where we could hurt them but instead he bottles it.

Maybe he did tell the players to vary it but they chose not to

 

[Garviv]

Totally agree.

The jury is still out on Magic, he’s shown flashes in previous games but last night he was Magic as he disappeared for most of the game, the first half was played with 10 men.

Some will say he isn’t getting the service which is probably true, but his reading of the game and positioning is poor, he doesn’t make his physical presence felt, and he can’t stay onside.

Looks to me like we are playing him because he’s a big investment, but I think Keane would have done more for us last night in that position ,

 

[Doyler]

This season he has been absolutely dismal, I know you love the guy, but his sub appearances have been ineffective, other than one, and his starts worse.

Understand bringing him off the bench in the right circumstances, especially in the absence of Keane, but I hope Ched never starts a game for PNE again.

Having such a strong opinion on it is pretty weird. The word 'dismal' in particular is just OTT. Like you say, I love the guy, and he's not made an impact as hoped this season.

But then look into why. Is he worse on the ball than last season? No, he was never great on it. Is his ball retention worse? No, solid as ever. He's not scoring goals, but we're not creating chances!

He'll sign a new contract when the manager leaves.

 

[Garviv]

Yes I totally agree. He cannot hold the line or hold the ball up. Like Riis he needs the ball to feet or balls to run on to. Not happening at the moment! Ched unfortunately is not the answer. What’s happening with Layton Stewart?

 

[HunterLionheart]

Having such a strong opinion on it is pretty weird. The word 'dismal' in particular is just OTT. Like you say, I love the guy, and he's not made an impact as hoped this season.

But then look into why. Is he worse on the ball than last season? No, he was never great on it. Is his ball retention worse? No, solid as ever. He's not scoring goals, but we're not creating chances!

He'll sign a new contract when the manager leaves.

He's not holding it up particularly well, and he has zero goal threat at this point. I have a strong opinion on it because every minute he plays is one that's not going to a striker with a future as a championship player.

 

[Bodney Rewes]

Lindsay, Cunningham and Whiteman were here in Neil’s last season. As were Evans and Riis.

Harsh to blame them for Neil's sacking though. We stagnated under Neil and to be honest a lot of us wanted him out around the Blackburn game which was before four of those players had joined. Riis was still only fairly new to the squad.

Ledson

Wasn't he player of the season the year Neil got sacked?

Evans is somehow into his 4th season with us. He is incredibly one dimensional. It’s so frustrating to watch.

Aye plus he's been through periods where he was offering very little. We're going through another one right now.

The bones of the squad is still the same as under Neil. Even the players that have left have only been replaced with players of equal or lesser ability.

This is partly a consequence of the Neil/Ridsdale era where we brought in players who aren't good enough to be wanted by teams above us. We replaced Pearson with Whiteman and Ben Davies with Lindsay. They can do a job for us but they aren't consistent enough for us to be able to sell on for profit.

Still think it's a bit daft that we've kept four players from that January 2021 transfer window. The only ones we didn't keep were loanees and the only loanee we managed to bring in permanently is the one that would earn us the least money if we were to sell him on.

It's all these stupid contract extensions that keep getting handed out that leave us carrying the mediocre meanwhile we can't afford to tie our better players down to longer contracts.